Without A Voice

Chapter 1: Rescued

~word count: 968~

The Georgia heat swept through the city. Jane wiped the sweat from her head with her arm as she continued walking. It had been a long while since the world went to shit and all she wanted was something to eat. She was filthy too. Her exposed arms were covered in dirt and her black leggings were stained with mud. The sports bra and navy blue tank top she wore were caked in sweat. She kept her black hair up but it didn't make a difference. It was hot. She held her bow close to her. It wasn't easy making arrows but it was a quiet weapon. Of course, that wasn't her only weapon. She also had a pocket knife hidden in her bra. While unpractical it did make it easy to access.

As Jane trekked through the city she spotted a few
walkers stumbling down the side streets, but there was only a few of them. She knew she had to be quiet if she wanted it to stay that way. The cities were bad that way. One sound and your screwed. Hoards remained in the cities, which is why she stayed in the forest. It was safer. Suddenly there were gun shots, Jane jumped at the sound. She looked around, hearing the undead grow closer. Who the hell was shooting? Did they have a death wish? As the herd grew closer she ran down an alley, coming face to face with two men. A young Asian man and a cowboy. She was standing behind the unaware Asian guy as the cowboy held his gun up.

"Whoa, not dead! Come on!" He shouted.

The cowboy pointed to Jane, "What about her?"

Confused, the Asian kid turned around. This wasn't exactly the best time for a trust exercise

"She's with me!" He stated before he turned to the herd behind them.

The cowboy holstered his handgun. They both followed the Asian man, stopping in front of a large ladder that ran all the way up the side of a tall building. Rick and Jane quickly climbed up the ladder behind the man before he stopped on a small fire escape platform. They all leaned against the railings, looking down at the herd of walkers.

Jane stayed silent as she caught her breath. Her heart raced with anticipation and fear.

"Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood. You the new Sheriff coming in to clean up the town?" The man asked breathless.

The cowboy scoffed playfully "Wasn't my intention."

"Yeah, whatever. Yeehaw. You're still a dumbass."
The man responded.

The cowboy held his hand out to the Asian man, "Rick. Thanks."

"Glenn. You're welcome." He responded, shaking Rick's hand before he turned towards Jane.

"Who are you?" Rick asked with a raised brow.

She started signing, "My name is Jane."

They both looked at her with confusion, Rick catching the look on Glenn. It just made him more confused.

"I thought you said she was with you?" He questioned Glenn.

"She's not." Glenn shrugged, "But I'm not leaving an innocent girl down there to get torn to pieces."

"Thank you." Jane signed and mouthed it so he would understand.

Glenn smiled at her before turning his attention back to the ladder. It was incredibly tall. Jane's heart beat nervously as her stomach knotted.

He grabbed on to the ladder, "Bright side; it'll be the fall that kills us. I'm a glass-half full kind of guy."

They carefully made their way up to the roof. Jane stayed close to them, feeling safer than she did alone. Glenn led them to some kind of alley. He pulled out a walkie talkie and messaged someone on the other end. They continued walking until coming across a door with some undead banging on it.

Suddenly, the door opened as two men with baseball bats ran out and began beating the walkers to death before Glenn took off running, shouting at Jane and Rick to follow him. They all rushed into the room. The trio barely had any time to gage their surroundings before a woman suddenly grabbed Rick and slammed him into the wall.

The woman pulled out a gun, aiming it at Rick's head, "You son of a bitch. We ought to kill you!"

Jane pulled out her knife and held it out, wondering if Glenn had just led her into some kind of trap. She backed herself into a wall.

"Andrea, just back off." An unfamiliar voice said from somewhere behind her, but Jane couldn't look away from the chaos.

"You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole." Andrea yelled clearly pissed off.

She lowered her gun and Jane put her knife away, "We're dead. All of us because of you." She teared up.

Fear raced through Jane, curious about what she was referring to. Her eyes locked with Rick and Glenn's.

"What does she mean?", She signed hesitantly.

Nobody answered. Its not like they could. Nobody understood what she was saying with her hands. Jane became annoyed with the silence before someone spoke up.

"We came into the city to scavenge for supplies.
You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving. You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing. Not shooting up the streets. Every geek for miles around heard you popping off rounds." A man scoffed with annoyance.

Everyone was staring at Rick. They didn't even bother with Jane, knowing she wasn't the one with a gun. There were five of them now not including her. She was useless against the hoards. But she didn't want to accept defeat. They followed the man who pointed down at the herd of undead pawing at the glass doors. All she could do was stare in disbelief. Suddenly gunshots rang out echoing in the distance.