STOP THE WORLD | LUKE TWDG

[ ONE ]

ONE | INTO THE WOODS

˖ ݁𖥔.☁︎.𖥔 ݁ ˖

TWO YEARS LATER

The air was hot and humid in a state that Angel was pretty sure was North Carolina. Even during the night. Angel sat in the tree, a bungee cable securing her there. Before the world ended, she had read the Hunger Games. Strangely enough, this was one of the only things she could remember. When it was dark and you were alone, your brain tended to go to weird pieces of information- useful or not. So, she planned to rest here, tired and hungry with only a tattered black backpack and Molly's ice tool to keep her company.

Or so she thought.

The groans of the walkers never really ceased to scare her, but what scared her more was when you would hear something- the snapping of a twig- and no groans would follow. That meant something that could be more dangerous was out and about- People. After Molly died, it didn't take long for Angel to realize that, as much as she didn't think she could do it on her own, she knew she stood a better chance isolated than taking chances on other people.

"There's fuckin' nothin out here man! We're in the middle of nowhere!" A voice from below says
"Calm yourself down there. Probably a town around here somewhere...or some fuckers with a camp." A second voice replies. Angel's eyes in the dark lock on as they start to walk down the clearing. There were two of them: One big, one small. But both carrying rifles, which was a hell of a lot more than she had. She hadn't seen people out here in these woods, not for a while. She knew she would eventually, if she kept making her way up North like she had planned to, she would run into some eventually...

Angel tried to stay as still as possible, holding her breath in her chest. She tries to make herself as small as possible as she looks at them start pass beneath her branch. Angel draws her knees to her chest. A potentially fatal mistake, her torn canvas shoes, held together by duct tape that catch the light of the moon, scrape against the tree- strips of bark falling to the ground below. She watches them stop, then their eyes raise, catching the shiny silver of the duct tape on her shoes.

"What the fuck?!" One of them exclaims. The other raises their rifle and fires a warning shot. Angel lets out a little yelp, feeling the bullet graze her ear.

"Get the fuck down here! I won't miss next time!" The other shouts. Angel pants. Her eyes scramble around, knowing the had no reservations about killing her, and also knowing that probably wouldn't change once she was on the ground. She feels her hand graze her back pack strap, an idea forming in her head.

First she takes her backpack, the ice tool weighing it down. The second thing she does it stand. Looking down at the men from the ground as they raise their rifles. She feels a dizziness set in on her.

"Don't!" Angel yelps "Don't shoot...I'm coming down...I-I'm just...scared of heights" she swallows.

"You're gonna have a lot more to be scared about when you get down here, girl!"

Angel shakes. Then throws her bag, aiming for the little one. Then she throws herself, aiming for the big one. They both hit their mark, their weight enough to knock her potential assailants from their feet and take a bit of air out of their lungs.

"Ugh!" Angel huffs, quickly grabbing her backpack.

"You little fucking bitch!" The little one snarls. Angel's quick to grab her backpack, starting to sprint off into the forest, down the manmade trail they had came down. She's able to carry herself pretty far, but she can here the ambient sounds of bullets hitting trees in the darkness. The little one is quick. She can hear his voice closer behind her than the big ones. Her legs pump as fast as they had in a while, rivalling the way she used to run in high school. Even now she can hear her coaches voice yelling from the sidelines, even though Angel was sure he was one of the first to go. The difference between high school and now is that in high school, the track had been gravel. This was forest. The rocks she slid downhill on scraped at her legs and jeans, the terrain was uneven, her shoes didn't make it any easier.

Angel hits the ground before she even sees the tree root that caused it. She grunts, pushing herself up, in the dark she can lock on to the silhouette of the shorter, scrawnier man. Angel can only scramble back like an animal with an injured leg.

"You little fucking bitch!" The small one rasps, pointing his rifle at her. Angel's heart hammers against her chest as she tries her best to scoot back. The blood rushing in her ears echoes with the not-so distant calls of walkers. She can hear them: though she can't quite pin point where.

"Get the fuck up! Get the fuck up!" He shouts. Then she sees it, the hobbling body of a walker. He hadn't seen it yet. The only thing in Angel's mind was just to keep going backwards. She only stood when she saw the corpse bare its teeth and sink into the smaller mans neck. Angel feels a little bad about the relief she feels, but there's no time to dwell on it. She can only start running, her time spent on the ground had only given the other man enough time to catch up to her. He didn't seem bothered about his travelling companion. Angel didn't know how that was possible.

She veers off the path and into the thick woods. Angel had been here before, she'd been here long enough, she knew the woods, probably better than he did, and as she grew tired she knew that would be a bigger advantage than speed eventually. After a cursory glance over her shoulder, she stops by a tree. Shedding her backpack, she takes out the ice tool, sinking it high into the trunk. The brunette is about to start climbing, when she feels the hands on her body.

"No!" She shouts, kicking and squirming against the larger man.

"Stop fucking moving!" He grunts, in a second she feels her body slammed against the forest thicket, the wind leaving her chest and the pain sprawling through her body. She gasps and splutters for words or some kind of fight as he pins her to the ground.

All Angel can do is kick and fight against him. Her palm thwacking against his ugly face. Her other hand grasps at the ground, feeling for something- anything- at all that she can grab. And she does, the second her hand feels the coolness of a jagged rock she summons the only strength she has to swing. He topples off of her.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" He splutters bloodily, grabbing his face. "YOU BROKE MY FUCKING NOSE!" He grabs his gun, hitting her with it. She lets out a yelp, feeling a sting against her forehead as she falls into the dirt. His shouts draw Walkers from the darkness, Angel can only try to squirm away, back to the tree. She laboriously pulls her self to stand, starting to try and tug the ice tools blade as her assailant starts to work his way to a standing position

"Hey! Back the fuck away from her!" A new voice shouts, Angel whips her head around, seeing two figures in the woods as she continues to try and rip the tool from the wood of the tree. The man , who is bigger and burlier than the two who stand in the tree line, starts moving towards them.

"Don't you come any closer! I'll fucking shoot you!"
one of the other men shout.

There is uncertainty in their faces. They are preparing to kill this man, until they hear a feminine grunt, and watch him tumble. As the large man falls away, Angel stands behind them, the hilt of her ice tool lowering after hitting him in the head. Hard. She hadn't killed him herself, but he lays there, unconscious. And no one was going to help him as more walkers come from the woodwork. Angel's dark eyes raise tiredly to the men who had attempted to help her, her breathing is heavy, her heart hammers in her chest. Her head feels dizzier than ever, and the dark woods grow even darker.

"Fuck- are you oka-" One of the men start to ask "Oh shit!" He exclaims, cutting himself off as Angel falls to the forest floor, hitting the ground once again.

a/n: short chapter to kick off <3 pls be nice to me