Life Goes On (The Walking Dead)

Chapter Two

A wave of sadness crashed over me and I realized I needed to stop thinking about this. I already knew the answers.

I heard the subtle sound of leaves crunching close behind me and I quickly spun around, hastily wiping my eyes.

I was face to face with a man much taller than myself, a sneer plastered on his face.

"My, my, what've we got here?" He questioned.

I knew he didn't want an answer and I didn't give him one.

He reached out faster than I knew what was happening and knotted his hand in my hair, pulling down, forcing me to wince. "It ain't polite ta ignore a man"

He spoke with a strong southern accent, which would have been appealing, but under the circumstances....

All the sudden I came to my senses, my prior sadness gone. This jerk was man-handling me. And I sure as heck didn't like it. I could still feel the terror clawing at my chest, my heart clenched in fear, but I knew I needed to get away. Focusing on my target, I quickly chopped him to the side of the neck, causing him to be startled, releasing his grip on my hair.

I followed my attack with a punch to the stomach before turning away to run. I felt how weak both strikes were and I knew it wasn't enough. To makes things worse, in my haste to get away, I stumbled and landed on my back.

The man had quickly recovered from my attack and was now straddling my hips in triumph. Thanks to my martial arts training, I knew how to get out of this. However, I wasn't particularly good with the execution and if I messed it up, he would have me pinned on my stomach, something I definitely couldn't get out of. So I waited for him to speak, see if we could reasonably come to terms.

He waited a moment before speaking, savoring his position as I tried to reign in my panic.

"Well that wasn't nice there, sugar" He drawled before pinning my hands above my head.

I squirmed in his hold trying to get in a more comfortable position. In the process, I ended up rubbing my hips and lower half against his and my shirt stretched across my chest, emphasizing my breasts. I hoped he hadn't noticed.

To my dismay, his eyes flitted downward to my chest, a smirk playing at his lips.

"Ya know wha', I think theres gonna be a change in plans here, sugar...tits"

He barely finished the sentence when a shout came from behind us.

"Merle! Wha' the hell you doin'?!"

The man, Merle apparently, rolled his eyes and after a pause, rolled off of me. But not before leaning his mouth to my ear and whispering "We'll continue this later, sugar tits."

Quickly, I rolled away from him and scrambled to my feet. I hastily brushed myself off before I looked around and saw the man who had shouted.

He had light hair that was mussed with dirt and sweat. He was wearing a flannel shirt with frayed edges from where the sleeves had been torn off, revealing muscular arms smudged with dirt and glistening with sweat. His arms were flexed, having a tight grip on a crossbow that was slung over his shoulder. It was obvious he was tense, you could even see it in his eyes, a vibrant blue clouded with unease.

"Wha's goin' on here? Ain't anyone gonna tell meh?" He spoke again, rather impatiently this time.

The other man, Merle, spoke up.

"Jus' havin' a lil' fun baby brudder. Found this one walkin' all by herself, and ya know ya can't leave a lady like this all by her lonesome. Might get takin' advantadge of."

Yeah by some pig like you, I thought angrily. His words made me want to run over and hit him as hard as I possibly could but it would be downright stupid of me to do so.

The man with the crossbow looked at Merle skeptically. "You sayin' ya want her ta tag along?" He questioned.

No, no, no, no, no, no, nooooooooo. I was panicking, I couldn't help it. I wanted nothing to do with either of them, I could make it on my own.

"Why no'? Fiesty as hell. Could be useful."

I decided it was time to speak up.

"Excuse me, but I'll not be goin' with either one of y'all. I've been fine this long by myself, I don't need you two." I stated in what I hoped was a firm voice.

"By yourself?" Merle's eyes seem to spark when I spoke, as if I confirmed something he'd hoped was true.

"Now, now. Can't have such a fine gal such as yoself off by herself. Ya need a man to protect ya. Don't ya wan' tha'?" He continued.

"Not from you." I retorted. The man with the crossbow chuckled softly and a smirk appeared on Merle's face.

The man with the crossbow walked up to me, gave me a slow once over before meeting my eyes.

"Meh names Daryl."

"Catherine" I stated, trying to be somewhat civil.

"Alrigh' Catherine. You tag along with us now"

I scoffed. I couldn't help it. Merle had just man handled me and this guy, Daryl, thinks I'm just gonna tag along with them? When hell freezes over.

"And why would I do that?"

"Well, you can't even fend off my brudder, you think you can take a walker? Another group?"

I reluctantly noticed he had a fair point. Then confusion settled upon me. Walker?

"Walker?" I questioned.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah. Them things tryin' ta eat us? Dumb, dead bastards? Ring a bell?" He said somewhat harshly.

I realized once again, he had a point. I didn't even know what to call these things, I was clueless about alot. Plus, they were both pretty strong looking. And I could definitely use two strong men watching my back.

I sighed. I realized if I was gonna survive in this world I needed to take this chance. I decided I'd better give them my answer.

"Where we headin'?"

They both smiled widely at my concession.

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So, ummm, tell me what y'all think? I'm open to suggestions and constructive criticism, just try to be nice bout it. But yeah! Definitely comment and tell me what you think!