traded my life [TWD]

『52』

I set Woojin's carrier inside the guard tower shade and look around the fences.

"It's perfect," Rick states.

I hold my hand up to block the sun. We were still on the outer fence of the prison. Safe, but not fully inside.

"I see the vision, I do," I promise. "But, we're sleeping on gravel?"

"No," Rick denies and points to a further fence inside the courtyard of the prison. "If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling in the yard, then we can pick off the rest of the walkers. We'll take the field out by tonight."

"So, how do we shut the gate?" Hershel asks.

I look at the stretch of the yard. It was a good measure of three soccer fields. Maybe four if you count the hills.

"I'll go. You guys cover me," Glenn speaks up.

"No. It's a suicide run," Maggie argues.

"I'm the fastest," Glenn reminds.

"No, I am," I argue back. "I'll run."

"You're barely back on your feet," Carol says.

"But, I'm the fastest and smallest," I urge. "I can get through them and they'll never see me."

"I can't ask you to do that," Rick denies.

"You're not asking me. I'm telling you that I'm doing it," I say and walk to the gate. "Now, come on."

Rick could tell that there was no talking me out of it.

I shrug. "I've gotta get back to normal somehow."

"We'll go together," Rick decides.

"Hey, Beth-"

"I've got Woojin," she cuts me off with a smile. "Don't worry about him. He's safe."

"Thank you," I make sure she knows. "It won't take long."

I kneel to my bag and shuffle through my things. I take out the headphones I'd found a couple of weeks ago and toss them to Beth. They weren't exactly perfect for the job and they didn't quite fit around Woojin's tiny head. But, it helped protect his ears from gunshots and keep him calm when we're running from walkers.

Rick gives orders to everyone else on where they need to be and what they should do. Once it is just Lori, Rick, and I at the fence, I pull my hair into a ponytail and stretch my legs.

"This isn't a race, Hyejin," Rick scolds.

"Well, it wasn't until you said that," I scoff. "Is this your way of finally arresting me? Only took you like a decade, huh?"

Rick squats down, ready to run. I poke my tongue to my cheek and shake my head.

"You ready?" Lori asks.

The tension between Rick and Lori was higher than ever before. He gives her a single nod. Then, he looks at me. I squint and eye him down.

The others that were stationed at the fence start yelling to get the walkers' attention. When close enough, they slice their weapons through the holes of the chain link and kill the walker.

Lori eases the gate open, quietly so as to not draw the walkers toward us.

When there's enough room, I knock my shoulder lightly into Rick's and take off running through the field. Rick follows after me.

Unlike Rick, I don't bother with shooting the gun I have- even though it has a silencer.

I could see Rick's demeanor shifting from the determined leader mindset to one of relief and excitement.

A gunshot hits the ground at my feet and I stumble to a stop.

"Bitch?" I deadpan, looking for the source.

"Sorry!" Carol shouts from the guard tower.

I scoff and take off running with another smile. I look behind me for Rick, but he wasn't there. Panicked, I look around. 

"Come on!" he hurries, waving me over from the gate.

I push my feet faster and grab the other lock so we can shut off the gate to the inner walls. 

"Up the guard tower," Rick directs. 

We follow a well-rehearsed teamwork. I open the door and duck behind it. Rick shoots down the two walkers inside.

"Good, go!" he calls.

He puts his hand on the door to keep it open and I duck under his arm and run up the stairs of the guard tower. The door shuts behind Rick 

Once we make it to the top and it's safe, I bend over the railing of the balcony.

"Holy shit," I pant. "God, I'm out of shape."

Rick laughs and pulls the bigger gun off from his back. "Don't need to run to stand and shoot."

"Light it up!" Daryl announces from the guard tower with Carol.

Finally, I take my gun out and cock it. I still heave breaths as I try to get the air back in my lungs. While I was used to running again, this was a bit different after having Woojin.

I kneel on the metal floor and rest my arms on the railing so I can aim better. From around the outside of the prison, everyone unloads on the remaining walkers in the field.

"I totally beat you, by the way," Rick informs.

"Suck a dick, Grimes," I complain, salty. "Push a baby out and then we'll see how you fair in a race, huh?'

"Don't be a sore loser, now," he scolds.

I mock the sentence in a higher-pitched voice, shaking my head to the side and making a nasty face. Rick shoots the final walker and looks over at me. He smiles. It warms my heart because I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him smile so genuinely. 

"We'll take it further later. Tonight.. we can rest," he assures.

I look over at the prison below us, just a fence away. Then, I scan the guard tower.

"Can Woojin and I take this spot for the night? Give a bird's-eye-view from up here? Keep watch?" I ask.

"Of course. You deserve to have some space, anyway," he agrees.

"Honestly, I'm just kinda tired of whipping my tit out in front of everyone to feed him-"

"All right," Rick cuts me off. "Let's get down there and clean up.

"Did you tell Carol to do that so you beat me here?" I suspect.

Rick hides his smile. "No. Why would I do that?"

My jaw slacks and my mouth opens in shock. Rick laughs and walks to the hatch.

"You're a bitch, man," I complain. "And a cheating bitch at that, goddamn."

𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈--

they are literally best friends

woojin chillin' while his mom is a badas