traded my life [TWD]

『66』

When the bags were placed over Maggie and I's heads, I knew we were being executed. We had yet to give up the prison's location. Despite everything, we stayed strong. Our hands were still clenched so tightly together that it would take a force of nature to separate us.

I wonder if there was anything I could've done differently to stop my fate.

Maybe if I didn't go on the run. Maybe if we went to a different spot. Maybe if Shane was here.

The gun loads behind my head and I close my eyes, though I couldn't see through the bag anyway.

"사랑해, 나의 기적," I whisper to myself.

(eng. trans. 사랑해, 나의 기적 - "I love you, my miracle")

A bang.

I whimper.

They shot Maggie first. Tears escape my eyes and I hold her hand even tighter, waiting for her to go limp.

Instead, yelling emerges.

A rough hand grabs my arm and jerks me up to my feet. As I move, I drag Maggie with me. We run. There are gunshots . The bag feels like it's suffocating me- like the trunk during the highway herd.

"Hyejin?" 

The bag gets pulled off my head and I inhale sharply.

Blue eyes meet mine and Rick tenderly touches my cheek.

"Hyejin?" he asks again.

My chest feels like it's closing in on itself. A sob slips from my lips and I lurch into Rick's arms. He holds me around the waist, I feel his anger seething as he takes in our conditions of only being in bra and panties.

My hair sticks to my face and past Rick's shoulder, I see Daryl and Oscar standing guard with guns.

"All right," Rick breathes, trying to stay calm and collected. "Can you both run?"

Maggie and I nod.

"Daryl, let me know when," Rick says.

Rick and I separate as Maggie lets Glenn go from their own hug. Our hands were still entwined.

Another cry bubbles in my chest and Maggie and I hug each other, grateful to be alive. The bang was the group throwing smoke bombs.. yet, Maggie and I both thought it was the other getting killed beside us.

"Girls," Rick calls.

Slowly, Maggie and I separate. Rick holds his jacket out to me and Glenn takes his off for Maggie.

Maggie and I trade a look. We slowly snap back into fighting mode now- the tears needed to stop so we could help defend ourselves. We nod and squeeze one another's hand before letting go for the first time.

Rick helps me put his jacket on and it swallows me whole. I pull my hair out from the back as he zips the front of it- the material running down almost to the knees.

Rick pauses again, taking in my state. He looks so sad and disgusted.. So heartbroken.

"I'm so sorry," he says. "I wasn't fast enough."

I shake my head. "You're here.. That's all that matters."

"Let's move," Daryl calls.

The group huddles together and we take off running through the town. It was bigger than I'd initially thought. Maggie and I showed up outside- then Merle got help to drag us in.

Rick leads us to another building to regroup.

"Ain't no way out back here," Daryl informs.

I spot Q among the group and my stomach churns with nausea.

"Rick, how did you find us?" Maggie asks.

"Had help from.." Rick pauses. "Shit. Where'd she go?"

"Maybe she was spotted," Oscar offers. "Want me to go look for her?"

Maggie and I lean on the table and pant heavily to regain our breath. My legs hurt from running such a short distance.

"Woman?" I repeat.

"No. We gotta get the girls out. She's on her own."

"No!" I shout, then run my hand over my mouth to stay quiet. "No.. No, we can't leave a woman here."

"She's a loose canon, Hyejin, I don't-"

"No!" I cut Rick off. "That man is sick. And if he finds her-"

"She's not our problem," Daryl argues.

My mouth drops in shock. Then, a newfound rage fills my veins.

"Yeah? Well, this town is your fucking problem!"

"What?"

"The bastard that took us is Merle," I sneer, poking my finger in Daryl's chest. "You're fucking brother, Merle."

Daryl hesitates. "So.. he's the Governor?"

"No. He's somebody else. Merle is his lieutenant or something."

"Does he know I'm still with you?"

"He knows you're alive. We told him to wait at the store and we'd go get you, but he wouldn't take that as an answer. Shot at us the first chance he got and dragged us here."

"They don't know where the prison is," I tell Rick. "They know we're in one, but not where. We might have a short window to figure it out."

"You held out that long?" Rick asks, gratitude and sadness still in his eyes.

"We tried," Maggie adds. "But, they'll come looking."

"Are you sure you two can walk? We got a car a few miles out," Rick says.

"We're good," I promise.

Rick unzips a bag and pauses.

"What?" Oscar asks.

"Michonne..she left her bag here," Rick says, digging through the contents."

"Ammo?" Q asks. 

I shoot him a glare, but decide there were bigger problems to worry about.

"She left.. clothes.." Rick says.

Another wave of nausea.

The woman, Michonne, helped them here. And she knew to bring clothes for women..

"How'd you find this woman?" I ask.

"Merle shot her. She saw you both get taken. She heard you talking about the kids," Rick explains.

I could tell that the realization of how deep Michonne was in this was sinking in.

The Governor had already gotten to her. She's already lived the hell Maggie and I did.

"We have to find her," I plead.

"You don't even know her," Q argues.

"Fuck off," I state. "She saved our lives and brought us back together. I'm not leaving a woman here to go through that shit again."