Messy - Abby Anderson x Fem Reader

Chapter 10 - You found another?

I woke up early enough to be the first one ready to continue our journey the next day. As everybody was packing their things, I was preparing a few snacks or so and picking out a few things I wanted to keep from this place. I picked up a few unopened journals though I did find one missing. Odd.

With my backpack stuffed with necessities and memorabilia, I head outside with Alice who's actually walking a lot better and chase her around a little, getting us both warmed up for the long walk to come.

After a few moments, Mel comes out, Abby behind her with Lev, and we set off.

A couple days pass before we finally arrive at a barricaded settlement, one surrounded by gates which are all too familiar to me. I make sure to have all our weapons hidden.

"This is it?" Mel asks, a little breathless beside me. I keep my eyes fixated on the tall gates which hide everything inside. There's literally no way to get in there without confrontation, and I don't want us to appear hostile, so I bite down on my bottom lip and turn to the others, briefly glancing at Abby who seems to eye the place a little wearily.

"I'm going to go alone first, alright?" I murmur, the cold air turning white as I speak due to the low temperature.

Mel's brows furrow ever so slightly, her nose red from the cold. I blink slowly as I take a deep breath before turning back to the gates, Alice following me closely.

As I step further towards the gate, I call out, trying to get my voice loud enough so that it could be heard across.

"Hey! It's Y/N!" I shout across, craning my neck to look up at the height of the wooden gates. Hearing silence follow, accompanied by Alice's pants, I mutter a swear under my breath before trying again. "Eve!" I shout, a little louder this time.

The gates creak as they slowly open and a tall guy comes out, a scarf wrapped around his neck up to his nose, his eyes dark and piercing. Immediately, he lifts up a pistol and aims it at me. Alice reacts by barking and beginning to rush forward before I almost dive at her, holding her back between my legs with my arms around her just below her neck.

"Alice, no!" I grumble out sternly, my own heart rate picking up. "Don't shoot!" I say a little louder as I look up at the man who steps a little closer, and my grip on Alice tightens. "Jesus, put the gun fucking down, do I look like I'll harm you?" Alice continues to bark gruffly but I hold her back as best as I can, my eyes locking with the man's.

"You know Eve?" His voice is deep but muffled behind his scarf, his gun still trained on me despite my form crouching down and struggling with Alice.

"Yes!" I exclaim, almost breathlessly. "Please put the gun down, she won't hurt you." My hand brushes over Alice's snout and the rest of her coat. "Quiet down, girl," I mumble pleadingly.

With reluctance, his gun drops to his side out of the corner of my eye and then he tucks it into his waistband. "Y/N, huh? I'll go call Eve. You alone?"

Continuing to calm Alice down with scratches behind her ears, I look up at the man and shake my head. "Three others. One's pregnant and one's a child. The other will stay with me," I say without even thinking.

He nods before pushing the gates open a little wider. "No infected, right? I won't hesitate to shoot if I see a bite mark."

I shake my head once more, standing up from my crouching position as Alice calms down, settling into a sitting position between my legs. "Nope. None of us are infected," I murmur.

He replies with a nod of his head and then turns back to enter the settlement, gesturing for me to follow with his hand.

Fuck, yes.