The End Of My World

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

I looked around, I stood a few paces behind Carol, my daggers gripped tightly in my hands, my gaze locked on the man sprawled beneath her knife. Holy shit...

The urge to act, to finish this and move on, was like a knot in my chest that tightened with every passing second. But I held back, watching Carol. The weight of the blades in my hands kept me grounded, a familiar comfort in the midst of chaos. I could feel the tension in the air, thick enough to choke on, as Carol leaned in closer to him. I admired her, but I knew what this world had done to her. It could strip away everything that made you human, and I'd seen it happen too many times to count.

She asked him again, her voice steady but laced with the desperation we all felt. We needed answers, and we needed them now. But the bastard just stared up at her, defiant, as if he still had something to bargain with. I couldn't stand it any longer. I stepped forward, letting the blades catch the light as I glared down at him. "You think this ends with her?" I said, my voice colder than the steel in my hands.

"You think you're going to walk out of here alive?" I narrowed my eyes, watching him squirm under my gaze. "Talk, or I'll make sure you regret ever opening your mouth in the first place." He flinched—good. That defiance was cracking, and I could see the fear starting to take hold. He knew he was out of options, out of time. His bravado was nothing more than a pathetic front, and we were about to tear it down.

Carol pressed him again, and this time, he caved. His words came out in a frantic rush, desperation spilling from his lips as he tried to save his own skin. I listened closely, dissecting every word for lies, for any hint that he might still be playing us. I couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't over. It never was. There was always another fight, another enemy waiting in the shadows, and we couldn't afford to let our guard down—not even for a second. I glanced at Carol as we walked. Once, we might have hesitated, questioned whether what we were doing was right. But now, it was easy, I didn't give a damn what he said, what anyone said. His words might have saved his skin for now. I let Daryl drag him away from the streets.

"Artemis" Rick called to me, I didn't care what the old man wanted to say. I looked up in that moment though, holes in the walls and houses were destroyed, my mind racing, my hands shaking, people dead on the floor, heads busted open and holes blown into their bodies. Blood trickled down siding and pooled on the streets. I'm not sure I was even breathing in that moment. I knew it was bad but I thought it was just through the front gate. I didn't know......