Walking Between Dead (EN)

5.

I crouched behind the back seats and sinkeded deeper into the trunk, making sure no one could see me. After a while, two men got into the car, started the engine, and we drove off, leaving behind a defeated, now-servile group. 

I was pretty sure Rick and his crew wouldn't try anything. They'd mourn their dead and reel from the shock. From the defeated look on Rick's face, I knew he wouldn't allow any betrayal. He's genuinely afraid of the Saviors. Correction—he's afraid of my father.

For a moment, I wondered how a high school gym teacher became the most powerful man in the entire area, possibly even the world. That fear, that pure terror on Rick's face, etched itself into my memory. I thought about how lucky I am and how much I actually love my father, even though I now know all this. He's always protected me. He would never let anyone hurt me. And if they did, they wouldn't live long after my father found out.

But now I had a bigger problem - how to get out of the trunk without being noticed. We had just stopped in front of the Sanctuary, and everyone was starting to get out of the vehicles, including the men from the car I was in. 

Getting here had been easy enough, but there weren't a million Saviors running around back then. And to top it off, my dad was among them. I cursed myself for not listening to him and staying home. I wouldn't have had to worry about Maggie, and Carl wouldn't be stuck in my head.

I thought about getting out and pretending I had come to greet them, but if someone saw me climbing out of the car, everything could go wrong. Besides, I wasn't supposed to leave my room. My dad would totally lose it and probably ground me for life.

Someone would have said, 'you have everything you have, safe place, enough food, loving protective father, stop being so ungrateful.' That's all pretty, but I would much rather make decisions about my life by myself. It's all pretty complicated.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the glass. Even though it was just Simon, it scared me as if I had seen a ghost. I yelped, and Simon opened the trunk.

"What the hell are you doing here? Did you come with us? Does Negan know about you? Didn't he say you're grounded?" he bombarded me with questions.

I climbed out of the trunk, quickly glanced around to see if anyone had noticed, and stretched my aching body that had been stuck in one position for hours.

"Yes, I came with you. No, my father doesn't know, and he's not going to find out because that wouldn't end well for me," I straightened up and told Simon my situation.

"Okay, I won't say a word... unless he asks," he raised his hands in surrender. "You're brave," he smiled.

"I'm not sure if it was a good idea, but thanks, Simon," I nodded and headed inside the building.

I crossed the yard and walked through the main doors as if nothing had happened. I disappeared into the building, trying to maintain a normal walking pace. I had to hold myself back from sprinting through the hallways to get to safety.

Miraculously, I made it to my room without any trouble, and Joe wasn't standing guard at the door. I quickly shut the door behind me. I pulled off my boots and collapsed onto the bed.

"That was close," I mumbled into the pillow, finally letting out a breath of relief. I rolled onto my back and thought about what had happened in the woods and how tired I was. But that exhaustion vanished when I heard a knock on the door and my dad's voice.

"Maddie, are you awake?"

"Yeah, hold on a sec. I'll throw something on," I replied after a moment, trying to sound as sleepy as possible.