Highway To Hell

Chapter 23

"Hey." I look up to see Maggie at the door to my cell.  "Glenn and I are gonna go on a run, try to find some more stuff for the baby. Want to come? I know you were wanting to find some stuff to help make this place safe from...other things." 

   "Uh, sure." I stand, grabbing my bag and slinging it over my shoulder. "Maybe we can find this place to feel more like a home. It's depressing." I kick the cell door as I walk by. 

   She laughs lightly as we walk down the steps. "Yeah, maybe we can get some curtains on those windows. Spruce the place up." 

   "She coming?" Glenn asks.

   "Yeah," Maggie answers. 

   "Good. Let's get going." He grabs a bag and we follow him outside. 

   "Anyone else coming?" I ask, getting in the back of the car. 

   "No. Daryl, Carl, and Oscar are clearing out another area, Hershel and Beth are watching the baby, Axle is keeping watch, and Rick is still off somewhere in the tombs." 

   "Alright, then," I say. "Let's go." 

I stare out the window as trees fly past. They're murmuring quietly upfront, but if I bothered to focus I could hear what they were saying. 

   "We're here," Glenn says, pulling into a small parking area. We climb out, and Maggie and I pull our guns as we scan the area. 

   "See anythin?" Maggie asks. I squint as the blinding sun burns my eyes. A walker stumbles out of the tree line. 

   "I got it," I say, walking forward. She nods and turns to go back to Glenn. 

   The walker growls, tripping over its own feet to get me. I kick it in the chest, causing it to fall. Pinning it with my knee, I stab it in the head. I glance around, looking for anything else. 

   Nothing catches my eye, so I walk back over to Maggie and Glenn...who are kissing. "Seriously?" I ask, making them break apart. "Not really the time or place, love birds." 

   "Shut up," Glenn says, smacking my arm as I walk by. 

   "I'm gonna check that hardware store for paint," I say, walking down towards one of the other stores in the strip mall. 

   "It looks picked clean, and you shouldn't go in there alone," Maggie protests. 

   "I doubt pain was in particularly high demand and I'll be fine. If I need help, I'll scream." I get to the open doorway and am about to go in when I hear a commotion back at the car. I pull my gun back out and spin, only to see birds flying away. "You guys okay?" I call out. Seems they both nearly had a heart attack. 

   "Yeah, we're good," Glenn called out. I nod and turn back to walk into the store. I quickly go through the store to check for walkers, and thankfully find none. "Paint, paint, paint," I mutter, looking around. "Ah!" I find a small selection of spray paint. "Perfect." I grab several cans and toss them into my bag. 

   I look around for anything else that may have been left behind. Maggie was right, this place had been picked clean of anything that could be used as a weapon. There's a small cardboard display that had once held packets of seeds. I don't even bother with checking and move to walk past, but my eye catches something the floor peeking out from underneath the shelves. I kneel down and grab it. A packet of carrot seeds. Rick had mentioned wanting to start a garden in the fields. Happy with my find, I toss it in my bag with the paint cans. 

   Yelling has me running for the door in an instant. I pear out from the doorway to see what's going on. A man is holding his hands up in surrender. I can see Glenn pointing is gun at the man, but I can't see Maggie. I walk out of the store and move closer. I pause when I realize who it is. Merle. 

   "You made it," Glenn says. I stare at him in utter shock. He isn't dead? I figured he'd died when he didn't show up at the camp. My eyes go to his arm, expecting to see a stump, but instead he has some metal contraption with a blade attached to his arm.

   "Can you tell me, is my brother alive?" he questions. "Huh?"

   "Yeah," Glenn answers. I move closer so that I'm standing next to him. I can see Maggie now. She's standing at the backside of the car. 

   "Hey, you take me to him and I'll call it even on everything that happened up there in Atlanta. No hard feelings. Huh?" Glenn must have been looking at his arm, too, because Merle glances at it with a grin. He laughs. "You like that? Well, uh, I found myself a medical supply warehouse. Fixed it up myself. Pretty cool, huh?" 

   Glenn doesn't acknowledge what Merle said. "We'll tell Daryl you're here and he'll come out to meet you." 

   "Well, hold on. Just hold up." Merle starts to step forward.

   "Whoa. Whoa," Glenn says. We all get antsy, shuffling slightly, guns pointed at his head.

   "Hold up here. Hold up. Hey, the fact that we found each other is a miracle. Cone on, now. You can trust me."

   "You trust us," Glenn says.  "You stay here." Merle glances between the three of us and lets out a chuckle that sets me on edge. He makes a move, pulling a gun from behind him. Glenn tackles me as Merle and I both let off shots. I miss from being taken to the ground.

   When I look up Merle is nowhere in sight, and neither is Maggie. Glenn and I split to round the vehicle from both sides. Merle is on the ground holding Maggie with a gun to her head. His back is to me, but I'm worried I'll hit Maggie if I fire. Glenn is standing in front of them, gun pointed at Merle looking pissed. 

   "Hey, hey, hold up, buddy, hold up!" Merle says. 

   "Let go of her. Let go of her!" Glenn yells. I debate pulling my knife and attacking, but with his gun so close to her head what if he is able to pull the trigger before I can kill him or get the gun away? 

   "We have you from both sides," I say. "Let go of her or we kill you." I don't actually think he'll fall for my bluff, but if there's a chance words can get Maggie out of this I have to try.

   "You aren't going to do anything. You might kill me, but will it before I kill her? Put your guns in the car right now," Merle says. My lips purse, but I don't move. Maybe I can make the shot. Maybe I can put a bullet in his head without hitting Maggie. Maybe...

   "Ivy!" My eyes flick up to Glenn. He'd put his gun in the car. "Just do it." I glance between him and Merle, struggling with what to do. What is he going to do when we put our guns down? Kill us all? What's the point of sacrificing ourselves if Maggie dies anyway? What would Sam and Dean do? Would they surrender? Would they fire? I wish they were here. I need them. I need them to tell me what to do. How do I protect Glenn and Maggie? "Ivy." I stare at Glenn, tears pricking my eyes. His voice is softer now, not demanding like it was before. "Please." I can see the panic and pain in his eyes and the thought of losing her. I slowly lower my gun before my shoulders slump, and I reach in through a window to toss it in the back of the car. 

   "There you go. Now, we're gonna go for a little drive," Merle says, smugly. 

   "We're not going back to our camp," Glenn says. 

   "No, we're going somewhere else. Get in the car, Glenn! You're driving. The brat gets in the passenger seat. Move!" His aggressive movements with Maggie give Glenn pause. He has a pained look on his face.

   "Don't," he murmurs weakly, knowing he can't do anything to help Maggie. "Okay." He looks to me and nods motioning for me to get in the car. I open the car door and get in the passenger seat. I peer out at Merle, fear and hate swirling in my chest.

   "Get up!" Merle drags Maggie off the ground as rips open the back door as Glenn gets in the driver's seat. Glenn looks at me then back at them through the mirror. Anger is rolling off him, but there's nothing we can do. "Drive."