Promises

Chapter Twenty

Bringing up the rear, I ran in after Carl. I held my gun up high with my flashlight under it. I noticed that there was a basement so I slowly began to descend the staircase. I couldn't see any walkers, thank god, so I decided to see if there was any food. Unluckily, there wasn't anything apart from a couple of batteries but I didn't knew whether they worked or not. When I went back up I gave Rick a little nod and he called the others in.

I followed the others to the livingroom when I sat down on the floor. George sat next to me and pulled me into a hug, I rested my head on his shoulder. I noticed Carl give me an upset look but I just pushed it off. Carl pulled out two cans of dog food. He started opening it and the smell filled the room and it overtook me.The worse part is, I could feel my mouth watering at the smell. 

Rick walked over to Carl and grabbed the can before lobbing it across the room. Everyone jumped. Especially me. Luckily, dad had shot an owl that was upstairs. I was so hungry. Dad was trying to hunt but there were hardly any animals. 

Not long after, we had to leave because walkers had started coming towards the house. We were back on the road. And that was our life now. Like always, to travel I was sitting on the back of my dad's motorcycle. My last hair band had snapped so my hair was down and going everywhere from the wind blowing through it. But that's the way I like it. It reminds me of the good times when me and dad used to go on little rides, just because I liked it.

The adults were all talking to each other,leaving us (kids) out even though it was our lives as well. Rick wanted to circle back around to the town that we've just been through. 

"Don't they know that this is a waste of time? And gas?And energy?" I muttered.

George pulled me closer, "No. They're not as smart as you." 

I pretended to gag. "Shut up." I joked around with him.

"Do you want to go scope out the area?" George asked.

"Do you mind if I have a few minutes to myself?" I wondered.

"Of course." He kissed my head and I walked off.

I started walking around, my knife in my hand. Waiting for the unexpected. I saw Beth and Carl, alone, in the middle of the woods. I didn't want to be a jealous ex but I decided to listen to them.

"...make you upset?" Beth asked.

Carl answered, "Of course, but she's happy."

"Don't you deserve to be happy?" Beth questioned.

"Not after what I did to her." Carl whispered.

Dad and Rick were on a hunt and I wanted to hunt as well while T- Dog and the girls were washing their clothes and getting water. 

I walked away. I started looking around for things to scavenge but there was nothing. I noticed an opening in the bushes so I decided to follow it. I slowly made my way towards the edge without losing my way back. 

As I went to the clearing, I could see a large prison complex. It looked really secure. I looked around and saw Rick and dad. I walked over to them, but I don't think that they saw me. 

"This looks like a good place, right?" I spoke up.

"You're right. We could sort this place." Rick said to himself.

Dad pulled me into a side hug. I could tell by the look on Rick's face that he was in love with the prison. I looked and all I could think is that we'd finally be safe. 

"Welcome home." I whispered to no one in particular but I don't think that I was heard.

We walked up to the edge of the fence, only killing the walkers that we had to. We cut open the fence, quickly getting into the gap. When climbing through, we had to be careful to not cut ourselves on the sharp wire edges. Once we were all through, Glenn and dad closed it before any walkers could get in. We ran around the edge, until we got to the main entrance. 

"How do we shut the gate?" Hershel asked, getting my attention.

"I'll do it." Glenn offered, "You guys, cover me."

"No. Suicide run." Maggie told him.

"I'm the fastest." Glenn reminded her.

"Actually, I'm the fastest." I corrected.

"No. You, Maggie and Beth, draw as much attention to you as you can over there. Daryl, you, George and Jasmine go back to the tower. Carol, you've become a pretty good shot. Take your time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste. Hershel, you and Carl take this tower." Rick told us, "I'll run for the gate."

"Rick." I spoke up, "I should run."

"You're too young." He brushed me off.

"That's not an excuse anymore. Now, it's about skill not age so stop brushing me off. Stop not including me because I can help." I argued. "I'm the fastest and most nimble so it'd be easier for me to dodge them. I'm also a smaller target so I'm less likely to get hit in the crossfire."

"Daryl?" Rick asked for permission.

"Do you think that you can do it, Jas?" He looked me in the eyes and I gave him a smile and nod, "She can do it. If she believes that she can then she can."

Rick passed me the chains before joining Carl and Hershel in their tower. Everyone started to draw the walkers' attention to them so I'd have an easier escape.

Lori gave me a kiss on the check before opening the gates, as soon as I could get through, I did. I had my gun in one hand and the chains in the other. I was ready to shot. A bullet suddenly shot the ground right in front of me before I heard a faint sorry from Carol. I carried on as I wasn't that far from the gates and it hadn't hit me. I pulled the gate as hard as I could but it was too heavy. More walkers were coming into the field. Coming at me. I started breathing heavy.My vision was going fuzzy when the gate started moving. I pulled it, closing it, before locking it shut. 

I went to the closest tower, which was luckily empty. I sat on the floor, hugging my knees. I could heard my heart in my ears, pounding. Trying to escape from my body. The shooting outside, finally came to an end and I heard the door open. I quickly hugged whoever it was, just so i knew that they were real. Their hand started rubbing my back and hushing me, I hadn't noticed that I was crying, and I knew who it was. This was familiar territory and I liked it but I shouldn't. This didn't stop me from carrying on but only because I needed to know that everything was fine.

"What happened?" Carl whispered.

"The gate got stuck. Or I wasn't strong enough to push it and I started freaking out." I said but it was barely audible.

He carried on comforting me,"It's all okay now," he repeated, "you're fine. Everyone's fine."

I remembered the last time we was like this. Hershel's farm had been overtaken and everyone had fled. I meet him on the highway and I thought that everyone was dead. He knew how I was feeling but I hadn't said a word. I didn't need to. We were that close. 

I heard someone else walk up to the tower and they let out a sigh before walking away. I pulled away from Carl and went outside, my eyes hurt as the tower had been pitch black. The adults were clearing out a small space for us to stay tonight and they're going to do the rest tomorrow. George was the one who had come to the tower, so I quickly ran up to him and hugged him from behind. 

"Jasmine. Get off." He sternly said.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

"No. You're sorry that you got caught." He spat.

"I thought that I was going to die. He was the first person there to comfort me." I told him, "I was scared. The adrenalin had worn off. I was stuck in between two fields filled with walkers. We wouldn't of had enough ammo to kill them all and I wouldn't of made it back to the gate without being eaten alive. Then one of you would of had to kill me and then if you didn't then I would of eaten you as well."

I walked away to the group and hugged my dad. Who would be left to do it? Beth and Lori are out of the question. Dad would've broken down, like with Sophia, and so would Carol. I don't think that Carl would be able or allowed to do it, neither would George. Glenn wouldn't of, he couldn't do it to Sophia and we're closer. Maggie wouldn't and neither would Hershel. T-Dog doesn't seem like he'd be able. Would Rick do it? Or are we too close.