The Walking Dead: My Point Of View

Chapter Nine

I wake up in a daze, on the couch of the living room. Jackie is leaning against the chair, watching me. Jess is staring at me, tears wetting her pale cheeks. She sees me awake, and is by my side in a second. "Are you okay?" is all I can make out in her sobs. "I-I'm fine." I stutter, barely able to get the words out. The blue-haired girl hugs me, worry plastered across her face. "Can you tell me what happened?" That's all she has to say for me to start shaking violently. Finally, I am able to speak. "The same thing as last time..." With that, Jess nods, stands up, and takes Jackie into the other room. I can hear them talking to one another. "Why is this happening?" I hear Jackie question softly. "I don't know... It seems as though he's targeting her, but why?" Jess replies. "Hello! Marin is totally against Michael, isn't she?" Jackie answers the girl's pleading question. "Because Michael was the one we saved... So that's why that thing's after Marin, it thinks she's going to hurt or kill him... It's accurate, isn't it? !" Jess puts the information together. "What are we supposed to do?! Marin wouldn't do it.. Would she?" "No, she's not that kind of person." The purple haired girl says. Of course I wouldn't hurt him. Only if he tried hurting one of us. "Jackie! Jessie!" I holler over to them. "Yeah?" They say at the same time, while walking over to me. "I don't know... What if I'm a danger to the group? I don't want to hurt anyone..." I quietly ask. "You won't." Jackie replies while cracking her knuckles. "I'll make sure of it." I froze and then backed away from her. "Jackie, really?!" Jess glares at the girl. "God, I was just kidding!" Jackie laughs, but then sternly tells me that I'm not to hurt Michael. "Fine, 'mom'. Sooo afraid." I sarcastically roll my eyes as Jackie raises her eyebrows, locking her eyes with mine. "Guys, stop it. Neither of you are going to hurt each other, either. Understood?" Jess interrupts our staring contest. "Ugh fine." I say, and turn to Jackie one last time. "We'll finish this la-" "Marin. Enough." Jess grabs my arms and holds me back. I struggle to break free, but that results in her grip tightening. "Struggling isn't going to get you anywhere right now." She tries reasoning with me. "Then let me go!" I growl. The girl lets go of me, and I throw myself onto the couch. Jackie and I then continue with our staring contest. "I give up." Jess sighs, and walks out of the room. "You know, you can give up now." I say to Jackie, who is giving me a stern look. "Try me." She replies, before tackling me to the floor. "What the hell?! Not fair!" I holler. "Nothing's fair in the apocalypse. I take it you've learned that by now." Jackie starts. She puts her hand on my shoulder, pulling me close and into a hug. "You're going to need to start getting used to the facts of life now, Marin. We all are." She reasons with me, and I nod. "What's going on in the world, nowadays?" I ask. Jackie shakes her head. "I don't know." is all she replies with. I feel a slight wetness on my eyes, and before I know it, Jackie's wiping tears from not only my face, but hers as well. "You'll be okay, we all will." She assures me. I shake my head. "No one is safe. We're all in danger." I reply. "Not if we stay together. We've made it this far already as a group." I think about what she said, and then nod. "You're right. I do feel safer when I'm around you." Jackie smiles and says "That's good. You should feel safe around all of us." My smile fades as I start to think. "B-But what about... Him?" "Marin, listen to me. I would never, ever let anything happen to you. I promise, and you know that promises are things I never make, and never break." What she tells me brings hot tears in my eyes, soon rolling down my cheeks. "That's what I said to my sister when all this sh*t started in the first place!" I sob, and hide my face in the arm of the couch. "Aw Marin... I'm so sorry." Jackie sits next to me and wraps her arms around me, pulling me into a hug. "I could have helped, I could have done something!"

"Marin, no you couldn't have-"

"It's all my fault!"

"Don't blame yourself for this, it's not your fault!"

"Yes... It... Is!"

"Marin!"

Jackie tightens her grip, knowing I'm about to have a breakdown. "It's not your fault. It never was!" She tries telling me, but I shake my head. "My fault, my fault, my fau-" "No. It. Isn't. It never was your fault." She reasons. I just break free and run into my room, not wanting her to see me crying like this. I hear Jackie running down the hallway towards my room, but Sophie stops her. "Let me give it a try." She softly tells her. Jackie mutters an "okay", and before I know it, I'm sitting next to Soph on my bed, and she's lecturing on how the entire apocalypse isn't my fault. "Okay, okay, I get it." I sigh. "Good. We don't want you thinking like that, Marin."

"I'll be fine, Sophie. Trust me."

"You'd better be."

And yet I thought I didn't have to fake being okay in the apocalypse... I was wrong on that one. Way wrong.