memories ✯ carl grimes

four

MEMORIES
four | ❝Jamie❞

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THE GROUP MOVED AS ONE, and it was smooth sailing until the gas station. From there, it was basically a coin toss on how to approach the prison. In the end, it was decided that cutting straight through the forest would be better than following the road and possibly ending up further away. That's why Jamie had said to leave the bus - if they left it near the prison, other people might see it.

Marnie followed the group into the forest. She was holding her knife tightly with one hand, using the other hand to cling to Jamie's shirt. She didn't want to risk losing him. There was a groan from a walker, and the sound of a branch snapping. Marnie's head whipped around, but she saw Sam taking care of it. She allowed herself a breathe of relief.

Another walker stumbled out of the shadows, this time coming close to Marnie. Jamie spotted it first and drive his knife into its skull. Blood sprayed against Marnie's face, but she was used to it by now.

"We should move faster," Jamie said, his voice low. No one disagreed, and the group moved from a walk to a gentle job. Marnie felt her chest burn from the amount of cold air she was taking in. Her feet began to ache each time she slammed them against the ground.

There was a scream from behind us which sounded like Donna, and Jamie pushed Marnie behind him as he turned around. He doubled back as Bear reached Marnie's side. She could make out a walker latched onto Donna's arm as she thrashed around, trying to get away. Allen bought his hatchet down onto the walkers skull, and he released Donna. But the damage was done.

Ben was sobbing, trying to stop the bleeding from his mother. It was distasteful, what Marnie was thinking. Donna would turn soon, and pose a threat. She didn't want to admit it, but maybe killing her now would be safer for the group.

"You need to be quiet," Carly hissed, trying to calm down Ben. He was picking up leaves and all sorts, pushing it into the wound but to no avail. "Little help here, Jamie."

"Look, man," Jamie began, staring at Allen. Allen scoffed, shaking his head.

"You're not serious," he said. He didn't need to know what Jamie was about to say. "That's my wife. My wife. Don't do this."

"You know as well as I do what's gonna happen if I don't," Jamie responded. But it didn't look like Allen was willing to listen. He looked away from Jamie, as if thinking of something to say, before swinging his arm back and clocking Jamie.

Jamie stumbled back, grabbing his jaw in his hands. Sam leapt forward and pushed Allen back. With one hand around Allen's neck, Sam drew his other hand back and began punching. Ty ran forward, but before he could reach Sam, three walkers emerged. One grabbed Sam, who was distracted, and sunk its teeth into his neck.

Carly screamed and ran forward, only to be bitten too. And Allen, who was bleeding from his nose and mouth, was being gnawed on, a walker chewing on his head. Jamie yelled something unclear, before firing his gun.

Marnie stood, staring at the view. She could feel her trousers becoming warm and wet. Fear had taken over her. Sam and Carly? She couldn't cry. She could just watch.

Carly's cries were echoing through the forest as Sasha stabbed the walker on her arm. She fell back, clutching her arm, not taking her eyes off of Sam, who was unmoving. Sasha was holding onto her gun, and it looked like she was about to shoot Carly, but she hesitated.

Jamie, of course, didn't. He shot Carly in the head, then Allen, and then Scott. Donna was the last, who was already unconscious from blood loss. He stood for a moment, staring at the gun in his hands, before throwing it to the ground. He dropped to his knees.

"Jamie," Marnie found herself whispering. It was so quiet that no one could hear her.

"What the fuck," he muttered, grabbing onto his head, "what the fuck. What the fuck."

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Ben had killed himself. Or at least, it was implied. Jamie didn't want to pick the gun up after the dropped it. He couldn't look at Marnie, either. He walked past her and Bear, hurrying towards the prison. Ben didn't go with them, but as they walked away, there was a single gunshot.

Nobody said anything. Marnie's trousers were growing more uncomfortable to walk in. She felt like a child. She was twelve, and had wet herself? It was embarrassing; degrading. Hopefully, no one had noticed. Or maybe they would think it was blood.

One thing that Marnie knew for certain, was that she wouldn't be speaking for a while. It wasn't something that she chose to do, it just happened. It's like she knew what to say, and how to say it, but when she opened her mouth, nothing would come out.

The metal fencing of the prison came into view. There were a few walkers in the courtyard, but not enough to turn the group away. Bear took out what looked like a giant pair of scissors and cut through the fence, peeling it back to make a hole. Marnie followed as Jamie led the way. There was a door which didn't seem to be locked, and which led them to the interior of the prison.

It was pitch black inside the prison. The few windows that were dotted along the walls were covered in a thick layer of dust. As Marnie walked, she noticed she was stepping in blood, and guts, and probably other things she didn't want to think about. There was a door on their right labelled 'boiler room'.

Ty opened the door, takes a look in, and shuts it again.

"Walkers," he said, shaking his head, "too many. We don't have the numbers."

"So we keep going," Sasha responded, "they'll be other rooms further down."

"They could be worse," Jamie retorted. "How many were in there? Ball park it."

Ty raised his eyebrows and puffed his cheeks out, thinking. He shrugged, guessing fifteen. Fifteen walkers, and five adults. Marnie didn't count herself into the equation. The only thing she was good at doing was standing and watching in horror.

Jamie looked at Marnie. His eyes fell to her trousers, and she shuffled around, embarrassed. He walked towards her, crouching to her level once more.

"Do you trust me?" he asked. Marnie nodded head. "Do you trust me to get you through this room safely?"

Marnie nodded again, and Jamie stood up. He nodded to the remaining members of the group, before opening the door back up. There was sounds of bones cracking, and blood squelching, and Marnie peered in at the sight.

That's when she saw him. A boy, about her age, wearing a sheriffs hat. He was holding a gun, and it was pointed at Sasha. Before Marnie could speak, he fired it, and it hit a walker next to her. Everyone spun around, their hands holding their ears at the ringing the gun had caused.

"What are you waiting for?" the boy said, loudly, "come on!"

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Okay. So if you're new reading this, and you're reading the comments, you're probably thinking wtf is happening. That's because when I started this book in 2016 (it's now 2024), I had a very different vision for it.

For instance, now Jamie is a guy, not a girl, and is biologically related to Marnie. And about half of the OCs I had don't exist. So I'm sorry for any confusion the comments might cause, but I promise you, this edited version is 100x better than the original.

Toodles