My Secrets In The Apocalypse

Chapter 6

"Ok Fine, I'll tell you," she sighed.
"My father was a very stupid and selfish man", she paused noticing how they seemed to be hanging on her every word. Quick version, she reminded herself. "He was a gambling man, but not a very good one. He got in a bad situation with some worse people, and by the time I was six years old every major crime family in the area had a price on his head."
"The hell does that have to do with any of this?" Daryl growled out impatiently.
"I'm gettin to it," she said. "Anyway, the head of the biggest crime organization in the area decided to make a deal with my father. He would pay off all the debts he owed to everyone and forgive the debt he owed to himself in exchange for something else." She took a deep breath trying not to get angry at the memories.
"What was it?" Glenn asked.
"Me," she sighed. "My father bartered me away for financial security," venom dripping from her words. She would never forget the feeling of betrayal she felt when she found out that he had sacrificed any chance for her to have a normal, happy life for his own selfish reasons.
"The boss 'adopted' me and spent the next 10 years teaching me their way of life. Then when I was old enough, he put me to work," she sighed. "I've done a lot of bad things, my hands definitely have blood on them," she confessed.
"When I turned twenty I ran away, I just couldn't take it anymore. I didn't want to be that person anymore. I decided to lock that part of myself away forever and try to live normally. And I did for four years, until the world went to shit." She felt satisfied that she had gotten the general facts out without all the dirty details.
"And Jim knew," Rick stated simply.
"He knew," she nodded "I don't know exactly how much he knew, he never did say, but he knew enough."
"And he never said anything?" Carol said with a shaky voice. She clearly wasn't handling the news well. "What about the children for goodness sakes! She was teaching them to fight! What else could she have been teaching them? Who know what she's been filling their heads with!" she rambled on her voice steadily raising.
"Hold up a damn second!" Riley nearly yelled standing up from her chair. "Jim never told y'all because he didn't see the need to, he believed me when I told him I'd left that life behind! Besides, what good would it do for me to hurt y'all? If I'd wanted to kill you people, trust me I'd have done by now!" she stormed out of the dining area back to her room slamming the door behind her.

Riley flopped down in her bed burying her face in the pillow. She knew it was just a matter of time until they'd come knocking on her door to ask her to leave. She cursed herself for letting her temper get the best of her like that. If there was any chance they might understand, she probably ruined it by acting that way. She huffed and shut her eyes deciding to get some rest while she still had a chance to.

When Riley woke up it took her a minute to remember where she was. How long had she been asleep? She got out of bed feeling better and more rested than she had in a long time. She didn't know what time it was but her stomach growling convinced her to leave her room and get some breakfast. When Riley got to the dining room she could smell food but there was no one around. She noticed a stack of dirty dishes on the counter and a serving plate with what was left of the food they'd had. She didn't know if they'd purposely saved her some or not but she quickly ate what was left anyway. She didn't know what was happening yet and she needed to make sure to eat what she could, while she could.

After her meal she wandered back to her room and settled back down on her bed. She had heard voices as people passed by her door but didn't bother to try and talk to them. She just laid in bed soaking up the comfortable relaxing atmosphere while she still could.
She'd laid there for a while daydreaming about what things would be like if the world hadn't ended, but the noticeable sound of the air shutting off snapped her back into reality. Curiosity getting the best of her, she peeked her head out the door only to notice everyone else doing the same thing. No one said a word to her as they all started making their way down the hallway talking about something happening with the generators. Obviously Riley had missed something this morning. Feeling nosey she decided to tag along behind the group keeping a good bit of distance behind them. By the time she made it to the computer room she heard yelling and Rick was holding a very pissed off Shane back from Dr. Jenner. To say she was confused would be an understatement. She looked around at the group of people that either didn't notice her presence or didn't want to acknowledge her, she wasn't sure which yet.