Surviving The Walking Dead (BOOK ONE IN THE SURVIVING THE WALKING DEAD SERIES)

Blondie

FOUR MONTHS LATER

Merle and I have been getting into trouble a lot lately, from secret hunting trips, pulling stupid pranks, stealing whiskey from the bar, all harmless fun, but The Governor wasn't amused and has been piling up the night shift guard duties on us as punishment. He apologized for hitting me a few months ago, and I finally forgave him, but only for the sake of Merle's plan. I knew I couldn't trust Philip anymore, but Merle said him hitting me was only a small taste of what he's capable of.

I gave Martinez the cartons of Menthols I found at the gas station in exchange for more Spanish lessons. I guess he felt awkward about teaching me after The Governor and I got into it. But sure, I'll give you cancer sticks for Spanish lessons, hell, I didn't have to pay for them anyways. Merle and I have guard duty tonight, but we decided to sneak out for an early morning hunt before dealing with that bullshit.

Don't get me wrong, we hunted when we saw something worthy of bringing back, but otherwise our hunting mainly consisted of us looking for the others or training ourselves to fight our way out of Woodbury if things go south. Merle and I decided to split up, but not be more than a few hundred yards apart, just in case we got overrun with walkers.

Pop! Pop! Pop! The faint sound of gunshots echoed through the woods. "Do ya hear that?" I asked Merle.

"Gunshots." Merle noted. "We need to get back." I ignored Merle and listened again, trying to figure out which direction they were coming from. Pop! Pop! Pop! North. I instantly took off running. "Michaela, stop!" I didn't listen, I kept running, all the way to the edge of the woods. POP! POP! POP! The gunshots grew louder as a large building came into view. A prison.

People were rushing the yard, taking out every walker in site. I watched in awe as a single person run up the dirt road towards the prison before disappearing into one of the guard towers. The prison was a good distance away, but I could tell these people had the numbers. Was it the others? I couldn't tell, I was too far away to make out any faces or distinguishing features. As the gunshots stopped the people walked out onto the grass area. I quickly crouched down as one person turned and looked in my direction. They probably didn't see me, but I wasn't sure if hey could or not. "Michaela, what the hell are ya do-" I quickly grabbed Merle by his shirt and yanked him down to the ground. "What the fuck?" Merle snapped.

"Ssshhh!" I hissed. I pointed to the building off in the distance. "Do ya see what I see?" Merle fixated his eyes on the large prison.

"A prison. So what? The Governor deemed it overrun shortly after they picked my ass up off the streets."

"Look closer, old man." I grumbled. "There's people in the fences, they're armed, they've got the numbers."

"All the reason to avoid 'em."

"I'm gonna get a closer look." I stood up and began to walk closer to the prison.

"Michaela, no." Merle grabbed me by my shirt and yanked me back down to the ground.

"What if it's the others? Don't ya want to see Daryl again?"

"Of course I do, I'm just thinkin' logically."

"Sounds to me ya don't give a fuckin' shit."

"Don't twist my fuckin' words on me, ya know damn well that I've been lookin' for my brother since I got off that goddamn rooftop."

"Then why are ya bein' such a coward?"

"I ain't bein' a fuckin' coward, I'm lookin' out for us. Say we get a closer look and it ain't them, if we get caught, do ya honestly think they're gonna roll out the welcome wagon?"He was right, what if it wasn't them? It'd just be more trouble than it's worth. "Look, I wanna find 'em as much as you do, but I don't wanna lose another hand in the process. Michaela, ya ain't Wonder Woman, stop actin' like you're invincible. " I let out a frustrated sigh.