Mute

O N E

"Do you ever think the world will go back to normal?" Maggie asked, as we sat on the porch swing, overlooking the fields. I open my red marker and write "I hope" on my board.

"Me too." Our conversation was cut short by three men running towards the farm, screaming for Hershel. Maggie was fast to get dad, as the men approached still screaming bloody murder. 

"Hershel!" A man yelled, holding something in his arms. As he got to the porch, I saw it was a little boy. "My boy. Shot by your man Otis." The man explains, gasping for air.

"Inside." Dad says, rushing the bloody man and his boy into our house. Maggie rushed inside with dad, leaving me to deal with the other man and Otis. I rush and grab my dry erase board, writing "What happened?", then turned it around so Otis could read it. He looked petrified while he read my question. 

"I'll tell you what happend, this man here shot that little boy." The other man said, throwing daggers at Otis, before storming inside after the man and the boy.

"It was an accident. The bullet went straight through the buck." Otis explains, trembling at the thought of shooting a child. Even though it was an accident Otis felt as if he could have done something to avoid it. "Its ok." I hurriedly wrote, feeling bad for Otis. Otis has always been soft hearted, especially towards kids, so i cant imagined what he's feeling right now. 

Otis walked into the house, leaving me outside to listen to the screams of the small boy and the panicked words of his father. Soon, the boys screams of pain calmed and Maggie came rushing out, making me fear the worst for the boy. What confused me the most was she was holding a baseball bat, making me wonder what she was planning on doing with it.

"Got to go find Rick, the boys' fathers, wife. Somewhere on the old highway." Maggie explains, noticing the confused look that I was giving her and the bat. I stuck out my hand, telling her to wait, as I wrote on my board, "Is he ok? And be safe." 

"He's ok, but not great." Maggie answers me, before running off, not giving me time to write anything else. Maggie leaves, rushing off on her horse, on a quest to find 'Ricks' wife, whose name I was not given. 

The little child's screams start back up, making clench my eyes shut, as i cringe at his loud, piercing, shouts of pain and agony. I can't do this any more. I get up off the porch swing, rushing into the stables, getting on Midnight, a completely black horse and galloping into the woods, away from my home. Next thing I know, I'm in the middle of the woods and it's almost dark. Fuck!

"Get off the horse slowly." A ruff voice orders from behind. Hesitantly, i follow his orders, getting off Midnight and turning to face the man. He had dark brown hair, piercing blue eyes, a very strong redneck draw, a vest and a loaded crossbow aimed at my head. "What's your name?" Fuck, i forgot my board. I hope he can read sign language. 

I sign 'Nicole' to the stranger, watching as he gave me a very 'What the fuck' look. Welp, just my luck, he doesn't understand. Great.

"What the hell are you doing with your fingers?" The stranger asks, making me roll my eyes. Looks like archer boy here doesn't even know what sign language is. Ugh. I was going to sign him, sign language, then I remembered it would be useless. "Nevermind. Got any weapons on  you?" He asked, lowering his weapons, ever so slightly. I purse my lips into a straight line, knowing that I better tell the truth, because it gives me a better chance at surviving and escaping the stranger. I unsheath my bowie knife and throwing knives, tossing them in front of me, glaring at the archer as he watched me with debating eyes, worrying me a little, but i refuse to let it show.

"That all?" Archer boy asks, I nod since he can understand that. He stares at me, finally lowering his weapons all the way down, making a wave of relief flow over me. Midnight let out a small grumble, hungry and wanting to go home.I reach over and pet his fur, never taking my eyes off of the stranger. "You don't talk much, do ya girly?" The annoying stranger speaks once again, starting to piss me off. I ignore his question and go to grab my weapons, making him raise his once more. I roll my eyes and huff, crossing my arms and glaring at him. This guy I swear. 

"You haven't seen a little girl out here have you?" The man asks, making wonder if he lost someone, but i shake my head no. It's completely dark out and i can barely see shit, can't wait to hear dad's mouth when i get back. "Get your things and go." Was the last thing the stranger said, before stomping away, leaving me alone and struggling to get back home.