The Next World

Chapter 36

"I'm proud of you. You did real good," I whispered to her.

"Thanks," she said.

"Are you seriously that stupid?" Rosita asked.

"Lay off, Rosita," I said.

"Amelia, it's okay," Denise said.

She turned to look at Rosita.

"Are you? I mean it. Are you? Do you have any clue what that was to me, what this whole thing is to me? See, I have training in this shit. I'm not making it up as I go along, like with the stitches and the surgery and the...I asked you to come with me because you're brave like my brother and sometimes you actually make me feel safe. I asked Amelia to come because she is one of the kindest and smartest people I've ever met and she gave me the strength to come out here. To step up and help. And I wanted you here because you're alone. Probably for the first time in your life. And because you're stronger than you think you are, which gives me hope that maybe I can be, too," she continued looking at each of us.

We all allowed her to speak. No words were spoken except those Denise had to get off her chest.

"I could've gone with Tara. I could've told her I loved her but I didn't, because I was afraid. That's what's stupid. Not coming out here, not facing my shit. And it makes me sick that you guys aren't even trying because you're strong and you're smart and you're all really good people, and if you don't wake...up...and face your..." she wasn't able to finish.

At that moment, a familiar looking arrow had pierced her head and straight through her eye socket. My eyes widened at the sight of her body falling down. I quickly caught her and knelt down.

"No, Denise. No," I said.

It all happened so quickly. My mind didn't have time to process it all. I felt like I'd been punched right in the gut. Daryl and Rosita drew their weapons and pointed them at the direction the arrow came from. I was still on the ground, holding onto Denise tightly. I couldn't move.

"You drop, em now!" a man ordered from the woods.

I looked up and a group of men had emerged from the trees. The man that made the order was dragging a tied up Eugene. He and Abraham had gone out to scavenge before Rosita, Daryl, Denise and I had left.

"Eugene," I whispered.

The left side of the man's face was badly burned. I gently placed Denise's head on the ground and stood up.

"Well, hell," the man with the burnt face said.

He was carrying a crossbow. And not just any crossbow. Daryl's crossbow. This was the guy who had taken him hostage in the burnt forest.

"You got something to say to me? You gonna clear the air? Step up on that high horse? No. You don't talk much," he said addressing Daryl.

I clenched my fist. He then signaled his men to search us. Three men came forward and patted us down. They took away our weapons and our bags. I glared at the man who'd been doing all the talking. He killed Denise. He was gonna pay.

"Still getting the hang of her. Kicks like a bitch, but uh," the man started.

"I should have done it," Daryl said cutting him off.

"Oh, what's that? Seriously, I didn't catch what you said," he said.

"Not really hard to know why," I said harshly.

He looked at me and smiled cynically.

"I should've killed ya," Daryl continued.

"Yeah you probably should've. So here we are. Kind if begs the question, right? Who brought this on who? I mean, I get that you'll just have to take my word for this but...she wasn't even the one I was aiming for," he said.

"You son of a..." I said moving forward but the man who'd searched me grabbed hold of my arm tightly.

"I'll get to you in a minute darlin'. Like I said, kicks like a bitch. It's nothing personal. Look, this isn't how we like to start new business arrangements, but, well you pricks kind of set the tone, didn't you?" the man said.

"What do you want?" Rosita asked.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I didn't catch your name. I'm D or Dwight. You can call me either. So? What's your name?" Dwight asked.

"Rosita. What do you want?" Rosita repeated.

"And how about you darlin'? You got a name?" he asked looking over at me.

"Amelia. Now, answer the question, asshole," I said.

"Well, Rosita...Amelia...it's not what I want. It's what the both of you and Daryl are gonna do. You're going to let us into your pretty little complex. It looks like it's just beautiful in there. And then you're going to let us take whatever and whoever we want...or we blow Eugene's brains out. And then yours and Amelia's. And then his. I hope it doesn't come to that, really. Nobody else has to die. We just try and start with one. You know...maximum impact to get our point across. So what's it gonna be? You tell me," Dwight answered.

The three of us continued to glare at him.

"You wanna kill someone, you start with our companion hiding over there behind the oil barrels. He's a first-class a-hole and he deserves it so much more than us four," Eugene said.

We all looked to the oil barrels but there was no one there. Dwight pulled out a gun.

"Go check it out," he ordered.

One of his men headed over. I looked over at Eugene. Who was he talking about? There was no one there. Maybe he was trying to distract them. Right when the man got closer, Eugene went ahead and bit down on Dwight's dick. Dwight started to scream. There was then shots being fired at the men from behind. I recognized the red hair instantaneously. It was Abraham. The men were focused on Abraham and so I used that to my advantage. I elbowed the man next to me in the face and grabbed my rifle. I shot him down. Daryl slit the throat of the one next to him and we retreated behind the cars. Rosita grabbed her rifle and did the same. We fired at all of them. Dwight was still screaming in pain while he was trying his hardest to get Eugene off of him. More gunfire was being exchanged. Dwight had finally managed to get Eugene off. Walkers suddenly emerged from the woods. We were taking them out along with the other men. I looked over the hood of the car and fired some more. A bullet suddenly caught my right arm.

"Shit!" I yelled ducking back behind the car.