TWDG//

TWENTY-SIX

All I can hear is the ringing in my ears as everyone runs out to the side of the cage. I look over at Cian.
"AJ, go" She says, holding her shoulder. I nod, and walk after Clementine. We can't really do much at the moment, except I slip my hand into hers. Clementine grips back. We walk around, and Im instantly hit with the familiar stench of walkers. I gag.
Piles and piles of old walkers, dead, skewered and burned lay in piles.
I hear alive ones in the other fence.
"We need to cover ourselves."'I say. Everyone nods, and hesitantly bend down to pick any remains to hold them safe. I grab the middle stomach of a short walker, possibly a kid, and smother it on Tenn's jumper.
"Let's go." Javi yells, the shots in the background more like normal now. Gabe kicks open the latch in the timber door; Small and tiny. Willy darts in front, crawling on his hands and knees through. Violet pushes me up next. I look at everyone before crawling in myself.
Walkers.Are. Everywhere. Drawn to the sound of bullets. And where there are bullets, there is sometimes blood. The trees are invisible to the dark, and all we can do is be among the dead. I hear everyone coming through behind me.
"What do we do now?" Ruby asks. We all stand, back to back, away from any walkers.
"I can't come." Cian says.
"Why?!" Gavin asks, an oblivious walker pushing past him.
"Because.." Cian pulls back her cardigan to show the blood. "I'll put everyone in danger." Cian steps back near the latch. "Just go."
"No... I won't fucking lose you again!" Gavin yells, killing an inconspicuous lurker. "They'll kill you if you go back!"
"I'll die here!" Cian protests. "Get to the truck, and go!"
Gavin shakes his head as Javi pulls him away. "Cian, fight em' off, and we'll come back in the truck."
Cian looks at her feet. "I'll try."'
We all run past walkers, rushing to save the life. Aasim falls, gripping his leg.
"Fuck!" He yells. "Help!"
Ruby and I both break from the pact to save him, but already, a walker bites into his threat, Aasim's ready screams gone. Ruby cries out.
"We need to go!" I yell, tears in my eyes as I drag Ruby away. Ruby doesn't budge. I sigh, and let go, catching up with everyone else.
"He's gone..he's gone!" Willy cries.
"Come on, we can do this!" Gavin says, as we approach the truck. He opens the door, and gets in the driver's seat. "Get in the back!" I run to the passenger door, while everyone opens the back door. Gavin nods as I climb up and shut the door. The truck vibrates, and goes with a violent turn, pushing me into the window. Dark red stains the window as I do. The headlights light out onto the wall in front of us.
The window shatters.
"Fuck, get down!" Gavin cries. I slide off my seat and bow on the ground, hands over my head. The gunshots near us, and Gavin tries his best to avoid the bullets. The glass on the floor creates needles into my knees as I suck in shallow breaths from where I crouch. We keep going, until the warm spray of blood splatters my face. I gasp, and groan as I lean up to find Gavin dileriously spinning the wheel with one hand, the other pressed against his cheek. I begin to get up from my position, before the truck stops, my posture thrown forward at the glove box.
My head swoons as I feel the back of the truck opening.
"AJ..." I hear Gavin murmuring. "Your fine!"
The truck continues to move forward. Black and white shapes interrupt my wary vision as I close my eyes.
...
I gasp, and shove the hand off me as the person drags me, slumped against the chair. I sigh, and rub my eyes with my balled fists.
It's morning, the trees in front of us indicating that we've been travelling for some time. The truck is stopped, and I see Louis walking out in front of the truck. I lean forward. The way the sun shines through tells me that recent rain has spread all over the barked ground. I sigh, and flinch my head towards Gavin, only to hold it in pain.
"Ow." I grimace, and pull my hand away. No blood.
"It's been a tough night, AJ." Gavin shakes his head. He turns, and I see that the cheek that isn't scarred has a thin pallid coloured bandaid across it. The blood has soaked through the pad.
"Yeah.." I murmur. "Is...everyone okay?"
Gavin sighs. "We got Cian in the truck; we dug the bullet out of her shoulder, easy. But..."
"Aasim..." I murmur, my eyes stinging.
"And Ruby." Gavin adds. "She wouldn't move from Aasim, and he turned, and...Ruby died."
I sigh. "I told her to move."
"That's the tough part, AJ." Gavin says, as we watch Louis wave to someone who isn't in sight, presumably on the side of the truck. "People don't know what's good for them at that very moment."
I nod. "I figured that out a while ago." I wipe the forming moisture from my eyes. "My head..."
"Concussion." Gavin says. "Take a look at your knees."
I worriedly pull back the fabric covering my legs to find small, shallow cuts up and down, some even with small bandaids. The glass on the floor; when I crouched down, the shattered glass must have penetrated my skin.
"Yikes, are some of them bad?" I ask.
"No, not really. Just excessive bleeding at the time, but it's all patched up now." Gavin sighs. "We got away, AJ, that's what is important. Sure, we do need to get going to get away, but...we just need to manage."
"How long have we been travelling for?" I ask.
"I would say about four hours since we got in the truck. It's an emotional storm back there, AJ. For Clementine too."
I nod. "I'll go stay back there for a while, and talk to her. And everyone else."
Gavin nods. "Good boy. Hurry up, we better get going."
He hands me a half eaten granola bar.
"And eat." He says.