Ain't a world for the living

1.2 - Savannah

We both jumped on our feet, an icy shiver running down my spine. "What the-?" Carl shushed me. He sneaked to the stairs, walking down until he told me to follow him downstairs. "Eyes open." The tumult took place in the dining room. The once large windows were destroyed and biters got in, attacking Sasha and her brother Tyreese. I ran to them, tearing a zombie from Sasha and smashed his head onto the table. Before I was able to end him, he pulled me down, trying to gnaw my flesh. I screamed in agony as my arm hit the egde of the table, blood dripping over my skin. "No!" I yelled, feeling pure dread as the half rotten zombie crawled towards me. Holding the poker in both hands, Rick nearly ripped the biter's head from its body. Sasha and Tyreese had killed the rest of them, concern in their eyes as Rick watched me and asked the one question I was dreading to hear.

"Did you got bitten? Scratched?" "N-no. Just hurt my arm." Daryl and Carl boarded the broken windows with chairs and a cupboard before going down to my eye level. "You sure?" I just nodded and showed them my bloody arm, wincing as Daryl grabbed it roughly and turned it into his direction. "No infection." He stated. I sighed. Carl held a hand out for me to get on my feet ere a cold wrapper was put on my arm. It hurt like hell. "Antibiotics. Wash the wound out before you go to bed. Should be better tomorrow." Carol returned with gauze. "How are you?", she asked, giving me a protein bar. "Just...just shaky." "That was close." Carl responded. He turned around, hands in his pockets and exiting the room. Carol gazed at me and followed Carl, hands in her jacket pocket.

As I washed out the cut on my arm I heard a discussion upstairs. It seemed like Carl, Tyreese and Rick were fighting about something. I decided to ignore it and strutted into the backyard. Daryl sat on a pile of boards, a knife between his teeth and pulled off a rabbit's fur. "Do you need help?" "You did this before?" "We had rabbits." Grunting, the man threw two dead rabbits onto my lap. Tearing a piece of fur from the rabbit's back, I pulled it off, careful to not destroy the first layer of flesh. The work was monotonous and long-wided. "They are talking about you." I didn't know he heard what they were talking about. My fingers stopped for a second, then moved on to continue. "So? I'll be gone by tomorrow noon, why would they care?" Daryl stopped working. He threw the fur onto a small pile next to him and scratched his neck. "Ask them. It's just that Rick and Carl seem to be happy about a new member in our group. Tyreese is-" "Tyreese is a sagcious man. He trusts those who trust him." I answered nonchalantly and felt how Daryl stared at me. "How would you know that?"

"My father was a psychologist. He'd tell me everything I needed in the future. That helped me to get out of dangerous situations. And as far as I've seen, Tyreese is cautious when it comes to his friends and the environment. This is a good trait." "Gotta tell that Rick. He wants to know stuff like that." "I doubt that, Daryl." The man put his hands down, sighing once, then again and took his crossbow. Aiming it in my direction, he pulled the trigger. Something went down behind me. I stood up, pulled the arrow out of the zombie's neck and stomped on his head. "Why are you so harsh?" "Why are you so noisy? Believe me, analyzing a person's character is good if you live alone – but in a group? I'd rather not experience that." Daryl sighed again. "It's your life you're ruining right now, but hey – I am not the one to complain, right?" It's your life you're ruining right now... The hell? I shrugged it of, finishing the rest of the rabbits.

My arm stung. Probably the best time to wash out the wound, so I got back into the house and went into the bathroom on the first floor. The water wasn't running of course, but I found a bottle of – expired – ethanol. My dad would chop my arm off instead of using this alcohol, but whatever. Apocalypse's been ruining our lives for more than one year now, so who cares? The wound didn't look bad. Just disgusting. It would take some time for the skin to cover it up. The alcohol hurt like ants biting into your skin, but I managed to clean it all up and got down into the salon, where Sasha and Tyreese were sitting. The moment he saw me he stood up, looked sympathetically at his sister und stormed out of the room, nearly knocking me out of his way. "Are you ok?" "Yes. Still shaken, but well. Thanks for helping us." "No problem, Sasha." We sat in utter silence, not knowing what to do or what to say right now. "So, uhm...will you move on? Leave the group?" "Never been in it. But I guess moving with you guys for a few miles might be a good idea." "Ask Rick and the others. They'll most likely say nay because you're a newbie, but I bet they gonna let you follow us because you saved my life." Sasha answered truthfully. Another moment of silence passed until I figured the rest out by myself.

Later

I hadn't talked to Rick yet. I kinda knew that he'd expect me to pass another test – whatever the heck this test was. When the sun went down and the group met to talk about supply runs and hunting animals, Carol and Tyreese volunteered to go on a run. "We need someone else to go with us." Carol said. "I'll go." I chirped in. "I don't think-" "Rick, she's not gonna take us down." Carol said quickly and gave me a short nod. "Let me finish my sentence, Carol."

Rick took a deep breath. Everyone was quiet, even Judith sat in Carl's lap and looked at her father. "I know that Beth's death was a big shock for all of us and-" "Rick." Daryl stared at him, eyes narrowed down on Rick's gun. "I'll go as gentle as I can, Daryl, I try. Listen. We need to go to Washington. As fast as we can. But we can't go straight because this girl is new to us. I want to find out her weaknesses and her powers. We could need more people." "How will you go to Washington?" "We'll go to Augusta, follow the I-20 until we reach Fayetteville and-" "Forget that. I was at the border of South Carolina. It's rural, yes, and you have good chances of coming till Goldsboro – but everything behind it on your way to Washington is like a death trap." "How do you know that?" "I came from Richmond. My plan was to go to Savannah, there are a lot of smaller islands in front of the coast – find, hell build a boat and find a save spot." "The world is not save." Rick said urgently, using his hands to strengthen what he just said. "I know. The thing is this: As long as you are heading towards Savannah I'll follow. The day you decide to take another road I'll leave you. If I may." The last sentence was directed to Rick and Abraham. That army dude scared me more than Rick did. "We'll discuss that tonight."

I was picked to do the first watch with Tara and Glenn. They seemed to get along very well. While they talked quietly and watched over the backyard I sat on the porch, the galvanized poker next to my left thigh. It was a decent night. The air was chilly and the stars shone brightly, trying their best to fight against the darkness of night. The door was opened and closed briskly. It was Carl. He held a can of peaches in his hands, fishing a fruit out and offering me one. "No, thanks." Carl sat down next to me, legs crossed and hands in his lap. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" "I'm old enough to decide what's good for me. "That's not what I meant." "I know." He put his hat off, turning it around and lied it next to the poker. "Are you from here?" "Summerfield. In Louisiana." "You are actually not that bad, y'know." I stiffled a laugh. What was he trying to tell me? That I should stay, or what? "Carl?" "Forget it." He jumped to his feet, spilled the can of peaches and ran into the house. He left his hat...