What We Become

Chapter 18 - The Side Chosen

The horde had reached the building by the time the three of us had split up to hide behind the filing cabinets and desks that were spread throughout the room. The windows were covered with newspapers so the light from the outside was limited. It was too early to tell though, whether that would work in our favor or theirs. There was nothing left to do but to wait for the three to come up and find us. I pulled out my knife and held it at the ready. After a few minutes, footsteps could be heard making their way up the stairs. The grip on the handle of my knife grew tighter as the footsteps got closer. I let in and let out a few breaths before I became focused. There was no way that I was gonna let any of them hurt these people on Alpha's behalf. She could rot in hell for all that she had done. There was no way that I could redeem myself for all the horrible things I did. But keeping these people alive, maybe that was a good way to start. I shook my head and wiped my eyes. I needed to focus.

The door to our room opened up and it felt as if the room had grown quieter than it already was. I held my breath and waited for them to make their way further in. The only sound I could hear was of the faint tip toeing that these assholes were doing. Out of nowhere, there was a loud crash that made me jump. I had no idea if that was intentional or accidental but I had to check out what had happened. I carefully peeked over the desk I was hiding behind but unfortunately, I had gotten the attention of one of them who was now heading my way.

"Ah, fuck."

I stood up and dodged the knife she had thrown my way. She swung at me but missed. I was about to drive my knife into her but she ended up knocking me down, sending my knife sliding out of my hand. She got her hands around my throat and had begun to squeeze. I tried reaching on either side of me to get something that would get her off of me but there was nothing within reach. Suddenly, the pressure on my throat lessened. Her eyes widened.

"You...you're with them?"

Using the palm of my hand, I made contact with her nose which got her off of me. I caught sight of my knife and quickly reached over and grabbed it. She was on the verge of getting up but I kicked her in the gut.

"Why? She protected you. She keeps us safe," she said, looking up at me.

I shook my head and gripped the handle of my knife tighter.

"She used us to keep her safe."

I kneed her in the face and had her lying belly up. I hover over her and had my both knees pressed against her arms.

"Traitor," she said through gritted teeth.

With one swing, the knife made contact with her head and she stopped speaking altogether. I then heard a cry of pain from Henry. My eyes went in the direction it had come from. I stood up and was about to help him out when Connie used her slingshot to distract the Whisperer that would have killed him otherwise. The sound of Dog barking became crystal clear and out of nowhere, he jumped right onto the Whisperer and ended him.

"Henry!" Lydia cried out.

She went over and kneeled down next to him, Connie and I did the same.

"I thought I told you to stay in the closet until I came to get you."

"I couldn't. I wasn't okay with it. And then I heard Henry's cry...I just had to make sure he was okay."

Connie then tapped my shoulder. I looked over at her and she pointed at her leg and Henry at the same time. I nodded. His leg had been cut.

"How bad does it hurt, kid?" I asked, looking over at Henry.

"Not as bad as it looks."

I leaned over and ripped a piece of his shirt, long enough to wrap around his leg.

"You're not a fan of this shirt are you?"

"I guess not anymore."

"Sorry, kid."

I went and wrapped the piece around his wounded leg.

"This is gonna hurt."

"I can handle it."

I tightened it and he groaned.

"Nat," Lydia said.

"No. It's okay. It's okay."

There was then a distant crash heard from the next room.

"Shit. Daryl. Help him up. I'll be back."

I grabbed my knife and quickly got to my feet and headed for the next room.

As soon as I walked through the door, Daryl had just shoved Beta down an elevator shaft. I released a ragged breath and leaned against the nearest wall. The thud that echoed made me feel relieved instantly. I took in a few breaths before making my way over to where Daryl was standing. I slowed down the closer I got to the opening. Not saying a word, I inched closer, wanting to make sure that he was really down there. When it was confirmed, I leaned back and released some more ragged breaths.

"You good?" Daryl finally asked.

"Yeah...yeah...I'm fine."

I looked up and got a good look at him since entering the room.

"Are you okay? You look like shit."

"Thanks. Fucker got in some licks. But it was nothing I couldn't handle."

"Alright. Can we get the hell out of her now? The further away from the corpse I am, the better."

"Let's go. Everyone okay?"

"Henry's leg took a beating. But he's okay. The Whisperers were taken care of."

Daryl picked up the pace and reached the room the others were in before I did. He went over to Henry and carefully took a peek at the wound under the piece of cloth.

"They barely missed your vein. We gotta get you to a doctor to get that fixed up."

"But Hilltop is a long way back," I said.

"We ain't goin' to Hilltop. Come on, kid. Let's get going."

He had Henry wrap an arm around him in order to not put so much weight on his bad leg. I stood there trying to think of a place where we could get the medical supplies we'd need to fix up that leg.

"You comin' or ain't ya?" Daryl said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah."

I quickly followed the group out the door.

After getting the staircase cleared and making sure Henry didn't strain himself too much, we were outside.

"I don't understand. If we're not going to Hilltop, then where the hell are we gonna go to get his leg fixed?" I asked, utterly confused.

"Alexandria. Where Aaron and the others are at," Daryl said.

"Oh. Is it far?"

"Nah. We'll get there before the sun goes down."

I simply nodded and followed Daryl's lead. That was the other community Luke and his group had mentioned. Another community? Another way of living. Never did I ever expect to be shown not only one community but another in such a short span of time. Another chance to feel like even more of an outsider. Great.