Living Like You're Dead

Neither of the brothers new how far they would be driving. Addie had her old map, there was a bid red star where their first house had been, and there were several markers of unofficial CDC’s as well as hospitals and likely places to find supplies. She hadn’t noticed all the extra embellishments until now. They were hoping that they’d have enough gas to get there, they knew there would not be enough for a return trip.

Daryl wished the radio worked. Lack of noise made it very awkward, but what would Merle and Addie have to say to each other? What would Daryl have to say to Merle that might not offend Addie? What would Daryl say to Addie that might not make Merle sick to his stomach? It was all a mess. Daryl however was pleased that Addie assumed Merle would be coming along, she didn’t even ask, just assumed. Although Daryl had a hard time accepting Merle to be a friend, he would remind himself that he was the reason Addie was still alive, and as long as she was still here – he should be grateful, Addie seemed to be. They came upon their first town, until then they had passed a few houses but towns meant walkers. They really only needed to make it to the south city of Valdosta – on the outskirts of town there was supposed to be the research facility she was searching for.

A small town was all that worried them at the moment. They all gathered weapons and held them at the ready as they drove through the deserted streets. There were walkers, they were easy to see – just moving about in the streets. It was still day, meaning probably more would appear at night fall – and if they wanted supplies they had to find them now. Merle pointed out a small convenience store that seemed to be next to abandoned buildings. Windows had already been smashed, so it was unlikely that many useful supplies would be left, unless it had been full of humans and walkers had gotten through. But as they stepped inside they were pleased to find no blood, and feasible supplies still left on the shelves.

“Grab everything!” Merle said.

“No grab what we need. Leave the rest.” Addie said.

“What are you talking about?” Daryl asked.

“Someone left these behind for others, we should do the same.” She smiled at him, Daryl sometimes hated her for being such a good person, it made him feel worse. She was like an angel. They gathered food and water and left some behind. Daryl noticed a walker had found its way to them, and he stuck it in the head with the axe he had been carrying. It fell to it’s knees before falling foreword. Merle and Addie stepped over it cautiously and loaded their new supplies. But Bear had been waiting for them, and he wasted no time in wrapping his strong arms around Addie and holding a knife to her neck. Merle had the only gun and pointed it directly at the mans head – Daryl wished he could reach for his crossbow but only was able to clutch the axe tighter in his hands. Hannah and Bear were back – and they had executed Addie’s plan perfectly.

“Where’s the rest of your party?” Hannah asked.

“A long way from here.” Daryl replied.

“You’re not very observant are you?” Addie struggled. Bear tightened his grip making it harder for her to breath, but apparently he thought that his prisoner shouldn’t be able to talk.

“Shut it.” He added.

“Then were is it you’re runnin’ to?” Hannah asked.

“Running? We’ll fight you right here!” Merle said.

“Except no fighting will occur, because we have leverage.” She smiled while looking at Addie, “I wonder if we’ll eat her, or just play with her.”

“You fucking touch her and I’ll wring your fucking neck.”

“Oh, dear Bear seems I struck a nerve.” She said with an even bigger grin across her face.

“I’ll make sure that happens.” Merle added.

“I see, so who’s sweetheart is she? Hm? She looks a little young to be yours, but who knows perhaps that’s her type.” Bear took a step backward, Addie’s body was completely confined, her feet drug across the asphalt as he repeatedly stepped backwards.

Daryl stepped forward, ready to rescue her. But he stopped when the knife dug in deeply into her throat.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” he yelled.

“I think it must be his girl…” Hannah said. “I just want to pick you off one by one… like I said before. But we happen to be a little hungry… and girls always taste better than men. So I think we might have ourselves a bit of dinner before we pick you two off.”

“I’m not going to let you eat her.” Daryl spat, his face was reddened and his hands were ready to tear into anything. Hannah simply smiled as she dropped a hand grenade to the ground, her and Bear turned to run – and Daryl and Merle could only drop to their knees and cover their head. They could hear Addie’s screams – she saw a blast of smoke – chemical not lethal. Hannah had a rag over her mouth as they dragged her away, she saw the truck hidden in an alleyway but a black bag was thrown over her head as they kept running.
__________________________________________________________

Daryl waited for shards of whatever to hit him. But none came, instead he heard a steady stream of fumes escape the small chamber, he wanted to scream when he realized they had tricked him with a smoke grenade, but he soon realized he was all too wrong. The chemical acted like steam it began to burn his flesh, his eyes already stung, and now it was becoming difficult to see – his lungs seemed to inhale the gas, but none would exhale it was clogging his airways making him blind – and burning his flesh. He couldn’t see Merle anywhere and he tried to cough as blackness consumed him.