Chapter Three

"Where have you been?" Lainey asked, as she ran up and hugged me.

"I said I was going out." I replied casually, though I had to sit down in fear my already shaking legs would give out on me. The adrenaline still hasn't passed.

"It's been hours." She complained, and I wished she'd just drop it. "We had Jessie go out and look for you. We were scared something bad happened."

Something bad did happen.

"I'm fine." I said for once realizing it was the truth. I am alive. I didn't die.

Holy shit I didn't die.

I began to contemplate in my head whether or not I should tell them. The pros and cons of telling them were hard to determine.

Pros: By telling them, they'd be more prepared when they went on runs.

Cons: They'd be in constant fear of these asshole guys, and probably would want to move again.

Maybe it was just me being selfish, but I really don't want to move again.

The bad part about having a group, is that when it comes to me, they seem to want to do everything I don't want to do. Or when they don't want to do something, I absolutely want to.

I can never get them to agree with me, and it's difficult to live like that.

Finally when we moved here, we all agreed it was a great place to call home. It was like we all had the same idea. Now, with savage men running around nearby, what if they don't want to stay any more? What if they decide to leave again? Would I even want to go with them?

I have to stay here I can't move. Not again."

"The kids are finally asleep." Jackson said, as he walked into the room. He noticed me sitting, and exhaled, "Damn, Anabelle, what took you so long to get back?"

"Got lost." I lied.

He shot me a look as if that were the stupidest excuse I could possibly give. I knew it was, but I didn't bother saying anything more to defend myself.

It didn't matter anyway.

"Well, did you at least bring anything back?"

I huffed, took my pack off from around my shoulders, unzipped it, and took out the pack of gum and cigarettes. I slammed them down on the table, "Bon appetit." I then stood up -which took me a few seconds longer than it should have- walked up the stairs to the bedroom, and collapsed on the bed.

I fell asleep instantly.

I dreamt I was sitting on the couch in my old home. Before the dead were up and walking. Before I lost contact with my family. I was holding my cat in my arm, petting her gently as she was falling asleep. The house was dead silent until the front door opened, and my mother walked in. She said nothing, but smiled at me, and opened her arms out wide, as if beckoning for a hug.

I didn't hug her.

I sat there, watching as her face slowly began to fall when she realized I wasn't going to hug her. She dropped to hear knees dramatically, and I wondered why. When she looked back up at me, her face was a pale white, her eyes were losing their gorgeous navy blue color, and she raised her hand in my direction.

It was covered in blood.

Had she been shot?

Suddenly I tried to get up, but it was as if I had no control over my body. A horde of walkers stumbled into the room from ever entrance possible. The back doors, the windows, and the front door, right where my mother stood. They attacked her all at once, giving her no chance of survival. I watched them rip her flesh from her body, tugging on it with their rotted teeth. My mother's blood spilled all over the white carpet until the entire floor was covered in her. I could hear myself screaming, but I hadn't opened my mouth.

Then, as if everything froze, the walkers were gone. I was all alone in the house, and my eyes were glued to the front door that was now closed. I felt nothing but fear as I was staring at it, like my body was expecting something that not even I knew what it was. Then, there was the sound of someone pounding. Shouting. There was shouting outside the door.

I was suddenly woken up by Lilly shaking me. "Get the hell up, Anabelle!" She shouted, and I sat up, alert, and ready for whatever was wrong.

"What is it?" I asked, but she didn't have to answer. The same pounding noise from my dream was coming from outside. Someone was pounding the front gate.

"Open the gate!" A voice shouted, "Or I'll have my men do it for you." There was another pound, and I guessed whoever it was, was banging something against the gate doors. I hopped out of bed, and dashed down the stairs and out of the house. Jackson, Robert, and Jessie all three were already standing at the gate, aiming their guns directly towards it.

"What do we do?" Jackson asked.

"We don't fucking open it." Jessie declared, as if it were obvious.

Lilly and May both grabbed their guns and joined us. Lainey stayed up stairs to comfort her kids. I suddenly wished there was another way out of the gate, some way she could take the children and run just in case something went horribly wrong.

Something always goes horribly wrong.

"The hell do these people want?" May questioned, as she glanced at her sister, then at me.

"Whatever they want, they aren't getting it." Lilly replied.

"Go away!" Jessie belted, "We won't fucking say it again!"

There was a long silence from behind the gate, "Well," Spoke a voice, "That's a stupid ass decision, but I respect it. Don't say I didn't warn you." And then, before any of us had any time to think, the large metal doors were abruptly forced open as they drove a large truck into them. Dozens of men ran into the gate before any of us thought about taking a shot.

"Put your guns down!" Shouted a fat, angry looking man, who I most certainly did not want to be alone with.

May threw her gun on the floor without even trying to put up a fight. Lilly slowly put her's down as well.

It all happened so fast. So many men with guns filled up the inside of our fence, that before I knew it, we all had guns pointed to the front, and back of our heads. I dropped my gun, and eventually so did Jackson and Robert.

I was shoved onto the ground, and so were everyone else. Jessie put up a fight, but after getting punched in the face multiple times, he sucked up his pride, and got on his knees too.

Terrified, I began to examine all the men who were surrounding us. They all looked dirty, angry, tired, but at the same time, they looked amused.

They were enjoying this.

My eyes landed on one guy who had his gun pointed at Lilly. My heart began to pound rapidly when I realized who it was.

He was one of the guys who attacked me at the gas station.

He survived.

Realization flooded through me when I understood why these men were here. They were angry because of something I did. He followed me here, and took his group for backup.

Goddamn it.

"So," Said a voice, and we all turned our heads towards the front gate. A tall man walked in, he had a leather jacket on and held a baseball bat covered in barbed wire, "Let me introduce myself." He began to pace in front of us, as we were all lined up on the ground. "I'm Negan, and one of you killed one of my men." He kept walking until he was directly in front of me, "I don't appreciate my men being killed. In fact, it pisses me the hell off." He sunk down, until we both were eye-to-eye, "So now, to only be fair, I'm going to have to kill one of you."