CHAPTER THIRTY SIX,
woodbury

HER MIND WAS slipping in and out of consciousness, her head throbbing and her body aching. There was a cloth covering her eyes, and trying to move she figured out she was bound by ropes.

There's gotta be a compliment somewhere in there.

"I see a bad moon a-rising..."

Samantha's breath caught in her throat, her body going completely still.

"I see trouble on the way,"

Samantha realized it was the older Dixon, and he was right next to her being an old fool and singing an old rock song.

"I see earthquakes and lightnin',"

As if he knew she was awake, Samantha felt him lean in closer to her until his breath was on the side of her face.

"I see bad times today,"

That was the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness again.

When Samantha came to, she was in a room. The sight made her bolt up, eyes darting everywhere to find anything familiar. She saw Nathan was on the other side of the room, sitting down as a woman dressed as a nurse treated him. Her throat was dry, lips were chapped, and her head was pounding. "What...where are we?"

The sound of her voice made his eyes snap up. In an instant and despite the nurse's dismay, he rushed to his best friend's side.

"How are you feelin', princess?" He asked.

The sincerity in his voice made her feel nothing but utter guilt. Samantha felt like she didn't deserve his concern, she felt like she didn't deserve him at all.

Samantha moaned and grabbed her head. Fingers grazed over stitches and she immediately looked at the nurse. "You did this?" She asked

"It's my job." She made her way towards the young woman and pulled out a small flashlight, shining it into her eyes. she hissed and recoiled from the light.

"At least ask me to dinner first," Samantha joked weakly, rubbing her face. "What's the diagnosis, doc?"

"Mild concussion, but you wouldn't be the first sent here by the same person for the same reason," The nurse spoke with annoyance. "Keri has never been known for sweetness."

"Keri?" Nathan repeated.

"That same woman that hit my head, twice," Samantha grunted. "Guess i'm not getting an apology anytime soon, huh?"

"I don't think that even exists in her vocabulary," She grabbed her clipboard, smiling at her. "I'm Dr.Stevens."

"Well, Dr.Stevens, thanks for your care," Samantha scanned the room. "Where are we?"

"That's not for me to tell but," She glanced at the door. "He'll explain everything."

"How ominous," Nathan said sarcastically. "Who's he?"

As if on cue, the door opened and Merle stepped in. From behind him, Martinez and the older man with dreads wasn't far behind. Dr.Stevens looked at the redneck through narrowed eyes and left the room. Meanwhile Samantha was glancing down at his prosthetic with curiosity and slight intimidation.

She wondered how many people he had killed with it...

He followed her gaze and chuckled. "Ain't she pretty?" Merle questioned, holding it up like a trophy.

Memories of them getting high together near the quarry resurfaced. Despite being the stereotypical, old and perverted redneck, she did miss him.

"You tough son of a bitch." Samantha whispered, a grin cutting into her cheeks. She wanted to hug him, but she knew Merle wasn't a man of affections. Both him and his brother had that in common.

"Jesus," Nathan was eying his prosthetic with wide eyes. "What the hell happened after Atlanta?"

"After I was abandoned, life continued to shit on me," Merle explained. "I was weak, angry, hopeless, and losin' blood quickly. Was thinkin' that a bullet oughta do the job,"

Samantha felt sadness. Nobody cared about Merle being abandoned on that roof until Daryl did.

"Maybe take myself a nice long nap after, wait for ma baby bro on the other side."

She caught a look of vulnerability in his eyes, but as quickly as it came, he covered it up like a bandaid on a wound.

Samantha was tasting guilt again. She could've done something then. Maybe the day they came back from Atlanta, she could've pushed a little harder, tried a little harder.Maybe if she did, Merle would still have his hand and Daryl would have his brother.

"We wounded up on a farm a few months ago, stayed there for a bit," Samantha recalled, studying the dirt under her nails. "There was a herd and we got separated,"

The thought of Daryl made her heart clench. He was one of the people that she thought about a lot, that she missed on the daily bases. Samantha looked up again, restraining a smile. "Daryl became an important part of our group."

"But he's dead now?"

Samantha wasn't quite sure, but something in her gut told her that he couldn't be dead. Daryl would shoot an arrow into death before it could take him. "No," She answered. "He's tough as nails."

Merle nodded.

"They went back for you," Nathan informed. "Both him and Rick, but they only found your hand."

"Must've been a nice souvenir," The redneck chuckled. "Rick. He's the same prick that cuffed me to the roof top."

"Yeah, having a big mouth can do that," Samantha remarked. "Hell, I'm surprised he didn't throw you off."

Merle chuckled some more, his eyes sparkling. "Still got that fire in ya, I like it."

Nathan cleared his throat. "Rick did try, everyone saw that including Daryl."

"Ma baby brother has always been the sweet one."

Merle brought up his prosthetic to his face, examining it carefully. Nathan was eyeballing it intently.

"Ain't ya momma tell you staring ain't nice?"

"Yeah, she also made sure I didn't fail English-"

Samantha elbowed Nate in the stomach and he choked on his words, looking at her in confusion but she only responded through a glare.

"We're still searching for our group,"Samantha stood up, but as soon as she did the pounding in my head intensified. Her best friend held her shoulder but she brushed it off. "We need to leave, to find them."

Merle looked between the two best friends, before he licked the smirk that twisted his rough features.

"How's 'bout pretty boy can leave and we can get all cuddled up, maybe catch up."

"Merle." She groaned.

He snickered like the dirty old pervert he was, and despite his comments always irritating her, Samantha couldn't deny that she somewhat missed them.

A tall man suddenly stepped into the room. Telling by the way he carried himself and he got Merle of all people to immediately straightened his slumped posture, the man was some type of authority.

"I can take it from here," The man nodded towards Merle. "You folks doing alright?"

"We want our weapons, and we want to leave." Nathan demanded.

The man looked taken back. "Sure, right at the front gates."

"Show us the way," Samantha said next, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to ignore the dull ache in her head. "We don't know who you people are, we were blind folded and-"

"We don't know who you people are too," The man interrupted. "From what I heard, you and your friend here put up a pretty good fight."

Annoyance washed over Martinez's bruised face.

"I was minding my own business when your woman held me at gun point." Nathan mentioned.

The man turned to look at the older one with dreadlocks. "James?"

The older man, James, grew a sheepish smile, crinkles at the corners of his eyes forming. "I've talked to Keri, she's apologized."

Instead of feeling some form of hatred towards the woman, Samantha felt accomplishment because she knew that Keri had a broken nose and it was because of her.

Nathan scoffed loudly. "Well, I guess we can just forget all about it and ride off into the sunset together."

"Look," The seemingly leader spoke. "You guys can leave anytime, you aren't prisoners, you're just being cared for."

"With guards?" Samantha questioned.

"To protect our people," He stated firmly. "The only reason why you're even here is because of my men making a misunderstanding,"

He glanced at the two men behind him again.

"As I said, you aren't prisoners here - the problem is, we don't open the gates after dusk, so you might as well spend the night here," He walked to the door. "You can leave in the morning. We'll give you everything you need, including a vehicle."

With that he walked out, his guards following him. Samantha and Nathan both took that as an invitation to do the same.

Upon opening the door, and under the night sky that was accompanied with stars, was a sleeping town. Torches were spread out on the sidewalks, and from what Samantha could see, she saw no walkers nor any people. She was both astonished and hesitant. This seemed too good to be true.

Nathan on the other hand dropped his tough act, the mask slipping clean off his face and revealing his amazement.

"Come with me." The man said.

He led them down the street and towards a gate with walls. On them were more guards. Samantha looked at them closely and saw the heavy guns they were carrying.

"That's heavy artillery their packing." Nathan pointed out.

The man smiled. "You would know, huh?" When her best friend gave him a strange look, the man added, "I saw your dog tags. You were in the military?"

Nathan nodded. "The Army."

"Thought so," He looked back up at the wall with pride. "Some men arrived with guns, but most of the weapons are scavenged over time."

"You have all of the entrances to this town guarded?" Samantha asked. When the man nodded, she hardly believed it. Nothing can can be that secured, everything is always marked by the dead at some point. "That's too good to be true."

Merle suddenly whistled from on top of the wall, pulling their attention towards him.

"Got us a biter, Governor."

Samantha rose an eyebrow. What the hell kind of nickname was that?

At the Governor's silent command, Merle took a bow and arrow from one of the guards and aimed at said be walker.

"They call you that?" Nathan asked.

"Some nicknames stick whether you like it or not," The Governor responded. "It's more of a joke than anything."

"That's a hell of a nickname."

"I could've gone with the President, but it sounded too bold." He chuckled.

"We just go by regular names," Samantha jutted her thumb towards her best friend while her other hand rubbed her head. "That's Nathan, and I'm Samantha."

She heard a thud, and Merle saying, "I got 'em."

The Governor brought then to a building, and after unlocking a door he stepped into the apartment.

"It's not a suite but it has a hot shower,"

Her lips parted in disbelief. Holy god.

"Waters limited, so keep it short," They entered the room. It wasn't small, but it wasn't big either. It was just like any mini apartment. "There's fresh clothes, fresh supplies, fresh everything,"

Samantha sat at the couch and let out a sigh of joy. The hard, cold ground of outside during winter was all she ever sat on for the last few months, but sitting on something so comfortable now was so refreshing.

"If there's anything else you need, my man will be outside of the door."

Samantha looked in the hallway in curiosity and saw Martinez. He caught her stare and the corners of his mouth twisted upwards, making her duck her head away in embarrassment.

"What about our weapons?" Samantha questioned, not feeling safe without it. Her gun had become a part of who she is, like an extra limb to her body. She felt like she wasn't whole without it.

"I get that you would feel more safe with your weapons, but this place is secured,"

Samantha still thought this place was too good to exist. Nothing can ever be that secure.

Before the Governor walked out, he turned back to them and smiled again.

"Welcome to Woodbury."

After shutting the door, Samantha and Nathan were finally alone. Silence filled the room and hung in the air, making her heart thump awkwardly in her chest. She's always hated the silence, she had to say something.

"I've been a bad friend."

Nathan looked at her with a softness in his eyes.

"You have your moments."

Samantha knew he was trying to add humor to the seriousness, but it make her feel absolutely worse. She felt disgusted with how she's been treating him, especially with what he's going through.

"It's just..." Samantha ran a hand down her face, trying express how she felt but she just didn't know how to. "I haven't been feeling like myself lately, and everything feels so wrong because i've been taking it out on you,"

Nathan sat at the couch with her, taking her hand into his.

"You aren't my punching bag, Nate," Sadness overcame the twenty year old. "You need to stand up to me, don't let me disrespect you."

Nathan's eyes stared into her own, his lips a thin line. It was as if by looking at her, that would decide his next move.

"We all lose ourselves sometimes." He murmured.

Samantha saw the definition of losing ourselves through the eyes of many people. Jenner, Nathan, and even Shane. It seemed like a bad path to take. She didn't want to lose herself, she wanted to stay the way that she was.

But did she really have control over that decision?

In the woods when Samantha held Keri at gunpoint, it didn't feel like she did. It was as if a hazardous darkness within her had possessed her body. Samantha had felt it's claws raking inside for a moment, ushering me to have red on her hands.

But why? It hadn't existed before...

What scared her the most was that if Merle didn't show up, whatever it was - it would've gotten its wish.

Nathan ran his thumb in circles around her hand in an attempt to sooth her, but she pulled away. She couldn't stand at how affectionate it was, the tenderness behind it.

Samantha felt more guilt, but not from this moment but from another. It made her mouth taste foul.

But in a world like this, guilt is all they ever taste.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟnote

YES SHE IS IN WOODBURY

when i first started this book i was originally going to let her not get lost but i wanted to do something different

so much is going to happen y'all ain't ready

words ; 3003
edited ; ✔️