TORN FLESH

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: DECAYING HOPE

THAT name sat in her head far longer than it should have, but the photo was an exact match to the man in her nightmare.

So why had Eddie and her father been arguing? What had started it?

Eric didn't bother to question what she was thinking as he already seemed to have a gist of it, he wondered how Stan would react when he did find out, because he would, he always did.

Margo sat silent as she continued to look through the contents of the folder, there wasn't much aside from the photos and some personal information for each. But there was also a photo of a house in the back of the folder that sent chills down her spine, maybe it was because she recognized it, and maybe it was because it seemed like something that a murderer would live in.

A small house surrounded by trees with a small Volkswagon out in the yard and a few dead flowers settling in the dirt closest to the house, a failed attempt at making the place look nicer.

Police lights could be seen in the photo, the red and blue blurring together over the roof of the house and in the treeline.

She wondered what lay beyond that front door, what memories lay trapped in its walls. What ghosts may lay in the wake of her and Ronnie's sudden disappearance.

"Eddie?" she questioned slightly cocking her head to look at Eric, "last I checked he was still at your guys' house. I don't really understand why, especially after everything that happened there." Margo shook her head before averting her gaze back to the photo in the file, was he still there? Or had he abandoned the house as they'd abandoned him?

She would never know, not unless she went and found out for herself.

And she planned to.

"I can take this with me, right?" she questioned carefully flipping the folder shut, Eric shrugged his shoulders as he stood, "far as I'm concerned, it's yours."

She couldn't help but smile at that, she'd missed interacting with Eric, and she was glad she'd been able to do so that night.

So when she returned to Violet's room, she found that the child was still soundly sleeping, she'd leave a note for her and be gone before she woke. That way she wouldn't be able to stop her, and in the case that she didn't return, she knew Eric would look after her.

He owed her that much.

She made sure to keep her note short and simple, something that didn't include empty promises and such, something that left her fate undecided so disappointment wouldn't follow in the scenario she never saw Violet again.

She prayed she returned safely.

If she left while she still had the cover of dark she could get past Stan, and Mitch if he was still lurking about, not that either of them would be able to stop her, but they'd make it far more difficult than necessary.

And still, she felt the tiniest bit of guilt clawing away at her heart as she made her way to exit Violet's room, there was a part of her that wanted to stay. That wanted to just forget about the life she'd barely known growing up.

But she had to find out for herself, she had to see it.

Even if it was bad.

And with that, she slipped out into the hall.

There were hardly any people as she walked through the corridors and she wondered just how many were sleeping. How could they sleep so easily while being aware of the horrors outside?

It bugged at her until she couldn't be bugged anymore, and when that finally came she was met with the question of how she was going to get through the fence of the compound.

It didn't matter, all she had to do was find the weakest spot in the fence and slip through it, then she could find a car along the way and get some ways before she had to walk again, and if she was careful enough, she could find a car with enough gas to last her for the three-day drive.

She thought about Violet as she approached the door that led out of the building, this was her only chance to turn back, to turn around and just walk back into the girl's room and pretend nothing had happened.

But the compound didn't have her answers, neither did Violet.

But her old home had those answers, the answers she desperately needed.

So, she pushed the door open and slipped out into the cold night air.

Meanwhile, Mitch sat still moping about in his room, both Morgan and Margo despised him, and it seemed that wouldn't be changing for quite some time, he should've just listened to himself and told them both straight off the bat.

He'd screwed himself over.

Sitting up in bed, he found his gaze stuck on the small window across from him, he didn't know what it was, or why he felt he needed to look out the window, but nevertheless he stood and made his across the room.

When he slipped the curtain out of his way, all he saw was grass, buildings, and more grass, and the fences, of course.

Shaking his head, he pulled the curtain back to cover the window and returned to his bed, he'd go back to Violet's room in the morning and he'd try to apologize, if she'd hear him out.

And then they'd go from there.

Just outside, Margo let out a sigh as she snuck under the man's window, she'd been unsure of if he was in his room or not so she'd waited it out, and when he peeked out the window, her suspicions were confirmed.

He was inside, so she held her breath and remained as still as possible until he'd stepped away from the mirror.

And then she'd bolted away from the window.

There was a small parking lot towards the back end of the compound, which worked in her favor for the most part.

All she had to do was find the keys, and without breaking any windows.

She didn't know how long it would take, but from the time she'd left at, she could only assume she had a few hours left till sunrise, which would make it all the harder to leave without anyone getting in her way.

Entering the small lot of cars, she glanced around to check for people, if she was careful, she could find a car, and hopefully, its keys, without being caught.

Hopefully.

She went through the cars row by row, eliminating which ones were locked and which ones were unlocked with no keys.

And while it took her forever, she did eventually find one, the keys hidden in the sun visor she realized the person who'd last used it was an utter idiot.

But she couldn't help but smile, they'd helped her out, even without knowing it.

Tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear, she slipped into the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition.

The engine roared to life, Margo cringed at the noise, someone was bound to hear her, and from the looks of it- including the portion of the compound she'd already seen- there was only one way in and out of the place.

And that was the front gate that Mitch had driven through when they'd first arrived.

But, she did have an idea.

If she was able to go fast enough, she could break through the fence towards the back, and thus, avoid having to try to get through the front, which she knew wouldn't work.

So, she hit the gas and did a loop to put herself farther away from the fence, closing her eyes, she took a large inhale of air before releasing it, she had to do it, had to get out, had to find the answers.

Pressing her foot down, the car only took a few seconds to shoot forward, and hitting the fence?

She could hardly remember it as she brought it down under the wheels and glided out towards the nearest road among the cover of the woods surrounding the compound.

Margo smiled, that had been the hardest bit of her trip, and now, all she had to do was drive.

Which she was more than capable of.

But for those back at the compound, they found that their week was going to be much harder than usual.

At the sound of metal collapsing against metal, followed by the sound of metal crashing into the ground, Mitch shot out of bed and rushed to his window as he had but fifteen minutes ago.

Christ.

At first, he wasn't even sure what it was he was looking at, but then his eyes focused in the dark and he realized that the fence was down.

And a large section of it at that.

His eyes widened at the sight and he moved away from the window to throw his boots on.

Once he'd finished that he ran out of his room- leaving the door ajar- and began to shout as he ran throughout the halls, "THE FENCE IS DOWN!"

It wasn't until he reached the stations and began shouting that panic began to spread, while some cowered, others started grabbing things- some of which were weapons- and made their way out to the nearest exit in the building, if they were going to keep the compound secure they were going to have to deal with the problem head-on.

The first place Mitch checked was Violet's room, and it didn't come as much of a surprise when he took notice that the older blonde was not there. He frowned, he was almost sure she'd caused the incident.

Casting Violet a final look- the girl somehow still asleep amidst all the chaos surrounding her- before he slipped out of the room and made his way towards the exit as the others had minutes before.

He pulled his gun from his waistband and checked the chamber- keeping the gun in his hand- as he pushed the door open and stepped outside.

He could hear yells, people screaming trying to get the infected to come to a different side of the fence while the others tried to fix it.

It worked for the most part, but there were a few stray infected that met the people at the fence, and quickly after met a bullet to the head.

He knew things would never be the same, their compound had been compromised, and now, no one would ever feel truly safe again.

But that was the price people paid, you were never truly safe, and now that they'd been fully exposed to the horrors that threatened to end their existence every day maybe they'd understand, understand what it was like for those that had been out there the entire time.

Those that had lost people to the disease, or healthy people.

Maybe they'd better understand why people like Mitch and Margo worked the way they did, how it kept them moving, kept the focus off of one specific thing.

And how it helped them to cope.

Because both knew, that the blood, the bodies, the screams, that was their life. It was all they'd ever known and it would always be like that.

They would always be the killers they'd grown up to hate.

But it seems that's every child's fear, to become the thing you fear most, always comes true, and eventually, it's the very thing that destroys them. Eating away at them from the inside out, the images blur their vision until it's too much.

And then, the line between reality and delusion becomes so twisted that they can't even tell the difference between good and bad, good and evil.

Margo wouldn't realize it yet, but years later, she'd think of everything she'd done, and she'd finally realize that she'd been on the line between the two.

She'd been good, and evil, all at the same time.

Done the right things for the wrong reasons and done the evil things for the right reasons.

And that was what terrified Mitch.

TORN FLESH

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: DECAYING HOPE