Dead Living (32 page)

“Yeah, well, I don't know how Sam will
act.”

“She'll be fine. She's a tough woman.”

“Don't I know it. And speaking of Sam-”

“Yeah, you'd better go find her before she
hunts you down. Tomorrow, I'll try to convince you to take over
supply runs.”

“Uh, okay. Until tomorrow then.”

Aaron handed his half-empty glass to
Richardson and left.

Richardson wondered how long it would be
before Aaron took over his job.

*****

Aaron quietly knocked on Sam's door. He
almost opened it, like he always did, but remembered the last few
times he made that mistake. He didn't think she was in, and was a
few steps down the hall when he heard her voice.

“Yeah? What do you want?”

He pushed the door open. There were two
candles lit on opposite sides of the room. Sam was laying on her
mattress. She perked up when she saw Aaron.

“Oh, hey. Come on in. Just come in next
time.”

He shut the door behind him. In the dancing
light he saw she wore the same jeans from earlier and a sports bra.
He had to check his anger again when he saw her swollen eye and
stitched up shoulder.

“Hi. How you feeling?”

She barely rolled on her side. “I don't feel,
right now. James gave me morphine. A walker could rip my throat out
and I wouldn't feel a thing.”

“Nice thought.”

“I know. Help me up.”

He grabbed her by her good arm and pulled her
up. He held her shoulders gently while he moved her toward a candle
to inspect her wound. She didn't pull away. The slice was about
three inches across, going across the shoulder and a little into
her chest. James did a good stitch job.

“That's gonna leave a scar.”

“Yeah, but I'll live. Not my first scar,
won't be my last. It's funny. I've killed walkers all my life, and
I almost get taken out by two assholes.”

“You won't have to worry about them anymore.
Richardson kicked them out.”

“I won't have to worry about them because
you're here.”

They stared at each other. She was so
beautiful. Aaron couldn't imagine anyone, even in the overpopulated
old world, that was more beautiful or stronger than Sam.

“I didn't forget what we were talking about,”
she said. “But my head feels like it's floating. So we'll do it
tomorrow.”

He nodded. “Okay. I'll see you tomorrow
then.”

He turned to leave.

“Wait a minute. I didn't say you could
leave.”

He laughed. “You got something in mind?”

She pulled the checkers board from under her
end-table. He smiled as they laid on the mattress on opposite sides
of the game.

They played for at least an hour. After Sam
hesitated on taking a jump Aaron looked up at her. She was sound
asleep.

He carefully moved the board off the mattress
and scooted just a little closer. She let out a sigh of content as
she rolled onto her stomach and threw an arm over him. He gave her
a gentle kiss on the forehead before falling asleep himself.

Aaron woke up nearly the same time as Sam.
During their sleep they'd somehow gotten into the position of him
spooning her. He pushed himself away from her as a familiar scent
moved through the air.

“Corpses,” Sam said.

Aaron got up and pulled the curtains
open.

“Oh no.”

“What is it?”

She stumbled to her feet and saw what Aaron
saw. It was too dark to make out details, but they could see just
enough to let their imagination fill in the rest.

In the field, near the bleachers, they saw a
lone shape on the ground. Kneeling over the shape was a silhouette.
Its hands worked feverishly as it pulled flesh from the shape's
torso.

“They're inside,” Sam said.

“Walkers!” Aaron shouted as loud as he could.
“We've got walkers!”

Aaron and Sam ran to the door. She swung it
open and nearly bumped into Scott. She couldn't see his face, but
knew it was him. He was the tallest, largest man at Lexington.

“Scott?”

The walker that used to be Scott lunged
forward, but Aaron was just a little faster. He stepped in between
Scott and Sam and pushed her out of the way. Scott sank his teeth
into Aaron's arm. Aaron shouted in pain while dragging Scott into
the room.

Scott didn't like the taste of Aaron's flesh.
He let go, but the damage had already been done. Aaron cradled his
arm and backed up near the mattress.

The gunshot almost hurt his ears.

Scott fell dead to the floor. Sam lowered her
Beretta she grabbed from the table. Aaron ran forward and slammed
the door shut. He could hear screams now, out in the halls.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked.

Aaron took a deep breath. He carefully hid
his arm from view.

“Yeah. We need to get outside. We can fight
there.”

He helped Sam out the window, then climbed
out himself. Other residents of Lexington had the same idea, as
more people climbed out of the windows and gathered on the field.
Aaron could sense the panic and chaos.

“They're everywhere!”

“Is anyone bitten?”

Aaron gestured to Sam as more people started
lighting candles. Two walkers stumbled out of a side door. Aaron's
heart sank when he saw it was Susan Lively and Paul Sorenson.

Sam killed them both.

Richardson's voice rose over the confused
crowd.

“Okay, everyone! Group up, stay together.
Point out any corpses you see coming.”

Aaron grabbed Sam's hand and pulled her
through the crowd to Richardson. He was passing out the few weapons
he had to anyone who wanted one.

He looked up at the young couple. “Are you
two okay?”

Aaron nodded. “Yeah. Are there people still
inside?”

“I'm sure. I woke up to their moans. There
were three or four right outside my room. We all just rushed out
here.”

Aaron looked at the group. He knew there were
people missing. He saw the children gathered in the middle, but
three were missing in particular.

Sam noticed the same thing.

“Nikki,” she said. “And your new
friends.”

“We have to find them.”

Richardson grabbed him by the arm. “Not a
good idea. You can't fight the walkers and the dark inside those
halls at the same time.”

“I won't let them die.”

Sam touched his shoulder. “Would they be
together?”

He thought a moment. “I don't think so, not
at night. Amanda and Derek have a room near mine. Nikki sleeps in a
classroom right outside the auditorium.”

“Okay. I'll get Nikki. You get Amanda and
Derek.”

Aaron held her hand for a moment. He didn't
want to let go. He didn't want her going back into the school, but
he couldn't be in two places at once.

“You be careful.”

She nodded. “I will. You too.”

Sam took an extra gun from Richardson, and
they ran together to the front door. Aaron took a right toward the
library. Sam had to go in the opposite direction. She watched as he
ran down the hall, not even bothering to light a candle. She wanted
to kiss him, but the moment was lost.

She hoped she'd see him again.

She headed down the hall with a candle. It
was quiet to the point of making Sam nervous. She kept a steady
grip on her Beretta, with the spare gun she'd taken from Richardson
tucked in her jeans waistband. She felt completely exposed. She
didn't have two layers of clothes, her cap, her favorite knife. She
still wore her torn jeans and a sports bra.

She carefully scanned the rooms as she passed
each one. There was a body up ahead, lying in the middle of the
hall.

It twitched.

The walker moaned as it rolled over and tried
to sit up. Sam didn't recognize who it was, and she couldn't waste
time bothering to try. It actually hurt to pull the trigger,
something she didn't think she'd ever feel. She knew these people
now. She was one of them.

The gunshot was loud in the quiet hallway. No
other walkers came. She picked up her pace as she headed for the
auditorium. Sam had never seen Nikki's room, despite the younger
girl's constant invitations. She felt guilty for that now.

She shot two more walkers as she made her way
through the school. She could see through one of the classrooms
that the sun was coming up. That would help in some halls, but not
all of them.

She made it to the auditorium. There were
classrooms on both sides of the hall. She leaned her head into the
first one she came to.

“Nikki? Are you in here?”

Silence.

Sam kept moving. She jumped over a corpse she
thought was dead.

She was wrong.

The corpse grabbed her ankle. It was a weak
grip, but enough to trip her. She landed on her bad shoulder and
felt a stitch or two pop.

The walker pulled itself along Sam's body.
She pressed the barrel of her Beretta to its skull and pulled the
trigger before it had a chance to bite. It fell lifeless against
her legs.

She shoved it aside and stood up, gore all
over her. She heard a voice.

“Help me!”

“Nikki? Is that you?”

“Samantha? I'm in the bathroom!”

Sam had lost the candle when she fell. Only a
little light spilled in from the side classrooms. She could barely
see in front of her.

“Nikki, I can't see. Keep talking so I can
find you.”

“I'm in the boys' bathroom. Hurry up!”

She kept a hand on the
wall and followed Nikki's voice. “I
am
hurrying.”

“Are Derek and Amanda okay?”

“Aaron's getting them now. Just worry about
yourself.”

“Believe me, I am.”

Sam found the bathroom door. She opened it
and was surprised to see light. The bathroom had a small window. It
was too small to escape through, but large enough to let Sam see
what was happening.

Nikki was laying on a large sheet of plywood
placed on top of two bathroom stalls. Four walkers stood underneath
her, trying to shake her off. Nikki swatted at them to make them
let go. One walker tried to climb up using the toilet in the stall
next to her. She kicked it in the face.

“Samantha!” she said. Tears streamed from the
teenager's eyes.

The walkers were so preoccupied with Nikki
they didn't pay any attention to Sam. She shot all four without a
problem. Only the last one turned just in time to see its
death.

Nikki clung to Sam as she jumped down from
the plywood. Nikki cried and shivered as Sam wrapped her arms
around the girl. Sam looked up to see the plywood was nearly
cracked in half. In another few minutes Nikki would have been
dead.

She quickly pulled herself together. She
looked at Sam and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Thank you.”

“You're welcome. Let's get the hell out of
here.”

They stepped out into the hallway, and almost
ran right into two walkers. The corpses stumbled forward with their
arms outstretched. Sam shot them both. She recognized one walker as
Helen, who sometimes watched the storeroom.

Sam could have sworn she'd seen the second
walker before in the Pit.

She felt the gun being pulled from the back
of her jeans. Nikki let out a small scream, then fired. The walker
that had been sneaking up behind them fell to the floor.

Nikki trembled as she held the gun outright.
Sam gently pulled it from her grip.

“Nice shot.”

She could barely speak. “Thanks.”

They went to the nearest classroom and
climbed out through the window. As they rounded the corner they saw
the rest of Lexington still gathered in a group in the middle of
the field.

James and Eric were checking everyone for
bites and wounds. Richardson and Larry kept an eye on the school,
weapons ready. Mary was with the children. Sam was relieved to see
Derek and Amanda with them.

She didn't see Aaron.

Derek and Amanda ran to Nikki when they saw
her. It was obvious that Derek and Nikki were spending more time
together than she realized. Sam only gave them a second to hug each
other before she knelt down and looked at Amanda.

“Where's Aaron?”

“He's inside.”

“What?”

Derek was frustrated. “He saved us from three
of those things. Then he went back inside. He keeps saving people.
He won't stay out here. Richardson keeps screaming at him.”

Sam stood up and grabbed her hair in
frustration.

He's gonna get himself killed.

She led everyone back to the group. Mary gave
her a quick hug, then she marched up to Richardson.

“I'm going inside. Give me one more gun.”

Richardson hesitated. “Samantha, he's
reckless. I don't know what he's thinking, but you should stay away
from him right now.”

“I will
not
stay away from
him.”

She took the gun from Richardson and walked
toward the front door. She was halfway there when it opened and
Aaron stepped out into the early morning sun.

He looked terrible. He had his bow slung over
his shoulder and quiver on his back. His clothes were covered in
thick walker blood. He had Carrie in his arms, her arms wrapped
around his neck. Blood poured from a wound on her leg.

Sam ran forward to help. Larry and a few
others were right behind her. They took Carrie and helped her to
the ground. Aaron was exhausted. Sam had to hold him to keep him
from falling over.

“She wasn't bit,” he said. “In all the
confusion, she got shot.”

He dropped to one knee to catch his breath.
Sam held onto him the entire time.

“James!” Richardson called. “Get over
here.”

The doctor emerged from the group and checked
on Carrie. He shouted orders while digging for the bullet in her
leg. She screamed while holding onto Larry's hand.

“The school is clear,” Aaron said between
breaths. “You can get your tools, whatever you need.”