Immune 18- The Heart of the
Dead
“Don’t take any chances with her. She’s dangerous. We
need to move her to the square. I want the people to meet their savior.” The
Governor spoke while drying off his hands.
“What about Merle and the other one?” Martinez asked.
“Take them both to the square, we’ll have ourselves a
little fun first. You,” he pointed to an unsure man in the corner, “get her to
the square. Take this and knock her out first. Got it?” The Governor handed the
man a Taser already loaded and on its highest setting. “You think you can
handle that?” With that, the Governor left with Martinez and a few other men in
tow.
“What the fuck, man?” A man asked the one given the
Taser. “Did that really happen?”
“Shut your mouth, you really want to question a man that
could do that? Let’s just get through this.” Vanessa still sat on the floor of
the cell; her hands still held the metal bars. She stared blankly at the tub
and the legs hanging off the side.
“Vanessa?” Rick asked “Vanessa?” There was pain in his
voice. Rick was a good man who has had to make hard choices, there was a time
when Vanessa worried that Rick was losing his humanity with the decisions he’s
had to make. Now it seems that Vanessa is the one who has lost everything she
tried to hold onto.
The man with the Taser shot her and Vanessa welcomed the
electric agony that came with it and the blessed unconsciousness that followed.
“Alright, Cooper, Johnson, pick her up and let’s head for the square. I don’t
wanna miss the fight.” Taser man spoke. Vanessa heard them, she wasn’t fully
unconscious as she would have hoped. They began to drag her along the concrete
floor by her arms on her back, Vanessa could make out the thud of boots.
Rotating her hands inward she grabbed the two by their
wrists and flipped her feet above her head and drove them deep into their
mid-sections. Using her momentum, Vanessa was able to roll up on her feet, back
to them. She shifted her weight to one leg and twisted around to kick them in
their faces with a powerful roundhouse.
Taser man shot again but not letting the electric current
phase her, she simple grabbed him by the neck and shoved him into the wall. He
dropped the Taser as Vanessa continued to ram him into the cinderblock until
blood appeared on the wall and his body slide down the wall.
Vanessa stood there over the body breathing deeply. It
felt good to kill him and she only wished it was the Governor at her feet
instead. The sound of splashing water stopped Vanessa’s breath. A numb feeling
fell over her as she immediately knew what the sound was.
“Vanessa…wait. Just let us out, I’ll take care of it.”
Rick spoke from the cell. The look in her eyes was dark and frightening. Rick watched as the thing that use to be
Lizzy began to slosh out of tub. She couldn’t do this. He couldn’t let Vanessa
take this on. Having to kill walker-Lizzy would be the final nail in the coffin
on what was once Vanessa’s soul.
“Please Vanessa, let me help you.” Rick continued to
plead with a cracking voice but Vanessa knew she would have to do this on her
own.
“I’ll take care of her, Rick.” She spoke in monotone.
This Lizzy is in stark contrast to live Lizzy. She used to be so vibrant and
alive. No longer. Her skin was pale and somewhat bloated from the water. Her
eyes have become gray and clouded and her hair swung about her slumped
shoulders. Vanessa let her shuffle closer, she used that time to think about
what she had to do.
Vanessa bent down and picked up the knife from Taser
man’s belt; she held it against her leg as if it were too heavy to lift any higher.
But it wasn’t the weight of the knife, just the burden of this world that was
weighing her down. This dead world that made men into monsters, children into
pawns, and friendships into liabilities; was not a world Vanessa wanted to live
in much longer. How easy would it be to just end it? To stop the pain and
hardships with one bullet.
The thing that was Lizzy groaned and reached for her.
Vanessa held her by the throat at arm’s length as it struggled.
“Lizzy, I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you. You didn’t
deserve this. I’m not sure I have anything left to give this world anymore. But
I will do one thing for you, Lizzy. I’ll kill that bastard. I promise, with
everything left I have in my heart, I’ll take him to Hell with me. I….I…..oh,
God…” Vanessa’s voice trailed off and she spoke in sobs. She let the tears
flowed down her face again.
The knife plunged into Lizzy’s skull quickly and
efficiently. Vanessa twisted her wrist to turn the blade inside, ensuring the
brain is badly damaged, Lizzy slowly fell to the ground with a wet thud.
Rick watched as Vanessa wiped off the blade and proceeded
to check the fallen bodies for a set of keys to unlock the cell. Her movements
were robotic with vacant eyes because there, lying on the floor in a dead heap,
was Vanessa’s heart. Her purpose for staying alive in this desolate world for
so long when at any time, she could have ended it.
Rick sympathized because it was the same feeling he felt
when his wife Lori died. He had been used to keeping her and Carl alive for so
long that he didn’t know what his purpose now was until he realized he still had
Carl and now a daughter. He still has his group; his surrogate family. Will the
group be enough for Vanessa to care about living? To Rick, she already looked
dead.
The sound of a turning key and disengaging lock shook
Rick back to situation at hand. Julian followed behind Rick as he led them to
the back stair case that would lead up into an empty part of the warehouse.
Vanessa went in the opposite direction.
“We need to go.” Rick said in an urgent whisper. He still
didn’t know how many guards occupied the warehouse or beyond.
“No, I’m not leaving here until he’s dead.” She didn’t
have to say who she meant and there was no arguing with her. Rick, still in
pain from his wound, relented and followed Vanessa silently up the front
staircase. He understood that she had to do this. She had to face this man and
she’ll succeed in killing him even if it means she kills herself in the
process.
Outside the guards were light. Vanessa only came across
two that she easily dispatched by snapping their necks from behind. They never
saw her coming. She didn’t bother to stab their brains, she’d rather they
turned while inside the wall. She was done playing games and taking prisoners.
Now, anyone between her and the Governor is her enemy and will be killed. Her
own train of thoughts were frightening enough but if Rick and Julian could see
the image she had in her head of how she would kill the Governor, they would
run the other way in horror.
A crowd was gathered around a clearing. Along the inner
ring of the crowd was a line of armed guards and at its center was the
Governor.
“Fuck my life!” Vanessa cursed. The Governor would have
plenty of warning she was coming and enough guards between them to slow her
down considerably.
“I don’t see a way through without being undetected.”
Julian surmised. “We should leave. We can regroup and plan…”
“No. I’m here, I’m doing this.” Vanessa made a move to
run for the center when Rick’s strong grasp stopped her.
“Wait! Look, it’s Daryl and Merle. What are they….they’re
going to make them fight each other? We need to stop this.” Rick demanded. “You
go now and you’ll be killing them too. They’ll put a bullet in their heads
before you get to him.”
The cloud of rage was dispersing and Vanessa was thinking
more clearly. Rick made sense. She was willing to risk her own life, but not
everyone else’s. Vanessa handed Rick a gun she took off a dead guard, she
handed Julian another. They took up positions without having to even speak and
began to spray bullets amongst the crowd. They didn’t intend to kill, just
distract to allow Daryl and Merle to escape.
Screaming people began to run haphazardly. Guards fired
blindly into all directions and Vanessa aimed her sights on the Governor. He
wore a black patch over one eye and Vanessa secretly thanked the person that
caused him pain. He was wondering around the center of the confusion unafraid
of bullets or walkers that all flew around him. Vanessa slowed her breathing,
quieted her heartbeat and steadied the weapon. She slowly pulled back on the
trigger and let the bullet loose.
Vanessa watched as Andrea walked in between the shot and
the bullet entered her right shoulder and exited out her back. The force put
her into a spin and just as she turned around, she faced Vanessa. There was
pain on her face but also determination. She knew, Andrea knew the shot was
fired and she intentionally walked into it. Vanessa could tell she will live
from this wound.
“Fuck.” Vanessa lowered her rifle. The Governor had
ducked down beyond her line of sight and the element of surprise was lost.
Andrea made her choice and she chose to be between her and the Governor; a
perilous position.
To be continued….
No comments:
Post a Comment