Chapter 76: "One of Us"

Enid ran into the house and desperately searched around. Then she stopped abruptly. Who was she kidding? The note and the missing knapsack told her everything. Lydia was gone and she was sure as walkers existed that no one saw her slipped out of Alexandria. She sprinted out of the house and ran home. She crashed into Carl who was coming outside. She shoved the note in his face.

"She's gone! Enid's gone!"~*~*~*~*

As Carl read the note, Enid was panicking.

"We have to go out and find her!"

"She doesn't want us to follow! Besides we don't know where she is."

"It doesn't matter!"

He nodded in agreement.~*~*~*~*

Rick and Michonne was about to embark on another round of early morning lovemaking when they heard Carl's voice call for them from downstairs. They giggled as they scrambled for clothing. Thankfully, the twins were at Rosita and Daryl's for a play date with Caleb and Judith was with Maggie. They sprinted downstairs and without saying a word Carl showed them the note.

"We will organise a small search party. Bring Ingrid here. She should have some idea what this note means and where Lydia could have gone."~*~*~*~*~*

Ingrid went into a full blown melt down upon reading the note.

"We can't leave her out there!"

"That's why we showed you the note. Do you have any where she could have gone?"

Before she could answer Enid cut in.

"What is Lydia so afraid of Ingrid? Who is she running from?"

Ingrid swallowed hard as she looked at all of them.

"Her mother is Alpha….the leader of the Whisperers."~*~*~*~*

Everyone felt sick to their stomach. They remembered what Beta told them about the treatment of women in the Whisperers. Enid recalled the words Lydia told her earlier

"Oh my God! Alpha traded Lydia…didn't she? To the men."

Ingrid wiped the tears from of her eyes.

"She never said it out loud but yes. That's why she left with us."

"Where could she have gone?"

"I don't know. She wouldn't go back to her mother."

"So what would she do?"

"Get away from us and stay away from other groups. She didn't want to come here. She didn't want to put anyone in danger."

No one said anything and it frustrated Enid.

"We are we going to do? We can't leave her out there! She's one of us!"

"Formulate a plan."~*~*~*~*~*

It was easy getting out of Alexandria. After twenty minutes of leaving, she crossed the path of a walker stuck between two trees. She killed, skinned its head off, wipied as much blood and flesh off and put it to dry on a nearby stone. Using some of her drinking water, she washed her hands and took out one of the apples from her knapsack and began eating.

As time ticked away she was beginning to feel a pang of regret. Contrary to what it may seem, she was starting to think of herself as part of something in Alexandria. Unfortunately, the speech Enid gave that was supposed to inspire her did just the opposite.

It just a reminder of what was lurking outside Alexandria's walls and that normalcy for her was just an illusion until her mother is dead. She ate a peach and tested the skin. It was dried sufficiently enough and carefully pulled the mask over her head.

She looked at a knife her mother gave her and pushed it into her boots. It's time to go home to mommy dearest and put the knife where it rightfully belonged. In her mother's chest.~*~*~*~*~*

Ezekiel, Jesus, Beta and the rest of the group moved along. Suddenly Shiva stopped and sniffed the air. She growled and looked into the direction of a thick group of trees off their far right. They looked in her line of sight.

"What is it girl?"

Shiva kept on sniffing the air and growling. Beta knelt down besides her and stared. He couldn't see anything but his gut was saying something else…that they were being watched. Five minutes passed before they began moving again. Beta caught Jesus staring at him concerned.~*~*~*~*

Beta couldn't shake the feeling that they were being followed. He couldn't ignore it anymore. It could be his paranoia but he couldn't take the chance as they came closer to ASZ.

"This is as far as I go."

The group stopped abruptly. Jesus stepped towards him and whispered.

"Please don't do this!"

"It has to be done."

He walked over and hugged a confused Jimmy, George and Izul and he whispered in their ear.

"Are you sure there isn't another way? What about Ingrid?" George asked upset.

A choked chuckle escaped his lips.

"She's strong. She'll survive."

Ezekiel, Rosemarie and Kirby walked towards them.

"What's going on?"

"Jesus will explain when you get to safety."

"Safety?"

"Yeah. I'm 80% sure we are being followed. I think Shiva knows it too."

They looked around them, weapons in the air.

"You sacrificing yourself will not prevent them from following us!" Jesus protested.

"Maybe but it's the best chance we have of getting all of you to safety at this very moment. I know Alpha. She wants me. She wants to punish me. I turned some of her people against her and they left with me. Lydia left with me. She's isn't going to forgive that. My death will be a temporary appeasement but it will give Rick and ASZ time to prepare for what's coming."

No one said anything.

"Go." He said quietly.

"I'm sorry." Jesus said.

"Don't be."

As they moved off, Beta turned and faced the dense bushes.~*~*~*~*

It took about fifteen minutes for four Whisperers to come out. They surrounded him and he tried to remain calm. Part of him was hoping for them to kill him on the spot instead of taking him back to Alpha for a slow, painful death but that would defeat the purpose of him staying behind.

"You know you only delayed the inevitable. There are more of us than them. We will find them again and we will find her."

Beta closed his eyes.

"Move!" The man barked.

As soon as he stood up, Shiva came out of nowhere and pounced on the man, sinking her teeth into his neck and shaking him violently. Beta shot to his seat, shocked. The other three men literally froze in their positions giving Ezekiel, Jesus, George, Izul, Rosemarie and Kirby time to run out from hiding. By the time the whisperers decided to retreat in fear, they were flanked. They were surrounded. Shiva paced in front of them snarling, blood dripping her mouth and hungrily waiting to make her next kill. Beta stared at his friends and Jesus smiled.

"I told you…we leave together and we're going home together. I'm done carrying bad news."

Beta smiled and then his face grew dark. He turned to the men.

"On your knees."

The men complied but their eyes jumped from the dead Whisperer to Shiva. They were afraid of her. Jesus stepped forward.

"How do you want to handle this?"

"Like this!"

With one fell swoop, Beta un-holstered his large army knife and sliced the men's throat in seconds. They fell forward gurgling and clawing at their necks for vital air in their last minutes on earth. Beta's action shocked the entire group. They didn't recognize his face and his knife dripped with blood at his feet. He watched his enemies bleed out before him unfazed. When the last man took his breath, he kneeled down quietly and took off their walker skin masks, revealing their faces. George and Izul gasped. They recognized one of the men.

"That's Arnold. He's a piece of shit!"

"Well the piece of shit is dead."

"Amen."

Beta held up the masks in his hand.

"Let's get home. Rick needs to see what he's up against."~*~*~*~*