unedited

Six days since Presley had last seen the Prisoners. She had moved just about twenty miles north, enough to stay out of sight of the Prisoners. She had discovered a small town, choosing to camp out inside one of the nicer houses. Thankfully most of the houses had already been boarded up, so she was safe for the most part. Still, just to be safe, she put furniture in front of all the windows and doors that led to the outside world. Her only escape was with a rope coming down from the second floor.

This place had been stocked up densely, the basement filled with nonperishable food and bottled water. There was really no reason for her and Zeva to leave, at least for a while.

Presley sat perched on the couch, flipping through the pages of a novel. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to do but sleep and read.

Zeva sat on the ground, knawing on a toy bone. Huffing with annoyance, Presley tossed the book aside and sat up, pressing her hands against her cheeks. Zeva looked up from her toy, looking at the girl with intelligent eyes.

"Sometimes I wish you were human." Presley admitted quietly, shuffling towards the kitchen where she had stored most of the food. She used a manual can opener and looked at dismay at the peaches. She hardly had an appetite. Still, she dipped in a fork and shoveled some of the soft fruit into her mouth.

She was just finishing up when she heard a gunshot, followed by shouts. Alarm coursed through her as she scrambled up the stairs, peering down through a window. Sure enough, a group of people ran down the street, firing more rounds than there were roamers.

"Dumbasses." She muttered, watching as one of their people were grabbed and bitten. The group barely even turned to look at their fallen member. The group disappeared, but the screams of the girl didn't cede. Presley wanted badly to ignore them, but she knew she needed to do something. Hopefully this would at least lead to good karma.

She climbed out the window after ordering Zeva to stay. The dog had a small dog door in the backyard she could escape through to go to the bathroom, but Presley only let her go because she knew that the fence was reinforced.

Presley walked confidently down the street. Nearly all the roamers had been slaughtered, but a few had come at the sound of the gunshots. Any that hobbled towards her got a crowbar to the face. Presley knelt down beside the body, having already slaughtered the roamers feasting on her. Her eyes fluttered open, still wide and green. Still human. She was weak. Her mouth formed a single I audible word that Presley knew was 'please'.

Presley ensured that her death was quick and painless. She pulled her knife from the eye socket, looking at the betrayed girl sadly.

"I didn't think you would stay so close." A voice said, causing Presley to whirl around and aim her knife for the face of the sudden voice. Her eyes softened when she recognized Glenn, and another female. She was beautiful, with short brown hair and soft eyes.

"Well hello to you too." She replied, lowering her knife and leaning back. "I didn't expect you guys to venture so far away from your safe haven."

Glenn smiled. "People aren't just okay with plain old soup with no seasoning. Salt isn't good enough anymore."

Presley wrinkled her nose. "I would think not." She looked down the street at her Jeep. "Check the back seat. I got some fresh bottles of things I don't even use. Most of its garlic, but at least it's something?"

"Thanks, Presley."

"In exchange, I demand to know who this pretty girl is."

"I'm Maggie." The brunette said, coming up beside Glenn.

"It's nice to meet you, Maggie. I'm Presley." Presley announced, angling her body towards the Jeep. She moved down the street quickly, stepping around the dead bodies of the roamers. She pulled open the back door of her Sahara, rummaging around for a moment before finding a few bottles.

She tossed him half of her stash, watching in amusement as he stuffed it into his bag. "Well, here's goodbye..." She said, offering them a small wave.

"Wait." Maggie said, causing Presley to turn around. "Rick was saying he regretted letting you leave. Why don't you come back with us?"

Presley shook her head. "I'm just... Not a group kinda person, ya know? I'm more of an independent cause." Lies. Deep down she knew she missed being around civilization, but she couldn't admit that. She couldn't let herself get attached to people, only to have them wrenched from her grip.

"Seriously, Pres." Glenn insisted. "We have all these mouths to feed, and you obviously know what you're doing around here. No offense to them, but most of the people we have are pretty damn helpless."

Presley laughed at that. "So you want me to start doing hard labor to ensure the lives of people I don't know? No offense, but that doesn't sound very pleasing on my behalf."

"You'll have a place to call home." Maggie intervened. "That's worth more than anything nowaday."

"Sorry, I'd rather stay here." Presley said quietly. "I'll be here for a few more weeks at least. Find me if your group needs help with somethin."

Upsetted by their loss, Maggie and Glenn Watched as Presley pulled herself up the rope and disappeared through the window.