The Night the Bird
Fell
This night was different. He cold had never bitten at my skin quite like this. A light frost was starting to blanket the fallen leaves strewn on the ground, making them crunch under my usually silent feet. The sound wasn't helping my hunting trip, but if whatever I was hunting could hear me; then I'd hear if anything was following me on my trail. Walkers constantly roamed the woods, scaring game away and making the group restless, but deep down I knew this was not a real hunting trip. This was an excuse, an escape from sleep. My dreams were now plagued with Sophia; vision of her lifeless body walking out of that barn haunted me. She wasn't even my daughter or of any relation to me whatsoever, but losing her cut deeper than the wind which was beginning to pick up. Sunlight was now peaking over the horizon, but only barely. "Oh, great." I thought to myself, " now if I die at least I'll be able to see it happen." The sun was arriving but the skies still belonged to the night, as streaks of dim light were only barley touching the clouds above. Finally, a sign of movement catches my eye, just to the left of where I was facing. I lock an arrow back in my crossbow slowly and turn towards the disturbance in the previously still forest. A small sparrow had perched itself upon the branch of a yew tree, it wasn't enough for a meal or even a snack; but it was enough for me to stand and watch it in silence. Sparrows were always a symbol of hope for a lot of different groups. But that was before the dead began to walk. This small bird looked as though it'd been through Hell, which isn't hard to believe given the world's current situation. Just as I was about to turn away and head back to our temporary camp, the small bird seemed to release its grip on the branch; falling to the ground. One of the few meant to rule the skies dropped to the Earth cold and lifeless, hope had fallen; and was cast down to Hell. I dunno if it was out of sheer exhaustion or starvation, but in all my years of hunting and tracking I had never seen a bird fall to the ground all on its own. Sophia crept back into my thoughts, her mother's screams as she realized her daughter was truly lost, lost in a world of darkness driven only by the simple instinct to feast on the flesh of the living. The image of Rick slowly walking toward the living dead body, the look on his face turned to stone as he lifted his gun to her head, and pulled the trigger. The deafening crack of the gun's shot stirred a silence in us all as we watched her body crumble to the Earth with a thud. The sounds of the forest snap me back to reality as small creatures begin to shake from their slumbers. I turn and start making my way back to camp, Rick's most likely out on patrol and with Andrea missing and Shane gone, the group needs constant protection. I begin to follow my own tracks, eager to sit by the warm fire, when suddenly a scream cracked the silence of the still arriving morning. About a quarter of a mile away to the West, Lori's voice screamed my name, "Daryl! Daryl!" My legs automatically begin sprinting towards the source of the screaming while my mind lingers behind wondering why she'd call for me instead of Rick's, her husband. I ran through the forest screaming back to Lori "I'm coming!" Her screams grew louder as I drew closer, but still called only my name. I thought of Sophia, calling my name lost in a forest, calling for someone who wasn't there. I reached a small clearing in the forest where the screaming was coming from, our firewood stockpile. Two bodies lay on the leaf-covered ground, struggling. A pale, almost green with decay man lay on top of Lori with her forearm in his hands brought up to his mouth. I took aim with my crossbow, still loaded from earlier on when I had seen the bird. Everyone says that in moments like these time slows down, but in reality the world speeds up and falls silent. With a pull of the trigger, the arrow shot with a whistle through the cold early winter air and into the walker's temple, sending a burst of blood and dead brain onto the tree behind the pair of struggling bodies; one of which now fell limp. Lori slowly threw the body off of her own but didn't get up. I rushed over falling to my knees beside her, looking over her body to see if she was okay. My lungs ran dry and my heart ceased to pump as I looked on Lori's shoulder, an unmistakable mark of a bite was visible through her ripped and blood-drenched shirt. The walker had moved to her forearm and had taken a section of it before I could shoot it. Why was she out alone? We had enough firewood back at camp. Was she looking for Rick? Or did she go out alone, unarmed and unprepared on purpose? "Rick!" I screamed, "Rick, it's Lori!" He and the other members of our group would arrive in moments, but until then it was just Lori and I. She gripped my hand in her own, covering it in her dark warm blood. " Daryl," she panted, " tell Shane I love him." She must have been delusional from losing so much blood since Shane had died around 4 weeks earlier. But she didn't mention her own husband, or even her son Carl; both of whom were still alive. Tears filled her dimming eyes as she searched mine for an answer. "I will Lori, don't worry." I told her, still puzzled. The tears now flowed down her face with a look of relief. " Don't you let me go Daryl," she begged with despair returning to her face, " Don't let me become one of those…things. Promise me" I looked over her shaking face as I searched for and answer in my head. " I won't Lori." I told her, even thought I knew there was nothing I could do to stop her resurrection besides the obvious, but I couldn't do that, not without Rick here. "God can't take in people who lived in Hell, can he?" she asked with more tears flooding her eyes. Her skin was turning cold and her breaths were becoming shorter. "Lori," I told her sternly, "God left this place a long time ago." She looked up at me with eyes that understood what I had said and nodded in agreement. Her free hand gripped at dead leaves, crumbling them to dust, which blew away with winter's winds. " Just tell Shane I love him, please." She said one more time. "He'll know Lori, just stay awake." I told her softly, a tone I rarely use. Rick and the group finally arrived in the clearing, with little Carl. Lori fell silent, still alive but not speaking. I moved aside to let Rick hold his wife and young Carl say goodbye to his mother. Lori said nothing to either of the two." She slipped away slowly a fallen mother and wife, cast into darkness. Rick continued talking to her, looking for some response or any signal from his fallen wife. Finally he stood up, and taking Carl's hand backed slowly away from his wife's body as he drew out his revolver from its holster. His face became stone once more, and Carl's matched it in coldness, we all stood together waiting for her to rise once more. We all knew it wouldn't be Lori, but that didn't make it any easier. With a sudden groan, Lori awoke and struggled to her feet. Rick east Carl behind his back as he raised his gun once again. "Goodbye, my love." He almost whispered to himself. The crack of his gun erupted throughout the forest, sending the bullet through all our hearts. Lori crumbled to the ground before our eyes, but something caught my eye as she hit Earth's cold surface. A swallow, inked into her ankle lay exposed in the early morning light. We stood for what seemed like an eternity before rick turned to me. "Did she say anything?" he asked while trying to hide a choke in his throat. I paused, thinking about everything I had seen this morning, "Nothing." I said. The sun continued to rise but the skies still belonged to the night, that night in which we were all trapped. The night the bird fell.