Chapter Two
As they started to walk onwards, Tara's hand fell as Maggie loosened her grip. They walked side by side, arms causing slight friction as they touched together. They trudged along for what seemed like hours, not once saying a word. Tension filling the air, like so many things wanted to be said but words would never come. Whispers forming on the edge of their tongues, but never being able to string together any words. Maggie stared blankly in front of her, only aware of the way forward by the gentle rhythmic stroke of her arm on Tara's.
Tara glanced at Maggie, noticing her vacant expression. She felt such tremendous guilt, for reasons that even she didn't fully understand. She just knew that it was there and it weighed down on her like a heap of bricks. The knawing feeling in her stomach increasing every second spent in silence.
Trying to be strong for Maggie when she couldn't find the strength for herself, was harder than she thought. Her mind was racing. She wanted to tell Maggie that it would be okay, that they would find the others and they'd be safe, but she didn't know that and she didn't want to lie to her. She was already fragile, she didn't want to add to that, even if it did temporarily make her feel better. She deserved more than that.
After a while, there was a rustle of leaves, twigs snapping underneath a force that could only be human. Wrong. Three walkers emerged from behind a cluster of trees and tumbled aimlessly towards them. Maggie stepped forward, her right foot landing heavily onto the ground, her body swayed but Tara steadied her.
"I'll take the left, you take the right. Then we'll meet in the middle and take out the last one. Agreed?" Tara whispered, making her hand into a fist and pointing it in Maggies direction.
"Agreed." Maggie lowered her head into a nod, accepting the plan, lazily forming a fist and bumping it against Tara's, letting a slight smile form at the side of her mouth.
Maggie walked towards the walker on the right, speeding up into a run as she got closer. Clutching her knife, she pushed the rotting body backwards with one hand against what was left of its throat and forced the sharp blade into its skull with the other. Tara did the same, but as she pulled the knife away from the other walker, it forced her backwards and landed heavily on top of her.
"Fuck!" Tara howled.
"Tara!" Maggie screamed in a panic. "Hold on!"
Maggie hastily made her way over to Tara, the third walker now approaching. She took her knife and pulled the walker backwards into it making it collapse to the ground. When she reached Tara, she began to fear that it was too late, that the walker had attacked her and soon Tara would turn and she'd be alone, but when Maggie saw Tara's face, the thoughts exited her mind as quickly as they entered.
"Just twisted my ankle, that's all." Tara smiled, looking up at Maggie perched over her body, full of worry.
"You're always hurtin' yourself, Tara. You've gotta be more careful." Maggie replied playfully, letting a smile play across her lips, too.
"I would love to be freed from this walker here though, he's a big lump."
"Oh! Sorry." Maggie lifted the body off with all the strength she had in her arms, releasing Tara.
"Thanks." Tara grinned as she got up from the dirt, wiping the front of her body down with both of her hands, dried mud and leaves falling from her clothes.
Maggie ran into Tara's embrace, wrapping her arms around the whole of her body. Her hands tracing the spine of her back, slowly leading up to the warmth on her neck and burying her head into it.
"Hey, I'm okay. I'm okay." Tara reassured her.
"I know, but you might not have been. I thought for a second... I don't ever want to feel like that again."
"You won't have to, okay?" Tara paused, thinking that she was probably talking about Glenn, and losing anybody else would be too painful. She waited for a response and felt Maggies head move slightly, into a nod against her neck. "Listen, we need to find somewhere to stay. It's getting dark and my ankles fucked."
Maggie pulled Tara's arm over her shoulder and let her arm slip around Tara's side. They started to walk, Maggie instantly feeling the pressure of supporting most of Tara's body weight. She gripped onto her tight, carefully looking around for walkers lurking behind trees. After a short walk they found a small tunnel and plenty of room to stay under for the night.
"Over there." Maggie pointed with her free arm. "We can stay there."
They got to the arch of the tunnel and crouched under. Maggie sat Tara down and rested her up against one side of the wall. Removing her hand from behind her head and gently resting it on the hard surface.
"It's safe here but I don't know how long it will be. I'm gonna drag the walkers we killed down here and make a barrier to protect us for the night." Maggie looked into Tara's face searching for approval.
"We'll be okay. You can't drag them down here by yourself, and I'm in no condition." Tara protested. She wanted to keep Maggie safe, not the other way round.
Maggie walked towards Tara and pressed her hand onto her shoulder, squeezing her fingers into a soft grip. A concerned expression crossed her face, as her eyebrows raised gently "I need to keep us safe." She said firmly.
Before Tara could even make a fuss, Maggie had swiftly spun around on her feet and started towards the trees to find the bodies they left behind.
We're always protecting each other, Tara thought.
