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Chapter 4

"What the hell?" Amelia stepped into the room balancing a tray with a bowl of steaming soup and a glass of water.

She set the tray down on the floor and kneeled in front of Daryl. She traced the line of his jaw with her finger and he jerked his head away from her angrily.

She stared at the swelling under his right eye and the bruises forming on his jaw.

"Daryl, what happened?"

"Your friends is what happened." He sneered at her. "Paid me a little visit last night; thought they could beat information out of me."

"I'm so sorry." She whispered. For the first time she noticed the scrapes and bruises on his torso. They had given him back his pants but had left his upper body bare.

He shrugged, "It's what I woulda done. Hell, have done."

He winced when she touched one of the larger scrapes on his chest.

"You and your friends can go to hell." He muttered.

She sighed, "I told you, they're not my friends and –" she lowered her voice to a whisper, "They're bad people. I was trying to get away from them."

He nodded at the knife that hung from her belt. "Use that to untie me and let's go then."

She bit her bottom lip. "Daryl, it's not that easy. They have guns. We can't just walk out of here in broad daylight. They're already suspicious of my story about why I was in the woods by myself."

He just stared at her with those disconcerting blue eyes.

"I'll think of a plan to get us both out of here, I promise." She smiled at him. He didn't return her smile and she sighed and picked up the bowl of soup.

"Here, have a bite to eat. It's just from a can but it's hot." She dipped the spoon into the bowl and brought it towards his mouth.

He leaned back, "I ain't letting you feed me woman."

She shrugged, "It's your choice. Either I feed you and you get some nourishment or you starve. C'mon Daryl, it's been nearly two days. I know you're hungry."

"I ain't." His growling stomach betrayed him.

"Just eat a few bites." She urged.

She held the spoon of steaming liquid in front of his mouth and after a few seconds he opened his mouth. She spooned the mixture into his mouth in silence. Quickly he ate the entire bowl of soup. She scraped the last of the liquid from the bottom of the bowl and gave it to him. She wiped his mouth with the napkin on the tray and then held the glass of water for him to drink.

"Amelia." He tried again, "Untie me."

She shook her head, "Not now, it's too light out and there are too many people around."

He grimaced, "Your people are going to kill me before you get the chance to –"

"Shhh!" she hissed at him and cocked her head. From outside came the faint sound of someone screaming followed by the loud popping of gunfire.

"Shit!" she leaped to her feet and ran for the door.

"Amelia! Set me free!" he yelled at her. She didn't stop and bolted through the door. It swung shut behind her, leaving him alone in the room.

Daryl pulled frantically at the ropes that bound him. He cursed loudly; sweat broke out on his forehead and the veins pulsed in his neck as he yanked against the ropes. Outside there were more screams and gunfire. He strained to look out the small basement windows but they were clouded with dirt.

Five, maybe ten minutes, had passed when there was a loud thud at the door. The knob turned and he held his breath, hoping it was Amelia. The door swung open and the man who had visited him the night before to work him over with his fists, stood in the hallway outside the door and pointed his gun at him. He was bleeding from a bite wound to his abdomen and he looked simultaneously terrified and insane. Before he could pull the trigger, a Walker attacked him from the side. The man screamed and tripped over his own feet, falling backwards and sliding across the floor until all Daryl could see was his boot-clad feet. The Walker fell on him, teeth bared and the sounds of ripping flesh were heard over the man's dying screams. Another Walker appeared in the doorway and joined the first one, gnawing and biting into the man's flesh. As a third Walker limped into view, Daryl froze. It did no good. Instead of joining the other two, the Walker turned and peered into the room. Half of his face was missing, blown away by the blast of a shotgun but Daryl doubted it would stop him from tearing out his throat.

As the Walker lumbered into the room, Daryl yelled at it, "C'mon then ya sumbitch! I ain't got all day!"

The Walker closed in on him, hands reaching for him eagerly. The cavernous hole that had replaced most of its mouth twitched; Daryl could see a few remaining teeth and knew there was enough of them to bite into his skin.

A hand appeared on the top of the Walker's head gripping its hair and the Walker was thrown to the floor, a large section of its scalp and hair tearing off in Amelia's hand as it fell. Before the dead man could stagger to its feet, Amelia raised the bat she was holding and bashed it into his forehead. It caved in the soft rotting skull of the Walker with the sound of a wet dishcloth being dropped on the floor. Blood spattered in a fine spray, coating her legs and Daryl's. With a small grunt of effort she hit it again. A large portion of its brain oozed out of the shattered remains of its skull. The Walker made one final twitch and then grew still.

Breathing heavily, Amelia pulled the knife from her belt and quickly sliced through the ropes around his feet, keeping an eye on the Walker's behind them snacking on her dead companion. She had his crossbow over her shoulder and before she cut the ropes around his wrists, she placed it on his lap. He stamped his feet experimentally and rubbed his wrists where the ropes had dug in as she stood and ran to the closet in the corner of the room.

"Here." She tossed his t-shirt, leather vest and boots at him. He shrugged into them quickly as she picked up her bat and nervously eyed the Walker's still munching in the hallway.

"What happened?" he whispered.

"A herd, biggest one we've seen." She paused, fighting back tears. "They've already killed most of us. I thought we were prepared." She stopped, swallowing hard and pulling a set of keys from the light jacket she was wearing. The keys jingled lightly in her trembling hands. Afraid she would drop them he took them from her and held them firmly in one hand.

"There's a blue truck parked to the left of the farmhouse. I think we can make it if we go now." She gripped the blood-soaked bat tightly in one hand and advanced towards the door. The two Walkers in the hallway had their faces buried in the abdomen of the dead man, tearing and chewing on pieces of his intestine. She gagged softly and slipped past them. Occupied with the fresh meal in front of them they paid no attention to her or Daryl as they crept down the hall towards the stairs.

At the top of the stairs she stopped and peered cautiously around the large living room. It was empty but Daryl could hear the familiar shuffling and moaning from the kitchen only a few feet away. She placed her finger to her lips and he nodded at her irritably.

Slowly they crossed the living room and down the hallway to the front door. From outside came the sounds of dying men. There were only sporadic bursts of gunfire now. The Walkers were winning. She leaned towards him and breathed into his ear, "The truck is to the left. We can go down the porch, over the railing and the truck's parked maybe 20 feet away. Ready?"

He nodded again and brought his crossbow up as she slowly opened the door. He surveyed the carnage before him. At least eight bodies lay in the front yard, with 3 or 4 Walkers at each one, ripping and tearing into them. As they hurried down the porch, Daryl watched a Walker across the yard take down a large-bellied man in a combat vest. The man screamed as the Walker bit into his ear, tearing most of it off. Amelia made a small whimpering noise but kept moving.

As they leaped over the railing of the porch and dropped the short distance to the ground below them, a Walker limped towards them. She was missing an arm and her broken foot dragged behind her. Amelia raised her bat but Daryl quickly shot it through the head with an arrow, reaching down and yanking the arrow free as they ran past the fallen Walker.

They were nearly at the truck when a piercing scream made them both turn. A middle-aged Hispanic woman was fleeing across the yard towards a battered, brown SUV dragging a small child with her. She reached for the door handle, yanked it open and screamed again as a Walker appeared from behind the vehicle and latched onto her neck. Blood sprayed from her jugular vein and her scream became a gurgle. The child dropped her hand and backed up a few feet before stopping. She turned away and placed her thumb in her mouth; her eyes had become the blank stare of a shock victim.

"FUCK!" Amelia cried. She ran towards the child, ignoring Daryl's yells for her to come back. Halfway towards the girl she heard the sound of the truck starting up and although she cursed Daryl in her head for leaving them, she didn't stop her sprint towards the child. From the corner of her eye she could see a Walker staggering towards her. She weaved to the right and swung the bat. It smashed into the shoulder of the Walker hard enough to send it tumbling to the ground.

Another Walker was behind the child and as it reached for her, Amelia dropped the bat, pulled the knife from her belt and leaped forward knocking the little girl to the ground with one arm. She drove the knife directly between the Walker's empty eyes. It dropped to the ground as the Walker she had hit with the bat crawled towards her. She screamed in fear and rage and stomped on its head with the heel of her boot. The skull caved in easily beneath her foot and she nearly collapsed on top of the Walker. She snatched the child off the ground. It was like picking up a stuffed doll and as she turned back for the farmhouse she heard the welcoming sound of a truck roaring towards her. Daryl squealed to a stop throwing dust and dirt into her face. She wrenched open the door and threw the little girl into the truck as easily as a rag doll.

As she climbed into the truck Daryl yelled "Behind you!" She didn't stop to think, just shot her right foot out where it connected solidly with the face of the Walker reaching for her. It was driven backwards to the ground behind her and she dropped on to the seat of the truck as Daryl shifted into gear and tore across the yard. The force of his acceleration slammed her door shut and she sat up, gathering the small child in her arms and holding her tightly as they drove across the yard. Daryl stomped on the gas; tires squealed and smoked as they drove down the driveway and onto the road.

Still clutching the child against her chest she stared out the front window. Tears rolled down her cheek and she wiped them away angrily as Daryl drove them away from the carnage.

He glared at her, "I told you nowhere was safe." He spoke more harshly than he had intended but the scene at the farmhouse had reminded him too much of an earlier one.

She nodded silently. He was right; they had been fucking fools.

"Ya okay?" he asked gruffly.

She nodded again. "Yeah. Thanks for picking us up." She looked down at the silent child in her arms. She still had her thumb in her mouth and was staring up at Amelia. The vacant, dead look in her eyes was enough to seriously creep Amelia out.

He nodded. "What's her name?" he gestured to the child.

"Ellie." She answered.

As he drove them further away from the farmhouse Amelia talked quietly to Ellie, trying to get the young girl to respond to her. It wasn't working; the child had completely withdrawn into herself.

Amelia sighed and looked up, squinting at the landscape. "Where are we going?"

He glanced at her. "We're going to find MY people."

He paused and said almost too softly for her to hear, "My friends."