Dread, anger, and fear pulled me from my sleep.
As I opened my eyes, Kala nudged me with her cold nose.
"A'ight. A'ight. I'm up." I told my dog.
Once she saw that I was awake, she went to the door and pawed at it.
Just then Andrea appeared. I noticed she was wearing the same clothes from yesterday. I was too. Hell, I'd forgotten the last time I'd even washed the jeans I was wearing; maybe a month ago?
She cast me a smile and let Kala out. "You look like shit."
I chuckled as I drank some water and attempted to find a way to control my disgusting hair.
"Guys have it so much easier." I mumbled, earning a laugh from Andrea.
I then got way more excited about a headband than I should have.
"You don't have to tell me." Andrea said, amused by my enthusiasm about a headband. "The first time I found laundry detergent I think I did a dance."
We both laughed as we exited the scorching vehicle.
My good mood slowly edged away as we continued to make a sign for Sophia and Sena.
We were leaving…might as well say we're giving up.
"Hello? Earth to Lyla." I heard a voice say.
Andrea looked at me pointedly.
"S—sorry." I mumbled, handing her some supplies to leave.
Daryl then came over and told us we were getting ready to leave.
Carol face mirrored mine. We were both sad to be abandoning the girls, but everyone else was right.
We had to meet back up with Rick and the others.
But that didn't stop me from placing one last item on the hood of the car we'd rigged up for the girls; my teddy bear.
Everyone looked at me, like they felt sorry for me.
But they didn't feel sorry. Probably the only one who was sorry was Carol. We just had what was left of our family stripped away from us.
I wished everyone else would just stop looking at me like I was going to break down any second.
"C'mon. We're wasting daylight." Daryl said quietly, getting on his bike.
Carol got in a car we fixed up while Andrea, Dale, me, and Kala got in the RV.
The drive wasn't very long, and quickly I realized this was an actual farm. I smiled in spite of myself. I hadn't been on a farm since I was a kid.
The ancient vehicle creaked to a stop and I clambered out, enjoying the feel of the open space. Over the past few days, I'd become quite claustrophobic.
Rick, and a crap load of other people came outside. I ran to Autumn and hugged her.
"Carl okay? What about T?" I asked panicked.
"They're okay. They're gonna be just fine." She told me.
"Thanks to Hershel, and his people." Lori said, explaining to everyone that her son was going to live.
"And Shane. We would've lost Carl if not for him." Rick finished.
I glanced at Shane, who looked awful in some hand-me-down clothes.
Everyone group hugged while I went to Shane.
"You did good." I said simply. That was all my inner shyness would allow me to say.
Shane gave me a crooked grin and nodded his head.
"Ya'll come on." Hershel commanded. "We're just about to hold a memorial for Otis."
I looked around in confusion, but no one dared to tell me who Otis was.
We all gathered around a stone pile, even Kala joined in, sitting there as if she knew what was happening. There were a few stones left in a wheel barrow and a cute little blonde chick took one out and put it on the pile. Some young guy did the same, then an older blonde.
"Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Praise be to Him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died, as lived; in grace."
I looked at the ground, in discomfort. It'd be just our luck that we'd found a religious nut in the middle of hell.
I shook my head at my thoughts. I shouldn't say the guy was a nut. At one time I was a praying girl; went to church, went on mission trips…
"Shane, will you speak for Otis?" Hershel requested.
"I'm not good at it." He said, looking at the ground.
"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning." The older blonde pleaded through tears. Guess she was his wife or girlfriend.
Shane seemed to go into a comatose. "Meaning."
In concern, I touched his arm lightly.
He looked at me as if I'd snapped him out of his trance.
"We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We gotta save the boy'. See, that's what he said. He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run' he said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you'. And when I looked back…" Shane paused in his tale and looked around.
I shivered involuntarily. He honestly looked like he'd checked out.
Shane them limped forward, placing a stone on the pile.
"If not for Otis, I wouldn't have made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his." He said, forcefully.
The poor woman cried and nodded her head.
But that look didn't leave Shane's face. It was a look that sent cold chills down your spine.
"Note to self. Avoid Shane."
After parking the RV under the old oak tree, Rick called me and Carol over to him and Hershel.
"Hershel, this is Carol, Sophia's mom. And Lyla is Sena's cousin." The group leader told the man.
"How long have these girls been missing?" He asked.
Andrea, Shane, and Daryl gathered around the map with us.
"This'll be day three." Rick said, looking at me and Carol.
Carol's face fell and she turned to walk back into the RV.
I grimaced and looked at the ground.
One of Hershel's people, I think his daughter, came over to us with a map.
"County survey map. Shows terrain, and elevations." The woman told us, sprawling the map out.
"This is perfect." Shane admitted.
"We can finally get this thing organized." Rick said with renewed enthusiasm. "We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams."
A tiny sliver of hope bubbled in me. Things were starting to look a little better.
"Not you. Not today." Hershel ordered Rick. "You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out."
He then looked to Shane. "And your ankle—push it now and you'll be laid up a month; no good to anybody."
I sighed. Half our team wasn't well enough to even begin searching.
"Guess it's just me." Daryl speculated. "I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there."
"I can still be useful." Shane said, not wanting to be confined to resting. "I'll drive up to the interstate, see if they wandered back."
"I ain't sitting around all day. I can go back to that church we were at, who knows, maybe they found it after the incident with Carl." I offered.
"No, I can't let you do that." Rick said, shaking his head.
"Why not? I can take care of myself and almost no one is going out and looking for them." I said way harsher than I had intended.
"You wanna find your cousin. We get it." Shane started in on me, just like he did Andrea. "But having you out there by yourself is way too risky."
"Daryl's doing it. He's gonna be out there by himself. The only reason you're freaking is cuz I'm a girl, right?" I asked, angry.
Everyone shut up, not wanting to admit that that's what they thought. I just scoffed.
"Alright. Hows about you and Daryl take the creek?" Shane asked.
"Fine by me, as long as we find those girls." I stated.
I then looked at Daryl to make sure he was okay with me going with him.
He just nodded.
"Alright. Tomorrow then. We'll do this right." Rick said, determined.
"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them." Shane pushed.
Really he was right. Lori and Carol didn't even know HOW to use a gun.
Thankfully, the end of the world taught me what I knew about shooting.
"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp." Hershel argued.
I nearly dropped my jaw in surprise. Did they not get walkers here?
"All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here…" Shane said, remembering the highway.
"Look we're guests here. This is your property and we will respect that." Rick insisted, laying his gun down.
Shane joined his gun with Rick's, clearly upset with handing it over.
I just kept silent, not mentioning that I had about three guns hidden among my bags.
Hay, a girl never reveals all her secrets.
"First things first: set up camp, find the girls." Rick said, making a plan for us.
Shane then gave me a look before talking. "I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to. What happens if we find them and one or both of them are bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."
I glared at him. "Simple. Put 'em down."
Rick, Daryl, Andrea, and Shane all looked at me like I was mental.
I was just stating the truth.
"You do what has to be done." Rick said, changing my words around to sound better.
"And what about the other girl's mother? What do you tell her?" Hershel's daughter asked.
"The truth." Andrea explained.
I sighed, letting the thought of them or even just one of them being bitten sink in. It terrified me, but I knew I'd want someone to end things for me if it came to that.
"I'll gather and secure all the weapons; make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off site. I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience." Shane announced.
"Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." Rick insisted.
Finally Hershel nodded his consent.
"Thank you." Rick told the man gratefully.
I noticed Daryl walk away, so I followed him.
"You leaving yet?" I asked.
"Gonna take a piss, then I'm gone." He told me curtly.
I then went and grabbed my bug bag. It had everything I'd need to survive if I got lost or stranded. It also had two guns, fully loaded.
I waited by the front of the house for Daryl.
Rick came out and sat down on the steps. "You sure about going with Daryl?"
I nodded and scanned the area for any signs of him. "Yep. If the fucker hasn't left already that is."
We then heard footsteps and saw the rough redneck walking past us.
I bolted after him and suddenly stopped when Rick asked Daryl a question.
"You okay with her going too?"
"I'd be better on my own." Daryl said coldly. "Don't worry. We'll be back before dark."
I bit my lip to keep from cursing at him.
"Hay, we got a base. We can get this search properly organized now." Rick told him, not quite finished talking.
"You got a point or we just chatting?" Daryl asked rudely.
"My point is it lets you off the hook. You don't owe us anything."
Daryl then stalked off towards the woods. I tailed behind him.
"My other plans fell through." Daryl mumbled.
"You didn't have to be such an ass." I commented as we stalked the woods.
"Says you." He retorted, picking up the pace.
I huffed and attempted to keep up with him.
"No, you had a choice and you chose to be an ass."
"Whatever." He said, looking around.
I paused to take a sip from my water bottle and looked down, hearing a weird noise.
Freaking out, I dropped my water.
Daryl whipped his head around and I pointed to near my feet.
He looked down in confusion and saw at least a 2 foot rattler only inches from my feet.
"Daryl, kill it." I told him in a soft voice.
He nodded as he unsheathed his knife.
I looked at the snake and it hissed at me, showing its ugly mouth. Unnerved by its hissing, I tried to ease back, but I only succeeded in tripping over a tree root and landing on my butt.
I only had time to look back at the snake before it struck me, biting through the worn jeans I was wearing.
Without thinking, I screamed in blind pain. It was like lightning being injected into me.
I was focusing on the pain so much that I didn't even realize that Daryl had gotten the snake away from me and cut its head off.
He stooped to my level, examining where I was bitten. Already there was a small amount of blood accumulating around the area.
"How you feeling?" He asked, making me look at him.
"It hurts really bad." I admitted, feeling horrible.
I then felt myself wanting to sleep.
"Aye, stay with me Ly." Daryl said sharply.
I nodded, trying to stay awake.
He then proceeded to place some chewing tobacco on the bite and wrapped it in a bandage from my bag.
Then we heard the moans. Walkers had heard me screaming. Shit!
Daryl then grabbed his crossbow then lifted me.
"Don't worry, I got ya." He commented as he hustled.
The pain in my leg started turning into tingling and I grew more tired.
"Stay awake, Lyla!"
