I hurried as best I could, focused on strapping my sleeping bag onto my pack, then stood and slung it onto my back.
"Where are you going?"
Startled, I turned to find Carl holding baby Judith. It was the first time Carl ever directly spoke to me. As he looked at me, I tried to recover my senses. "Carl," I breathed. I cast a glance at the office where Michonne and Rick had disappeared into.
"I – I have to go."
"Why?"
"Well I – I had my own group, you know? A while ago," I explained, even as I slipped my revolver into the holster and tightened the straps up on my pack. "I gotta get back to lookin' for 'em."
He looked at me, his brows furrowing as Judith cooed and palmed his shirt with one little fist. I looked at her, then back at Carl. "Aren't you gonna take any food?" Carl asked.
I glanced at the pile of canned and dry food I'd helped to organize earlier and swallowed thickly. "No, I – it's fine. I can find my own on the way." He didn't seem convinced. In fact, he looked agitated and worried. I forced a smile. "Really, Carl – I'm fine," I insisted as I backed away. "I just – I really gotta go." Again, my eyes tipped up to the closed office door. Then, I turned around to walk away.
"What did he say to you?" Carl asked. I stopped in my tracks and turned, wide-eyed, to see the teenager stalking towards me. He glared at me. "What did he say?"
"Nothing, Carl. Don't worry about it."
"Everything was fine before and now you're leaving? Without even saying goodbye to us? To anyone?"
I winced guiltily. "Carl, please," I begged him in a whisper, hoping to encourage him to keep his own voice down. "Please just – let me go."
He glared at me angrily, and Judith started to cry. Carl bounced her up and down, but he said nothing to me. I turned, and without another word of apology or goodbye, I left. Sasha and Tyreese were outside, but they were engrossed in their own conversation. I let the door swing closed quietly behind me, then crouching low, I scurried down the front steps and around the side of the building. Back pressed against the wood, I listened for the sound of footsteps, and hearing none, I headed in the direction of the stream. I needed to get away and quickly. I had no idea how long before Carl might alert the others to my absence. Besides that, Daylight was waning, and if I didn't find a place to hunker down, I'd be stuck outside with walkers after dark.
Deciding somewhere in town would be as good a place as any, I took to the stream, Rolled up my pants, and headed straight into the shallow water. I walked about 50 yards upstream, before finding a small embankment shielded by branches, and climbed out of the water. I was in someone's backyard, it seemed. Normally, I would have looked for food except the pastor said he'd cleared out every place nearby. It wasn't worth the risk unless there was food.
Walking on, I headed in towards town, quickly finding the street and then, the gun shop where Glenn first found the silencers. I didn't bother going in and continued on. Finally reaching the pharmacy, I decided to take a chance. We hadn't bothered going inside the day before, but on the off-chance there was something good to eat, I had to try. As much as I'd refused to take Rick's food, and indeed, had left my glock and all its ammo behind for the others, I did know I needed to eat. I figured it would have already been picked through, but it was worth a shot at least.
As I opened the door a chime sounded. I took a breath, waiting for the sound to alert the walkers to my presence, and as expected, a pair of them came ambling out from between the high store shelves. I set my sights on the closer one, took a breath, balanced myself, and landed a solid kick to its gut, knocking it back. Then, turning my axe on its friend, I swung splitting the skull.
With one foot on the thing's chest, I freed my axe, then turned and swung it sideways, hitting the first on the side of the head. It crumbled quickly. I took a breath. Heading farther into the store I took my time, stepping silently through the aisles. In the daylight, I happened to spot a half-concealed Luna bar. I grabbed and pocketed it.
Just as I turned the corner, another walker suddenly growled and lunged. I shrieked – the sound involuntary – and ducked away, leading the thing back towards its now-dead friends. As it followed me down the aisle, I tried not to focus on its lack of lips or the flesh that hung like curtains of its face. I took another breath, testing my balance and keeping my mind focused and calm. Then, I swung, cracking it right on top of the head. It fell, but the thing kept crawling and growling. I took another step back and swung again. This time the back of its head split open, spreading a puddle of putrid blood.
By the time I cleaned out the pharmacy, I managed to find some gum, a roll of lifesavers, a brand new toothbrush and paste and floss, some soap and towels, a few new t-shirts in my size, and only because I needed to let my boots and socks dry out, a pair of flipflops to tide me over until morning. Then, it was time to clear the back and pharmacy area. To my surprise, the door to the back was locked. Using a hairpin off of the shelves, I worked inexpertly to pick the lock, and after only a half an hour, I was in.
I had no flashlight. The best chance I had was to draw any walkers out to where I could see them, but when I knocked on the metal door and called "hello?" I heard no sound – either of walkers or anything else. I frowned. Rummaging around in total darkness wasn't exactly on my to do list for the day, and so I used the flipdown doorstop to prop the door open.
Then, heading back out into the store I found myself a lighter near the register. Using the lighter like a flashlight, I headed into the back, my axe in my right hand and my lighter in my outstretched left. The back was a mess, like someone had already been here, but no matter how hard I listened I couldn't hear any sounds that signaled the presence of anyone – dead or alive. I turned to go back, certain, finally, that I was alone, when suddenly, something grabbed my arm in the dark. I screamed. The lighter went out, but not before the flame shone light on a rotting face and a set of bared teeth, inches from my arm. I swung my axe at its head and pulled my arm away. I heard the thing fall. Scrambling in the dark, I tried to push past the thing, tripping as it grabbed for me again.
I fell but scrambled to my feet again and ran, the fallen walker literally biting at my heels. It got up, too, and when it followed me into the light, I saw why it was still up and moving. I had struck the side of the head with my axe, but it was hardly a clean cut into the brain. Readying my axe, I brought it down again and again and again, smashing into the skull and destroying the brain for good. I stumbled back, panting for breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Tears welled in my eyes and one arm wrapped around my belly. We're OK, I thought.
Once I was calm again, I braced myself and headed back into the back room. First, I made sure the back was clear, then sorted through the boxes for anything useful. I found toilet paper and a flashlight – clearly left there by the crew – some iodine, and believe it or not, one crate of bottled water hidden under the cleaning supplies. It was old, the sell-by dates set before the apocalypse, but damn it. It was clean. Then, I moved to the pharmacy area, sorting through the drugs left on the shelves. There weren't many. The cage had been busted open and someone had already rid the place of pain killers and antibiotics. I did, however, find myself some vitamins, and that was what I needed now the most. Slipping back into the main room from the door, I closed the heavy metal door behind me and moved to the front to secure it. Outside, the sun was low in the sky. Almost night.
After disconnecting the bell on the door, I'd dragged the smallest corpse outside to prop by the door, and then I went back in and locked the door with the latch. Finally, I set about clearing a place to sleep for the night.
A/N: One chapter to go! Thanks again to all who followed, favorited and reviewed. I have some ideas for one-shots that could be part of the series that show things from Daryl, Rick, and Carl's perspectives. Let me know if there's something specific from this story you'd like to see from someone else's perspective and I'll work on those while we all wait patiently for the Season 6 premiere!