EPISODE 26 – When the Dead Come Knocking – Part II
The two of us are forced back into the small storage room. Daryl and I are pressing against the door to prevent them from going in. Though we're barely holding on. There are at least fifteen of them back there, probably more, and only two of us. But that's not even the worse. They are coming from places we'd thought were safe. From the direction of our cell block. And the blasting siren is making sure more will come.
Only I can't overlook the problem at hand; I need to survive now, so I can get back to protect my little girl. And Connor. And Hershel too.
"Can ye hold it and let them come in one at a time?" I ask.
He glances at me; I wouldn't be able to hold the door if he was the one taking care of them. So, he nods. I step back. He gives in just enough to let one in, then slams the door back on another one's face.
I drive my knife through its skull. "One more."
He opens again, then slams it back, though it's harder now that he's holding all of them on his own. Plus the walker attacks him directly instead of me. I feel the adrenaline giving me a kick and I sink my knife in the back of its head faster than I thought possible. However, the others behind the door haven't let Daryl shut the door back completely, and another one grabs my hair. I finish him too, through the crack of the door. Another one is now clasping my wrist, but I can't reach its skull while the door is half-closed; it's too far, with too many sets of teeth in the way. Though we can't open more without them swarming me since I'm so close. We would have needed Ricks hatchet to cut off that walker's arm.
Daryl is rapidly reaching his limit. I've never seen him struggle so hard. I'm wrenching my wrist to get it free. Trying to cut the walker's bone to no avail. This is not working.
"Daryl?"
He gets instantly what I want to do; I don't even need to say it. He stares at me intensely for only a second, trying to make sure I'll be alright. I manage to smile and nod encouragingly.
Then, he let's go, and I yank the walker back with me so he falls on the ground and Daryl finishes it. But the others are now pouring in.
We both pull back until our backs are against the wall, and we have a little leeway to draw our arrows. We don't even need to talk. We just annihilate, wave after wave. They get closer and closer to us. And we need to maintain a frenetic pace. By the time they reach me, I'm out of arrows. Though there are only two more walkers, stumbling on the other cadavers. I get my knife to end one; Daryl gets the other. And we can finally breathe.
"Ya alright?"
"I am. Ye?"
He nods. And we exchange a glance. We've handled this together as if it was choreographed. As if we could read each other's mind and anticipate each other's next move. It's like we could take on a whole army, as long as we fought side by side. Fuck, I can't lose him. Together, we're invincible.
"We gotta go."
Of course. The alarm is still resounding. We both try to retrieve as many arrows as we can before bolting out. We need to get to the cell block where we left the others. But we still need to take care of all the walkers in the corridors to get there. Only, with Daryl by my side, it's easy. Just a glance toward each other and we know what to do. We trust each other, know the other has our back, so we can go in blindly. It's exhilarating. And, yes, I know it's sick, but it's also fucking hot.
When we finally get to the block, the siren finally stops. Glenn has locked himself with Hershel and Beth, killing walkers through the bars. Sive isn't with them. Nor is Connor. I let Daryl help them finish those while I run to the other cell.
"Connor? Sive?"
"We're okay Ma!"
A few walkers gathered at their door turn to me. I get an arrow in the first one, my knife in the second. While Connor finishes a couple more between the bars.
"Jesus Christ, they're ugly!" he exclaims, and I hear my daughter laugh.
"That's not even the worst I've seen, Da!"
When I finally get to their door, I can see that two dead ones had managed to get in there before they'd closed the bars. But Connor somehow got rid of them with Sive's knife.
"Are ye two alright? No bite?"
"We're fine, I think," he pants.
And I engulf them both in my arms.
After only a second, I feel Connor's knees buckle; he needs to sit down.
"Those fuckers aren't easy to kill!"
"Ye just have to get their head." Sive shrugs as if it was no big deal.
"If ye hadn't been there to tell me that, I was done for," he says to her thankful, when he's the one that saved her.
I need to sit down too. This was such a close call for the both of them. But now, she smiles at him with the pride and forwardness I knew she'd come to feel.
"I was helping Connor to cut his hair when they attacked!" she explains to me.
"Aye, our daughter's handy with a knife," he adds with as much pride, some disbelief, and, quite a few clumps of hair still on his head.
I can't help laughing with glee and relief.
However, we still need to understand what the fuck happened.
We only understand when we finally find Rick, with Oscar and Axel. The problem is, we can't find Carol nor T-Dog. Moreover, Maggie and Carl finally appear from another part of the prison. Though Lori is missing, and we hear a baby's wail coming from Maggie's arms. She's paler than a ghost. And we all realise in horror what must have happened…