Chapter 25

- KATE -

The flag that flew over Buck Jackson's Feed & Supply was in pristine condition. Despite the death and destruction that marched on below, it continued to wave in the wind oblivious. Its red, white and blue somehow still bright. It was hung there, no doubt, as a symbol of a once strong and proud nation. Kate eyed it resentfully as Daryl parked the truck in front of the small store. She couldn't help but feel bitterness towards a government that had failed so utterly in protecting its citizens. The store it hung above was much smaller than the big name farming suppliers that they had passed on their journey back to the prison. It was nestled up against the woods on the outskirts of a small town, a white clapboard building with a roof of red painted shingles - although the paint had long ago started to peel, exposing the warped and rotting wood underneath. There were two large windows on either side of a set of old hinged doors that looked like they'd been there for a hundred years.

Kate's boots hit the ground and she stretched her arms towards the sky. She double checked that her knife and gun were secure and grabbed her pack from the floorboard. Daryl was already knocking on the door of the shop loudly and she crossed the few feet from the truck to where he stood. She heard a familiar gurgling growl in the distance and turned to see a female walker in a faded pink dress dragging herself towards them from about 25 yards away. She wore only one shoe and her bare foot was almost devoid of skin. Daryl thrust his shoulder into the door and the old wood gave way easily. They both slipped inside long before the walker could get near them.

"We'll have to deal with her on our way out." Daryl said as he shut the doors behind them. They swept the store, finding it empty of humans, alive, dead or otherwise, and went to work on Hershel's list. Seeds, fertilizer, pesticides and some gardening tools were all part of a growing pile they placed by the door.

"I think that's all of it." Kate said, doing a quick inventory and rechecking the list.

"A'right. Let's see where our friend is and then get loaded up." Daryl strode over to the door, glancing out the window, unsnapping his sheath. Holding his knife in his hand, he slowly stepped outside. He immediately burst back in, "Holy shit!" He barked, putting his back against the door. Her eyes darted towards the window on the left and she saw a walker pass.

"There's a lot of them." He whispered. "Stay down."

Kate squatted and they waited in silence, hoping they hadn't been noticed and the herd would pass without incident. The gurgling hiss grew louder and the walkers began to pile up against the windows and doors, dimming the light in the store.

"We need to try and block the door." Daryl whispered.

Kate looked around, but the only thing she could find were the big bags of fertilizer. She started lugging them one at a time towards Daryl and he stacked them in front. The wood creaked and bowed and a decaying arm shot through a pane in the window.

"This ain't gonna hold." Daryl grimaced as he pushed against the strength of a dozen walkers fighting to gain entrance.

"I'll check the back, see if it's clear." She said as she sprinted to the opposite end of the store where there was a single door just behind the register. It had a narrow window that allowed her to see only so much, but there didn't seem to be a walker in sight. Only the woods. She looked back at Daryl.

"It's clear!" She shouted.

"A'right. You go, I'll hold 'em off so you can get a head start. Be careful, look before ya run out. I'll be right behind ya. Don't stop until I say."

Kate nodded. Adrenaline was coursing through her body in such high amounts that she couldn't even feel the fear she knew had to be there. She pulled her knife and held it tightly in her hand and opened the back door slowly. There were only trees. She darted outside, the sounds of breaking glass sounding behind her. She ran into the woods, praying silently that Daryl was close behind.

Her boots pounded across the forest floor, kicking up the fallen leaves and darting between the trees. When she first felt the yank on her pack, she thought it was Daryl and somehow in that split second she had time to wonder how he had caught up so quickly. But as her forward momentum was halted and her feet left the ground, she knew she was in trouble. She fell hard on her back in a sea of autumn leaves and the walker was on her immediately, snarling and gnashing its putrid teeth inches from her face. Strength she didn't know she possessed kept it at bay, but just barely. Her knife had lodged deep in the thing's chest as it fell on top of her, the hilt digging painfully into Kate's ribs as the monster tried desperately to tear into her.

She managed to bring a knee up between her and it, giving herself a little leverage and with as much force as she could muster she pushed it off of her. She scrambled a few feet and went for her gun, the walker right on her. She felt the cool metal in her hand, but as she pulled it from its holster the toe of her boot lodged under a thick tree root and she went down hard. As she felt her body hit the ground again, her gun went flying from her hand. The walker fell on top of her heavily and although she realized she had little chance of escaping, the bite never came. Instead the weight was suddenly removed and Daryl was falling to his knees at her side, terror on his face.

"I'm ok! I'm ok!" She shouted before he could even ask the question. He helped her to her feet, looking over his shoulder at walkers streaming from around the front of the feed store. He bent down and pulled his arrow from the back of the walker's skull and she realized that was what had saved her.

He spotted her knife protruding from its chest and with some effort freed it and handed it to her.

"We gotta move Kate."

"My gun. It went flying." She said looking frantically around the forest floor.

"We ain't got time, leave it." He demanded and they tore off into the woods, the herd close behind.

She wasn't sure how long they ran for. It could have been ten minutes, it could've been an hour. Her lungs were on fire and the stabbing stitch in her side was even worse. Wrestling with a walker hadn't left her unscathed either, but that pain was secondary to the effort it was taking to simply breath.

Finally Daryl figured they had put enough distance between them to at least stop and catch their breath. She leaned against a large tree, the rough bark scratching at her skin, and concentrated on breathing. Her head was hammering and her ribs throbbed.

"Are ya hurt?" Daryl asked, concern flooding his eyes as he reached his hand out to brush the dead leaves and twigs out of her hair.

"I'll be ok. Sore is all." She raised her shirt to examine her ribs, revealing an angry purple bruise from where the handle of the knife had dug into her.

Daryl laid his hand softly against it and they both winced.

"You ok to keep going? We should at least walk."

She shook her head and they marched on, deeper into the trees, further from their truck.

"Daryl, what's the plan?"

He stopped, looking back in the direction they came from, squinting into the sun.

"Try and find a place for the night. See if we can circle back in the morning. Maybe they cleared out, get the truck and get the supplies back home."

"You think you can find our way back to the truck?"

He laughed. "Course I can. Damn girl, you've got the worse sense of direction I've ever seen."

She was about to respond when she heard the snapping of a twig and Daryl raised his crossbow quickly, searching the trees.

The voice of a stranger broke the silence, "What's this I hear about a truck full of supplies?" and a group of men approached them, guns drawn. Kate saw the menacing smile on the man's face and she was filled with dread.

- DARYL -

He counted them quickly, seven, seven versus their two. They moved to surround them. His crossbow was aimed at the first one. The one who asked about their truck, but he knew it was a lost cause. He could easily kill the man, but then he and Kate would be dead. Seven men. Fuck, how could he be so stupid. How had he not heard them.

He could hear Kate's breathing behind him, it was coming fast and uneven. She was scared and that made him angry.

"How's about you lower your weapon, friend?" The man said calmly. He was a big guy with greasy gray hair and a pot belly. He wore a black shirt embroidered with skulls and roses and looked like he'd be at home sidling up to some bar at a biker joint.

"I ain't your friend." Daryl growled.

"Oh come on now, we haven't even gotten to know each other yet. I have a feelin' you and I have a lot in common."

The man continued to smile, a smile that never reached his eyes. They had a sadistic glint and it was because of that that Daryl lowered his bow. If it was just him, maybe he'd refuse and go down fighting, but he had Kate to worry about.

"Now that's better. Let's get back to this truck. You said you had supplies? My boys and I are real hungry. Could use some supplies."

"Got overrun. Can't get to it." Daryl replied.

"Well now, we could wait it out, go back tomorrow. I heard you say it yourself."

Daryl stared hard at the man. His mind was racing, trying to get a step ahead and figure out what answers he could give to keep them both, or at least Kate, alive. He had known men like this and they were bad enough before there wasn't a law keeping them in check. He heard Kate whimper and turned to see one of the men behind her, his face pressed into her neck, inhaling deeply. Daryl turned without thought and pointed the crossbow at him.

"Goddammit Len! I claimed first go, get the fuck away from her!" Another one of the men bellowed.

Len backed off, but not without giving Daryl a leering smile. Kate looked at Daryl, begging him with her eyes to let it slide. He lowered his weapon. Right now he wanted nothing more than to rip that man apart, but if he didn't calm down any small chance they had to survive this encounter would be lost. He turned back to the first man, since he did all the talking Daryl assumed he was the one in charge.

"See it's simple, you lead us to your truck and we let you go. Everybody wins."

"And if I don't?" Daryl spat.

"Well that's just stupid. See you'd be no use to us then. We'd kill you right now and have this sweet thing to ourselves."

Another man spoke up, "Why ain't we doin' that anyway, Joe?"

"Well now Billy, I'm glad you asked that question, you see, this man here, um, what'd you say your name was?"

"I didn't." Daryl said.

Joe gave him a chastising look. Daryl knew he needed to play along if they were going to have a chance.

"Daryl."

"Daryl." Joe smiled that ruthless smile again. "Daryl here has something we want, by the sound of it, this pretty thing don't know her head from her ass. So Daryl here, he's gotta lead the way."

"What about the girl, Joe? Can we have some fun?" This time it was the man that had been in Kate's face, what had they called him? Len?

"Well boys, you know the rules. Which one of you claimed her first?" Joe asked.

"I did." Said a man with a black bandana wrapped around his forehead.

"Well then, Tony here says he claimed her first, so…"

"She's mine!" Daryl snarled.

Joe laughed. It was an unsettling howl that made Daryl wince.

"Now Daryl, I know you don't know the way we work, being that you just met us and all, but we have rules. One of these rules is if you see somethin' you want, you gotta claim it. Its real simple. Tony here says he claimed the girl and you ain't in a real good position to be tellin' us how it is."

Tony moved towards Kate, a lecherous look on his face. He grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her towards his body. Kate closed her eyes. Tony reached down and grabbed her knife, pulling it from the

sheath.

"You won't be needin' this, princess. I'll make sure nothin' gets you. 'Cept me."

Daryl moved forward, pointing the bow yet again. Joe pointed a gun at his head.

"Daryl, this is gettin' old real fast. Don't make me blow your brains all over her. Now put down the bow."

"Get him off her. I'll take you to the damn truck." Daryl snarled.

"Tony, let go of the girl."

Tony started to protest.

"Tony, our friend Daryl here has agreed to take us to his supplies. Least we can do is leave our hands off his woman for the time bein'. No need for things to get ugly so quickly. 'sides, there'll be plenty of time for that later and if he pulls any funny business or if the truck turns out to not be worth our time, he'll wish we'd shot them both dead right here. Now, Daryl, put your fucking bow on the ground, your knife too."

A war was waging inside of Daryl. He'd rather die right here than give in to the commands of these assholes, escort them to his supplies while enduring God only knows what sort of treatment, only to be likely killed after they got what they wanted from him. He didn't think for a second they'd let him or Kate go. He figured it would be a bullet for him and endless torture for her while she wished she'd died. The way he saw it, if these men weren't being lead by Joe, he would've been dead already. That wasn't to say Joe was merciful, in fact, Daryl got the impression he was the most brutal of them all. The kind of man that liked hurting people, watching them suffer. That found people worthwhile only as long as he could use them. The type that would give someone the idea that if they followed orders, they could earn their freedom and get pleasure from the fact that he knew all along that wasn't true.

Daryl knew if they ever got home it wouldn't be because Joe let them. But if he could convince them that he believed Joe and was leading them to the truck, then maybe he'd have bought them enough time to make a move. It wasn't likely, but it was their only chance and if not they were doomed.

So Daryl leaned down and put his crossbow and knife in the soft dirt in front of him.

Joe jerked his head to one of his men and the plump one with the balding head scrambled to collect the weapons.

For the next few hours they wandered the woods. Daryl never really found any purpose in it, maybe this was just what they did. Drifted aimlessly until they found a place to crash, food to eat or people to torment. He thought about Merle and how if things had gone differently, they might've found themselves in similar company.

They walked along, nothing restraining either him or Kate, knowing if they tried anything there'd be seven men down on them. Tony, the one who "claimed" Kate, stuck close to her side, like he was guarding a piece of property.

Daryl spent most the time in silence, trying to get the measure of each man. Figure their group's strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes Joe would walk alongside Daryl. He liked to hear himself talk. He thought he had this new world all figured out and took every opportunity to tell them all how it was. The other men all seemed to unquestioningly follow his lead and his rules.

Of the other six men, only two stood out to Daryl. One was the fat, balding man, called Dan, who now carried his crossbow. He was sniveling and beady eyed. He seemed to be the outsider even in this group of outsiders. He was just a little bit off. Daryl couldn't exactly put his finger on it. Daryl decided he was the weakest and hoped to exploit that if the opportunity presented itself.

Then there was Len, that asshole that was all over Kate. Daryl hoped, live or die, he would get a chance to kill that son of a bitch. They all deserved it as far as he was concerned, but there was something about that guy that rubbed Daryl the wrong way. Like Joe, he seemed to be extra twisted, but without the pretense of keeping things civil.

"So tell me Daryl, this bitch you got here, is she a fighter? Mmmm...I bet she is. I like 'em when they fight back. We found a girl while back and she just cried the whole times we's havin' our fun. Ain't no challenge in that. Yep, I'm lookin' forward to seein' how hard she'll fight."

Since they'd been walking, Lew had done his best to get under Daryl's skin as much as possible. Daryl didn't know if it was to provoke him into doing something stupid and getting himself killed, or if it was just plain enjoyable to him, but Daryl's hatred grew.

As the light slipped slowly away, Joe ordered the men to stop and make camp. There was no fire, no food. They just constructed a crude alarm system by wrapping some cans hung on twine around the trees and spreading out their ratty bed rolls. Kate sat on the forest floor in a pile of damp, decaying leaves and wrapped her arms around her knees. She looked like she was trying to make herself disappear. Daryl remained standing, pacing protectively behind her, although everyone knew there was little he could do to keep her from them if they decided that's the way it would go.

Joe approached Kate.

"Now darlin', you look about as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockin' chairs."

She eyed him warily.

"I guess I can understand why, but no harm will come to you tonight, so long as Daryl here can behave himself." Joe shot Daryl a look to make sure he understood his meaning. "We're all real tired and I'm hopin' we can get some shut eye. We don't got anything to tie you up with and so we've got to trust you'll not cause any problems. We'll have two men on watch all night, so you can sleep without worryin' about the dead."

As it turned out, it was Dan and Len who were assigned first watch and the two men perched on a great, gray boulder just the other side of the line of cans. One by one the other men laid themselves down. Daryl settled on his side in the leaves and encouraged Kate to do the same.

"Don't go to sleep." He whispered.

"I couldn't if I wanted to." She whispered back.

He laid there quietly, listening to the sounds of night and for signs of sleep. When Daryl had first learned to hunt he was just a kid, and the hardest thing about it was the silent, still wait. They'd sit for hours, not a word between him, his dad and Merle, just the sound of the forest and the swish of whatever his dad was sipping on. He hated it, but he hated his father's wrath more. Eventually it became second nature, going quiet and tuning his senses to his surroundings. He did it now, sequestering the rustle of the leaves, the voices of Lew and Dan, and the insects that echoed through the woods, so that he could concentrate on the other men. Finally he heard the consistent, deep breath of sleep and the loud snores that Daryl was amazed hadn't caused walkers to kill them long ago. He reached down and untied his shoelaces, loosening them from the holes they crisscrossed through and pulling them out. He tied the two pieces together tightly.

"Kate." He whispered as loud as he dared, watching the sleeping lumps on the ground for any sign of waking. She had been turned the other way, facing the men, afraid to turn her back to them. He saw her turn her head slightly towards him. "Get up quietly and tell 'em you gotta pee. One of 'em will take ya out there, stall as much as possible and I'll meet ya there."

Daryl prayed she'd go without question, that she'd move quiet enough to keep the others asleep and that she'd be disarming enough as to not raise the suspicions of Len and Dan. A minute or two passed and he began to worry she hadn't heard him, but finally he watched her pull herself up off the ground. Sticks and dead leaves clinging to her jeans and that blue shirt - that fucking shirt he'd peeled off of her in that house just this morning. It seemed so long ago now.

He closed his eyes just enough to give the appearance of sleep and watched her through his eyelashes as she moved quietly through the dark camp towards the boulder. An almost full moon gave off the only light and Daryl watched as she stopped short of the cans and started to speak. He could barely make out the sound of her voice, although he couldn't tell what she said. He watched Len slide off the boulder, an obscene smile spread across his face. Fucking Len. He knew it would be him volunteering to lead her into the woods and away from him, Joe and Tony. Daryl knew once Len lead her away, he'd have to move fast if he was going to prevent him from doing the unspeakable. Kate ducked carefully under the line of cans and made her way towards the dark woods, Len gave one glance over his shoulder towards his sleeping companions before sneering and following her, his compound bow on his back.

Daryl counted to ten before moving to his knees and then his feet. He crouched down and made his way to the line, slowly slipping through silently. He approached the unsuspecting man like he did any animal he was hunting, with stealth and speed. He wrapped the shoelaces several times around the palm of each hand and crept behind Dan. In one movement he threw the laces over the man's head and around his neck, dragging him off the rock. Dan never had a chance to make a sound as he found himself being yanked by his neck onto the ground. Daryl pulled the lace tighter. Dan's hands went to his throat, digging at the laces, but they were buried deep in his reddening flesh. His legs kicked uselessly against the rock. The leaves around him crunched as he struggled, but for the most part it was a soundless death. When Daryl felt his body go limp, he scrambled out from under him and grabbed his crossbow which was leaning against the boulder. He ran into the woods in the direction he saw Kate disappear.

He found them about 50 yards away, struggling on the ground. Len had Kate pinned, but to her credit she was putting up quite the fight. He could hear Len laughing, "Come on bitch, you know you want it." and he was tearing at the waist of her pants. She clawed at his face and he reached back and punched her.

'Fucking bitch!"

Daryl was moving across the ground as fast as he could go, but it felt like slow motion. He threw his bow to the ground, grabbing at Len's sweatshirt with both hands and throwing him off Kate. Len tried to scramble to his feet, but Daryl was on him, pummeling his face with his fist until it was unrecognizable and his body had long grown still. Daryl's rage continued to pour out, unbridled, until he felt Kate tugging on his vest.

"Daryl. Daryl! It's done." Kate was crying, the tears streaming down her face, where a violet colored bruise was already blooming over her eye and cheek. Daryl turned and looked at her, his face contorted with anger, his hands bloodied and bruised and a frenetic energy trembling out of him.

"Daryl, it's done, he's dead." She repeated in a quiet voice.

Before he fully had a chance to come back to his senses, they heard the voices in the distance. Her panic filled eyes met his. He grabbed his crossbow and by the time he had it cocked and loaded one of the men was tearing through the trees.

"Billy! Over here." He shouted before the bolt tore through his head, dropping him dead on dirt. Daryl heard Billy crashing through the forest and he knew there wouldn't be anytime to load up again.

"RUN!" He shouted at Kate, hoping he could hold Billy off long enough for Kate to get a head start.

Maybe in the dark they'd lose her trail and she could get away.

Billy came bursting out from between two trees, gun in hand. He saw the bodies on the ground and aimed his gun at Daryl. A shot rang out and Daryl jumped, but it was Billy who crumpled to the ground, the shoulder of his jacket quickly going red.

"Motherfucker!" He yelled and Kate moved closer and shot him again.