A huge thank you to my readers who have waited patiently for me to upload another chapter. Summer classes have been crazy! And Fall semester starts on the 22nd. Stick with me guys, I might be slow to update but I'm not giving up on this story. As always, please please review!
True to his word, we didn't stay stationary for long. Daryl waited just long enough for me to wash Sam's face off in the nearby stream and then we were back to walking through the dense woods. In true Georgia fashion it was proving to be an ungodly humid day. It wasn't long before we were all drenched in sweat and miserable… well at least we girls were. The heat didn't seem to faze Daryl, he just kept moving. The air was so thick with humidity that after a while it hurt to breathe. It felt like we had been walking for quite some time so maybe he would be agreeable to a small break.
"Uh, Daryl?" I said to his back. He didn't stop or say anything but I figured this wasn't out of the ordinary for the male. So I decided to continue. "We need to stop and take a breather."
"No." he said it so abruptly I wondered if he even thought about it before responding.
Okay…breathe in, breathe out. Don't lose your temper you have to make it to his camp. "We've been walking for quite some time. The girls and I just need a few minutes to catch our breaths. It's a million degrees."
"If you haven't noticed, girl, this ain't some pleasure cruise. There's geeks everywhere! You want to chance your sisters' safety then by all means take a break." Disdain dripped from his words and I felt the burn of embarrassment across my cheeks.
Lace started to say something but I shut her up with a glare. I took a deep breath and grabbed Sam and carried her piggy back style. "Let's go." I growled out and pushed forward grinding my teeth. Stupid redneck! What does he know? I've been taking care of them for months, how dare he. I think I've been doing a pretty great job considering there's walking corpses and I have no fucking clue how to replace mom.
We continued in silence for the duration of the trek. All that could be heard were our footsteps and the chirp of cicadas. Eventually the thick brush gave way to a worn path and beyond that a large field sectioned off by a rough wooden fence. I had never been one for the outdoors or the rustic style of country life but I had never been more grateful in my life to see that fence. It might not be the Great Wall but it at least offered a small barrier to the harsh realities of this new world. I was so distracted by this show of normalcy that the thought of being in danger never crossed my mind…that is until the crack of a gunshot interrupted my musings and a certain gruff redneck hit the ground hard.
"What the fuck!" Lacey screamed and with that another shot rang off. I barreled into her and the three of us went down to the ground. We looked each other in the eyes and then over to the bleeding man cussing up a storm.
"Stay right here and don't move, you got me?" I stared at her until she nodded and covered our little sister's body with her own. With that I started to drag myself across the dry earth towards Daryl. He'd been shot in the bicep. A river of blood flowed down his arm. "Your group always welcome you back like this?" I all but screeched at him once I was within a foot of him. "I wanted my sisters to be safe! What the hell is this, were you planning this all along?" I was getting hysterical by the time I heard the third gunshot.
"Oh, sure I just love getting holes shot through me! I don't know what the fucks going on, girl." He grimaced as he clutched at his arm. Soon it became quiet and all I could hear was the thudding of my heart.
Distant yelling.
Thudding of feet.
"Grandpa Dale!"