Chapter 19: Army of Me

Blurb: ~ This chapter is titled after the song Army of Me- by Bjork.~

Begin:

Daryl urged the motorcycle to weave through the parked cars that riddled the abandoned highway. Carol was on the back of the bike with him now. He'd picked her up on the edge of the farm after hearing her cries for help. She was running from a few walkers, unarmed. He'd been able to pull up and order her onto the bike before any walkers had actually reached her.

They'd headed off the property as soon as Carol had boarded. The small country roads were plagued with walkers. It was difficult to maneuver past them, but they managed.

Then, Daryl had seen taillights up ahead on the road. Taking a chance that it was one of their group, he'd allowed the motorcycle to approach. The bike's blaring motor wouldn't do much to keep them hidden, should the vehicle harbor enemies.

Thankfully the car turned out to be a green Hyundai, containing both Glenn and Maggie. They were surprised to have found each other so easily, but soon came up with a game plan. They would go to the highway… where they had lost Sophia.

Now, Daryl leaned to the side slightly. It was difficult to get the bike around the clutter of the cars. Every stationary vehicle on the road was a reminder of the people who had once owned them. It was a graveyard.

Daryl spotted Rick up ahead, and allowed the bike to accelerate a bit. Things felt safer now, knowing that the rest of the group was right in front of him.

Carol dismounted the bike as soon as it had stopped. Daryl watched the group exchange hugs and words of relief. They had nearly lost each other.

Daryl searched the group casually, looking for Ellen. He saw T-Dog and Beth. Knowing they had been in the same vehicle, Daryl looked around curiously.

Rick approached him cautiously. But he didn't say anything.

Daryl sent him a slightly suspicious look, but kept his hopes high, "Where's Ellen at?"

Rick met Daryl's eyes after a moment of hesitation, "She didn't make it, Daryl."

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Ellen fought for dominance with the walker above her. Other walkers pawed at her hungrily as she struggled with her current adversary. She managed to wiggle her right arm around the walker, keeping it at bay with her left arm. This allowed her to plunge her knife into the base of its cranium. When the walker fell limp, she didn't push it off her. She needed something to keep between herself and the swarm of walkers above her. Right now, this very dead walker was her best chance at staying alive.

Using the limp walker body as a shield from the groping crowd, Ellen swiped angrily at the others around her. She tried her best to keep the limp body atop hers, despite the strong stench. It was difficult to keep herself hidden beneath the walker, while also stabbing her assailants. But as soon as the walkers around her fell to the ground, more took their place. She had to change her strategy.

Ellen decided to focus on creating a path through the walkers, choosing the direction toward where the truck used to be. She stabbed at the skulls nearest her, and then shimmied her body toward her exit. Still on her back in the grass, it was a strange experience to see nothing but walker feet- until they bent low to grab at her. Realizing that she was making slow progress, Ellen decided to balance the walker's body atop hers and use both hands to fight off the remaining walkers. She needed her gun. Soon, she was alternating between stabbing and firing. This helped Ellen to clear a path more quickly, and soon she was clear to make a run out of the crowd. She pushed the walker's limp body off with a surge of power and urgency. She rolled over in the grass, trying to get away from the walkers without giving them anything to grab at as she made an escape. She made it a few feet from the crowd of walkers. Now that they had nothing to focus on in the center of their gathering, many of the walkers followed after her. Others broke away and wandered off in their own separate directions.

Ellen scrambled to her feet and bolted forward. She didn't have any sort of plan at this point. All she could think about was getting away from the farm. Walkers wandered the grounds of the property, and Ellen had to dodge them as she kept moving. The walkers swiped at her with long, lethal arms as she passed. Ellen screamed when they got close. She kept her gun and knife out, ready to defend herself if one of them caught her.

She made for the woods, deciding the roads would be too open and riddled with walkers. But as she passed the shed, Ellen heard a gunshot to her left. She turned quickly and spotted Andrea's blond hair across the field. "ANDREA!"

BANG! Andrea fired another shot. She kept running as she scrambled to search for Ellen. "ELLEN?!"

Ellen resumed sprinting toward the trees, "THE WOODS! COME ON!"

They met on the edge of the property. Ellen hugged her briefly. "We have to get out of here."

Ellen nodded. They entered the woods at a jog, careful to search for wandering dead.

There were many walkers in the forest- much more than Ellen had anticipated. Andrea and Ellen worked as a team, only attacking the walkers directly blocking their path. They had to put distance between themselves and the pack. The goal was to survive, not to kill every last one of them.

Ellen resorted to using her gun as much as possible, not wanting to get anywhere near the walkers at close range to use her knife. It left her more vulnerable, when she had to reload on bullets. But it was less exhausting than fighting the walkers one on one.

Ellen used the bullets Daryl had given her. The bag still hung across her shoulders and clung to her right hip. Every couple of shots, Ellen would pause and fumble through the bag for more bullets. Andrea would cover her during this time, and vice versa when Andrea needed a new magazine.

At one point, a hoard of walkers came toward them from their right. The walkers converged on them, leaving the two women little choice but to fight their way through.

Eventually, they were able to blast through enough walkers to break free. Andrea sprinted through the gap, and Ellen followed after her. They ran for a long time until Andrea dodged behind a tree to reload. Ellen kept running until she found her own tree, keeping them both hidden from oncoming predators.

Andrea bolted out from her hiding place as soon as she was fully loaded. A walker growled from the other side of the tree and reached for her, but Andrea met it with a bullet.

Ellen leaned around the tree to look over at Andrea. She gave Ellen a nod, reassuring her she was fine. They kept moving then, "We have to make it to the highway. The others will probably go there. It's where we lost Sophia."

As they pushed past the trees, they found themselves surrounded by more walkers. Ellen raised her gun and fired at the closest foes. One walker grabbed Ellen's arm and swing her around. BANG! Ellen fired quickly, and it let her go.

Ellen turned to look for Andrea, but she was already on the outskirts of the crowd. She'd fought her way out of the horde. Ellen turned on her heel and kept firing on the walkers around her. But she didn't hear any bullets other than her own.

Realizing this, Ellen turned to shoot a questioning look at Andrea. But Andrea was just standing still at the edge of the fray, watching Ellen fight for her life. She was still as a statue, contemplating her next move.

Ellen kept fighting the walkers, but they were spaced out around her. She had to make more drastic adjustments to her stance before each target was set. The kills were slower, leaving her vulnerable. She couldn't watch her back when she was firing forward.

Ellen looked to Andrea again, and noticed she was backing away slowly. Realizing Andrea was waging an internal war, Ellen panicked. Andrea was deciding whether or not to leave Ellen there- as a distraction. "ANDREA!"

Andrea looked torn, but she shook her head slowly and kept backing away. She whispered back at Ellen before turning around entirely, "I'm sorry.."

"NO! ANDREA! PLEASE! NO!" Ellen felt the tears stream down her face as she continued fighting the walkers before her. Andrea was disappearing in the thick of the forest. She could no longer see Andrea now.

Ellen felt as though her heart had torn apart. Andrea had left her as live bait, choosing herself over everything else. Ellen had always admired Andrea for her survivor mentality and the way she constantly strived to prove the men of the group wrong. Ellen had wanted to be strong like Andrea. But now she realized that Andrea wasn't strong at all. She was a coward.

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"What do you mean, she DIDN'T MAKE IT?" Daryl's emotions were running haywire. He needed an explanation now.

"I'm so sorry."

Rick reached a comforting hand out to Daryl's shoulder. But it was quickly smacked away.

"NO! You don't KNOW! You weren't even THERE!" Daryl's voice was becoming more hysterical with each syllable.

Suddenly, Daryl turned his attention away from Rick. He spun to the side and rushed after T-Dog. "YOU! WHERE IS SHE?"

T-Dog held up his hands defensively, "She ain't here, man."

Daryl pushed T-Dog and he stumbled back a few steps. Daryl was livid, "AIN'T HERE? Then where THE HELL IS SHE?"

Daryl had his hands on T-Dog now. He looked like he could strangle the larger man. T-Dog was terrified, "Look man, they grabbed her! There was nothin' we could do! There was a whole pack o' them!"

Daryl took in a shallow breath, "Was she bit?"

"What?"

"WAS SHE BIT?" Daryl was terrified to hear the answer.

T-Dog was practically blubbering through his words, "I-I don't know. Didn't stick around to see it happen."

Daryl shoved T-Dog against a car door aggressively, "You LEFT HER?"

"I-I didn't know what else to do! We were out of options, man!"

Daryl let his hands drop and backed away from T-Dog. Then, he made for his bike with renewed purpose.

Rick called after him, "What are you doing?"

Daryl gave a brief explanation, "Ain't no way in HELL I'm going to just leave her out there!"

The bike's engine roared to life.

Rick approached the bike quickly, "Daryl, you won't be able to get anywhere near the farm. Especially with the bike! The roads are packed with walkers and you know it."

"WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?" Daryl's frustration, coupled with impatience and worry, was eating away at him.

Rick lowered his voice, "If you're going after her, you have to do it with your head on straight. The bike wont' help you now. Leave it here with us. Head towards the farm through the woods. Bring her back if you can. But be prepared for the consequences if you can't."

Daryl nodded in submission, letting the bike's motor fade. Then, he dismounted and grabbed his crossbow. Checking his gun and amo quickly, he acknowledged Rick. "If I'm not back in four hours, get out of here."