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Chapter 8 - Daryl
I'm dragging T-Dog's sorry ass back to the RV when I see the whole group staring over the side of the guard rail.
"What's all this?"
Everyone turns, but only has eyes for the blood on T-Dog's arm.
"Oh my god, were you bit?" asks Skeletor. She sounds upset but takes a step back as if from a monster instead of forward, towards an injured friend.
"Dumb ass here managed to get himself cut on a car door," I say.
"Daryl saved my ass," says T-Dog, "I'd've been a lot more'n bit if it wasn't for him."
Everyone's looking at me all of a sudden, so I decide it's best to change the subject.
"Now, y'all wanna tell me why you was starin' into the woods like your lives depended on it? Last I checked, the herd went that way," I say, jutting my thumb over my shoulder.
Everyone looks back and forth between one another, but it's Skeletor who speaks.
"After it seemed like the herd had passed, Sophia tried to move out from under the car she was hiding under.
"A geek saw, which got the attention a second geek. Sophia ran toward the woods. The geeks went after her."
My blood runs cold as I search the group for Carol. She's no where to be found but I see her Pa as he's pullin' open the passenger door of a near by car and plopping his fat as down.
"Carol and I were hiding under the same car," continues Skeletor. When she saw Sophia in danger, she tried to go to her, but I held her back before she could bring the whole herd back down on us."
"A little girl gets chased into the woods by geeks and you all just watched it happen?" I spit.
"Not all, Rick went after her."
She sounds bitter about it. As far as I'm concerned, Rick just went up in my estimation.
"And that is when my dumb ass daughter decided to get herself killed too," I glare at Ed with an itchy trigger finger before Skeletor draws my attention away.
"Even after Rick followed Sophia into the woods Carol kept fighting me. I held her for as long as I could but she broke free of my grasp and bolted for the guard rail before anyone could stop her."
I shake my head in disgust and head toward the guard rail myself.
"Wait, Daryl stop."
I feel a vice grip on my arm and turn around to see King Shane.
"No sense risking anymore people over this. The chances of you getting lost yourself are greater than you finding them."
"You don't know me," I say turning to leave, but he just tightens his grip.
"Way I see it, we should just wait here 'til they get back."
I don't have time for this. I cock my arm back and punch him in the face. His nose made a satisfying crunching noise which brought a smile to my face as I turn back toward the woods. No one tries to stop me after that.
I find their trail pretty easily and start after them at a run.
The tracks get muddled when they meet up with a creek.
I try to sort it out, getting down on my haunches to get a better look.
"Tell me what happened," I whisper to the mud.
Rick and Sophia's tracks lead into the water, so do a geek's. Carol's stop there and it looks like she get's down on her knees.
The image of Carol crumbling to the gound and sobbing in despair hits my brain hard enough to make me wince.
Focus shit-head.
A second geek's tacks remain on the this side of the creek, but keep going away from the highway. After a while, the second geek's foot prints lead into the water. I look across to the other side to see Rick and the geeks' tracks leave the water on the opposing bank.
No Sophia?
I go back to where their tracks enter the water, where Carol had knelt. She must have tracked them as far as the water. Impressive considering her how little experience she has.
I look at the ground where Carol knelt and see Sophia's tracks come out of the water to stand right in front of Carol before both their tracks lead back toward the highway.
I'm on the move again.
Halfway back to the highway, I come across a geek someone put down.
Carol and Sophia's track had been side by side, then they stopped, stood still.
Carol's foot prints alone lead up to the dead geek and then both her and Sophia's tracks go off in a new direction, away from the highway. Each foot fall is farther apart than usual. They're running.
I look around to see what they're running from.
Three more sets of near identical tracks come toward the girls'. One line of foot prints next to large swipes like they're dragging one foot, geeks.
I take off at a slow jog following the tracks. They were very fresh, but the further the prints get from the creak bed, the harder they are to read.
I came up on one of the geeks after a few minutes. He must'a been a slow fucker to get left in the dust by other geeks. I pull my hunting knife from its sheath and stab the geek through the temple without breaking my stride. By the time it's body hits the floor I'm already gone from sight.
The girls might be getting harder to track, but the geeks that're after 'em leave pretty distinct trails.
I crest some high ground to see the geeks below, staggering forward, but no Carol or Sophia.
Just as a geek passes a tree, Carol pops out and buries her knife in the creature's skull.
The geek drops but the knife goes with it, ripping the handle from her grasp. She looks at her empty hand and then up at the last walker almost on her.
I lift my cross bow and pull the trigger, watching the last geek drop at Carol's feet. Descending the high ground, I feel a weird sense of deja vu.
Carol looks at me, stumbling a bit, chest heaving.
"I thought I told you always to go for the eyes so your knife don't get stuck in no skull," I say in a puff.
"Oh, you did," she says through hefting breaths.
"Damn woman, don't you never listen?"
We exchange a look and break out into a gentle chuckle before Carol's eyes roll up in her head and she goes limp. I run forward and catch her around the middle. Looking around I see Sophia's little head peak out from behind a tree.
"Come on over here girl, your big sister needs help."
Sophia nods as I swing Carol's legs up so I can cradle my arm under her knees. It's getting dark and we'll need some shelter. No way we're making it back to the highway tonight.