"Better start talkin' girly." Dixon demanded, keeping his crossbow aimed at my head.
"Whoa, whoa, there's no need to killed each other." I said with my hands in the air, smiling. I was super psyched I found someone who actually knows where Sophia's mother is.
"You know where Sophia is?" He asked, slightly lowering he weapon.
"She's in my possession." I said slightly.
"Well, where the fuck is she?!" He yelled. Taking a big step towards me, though I didn't flinch, I've dealt with guys more intimidating.
"In that direction." I said pointing in the direction where I came from.
"Why the fuck did you leave her?!" He yelled in anger.
"Because she left her doll here and I was going to get," I explained, "I would've been already back to her if you didn't interrupt me."
"Well how the fuck was I supposed to know?!" He yelled.
"Well how about instead of chatting why don't we just go back to her? I know where she is," I said, "and keep your goddamn voice down, we don't need every walker from a mile radius to be here."
"Fine by me." He said, and so we went walking back to where Sophia was.
As we where walking I was surveying this Dixon guy. He's pretty intimidating yes like Sophia said. And how stealthily he walks I just assumed he was a hunter. I barely heard him walk, I had to look over at him a couple of times to make sure he was still there.
"So, are you a hunter?" I asked, voicing my thoughts.
"Yeah," He said slightly. Still walking, "how long until we get there kid?"
"Not very long." I said, " the names Zachariah, by the way."
"Do I care?" He barked back
"Well, considering I'm taking you to your kid, so don'tcha think I should at least know your name? I have a feeling 'Dixon' is your last name." I said.
"Daryl," he said, obviously not happy about giving out his name, " and she ain't my kid."
"I know. According to Sophia your just a dude who has a motorcycle and yells at people," I said, "obviously she was right on the money."
But the hunter, Daryl, just seemed pissed."How the hell are you gonna find which tree she's in?" He asked.
"I stabbed a fork in the tree she's in, mental note almost.". I said.
"That's how you knew my name?" He asked, " from Sophia?"
"Well, it wasn't the tooth fairy." I joked. I saw him smirk slightly. After an hour or so of walking the sun started to go down. I didn't think that it took as long to get from the tree to back to the creek, but I had a feeling we where almost there. Some of the trees and stuff seemed familiar.
"Did it take ya this long to get from this particular tree to the creek?" He asked irritably.
"I don't... Think so..." I said, completely unsure about it.
"Ya don't seem too sure yourself." He grumbled.
"Shut up! I know where I'm going!" I yelled. "...or so I think..." I mumbled.
"Sure ya do." He said smirking. I just looked at him. Why the hell does that ring a bell? I thought to myself. I've never met this guy before, so why in the hell does he seem so familiar to me? As I was thinking this I, ever so gracefully, ran into a tree. I fell on the ground, feeling blood run down my nose.
"Mind if I ask how you've survived so long?" He asked sarcastically.
"Fuck you Dixon." I said in pain. I got up and as I kicked the tree I ran into, the setting sun gleamed the fork I placed in the tree Sophia was hiding in.
"Did I say it or did I say it?" I asked Daryl, showing him the fork in the tree. I walked over to the tree, Sophia's doll in the inside pocket of my army jacket, while Daryl stayed behind.
"Hey Sophia!" I called out quietly. Not wanting to attract the undead. Slowly and quietly, Sophia climbed down the tree, a worried look was on her face. I was about to tell her about Daryl. But she saw him before I could say anything. She ran over to him and hugged him. It was kinda funny how uncomfortable he looked from the human contact, though I'm pretty sure when she hugged me and all that, I had that exact same expression.
...
We were walking away from the tree that Sophia was in, going back to her people. Apparently they were on a farm not too far from where we were, so that was good, but apparently it was going to be a two day trip. As we were walking towards our destination, me at the left of Daryl and Sophia holding his hand.
"So are we just gonna walk all night or are we gonna stop?" I asked. The sun was completely down, the darkness was all around us, putting me on edge. I had my sword out of its sheath just In case.
"We should stop." He said. I imagined he would have had his crossbow out, but with Sophia holding his hand, that wouldn't have been possible.
"So what do you suggest? Another tree?" I asked.
"Yeah!" Sophia said in a cheerful tone. Almost too cheerful I thought to myself.
"I guess." Daryl said lightly.
"I miss that church..." I said, well, I was more thinking it that stating it. At least I was used to sleeping on the church pews.
"Church?" Daryl asked. "The one that's connected to the graveyard?"
"Yeah. We already assumed you where there." I said. He just nodded in understandment. We stopped at a tree eventually, Sophia got up first, though me and Daryl were arguing on who should go up first.
"I insist." I said
"You go up first." He said. After having a Mexican stand off we decided to go up the same time. Sophia was the first to fall asleep, but I stayed awake, even though Sophia trusted this guy, It didn't mean I had to. I looked over at the branch Daryl was on, which was the branch next to me. He was still awake. So I had a feeling he was thinking the same thing I was.
"So did anything change while Sophia was away?" I asked, trying to start a conversation, "Sophia filled me in on everything that went on in your group before she ran."
"Nothing...well her friend, Carl, he got shot." He said.
"Holy shit. He okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's fine." He said.
"Does Sophia know?"
"I didn't have the heart to tell her." He said.
"... You can sleep, you know." I suggested.
"Thanks, but no thanks. Sorry to break it to ya, but I don't exactly trust ya. For all I know you want to kill me." He said flatly.
"Boy-o, if I wanted to kill you, you' d already be dead." I said, and meaning it. "And to make you feel better, I don't trust you either." He just looked at me with his eyebrows raised.
"Glad to know we got our priorities straight." He said.
"All I'm doing is making sure the both of you get back to your people." I explained, " considering I had to save both your asses, I don't trust that either of you would get back safe and sound, so to say."
"You don't think I can't make sure the kid can make it back?" He asked, anger peaking in his voice.
"Considering I had to save you from becoming walker chow, I'd say I should stick around until you two get back to your farm, then I'm out of here," I stated, "you'll won't be needing me anymore."
"So you just leave? I don't think Sophia would like that." He said.
"Oh please, she'll have her mother and her friend, and whatever else she left behind." I said in a sorrowful sigh.
"It's not like we won't except ya. From what Sophia tells me, you saved her life. Everyone would be grateful for that." He said. Though I almost thought he mumbled almost everyone. I decided not to pry.
"So how long until we get there?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"Not long, maybe a mile away, it isn't that far away. Though I had a horse." He said.
"What happened to it?" I asked.
"It threw me off for no reason then ran away." He answered.
"Maybe it just didn't like you." I said. But instead for getting pissy, Daryl just gave out a small laugh. After that I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
I guess I can't say I didn't have any friends. There was this one girl, Kyra Stape, who I used to hang around. She had red hair and blue eyes, freckles where splattered all across her face and she was pretty tall. She was pretty cool, sure she was a little spazzy, but we like the same TV show and we listened to the same music. Besides her, I've never met anyone else in my age group who was a Nirvana fan. And she was always there to back me up.
"I can't believe I got detention!" I moaned.
"You doused a girl with red Koolaid because she said 'America is flawed'. I'm surprised a detention is all you got." Kyra said.
"Well excuse me for loving America." I said.
"Zach, just count your losses and move on," Kyra pleaded. No matter what she was always keeping me out of trouble, even though it was to no avail.
"Oh, what do you know?" I said.
"I should know, you do something like this every week. One of these days the school isn't gonna put up with you anymore,many you might get expelled." She said, looking concerned.
"Oh please, maybe when the world ends." I replied.
"Ugh... Your hopeless, you know that?" Kyra said in a fed up tone.
"Yes I do, and don't think you're the first person to give me a disapproving look." I said in reply.
"You give me headaches you know that?" She said.
"And by the end of the year you'll have a tumor to remember me by." I said.
Kyra was out sick when the dead started to rise. So I'm not entirely certain she made it out alive. But as far as I knew, like everyone else in my life, she could be dead for all I know. But it is kinda nice to know that I had at least one friend before the world started to burn. That's at least one happy thought I have, though like always, it disappears into the darkness...
I was the first to wake up. I could already tell that Sophia was still asleep, considering she didn't have to wake me up. And I looked over at the hunter in the branch next to me, and he was still asleep. The sun was coming up, orange light was sprayed across the sleeping forest. As I was waiting for everyone to wake up I had time to think. Would Sophia's group accept me? That's the question that was spinning through my mind the most. Though I did say I didn't need people, it was nice to have Sophia around. Someone to talk to, someone who'll respond, and everything in between. Though I guess that's something I'll have to wait for.
After maybe an hour or so Daryl and Sophia woke up. Daryl was the first though.
"How long have you been up?" He asked.
"Hour or so." I said.
"Oh." He said and with that he got Sophia up from sleeping and we got a move on. We kept walking and in time we were in an open field, and a farm house was in the horizon. I looked over at Sophia who was smiling, her baby blue eyes sparkling. As we were getting closer to the house there were people running toward us. And not to seem like a threat, I re sheathed my sword.
Sophia didn't wait. When she saw a short haired woman running in front of everyone else, she ran ahead of me and Daryl. As I witnessed the happy reunion I kinda felt sad, I mean Sophia had a family waiting for her, but I didn't even have that. But I did manage to return her to her mother, a pretty decent win for me.
"Well, I've done all I can do." I stated while stretching, "well, see ya." And as I started walking away I heard the short haired say something.
"Daryl... Thank you." She said through her tears, hugging her daughter.
"Don't that me. Zachariah was the on who kept her safe." He said, pulling me to his side, making sure I don't leave. I felt all their eyes on me. It was a pretty weird looking group, there was an Asian guy, a heavy set black guy, a blonde woman holding a gun, another woman with long brown hair was there and she was next to a guy, probably her husband, and there was a guy with a shaved head. Though he seemed to be surprised, almost like he didn't expect Sophia to come back.
I gave a small wave, though I was uncomfortable with the attention being on me. The guy with the shaved head gave me an angry-like look. Either way I was pretty nervous.
"... Is this true?" Sophia's mother asked.
"Yeah." I said. And before I could protest she got up and hugged me. I must have looked seriously uncomfortable, because Daryl snickered behind me, but I couldn't really do anything about it.
"Thank you so much." She said in between sobs, Sophia at her side, smiling.
"Not a problem." I said. And while I was going through the violation of my personal space, the guy with the shaven head walked over to Daryl and another white guy walked with him. Even though they were talking in hushed tones, I could hear every word they were saying.
"Why the hell did you bring that one here?" The guy with the buzz cut asked in an angry tone.
"What could I do? She Saved Sophia's life. We should be grateful, Shane." Daryl said. He was defending me. I was pretty touched, but I didn't it was the time to express those thoughts.
"He's right Shane, let's listen to what she has to say." The other white guy said. But the guy with the shaved head just stormed into my direction as Sophia's mother stopped hugging me.
"So what do you want?" Shane asked his arms crossed.
"What do I want?" I asked in a confused tone, "so if I save a kid from being walker chow, I have to want something?"
"You gettin' smart with me?" Shane asked in a dangerous tone.
"I don't see why I'm getting anything with you. When clearly he's-" I said while pointing at the guy next to Daryl, "the leader of this group."
and finally, he moment everyone's been waiting for, our protagonist (Zachariah) has finally met up with the rest of the group! Im pretty happy with how this chapter went, though if you want to see anything happen while Zachariah is with the group, tell me.
more to come =)