Teach Each Other

by Kaylamrr

Kelsi works at a video store in a small town in GA. Every day the young Dixon would come to visit her, not exactly sure what compels him. They're both stubborn and tough. At some point, they even make a bet; Who would last longer in a catastrophic event? But Kelsi has a long lost secret that will eventually catch up to her. (Will go through Survival Instinct b4 show.)

6. SEDALIA

TWD Ch. 6

Jumping over the barricades and the car line-up, we immediately scan the area. There's another line-up of vehicles blocking our view from the rest of the street, but so far, the coast is clear. Standing still for a short moment, just to make sure a group of them don't come piling out of the buildings. That's when a certain sign caught my attention. "Daryl. That Pharmacy door is open, maybe we should start there."

At this point he unsheathed his knife while addressing me. "Good idea. There might be a way up to the roof tops in the back. Maybe we could try for a bird's-eye view." I nodded in agreement and let him lead. However, once we got to the door, it was pitch black inside. "Huh. Power's out."

An 'ah-ha' moment came over me when he said that. "I got a flash light in my backpack." He motioned for me to turn around. I did so and as he was fishing said item from my bag, I mentally slapped myself. 'I can't believe I forgot about havin' a flash light earlier.' Oh well. I'm just glad I remembered it when we needed it the most. Once he was finished, he zipped my bag back up and held the flashlight in his free hand.

Now that we're not walking in blind, it was clear to see that this place has already been gone through. All of the shelves were either crooked or toppled over, not to mention they were all mostly empty as well. Trash was thrown everywhere as well as empty boxes that once held more store products. We tried to keep as quiet as possible as we slowly made our way through the store. One of the shelves did hold two blue bottles and on further inspection, we saw that it was Gatorade that was still sealed. I once again turned my back towards Daryl so that he could secure the items into my bag.

Not much else was found useful, so we made our way through the back door on our left. There was a privacy fence surrounding the back of the now abandoned business. Once we were both out of the doorway, Daryl turned the flashlight off and pocketed it for now. Attached to the building were some shutters and an open door, at the end set a large green dumpster. But what really caught our attention, was the geek that was crouched down feasting on someone's corpse. Luckily this time, I might have a clear shot from where we stand. Ever so often the geek would lift his head completely up while chewing on his meal. I pulled my string back and waited for the opportunity to nail him in the back of the head. It didn't take long for me to get the shot and put the thing down for good.

I was in the process of wiping my arrow tip clean, when a male voice called out to us from the roof. "Hey! Come on up here and talk a minute. Use the ladder."

Sliding my arrow into its quiver and wrapping my bow over my shoulder, I gave Daryl a concerned look that silently asked, 'Should we?' He then answered by nodding his head toward the ladder. On the short walk over to it, he quietly said, "Stay behind me KJ. We don't know what his intentions are." Nodding my head yes, I followed him up the metal ladder. Once both our feet were firmly planted on the roof top, Daryl quickly looked around and said, "Nice setup."

Peeking over his shoulder, I finally got a look at the guy he spoke to. He was obviously a cop, his uniform and the bullet-proof vest with the word 'Police' stretched across it was the dead give away. He had a few blankets connecting from the sign at the front of the building, down to the ground and held there by a broken piece of concrete for a make-shift tent. Lawn chairs and police duffle bags laid about. You could tell he's been camping up here for a while now. My attention was ripped from his campsite once the man spoke again. "Jimmy Blake. Last standing officer of the Sedalia S.O."

He held his hand out for Daryl to shake, but of course he declined it. I went to walk around him to shake the man's hand myself, but Daryl quickly stopped that by pushing me back behind him before finally addressing the officer. "Good for you. Psychos are all over THIS place too."

Jimmy smiled sarcastically. "The Biters? Yeah, they're EVERYWHERE, man. Where have you been?"

"Up in the hills. Huntin'. Didn't know nothin' 'bout 'em until they tore up our camp. Still don't." I couldn't help but wonder if what he said could be a lie or not. Since we did train for this, but at the same time, it's very much possible that these monsters could be different.

My thoughts were interrupted, however, when Jimmy spoke up again. "Uh-huh. Let me bring you up to speed." He paced a little as he talked to us. "More of THEM come every day. We help each other survive, or we DON'T. That's it. Normal rules suspended for the foreseeable future. That applies to good guys..." he paused for a moment as he looked Daryl over, seemingly 'sizing' him up, "and to, uh, 'hunters'. Ten-four?"

Daryl scoffed, obviously not intimidated by the man at all. "Yeah, I get it. But who's 'we'?"

At that, Jimmy let out a sigh. "The kid holed up in the gas station and the deputy in the cell block-HE'S interesting. I wanna do one last radio check before bugging out, though."

Daryl crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, then do it."

Jimmy smiled at him. "Batteries went dead two days back. Can't find fresh ones. If YOU can, I'm happy to supply a lil' bird's-eye coverage. I'm a hell of a shot."

Daryl seemed to think about it for a moment before answering the officer. "Batteries. Okay. We'll keep an eye out. We need gas, though."

Jimmy shook his head. "I think it's long gone." He pointed down to the street and added, "But the kid would know better than me."

Daryl nodded his head at that, then turned around and gently grabbed my arm to lead us back to the ladder. We both quickly glanced down to make sure there wasn't any danger waiting for us at the bottom, before descending. Daryl's feet touched down first and once I got close enough, he grabbed hold of my sides and pulled me from the ladder to place me on the ground himself. I couldn't help but smile at the gesture. But all smiles were quickly wiped away as we got back to business. We simultaneously pulled out our weapons and made our way to the open door next to the shutters.

Seeing that this building was dark too, Daryl pulled the flashlight from his back pocket and gave us some vision. Walking across the small loading dock, we opened the door that lead us behind the store's register counter. We didn't notice it at first, but as soon as we heard the low growls, Daryl's light immediately landed on a geek that was on the other side of the counter. I quickly pulled back my arrow and hit him through the eye socket. It dropped and as I was retrieving my arrow, another geek came out from behind one of the shelves. Daryl quickly took care of it by shoving his blade into the top of its balding head.

Once we knew there were no more rotting corpses that could sneak up on us, we quickly searched the area. When we met back up, I was only able to present one roll of toilet paper, while Daryl had found something much more interesting. It was an old suit case of various snacks that someone had left behind. There wasn't enough room in our backpacks for the suit case to be placed IN them. However, the front of Daryl's bag had a strap that we was able to snap around the handle of the suit case. Whatever works, right?

Seeing that we were finished here, I made my way through the open door. It was a mistake. As soon as I stepped foot on the sidewalk, a geek instantly snatched up my arm. It must have been a fresh one, because it grabbed my arm with enough force to cause me to drop my bow and arrow. It scared the hell out of me, so an uncontrollable, "Ah!" escaped my mouth. I knew that there were probably more on the streets, so I tried my best to keep from screaming any louder. Seeing its head dip to try and take a bite out of me, my right arm automatically moved. My hand smacked it in the forehead as I pushed to keep its snapping teeth away from me. Panic steadily rose within me while my brain tried to process how the hell it could be so strong.

After what felt like an hour of struggle, its grip finally let go, causing me to fly back and land on the concrete. Pain immediately rushed up from my elbow to my shoulder, letting me know that it would definitely bruise. It didn't take me long to realize that my harsh landing didn't only cause future bruising, but had cut me open as well. Seeing movement in my peripheral, my eyes locked back onto my attacker struggling to stand up. Daryl stopped its movements, however, by burying his blade into its balding skull. This is when I noticed what had made it go down in the first place. A small box of nuts and bolts. Daryl must have threw that at its head to get it to drop.

Once he pulled his knife back out, he used his right foot to promptly kick my bow and arrow back inside the store. While he then placed his knife back into its holster, I began to get back on my feet. I was unsuccessful due to Daryl deciding to lift me up bridal style and carry me back in. Once inside, he squatted and gently set me down on the floor, only to grab hold of my arm and look it over. At this point, I finally noticed how frantic his body language is. "Did it get ya?" Still in shock from what just happened, I wasn't able to answer him right away. "Did it bite ya Kelsi? Answer me goddammit."

Coming out of whatever trance I was in, I was able to stutter out, "N-no. It didn't bite me."

His eyes continued to search, however, before landing on the blood that was steadily trickling down my other arm. "Ya bleedin'? Did it scratch ya?"

Swiftly moving my elbow into his line of view so that he could better investigate it, I tried to insure him, "Naw. Just got scrapped up when I fell."

He calmed down a bit at that as he slid his backpack off his shoulders. Rummaging through it for a moment, he pulled out what he was looking for. A bottle of water, a rag and a roll of bandages. Unscrewing the water bottle and using it to soak the rag, he siad, "We gotta cover it up, in case those things can smell it like we talked about." He handed the now wet rag to me so I could clean the wound myself. While unraveling some of the bandage, he then asked, "You sure ya ain't bit?"

I don't know what it was that aggravated me so bad, but I snapped. "No, I'm not fuckin' bit. If you're waiting on a reason to put me down, then just do it already and stop askin' me."

He glared at me then and for a moment, that's all it was. A damn glaring contest. But his next action, made my heart race. His left hand reached around and grabbed harshly onto the back of my neck, while his right hand gripped onto my chin to keep me still. The look he was giving me scared me stiff and all I could think about is, 'Is he really gonna kill me?' When he spoke, it was low and carried bass with it. "I was fuckin' worried about ya Kelsi. I saw that thing snatch ya up so quick, I thought for sure I had lost ya."

A gasp escaped me then as his lips came crashing into mine, instantly allowing his tongue access into my mouth. He let go of his grip on my chin and placed his hand on my cheek instead. My hold on the rag loosened until it finally hit the ground, all I could do then to keep from getting dizzy his grab onto his leather vest. His lips moved hard and fast, letting me know how scared he really was of losing me. My body shivered as I fought hard to suck the tears back into my eyes, realizing that I lost when I felt it slide down my cheek and onto his hand. I felt so horrible for scaring him like that. All because I was too stupid to literally look before I leaped. The man lost his father, he knew his uncle would most likely turn and his brother was trapped in a cell. I guess the thought of losing me too, was just too much for him.

Stopping to catch our breath, he moved his hand from my neck to rest on my other cheek. He looked sternly into my eyes as he spoke. "You go where I go Kelsi. Ya don't leave me, alright?"

I nodded my head and answered as he used his thumbs to wipe my face clean of the fallen tears. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm okay though."

He gave my lips a quick peck before letting me go to pick up the forgotten bandage roll. "Give me yer arm, let's get ya fixed up now." I did as I was told while willing my emotions back down where they belong. Once finished with my wound, we pack up all our things and get ready to move. "Hold up. Gotta take a piss"

My face scrunched up as I watched him walk to the corner of the room. At the sound of his zipper opening, I happily turn to face away from him. "Really?"

The sound of his pee hitting the floor and echoing through the empty store was just too much, causing me to let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "What's a matter KJ? Ya wanna come hold it for me or somethin'?"

Fighting the urge not to cross my arms over my chest so that I can keep hold of my bow and arrow, was more difficult for me then it should have been. "What happened to the Daryl that just freaked out over a scrapped elbow?"

He finished and was zipping his fly back up when he answered, "Oh, you don't want THAT Daryl ta come back right now."

Once I heard his footsteps coming back toward me, I turned and looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Well...why not?"

He let out a sigh and repositioned the backpack strap on his shoulders, then took out his knife while honestly answering with, "'Cause, THAT Daryl was 'bout ta got all the way with that kiss." My heart skipped at that, then he turned his head slightly to look me in the eyes. "Yeah, I got scared, alright? That's 'cause I need you Kelsi. That's why I keep tellin' ya to go where I go. Right now though, we gotta get the hell outta this place and get movin' again. Ya up for it?"

I couldn't help but smirk at that. The knowledge that Daryl Dixon 'needs' me, has given me back my confidence to face these rotting assholes. "I'm always up for some head-shots Dixon. So let's move."

Making our way out of the store and onto the sidewalk, THIS time being sure to look around first, we spot at least twenty or so of 'em wondering the street. Trying to sneak and use cover from one vehicle to the next, we quietly make our way across the street to the gas station. There were two geeks in between the pumps and the building. One was close enough for Daryl to put down with his knife, while the other was far enough to drop with my arrow. While cleaning my arrow tip, I once again hear a man calling out to us, this voice different from the last though and also slightly muffled. "Hey! Over here! In the window!"

Daryl marched up to the window, while I stood behind him to keep watch. I got a glimpse of the kid before I turned around though. He looked maybe early twenties. The large window was barricaded with wooden planks, making him slouch in order for us to see his face through an opening. Daryl knew there were too many geeks roaming around to be out in the open like this, so he sternly addressed the guy. "Somethin' you want? Huh? We ain't standin' out here playin' bait all day."

He quickly retaliated with, "You got a car? Need gas, right? I can get you gas. I'm Warren."

There was a short pause before Daryl answered. "Daryl. This is KJ-"

"Kelsi. My name is Kelsi." I called over his shoulder to correct him.

Daryl scoffed at me and then continued. "Anyway, it's a truck...What happened here?"

"The eaters happened. Me and my dad holed up here with Uncle Lester. The town held 'em off okay...until we lost all the cops. All but Blake."

There was another pause as Daryl thought for a moment. "Uncle Lester...Lucky Les?"

"Yeah, the same. He and dad went out to see who was left." Warren stopped for a moment, when he continued, I could hear how downtrodden he was. "I don't think they're coming back. But Uncle Lester has the key to the generator cage..."

"...and that's how we get the gas pumps runnin' again." Daryl finished.

"Riiight. You get the keys and crank up the ginny. I use my codes to turn on the pumps and we get out of here. Win-win."

He had a good bargaining chip, I'll give him that. But here comes the Dixon attitude. "Tch. You're comin' with us now?"

"I'm not stayin' HERE, buddy. We got a deal?" Before there was any confirmation, a geek came out from the side of the station, stammering its way towards us. Warren started to let out a "Watch it!" but I already nailed the geek with my arrow before he could finish. As soon as it dropped, Warren gave a low whistle saying, "Whoa, she's a good shot."

I turned and smiled to give him a silent 'thank you', but seeing Daryl react to Warren's wandering eyes, made me think he might break the deal. "I don't know. I'm gonna have ta think about-"

Before Daryl even had a chance to mess this up for us, all over a little jealousy, I quickly interjected with, "Yes, we have a deal. Now let's go before more 'em start comin'."

I heard his scoff as I retrieved my arrow, but chose to ignore it so we can move on already. Our list is starting to grow. We have to find batteries, then look for Lucky Les, just to get the keys we need to get outta Sedalia. Our goal is to get to Fontana and find Merle as fast as possible, so we need to start hustling.

The Police Station is right across from the Gas Station, so we figured 'why not go there first?' Quickly crossing the street, Daryl having to take one geek down with his knife on the way, we head to the side to go to the back of the building. Almost at the back, I noticed a geek sitting against the front of an abandoned police car, but it wasn't moving or making any noise. So, I walk past it. Stopping quickly, however, when Daryl whisper yells, "Behind you!" I swiftly turn to see the geek I thought was already done, start clamoring to its feet. Daryl was closest to it and went to go for it, but my arrow stuck in the top of its head before he could get there. He smirked as he bent down to pull out the arrow. "Ya know, I honestly think yer gettin' better with every shot you take, KJ."

A giggle escaped me as I teased him. "Oh, is that really a compliment I hear comin' out of a Dixon's mouth? The world really IS at an end, isn't it."

He shook his head in good humor as he made his way to me and handed me back my arrow. "Ya better watch it, girl. Or I might have ta spank that ass of yers."

After he handed the arrow to me, he started to walk ahead to our destination, but I just had to mess with him one more time. I quietly fast walked behind him and whacked him on the butt with the feather side of my arrow. He hissed while his hand automatically came to nurture his now sore back side. "Who's ganna spank who's ass again?"

"Son of a bitch." He finally had a chance to curse at the pain I caused him. Once he felt the pain begin to subside, he glared and pointed a finger at me. "You're pushin' it girl."

I notched my arrow into its rightfully readied place, before waltzing up to him and planting a firm peck on his lips. "Oh, hush. Ya big baby. Now c'mon, let's go. We got shit to do."

Making our way to the back, we walk up the small ramp and into the door. I made sure to shut the door behind us, while Daryl quickly scoped out the area. Right in front of us was a makeshift barricade of everything from, tables, to vending machines blocking off the hallway. To our left was a room with a bunch of disheveled desks tossed all around. There were also cells that housed hungry geeks. Going into the room with the cells, there was a geek feeding on one side, and another feeding on the other side of the room. Daryl motioned that he would take the one closest to the cells, while I moved to shoot the other one by a toppled over desk.

Once that was taken care of, Daryl pulled out the flashlight and used it to quickly look around. Something had flashed in the corner of my eye, and upon further investigation, a smile quickly formed on my face. "Daryl. I got a colt and a case of bullets."

He came to me and smirked at my find. "Nice, put 'em in my bag." He turned his back to me so I could unzip his bag and deposit the weapon and its ammo, then zipping it back up once I was finished. We then ventured through a door that was creaked, which lead us to a hallway. We instantly spotted the two geeks in here. One was getting up from sitting against the wall by the door, the other was down the hall walking towards us. Daryl went after the one by the door, while I shot the one down the hall. Once we got to the end of the hall to retrieve my arrow, Daryl went on ahead and opened a door to our left. Seconds later I heard the familiar crunch of his knife diving into the skull of an undead. Before I could even walk into the room with him, he came out wiggling something in his hand. "Found batteries for Blake."

Re-notching my arrow, I smiled and said, "Awesome. Let's check the stairs now." He nodded in agreement and moved forward to lead us to the door for the staircases. Shutting the door behind us and quickly checking behind the staircases to make sure there weren't any geeks hiding, we made our way up the first flight of stairs. It didn't take long, however, for us to hear banging and the sound of wood breaking. Daryl stuck his hand out for me to stop, so I did but asked, "What do ya think it is?"

He stood there for a moment as the noise continued. "Sounds like their bustin' through a door. Be ready, but if there's a lot of 'em, you run. You run and you don't look back, ya hear me?"

That worried me. "But...I thought you said to go where you go. I'm not gonna leave you Daryl-"

"I said to run." He gave me a stern look that made me feel almost like I was being scolded by my parents or something. "C'mon."

We continued on, but as soon as we got close to the top, the door gave way and two of 'em stepped out, immediately catching us in their sights. I pulled the string back and aimed for the one furthest away, while Daryl readied himself for the one closest to us. Seconds after his knife landed in the head of one, my arrow punctured through the skull of the other. We started walking towards the broken door, when the sound of low grunts came echoing from the third flight of stairs. I swiftly pulled another arrow from its quiver and notched it on the string. As soon as I saw the lone geek making its way down the steps, I pulled back and aimed. Once it was put down, Daryl went to get the arrow from that one while I retrieved and cleaned the arrow stuck in the corpse by the door.

Finally making our way through the broken door, we took care of the two geeks, then quickly rummaged through the multiple cubicles. After meeting back up, Daryl produced his find, which was another case of bullets. All my find consisted of, however, was a few protein bars. After placing our items in our bags, we readied our weapons and moved towards the next door.

Shutting the door behind me, I realized it lead us into another hallway. Going through the door across from us, put us into another waiting room. There was only one geek roaming around in here, so Daryl quickly got rid of it. Deciding to open the door at the far end, we were surprised to find a large cell with an actual living person locked inside.

Before we were even able to fully shut the door behind us, the man in the cell began hollering, "Hey! What're you doin' here?!"

Daryl slowly made his way in front of the cell bars with curiosity written on his face. Slipping my arrow into its quiver, I claimed my spot at Daryl's side while he asked, "Who locked you up?"

The man looked at him like it should've been obvious. "I locked me up! I'm guardin' the cache until Sheriff Turner comes up from Pemberton to relieve me!"

Daryl looked around with his eyebrows furrowed. "Guardin' it? From who?"

The mans voice came out so loud at first, it made the both of us jump a little. "From the damn GHOULS! Who else?! You slow?!"

Daryl ignored his insult and asked, "You sure he's comin'? You can ride out with us. We'd trade passage for some of what's in those crates-"

The man once again blew his top, screaming, "GET YOUR DAMN EYES OFF THE CACHE!" He took in a calming breath, then continued. "I mean. Listen, son. I'm stayin'. But I AM HUNGRY. If you were to slide me a bite to eat, a few items might walk out of this cage. Follow?"

Daryl scoffed at the man. "Yeah. It ain't rocket science."

The man smiled in a way the creeped me out a bit. "Good. Real good." Daryl motioned for me to unclip the suit case of food we found earlier from his backpack. I gave him an 'Are you sure?' look, but he just nodded his head yes. I let out a sigh while wrapping my bow over my shoulder, before moving to undo the strap holding the suit case. Daryl then took it from me and handed it over to the deputy through the bars. The man smiled real big and said, "Well, look here, just what the doctor ordered. Here you go, son." He moved over to the crates and passed us a few cases of bullets and another pistol. We loaded the items in our bags while he spoke again. "What do you say we keep this transaction just between us?"

Daryl nodded once and asked, "You sure you ain't comin' with?"

The deputy just waved Daryl off and shook his head. "Oh, hell no. This is my POST! Where am I gonna be safer?!"

There was a pause for a moment, before Daryl looked at him funny. "You don't have the key...do you?"

The man just sat down on the bench and said, "Go on, now. Git. Leave me to my duty."

Daryl just shrugged his shoulders at the man and turned to head for the door. I couldn't help but look at the deputy sympathetically though. Asking quietly, "What happens when you get hungry again?" His eyes grew wide at that question. Guess he didn't think that one through.

Finding our way out to the fire escape at the back of the building, Daryl released the ladder. I can't explain to you how loud that stupid ladder was going down, but it definitely made me jump and Daryl cringe. Before Daryl could even get halfway down, the noise of the privacy fence that separates a trailer park being tore up made both our hearts race. "Shit! C'mon!" With that he moved his feet and hands on the sides to slide down. I knew that I wouldn't be able to mimic that action, so I opted to just climb down as fast as I could. About half way through though, Daryl held his arms out and motioned for me to jump. I normally would've screamed and asked him if he was crazy, but looking towards the fence and seeing how many geek were starting to get through, I knew that I didn't have much of a choice. So, I squeezed my eyes shut and hopped off. Daryl let out a low grunt when he caught me, then we quickly readied our weapons and ran off back in the direction of the street, avoiding as many roaming corpses as possible.

Sneaking through the street, we entered the building that I was attacked at earlier. Daryl only had to take out one geek as we made our way out the back door and up the ladder to face Officer Jimmy Blake again. This time, however, I stood to the side of Daryl as he pulled out the pack of batteries from his pocket. "This what you needed?"

Jimmy nodded his head as he took the batteries from Daryl's hand. "Just right. I'll run the scan. In the meantime, I've got you covered. I'll be ready to leave town when you are."

Daryl nodded once and said, "Meet us back at the North side of the barricades, then."

Jimmy smiled. "Yep. Look forward to gettin' off this roof."

"That works. Make sure you're there when we go, or you're gonna get left."

The officer just smirked. "You got it." He then nodded towards me and added, "If ya want, she can stay here until you're ready. Looks like she got hurt since you two was up here last." His eyes grew wide then. "She isn't bit, is she?"

Daryl glared at the officer. "No, she ain't bit. And hell no, she ain't stayin' up here either. She's safe with me. You just focus on bein' ready when we go." Daryl then shook his head, turned, grabbed hold of my good arm and made his way back to the ladder. All while mumbling, "Stupid ass officer nosey. Needs ta keep his eye balls in his head and his damn nose outta our assess." I was able to stifle my laugh, but couldn't control my ever growing smile.

Before making our way back onto the street, Daryl suggested that we should search for Lucky Les in that trailer park behind the Police Station. Agreeing, I let him lead the way. We only had to exterminate a few geeks on the way to the dirt road on the side of the Police Station that leads into the trailer park. Ducking behind a turned over truck as our cover, we discovered four geeks that were grouped together. Daryl found a large piece of plexiglass from the broken windshield and chucked it over to use as a distraction. Once all of the geeks focused on that, I shot all four of 'em from a distance, one by one. Luckily Daryl had my back, however, because he ended up taking care of two that had snuck up behind us. He then scanned the entrance to the mobile home park, while I collected my arrows.

Walking through the trailer park, Daryl made sure to glance at the faces of each body we past, to see if any of them turned out to be Lucky Les. It wasn't until we got to the middle, that Daryl recognized the face of a geek sitting against a refrigerator that's been tipped on its side. "Hope ya still got that ginny key on ya, Les." He mumbled before squatting to search through his pockets. I kept watch, but jumped at the sound of moaning coming from behind me. Turning to see that Lucky Les had indeed reanimated, but Daryl quickly put him to rest with his knife.

Scanning the area for any signs of the undead while Daryl continued to search the deceased man's pockets, I was once again frightened by the sudden noise of...a phone ringing? Daryl uttered some curse words and said something about Les' phone alarm going off, before he was able to dismiss it. However, it was too late. The noise had unfortunately woken up the dead, as more of them started to show up from behind various trailers. Way more then I could handle. "Daryl, we gotta go."

He clicked his teeth and angrily said, "Hold up, I gotta find those keys first, KJ."

Too bad these monsters couldn't 'hold up' long enough. They started to get too close for my comfort, which inevitably brought on my inner panic and fear. "Daryl. Forget the keys. We gotta go, NOW!"

"We can't forget the fuckin' keys, Kelsi! That's our only way outta this dump!"

At this point, I started backing up until I eventually bumped into him. "No, no, no! Now! We gotta leave NOW!"

Then I heard the jingling of a key ring and Daryl saying, "That's it. Big thanks." Before I could even prepare myself, he grabbed my bicep and took off, damn near dragging me behind him. We had to weave around the trailers a few times before finally losing the small horde. When we felt like we were okay for now, we agreed to be stealthy while crossing the street back to Lucky Les' gas station.

Greeting Warren at the window, his face lit up when he saw the keys Daryl was dangling. "Hey! You got it?!"

Daryl smirked at the kid. "Yep."

"Alright! Good deal! Open the ginny cage." He hesitated then, his excitement seemingly melting away. "A-are my dad and Uncle Lester behind you guys?"

Daryl sympathetically told him, "Just get the pumps on, okay Warren?"

With a downtrodden tone, he answered, "Oh, okay." It was a sad, awkward silence as we waited for him to punch in his code. "It's all ready. Open the cage and hit the primer."

Daryl nodded and then turned to me. "You stay here. Put yer back against that window and stay on your toes. Don't let 'em get too close."

I subconsciously swallowed the lump in my throat. "You got it. Try ta hurry." With that, he turned and rounded the corner towards the generator.

It didn't take long for Daryl to kick the motor on, and when it did, it was LOUD. Warren, still behind the window hollered, "Hey! You got it running!" Daryl then came back with two large jerrycans and fast walked to the pumps. "Heads up! That racket's drawin' 'em in!"

Indeed it was. More and more of them started pouring in from all over the place. I hurriedly slide the arrow into its quiver, wrapped my bow over my shoulder and ripped my gun from its holster. Daryl was trying his best to fill the jerrycans as fast as he could, while we delivered cover fire. After putting my fifth geek down, is when Warren finally made it to my side. His gun already drawn and firing into the skulls of the reanimated. In the distance we could hear the rifle shots of Jimmy, it didn't take long for him to make his way towards us either.

Daryl finally let us know he was finished by yelling, "Gotta go!" With that, the three of us took off behind him. All of us shot geek after geek while running to the car line up in the middle of the street. We all follow Daryl's lead to climb the ladder to the top of a semi. Once up there, all of us couldn't help but gasp at the large pile up of rotting cannibals. They clawed at the truck in an attempt to reach us. Snapping out of our short stupor, we started raining bullets down on them. After a few minutes, however, Daryl informed us of our ammo situation. "We ain't got enough ammo for this! Gotta make a run for it, NOW!"

Agreeing with him, we follow his lead and jump over to the front of the semi, then jumping down from the hood. The geeks caught wind of our movements and turned to head for us, but we were quick. Our adrenaline pumped our legs to move faster than ever before. Almost in reach of the car pile up in front of the barricades, we heard Jess' yelling. "C'mon! Get back over here!"

While making our way through the cars, Daryl angrily retaliated with, "What'cha think we're doin', Jess?!" As he hopped over the barricades he added, "Man, start the damn truck!"

Once I had made it to the barricades, I called over my shoulder to Jimmy and Warren. "You two hop in the bed, fast!"

It was definitely a stab to the heart, however, when only Jimmy's answer was heard. "Warren went down after we got off the semi! There were too many for me to save him!"

I had to suck in the sick feeling in my stomach when I finally reached the truck. Daryl had the already thrown the jerrycans in the bed and stood with the passenger door open. Jimmy hopped in the bed and shut the tailgate behind him, while Daryl helped push me in the truck. Once again Jess had took off before Daryl could actually get the door closed. We all caught our breath as we went back on the back roads and tried to find an alternate route around the town. Escaping Sedalia was definitely not an easy feet. But we survived, and were now on our way to our next location.