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.)

9. The Sawmill

TWD Ch. 9

William Dixon, Jess Collins, Warren and Officer Jimmy Blake. Is this what we have to look forward to from now on? Death? Loss? A giant heap of grief that is forbidden to ever surface? And is it horrible of me to silently wish that Scout chick is dead instead of just M.I.A? The hour worth of peace we managed to keep during this ride has my stupid brain worried about things that is inevitable.

Daryl was driving, Merle was leaning against the passenger window, still sweatin' like a hog and I was in the middle of the back seat, trying to stop my annoying thoughts. Letting out a sigh, I decided to lean forward and remove the road map from the glove box. Maybe scoping out the area will rest my worries. The peace and quiet didn't last much longer, for Daryl had finally grown the courage to inform his brother of how truly great our losses have been. "Merle." The younger brother kept his gaze on the road as the oldest gave him his full attention. He quietly continued, but I could hear in his voice how much he was inwardly struggling. "Man, I gotta tell ya somethin'. Somethin' happened, bro."

Merle just smirked at his brother and looked back out the window. "I got it...full-bore, flesh-eatin' apocalypse."

Poor Daryl swallowed the lump in his throat so hard, I could actually hear it from the back seat. "Yeah. Yeah, but..." That seemed to reel Merle's attention back in. "we were up at Jess' camp house when the...when the eaters came down on us. We never heard anything about 'em. They tore us up. Kelsi, Jess and me...we were the only ones to get out."

Merle was quiet for a moment, letting this information sink in. But the way he asked, "Where's the ol' man?" really broke my heart. I have never heard Merle Dixon sound so broken.

It was quiet once more, before Daryl chose to just come right out with it. "He was up at the camp house too...He didn't make it, bro."

Merle's eyebrows furrowed, his chest began to weave in and out harshly. He was about to blow. "He's dead? The ol' man's DEAD?! YOU let the abominations get him?! Did you let him turn INTO one?! Did you let THAT happen too?!"

"No. I...we gave him mercy."

At this point Merle was breathing so heavy, I was worried he would hyperventilate. But he calmed down enough to ask, "What'd he say?" Daryl didn't answer right away. I could see that he was trying to come up with something, but his brother wasn't having it. "What did he SAY?!"

"He said, uh...he said, 'Tell Merle I'm proud of him'." The oldest Dixon's gaze once again moved to look outside, making Daryl a little nervous. "Merle?"

Merle just scoffed. "...What'd he really say?" When Merle realized that his brother wasn't going to answer that, he turned to me. "What about you, Hollywood? You gonna be a pussy and ignore me too?"

I genuinely felt sympathy for the man, but that was no excuse to be rude. "Ya want the truth?"

He glared at me. "Quit playin' with me and just answer the damn question! Don't ya think I deserve ta know what my ol' man's last words were?!"

"Jess told me his last words were 'Help me'. That's it. The man was pulled apart and barely breathin' when we got to him. I'm sorry y'all lost him, but there was nothin' Daryl could've done to save him. If there was, he would've."

Merle turned back around in his seat then. Finally more calm he asked, "Well what about Jess? Where's he at?"

Daryl once again chose not to answer, so I spoke up for him. "He got bit...turned...Daryl put him down."

At that information, Merle let out a short laugh. "So that old bastard croaked too? Just great-"

"Merle!" I knew Daryl was warning his brother. Warning him not to speak ill about their deceased uncle. However, as tough as he is, he still lets his older brother sink his claws in deep. That's something that I will never understand about Daryl Dixon. Why does he let Merle treat him so badly, then defend him as if he was a holy man?

Now here goes Merle's retaliation to keep his dominant role in the group. "What's your panties gettin' all twisted up about, lil' brother? Huh? That ol' fool gone and got bit! Left us here with those abominations-"

That's IT! Just 'cause Daryl's too chicken-shit to stand up to this asshole, don't mean I am. "Why don't you shut up, Merle!? Have some fuckin' respect! That man was your blood and now he's gone and you're gonna have the audacity to talk shit about him? He's not even here to defend himself."

Merle's head whipped around to face me so fast, I really thought his neck was gonna snap. "You best bite yer tongue you little bitch, or I'ma-"

"Or you'll what, Merle? Threaten me ta death? Talk shit about me 'til my ears bleed?"

"That's it! You done gone and messed up this time, you stupid-"

I guess it's hard to finish a sentence when someone slams on the breaks so hard it slings you into the dashboard. Once the two of us got over our mini heart attacks, we glared at the person operating this damn roller coaster. But Daryl was obviously unfazed by our staring. "Will the two'a ya shut the hell up?! We got better things to do, then ta sit here cussin' each other like dogs!" He paused his lecture long enough for Merle and I to straighten up and recover from being thrown around. "Merle, ya shut ya mouth 'bout Jess and don't be callin' Kelsi a bitch. And Kelsi, you just stay outta this and mind yer damn business."

Of course my anger wouldn't let me comply though. "This IS my business! That man was like a father to you, and he's settin' there actin' like a dick!"

And of course, Merle's pervert personality couldn't comply either, since he lovingly added, "You wanna see a dick? I got one waitin' on ya right here, babydoll." all while grabbing onto his crotch and laughing.

Gritting my teeth, I came back with, "You keep showing me where that thing is and I'm li'ble to reach over and punch it! You want a permanent LIMP dick!?"

All of this only added to Daryl's aggravation, causing him to let out an annoyed groan. "Are you two done yet? Or do I need ta drop ya off right here and move on?" We both chose to keep our mouths shut and not answer. I don't know about Merle, but I do know that I'm not wantin' to find out if he'd really leave us or not. The silence must've been good enough for Daryl, since he nodded once and got back on the road.

Merle just grumbled to himself and went back to watching the scenery. My eyes moved back to the road map that was thrown from my lap onto the floor. Once I picked it up, I saw something that made me pretty damn excited. "Hey. Can we at least stop by this creek and take a bath?"

Daryl glanced at me through the rear view mirror for a short moment before asking, "How close?"

I looked over the map just one more time to be sure. "Take the next right, up here. Follow that road about a half mile down and it'll lead us right to it."

Each of us washed up one by one. This way, there was two of us watching the area the entire time. We all knew to be as quick as possible. None of us wanted to get swarmed while completely nude. I told the boys to go first, they wouldn't take as long as me to get cleaned up. When my turn rolled around, I made it very clear for the boys to keep their eyes to themselves. Although Daryl promised me I had nothing to worry about, I still didn't trust it.

After grabbing clean clothes and soap from my bag, I quickly glanced around and that's when I got the idea. There was a long, thick branch that stretched over the small creek. It had a split halfway down and was just a perfect height. Snatching all three of our towels and stripping down to my bra and panties, I couldn't help but notice the feeling of being watched. Acknowledging the feeling, I turned to see just that. Merle had paused the action of tying his boots to glue his eyes to me, the man was practically drooling. Daryl was sitting on a tree stump continuing to sharpen his knife, but would glance up at me every three seconds. At least he was trying to be a little modest.

Letting out an annoyed huff, I ignored the pair of wandering eyes and hung the three towels over the branch. Essentially making somewhat of a curtain without getting the items completely soaked. I did, however, decided to just bathe the best I could with my underwear still on. Knowing I had clean undergarments to change into, I figured it would add to my shelter. Even though the creek water wasn't as clear as my shower water back home, I couldn't help but smile. Being able to rid my skin of all the blood, dirt and sweat was an amazing feeling. Inside, a small amount of guilt ran through my veins. You don't exactly realize all the things you take for granted until they're not an option anymore.

Once finished, I wrapped myself into my zebra print towel and grabbed the other two before stepping out of the water. Checking up on the boys' situation, not much had changed. Daryl slowly moved his thumb over the blade of his knife, making sure it was as sharp as he could get it. Merle, still as red as a damn lobster, leaned against the van. The both of them smoking cigarettes from the pack Merle had stolen from a dead officer. Looking down at the pile of clean clothes I had tossed onto a log, I realized that I would need a little help. So, I called over the one that has already seen me naked before anyway. "Daryl?!" He flicked ashes from his cigarette before his eyes met mine. "Could ya c'mere for a sec?" Nodding his head once, he took another drag and shoved his knife into its holster as he got to his feet.

Once close enough, he stated, "Ya better not be askin' me to go scavenge up lady products, 'cause I ain't doin' it."

Yes, that was totally embarrassing. Yes, I couldn't stop my damn face from turning red. But I also couldn't help but laugh at him. "Nice to know I can rely on a friend, but no. I need ya to do me a different favor."

His eyebrows furrowed before quickly glancing at his brother to make sure he wasn't eavesdropping. He wasn't. "What, uh...what is it?"

Handing him his towel, I answered his question with a question, "Will ya hold this up so I can change?" His body language seemed to relax at that, but he did let out an annoyed sigh. Taking the long piece of cloth from my hand, he stretched it out as far as it would go and waited for me to start changing. "Uh, turn around and hold it."

"Really?" I glared at him, letting him know he's not getting a peep show. Releasing another annoyed sigh, he turned while mumbling, "Fine." His back now facing me, I made quick work of getting dressed. Changing my underwear, shoving my legs into black skinny jeans and just as I was pushing my arms into my button-up flannel shirt, he asked, "Ain't you done yet?"

While finishing my last two buttons I finally answered him, "All done. Thanks." Picking up all of the droped articles of clothing and deciding to put my socks and boots on in the van, I walked past him with a big 'ol smirk plastered on my face. He glared at me before taking one last drag of his cigarette and flicking the butt of it into the water.

After stuffing my dirty clothes into my backpack, I took a moment to sit and cover my feet with socks and boots. Also using this rare, quiet moment to just take a damn breath, get a good drink of water and eat a quick handful of beef jerky we found back in Sedalia. As I sat there, soaking up the light breeze and faint smell of death in the air, I realized something. In this new world we've been thrown into, the quiet is almost scary. Scarier than being chased by corpses. Scarier than wondering if we're gonna run out of food or water...or a heartbeat. It sounds crazy, I know. You'd think I'd welcome the quiet with open arms at this point. But...when you hear the snarls and growls of the dead, at least you know where the danger is. But in the silence that lingered in the air, it almost made you feel safe. And feeling completely safe now a days, is nothin' but a death sentence.

The blur of Merle's finished cigarette butt racing through my peripheral snapped me out of my daze. The man still stood, leaning against the back of the van. Daryl had sat back on his log and began to sharpen the tips of my arrows, also checking their sturdiness after having so much use. Taking in a deep breath, I decided to give up my quiet moment for now and pick up a full water bottle. Merle seemed to be off into another realm as I took the spot in front of him. He didn't pull out of it until he felt the back of my hand lightly touching his beet-red forehead. This caused him to let out a hiss, his immediate reaction was to smack my hand away before his eyesight glued to mine. "The hell you think yer doin', Hollywood?"

Ignoring the attitude that seeped through that question, I held out the lukewarm water bottle to him. Instead of taking it, however, he just gave me a questioning look. As if he wasn't sure if I was trying to poison him or not. Taping the bottle to his forearm, I stated, "You're still burnin' up. Need ta keep ya hydrated."

He just scoffed at me, spit out a disgustingly green loogie, then straightened his stance. "Like you'd actually give a rats ass 'bout my health. Don't need no damn water, m'fine."

I figured he'd be stubborn, so I used my trump card. "What if I told ya I spiked it with Vodka?"

His eyes seemed to light up with joy at that, but it didn't last long before he was giving me that questioning look again. "That ain't got no damn Vodka in it. You and I both know, if there was any booze 'round here...yer ass would've knocked that shit back before I could even smell it. Just ta spite me."

I couldn't help but smirk at the man. He's not as dumb as he acts. "You're definitely right about that, Merle. Guess any decent alcoholic should be able to easily spot another decent alcoholic. But regardless, you're as red as a damn baboons ass and sweatin' like a whore in Church. You're gonna drink this water, then your brother and I are gonna find ya some medicine."

He let out a small chuckle before snatching the bottle from my hand. Unscrewing the lid, he tilted his head back and took several large gulps. Once he felt like he had really wet his whistle, he screwed the cap back on and tossed the bottle onto the ground behind me. "Didn't know ya cared so much about me, Hollywood. You sure you're with the right Dixon? Maybe my bed will be a lil' more cozy for ya tonight."

Smiling at his arrogance, I gently smacked the side of his head. "Nah. Just ain't in the mood to be diggin' you up a grave just yet. Wouldn't wanna mess up my manicure, after all." Merle actually laughed as he watched me hold out my dirty nails, pretending to admire the nonexistent french tip manicure. To think, having your nails done and kept to near perfection used to be a huge priority for some. Now, the constant light wafting of decay that seems to engulf this new world of ours, is a big reminder of just how frivolous that is.

Merle's laugh didn't last long. His younger brother stepped beside us and dragged our thoughts back into reality. "We need to get back on the road. It'll be dark b'fore long."

Merle kept quiet as he wiped away the sweat that still streamed down his forehead with the bottom of his shirt. Daryl swiftly replaced my arrows into their quiver as I addressed him. "What's our next destination?"

The youngest Dixon had opened his mouth to answer, but Merle quickly became involved with this topic. "We're goin' to Jake's. Thought I already told you pansies that."

Daryl couldn't help but send an angry grunt at his brother. "We gotta find you some antibiotics, Merle. Did you forget your dumbass tried to bake yourself?"

Before Merle could argue back, I tried to input my suggestion. "What about the hospital? The officer back at Garwater said he was takin' those one guys to Memorial."

So much for trying to prevent an argument though. My suggestion seemed to only piss Merle off more. "I ain't goin' to no damn hospital! Jake's will have stuff I can use!"

Letting out a sigh, Daryl actually agreed with his brother. "The hospital probably ain't the best idea. I don't know if you noticed, KJ, but one of those guys in that cruiser was bit. Wouldn't be surprised if Memorial was gone by now."

Massaging my temples out of frustration, I tried to throw another suggestion out there. "Okay then, what about one of those survivor camps your friend Scout mentioned? Didn't she say the army supplied 'em with meds? And that one of the bigger ones was at the Sawmill? I mean, that's probably our best bet. We're only a few miles away."

Daryl took a short moment to ponder that plan, but he ultimately agreed. "You're right. Let's move." Merle mumbled his complaints about us not taking him to Jake's right away, but he still shuffled into the van.

Arriving at the Saw Mill, we decide it best to park the Van a couple blocks away. Unfortunately, we didn't get here until it was already dark out. Nobody's really said anything since we left the creek, but my nerves are definitely going haywire right now. We're getting ready to move into unknown territory and half blind. This is dangerous, but getting antibiotics for Merle's fever is top priority.

While the boys almost immediately hop out of the Van, I stay and go through our supplies to make sure we have what we need. As I was finishing, however, I noticed that their conversation started to get a little too high pitched for my liking. I quickly throw my backpack on over my quiver and climb out to make sure we wasn't about to have a Dixon brawl on our hands. Coming into their 'little chat', Merle was waving his arms all around as he tried to throw another fit about moving on. "So, you're just gonna waltz up there, knock on the door, and ask to borrow a cup'a meds?"

"Man, what do you want me to do? You're sick as a dog and you need medicine. You didn't wanna go to no hospital-"

"Let's just go join my crew at Jake's. They got what we need!"

Daryl couldn't help be let out a sigh, trying to calm his aggravation. I don't blame him. I'm starting to get tired of hearing about Jake's too. Looking back to his stubborn brother, he tried to explain our deliema. "Yeah, we've gotta get there first. Travelin'...it ain't so easy these days."

Merle scratched the top of his bald head as he pitched out another line, "I'm comin' with you then."

Daryl just shook his head and chuckled a little, "Yeah? You can barely walk. Man, just stay put. Rest up. If anything happens just call us."

Essentially giving up, Merle answers with, "Fine." before turning back toward the Van and tuning his radio to the right signal.

Once the sound of the Van's door slamming shut echoed throughout the night, Daryl let out one more sigh before addressing me. "You good?"

A smile broke through as I came back with, "Are you?"

He rubbed some sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and looked to the ground. I watched him for a moment and could almost physically see his gears moving. He's collecting himself. Trying to get back into that primal-survival mode after dealing with Merle. It's kinda crazy watching these two. They act as if what's going on is damn near normal for them. Like the fact that people coming back from the dead can walk around and eat anything moving isn't the worst thing that can happen. They've been moving and surviving all their life. This is the same thing for them. Only now, everyone else has to do it too.

"Let's go."

Scout was right, this camp was indeed inhabited by people. Unfortunately for us, there was also a lot of intruders roaming around the Sawmill. As I shot one down, Daryl raised his radio to inform Merle. "Aw, hell."

Merle immediately responded back as I put down another one. "What do you got?"

Daryl moved for the one that finally got close enough to take the blade of his knife while answering his brother. "They got eaters in here, too!" This is just great. The three of us were really hoping for a safe place to settle down long enough to get Merle healed back up. But of course, these dead freaks moved in like a disease and killed off all of our hope.

There wasn't a response from Merle. Instead, we got some guy's voice over an intercom. "ATTENTION! We've got goons near the Stacks! Try to get a light on 'em!"

The log stacks? Oh, shit! That's where we are. Daryl snatched a hold of my arm and pushed me up against the logs, just as a spotlight hit where we were. Gunshots instantly started firing at the dead. I could hardly hear Merle coming through the radio from how loud the gunfire was. "I heard that. Ain't they bein' neighborly?"

I couldn't help but scoff at the sound of the bullets ricocheting off the other side of the log pile we were hiding behind. "Neighborly, my ass."

Ignoring my smart assery, Daryl chose to answer the other Dixon. "Yeah, they aren't shootin' at us. Not yet."

The gunfire stopped as well as the spotlight moving on. Seems they've terminated all the undead on this end. That's when the intercom came back through. "Dammit, people! We've got to keep a sharper watch! Travis, get a group out there to check the west fences! There's a hole out there somewhere! Watch for stragglers. Only takes one to ruin your day."

The spotlight didn't seem to come back after that, but Daryl peeked his head out just to be sure. I, however, was still pretty concerned. This 'survivor camp' is overrun. "What are we gonna do, Daryl? This place is crawling with the dead. Not to mention hostile survivors with fuckin' machine guns."

Once he concluded that there wasn't gonna be any more bullets flying this way, he turned to me. "We're already here and we gotta get those meds for Merle. We're gonna stick to the shadows and make our way into that building."

"Through the maze of biters and gunfire-"

"Yes...now come on."

Man, if this was a cartoon, there would be smoke blowing out of my ears right now. Ignoring my anger, I followed Daryl out of the maze of log stacks. This place was surrounded by tall fences, with a huge brick building as its main focus. Going through the front doors wasn't going to be an option for us, however. Biters were everywhere and there was two spotlights moving along the ground from the roof. As soon as one of the lights landed on a walking corpse, gunfire erupted through the air until is was dead for good. We're going to have to duck behind the abandoned vehicles and make our way to the fence on the other side. All while dodging eaters, spotlights and gunfire. Awesome.

And that's exactly what we did. Jumping behind one vehicle to the next, occasionally knifing down dead folks and staying AWAY from the light. We was halfway there when our luck finally ran out. "There he is! Tag him!" The light landed on Daryl mid-run and bullets immediately started pouring down.

"DARYL!"

Uncontrollable tears ran down my cheeks as soon as I saw him get hit. It happened so fast. Daryl was running, but stumbled for a second and instantly put his hand on his left shoulder before diving behind a truck. I knew a bullet hit his shoulder, but how bad was it? Was he sitting behind that truck, in the dark, bleeding out? Was Daryl going to die? Was I going to lose him? What if he turns? Will I be able to find enough strength to put him down myself? I can't do this. He's the reason I'm still alive. I can't keep fighting without him. I-

"Hey! I ain't a eater! I'm alive!"

"D-Daryl?" He's okay? Before I had time to think any further, the intercom came back through.

"You get 'im Mallory?"

"Can't tell, Mr. Swenson. Was live though; a stranger. Not a goon."

"We got a swarm of 'them' comin' up the East slope. We'll tend to the goons. You keep an eye on that one."

"Yes sir."

"Take the intruders down, Mallory. They're every inch as deadly as the goons."

Once the conversation was over, the spotlight moved on. This was my chance. I ran as fast as I could and slid behind the truck like it was a home run in Baseball. There he was. Sitting on the ground, leaning against the front wheel of the truck and still holding onto his left shoulder. Blood was slowly seeping through his fingers. "Daryl. Are you-is it bad?"

He hissed slightly when he lifted his hand to look at the wound. "Naw, it just grazed me. I'm fine."

"You're NOT fine. It could get infected. Not to mention the smell of fresh blood might attract, 'them'." We're lucky the constant gunfire was distracting them. We have to move though, we can't hide behind this truck forever. Ripping off a good chunk of my shirt, from my bellybutton down, I motioned for him to let me see his shoulder. He moved his hand and it seemed like the bleeding had already slowed down. It's hard to really tell in the dark, but I don't think it's deep enough to need stitches. Moving quickly, I wrapped the torn piece of shirt around his shoulder and tied it tight.

We finally made it to the fence and that's when we spotted the problem. "I see one way they're gettin' in." Daryl's voice came through right when I saw it. There was huge hole in the damn thing. No wonder so many eaters managed to slip into this place. "Might be able to block 'em off." Looking around, we almost instantly spotted an abandoned truck that was still running. Daryl ran to it and shut the headlights off before parking it in front of the hole. "There. That ought to hold 'em."

As he was shutting the engine off, the intercom came on again. "Mallory! Goons have broken through! Get over here and help!" It was quiet for a moment while Daryl and I took this opportunity to scan the area. There was quite a few tents laying around. "We've called the military for assistance, but there's only one recon chopper in the area. They won't make it in time." The military, huh?

Deciding not to worry about going through each tent, we make our way to a brick warehouse. There were two eaters scratching on the metal door, so I use my arrows to shoot 'em both down. In the meantime, Daryl knifed down one that had followed us. As we each cleaned off an arrow, I whispered to my partner. "Think anyone's inside?" Seems like all the rapid gunfire has stopped too. What happened?

He slid the arrow into my quiver before answering, "Those things were tryin' to get to something, right?" I nodded and reached for the doorknob. But before I could even turn the damn thing, someone reached through and pulled me in. The sudden momentum made me slip and I fell on the cold tile floor. Looking back, I saw Daryl already had his pistol drawn and was using his other hand to lock the door. His anger immediately firing off. "What the HELL is your problem!?"

Standing up, I finally got a look at the asshole that pulled me in. He was an older black man with gray hair and a goatee to match. He looked to be in his fifties at the very least. The room we were in seemed to be an employees break room at one point. There was a few cafeteria tables and a small kitchenette behind him. We all paused, however, when we heard a helicopter hovering over outside. They weren't here long, though. In fact, they didn't even land. Just hovered for a few minutes and left. Did they abandon this place 'cause it's too overrun?

There was a noise that brought my attention back to the stranger. That noise was him holstering his gun. He's not going to attack us? He must've noticed my questioning look. "I ain't gonna shoot you. Not yet." That voice. One from the intercom. Is this guy Mr. Swenson? "Don't have much choice but to bargain with you, now do I?"

Daryl lowered his gun, but kept it in his hand. "What are you talkin' about?"

The man immediately started pointing at us and yelling, "YOU'RE the stranger! Was it worth it? All of...all of this?" Daryl and I both looked at him like he had lost his mind. "We had a good thing goin' here. Little way station, goons kept outside. I was able to protect these people! Why'd you do it?"

Daryl pointed to himself, officially pissed off now. "Me?! I didn't do this! WE didn't do this." He stomped his way in front of me then, using his body as a shield. "Too bad about your camp. But we didn't cut no fence."

The man just waved it off, so I added, "You fuckers shot at us. This place was already a cesspool when we got here."

Mr. Swenson, I assume, just ignored me. But Daryl sighed, already done with this conversation. "Look. My brother. He's REAL sick. We know you've got meds. That's the only reason we came here."

"Meds? Yeah, I suppose. Guess that's all I got now." The older man turned and rummaged through the cabinets and a few drawers before pulling out a large baggie of pill bottles. "Is this enough to buy me a ticket out of here?"

"Yeah man," Daryl took the baggie and shoved it into his backpack after putting his pistol away. "that's more than enough."

Mr. Swenson nodded then pointed to the door behind him. "Main gate is that way . It's still blocked, last I saw. You gotta cut through the sawmill to get out. It's gated too." He then pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Daryl before continuing. "Here's the uh, code key. I got more ammo stashed, I'ma grab it and I'll meet you at the gate. Hopefully." He went to go out the door we came from, but stopped and added. "Oh, and watch out for the splitter blades. They'll make lunch meat out of ya." We both nodded at that and headed for the door.

Daryl flipped on his flashlight as we walked back into the thick darkness. There was a broken down truck, but quickly peaking inside, I couldn't find anything useful so we moved on. Following along side the tall fence until getting to its locked doors. To the left was a key pad, so Daryl pulled out the written code Swenson gave him as I searched through the darkness for any danger. Hearing a sudden beep followed by a click, I turned around and followed my partner onto the other side.

You could instantly hear a motor running, knowing it was the giant blades made me a bit nervous. Moving further in, we could make out ailes of wood boards and full on pieces of tree trunks. Splitting right down the middle was a moving conveyor belt, as well as rows of quickly spinning, sharp metal blades. There was some light from the hanging lamps clinging to the tall ceiling, so Daryl put away the flashlight. The fact that the blade motor was so loud is what worried me most. We're not gonna be able to hear the familiar gurgling in time.

This caused some hesitancy in my movements and my partner noticed immediately. He stopped and lightly tapped my cheek while attempting to comfort me, "It's gonna be fine, KJ. Just keep ya guard up." Yeah. Keep my guard up. I've been doing that this whole time, but he still managed to get shot...Well, grazed, but it still scared the hell outta me.

I just gave him a nod and followed him to the side of the conveyor belt. And can I just go ahead and say that we have the worst luck? We got half way when a group of around ten bags of death caught wind of us. They all put down their meal and outstretched their arms to us. Curse words simultaneously flooded from our mouths as we ran onto the conveyor belt. The sudden motion nearly knocked me on my ass, but Daryl grabbed me by the forearm and balanced me out just in time.

The rotten group was relentless in their chase, but we thought up a plan quickly. Stopping in our tracks and turning around, we began 'walking in place' to stay in one spot on the continuously moving belt. Once they were close enough, we hopped to the side and ran back on the belt behind the rotating blades. The geeks tried to continue their chase, but they wasn't quick enough to outrun the belt. They were, how did Swenson put it? Turned into lunch meat but the sharpness of those blades.

It made an awful crunching noise and we had to jump out of the way of human flesh made shrapnel, but that was the end of our little friends. Merle must of heard the disgusting sound too, he came in through the radio before it was even over. "What the hell is all that racket, lil' brother?"

Daryl and I couldn't help but laugh a little before responding. "It's all good. Don't sweat it."

"Well hurry up and get your asses down here. Hell, the log guy's already here. What is he, four times older than you?"

I chuckled again at the smart ass biker while putting away my bow and arrow. Daryl just smirked and told his brother, "We're comin'."

Mere let out a chuckle of his own, replying, "Yeah, I bet. Don't knock her up ya dick. We got shit ta do."

That comment caused both of us to pause in utter embarrassment. When I finally snapped out of it, I yanked the damn walkie-talkie out of Dixsons hand and yelled, "Shut the hell up!"