Days and days had passed. The knot that had been tight in my stomach for weeks finally loosened a bit, and the prison was feeling more like home than ever. Judith was healthy and seemed to be a happy baby, for the most part. I loved watching her smile and make her little baby noises. Everyone had begun to breathe again, the fear of Philip pushed away somewhere deep inside.
Everything had been quiet.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
The last trip Daryl and I had taken out to look for him, was the last in general. We decided as a group not to go out anymore, and to just let it go. That didn't mean that we still weren't out for his blood, but it was a new step for everyone to move on from the ghost he left to haunt us. As far as we knew, he was long gone. I hoped that he'd never come back.
Things have changed so much... I thought to myself, as Daryl and I walked toward the others, who were enjoying breakfast.
"Good morning, Daryl! Spencer!" The doc called, and I grinned.
"'Sup, Dr. S?" Daryl strode by, and I waved. The voices greeting us both echoed around, as we reached Carol. "Smells good."
"I'm pretty hungry." I agreed, enjoying the shade of the set up Carol was under.
"Just so you know, we liked you first." Carol winked at me, and I laughed softly, imagining Daryl's face growing red.
"Stop." Daryl said softly, slight humor in his tone, as he grabbed a piece of food. He kept talking to Carol, and I left them alone to walk over to the fence. Walkers seemed to be coming from all directions, a little at a time. They crowded outside the fences, and I saw some of our group to the left trying to kill the ones closest to the wiring protecting us. "See that shit storm?"
"Yea, I see it." I muttered, scanning the area. Daryl stepped over to me, handing me a bowl. I took it, and began eating. "You think Rick's really okay?"
"Think he's fine." His reply was gruff, and I glanced at him.
"I don't know, maybe I'm just not used to the way things are, yet." I smiled. "Not used to Rick bein'..."
"Farm man?" Daryl raised an eyebrow, and my smile broke into a grin.
"Exactly." I nodded. "But, I guess things are goin' good, huh?"
"Guess they are." He bumped my shoulder. "Gotta get goin' soon, woman."
"I'll help you pack the car." I finished the rest of my breakfast quickly, as we stepped away from the fence. Placing my bowl on the table with the others, I continued beside Daryl toward the prison. In our cell, I grabbed my bag and gun, before we headed back out to the vehicles.
"You sure you can't just stay here? For once?" Daryl muttered, as he checked the gas can in the back.
"Oh, pfft." I rolled my eyes, grabbing a shotgun from the back of the truck. Loading it, I gave him a smirk. "I like goin' out. Gives me somethin' to do."
"Hn." He grunted. "Dangerous."
"I can take care of myself." I said surely. "If there's one thing you should know about me, it's that."
"Think I might know more than one." His lips twitched upward and I wrinkled my nose.
"Uh, huh." I bit my cheek to keep from smiling.
"Like that spot behind your ear.." He was walking toward the driver's side. My face felt warm suddenly, and I decided it was best not to say anything because Zach was walking toward us. He walked past, meeting Beth behind me, and I could hear them talking as I checked my knives. He was explaining to Beth that he was going on the run with us, but she didn't seem too bothered by it. She started to walk away.
"Okay, you gonna say goodbye?" He called after her.
"Nope!" She replied, never looking back. I smiled lightly, understanding her way of thinking.
"Damn romance novel." Daryl teased, and I snorted out a small laugh.
We had just finished gathering everything we needed, when Bob announced that he wanted to go on the run with us. He had only been with us a week, give or take, but he had proven to be an okay guy. So far. Plus, he had medical skills, he'd been a medic for the army. Or something like that.
"Finally." I murmured to myself, and Daryl must have heard me as he was climbing on the motorcycle.
"Itchin' to go, ain't ya?' He growled, and I climbed on behind him, leaning up. My lips were hovering at his ear.
"Just ready to ride." I half whispered, before sitting back.
"Better stop that sexy shit." Daryl warned gruffly, and I grinned as the bike's engine came to life with a roar. Holding on, we started down toward the fences. Leaning around Daryl I saw, as we started down, a horse. My eyes darted over to see Rick and Carl talking to... Michonne.
Reaching them, Daryl stopped the motorcycle and cut the engine. "Well, well. Look who's back."
"Didn't find him." She said quietly, and I jumped off the bike to give her a hug.
"Please tell me you're stayin' this time?" I held her tight, and she returned the hug.
"For now."
"Glad to see you in one piece." Daryl spoke again, as I let her go.
"I'm thinkin' of lookin' over near Macon." She looked at Daryl, then to Rick. He didn't look too thrilled. "It's worth a shot."
"Seventy miles of walkers.. You might run into a few un-neighborly types." Daryl warned, as I climbed back onto the back of his motorcycle. "Is it?" She was quiet, and he looked at Rick. "Gonna go check out the Big Spot, one I was talkin' about, just seein'."
"Yeaaah, I gotta go out and check the snares. I don't wanna lose whatever we catch to the walkers." Rick said surely.
"I'll go." Michonne announced.
"You just got here!" Carl protested, standing by her horse.
"And I'll be back." She countered, and I smiled. She walked past us to jump in a vehicle, and Daryl started the engine, reaching out to pat Rick on the stomach. Such a bromance, these two.. I thought to myself, but their relationship made me happy. The two men had gotten close over the time we had all been together, and it showed.
Rick jogged down to the gates and opened them to let us out, and I hunkered down into Daryl as we zipped past the walkers. Daryl drove on until we reached a fence, and behind it was a decent size building. The letters on the front read, 'Big Spot', which was the place Daryl had found on one of his runs a while back. He had been excited and anxious to check it out, and now I knew why. It could have a lot of loot still left inside.
He stopped the bike, the others following his lead, and we climbed off. Bob met us over at the fence, and Daryl began speaking. "Army came in, put these fences up. Made it a place for the people to go. Last week, when we spotted this place, there was a bunch of walkers behind this chain link, keepin' people out like a bunch of guard dogs." Music was playing, and I nearly laughed at the tune flooding through my ears.
"So, they all just left?" Bob asked, looking past the fence.
"Give a listen." Sasha said.
"You drew them out." Michonne looked at her.
"Put a boom box out there three days ago." Sasha nodded.
"Hooked it up to two car batteries." Glenn piped in.
"My Smarty-Pants." I walked over and grabbed his shoulder. "Oh, what would we do without you?" He grinned.
"All right, let's make a sweep." Daryl stepped through the hole of the fence. "Make sure it's safe. Grab what ya can, we'll come back tomorrow with more people." I stepped through the fence, my knife in hand, and stayed close to Daryl's side. We looked around, peering into tents and around cars, but all was still. "Come on.." Daryl stepped up to the big glass windows, and hit it with his elbow. Bang, bang, bang, bang! "Just give it a second."
"Okay, I think I got it." Zach was leaning on the brick wall to our left. I sat on the side of the window with Daryl, looking over at the kid.
"Got what?" Michonne asked.
"Get ready for this one." I muttered, and she gave me a puzzled look.
"Oh, I've been trying to guess what Daryl did before the turn." Zach answered her question, and I raised an eyebrow. He sat on the other side of Daryl, looking as if he just knew that today would be the day he got it right.
"He's been tryin' to guess for, like, six weeks." Dixon said from beside me, and I snorted a laugh.
"Yeah, I'm pacing myself." Zach argued playfully. "One shot a day."
"All right, shoot." Daryl said, looking over at him.
"Well, the way you are at the prison," Zach started, "yeah, you're being on the council, you're able to track, you're helpin' people. But you're still being kind of...surly. Big swing here... Homicide cop."
Michonne and I burst into quiet laughter.
"What's so funny?" Daryl looked from me to her.
"Nothin'. It makes perfect sense." Michonne replied, as I tried to contain my laughter.
"Actually, the man's right. Undercover." Daryl said surely.
"Come on, really?" Zach asked, his face curious.
"Yep. I mean, I don't like to talk about it, 'cause it was a lot of heavy shit, you know?" Dixon's expression was serious, his tone matching it.
"Dude, come on. Really?" The kid pressed, and I giggled. Daryl gave him a look. "Okay, I'll just keep guessing, I guess."
"Yea, you keep doin' that." The man beside me agreed.
"Mm-hmm." Zach hummed, when suddenly, a noise behind me caused me to jump slightly. Turning, I saw a walker against the glass, wanting nothing more than to get to us on the other side.
"We gonna do this, Detective?" Michonne asked, stepping toward the door.
"Let's do it!" Daryl jumped up, and I was right behind him. We opened the doors and took out the few walkers around, and the others helped drag them out.
"Might as well give it up, Zach." I said, as we stood near the door.
"You don't know either?" He asked, shock in his voice.
"Of course I know what he was before all this. But, I had to get in his pants to find out." I slapped him on the shoulder, and Michonne began laughing again. Zach joined her.
"Heard that." Daryl called gruffly from inside the glass doors.
"All right." Sasha spoke up, smiling at my words. "We go in, stay in formation for the sweep. After that, you all know what you're supposed to look for. Any questions?"
"Was there ever a time that you weren't the boss of me?" Tyreese asked his sister, and I could see the smile in her eyes.
"You had a few years before I was born." She replied, and I chuckled as I stepped inside. Grabbing a cart, I started through the store, snatching up things we needed. I saw Michonne pull her sword ahead of me, and slice a cardboard cut out of Frankenstein. I bit my lip to keep from laughing, and realized I was happier than I had been in a long time.
Creeeeaaaaak.. BOOOM! A loud crash, followed by the tinkling of glass shattering made me jerk my head up. A giant THUD, followed by a yell, hit the air and I ran toward the commotion.
"You all right?" I heard Daryl's voice as I jogged closer. "You cut or somethin'?"
"Nah, man. But, uh, my-my foot is caught." Bob was underneath a shelf.
"All right, He's just caught. Come on, help me up." Daryl went for the shelf. Tyreese and Zach were beside us.
"What happened?" Glenn called.
"Everyone's all right, we're over in wine and beer!" Zach replied, as we all pushed the huge shelf up from Bob. He was lucky he didn't get squished.
"I was moving fast, man. I drove right into the drinks." Bob explained, and I looked down at him.
"Man, you lucked out. If this thing had come down on you the wrong way.." Tyreese bent down to him.
"Squish!" I finished his sentence. Daryl raised an eyebrow. I shrugged.
POP! BOOOM! "AGGRHHHHGHHHH!" I looked up to see a walker was hanging from a hole in the roof by its entrails. I jumped back, as it swung back and forth, my heart pounding.
"Jesus!" I exclaimed, my eyes on the flailing walker.
"Yeah, uh, we should probably go now." Glenn said surely.
"Bob's still stuck, get him outta there!" Daryl growled loudly.
"We'll get the others!"
Too late. Another loud crash, followed by another. Walkers fell from the ceiling, hitting the floor with sickening CRACKS and THUDS. One landed, and just exploded, blood flooding everywhere.
And they were up and moving quicker than I expected. The smell of rotting, decaying flesh was strong in the air, making my eyes water a bit, as I stumbled backward. The walker making it's way toward me was all snapping jaws and milky eyes. Jumping forward, I struck the dead man walking in the side of the head, and it dropped.
One fell beside me, and I jumped to the right. A walker with a missing hand was at my side suddenly, and I jabbed my knife at its head, before kicking another coming straight at me. It stumbled backward, but regained its balance and started toward me again. The walker that had fallen beside me was up and moving towards me as well. The shelf behind me kept me from moving anywhere, and when a third rotting corpse came into view, I pulled my gun.
POP. POP. POP. They dropped to the ground, giving me a small gap to run through. I took it. Running around a corner, I saw the end of a sword sticking out of a walker's head, barely inches from my face. "It's me!" I yelped.
"DUCK!" Michonne growled, and I did so, spinning to dodge to the right. Her sword sliced the walker behind me, and I was back up next to her before she pulled her sword back.
"Thanks." I called, before running around the isle. Daryl, where are yo- Before I could finish my thought, I saw him run up a pile of boxes. Walkers surrounded him, and he was popping off rounds. POP, POP, POP, POP, POP! I began shooting the walkers around him.
"DARYL, GO!" Glenn shouted, and I could see him jump off the boxes, running toward me. He and Glenn reached me, and we ran toward the closest gun shots.
"GET BOB!" Zach was shooting walkers like a pro, as we ran over to where Bob was trapped. A crawling corpse was trying to get at him, but Daryl pulled it away and stomped its head. Zach lifted the shelf, and Daryl pulled him out, while Glenn and I continued shooting at the oncoming dead. The ceiling began collapsing, and I looked up to see it raining dust and roof. "AGHHHHHH!"
"ZACH!" Glenn.
A scream behind me managed to peel my eyes away from the mess above, and I turned to see Zach with a pained face, as he fell and a walker chomped onto the side of his neck.
"GO, GO!" Daryl waved us to run, and we didn't even have time to put the poor kid out of his misery. I grabbed Daryl's hand as we ran, the loud rumbling and crashing of the ceiling coming down behind us in my ears.
We ran from the store, Zach's screams still echoing through my head. And all I could think about, as I jumped on the back of Daryl's bike, was that someone was going to have to tell Beth.
The thought made me snake my arms around Daryl's waist, pressing into his back. I could only hope that I would never be in her place.
Hey guys, I am SO sorry for the long update wait. A lot has happened the last few months (I lost my Siamese cat last Nov., she was nine years old, then in June I lost my tuxedo kitty who was fourteen). My anxiety and depression has been bothering me, but what better soul healing than to keep on writing ?
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and more is to come !
You all are amazing and inspire me big time.
Thank you all so much for everything and all the support on my story. It means the world to me.
~Kaila