Disclaimer—I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters.
Hi, happy to see you back for chapter 24. Please enjoy and review.
Danny's POV
"Fuck". Merle hooks his arm around my chest and yanks me back behind the garden fence. I shove him backwards and glare up at him, he didn't have to be so rough. It's not exactly hard to miss the Walkers that have appeared out on the street while we've been inside this house.
Daryl, Carol and Sophia are, I think, a couple of streets over. Hopefully they aren't currently trapped like we are. Merle and I wandered off to search more houses as it was taking too long and we've been here two days already and we wanted to move on before something like this happened. The only thing that makes me think they will be safe is they have the vehicles.
The Walkers look like they are slowly moving in their direction but we have no way of warning them and that is what's worrying me more than being trapped in this garden.
I pick up the duffle Merle was carrying to free up his hand for his knife and then we're retreating to the back door we came out of.
I dump the bag on the kitchen table with a sigh, while Merle stands at the door looking out. The actual door isn't even there anymore, at some point in the past it was ripped off it's hinges and it now lays on the ground, slowly disappearing into the overgrown grass.
As long as none of them noticed us then this place should be okay for us to hide out in. At least until a gap big enough for us to run through appears.
I take out my gun, "I'll go and watch out front". I whisper at him, he nods in response.
I can't crouch very well so instead I stick to the walls as I manoeuvre around the room to reach the living room window. The curtains are open but I still peer through the gap between the wall and the fabric to try and keep myself hidden. The last thing I want is to suddenly look out and there's a Walker on the front yard looking at me. That would be game over, we'd be screwed and trapped.
The herd is huge and seems never ending and if I'm guessing correctly I think it's come from the direction we originally came from. When we get out of here it'll probably mean making sure we go in the opposite direction to it, to stop us either catching up to it or having to constantly be on the move to stay in front of it. We'd never be able to rest.
"Danny!", I wince at how loud he shouts and through the window I can see some of the Walkers heads turn in our direction.
With one last parting look I run through to the kitchen. As I emerge through the door I quickly realise why he shouted for me. There is dead Walker lying on the now bloody floor.
"We gotta go", Merle has the duffle on his back and he's switched his knife for his gun. I yank out my bat preparing for this to get bad. He peers out the back door, "Ya ready". I take in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. I nod, I'm ready.
With one last glance at me to make sure I'm actually following he runs out into the garden. This time we don't run towards the side of the house because that is where the Walkers are seeping through from, he heads for the back fence instead. Merle comes to a sliding stop when the fence forces him to stop.
"Up and over Squirt". He bends forward and I have to assume that means I'm to climb on his back.
The drop down to the other side hurts my leg so much I have to grit my teeth to stop myself gasping out, however Merle isn't so quiet as he grunts away as he climbs over. He lands heavily beside me, "Shit, remind me never to do that again".
"Aw, you getting old?"
"Fuck no, I'm in my prime".
"Sure, I'll let you believe that".
We're now one street over which is one street closer to Daryl and the others. As we quickly make our way to the front of this house we notice the Walkers have made it this far, but there is a lot less of them. We should be able to run through these, maybe.
This time it's me that turns to Merle to make sure he's ready. "Be light on those feet and keep up old man". He gives me a joking sneer and then we're running.
As I hit another Walker with my bat, knocking it to the ground, we realise that this was probably a mistake. There are a lot more Walkers here than we thought and they're closing in fast.
Somehow we make it through to the other side but I'm starting to lag now, my limp slowing me down. Merle shoves me to the side forcing me to run through to another back garden, thankfully this ones fence is only about three feet high. I vault over it and realise this is the street we left the others in but the vehicles are gone. Good.
The Walkers haven't made it this far so now all we need to do is find somewhere secure to hide, wait them out. But has Merle stands beside me wheezing I spot a better idea.
"Did you ever learn to ride a bike?".
He looks mildly offended, "Course I fuckin' did..." I actually witness the moment of realisation. "I hate you".
I wink at him with a grin and run over to the bikes that are leaning up against the side of a house. I mount it just as the first Walker arrives.
"Ya sure ya can ride that with ya shit leg".
"You just worry about being able to ride one handed".
Turns out Merle can ride pretty well with one hand whereas I'm wincing at every turn of the pedals. We've gotten ahead of the herd but we've yet to work out where Daryl would have taken Carol and Sophia, but then again I guess ten minutes on a bike only takes you half the distance as ten minutes in a car.
"Who's bright idea was this?, Oh right, yours", Merle wheezes as he breaths. "Couldn't jack a car".
I roll my eyes at his complaining. "Well you're lucky because if this had been before my accident I'd have made you run this far".
"I'd have shot ya in the leg myself". Thanks. "Fuck this". Brakes squeak and then I hear the clatter of the bike being thrown across the tarmac. I plant my feet on the floor and look behind me. He's glaring at the bike like it's just seriously offended him. He moves that glare on to me, "I ain't ridin' this thing anymore".
Even though I won't actually admit it I am internally grateful, I don't know if its the pain or something else but I'm feeling a little sick. I need a rest before we carry on, maybe eat something.
Instead I roll my eyes at him and pretend, "Fine. Let's do all the things that you want to do". I walk my bike up to the building and lean it against the wall before grabbing some possibly stale biscuits out of my bag.
"You alrigh'?" He's still standing over his bike but his eyes are on me, and he's frowning.
I nod around a mouthful of biscuits. "I'm just hungry". I look around but there's nothing here except this building, which I'm guessing is gas station but we haven't gone round front to check yet. "How long do you think it'll be before the herd catches up?"
"Not long, maybe ten, twenty minutes. Next road we come across we gotta take it. We need to get behind these fuckers and just let them disappear".
I drop my half eaten biscuit back into the box, "But Daryl had to have come this way we can't just veer off now.".
"And we ain't gonna find him while we're bein' followed". Merle sighs, "my brother has sense you know that. He'd 'ave probably thought the same but if not we'll come back when the herds passed".
"Okay". Yeah I can do that.
"We ain't ridin' these shitty bikes no more though, I'm jackin' us a car". After a quick eye up of the road we're on he points towards the front of the suspected garage and then makes his way round front leaving me sat here with my biscuits. The only reason we rode bikes was because we didn't exactly have time to take one off the street, we have that time now so as long as he's quick we can get moving again.
Turns out Merles pretty quick at stealing cars because it's only been five minutes since he left me sat here and I can already hear an engine. I grab my bag and fast walk round to meet him.
I drop my stuff into the boot, "you learn this in school?"
He scoffs, "stole a few cars in my youth sweet cheeks. You impressed?"
"Not so much no".
His smirk drops, he slams his door shut and yells at me through the closed passenger window. "Get in the fuckin' car".
"I think we're behind them now. How'd ya feel 'bout stayin' here for the night?"
I look out the window at the gas station he's stopped outside. "I dunno, you sure stayin' in a place people might come to is a good idea, cause uh, I don't".
"Probably right but we ain't come across anythin' else and ya really want go further away from ya precious boyfriend".
The word boyfriend coming out of Merle's mouth just sounds horrible, plus calling Daryl my boyfriend just sounds silly and I don't think he'd appreciate the term.
"Fine", I get out the car, shut the door behind me and stare at the place we now have to call home for the night.
"Don't slam my doors".
"It isn't even your car Merle".
He scoffs, "Ain't the point". He comes around to join me. "Lets get this over with", he sighs before mooching off ahead of me. I think he's tired to, it's been a long day and we biked for hours. I think he's also feeling a little put out that we didn't find Daryl and Carol today cause I know I am. We weren't supposed to be apart like this ever again.
Two Walkers later and we're moving into the actual building. It's empty, very dusty and dark, not welcoming at all. I don't think this will be a good nights sleep, we're going to be too on edge to even think about the possibility of sleeping. Thinking about the fact that Dar... their missing or the possibility of other people appearing, bad people. If I wanted to be correct I guess it's actually Merle and I that are missing. We're the ones that wandered off, we're the ones without our stuff.
I drop my bag onto the floor and after watching the dust settle back down I move my eyes back round the room, not that I can see much. With the sun setting outside the shop is pretty dark and slightly terrifying. Why couldn't they make these places with more windows, more apocalyptic friendly.
The scraping of something heavy makes me jump followed by a wince when it makes one of those horrible screeching noises against the tiled floor.
"What are you doing? And do you have to do it?"
"I'm putting this vending machine in front of the glass", he emphasises the word glass, "door. The windows high enough that if a Walker broke it they still wouldn't get through. Ain't taking the chance with the door though". He starts shoving again but stops almost instantly to look at me. "Ya gonna help me? And quit with the eye rollin', don't wanna share the space with ya attitude".
I move up beside him to help push. "What about the fire door?"
We finish putting the machine in front of the door. "Fire door?"
"Yeah, this place will have a fire exit somewhere. The station we stopped at earlier did 'cause I sat in front of it." He sags his shoulders and groans before walking off to go and find it. "Quit with the attitude". He flips me off as he disappears out back.
Two minutes go by and then he's making his entrance back into the shop by kicking open the door he had just disappeared through. "We're eating hot tonight". He appears from behind some shelves with something tucked under his arm. "Found us a little camping stove back there, whole shelf of 'em. They even had some gas canisters". He scoops a packet off the shelf. "How'd ya feel 'bout noodles?" Somehow I manage to catch the packet he throws at me.
He immediately starts setting the equipment up and gets to work making us some noodles, from the smell I'm assuming they're chicken flavour. We don't say much as we wait for them to cook but I have questions running through my mind, questions I really need him to answer. He hands me one of the unused pots, that came with the stove, with my noodles in. I take a bite and then place it on the ground beside me.
"Do you honestly believe they're okay?"
"You obviously don't. Look, what would you say if ya found they'd spent all this time worryin' 'bout us". He shoves another fork full of noodles into his gob.
"That they don't need to because we're safe".
"Exactly and ya know my brother would say the exact same thing if he found out ya were this stressed out 'bout him".
"I can't help it".
He gives me the smallest of smiles, "I know, I get it. But at least this time ya with one of us. I got ya back sweet cheeks".
I breath out heavily through my nose as a sort of laugh, not laugh. "Thanks". I watch him take a few more mouthfuls but I have another important question that can't go unanswered. "Do you regret it?"
"What?"
"We left the farm thr... Four days ago and we've already gotten into trouble. Doesn't bode well for our future".
He scoffs, "psshh. This ain't nothin' but a hiccup. Ya live and learn".
"Sorry if I'm annoying you with the same things over and over." All I want is the positive answers because they do make me feel slightly better.
"You've been easy, shit, ya should 'ave seen Daryl when you disappeared. I've seen him worried before, we had plenty to worry 'bout back in the olden days, but I ain't never seen him look scared before. So fine, if ya wanna stress out then do it but ya really don't need to, the same way he doesn't need to with you now. Ya a badass bitch with the swing of a pro baseballer and the quick draw of a gunslinger."
I blush, it's nice to be told that I am good at something. "You should get some sleep", it's very easy to tell that he's about to protest. "I won't be able to, not yet".
"Fine, but ya wake me as soon as ya get a little tired".
"I will". I nudge my now cold food under a shelf and go and take up a position by the window.
"Do ya think if ya break this window the alarm will go off?"
Merle stares at the car I'm leaning up against. "I'm gonna say no but there's only one way to find out". He rams the crowbar he acquired from another car straight in to the window, smashing it all over the seat inside. The alarm doesn't go off.
"Great, thanks".
"What ya want out of 'ere?"
"Those", I point into the footwell at the still packaged socks.
Merle leans through the broken window and grabs them, "These?"
"Yes", I snatch them out of his hand. It's a pair of dinosaur socks still with the piece of cardboard wrapped around them. "Why wouldn't I want these?"
"No reason I just thought it was somethin' useful".
"These are useful". I stuff them in to my bag, they'll be a nice gift for Sophia when we meet back up.
"Okay then, shout me if ya need help with anythin' else, I'mma head over to the semi's see what's in them".
I nod my head at his back however I instantly lunge forward and shove him against the van that's in front of us. He spins sharply to face me but doesn't say anything, I think the look on my face probably gives it away. I saw something out by the arctic, I have no idea what it was, human or Walker but I just saw a slither of body as it moved behind one of the trailers.
Neither one of us move or makes a sound, we're both trying to work out what it was. There is no sound. There's no way this can be a Walker, even if it wasn't grumbling or growling, or whatever that noise is that comes out of their mouths, we would most certainly be able to hear it's footsteps or the dragging of a foot. This has to be human.
Great.
Merle peers through the drivers window but he clearly doesn't see anything because as he puts his back back up against the side of the van he shrugs one shoulder. I tuck my bat back into my holder and pull out my gun, just as I click off the safety we're hear a noise, like the person accidently stood on an empty packet of some kind. He's right on the other side of this van.
Merle nudges me and then holds his gun against his hip then quickly lifts it up to aim, gunslinger, right. I roll my eyes at him but do as he says and aim my gun up ready for the person to walk into view. Merle stands leaning forward slightly like he's getting ready to tackle the stranger.
The stranger finally appears and before he has time to look our way I have my gun pointed at the side of his head.