𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐔𝐌 (𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛)

𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑂𝑛𝑒

Daryl and Glenn hurried into the living room and all eyes suddenly turned to them.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl asked. The sheriff and his friend were nowhere to be found.

"No," Lori shook her head. The atmosphere was tense as everyone looked to each other in worry.

"We heard a shot," Daryl recounted.

"Maybe they found Randall," she suggested with an unsteady voice.

"Nah. We found Randall." Daryl noticed that Charlotte wasn't among the group before him.

"Is he back in the shed?" Maggie wondered with folded arms.

"He's dead," Daryl answered gruffly. He and Glenn encountered Randall as a walker in the woods not that long ago. His eyes found T-Dog and he went over to him, leaving Glenn to answer questions.

"Where is she?" Daryl said in a low voice.

"Charlotte? She's in the bathroom," T-Dog nodded his head toward the back of the house.

Daryl nodded and pat T-Dog on the arm in thanks. Before leaving for the woods, Daryl asked T-Dog to look after her. He knew she would be fine, but knowing that there was someone else watching over her in his absence put his mind at ease. It certainly helped him focus better while stalking the woods for the escaped prisoner.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel questioned Glenn. The boy shook his head and explained to the group how there were no bites on Randall's body. Rather, the boy's neck was broken.

"Can you please just go out there and find Rick?" Lori rushed over to Daryl and pleaded with him desperately. The hunter nodded assuringly and shared a look with Glenn, motioning for him to wait for Daryl outside.

"When she comes out, could ya tell her what happened?" he turned back to T-Dog.

"I gotchu," T-Dog assured him.

"GUYS!" At the sound of Glenn's muffled shout, Daryl quickly left T-Dog and rushed to the front door. The chilly air stung his cheeks as he stepped out onto the dimly lit porch.

"Look!" Glenn's shaking finger pointed out to the distance. Daryl moved closer and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark. A giant mass of faint, moving figures staggered across the vast fields of the farm. A series of growing moans could be heard in the distance. Everyone else from inside the house hurried out to the porch and watched the massive herd in a stunned silence.

"Patricia, kill the lights," Hershel whispered.

"I'll get the guns," Andrea said.

Glenn turned to Daryl.

"Maybe they're just passing through like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?"

"Not unless there's a secret tunnel I don't know about," Daryl shook his head. "A herd that size will tear the house down."

Daryl heard a pair of footsteps from inside hurry towards the front door. Lori suddenly burst out, eyes wide and a gaping mouth.

"Carl's gone!"

"What?!" Daryl said in disbelief.

"He was upstairs, I can't find him anymore," she explained breathlessly. A sour feeling settled in Daryl's gut and he pushed past Lori to get into the house.

He knew something was wrong as soon as he neared the back of the house. There was no light peeking out from under the bathroom door and the back door was slightly ajar. Daryl checked the bathroom just to be sure, and even called out her name a few times, but he knew she wasn't there. He felt it.

Were her and Carl together? Were they alone in the woods surrounded by walkers? Would he ever see her again? Was she already dead?

Daryl felt like he couldn't breathe.

If Merle were next to Daryl, he knew what he would tell him to do. He'd say to get the hell out of there and not look back: to hell with the sheriff, the deputy, the kid, and the girl. It was their problem that they were stranded in the dark, not Daryl's. That's what Merle would say.

But Daryl had no idea how he was supposed to even consider leaving the house while she was out there. The mere idea of her being torn apart by cold, dead hands put an indescribable sensation of terror in his stomach.

"Daryl!" Andrea's shrill voice called out to him from across the house. "WE GOTTA GO!"

✯✯✯

(𝑷𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 2/6/21)