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chapter forty-seven | the cornered
"THEY HAVE PATROLS. We're better on foot," Michonne explained, stepping out of the car and adjusting her katana.
"How far? Night's coming," Rick asked her.
"A mile, maybe two," she responded. Rick ponded after her answer, before nodding and walking to the back of the vehicle where Ethan, Daryl, and Oscar were grabbing their weapons and gear for the rescue mission.
Daryl grabbed his pack with extra arrows on the side and threw it around his shoulders, adjusting the straps before reaching for his crossbow. He watched Ethan take a handgun, slipping in front of his shirt, tucked it into his jeans. Ethan acknowledged, him nodding once towards him before walking to Michonne. Daryl held the trunk open as Rick gathered his shotgun and his own pack before shutting it closed with a slam.
A walker groaned as they stumbled up to them but the small group ignored it as they followed Michonne into the woods, letting her and Ethan lead the way to the town. The two whispered amongst each other, a conversation that Daryl figured would be about which direction the town, Woodbury, was in. Ethan pointed with his index finger down a dirt path, and Michonne nodded.
Daryl and Rick walked in the back, side by side, both of them keeping an eye on the woman and Ethan. Oscar walked between them, his eyes trailing the trees. Oscar was happy to be out of the prison for once, but the dangers that lurked in the trees scared the hell out of him.
"You know, what you did for me, for my baby, while I was..." Rick trailed off, "working things out— thank you." He spoke in a low voice so the others didn't hear their conversation.
"It's what we do," Daryl shrugged.
"I'm sure Laurel's grateful too," Rick added, "for you looking out for Cassie."
Daryl looked at him in his peripheral, not knowing what to say exactly or what Rick wanted him to say but he agreed silently. But it was what they do. This group is the only family he truly has. They protected each other and helped one another in any way they can. Daryl only did what he knew that Rick and Laurel would do for him, no questions asked. If he was in Laurel's position right now, he knew she would dive in headfirst to save him. And that's what scares him the most about her.
They walked in silence for a few more minutes before the loud groaning of the dead perked Daryl's ears. "Rick," Daryl whispered, bringing the problem to the sheriff's attention.
Rick halted, listening before he crouched and ordered everyone else to do so as well. But the walkers already noticed their presence and they stepped out of the trees around them, hands already reached out towards them with hungry moans. "Get in formation. No gunfire."
Rick took the first kill by swinging his machete in the closest walker's face. Daryl stepped by his side, sending an arrow to another walker's head. Daryl stepped back, letting Oscar take out the next walker. He looked around them, he counted in his head the amount. "There's too many of 'em."
