The Dead Walk the Earth

Chapter 6 - Let the Hunt Begin

"Alright, now you stay here. I gotta go out there are save those people and you gotta stay right here in this chair and watch for me." my brother tells me. His friends stand at the door, waiting for him, but I couldn't go with him because they were older and bigger than me. I was so little, and it was getting dark. All my friends wouldn't be able to play anyway. I only nodded at my brother, then took a seat in the chair I kept by the window.

~~~

"Alright, now you gotta stay here while I go off and fight to keep our people safe." my brother tells me in his uniform. He's being deported to a country that I cannot pronounce. "You gotta stay right here in this chair and watch for me," he adds, tears coming to his eyes as well as mine. He hugs me close for a long time, then let's go and hugs mom and dad, then Uncle Rick and Aunt Lori, then sweeps Carl into a hug. He turns to me one last time, giving me another quick hug that I'll hold onto forever, then grabs his bag and walks out the door. Rick comes up and hugs me close, then the whole family is hugging.

~~~

Those eyes. My brother's eyes that are no longer his own. "Alright, now you gotta stay here while I try and save us all," I tell him, crying. I slide my blade into his zombified head and turn to walk away, leaving his body behind. Suddenly, I'm in a new place and those things are all around me. The faces come into view and it's everyone I know, from the camp, from before. One is pulling on my arm, saying my name over and over and as I get a closer look, it's Daryl as a walker. He's calling my name over and over, shaking my arm. I wake up.

~~~

Charlie sat up, gasping from her dream. Daryl sat on his knees before her on the ground, a look of concern obvious on his face. The silhouette of trees are just barely visible in the early moments of morning.

"Are you 'ight?"

She nodded, "Just a bad dream." she told him, "I'm fine. Really." she assured him, her eyes darted away from his gaze. She shifted and leaned down to pet Dex, who's sat up in attention. She sat up and pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them. Daryl continued to look at her, obviously not convinced she was alright. She just sighed and walked to the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle from inside the fridge that was no longer running. "We should take all this back, looks like this place hasn't been occupied in while," Daryl grunted in agreement as he walked towards her and grabbed two cans out of the cabinet.

"Don't wanna eat all the good stuff in one go. Beans'll do ya good for protein, ya know, for your ankle," he told her when he saw her displeased face.

"I told you last night it felt fine," she told him, but took the can and spoon he offered her.

"Ya telling me it doesn't hurt just a little?" he dared. She cocked her head a bit, unaware of his endgame, then nodded her head. "So if I kick ya, it won't increase in pain?"

She smiled, "Well if you kick me it'll hurt no matter what. What kinda stupid question was that?"

He nodded, "Ya caught me. C'mon. Let's go catch some food." he told her as he finished his can and grabbed his crossbow. She finished off her can and grabbed her guns and knives, then stood behind him waiting for him to lead the way. "Got the bag?" he asked. She held up the hunting bag she was tasked with holding, already slightly heavy with yesterday's hunt. He opened the door and walked out into the woods, the twilight air refreshing for someone who was stuck in a stuffy cabin all day yesterday.

"Should we let Dex out? Ya know, since we aren't coming back?" she asked Daryl. He turned to her and considered it for a moment.

"He can come with us. Just keep an eye on him, he's your responsibility," he told her. She smiled and lets the dog out and had him follow close to her. Daryl spotted a few small animals here and there, easily took them down, and stuffing them in Charlie's bag.

Daryl stopped suddenly and held up his hand, "Deer tracks." he announced, then kept walking. They walked in silence, the sun hitting them more as 11:00 came around.

"Bags gonna be filled before we reach 1," Charlie commented.

"If I need ta, I'll do what I usually do when I hunt and tie 'em to a string. No worries," he assured her. He bagged a few more squirrels and filled the bag on Charlie's shoulder.

"Are we going back today or tomorrow?" she asked him.

"'Pends on where this deer leads us. Time we get it, might be too late to turn around for the cabin we found."

"We aren't going too far away from the quarry are we?" she asked him, now unsure if she wanted to find this deer.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Even if it does take us off track to our camp, I can get us back," he told her. She nodded, even though he couldn't see her.

"Figure, where we are is as good as any. Close to a large body of water that's filled with fish, cloaked by the woods and easy access to go out hunting like this. It's a nice camp to live at until this shit is fixed." she commented absentmindedly after a few moments of silence.

"Don't see it getting fixed anytime soon. Everything turns to even more shit eventually" Daryl replied.

"It can't be all bad, some place has to be safe." she insisted. He looked back at her, ready to reply something snappy, but decided against it. Instead, he just nodded and kept walking.

After more hunting and more absentminded, short conversations, Daryl came to a stop. "Fine'lly." he said, he southern accent coming out in a whisper. Charlie only spotted the deer as Daryl took his stance and fired a bow towards the deer that immediately took off. Daryl took off quickly behind it, Charlie on his heels. He got another shot in and it fell out of sight. "Gotcha," he said as he sent the final kill shot into the deer. They finally stopped to catch their breath, Daryl pulled out a water bottle and took a sip, then threw it Charlie's way. She took a few small sips, then threw it back. He took a seat on a fallen tree and patted a spot next to him where Charlie sat down shortly after.

"Break time," she said. Daryl pulled off his bag and pulled out two apples they'd grabbed from their campground and handed her a granny smith. They ate in silence and threw the apple cores aside once they'd finished and made off toward the deer. As they approached they heard voices and slowed up cautiously.

"Stay here," he told her. She reluctantly nodded and watched him walk towards the sound. "Son of a bitch!" she heard him exclaim. She ran to catch up with him and ignored his glare. They had made it back to camp and half the group was standing around the deer they'd tracked down that was being eaten by a walker. They watched as Daryl took his anger out on the walker, shot the decapitated walker head, then huff off and walk away. Only then did Charlie realize one of the members was staring at her, and she realized who.

"Rick!" she exclaimed and threw her arms around him in a crushing hug. "Oh my god I can't believe it," she exclaimed with tears in her eyes as he hugged her.

"Got your messages, thanks," he told her, his head buried in her shoulder. She let out a bark of a laugh and her smile grew wider.

"I'm so glad you're alright. I was gonna bring you with me, I stayed behind to do so, but when I went to the hospital the parking lot was too packed, I would've never made it through," she told him and finally stepped away. He nodded and told her it was alright, then wrapped an arm around her shoulder and walked with her back to camp, where Daryl was yelling for Merle. Rick tensed, he knew something. Charlie looked at him for an explanation but got none until Shane spoke up. Rick backed him up and said that he left Merle in Atlanta. Charlie could hear Daryl getting angry as he fought with Shane and Rick. She stepped forward, ready to help if she needed to but they handled it.

"Just tell me where he is so I go get 'im." Daryl pleaded and whipped at his eyes.

"He'll show you, in't that right?" Lori chimed in. Rick nodded and announced he was going back for a bag of guns he'd dropped and would get Merle then. Daryl walked toward Charlie, but ignored her and didn't even spare her a glance as she tried to say something to him. She sighed and walked toward Lori and the other girls.