Broken Bars

Welcome to Hell

The car screeched to a deafening halt. I sprung from the passenger seat, opening the back door for Josie and Sophia.

In the seven months we had been forced to endure on the road, the girls and Carl had adapted quicker than I'd thought. Sophia clutched a handgun in her hand; her knife was strapped firmly to her leg.

Rick threw a map onto the bonnet of the car. Hershel, Daryl and I gathered around it. Everyone else took watch, on the lookout for walkers that could come bursting out of the trees at any second. Seven months of hell had taught us to never turn our backs.

"We're not lookin' good so far," Hershel mentioned, pointing at several places on the map. "we keep going the way we are, those herds are gonna meet up and cut us off."

"I've been saying for months now, we should be taking our chances east." I piped up. Since announcing his complete control over the group, Rick had made every decision. I had lost count the amount of times I had suggested an idea, only to be shot down. It was beginning to piss me off.

I exchanged a look with Daryl. His eyes dropped to the map almost immediately.

It had been an unusual seven months with him. I'd kissed him, then he had kissed me. And now, I wasn't sure what was happening. We had left the farm, and suddenly there were more important things to worry about. We had tried- god, I couldn't deny it. A spine-tingling brush of hands, his fingers tracing my wrist. We had almost kissed just a month back, when we were hunting for a wild pig. But again, the age problem. It was ingrained in Daryl's mind, and mine. There was such a distant age difference. It freaked us out, him more so than me. Every time I thought I had a chance to speak with him, he would pull away, and I had lost another day of progress.

One day, he wouldn't be able to run from me.

"Going east is not an option," Rick snapped. "we've come too far to start circling back on ourselves."

I didn't bother trying to argue. I'd done enough of that in the months we had travelled together. When Rick's mind was made up, he could not be swayed.

He turned away, walking with Daryl towards the forest. They planned on hunting soon; we had run low on food a few weeks back. Just hours ago, I had watched in disgust as Carl got ready to tuck into a can of wet dog food. I had just about sighed in relief as Rick had thrown it away before the boy could try a bite. There were some lows that even I wouldn't stoop to.

I sat with Maggie and her father, smiling as the farm girl leant her head against my shoulder. Even now, the memory of Beth screaming for my help plagued my mind. Hershel and his only living daughter had been kind to me. If it had been me, I would have been furious. Could I have done something to save Beth? Anything?

"You okay, Liz?" Hershel asked. His eyebrows furrowed. The months had not been kind to him. He now sported a full beard, and a mane of long white hair.

I smiled back at the man. "Just great."

"Look, I know you and Rick have had your issues the past few months," he replied. Hershel reached over and grasped my hand firmly. "but it's gonna turn out all right, you'll see."

"Lets hope so." I answered him. I was sick and tired of bouncing from place to place in search of shelter from the cold, biting winter breeze. And I knew I wasn't the only one.

I watched as Lori waddled her way over to us. Her belly was now enormous. There was no mistaking that she was pregnant. I worried for the poor woman. She was too close to the baby arriving to be out here now.

"Hey," she greeted us, plopping herself down on the floor next to me. Her long brown hair had been braided to the side. "what're we talking about?"

"We were saying that we need somewhere to stay," I replied quickly, before Hershel could try and change the subject. People had been avoiding harsh topics when around Lori, scared to stress her. I felt different. I could see the frustration flickering in her eyes whenever someone changed the topic. Lori wanted to be a productive member of the group.