Drowned Words

5

"WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT?!"
...
9 hours earlier
...
I trudged along with the guys, without a vehicle we had to walk back to camp from Atlanta. What happened to our van? Oh, Merle just stole it... that's all. Or at least we think that's what happened. Part of me couldnt help but feel bitter, not only did we come to save his ass and he wasnt there, but we got dragged into the Vatos drama. Once we all had a sit down and spoke about what the problems were, Rick decided to help them out.

I stared at the gun bag, it only being about 2/3rds full now. While we did help them a bit, I didnt feel it was enough.
"Hows your hands?"
The moonlight shone over the ground, my eyes meeting Daryl who walked beside me, "They're fine." That was a lie, they stung like a bitch but I wasnt going to tell him that.
"What's the face for then?"
"Maybe your stupid brother. If he didnt steal our van we wouldnt have been walking for an hour, in the dark." The malice in my voice was enough to make the others cringe back, but they attempted to ignore it. I noticed the small falter in Daryls steps and instantly regretted it, "At least he is safe though. Not bleeding out in the night." I added as a lame way to cushion my last statement.
"Yea.."
"...."
We walked in silence some more, Rick saying a few soft words here and there but too much chatter could attract unwanted attention. I decided to shift topic, "So you were a cop with Shane before right?"
"Mhm," Rick seemed relieved at the subject change.
I let the tips of my fingers lightly graze the lining of his hat, "Was he always such a hard ass?"
He chuckled softly as the others listened in quietly, "No... is he normally like this though?" mentions of this morning caused my chest to tighten. Shane and Rick's argument was a bit heated but luckily not too bad, others arguing always upset me though. Doesnt seem to stop me from being an asshole to Daryl though...

"Guess you could say that," Glenn answered, "Tension is just a bit high right now. More people brings more responsibility."

"Okay Uncle Ben," I said quietly, more to myself than anyone else.
A small chuckle came from my side, looking over I saw Daryl cover his mouth. Part of me felt shocked that he even got the reference.

My question started a whole conversation between Glenn and Rick, him having more to say about Shane than I due to him having stayed longer. Which of course this left me in silence again, walking behind them and next to Daryl.

"Thank you," I kicked some rocks from under me.
He just let out a soft grunt, that's the only answer I needed.

"AAAH OH GOD!" The blood curdling scream stopped everyone in their tracks, we were only a little down the path up to camp. That means it had to be coming from there. My heart just in my throat as the rest began to run, my legs screaming in protest as I followed behind. The forest cleared a small bit and we could see what was happening, Walkers over ran the camp. We took out our guns and rushed from behind, shooting and putting down as many as we could. Only I had to ignore how many bodies were around, some belonged to our group and I didnt have the courage to shoot them myself.
Hands grabbed onto my shoulders, pulling me back and into someone, "Fuck!" The stench was enough to tell me what it was. My gag reflex subsiding as I struggled, "No!" Trying to shake him off but to no avail, someone near by reached over and pulled the geek off like a ragdoll. Shane coming into view as he pulled me to him, "Get to the RV!"
Nodding I started making my way in that direction, shooting as many that i could. The group of walkers already dwindled by the time I was with the others, kids crying and clinging to their mothers at the RV. I looked to Lori as she held her gun out, it shaking in her hand with small tears running down her face. "Hey," I pushed it away and looked to the camp, "I think you guys are fine. Let us take care of it."

I was correct, we picked off the walkers and finished up.
11:47
...
...
We spent a majority of the night finishing off the Walkers that laid immobile. The children cried tired tears at the sight of their home ruined, Sofies father having joined the group of bodies. I looked to Andrea, she sat on the ground by the RV next to her sisters body. Tears threatened to fall as I looked at Amy, she was nice and always tried to participate and care for everyone.