The Fear (The Walking Dead / Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 78 - And Then They Came

Sorry this one took a while. It's got a lot of content in it. I was hoping to get a few chapters under my sleeve ready to post but I haven't been able to catch up like that. Anyway. I don't think I'm doing too bad update wise.

Bare with me through this chunk of the show it's not my favourite.

"We gotta go." Rick whispered.

"You just said..."

"We gotta get in front of them. We gotta run for it before they all pass, get in the lead and get to the gates. Come on." Kat grabbed her machete while Rick moved to the door with the automatic. "On the count of three we run. There's a gap in the middle where they've gone around the RV. The ones in front have their back turned, the won't notice till we're passing and we can stay in front of the others. Don't get distracted. Kill in front of you if you need, but you keep running. You keep moving forward."

"Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"I know." Kat whispered.

He cracked a smile, a strange broken one laced with concern before he placed a hand on the door knob. Kat reached forward and took his other hand in her own, squeezing it slightly in anticipation before Rick turned the handle, ripped open the door and took off down the stairs, pulling her along one step behind him.

They sprinted faster than they had in getting to the RV. Their hands held on tight for a long while before they broke apart. Kat moved to slice open the top of a walker's head and Rick cut through another's temple as they moved. Running and running, only grabbing the attention of the walkers as they passed.

The herd was big and it was loud. That was their saving grace. They acted as the perfect noise cancellation as they moved through them causing none to turn around at their approach. But they could hear the difference in the groans behind them. The walkers had picked up whatever pace they could, following them now with purpose.

They moved through the woods and came out the other side, hitting the asphalt and taking to the road that would lead them to the front gates at home.

Kat's toe caught on the edge of the road, sending her flying forward, smacking her hands along the hot ground before she was scrambling forward to get away. Rick was there in a flash, scooping her up from under the arms and getting her back on her feet and running.

They were running out of energy, but they were nearly there. They could see the gates, but walkers were being drawn onto the road in front of them and their lead out in front was beginning to slip away.

"Open the gate!" Rick yelled, now holding Kat's hand again as they ran. "Open the gate now!" The metal gate rolled open and Michonne was on the other side with Maggie. They opened it up and Rick and Kat came falling through the gap before it was quickly slammed shut behind them. Walkers pressed their faces up against it, scratching at it to try and get in.

Kat lay on her back, heaving breaths rising and falling her chest as her heart pounded, thumping in her ears as her cheeks burned with heat. A light weight pressed to her side as small arms wrapped around her and she smiled, beginning to regain her breathing as she returned Luke's hug, not quite ready to get back to her feet.

Rick was quick to ask for answers though. He wanted to know what that horn was. What had started it.

They weren't sure where the people came from. The ones with the Ws. But it was assumed they were the same ones that tried to trap Aaron and Daryl. The ones that confronted Morgan out on the road. It wasn't clear what they had wanted. Maybe they'd just done it for fun. They were dead now though or enough of them were including the five Rick and Kat had taken out in the RV.