Can you See me up here, in the Trees?

Chapter 7

You kept your eyes on the horizon the next day. Carl said he would talk to his group, and you only hoped that they had enough brains to take the offer. As the sun finally kissed the opposite side of the sky you saw two figures.

You rushed and got the rope ready, worried about how few there were. As they got closer you recognized Daryl so you knew they were friendlies. You helped them up, taking the bags of yarn from them, your eyes still trained on the skyline.

"Kasa, this is Michonne." Daryl said, introducing the two of you.

"Nice to meet you." You said, shaking her hand. "French right?"

"Very good. We got as much as we could carry, hope you can do something with it."

"I can. I've already made a couple blankets. Where are the others?"

"You mean they're not here?" Daryl said, his brow furrowed. "They were going to leave at first light. They should have beaten us here."

"You're the only two that showed up." You looked back out at the plane, the now setting sun casting shadows from the trees. "Shit..."

"We need to get back out there." Michonne said, picking up her Katana and reaching for the rope.

"No." You said, looking at her. "We can't, Not now. The trees are easy to get lost in, and with the sun going down the Walkers will be hard to see."

"We can't just leave them out there." She said, and you nodded in agreement.

"You're right, we can't. We'll take shifts. Patrolling this area, see if we notice anything. In the morning, we'll go out."

"It's the best plan we've got." Daryl said. You pulled the rope up just enough so no walkers could find it, and waited.

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All night you waited, not bothering to think about sleep. You checked other areas there were close to the rope, seeing if anyone had made it to those areas. Nothing.

When the sun hit the sky the three of you slid down the rope and headed out. You walked the path they would have taken, keeping an eye out for anything that would indicate where they were.

Your heart was pounding, worried flooding your entire body. You had gotten attached to Carl. Now your worry was causing you to lose your focus. You were torn between your worry for Carl and hating yourself for caring. Not another group you were going to lose.

You stopped abruptly, half an hour into the walk, looking at a small tree.

"What is it?" Michonne said, following your line of sight.

"That small tree, it's broken." You said, pointing at it. "It wasn't broken when Carl left the other day."

"Walkers?" Michonne asked as you carefully walked over and touched the tree.

"No. Even if they were moving fast, Walkers couldn't cause this kind of damage..."

You looked around the bush and stopped. A person was lying on the ground.

"Daryl." You looked away from the mutilated, rotting corpse.

Daryl came over and looked at the body. He looked down, his face showing his recognition. Michonne came over and sighed.

"That was Lick. He was a farmer in the group."

"They must have gone this way then." Daryl said, looking into the small forest area. "Kasa, know where this goes?"

"Yeah... and they couldn't have picked a worse way to run." You knocked your arrow and started in, ignoring the dead body on the ground. You heard a sharp woosh of Michonne's blade, cutting the head off the body and she followed you.

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You followed the group's tracks in, noticing that you were right below one of your peep areas. You paused for a second and looked at Daryl.

"This is the closest place that has a rope. I'm going to climb up and let it down."

Daryl nodded and he kept an eye out. You climbed up, getting the rope loose before climbing back down.

"Why is this area bad?" Michonne asked as the three of you started off again.

"The walkers basically... they almost have a nest over here. Most times they don't leave it but they are this way."

"A nest? How is that possible?"

"No idea. Anytime I walk this way I have to be extra careful. Most times I don't even go over here, it's not worth hunting."

"Are they going to be okay?" Michone asked as you stopped, looking at the foliage of your forest you knew all too well.

"After about a mile..." You said, unable to finish. Your mind raced as you thought about Carl.

You jumped slightly as Daryl touched your shoulder. He gave you a gentle smile.

"Cal is resourceful. He'll be okay."

You took a breath before nodding. "After about a mile, the walkers increase three to one. We need to be prepared."

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You were about at the mile mark when you stopped them. You pointed at another dead body, worry hitting you hard. Daryl ID'd him, his fake masking his worry.

"You've lost two. How many are left?" You asked. Daryl took a moment to think and shook his head. "Not many?"

"Only Carl, Rick, Maggie, maybe one or two other people." Michonne answered.

"Which way did they go?" Daryl asked, urgency in his voice.

You looked around the body, seeing the frantic footsteps. You looked around, almost calculating which way they ran.

"Three ran this way," You pointed north. "Two went west. There's no way to tell who is who. Everything is... frantic."

"I'm going to regret asking this..."

"The two ran towards the nest." You stated, standing up from a footprint. "There's nothing we can do for them. We'd be dead if we tried to follow them."

The three of you turned to follow the three footprints, your pace faster now. The sun was starting to set, and you needed to find them. You rushed through the bush, your steps barely making a sound on the soft earthy ground.

"Fuck.. where could they have gone?" Daryl says, the sun almost completely gone.

"Three ahead." You said, your eyes adjusting to the dimmer light.

"How can you see that?" Daryl whispered at you.

"Years of living here."

The three of you walked closer, being careful. You hoped they were still living, but you couldn't take any chances. As you got closer you saw the last rays of sunlight reflect off an eyepatch.

"Carl?" You said quietly.

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Carl looked over at the whisper, his senses heightened because of adrenaline. He raised his gun, holding it steady, finger on the trigger. Rick raised his gun as well, pointing it into the front, hearing a russell of a tree.

"Shoot." Rick said, as if giving an order.

In an instant Carl pulled the trigger. He heard a grunt before he saw your figure.

"Kasa..."