The Third Dixon [The walking dead OC x OC]

Chapter three

The miles blurred together.

The road stretched endlessly ahead of them, surrounded by the slow, endless movement of the herd. The sound of thousands of feet dragging against the pavement filled the air, mixed with the occasional groan of the dead.

Measi sat behind Daryl on the bike, one arm wrapped tightly around him while the other rested near her weapon. She kept looking back.

Not because she wanted to.

Because she needed to.

Every few seconds her eyes searched the distance behind them, watching the walkers that had broken away from the herd disappear toward Alexandria.

Toward Nathan.

The horn still echoed faintly in the distance. A reminder. A warning. A problem they couldn't fix.

Daryl noticed. He always noticed. "You keep lookin' back, you're gonna fall off."

Measi looked forward again, her jaw tight. "My boyfriend is back there."

Daryl didn't answer immediately. Because he knew. They all had someone back there. After another stretch of silence, Daryl turned to the car next to them. "Hey, we gone five miles out yet?"

The response came through Abraham's voice. "Give or take some yardage. You got a reason for asking?"

Daryl glanced at the road ahead. The next intersection came into view. "We're turning around." Measi's head snapped up.

"Daryl..."

Sasha's looked at them, frowning.

"The plan is fifteen more."

Daryl shook his head. "Yeah, well, I'm changing that. Five's gonna have to work."

Measi could hear the frustration in his voice.

Not anger.

Fear.

The same thing sitting heavy in her chest.

Abraham answered immediately.

"The magic number is twenty." A pause. "That's the mission." The bike kept moving. The herd kept following. Abraham's voice lowered. "That's making sure they're off munching on infirm raccoons the rest of their undead lives instead of any of us."

Measi almost smiled at the absurdity of it.

Almost.

Because the image of Nathan fighting inside those walls wouldn't leave her head.

Sasha spoke next.

"You want to go, we can't stop you."

A pause.

Then her voice softened.

"But without you..."

She nodded to the walkers behind them.

"...they could stop us."

Measi understood what she meant.

Daryl wasn't just another person in the plan.

He was the one who could pull the herd back.

The one who knew how to handle the bike, the noise, the movement.

The one keeping thousands of walkers pointed in the right direction.

Without him, the whole thing could collapse.

The bike rounded the corner.

And then Measi saw it.

The sign.