"Dale could get under your skin." Rick started as the group stood around Dale's grave. "He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt." The man continued. "That kind of honesty is rare and brave."
"Whenever I'd make a decision... I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another." Rick continued, looking around at the group. Even looking back at Daryl, who stood away from the rest of the group.
"I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us, the truth, who we really are." The man looked at Alexa who stood between Maggie and T-dog, Chase clung to her waist. She was like Dale in that way, could read people well.
"In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity." Rick continued. "He said this group is broken. So the best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety... our future."
"We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale." Rick finished, glancing around at the group for a final time.
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Alexa sat in the truck bed. Daryl and T-dog on either side of her as Shane and Andrea sat in the cab. After Dale's funeral, Rick had sent the squad out to secure the perimeter of the farm. After all, that walker had gotten in somehow. So there must have been a break in the fence somewhere.
Despite the group sitting in silence for the whole ride, minus Alexa stifled sneezes. Shane seemingly hit every pothole on the road. Making the trio in the back bounce around, slamming into each other with various grunts. No one was in the mood to chat so they limited apologizes to simple nods. Or in Alexa's case, a sneeze.
The whole group had noticed the girl sneezing and more recently her dry coughing. But no one chose to mention anything about it. Well... one person did. Daryl Dixon kept quizzing the girl about her health. Only getting shrugs or "I'm fine" as answers.
Daryl kinda guessed it might have been the weather that was affecting the girl. But Alexa's lack of sleep concerned the man as well. He hardly ever saw the girl asleep. The last time Daryl saw the girl sleeping was the day they discovered Sophia and the barn full of walkers. Other than that, Daryl was convinced, that Alexa never slept the whole week she stayed at his campsite.
The truck slowed to a stop by the fence and everyone jumped out. Andrea grabbed the extra barbed wire they had in the back and T-dog grabbed a crate of tools for repairs. Daryl and Alexa both held their bows at the ready as they kept a lookout for the dead. Shane tugged on the wired fence between the fence posts, trying to find any gaps.
They all trailed along in silence, weaving in
and out of the forest trees. Everything was
looking good until Daryl picked up some
walker tracks. Following them, the group found a group of four walkers in a clearing. Devouring what used to be one of Hershel's cows. They had found the break in the fence.
Alexa and Daryl raised their bows. Taking down the first two before Andrea and T-dog ran up to the last two. Shane stayed back, grabbing the tools from the back of the truck before he joined the rest of the squad. Signaling the group to follow him as he lead them toward the fence.
The two hunters walked with them before stopping to collect their arrows. Daryl looked at Alexa as he pulled back his crossbow string, reloading his arrow. He could see the dark bags under her emerald irises more clear than ever. Her skin a pale color and her body generally looked frail and tired. Alexa almost looked like one of the dead...
"Ya feeling' alright?" Daryl grumbled, only earning a death glare from the girl before she stocked away. Her bow clutched tightly in her hand, an arrow already nocked, and her head on a swivel. Daryl huffed before following in her direction.
The girl walked surprisingly strong for how weak she looked. Her defined steps carried her to the group, where she leaned against a sturdy part of the fence. Watching as T-dog and Shane patched up the fence, and eventually Daryl when he arrived.
However, the snap of a distant twig caught the girl's attention. She pivoted, her gaze going into the nearby trees. She tensed, her fingers tightening around her bow as she pinched the notch of her arrow. Her feet instinctively led her in the direction of the sound. The group failed to notice her departure.
Alexa walked into the trees, her gaze falling on a few sloppy tracks that Daryl must have missed. But she didn't need to follow them, for she had already seen the handful of walkers lingering in the trees. Without thinking the girl raised her bow, quietly sending an arrow into the nearest walker skull.
The monster crumpled onto the dirt as Alexa nocked another arrow. Pulling back the bow string and sending it threw another walker's eye. It too tumbled to the earth, but unfortunately, its downfall attracted the attention of the other walkers.
The girl quickly exchanged her bow for her knife, throwing down the original weapon since it would only get in her way. She walked forward, kicking the closest walker in the knee to stun it. Before driving her blade through the top of its skull.
The next kill was easy as she simply stuck her knife into its eye before moving on to the next and the next. Her weapon slashed blood over her arms and face. Her victims each crumbled onto the dirt and leaf-covered ground in heaps.
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By now the group back in the clearing finished patching the fence. Andrea, T-dog, and Shane still failed to notice Alexa's absence. But Daryl did.
"Where t'hell is Alexa?" He quizzed, looking around at the faces around him.
"Not again," Shane grumbled, referring to when they first started looking for Sophia. No one paid Shane's comment any mind as they all started calling the girl's name. Their yells only stopped as they watched the girl re-emerge from the woods.
Alexa's pale skin and black shirt were covered in blood. Her worn blue jeans were sprinkled with dirt. She was panting, weakly holding her bow in her hand. If she didn't look like a walker before, she definitely did now. So much so, that Shane actually raised his gun on the girl. The three others stood in horror as they watched the girl approach them. Her walker-ish appearance shocked all of them before she spoke.
"You gonna shoot me again?" Alexa snapped. Her angry tone only ending as she sneezed. The group immediately relaxed as they realized the girl was indeed alive. Typical Andrea being the first to ask questions.
"What happened to you?"
"Walkers." The girl stated flatly, walking over to the truck.
"Walkers, plural?" T-dog quizzed confused, watching as the girl hopped into the truck bed.
" 'Bout a dozen or so," Alexa started blankly, sitting down and resting her arm on the side of the pickup. "Ya comin' or what?" She added, noticing the group was just standing around.
"T'hell we're ya thinkin'?!" Daryl asked, dramatically waving an arm. "What if ya died? Then what, huh?" Alexa raised an eyebrow, not realizing why it was such a big deal that she took down a few dead heads. "What about your brother?! What would he do if you died?!" Daryl added when Alexa didn't respond. Regretting it instantly.
"Don't you dare bring my brother into this!" The girl snapped, much to everybody's shock. "I'm not dying any time soon, and I don't know why you care, so don't start!" Alexa crossed her arms, averting her gaze from the group that stood in shock.
Daryl's eye's widened. He had never heard Alexa yell like that. Especially not at him. The only other time he heard the girl go off on someone was at the C.D.C.. And it was about her brother as well. Daryl huffed as he stomped over to the truck. Ignoring the rest of the group as he jumped into the truck bed, sitting on the opposite side of Alexa.
The rest group eyed each other before shuffling over to the truck, throwing the tools inside before quietly walking to their spots in the truck. T-dog squeezing into the cab with Andrea and Shane rather than sitting between the two pissed-off hunters in the back.
YOU ARE READING
What Lies Ahead • the walking dead ¹
FanfictionWhen the dead started walking she was alone. Alone with her baby brother. Alone with her thoughts. Alone with the dead... Alone. A word Alexa grew quite acquainted with... Until she wasn't alone.
