Didn't See That Coming | The Walking Dead(1)

Part 67 (A Fair Shot)

"They said explore," Rick sighed as the group stepped out the door. "Let's explore."

That morning, the group decided that if they were going to give Alexandria a fair try, they should make the effort to look around, maybe meet some of the people. Daryl was sat on the porch, making no move to get up.

"You coming?" CJ asked as she closed the front door.

"Nah, I'll stay," he shook his head.

With a sigh, she went over and knelt down in front of him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Just rather stay here."

"I could stay with you, if you want?" she offered.

Daryl hesitated, like he was thinking about it. "That's okay. You go ahead."

CJ slowly nodded her head understandingly. He didn't want to talk, and he was obviously unsure about the idea of living in a nice place again. So, she didn't want to push him.

"Alright," CJ nodded. "If you're sure you'll be okay."

"I'm good," Daryl promised.

"Okay," she whispered with a soft smile. She put her hand on his knee and hoisted herself up. "I'll see you later."

In the back of Daryl's mind, he wanted to ask her to stay with him. He may have liked being alone, but as he watched the whole group head down the street, he found himself wishing he'd said yes to her. But she wanted to look around. She wanted to give Alexandria a try and believe it was good. He didn't want to hold her back with his own fears.

CJ was wearing the same clothes she had changed into after her shower yesterday, only she opted not to wear the big white shirt. So, all she had on was the grey t-shirt, black skinny jeans and her old black boots that she'd spent the previous evening cleaning.

She was nervous as she walked around the streets. It felt like an act; walking around without being afraid didn't come easily to her these days. Every time she saw someone walking around that she didn't know, she tensed up. If there was a noise, she flinched. At one point, she turned a corner and a couple of kids ran past her, kicking a football around. She nearly jumped out of her skin.

Although, she had to admit, the place was amazing. The houses were gorgeous, and the grass was green. The sky was blue, and the sun was shining, making the street bright and peaceful looking. Looking around, you'd never know that the rest of the world had fallen apart.

She almost felt stupid. She didn't fit in at all. Everything about her was telling her to go back to the house. Maybe Daryl was right to not want to explore. She wondered if she should have just stayed with him at the house.

She missed the familiar weight of having a gun strapped to her thigh or her bow and quiver strapped to her back. She had left her knife belt in the house too and she felt exposed; vulnerable.

Heading down the road, she felt herself become panicked out of nowhere. As she went down a street, there was silence. She started looking around for some of her people, but she couldn't see anybody. Any logic or rational thoughts began to slip from her mind as she started to walk fast down the road in the hopes of seeing someone she knew. But there wasn't anyone around.

She felt her heartrate increase with every quick step she took. She tried to keep her breathing under control as her head started to pound. She couldn't get the worried thoughts out of her brain. At this point, she was running down the street, desperate to find Rick, Glenn, anybody.

"Woah!" a woman exclaimed. CJ had run around a house and collided with someone, making the both of them stumble slightly and CJ stopped running. "I'm sorry. Are you alright?" the woman asked.