Spider Monkey

Chapter Twenty - Nine - And Then There Were Two

Hedley woke up to yelling and the groans of the dead.

"Hedley! Take Judith and go! We'll meet ya at Terminus!" Merle ordered, lifting a crying Judith towards Hedley in the trees, along with her baby bag.

Carol was killing walkers with her gun and knife, as they swarmed the area from every angle.

Once Judith was in his arms, he watched Merle join Carol in the battle, growling at the walkers as he sliced their skulls in two. Some walkers saw Hedley and Judith, attracted by the sound of her screaming, and reached their arms up to them but luckily, they were too high to reach. But as the numbers grew, the trunk began to move under the impact.

"Go! Hedley, go! Now!" Carol pleaded, yelling out in desperation.

Quickly, Hedley strapped Judith to his chest using his blanket, making sure to have his backpack, her baby bag and his crossbow tied to his back also. She kept crying but he had no time to soothe, instead he began to swing from branch to branch. It was harder than usual as the added weight of the baby against his ribs, but he kept going. His arms ached but he didn't stop. As the groans of walkers faded out, Judith's cries got quieter too, the motion of swinging calming her down. He made it to a clearing of sorts, deciding to stop before his lungs exploded.

He panted on the branch, tears in his eyes as the realisation sinks in. He's all alone ... with a baby. Merle and Carol were all he had of his group, and they were gone.

Hedley started to cry, cradling the infant for comfort.

She gurgled, chewing on Hedley's shirt, making it wet.

He took the baby bag off his bag and looked in to see a bottle half full of milk, he popped off the lid and guided the nub into her mouth. She ate happily, and he rocked her - and himself - soothingly. As he fed her, he looked at his surroundings. When he did, he saw a sign.

'Terminus, sanctuary for all, community for all, those who arrive survive.'

There was an arrow underneath, pointing south.

Merle told him to go to Terminus... so that's where he'll go.

***

While Michonne and Carl were in the car, Rick sat outside, back to the door, a dazed look in his eyes.

Daryl sat himself beside Rick, putting some water on a cloth.

"We should save it to drink." Rick tried but Daryl shook his head, handing the rag over.

"You can't see yourself, he can." As Rick started to wipe his bloody face with the cloth, Daryl spoke. "I didn't know what they were."

The other man nodded, "How'd you wind up with them?"

"I was with Beth. We got out together. I was with her for a while."

"Is she dead?"

"She's just gone." Daryl looked at his hands, "After that, that's when they found me. I mean, I knew they were bad, but they had a code. It was simple. Stupid, but it was something. It was enough."

"And you were alone."

"They said they were looking for some guy. Last night they said they spotted him. I was hanging back. I was gonna leave. But I stayed. That's when I saw it was you three. Right when you saw me. I didn't know what they could do."

"It's not on you, Daryl."

Daryl shook his head, blaming himself.

"Hey." Rick put his hand on Daryl's shoulder, making him look at him, "It's not on you. You being back with us here, now, that's everything. You're my brother."

Daryl sniffed, nodding.

"What- What about Hedley?"

Tears quickly filled Daryl's eyes at the question. He shook his head. "I haven't seen 'im since- since the prison."

Rick sighed heavily, obviously wanting better news. He looked at his blood drenched hands with a haunted look.

Daryl saw it, "Hey, what you did last night anybody would have done that."

"No, not that."

"Something happened. That ain't you."

"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese. It ain't all of it, but that's me. That's why I'm here now. That's why Carl is. I want to keep him safe. That's all that matters."

"Maybe if I was more like you, Hedley would be with me right now."

"Hey. Don't think like that." Rick said, seriously, "Hedley is brave and strong and a remarkable kid - you taught him that even though he's different, he can survive. He's still out there because you taught him how to not give up."

Daryl wiped the tears that escaped away, just as the door to the car opened. Michonne and Carl greeted the dawn with a squint.

"Where do we go now?" Carl asked.

"Remember the signs we saw. Terminus." Michonne said, "It's an option."

Rick nodded, "Okay. We'll head to Terminus. But we need to be careful."

"Whatever you need, dad." Carl said, fixing the hat on his head, "We've got this."

As they went walking, Carl went up to Daryl.

"I think Hedley's still out there."

Daryl raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, he knows how to survive thanks to you."

Daryl didn't know what to say to that, so he just hummed, patting Carl's shoulder in thanks.