Survival Guide: To Surviving the Living Dead 101

Rule #30

When In Danger Run

When in danger and no way out just run. Don't be stupid and try to fight, that's how you die. Surrounded by walkers and see a way out fucking take it. If you find yourself in a situation with other humans and can get out then do it. There is no shame in running. Sometimes that's the only option.

After Daryl, Beth, and I left the old shack to burn we headed into the woods. Daryl was trying to teach Beth how to use his crossbow and I'll have to admit she was catching on. Daryl and I were walking behind her as she walked ahead, crossbow in her hands, and keeping a sharp eye out for any small creatures. We were all in a better mood. "I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Beth laughed. She was always the sunshine in our group. When everyone was feeling hopeless she would brighten everything up and sing.

"She's going to be a better hunter than you, Dixon," I said, smiling. He bumped his shoulder into mine. "Ha ha. Keep dreaming," he said. The air was so much lighter between all of us now. We kept walking in silence for a while until we heard Beth cry out. When we got to her she had her ankle in a small bear trap. We rushed over to her and Daryl got her foot out.

After taking a small break and checking on Beth's ankle we started walking again. Then we came out of the woods into a cemetery. Beth stopped in front of a headstone that said loving father on it and we left some wild flowers. "Come on, let's get inside," Daryl said, bending slightly and letting her jump up on his back. We walked across the cemetery to the funeral home. When we walked in everything looked so clean.

"This place is really clean," I said. There was no dust, no broken windows, it was like we walked right out of the apocalypse and into the old world. "We need to check this place out, I don't like this." Beth went with Daryl down the stairs and I went up. I looked through all the rooms, behind all doors and under beds. I wanted to make sure nobody was in here. When we were finished we found a kitchen. The cabinets were full of food, there were sodas in the refrigerator. It was like fucking hevean if heaven was real.

After we ate we went into the viewing room. Beth was sitting at the piano softly playing a melody and I sat on one of the many chairs. When Daryl came back in from setting up the string with cans to alert us he hopped into the casket that was sitting in front of the windows. "How is it?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders, "not too bad," he said, closing his eyes. Beth started to quietly sing. It was kind of peaceful with the soft light from the candles and Beth's signing. Our belly were full.

Things had been good until we thought the dog that approved earlier had come back. Daryl opened the door only for it to be a small herd of walkers. He told me and Beth to run and he would be right behind us while he tried to shut the door. I headed Beth sneak out the back. Half way through the woods I stopped and told her to keep going when I noticed more walkers getting closer to us. I pulled my knife from my belt and went to work.

Daryl had showed up just in time to help get a walker that managed to pin me to the ground off of me. When we got to the road we found the leather bag he took from the country club and red taillights driving away. "Beth!" We both screamed and ran after the car. We ran for miles but lost the car. The sun was beating down on us when we finally collapsed in the middle if the road.

We weren't sitting there long when we were surrounded by a group of men. Daryl was quick to stand up and push me behind him. He had his crossbow pointed at them only for them to point their bows at us in return. "Calimed!" One of the men called looking at me. I moved closer to Daryl and he shielded me from the man. "Now let's all just calm down. How about you tell us your name?" The man whom I presume was the leader said.

"Daryl Dixon." He nodded his head towards me. "And what about you?" I looked around Daryl just the slightest. "YN…" I thought for a second then said, "Dixon." The man hummed and looked at his men. "Arw you two together?" He asked. I gripped Daryl's arm as it reached behind him. He knew what type of men these assholes were. His body tensed when the guy who had yelled claimed moved closer to us. "She's my wife." I couldn't help the flip my stomach made and the way my heart fluttered.

"Looks like she's already claimed," the man said. The guy who was looking at me snarled like a fucking animal. "That ain't the rules." He was given a harsh glare from Daryl when he tried to get closer to me. "Man claimed her before all this shit happened. So back away." Thw guy didn't like it but he backed away from us. And for some God for sake reason we went with them. Daryl never let me out of his sight or stray away from him.

It didn't take long for these assholes to show who they really were. The leader started talking about some guy that killed one of their men. And they were looking for him so they could kill him. Then there was an incident where one of them lied and got beat to death. The leader, I didn't bother learning his name, explained what the claim means. If you see something you want you have to say claimed for it to be yours. What I didn't expect to happen was for us to run into Rick m, Michonne, and Carl. And for Rick to be the guy he was talking about.