The Field Of War || Daryl Dixon

5. Unsafe.

The duo walk through the abandoned streets once more. Charlie begged Blair to stop for a moment, to let her leg heal. And to let her mind have a break. She just lost her father after all. But she'd never bring that part up to her. The leg being an excuse to rest is enough. Even just a day could make a huge difference. But Blair being Blair refused. They need to get out of the city. There's nothing more for either of them here. And she doesn't want to spend one more day in this city full of dark memories.

Charlie makes sure to keep an eye on the limping woman. No one is invincible. And soon enough her companion will break just enough that she'll need Charlie's assistance.

"Let's go to the market over here. I want to find a car."

All Charlie can muster is a small okay, her worry overriding her ability to speak any louder. her mind feels heavy.

Blair can hear the worry in her voice but chooses to ignore it. They don't have the time to focus on a small injury or the time to focus on her grief. She continues to push back the feeling of loss. It's more intense than she thought it would be. But she can't afford to let herself feel it. She may just break a little too much. 

The women crouch behind some bushes, scouting out the marketplace parking lot. There are hardly any cars but those that are there are worth a check.

"Should we look through the store too?"

"No," Blair grunts painfully as she stands.

"But why?"

Blair sighs quietly, "Because I said so."

Charlie scoffs, "You sound like my mom."

"Don't insult me."

Charlie laughs to herself quietly, despite everything on her mind, she can't help but enjoy the small moments like this. She fears they'll become more scarce as time passes as the world shows her every inch of bad. They pick through the cars, finding nothing but some clothes that neither of them needs. Blair opens the final car to find a decaying body. She hardly reacts. She looks down at the woman's feet to see a pair of boots. Blair looks from the boots to Charlie's old sneakers and back to the boots again.

"Charlie. Come try these on."

As Charlie put on the new shoes, Blair finds a pair of keys in the glove compartment. She can't say why these people put them there but she can't find it in her to care. She has a car finally.

The duo drives out of the parking lot, away from Charlie's discarded sneakers. 

<-<-<

The two find themselves on the side of the road after the car they found broke down about 10 minutes into the drive. 

Charlie watches as Blair curses under her breath. If she could she'd scream each and every swear word for the entire city to hear. But sadly the world is full of cannibalistic dead people so that privilege has rudely been removed.

Blair tosses her hands up in the air angrily, "Welp. It's completely dead and we're fucked."

"We're not fucked," Charlie responds, "We just have to find another one."

It's Blair's turn to scoff, "We don't have the time to look for another one."

"Why are we in such a hurry? I mean, the city isn't gonna blow up again. We just need to dodge the dead guys and keep doing what we've been doing until we find a car," she shrugs her shoulders as if it's the easiest thing ever.