Ellie Dixon

Walkers Don't Whisper

Me, Saint, dad and Jesus were up on a hill. We were looking down to the walkers who were walking in a circle in a field down below. Dad had gone off with Dog, but when he returned he stood next to me. "It's about a hundred and thirty, hundred and forty of them." Dad said.

"You ever see them do this before?" Jesus asked the group.

"There must be something making a noise in the middle of them. Has to be." I stated.

"Rosita's back trail goes right through them." Dad pointed out. "We should get the horses, circle round. Then we'll pick it up on foot."

"What about them?" Saint questioned.

"What about them?" I pushed.

"They're just circling around. That's not normal." Jesus reminded me.

"There's gotta be a reason. Whatever it is, doesn't bother us. Let's go. We gotta get to Eugene." I responded, before walking back towards the horses.

We'd gone round, stashed my dad's bike, tied the horses somewhere secure, before we were back on foot. We were walking through a field, dad was leading with Dog, I was about ten feet behind him, Jesus and Saint were about ten feet behind me. Suddenly, dad stopped. I walked over and stood to his side. "What is it, Daryl?" I made a point of saying his name, just as a reminder that I'm still pissed.

He let out an irritated sigh through his nose, but ignored the jab. "You hear that? The wind is carrying the sound."

I listened closely, before I heard the growling. "A herd." I realised.

"That's my girl." Dad nodded.

I scoffed. "When it's convenient for you anyways."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He looked to me.

"Don't act like you don't know." I responded, before walking over to Saint and Jesus who had stopped about eight feet behind my dad. "Herd's coming."

I watched as my father dialled a timer, he put it to when the herd would be passing approximately, before throwing it in the opposite direction we were going. "Come on, let's put some grass between us and them." Dad said, before starting to lead the way again. We pretty much jogged to the tree line, just to be safe.

We were in the tree line, we needed to monitor the herd just to make sure they did go in the opposite direction. "You put that herd at about a hundred and forty, right?" Jesus put the binoculars down as he  asked my father.

"Yea." My father answered.

"Well, it looks like more than double that now." Jesus responded.

"Could be a different herd. Or merged with another." Saint spoke up.

"Ain't gonna be there very long." Dad replied.

"Doesn't matter how big it is. Just as long as it's going in the opposite direction." I said, turning around to continue in the direction we knew Rosita and Eugene had gone.

By the time we approached any form of building, it was dark. Fog had settled in, the stars and moon were hidden behind dark clouds, representing the oncoming storm. Our torches were the only things separating us from the things that hide in the shadows of the night.

Dad let Dog go in first. "Go on, boy." My father said. He'd let us know if there were walkers in there or not. I quickly followed inside, shining my torch around.

"Eugene?" I called.

Dog started standing on this pile of hay. "Move." Dad ordered the animal. "Good, Dog."