AND THEN I FOUND YOU » Daryl Dixon

20. TOO FAR GONE [PART I]

According to Murphy's Law, everything that can go wrong will go wrong. That statement had never been truer. It seemed every single negative outcome of the situation had manifested and dealt them a losing hand.

There was a haunting silence. Not because nothing had happened, but because everything had happened all at once - blood flowing, shots firing, people running.

Everything.

It wasn't the air that was silent per se, but instead her hearing. Shock was coursing through her veins and a deafening whine reverberated throughout her skull. Her mind was spiralling into oblivion as if her brain was collapsing in on itself.

Jasmin stared ahead, not for a moment letting her eyes wander to the left. Her vision glossed over, turning the vehicles and people taking down the fence into small, colourful blobs.

The pain had set in as droplets of sprayed blood ran down her face, seemingly searing the skin with the anguish it carried.

Nothing had touched her. Not the cold blade of a sword or any sharp object for that matter. But she still felt the pain ­- that agonizing, body-immobilising realisation that the old man next to her was laying on the ground, bleeding out from the neck due to an unsuccessful decapitation.

Phillip had swung the sword in Hershel's direction instead of hers at the very last second. And he was still alive.

An explosion from the tank rid the ringing in her ear like a dousing of cold water and her hearing returned full blast. A cacophony of shots and bangs was vibrating the airwaves throughout the prison field.

The grass rustled behind her as Hershel attempted to wriggle away. It was almost like his body was doing it unconsciously, trying to find any way to escape the Grimm Reaper who was quickly closing in.

Saliva was building up in the back of her mouth and she could feel that awful, disgusting sludge work its way up from her stomach to her throat.

Heavy footsteps trailed Hershel, stopping to stand over him. The sword came down as did Phillip's wrath and a series of sickening squelches followed shortly after.

Squelch. Squelch. Squelch. Over and over again.

Liquid rocketed up her throat and she threw it up. Twice.

Finally, the sound stopped but it was quickly taken over by another loud, abrupt bang.

That bang was enough to send a pint full of adrenaline through her veins, forcing her legs to push themselves up off the ground. She kept her stance to a crouch, walking backwards until her back hit the car she was driven in.

Her breaths were coming in faster and faster, the fear that had her in its grip increasing with every passing second. Taking a moment to gather herself, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with air.

The breath was held captive in her chest. Each thump of her heart was like a drum in her ear. Each beat was another memory flashing by.

Thump.

Mum.

Thump.

Maggie

Thump.

Daryl.

Thump.

Hershel.

Her eyes snapped open. The warm breath flowed past her lips and she looked out into the field. It was hard to tell who was alive and who wasn't. Everybody in the prison field was upright and moving, though some lacked a significant amount of coordination than others. She just hoped the uncoordinated bodies were none of her own people.