Don't Get Dead | TWD | Volume 1

[40] Incarceration

I swung my axe down hard, my body away from the corpse reaching out for me. It fell forwards, and I flicked my wrist back, causing the serrations to grind against the bone as the weapon was released.

Neither Maggie or Glenn said a word, just walking towards the back door of the house. My lips pressed into a thin line, but I followed them anyway. Rick had taken Carl, Daryl and T-Dog to clear the house with him, and he asked the three of us to take care of the perimeter before joining them inside. He wanted us to wait at the back when we were done, giving them a chance to at least clear the first floor.

Glenn gave two quiet knocks on arrival to signal that we were finished, and the door was pulled open, revealing Rick and Carl in a small kitchen. Glenn and Maggie entered first, and Rick closed the door just as I had taken one step inside. My eyebrows knitted together, and I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, but he ignored the look.

"Start clearing up," was his only instruction, and he turned into the hallway.

T-Dog and Maggie started by grabbing one of the bodies in the kitchen, before they all followed Rick into the main hallway. Carl began opening and closing the cupboards in search of food, also ignoring my presence. I decided to follow the others into the hallway.

My eyes wandered to the double door at the front of the hallway, where Rick was waving for the others to join us from, before everyone piled into the house and passed me to the living room. Daryl also passed me, coming from upstairs holding what appeared to be an owl he was plucking feathers from as he entered the living room. I didn't bother looking twice, this was nothing new.

Unsure of what to do, I leaned back against the entryway to the living room, and stared at the opposite wall, shrinking back as far as I could to not get in anyone's way. I didn't realise I had been pulling at my clothes until my hand dropped the sleeve of the shirt tied around my waist. There was a quiet voice near me, but I didn't hear anything until someone tapped my hand.

Glenn leaned back now he had my attention, and nodded to the ground in front of him. "Help me?"

I stared down at the walker for a second, and without answering, I leaned down to grab the legs to help Glenn move the body. I couldn't hide the frown as he forced me to drop the corpse on the pile that had been built up by the wall at the bottom of the stairs. I dropped the legs and straightened up.

"Can't we move them outside?" It was a stupid question, one that was answered only with a stern glare from Rick that caused me to wince.

Sorry I asked.

It scared me that he didn't have to say anything anymore, everything he would've said a few months back were all clear enough in the one look. It would put everyone in the open, draw the walkers' attention, and take too long.

When he was sure he made his point, he walked to the front doors and pushed them closed. He walked past me and Glenn to join the rest of the group, not giving us a second glance.

Glenn gave me a pitiful look, tapping my arm as he walked passed into the living room. I followed him into the room, sitting on the ground in front of him and Maggie who had both resided on the sofa.

Carl was at the other end of the room, two cans in front of him in the ground. I was thankful that he found food, until I caught a glimpse of the label. Pebbles Tinned Dog Food. He was using a tin opener to open one of the cans.

Great.

Rick was at my side, peering from the window until he heard the scraping of the tin opener, and turned to face Carl, who had just managed to peel the lid off of the can. Carl stopped what he was doing as Rick walked across the room, grabbing the tin from in front of Carl and reading the label. As he turned around, he chucked across the room.