In The Bird Song | TWD

chapter 36 - Tear of fire

Harlow pov –

It's been four days since escaping the unit and we haven't stopped moving, we walk all day and rest a couple hours each night before starting the routine all over again.

I'm exhausted due to being kept up all night with Annette's crying, the baby has been fussing constantly since the bullet clipped her head and I'm not sure if she's okay or not. The wound isn't healing the way it should and a sick anxious feeling as taken up permanent residence in my stomach.

Izzy seems to be trapped in a sun induced haze and is too exhausted to say much of anything during the day which only adds to my anxiety. she always walks with a faraway look in her eyes lost in her own world no doubt, and as a result of her inability to focus on her surroundings she has been walking into trees and tripping over almost everything in her path since we left the cabin. In response to this posy has taken up a new job as Izzy's personal guide dog meaning she now spends her days trotting by Izzy's side whilst allowing the girl to grip her black fur so she can steer the girl in the right direction.

We were lucky enough to stumble across a stream not long after leaving the cabin and we have been following it ever since so we at least have constant access to water. I have been making sure to get everyone to stop every 15 minutes to make everybody hydrate before continuing on with our trek.

Annette hasn't been out my arms for longer than a second since leaving the cabin because every time I try put her down, she starts screaming which effectively rings the dinner bell to any local walkers.

On the bright side I can't remember the last time we have eaten this well and we haven't had to go hungry a single day since escaping as the woods are teeming with life providing a constant source of meat.

A large part of me wants to keep running further and further into the woods until we are so deep that no humans will never stumble across me and my family again. I want to find a spot where we can set up a small camp or possibly even build a house surrounded by walls. I could start farming and keep livestock to sustain us along with my game so I don't end up over hunting the area and we can survive there permanently.

I want to build a safe haven where Izzy and Annette can grow up in peace and tranquillity protected from the dangers of the outside. However deep down I know that dream will only ever be just that, a dream.

Izzy has spent most of her living memory inside the unit alone and cut off from other children. She deserves to grow up with friends surrounded by a big family and to have the opportunity to fall in love when she's old enough if that's something she wants. She deserves to see what the world can grow to become and to be a part of the next generation of survivors, helping to pave the way towards a brighter future.

I cannot in good conscience keep her isolated in the woods where she would never learn to socialise and would live a life fearing the world beyond the walls. And Annette deserves all off those same things as well, she deserves to know a world other than the bubble I built around her.

We need to find a safe community like the prison before it fell, we need to find a place with walls and good people who can help protect us from pockets off hell like terminus and the unit.

There has to be life after all the loss or everyone we once loved will have died for nothing.

***

I'm winding my way through the trees as normal when I'm stopped by posy's barking. I turn around to see what the fuss is about and find Izzy has stopped walking. "I'm tired Harley" Izzy mumbles "I don't wanna walk no more."

I sigh with sympathy as I look at exhausted child, as much as I know we need to keep moving, I feel Izzy's pain, we have been walking for seven days straight and the woods only seem to be getting thicker. "I know its hard love but do you think we can keep going just a few more hours?"