𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐬 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝¹

NINE - final destination

THE QUARRY WAS SOON TO BECOME A DISTANT MEMORY. everyone had packed all of their belongings and were preparing for their journey to the cdc, after rick and shane had their long back and forth, shane eventually complied and agreed the cdc was the best option.

astrid and rory had packed all of their belongings into their backpacks. thankfully they didn't have many items to their name. together, they dismantled the tent, and strapped it to astrids bag.

when they rejoined the group, shane had given everyone the instructions on how to stop the caravan if needed. morales broke the news that they would be going their own way; specifically, going to meet their family in birmingham. rick gave them a gun with some spare ammo and everyone said their goodbyes.

rory had begged her aunt to let her ride in carols cherokee with carl and the grimes' family, along with carol and sophia, to which she had complied. the problem was, however, there wasn't enough room for astrid in the car, so she would have to find another vehicle to ride in. she didn't want to sit in the already crammed rv, especially not with jim there. it may be selfish, but she didn't want to be there when he eventually turned. moreover, andrea would be there, and astrid couldn't even look at her.

it was either daryls pickup truck, or shanes jeep. neither of which were particularly ideal, but there were no other options.  "need a ride?" a gruff voice called out. the voice belonged to daryl. astrid looked up to see his head poking out of the window of the truck. it seemed he answered the question for her. the brunette bit her lip as she considered her answer. the dixon stared at her expectantly, chewing on the nail of his thumb. he did that a lot, astrid realised. soon, he was going to run out of nail to bite on.

she decided the battered, blue pick up truck was the lesser of two evils, as she nodded at the redneck. she hoisted her belongings in the back, which was holding merles motorcycle. astrid almost smiled at daryls willingness to believe his brother was still out there somewhere. it reminded her a lot of herself.

the car door creaked as astrid opened it and slipped inside, mumbling a thanks as she made herself comfortable. daryl was sat with one hand on the wheel, with the other leaning against the window frame. with it being completely rolled down, the gentle breeze was nice.

when set off, with shane leading them at the front, and astrid and daryl at the back, the two sat in silence. it gave her time alone with her thoughts, which was a very bad thing to do at the moment. she could do nothing but stare ahead as thoughts of amy flashed through her mind.

"ya a'ight?" daryls voice cut through the air, grounding astrid back in reality. his gaze flickered between her and the road.

"yeah. fine." she muttered, gulping awkwardly. she looked down at her boots, which were adorned with amys laces. astrid could practically hear daryl rolling his eyes at her. she needed to get her mind away from amy. so, she decided to talk to daryl, "heard you threatened to cut that guys feet off for me." she painted a smirk on her face, meeting his piercing gaze.

"was nothin'." daryl dismissed, shaking his head and intently focusing on the road. he started to bite his nail again.

she stared at him for a moment, "still, thanks." she said. he glanced at her for a moment before nodding his head and letting out a small grunt in acknowledgment.

"it wasn't yur fault." daryl spoke quietly. astrid looked at him in confusion, "amy." he clarified, causing astrid to bite the inside of her cheek and stare out of the window. "you blame yurself. don't. there ain't nothin' you could'a done."

a stray tear escaped from her tear duct, but astrid quickly wiped it away. she refused to cry in front of daryl. she didn't want him to see her as weak, because she wasn't. "you don't understand." she shook her head, "if i didn't get taken we would've been back a hell of a lot sooner and maybe they would still be alive. amy would still be alive." her voice grew weaker with every spoken word as she tried to maintain her dignity in front of the man. there was no point, he could see right through it.