*Daryl's POV*
I kept my eyes in front of me. There was no way in hell I was letting this baby get killed. Not after everything she had brought me through.
I could hear Rick or somebody else crashing through the brush behind me. I didn't take the time to look back. It wouldn't have done any good.
I hadn't heard the explosion yet. Whenever that truck did decide to bust, we were going to be screwed. Noises brought walkers. Especially one that could probably be heard for miles and miles.
I tripped and fell over a root. I twisted my body so all of my weight would fall onto my shoulder and not on Tana. She was a tough little girl, but probably not so tough when an almost two hundred thirty pound man would fall on her.
The thought of that made me hurt.
Tana was crying loud. I could feel something warm and wet running down my face. I shifted Tana to one arm and lifted my hand to my face. It came away red.
Rick came out of the trees. His chest was rising and falling heaily. His eyes were huge, his pupils dilated. You could almost feel the adrenaline that had been running through his veins in the air.
Carl came around from behind his Dad holding a gun to my face. The same wild look was on his face. I could imagine that it was on mine as well.
Carl lowered his gun after staring at me for what felt like hours. Then he just passed out.
Rick glanced at his son's limp body. He knelt down in front of Carl, holding Judith in one arm. She turned to look at me. She had scratches on her arms from the low hanging branches that had scratched her during the run.
Rick pressed his fingers to Carl's neck. There was a beat there judging from the look of relief on Rick's face.
He stood up then. He took Judith over to the tree that had tripped me and set her down. Then he went back to Carl, and put his hands underneath Carl's arms. He pulled hard until Carl's body started dragging across the leaf-strewn ground.
When he got back to the tree he laid Carl down by it. Then he pressed his back up against it and slid down it slowly. His eyes were closed. I thought he was asleep, until he started speaking.
"We aren't ever going to be safe. We're always going to be this. We're always going to be hunted, until one day there are none of us left. One day I won't be here for my kids. One day they will have to make it on their own. Same with Tana. Same with Maggie's baby, whenever it is born."
I didn't know what to say. I just grunted.
Rick was right. In this world, you didn't just have to worry about walkers. You had to worry about the living too. Because, even if they really meant no harm, accidents could happen. Which is what this actually looks like, but who knows? They could have been leftovers from the damn attack the government led.
Tana had stopped crying and was asleep again. I couldn't help but stare at her. I often asked myself if Sapphire would have thought I was a good Daddy. After earlier, what happened with me and Beth, I was pretty sure the answer to that question would have been no.
I could feel the tears pricking behind my eyes. I refused to let Rick see me cry. I turned my face towards the direction we had come. There was smoke rising above the trees.
The ground shook underneath me. Fire shot into the sky where the smoke had been only moments before. Rick leaned over his children to protect them from the tiny particles of ash that had decided to come falling down around us.
I leaned over Tana too. She had been through enough today. She didn't need to get sick from breathing in ashes.
*Glen's POV*
