"Rowen! Rowen!" she heard Daryl's yells long before she saw him, the man ran around the corner, leading to the door in A block. "C'mon, we gotta go." there was an urgency in his voice, she had never known the man to panic, but in this moment he was. he handed her her purple backpack, which she could only assume he had packed, since it used to lay empty under the bunk in her cell, but was now full.
He pulled Rowen outside the prison, holding a rifle in one hand while shooting any walkers that came close. Rowen followed him closely, she didn't know what had happened, but as far as she could see, the prison was gone. Walkers were everywhere, filing in from a large gap in the fence, there were bodies everywhere, people she knew.
Daryl held the trigger of the rifle, emptying the clip onto a measly two walkers, before decapitating one with the barrel of the gun. He pulled the clip from a grenade, as he dropped it down the muzzle of a tank.
Rowen heard the screams from a man inside, right before he jumped out, the stranger stupidly didn't run, and when he turned towards Daryl and Rowen, Daryl shot the man without another word. Rowen heard someone behind them, she turned to see the familiar blonde running towards the pair. "I was trying to find the kids to get them on the bus." she had stopped next to Daryl, staring at the flaming tank in front of them.
"We gotta go, Beth. We gotta go." he didn't address Rowen directly, but as he turned and ran, he grabbed Rowen's arm, urging her to run as well. So she did, she ran, leaving behind the flaming remains of the building that was starting to become her home. Leaving behind the bodies of those, who were starting to become her family, the bodies of those she would never see again.
☆
They had been walking for what felt like forever, Rowen felt like she was on the road with her dad again, moving from place to place. Rowen hated being on the move, not knowing when your next meal would be, or where you're going to sleep that night. The only bag they had was Rowen's, and the only things inside were her books, and one change of clothes. Beth has her knife, Daryl has his crossbow, and Rowen has her bow.
The small group stopped walking eventually, the daylight was almost gone, the all knew it wouldn't be safe to keep going in the dark, and by the time the sun set Daryl had built a fire, and the three of them, sat in the dark, contemplating what all had happened earlier in the day.
The first person to speak since they left the prison,was Beth, it was well into the night, their surroundings being completely pitch black, "We should do something." Beth looked at Daryl, while Rowen stared at the fire. "We should do something." Beth's voice held more conviction the second time.
"We aren't the only survivors," she pauses, trying to gain Daryl's attention " We can't be." Rowen didn't believe the girls encouragement, she saw the prison, all three of them did, it was a burning pile of ash. Nobody survived.
"Even if they did survive, there's no way to find them." Rowen mumbled.
The blonde ignores the girl and continues speaking, "Rick, Michonne, they could be out here. Maggie and Glenn could've made it out of A block." when Beth's words are met with even more silence she speaks again. "they could've." Rowen thought the girl was trying to convince herself more so than the two people with her.
Rowen realizes she missed a rather large part of the conversation happening next to her when her attention is pulled to Beth's retreating figure. She turns to Daryl, his gaze falling on the blonde who takes quick, determined steps into the woods, he stands, shoving dirt over the fire with his boot.
"let's go." his words are short and clipped, he doesn't look at Rowen, he doesn't wait for her to grab her things, he just starts towards the woods in the same direction Beth went.
Rowen scrambles to grab her bag along with her bow and quiver of arrows, before quickly catching up with the long legged redneck.
☆
It was early morning now, the sun having rose hours ago, Daryl had been tracking somebody since they left, footprints, broken tree branches, and dead walkers. They were following someone, they just didn't know who. "They picked up the pace right here." Daryl pointed to the ground, a few berries lie there, some squashed into the ground, some still whole.
"Got out in a hurry, things went bad." he surveyed the area, looking for any other hints of life. Rowen didn't understand how the man could tell it 'went bad' by a couple of squashed berries, but she didn't question him.
"Would it kill ya to have a little faith." the blonde turned, and started to pick berries, Rowen slung her bow over her shoulders and began to help the girl pick the small red berries.
"Yeah, faith. Faith ain't done shit for us. Sure as hell didn't do anythin' for your dad." both girls turned to face the man, Beth in anger, and Rowen in confusion.
"What happened to Hershel?" Daryl turned now, looking from Rowen to Beth, and back again.
"He uh- he's dead. Governor killed 'im." Beth turned back to the berry bush, continuing to pick berries.
"They'll be hungry when we find them." Daryl tapped her on the shoulder, holding out his bandanna. The blonde took the piece of cloth, dumping the berries from her hand onto it and placing more on top. Daryl walked a short way away from the two girls.
"I'm sorry about your dad." Rowen whispered, but the older girl didn't respond. Beth turned, walking towards Daryl, leaving Rowen behind.
Rowen follows them through the brush and into a small clearing, where two dead walkers reside. Daryl grabs a branch from a tree, inspecting it, "What?" Beth asks the man.
"That ain't walker blood." Rowen finally catches up to the pair, as Beth continues walking forward. "trail keeps goin', they fought them off." Rowen walks beside Beth as the step over the pair of walkers.
"No, got walker tracks all up and down here, at least a dozen of 'em." Rowen and Beth stare out into the woods as the sounds of someone walking through the forest drew their attention, the person couldn't be seen, but they could be heard, and as all three of them stand on high alert, Rowen is grabbed from behind, a walker pulling her towards itself, without her knife attached to her belt, she was helpless. As she holds the walker at an arms length, Beth stabs it in the head, and Rowen watches as it drops to the ground in front of her. The older girls nods to her, silently checking her for any scratches.
They make it through the woods, coming face to face with railroad tracks, walkers, at least five, and a dead family. None of which were ever at the prison, and after a day of following what they all hoped was someone from home, Rowen began to realize that they may never find anyone again, certainly not anyone alive.
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[EDITED]
-Sadie⭐️
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