The Hunter's Angel

Chapter 30

Daryl's POV

Ridding on the Chopper Aaron gave me down the road covered in fall leaves—Aaron behind me in his beat-up Buick. I find a place to pull over even though not need to pull on the side, I slow down, and Aaron rolls up next to me and puts it in park. We turn off our vehicles and get ready to head out on our search for the second day. If we don't find anyone by tomorrow evening, We have to go back. Not because Seaira would come looking, I don't want to worry her. Or come back for the group and get more supplies if we need to go further out. 

We walk through the woods a few miles, and I notice tracks, "Somebody came through here a while ago." I announce. "If we see them, we hang back, set up the mike, watch and listen," Aaron explains how he does his job. "For how long?" I ask as we walk the trail. "Until we know. We have to know." He answers. We cross a small stream, and I ask him, "You sent people away?" Stepping over the rocks, he says yes. "What happened?" I get to the other side and wait for him to cross.

"It was early on," He began as he got to my side; we start walking the trail again. "It was three people. Two men and a woman. Davidson was their leader. Smart as hell, strong. I thought they'd work out." I listen as I keep my eyes on the ground and, occasionally, check my surroundings. I keep my steps light as we go up a small hill.

"They didn't." He states, following me as I track. "I brought them in, and I had to see them out. So Aiden, Nicholas, and I drove them out far." We go through several vines as we hike through the quiet forest. "Gave them a day's worth of food and water and left them." I stop and look around. The trail is getting cold, and I search for clues. "They just went?" I asked him. 

"We had their guns," I turn the trail direction, and Aaron continues. "We had all the guns. I can't make that kind of mistake again." He finishes.

We continue for a couple of hours. It's almost noon, and even though it's cloudy, it feels much later. We haven't said much after he told me his story. I tell him the tracks are getting fresher, so we keep quiet and low until I spot something red in a field. Aaron set up the mic, and I take out my binoculars. The trail is a guy in a red poncho. I follow him with my specs, and he stops and bends down to get something.

He stands up, rubs his gloved hands, and then wipes it on his face. Sum' bitch, he is smarter than he looks. "What's he doing?" Aaron asks, holding up his device to hear better. "Wild leeks," I state. I put down the binoculars and say, "Sum' bitch knows how to keep mosquitos off of 'em." Aaron turns to give me a weird look. I ignore it and tell him, "Come on." I start hunting the man as he gets to the other side of the field. Aaron is behind me, as quiet as can be. I have to admit, He is good at laying low and quiet out here. 

We come across a warehouse with tracker trailers parked in a line. It looks like canned foods or something. I scope it out and we come up to the gate. A dozen Walkers stumbling around in the parking lot that's fenced in. They snarl but doesn't notice us. 

"We checked the forest, we checked the roads. We can't find him." Aaron says, looking at me. Standing beside the fence, I raise my binoculars to look further across the lot. "Sometimes they sip away. It happens. But...you don't come across something like this every day." Aaron says with mix emotions. 

I lower my specs. Aaron looks across the parking lot as I am, "We do this now; it means we're giving up." I state. "Home is 50 miles back. It's time to go." He admits. I'm glad he is on the same page as me about going home. I can't go back empty-handed either.  

"You saw it last night. There's bad people out here." Aaron brings up. I tense up at the images in my head. The faster I get home, the faster I can make sure she is okay.