Make it Till You Don't

Puppy Chow

Turning our attention to the tree-line, we saw four dogs come out of the woods, and they weren't the friendly kind.

One began to bark as we raised our guard, watching cautiously. Daryl grabbed a hold of his knife, crouching as the dogs continued barking, until they were shot in the head.

Glancing over, I saw Sasha lowering her gun, causing me to tsk. "Waste of ammo." Rick stood up, walking to grab a stick, before walking over to the dogs, breaking the limb. "You think they're safe to eat?" I asked what everyone was thinking in that moment.

"Don't see why not." Daryl spoke up, pointing at them with his knife. "Don't see no bite marks."

I turned to him with a cheeky smile. "Well, get to work then. Because we're starving."

He looked at me, easing a brow. "Get to work?"

"Yeah." I nodded my head. "Ya know, guttin' and skinning. Hunting things."

Rick shook his head, chuckling. "You heard her. Better do what she says."

"Thank you." I motioned over to Rick as he walked over to Carl. "See? Someone gets it."

"Pfft, whatever you say." Daryl huffed.

I walked past him, patting his shoulder as Glenn and Abraham began picking up some of the dogs. "I'll start the fire, sound good?"

I began to walk off, when I was stopped by a hand grabbing my arm. "Where ya think you're goin'?"

"Uh... to start a fire." I pointed towards the woods as if it were obvious.

Daryl shook his head, picking up one of the dogs. "Nah. Ya wanted me to teach ya how to hunt, right? Here's lesson number two." He shifted the dog in his arm over his shoulder.

My face dropped as I looked from the dog to Daryl's face. "You're joking right?" Daryl gave me a blank face in reply. "You're not joking."

"Ya asked and now I'm gonna teach ya." Daryl told me, cocking a smirk.

"Actually, you know what? I think I heard Judith calling for me, so imma have to rain check." I turned to walk away, when I was tugged back again.

I let out a groan, looking back at Daryl. "Judith can't even speak yet."

"Did I say Judith?" I faked ignorance, scrunching my face. "I meant to say Josie."

Daryl gave me an annoyed look. "There ain't nobody named Josie either."

"Damn it..." I muttered, pointing at him. "Touché."

Fed up with my antics, Daryl grabbed my wrist, dragging me along with him a couple feet away from the others so we could work without grossing everyone out.

Daryl dropped the dog he had to the ground, along with where the others were. He pulled out his knife, handing it to me. I looked from him to the knife, dumbfounded. "What am I supposed to do?"

He grabbed my wrist, placing the knife in my hand. "For starters, take the knife." He replied, guiding me to one of the dogs. "Now take the knife and slice the fur and skin off."

"What?" I blanked, looking at him like he spoke in a different language. "English, please."

Daryl made me crouch down, him doing the same as he guided my hand. He stabbed the dog's belly, only by a couple inches, slowly slicing it open.

"Ya don't want to gut it, so don't go too deep." He stated as he finished the cut, letting go of my hand. "Now peel it off."

"With my-" I glanced from him to my hands and back, earning a nod. I let out a defeated sigh, placing the knife on the ground beside me as I brought my hands to the cut. I let out a groan as I stuck my fingers inside, getting a grip on the skin and fur.

I started to peel it back, having to use more force than I thought before stopping from my arms getting tired. "You do it." Earning a chuckle, Daryl made quick work of it, causing me to glare at him in annoyance. "Show off..."

"Alright, time to gut and drain it." Daryl replied, grabbing the knife and placing it back in my hand.

"Time to gu- who what now?" I blanked, staring at him in disbelief.

Daryl motioned to the dog. "Take the guts out and let it bleed out. Unless you wanna eat the guts too?"

"Yeah, no, thanks but I'll pass on that." I told him, shivering at the thought of eating guts. With that Daryl guided me once more, only stabbing the knife in much deeper this time, causing blood to flow out. Though there wasn't much since the dog was dead and not pumping anymore blood.

Daryl then pried it open, showing its insides. That's where I drew the line. "Yep. Nope- not happening." I dropped the knife, waving my hands as I stood up. "That was not on my "end of the world fuck it list." I terminate my subscription to Hunting 101 and will be dropping out the class, Mr. Dixon."

Daryl gave me his typical shit eating grin. "What, Walker's don't bother ya, but this does?"

"Last time I checked, we don't gut Walkers." I spoke up, crossing my arms. "I don't suppose you have before"

"Actually I did." Daryl replied matter-of-factly.

I raised a brow at the claim. "When and why the hell would you ever gut a Walker?"

"Back when Sofia got lost, Rick and I cut open one we found." Daryl replied, causing me to slacken my posture, understanding what he meant when a thought hit me.

"That day... when I found the group." I spoke up, thinking back to the day I found them on the highway. "You were covered in blood."

"Yeah." Daryl replied, causing me to frown.

I crouched back down beside him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, otherwise I wouldn't have brought it up."

"It's fine." Daryl said, looking at me. "Like ya said, ya didn't know."

I contemplated for a moment before letting out a sigh, taking the knife from his hand. "Okay. What else do I do?"

Daryl looked at me for a few moments before glancing back down to the dog. "After removing the guts, we'll make slices in the meat for Rick to cook."

I nodded my head, mentally preparing myself before I got to work. I tried to ignore the feeling and sounds as I focused on what I was doing, Daryl helping me, making the process go faster.

After about an hour, we had finished, walking to Rick and giving him what we salvaged for him to cook up. While we all waited for it to cook, small chatter erupted between a few of us.

I took one of the sticks with a piece of meat, taking it off and taking a bite out of it. It wasn't ideal, but protein is protein, and theres not much options out here anymore.

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Published: 04/11/2025