in a dark meadow -- daryl dixon

break her heart

word count: 3736

"Thank you for coming with me."

Armed with her bowie knife and pistol, Avery had settled into the passenger seat of the car Lori had managed to sneak away from the group lot. Rocks crackled through the tires as Lori turned onto the dirt road and headed for the interstate. Their light for the day was fading, so the women knew they had to move with some urgency.

"Of course," Avery responded as she unfolded the map that was stowed away in the glove box. She looked at the maze of lines. "Though I hate to tell you this - I haven't looked at a map like this in at least a decade."

Lori occasionally peered down at the map as she watched Avery struggle to locate where they were. Using her finger to trace one of the curved lines, Avery glanced up at the road, as if it would give her any indication as to where she thought they were. There were no street signs to aid her. Back at home, she'd relied on printing out her driving instructions before climbing into her car to a new destination. She had absolutely no directional awareness. Her father would probably be disappointed with her right now.

"Okay, I think there's a turn off to our right coming up." Avery guessed, but there was no split in the road.

"Let me see," Lori grabbed a corner of the map and angled the paper so she could see. They searched the tangle of lines until Avery jabbed her finger into the paper.

"Okay, here's the bar."

"Then we're headed in the right direction-"

Avery looked up. "Lori!"

Lori's eyes shot up in time to see a walker had ambled in the middle of the road. Jerking the wheel to the right, she had not reacted quick enough and the hood of the car barrelled directly into the dead man. The impact of his body cracked the windshield as the tires were unable to gain traction on the dirt road. Lori could not control the vehicle as it veered to the right, falling into the dip of a ditch, and colliding with a mound of dirt. Avery could not even squeeze out a scream as she felt the momentum lift the rear of the car up and over them, her stomach somersaulting as the vehicle flipped once, twice. There was no motion in the car when the dust settled, the wheels facing the sky and spinning uselessly on their axis.

The sky had fallen dark when Avery came to. Disoriented, she realized she was suspended upside down in her seatbelt, the top of the vehicle slightly crunched from the impact. The glow of the hazard lights helped illuminate the scene in front of her, as the low growl of a walker sent her senses into overdrive. The prowler was pushing itself through the hole in the windshield, yellow eyeballs wide in seeming delight as it pressed closer and closer to Avery. Adrenaline punctured her chest as she glanced to her left and spotted an unconscious Lori.

"Lori!" She hissed under her breath, not wanting to attract anymore walkers. "Lori!"

She did not respond, and Avery felt herself panic. She pressed herself back into the seat, her instinct was to get away as quickly as possible. The walker seemed to stir at her shallow breaths, a predator ready to take down its weakened prey. It pushed itself further, the shredded glass pulling away at the rotted flesh on its face, exposing dark muscles and tendons. Teeth gleamed in the moonlight.

Amongst her hysteria, Avery envisioned the bolt of an arrow embedding itself through the forehead of the prowler, and the calm of blue eyes pulling her from this nightmare, just as he had in the quarry. But as the walker worked his hand into the gap of the windshield, Avery realized he would not come this time.

Daryl was not here to save her.

Protect yourself.

Reaching for her knife, she was filled with dread when she realized it was not there. Eyes darted around the interior, she spotted the worn leather sheath above her, resting on the roof of the car. The warm trickle of blood did not stop her as she extended her body as far as it would go, fingers brushing the tip of the handle. White hot pain traveled down her spine as she moved her shoulder. Gritting her teeth, she reached with her uninjured hand. She managed to flip the button of the sheath, freeing the knife.