it almost worked

.004

IT ALMOST WORKED !
the walking dead !
.004   —   tell it to the frogs !

   THE TWOS CONVERSATION HAD DIED DOWN. leaving nothing but the erupt ear piercing scream to fill the silence that had settled between the two. the two teens had shared a worrisome look before darting after the sound, unsure of what they were running into, yet they knew that couldn't not see who was in danger. natalia pursed her lips, her converse kicking up dust as she ran. lee's hand firmly held his pocket knife, the blade open and for all to see as the two came to a stop. natalia's face scrunched up in disgust at the sight, her hand raising to clamp over her mouth. lee held a protective arm in front of natalia, both of them eyeing the walker that chewed at a deer. the sound of its teeth chewing on the squishy meat, blood dripping onto the grass below its decaying limbs. two arrows stuck out of the animals hind legs, belonging to none other than daryl dixon, meaning the man was close, never far off from the arrows that belonged to him and his crossbow. the smell was putrid, and it had natalia holding back a gag. "oh god." natalia placed the back of her hand against her mouth. taking a quiet small step closer to lee.

   shane, glenn, and rick rushed past, a different variety of weapons clutched tightly in their hands. the three men shared a look before beginning to harshly beat against the walker. natalia scrunched her nose up, watching as the walker began to try to stand, the pain the men were inflicting into it seemingly not fazing the infected man. suddenly, dale walked past with a heavy axe, raising it high, he brought it down on the walkers neck, chopping its head off in one smooth motion. the decapitated head rolled in the grass, stopping a few steps away from the now limp body. it's milky white eyes shut, blood sticking to its mouth, disgust filled natalia's chest, churning in her gut. "is everyone okay?" rick questioned, his chest heaving, lungs trying to catch oxygen. the grimes man looked around only earning quiet nods, everyone in shock, unable to respond with words. natalia shifted, she hadn't seen a walker as close as the one before her since the highway. yet even then, it hadn't been as close to her as this one was. the grimes girl turned her head away from the infected man, swallowing thickly before turning back towards the others. "we've never had any up here." natalia broke the tense silence. her teeth sinking into her bottom lip and blue eyes dancing between the different faces. everyone silent, a few of the others nodded slowly. they'd never had an issue with the infected, not as far from the city as they were, as hidden as they were. they'd never had a run in like they then.

   jim nodded his head at the girls words, slowly, sucking in a deep breath, his hand running down his sweaty face. he propped the shovel up, leaning into the handle with a frown etched onto his face. "they're running out of food in the city." jim told softly, shrugging his shoulders, knowing it was the only logical reason for the dead to be so close to them. the sound of twigs snapping echoed, everyone turned their attention in the direction of the noise. they held their weapons higher, carol and lori pulled their children further back. rather than a walker emerging from the dense forest trees it was the younger dixon man, daryl. natalia pursed her lips, her free hand tightening around lees forearm. the dixon man scuffed, spewing profanities as he kicked at the decapitated walker body, anger seeping from him in thick heavy waves. reluctantly, the man calmed down, walking around the limp deer with a frown, his hands roughly yanking the arrows free from the limp animal body. "you think we can cut around the chewed up part?" the dixon man questioned, his finger tracing a circle in the air around the bloodied and mutilated animal. natalia tilted her head, she chewed on the inside of her cheek. "i would not risk that." shane told with a shake of his head. his hands were on his hips as he eyed daryl. the sound of growls started once more, natalia's eyes darted toward the walker head that laid, its mouth snapping around the air. "come on people, it's gotta be the brain." daryl told, shooting an arrow in the walkers head, it finally went silent. dead, for good this time.