Catch Fire | Daryl Dixon

QUARRY QUARRELS

Kennedy's POV

The day following Reg and Pete's deaths, the air was heavy with a mix of grief and determination. We gathered in one of the larger houses for a community meeting, the weight of the previous night still hanging over us. Rick stood at the front, ready to address us, while Daryl and I settled into a window nook behind a couch where Rosita and Abraham were sitting.

Rick started explaining the situation with the nearby quarry filled with walkers. As he spoke, I felt a mixture of fear and urgency. This was something we had to face, and there was no escaping it.

Heath stepped forward, his face serious. "My team... we saw it early on, back when we were on one of those first scouts, finding out what was around here. There was a camp at the bottom. The people, they must have blocked the exits with one of those trucks back when everything started to go bad. They didn't make it. They were all roamers. Maybe a dozen of them."

"No one's been back since?" Maggie asked, her face thoughtful.

Heath shook his head. "DC, every town worth scavenging are all in the other direction. And I never really felt like having a picnic next to the camp that ate itself."

"So all the while, the walkers have been drawn by the sound, and they're making more sound, and they're drawing more in." Michonne chimed in, her voice steady.

Rick nodded, his expression grim. "And here we are... Now, what I'm proposing, I know it sounds risky, but walkers are already slipping through the exits. One of the trucks keeping the walkers in could go off the edge any day now. Maybe after one more hard rain. That exit sends them east. All of them. Right at us." He paused, letting the gravity of the situation sink in. "This isn't about if it gives, it's when. It's gonna happen. That's why we have to do this soon."

I listened, my mind racing. This was why they had been relatively safe all this time. It wasn't just the walls of Alexandria keeping them secure, but this natural trap. Now that the trap was weakening, the danger was closer than ever.

Carol's eyes were wide with fear. "This is-- I don't even have another word for it. This is terrifying. All of it. But it doesn't sound like there's any other way."

"Maybe there is. I mean, couldn't we just build up the weak spots? I could draw up plans. I worked on the wall with Reg. Construction crew-- we can try and make it safe." Carter suggested.

Rick shook his head, his voice firm. "Even if we could, the sound of those walkers is drawing more and more every day. Building up the exits won't change that."

Deanna's voice was decisive. "We're gonna do what Rick says, the plan he's laid out."

"We're gonna have Daryl leading them away." Rick continued.

A pang of worry shot through me. Daryl was more than capable, but this was incredibly risky. The thought of him out there, leading a massive herd of walkers away, made my stomach twist with fear. But I knew he would do it. He always did what needed to be done.

Sasha stepped forward, her eyes determined. "Me, too. I'll take a car, ride next to him. Can't just be him. I'll keep 'em coming; Daryl keeps 'em from getting sloppy."

Abraham nodded. "I'll go with her... It's a long way to white-knuckle it solo."

Rick laid out the rest of the plan. "We'll have two teams. One on each side of the forest helping manage this thing. We're gonna have a few people on watch from now on. Rosita, Spencer, and Holly. So they're out. So who's in?"

Michonne, Glenn, and Gabriel all volunteered, though Rick quickly shut down Gabriel's offer. I wanted to help too. "I can-" I started but was quickly interrupted by both Rick and Daryl.