Solitary {2} : The Walking Dead

Chapter Twenty.

 Lines We Cross. |

TRAINING DAY.

Iris and Daryl follow the group as they walk in formation, she watches the door to the shipwreck open and walkers stumble out, making their way to the group. "And holt! Drop!" Aaron orders, Iris stops and watches everyone do their jobs.

"Archers!" he yells, the archers aim their weapons and shoot the walkers in the head, "Retrieve! Rise and march!" Iris walks next to the group, watching for faults. The woman whistles, Jerry and Ezekiel open the door again and let more walkers out.

"Formation! And halt! Spears!" Iris watches them drive their spears into the walkers, Alden raises his spear and throws it at the last walker, knocking it to the floor, Iris lets out another whistle and more walkers are released.

"And halt!" "Open ranks!" Michonne orders, Iris watches Jerry and Ezekiel as they struggle to keep the door shut, she pulls her axe from her belt and moves behind the shields "keep your eyes open!" she shouts, "Everyone, steady!" she orders.

"Fan out! Stay in your formations! Remember your trainin'!" Iris shouts, gripping onto her axe, she moves forward and starts hitting the walkers close, "archers!" Iris shouts, moving out of the way as the archers shoot the last of the walkers.

Iris moves to stand in front of the group, Daryl, Michonne and Aaron standing behind her, "good job people! Clean up! Get rest, eat!" Iris says before turning and walking away.

"Training was worth the trip." Michonne says, walking with Iris and Daryl, "Yeah, they did good. Tara would've been proud" Daryl says "Hope so." Iris says "It's good to bring the kids also, let 'em see the ocean for the first time." Michonne says. "Yeah, I know one idiot that would've loved this." Daryl jokes, Iris laughs when Michonne pushes the man.

SKIN.

"Kids found it by the estuary. River must've carried it down." Aaron says into the radio mic, "What does it mean? Are they back?" Gabriel asks through the speaker, "We don't know. But Alexandria should go on lockdown just in case." Aaron says.

"Hold on." Michonne says, stepping forward and pressing the radio button down "We don't have evidence to justify that. My official recommendation is that everyone should stay on alert until further notice. Eyes and ears open. That's it." Michonne says "Copy that. Over and out." "Sounds good. Over and out." Michonne says.

"I appreciate your caution, and I get it, but we do not need to start a panic." Michonne says to Aaron "A lot of stuff washed up ashore from the recent storm. Th-This might not mean anything." Cydnie says "Or it might mean something. Look, no one saw Alpha's herd move out, so maybe no one saw them move back in. But if there's a mask, maybe there are other signs of them out there. We owe it to our people to be sure." Aaron explains.

"I'll gather a group. We'll leave in five." Michonne says "I'm-a hang back for a bit with Iris. We'll catch up." Daryl says "Tell her not to leave again without saying goodbye." Michonne says "Alright." Iris says before following Daryl out of the building.

SEA DOGS.

Iris and Daryl walk along the beach, Dog walking ahead of them, they watch as the oceanside people drag the nets from the sea, Iris notices something wrong with Kelly, Dog runs over to Kelly and Connie, they look up and wave, Iris and Daryl wave back.

They make their way to the dock, looking out at the sea and waiting for the ship, "You ever wonder why they call bird shit "guano"?" Ezekiel asks, "Nah. I just call it bird shit." Daryl says.

"Yeah. Me, too. You know somethin', when I worked in a zoo, birds used to scare the hell out of me. Lions, tigers, no problem. There's a kind of sense to the way big cats operate. But ostriches? Those things'll disembowel you for lookin' at 'em sideways." Ezekiel explains.

"You gotta eat more birds, show 'em who's boss." Daryl says, "Wonder what seagull tastes like." Ezekiel says "Not chicken." Iris answers, making Ezekiel and Daryl chuckle, Iris smiles as she watches Daryl fuss Dog.

"Hi. Hi, buddy. Hi." Daryl says, Dog runs over to Iris, she reaches down and strokes Dog, "Uh. No, he just likes you and Iris better. Right?" Daryl says to Connie. Iris smiles at Connie, "cause you don't let him in bed" Iris jokes.

Iris laughs when she reads what Connie is writing 'not bad- you sign with a southern accent' "Really?" Daryl asks, Connie nods, Iris turns when she hears a bell ringing.

She waves her hand in the air and looks at Carol's ship coming in, Iris watches Carol hug Connie, before Daryl can hug her Iris nudges him out of the way, she holds onto Carol tightly as she swings them side to side, Carol laughs as she hugs the redhead.

She pulls away and watches Daryl hug the woman, lifting her up and spinning her around "did you miss me?" Carol laughs, "nah not really" Daryl grubles, he lays his arm across Carol's shoulders, holding Iris's hand with his other as they make their way off the doc.

"So, how was it out there?" Iris asks, holding onto Daryl's hand as they walk around Oceanside, "Work till you feel like your back's gonna break, then you work some more, and at the end of the night, you fall down and sleep like the dead on a deck under the stars." Carol explains.

"It's the best." she adds "You find what you were lookin' for?" Daryl asks "Oh, then we sailed down south to this dock where Oceanside's been pickin' up letters from Maggie. Wasn't anything there. Hasn't been for a while." Carol says.

"It's been a while since we heard from ya." Daryl says "I told you, fishing's hard." Carol says "That's not what I mean. You were lookin' for her, weren't ya?" Daryl questions "No." "Mm-hmm." "Honestly, no. Tried to forget everything that happened. It was good. And if we're lucky, we'll never have to think about those skin freaks ever again." Carol says.

Daryl and Iris stop, looking at each other, "What?" Carol asks, noticing the pair not telling her something, Iris lets out a sigh before talking "We found one of their masks today." "Okay." Carol says "Michonne just took a group out looking for signs of 'em. You wanna go?" Daryl asks "No. I'm only... I'm only here till the next boat heads out." Carol says "Alright. So, what you wanna do?" Iris asks.

Iris climbs onto her bike leading the way, Daryl and Carol on his behind her, Daryl speeds up and goes past her, Iris shakes her head, and holds on, speeding up to him and getting ahead again.

"I had that one." Carol says "Well, you're supposed to call it." Daryl argues "You didn't call it." Carol says "Don't wanna play with you anymore if you cheat every time." Daryl says "I'm not cheating." Carol laughs, "this is why i dont play anymore, your both cheats" Iris says.

She turns and looks at walkers stumbling towards them, she pulls her axe from her belt, "Watch their hands." she says before moving forward and driving her axe through their heads.