Surviving. (Book Two.)

Chapter Seventeen.

*Sarah's POV*

Daryl and I led the group through the woods to the barn and soon, we got there and Rick, along with a few others went inside to make sure that it was clear while the rest of us stayed outside; our main priority was keeping Judith dry. 

"It's clear!" I heard Rick yell and we all shuffled in, spreading out around the space, putting anything down that we could lay down on and we all gathered some wood to try and start a fire. 

We all crowded around it except for a few and Daryl was trying to make it bigger but it wasn't happening. 

"Here, let me try." Glenn offered, holding his hand out for the wood. 

"Nah. It's too wet." Daryl shook his head, tossing the piece off to the side. 

I looked around the fire at our group. The rain had washed the majority of the blood, sweat and grime off of us and we all looked more refreshed. 

I warm my hands from the heat of the fire, noticing that Rick is staring at Carl, who's sleeping beside Sophia with Judith in his arms.

"He's gonna be okay." I said quietly, his eyes flickering to me. 

"He is," Carol agrees, "He bounces back. More than any of us do." 

"Y'know, I used to feel sorry for kids who have to grow up now," Rick admitted quietly, "I think I got it wrong though. Growing up is getting used to the world. This is easier."

"This isn't the world," Michonne stated quietly, "This isn't it." 

"It might be," Glenn commented, "It might." 

Michonne pursed her lips, "Then it's giving up." 

"No. It's accepting reality." 

"It's fine to say otherwise," Rick said softly, "This is what we have to live with." 

I smile at Daryl when he wraps his jacket around me and I settle back against his shoulder when Rick started to tell a story. 

"When I was a kid, I asked my grandpa once if he ever killed any Germans in the war. He wouldn't answer, said that it was grown up stuff," I saw him smile for a brief second and I find that I'm leaning in closer, intrigued to know the rest of it, "So I asked if any Germans ever tried to kill him. He got real quiet, said he was dead the minute he stepped into enemy territory. Every day he woke up, he told himself, 'Rest in peace. Now get up and go to war' That's the trick of it, I think. We do what we need to do and then...we get to live. But no matter what we find in D.C, I know we'll be okay. Because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves that we are the walking dead." 

I pull the jacket tighter around my shoulders as a shiver runs down my spine and we all stay silent, letting Rick's words sink in.

Daryl shifts beside me so I sit up, watching as he stands, looking down at Rick with an unreadable expression on his face. 

"We ain't them." he muttered. 

"We aren't them," Rick then agrees, "Hey, we aren't." 

Daryl then picked up his crossbow, shaking his head, "We ain't them."

We all watch as he leaves, going into another section of the barn that would allow him to be alone. 

"I'll go," I whispered after a few moments of painful silence, putting the jacket on properly and getting up to follow me.

He was pacing the length of the barn and I leant up against the wall, just watching him quietly. 

"We ain't them." he said for a third time. 

"I know," I breathed, crossing the short space between us and moved behind him while he sat down on a pile of hay. "I don't like seeing you like this." I then mumbled, resting my forehead against his back, "Is there anything I can do?" 

He shook his head, "Jus' ye' being here is enough." 

I nodded and let him turn around before he lay down and I felt a smirk come across my face as I looked down at him, "You wanna have a roll around in the hay?" 

He let out the quietest of laughs, "I've missed ye' sayin' stuff like tha'." 

There was suddenly a large crack of thunder from outside and I winced, "You think this is going to make it through the night. It isn't very sturdy." 

"We'll be fine," he mumbled, pushing himself up again and he went over to the doors, peering out the crack. 

"See anything?" 

"Nothin' to worry 'bout. Ye' should go sleep. I got this." 

"Okay," I breathed, smiling at him when he leant down to kiss me, "But promise you'll come sleep later." 

"I promise." 

Happy with his answer, I left him alone and found a spot close to Sophia and Zeus, pulling the jacket from my shoulders again to use it as a blanket and I realised just how tired I was when I lay down.

***************

It felt as if I had just closed my eyes when I was awoken again and it wasn't from the storm like I had first thought.

No. Maggie had kicked my foot as she had passed by me and sitting up, I saw that her and Daryl were currently at the door, pushing against it to keep it shut. 

Which meant only one thing.

I quickly scrambled up from the ground, grabbing the attention of a lot of the group and I hurried towards the door, throwing myself against it to help as much as I could. 

The rest of the group quickly came to aid us and somehow, with our combined weight against the doors, we managed to keep them relatively shut but it was still a long time until the walkers, if it even was them, got bored and we managed to close them properly. 

Over the storm, all you could hear was our laboured breaths along with Judith's crying and Carl quickly went to go comfort her since he had lay her down on the ground to come help us. 

Rick turned to look at us all, "For the rest of tonight, we need to have people on watch. Two people on each shift. Any volunteers?" 

"I'll do it." I said quickly, "Storm's only get worse and I won't be able to go back to sleep anyway." 

"Alright," he nodded, "Who else?" 

"Me," Carl mumbled, stepping forward, "I want to do it. I've slept most of the night and I'll sleep again when we change shifts." 

"We can switch in a few hours," Glenn said, "Me and Tara next." 

Everyone agreed and slowly went back to where they had been sitting or sleeping and I turned to Daryl, "Now it's time for you to get some rest. You've had a long day. No excuses." 

He nodded, "Alrigh'." 

I then took a seat on the hay next to Carl, "You still got those cards?"