Everything Changes (Sequel To Daryl's Girl)

Chapter 9

We all sat as a group in silence, whilst Glenn built a fire and Daryl and Rick both prepared the dog meat. I felt guilty about the poor animals. They probably hadn't eaten in days even weeks. Living on what ever they could find but on the other hand this would be the first meal any of us had had in a long time.

Daryl went around handing the meat to everyone after it had been cooked and we all dug in. There wasn't much but it was something. It suprised me that even with his religious status, Gabriel removed the band from around his neck and tossed it into the fire before taking a bite of the meat. All of this must be going against everything he stands up for.

We finished our meal and set of again not bothering to stamp out the fire. It would go down and out soon enough. Just being able to take a break from all the walking was enough.

We're all drained. It looked like we were one of the walkers as we made our way down the roads. Almost all of us dragging our feet along the ground with exhaustion. However to my surprise the bottle of water went a long way. Only taking a sip if we were about to keel over.

I walked up ahead with Rick as everyone else trailed behind. "How long do you think we have?" I asked.

"Maybe a day or two." He replied and adjusted Judith in his arms.

"We need to find a place where we can get some supplies. The dog was enough for now but what about next time." I tried to be realistic. Saying what most people were thinking.

"We'll figure it out." Rick glanced at me and down to Judith.

I didn't want to start an argument so I backed of a little and kept walking. We didn't have the energy and the last thing we wanted was for everyone to be at eachothers throats. I glanced behind me to check up on everyone just in case we needed to stop and noticed Daryl was missing. Again.

He was probably out looking for water so I kept it to myself but it still worried me. How long had he been gone? Why didn't he tell any of us? Is he trying to pull away? I lost my train of thought as I noticed something in the road. I glanced at Rick but his eyes were firmly on Judith.

As we got closer I noticed that it was water bottles. They'd been left in the road. I turned my walk into a jog as I ran over to the water. Then I noticed a sign. I picked it up and read it. 'From a friend.' This water must've been purposely placed but by who?

The others weren't too far behind so I turned and looked at them. "From a friend." I read out loud and handed the sign to Rick who passed Judith to Carl.

"We should take it." Molly suggested. "We need it."

As everyone gathered there was a rustle in the trees. We all reached for our weapoms to see that it was only Daryl. We both exchanged looks as Rick walked over and handed him the note.

"What else are we gonna do?" Tara continued the conversation.

"Not this. We don't know who left it." Rick examined the tree line.

"If that's a trap then we already happen to be in it. I for one would like to think that it is indeed from a friend." Eugene kept his eyes on the bottles. It was like he was thinking if he moved then they would disappear. Like we were all hallucinating.

"What if it isn't. Then they've put something in it." Michonne supported Rick.

Eugene stepped forward and picked up a bottle. "Eugene. What are you doing?" Rosita and a few others questioned.

"For the reassurance." He opened the bottle and bought it up to his mouth.

Before anyone else could do anything Abraham stepped forward and knocked the bottle out of his mouth so the water splashed over the ground. He took another look at Eugene and stepped back in his place.