The Longest Mile (#Wattys2016)

Tomorrow We'll Continue On

"What's your name?" The brunet asked sweetly as she lead me to a place I could spend the night inside the walls.
     "Aahana Darren." I didn't miss a beat, okay with telling my real name. The lady nodded, as a blind man walked beside us. He pulled the woman aside.
     "That's Sierra...!" He hissed, but I still heard most of what he said. Lucky for him I wasn't quite able to make out the rest of his words.

The brunet looked a little shaken up, but composed herself before leading me into an empty room with bunk beds.
     "You can stay here if you'd like. No other kids should bother you." She told kindly. I nodded. She turned to leave, but my voice stopped her.
     "He was right."
     She turned, facing me once more. "What do you mean?"
     "That man. He's right. Or, in my case. Was. But Sierra. I am nothing to her." I told the wall to my right, only giving the woman a clear view of my bandaged eye. I had to patch it up myself. But only put the bandages over the cuts, so I could see almost clearly out of my left eye. Looking at the woman out of the corner of my eye, I could see her face drop. It wasn't hard to tell she figured out why I ran away from home. Swiftly she grabbed a sticky note and a pen.
     "Tonight is going to be a full moon." She told before handing me a piece of paper.
     'To stay away from her you need to get out of here. Tonight.'
I looked back up to her. I didn't even know her name and she was trying to help me. The wildness of her eyes told me she was serious. That the other adults were probably contacting Sierra at that very moment. And knowing Her, She'd be here by morning.

I nodded, accepting someone's help for the first time in what felt like forever....

I woke up in a confused panic. Normally I didn't have nightmares if someone was with me. But I woke up all alone in a room I didn't recognize, having had a dreamless sleep. As soon as my hands clutched the comforter, I instantly calmed down as the memory of the day before came back to me. I put on a new set of clothes that was left for my on the dresser, and went into the kitchen. My father had heftily thought of me before he left this morning having left a note saying he'd hopefully be back soon, and that he already fed River. But the one thing he mostly forgot again, was Daryl. I knew there was no conflict between the two, he was just coughs up being the protective father he almost always was. I glanced down at the note as I slid half of my breakfast onto a plate for Daryl. I wasn't that hungry anyway.

- P.S. Teucer & Ajax

I smiled at the thought that he saw a mix of that story too. My attention was adverts to the couch when Daryl rolled over. He rubbed his eyes before slowly sitting up.
     "Morning sleeping beauty." I smirked through a forkful of food. But my smirk soon faded as I realized he probably didn't sleep that well last night. "You know we're safe here. Right?"
Daryl grunted, still not exactly looking me in the eye. That was when I priced it together. "Did you and my dad have a nice walk?" Luca would get up every morning early, especially when something was on his mind - that was when he got up really early- and go for a walk. He always made sure to get back before I was up most the time, but I still knew he did it. And if Daryl caught him on one, then he knew something I didn't. My father had told him something.
     "Yeah." Daryl tried to hold back the yawn as he walked over and grabbed the plate I had set beside me for him. He shoveled the food into his mouth with his fingers. I set my fork down not as hungry anymore as Daryl finished his food. Without thinking I handed my plate back to him. "Tecer and Ajack. What the hell is tha'?" I almost laughed at the way he said the two names as he licked his fingers.

"Teucer and Ajax. They're half brothers in Greek mythology." Daryl raised an eyebrow at me encouraging me to finish the story. I turned on the stool I sat on. "Teucer was an archer, greatly known in the Trojan war. He fought alongside his half brother. He shot from behind Ajax's large shield. Teucer helped out many of the Greeks by killing several of the Trojans that charged toward them. But every time he tried to aim at the prince of Troy, Apollo would cause the shot to fail. The prince was enraged by Teucer's success, he injured him by throwing a rock. He had to stop fighting for a while.
"But when Teucer returned to the battlefield, he had to use a spear to fight after his bow was broken by Zeus." I paused. "Meanwhile Ajax with his shield and spear along with another man recover the body of Achilles while fighting off Trojans, along with his armor. Then it came down to who was getting the armor." Well shit. "Ajax... Uh. Ended up dying not having received the armor. Which left Teucer to stand before their father. Having not bringing his half brother's body back, or at the least his weapon, the king disowned Teucer." I looked over at Daryl, to find he was listening to every word. "Before he left, he gave a speech, some of his most notable words. 'Despair in no way... Tomorrow we will set out upon the vast ocean.' He ended up in a place called Cryprus, and founded a city he named Salamis, after his home he was exiled from." It was silent for a while, before Daryl set down the plates.
     "That seems like some messed up shit." I knew Daryl figured out why this story was important. In a perfect world I would say what we both were thinking out loud. But since the dead was walking around outside Bentford's walls, obviously it wasn't.

His was easy.
Daryl was Ajax, minus the pigheaded part. Trying to shield everyone he loved and used his spear to help protect them.

Mine was complicated.
Me, I'm the one still trying to shoot from behind the shield. I'm the one almost constantly killing my enemies, and the occasional people I cared for as the life I was forced to take up barrels at me. I'm the flipping idiot that gets struck down by a rock, before having my bow break.

I stood with a sigh. "Despair in no way... Tomorrow we will set out upon the vast ocean." I gave Daryl a small smile before leaving him and River in the apartment.
It was kinda like saying, don't let the small things hold you down, tomorrow we continue on. Tomorrow we'll continue on.
As I walked in the middle of the street when I spotted my father. A smile made its way onto my face until I saw what he was holding.

Oh no. No no no no no no. Shit!

I legs carried me in a sprint to my father.
     "Where did you find this?" I asked, worry traced my voice as I held Carl's hat.
     "Luke found it a couple hours ago. We were just about to head back out."
     "Then let's get back out there."
     "Let's?" Like question.
     "This is not a question. My friends are out there and if I can help I'm gonna." My father nodded knowing all too well it was pointless to argue.
     "We should be back in an hour or two." Our father patted my step brother on the shoulder. I placed the hat on my head before trailing behind him. "Oh, and Luke, Tell Daryl I'm out with my dad." He nodded an 'okay' before I jogged to catch up to my dad.
~~

Daryl had been going around for a while looking for Sunny. He had thought about the story she had told that morning. There had been a gunshot a while ago, but he had brushed it off thinking nothing of it. They had Bentford's alliance, they needed to find Rick and the others and start planning. Above all they needed to get back to Alexandria soon. He saw the young man named Luke, and walked up to him.
     "Hey, where's Sunny?" Daryl asked, trying not to sound too demanding. But overall, Luke tried to hide how much this man intimidated him.
     "Uh... She went out with..." He trailed off having realized something as a small group gathered up with a small sense of hurry and walked out the gates. "With dad a while ago." With that he took off, a small panic rising inside of him, leaving Daryl confused what the hell was going on.
He stood there for a good ten minutes before a gunshot rang out. That was when it hit him.

Sunny was still out there.

A/N
Sorry for not updating in a little while but here ya go! Not much happens (and quite a bit happens at the same time). Soooo, Sunny tells Daryl the story about Teucer and Ajax - comparison to their lives- then her father shows up with Carl's hat. Dun dun dun! (Me failing at dramatics)
Anyway....
Sunny goes out with her father.... And something must have happened. Cause, she's still out there and there's a single gunshot?!
Soooooooooooooooo...
Is there something left out of the part of Ajax's death in the story?
Is Carl okay? - Carny still needs to happen! Or maybe Aarl?-
And WtF happened?! - is Sunny still alive-?
Remember to vote and comment!
Find out..... In the next chapter!