My Damaged Protector

Chapter Thirty-Five ~ Strangers

The new members of our group were really kind. Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene had found Glenn and a girl names Tara on the side of the road, meeting up with Maggie a few days ago. Abraham was hilarious, always cracking jokes to lighten the situation and he had a lot of knowledge about survival, using his military training. Rosita was a reserved woman, mostly keeping to her little group of three but offering enough help to slowly get to know a few of us. Eugene was an odd ball, I was sure that without Abraham and Rosita, he wouldn't have made it this far. He was a scientist, claiming he had information on how to fix the world if we could get him to DC. And then there was Tara. She had been with the group that found the Governor after he killed his people. She was at the prison during the attack but quickly turned away, going back to help Glenn out.

We spent days walking on the road, looking for shelter through the night and getting back to walking the next morning. I hadn't strayed more than a few yards from Daryl's side as we walked together, the only time we were apart was when he and Merle went off into the woods to hunt.

We were all on edge. One night we were finally able to get some real sleep, Daryl and Rick taking watch while the rest of us got any possible sleep. Something stirred me in the middle of the night and my eyes were instantly searching for Daryl in the dark, a loud snapping from the woods making me sit up straight and look to the two men who were already facing the trees. The two of them assured the few awake members that it was nothing and that we could go back to bed, but I simply sat up and moved to Daryl's side for the remainder of the night.

Rick woke everyone the next morning a few hours after the sun began to rise. I took Judith from a very tired Carl, holding the little girl on my hip as we walked. Merle and Daryl took off into the woods, opting to hunt along our route as we continued on the road.

Rick had matched his pace to mine, walking along with me while the others took the lead. "I wanted to thank you again Skye." He said softly to me, running his hand gently across Judy's back. "I can't believe you got her out."

"You know I'd do anything for this little one." I bounced Judith a bit, making her giggle and grab onto my necklace. "Oh, I almost forgot. She's started talking a little over the last week."

Rick's eyes lit up in excitement. "Yeah?"

"Mm-hm." I nodded. "She's sayin' momma and dada." I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous for his reaction, knowing it had to be hard hearing his daughter calling someone momma who really wasn't. He gave me a soft smile in response, opting not to say anything on the matter.

Snapping from the bushes made everyone freeze, Rick pushing Judith and I back slightly as they all raised their weapons. Daryl came out of the tree line with Merle behind him. "We surrender." My hunter held his hands up playfully, a smirk on his face.

Both Dixon men were smiling, Daryl heading up to speak with Rick while I fell back to walk with Merle. "How was hunting?" I wondered, making small talk with the man.

"Went well." He said, motioning to the line of squirrels he had tied over his shoulder.

Before I could respond, screams for help ripped through the air. We all stopped, hesitating to go running at new people after our encounter with Terminus. "Dad, come on." Carl pleaded with his father; gun already held in his hands. "Come on!"

With a nod from Rick, we were all running after the sound.

We ran through the woods, coming across a man up on a boulder with walkers surrounding him and reaching up. A good portion of the group fanned out to take out the walkers, allowing the man to carefully look over the edge at us.

"We're clear." Rick mumbled as we all stared up at the man.

"Come on down." I said softly to the terrified man, inviting him down with a wave.