Chapter 3: Gone
{Jess' POV}
1 year. 12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days.
Our life had been filled with killing Geeks and foraging and hunting for a whole year. It felt like 10 years. Danny and I were dating before the whole apocalypse started, and we had stayed together though it all. Our horses, two dark bay Dutch warmbloods, were covered in sweat and they were breathing heavy. The walkers behind us would not let up, not for anything. I knew that we were far ahead of them, but the hunger of the dead combined with our scent and the sound of our horses hooves drew them to us.
I couldn't remember how long we had been running from them, but all I knew is our horses couldn't take much more. The trees were becoming more and more dense as we went further and further. Eventually Danny had to go around a group of trees, and I kept going the same way, waiting for him to come back.
And waited. And waited.
I never saw him after that. I stopped my horse and yelled, "Danny! Danny, where are you?! Danny!" A lurker beside a tree lunged for my horse and he spooked, throwing me off.
I felt a sudden, searing pain in my leg and looked down, seeing my dagger jammed into my thigh, the area around it dark with fresh blood. My mouth was open in a silent scream, tears filling my eyes. Using the tree I had fallen on, I stood up slowly, seeing my horse gone. The lurker that had spooked him was trapped under a fallen tree, and the others had followed Danny. I hobbled along the road, knowing I was losing a lot of blood.
About an hour or so later I was covered in blood and guts from killing walkers, and I was getting extremely dizzy. I leaned against a tree, my vision spotty. I heard footsteps behind me and tried to move, thinking it was a walker, but instead I fell on my side, my hand resting on the hilt of the dagger still lodged into my leg.
{Duck's POV}
My Dad and I were out hunting. I was so excited, he finally let me go with him! I hated to leave Clementine, but I knew this was helping everyone in our group. Daryl, Rick, and Carl went one way, while we went the other.
I was walking when I saw a girl, a year or two older than Carl, I would have guessed. She was passed out, a knife jammed into her leg. "Dad!" I called, and he came running. He picked the girl up, "Damn she's lost a lot of blood. Let's get back to the neighborhood now."
I frowned and walked back with him. It was moments like these when I wished Mommy was still alive.
{Daryl's POV}
She woke up a few minutes later, groggy. "W-what happened...?" She murmured quietly, her eyes barely open. Rick knelt beside her on one knee, "you passed out. We think it's from lack of food and maybe working yourself too hard." She nodded at that. "Sounds about right.." She laughed weakly and coughed, shutting her eyes.
"We never got your name." I said, looking at her. "My name?" She paused, as if she didn't know it. "Carol..." she muttered. "I almost forgot what my name was. I haven't told it to anyone in months."
Carl was holding Lady, trying to keep her calm. I picked Carol up and she instinctively curled against my chest, her breath slow and shallow. "C'mon, let's get back." I mounted Lady and held Carol close to my chest with one arm, my crossbow across my back, the shoulder-strap across my chest. Rick and Carl started walking back in the direction of the neighborhood and I kicked Lady, holding the reins with one hand.
In a few hours we were back at the neighborhood.
