Last One Standing ~ TWD Daryl Dixon

27

Jo

The Big Spot was a fairly long ride from the prison. It took almost a gallon of gas for the truck to get there, so I assumed it was around fifteen to twenty miles away. It was interesting how we gauged distances now. No one had clocks anymore other than Glenn, so time was a relative thing. Unless I was driving I had no way of determining how far we traveled. On the back of Daryl's bike miles didn't matter. There, all that mattered was the feel of the wind in my hair and the sun on my face. Once upon a time I hated the shift, feeling it marked a further loss of civilization and our lives as only built for survival. But now that we had a safe place and steady food supply I found it was a more relaxing way to live. We all did our parts and the group survived.

The parking lot directly in front of The Big Spot was surrounded by a ten foot high chain link fence. This was my second time being here. Daryl and I had come upon the store on a scouting trip a week before. He, Sasha and Glenn did the necessary prep work for this run a few days ago. Daryl parked his bike back a little ways from the fence, walking it backwards into a spot so it was ready for a quick get away, just in case. The others did the same with their vehicles. Daryl stood, holding the bike while I climbed off.

As soon as I was off the bike I pulled my kukri from my waist and Daryl's hunting knife out of its spine sheath. No matter how long I had it I would always think of it as Daryl's knife. Daryl grabbed  his crossbow off the handlebars and tucked it into his shoulder. He glanced once at me and nodded. He took point and I followed. When I glanced at the others I noticed Zack watching us with a curious expression. I frowned at him. When he was caught staring he quickly turned his attention to his shotgun and followed behind the group.

We moved across the parking lot as a unit, everyone listening and watching for any sign of the herd of Walkers that had been here. I kept an eye on our rear as we stopped in front of a break in the fence.

A single walker came shambling around the side of one of the parked cars. I heard Zack suck on a breath and Sasha lifted her gun.

"I got it," I called over my shoulder but I was already moving that way. I didn't bother waiting for Sasha's permission. I wasn't really being rash, I knew Daryl would already have his crossbow pointed at it's skull in case I got in trouble.

The walker used to be either a teenage girl or a small woman but the decomposition was so advanced it was hard to tell. It's shambling picked up and it growled in excitement as I walked straight for it. It's fingers reached out for me and when they were a hairsbreadth from touching me I spun to the right. I slammed my right forearm into its outstretched arms knocking them away as I spun. When I came around I slammed the leaf shaped  blade up into the base of it's skull. The body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

But only the body collapsed. The head remained stuck on my blade. I looked down at it and wrinkled my nose. Gross. I whipped my arm straight out as hard as I could and the velocity cleared my blade sending the head flying. It landed with a viscous squish. The whole thing took me less than a minute.

I turned back to the group. Zack, Bob and Tyreese were all looking at me with wide, shocked eyes. I stooped to wipe the blade on a scrap of the walkers clothes that wasn't as gore covered as the rest. When I straightened they were still staring at me like I was going to attack them next. And then, because I didn't appreciate being stared at like I was a freak I twirled the kukri in my hand in an overly dramatic way to adjust my grip so the blunt spine of the blade was pressed against my leather covered forearm. They quickly looked away.

I met Daryl's eyes behind them and he was shaking his head and grinning. Sasha was glaring at me. That's okay, Sasha and I were never destined to be best friends.