Surviving Terminus (BOOK TWO IN THE SURVIVING THE WALKING DEAD SERIES)

Running Into Trouble

THREE MONTHS LATER

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping, the spring sun shining on my face, and the sound of Tara messing around with the generator again. It's the same thing every morning, Tara or I wake up and do perimeter while the other person turns on the generator. "Shit!" I exclaimed as I jumped out of bed and ran out the front door.

"Good morning, sleepy head." Tara chuckled.

"Tara, I am so sorry that I overslept."

"It's alright. You were up late, I get it. No biggie."

~LAST NIGHT~

I sat on the front porch steps and looked out onto the property. Crickets were chirping, and the occasional hoot from an owl coming from a nearby nearby tree, it all relaxed me, took me back to the times where I could just sit and relax on the farm. I gently closed my eyes as the gentle breeze blew through my hair. Fire. I quickly opened my eyes as the image of the burning barn entered my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, the image was still there.

"Painful memories?" Merle asked. I gently nodded. "Ya gotta let 'em pass, otherwise you'll miss what your subconscious mind is tryin' to tell ya." I gently closed my eyes and the images flashed before my eyes once again. The burning barn, mine and Daryl's kiss, Hershel and shooting his shotgun, Patricia screaming as a walker bit her.

"Patricia." I gasped as I opened my eyes.

"There ya go." I quickly stood up and ran over to the last place I saw her. A lot of bones were missing, mostly the small bones that the wind managed to blow away, but the heavier bones like the skull and spine remained, partially buried in the dirt. I pulled out my knife and gently dug away until unearthing her remains. "What are ya gonna do with 'er?" I looked off towards the barn and half smiled.

"I'm gonna put 'er where she belongs, right next to Otis." I pulled off Merle's button up shirt and placed her bones inside and carried them over to the barn. I gently placed them on the ground and walked over to the shed to get a shovel. As soon as I opened the door, the memory of Randall's interrogation and torture filled my mind. The floor was stained with blood, bloodied handcuffs were still cuffed and attached to the metal poles.

"Jesus." Merle chuckled. "Ya weren't kiddin'. Ya really cut his dick off."

"Ya thought I was lyin'?"

"Ya don't seem like the type to torture someone."

"I walked in on my dad beatin' the shit out of a guy who owed 'em money. The man kept sayin' he didn't have it so he chopped off the guy's finger. The guy still said he didn't have it, so he chopped off another. The guy finally paid up and my dad told me 'When you're lookin' for answers, desperate times call for desperate measures'."

"Smart man." Merle smiled.

"He was an abusive drunk who liked to gamble, nothin' more." I walked over to the wall and grabbed my shovel and made my way back over to the graves and began to dig next to where Otis was buried. Once the hole was a few feet deep, I gently placed the bones inside and reburied them. The graves had been trampled by the massive herd of walkers, their crosses were heavily damaged beyond repair. "I gotta fix this shit." I walked over to the woods and began to snap off twigs and gathered some juncus for cordage and began to tie the sticks together. "It ain't the best, but it's better than nothin'." I placed the last cross into the ground and stood back as I looked down at Dale's grave.

"You alright?" Merle asked.

"I just wish we could've buried Hershel."

"Ya made a cross for 'em, that's as good as it's gonna have to be. I'm sorry." I gently nodded and knelt down beside Dale's grave as I fiddled with his watch around my wrist. "What's the deal with that watch? I always saw him messin' with it."