Fighting to Survive: The 3rd installment to Daring to Feel

Chapter 26: Taking Action

"iight, let's go." Daryl says as we all start to pile out of town to meet up at the crater. Today we are going to do a dry run of the plan, get ready for tomorrow. Some more Alexandrian's have returned from a run and Rick thinks we are as good as we're gonna be.

I ride on the back of the bike, holding onto Daryl tightly. He wouldn't come out and say it, but I know he wanted me to stay back after what happened yesterday. I can't though, I can't just sit back like I used to and pretend I'm okay with him being out there without me. Everyone parks their rides and we pile out, eyeing the crater of dead bodies just yards away. Rick starts his speech, looking over his shoulder and pointing out, "this is where it all starts tomorrow. Tobin gets in the truck, opens the exit and we're off. He hops out, catches up with his team at red staying on the west side of the road. Daryl gets on his bike--" A rumbling calls everyone's attention, stopping Rick mid sentence.

"You see that?" Sasha calls out, her finger pointing.

I grab Daryl's arm and mumble, "shit."

The truck blocking in the heard of roamers starts to crash down, opening it for them to pile out of, "it's open!" Someone calls out through the noise.

"We got to do this now!" Rick hustles, "we're doing this now! Tobin's group, get moving, go!"

I hear Carter argue back as I move towards the car, "no, Rick, we're not ready."

"Sasha! Abraham!" Rick calls out to them.

Abraham hollers back "damn straight, we'll do it live." They get into the front and slam the car doors shut.

Rick quickly adds before they pull off "you meet Daryl and Sadie at red. Let him take them through the gauntlet!"

"Yeah, we meet at red." She calls and they are off.
"Go!" He shouts as they pull away.

Glenn runs over to him "Rick, I'll hit the tractor place."

I stay at the ready with my bow next to Daryl, waiting for orders. Glenn moves to collect others to go with him. Carter continues to argue with Rick, "Rick, this was supposed to be a dry run."

Rick ignores him for a moment, "Daryl, get ready!"

"They're comin'." Daryl stands, ready to start taking them out.

"Rick, we haven't even gone through the whole plan." Carter keeps trying to get us to all stop.

"You want to go back, go back. We're finishing this!" Rick demands, turning away from him one more time, "Tobin, you hit it on my signal. They're heading for home. We don't have a choice." I wait in anticipation for the moment to get going, and for it to already be over, "get ready to hit the flares." Seconds go by before he yells out, "NOW!" And the flare goes into the air and the engine of the truck holding them in roars to life.

"Tobin!" I shout over the load noise, "hit the truck!" The truck starts to move away so Daryl and I release our bows. They hit they're target and we move to the motorcycle, hopping on quickly to guide the dead away.

We drive slowly for miles, keeping the heard behind us. After a few minutes I turn my head around, trying to get a look, "damn it girl, stop lookin' back there." Daryl mutters to me, trying to keep the bike steady.

"Sorry. It's just--" I don't finish my sentence though, too overwhelmed by how many there actually are. This heard would easily rip through the little town, and we're lucky to have put together our plan when we did.

"Just stay focused" He tells me, his own arms rigid. I nod as if he can see me and keep steady. It's not long after that before Sasha and Abraham pull out in front of us. We keep moving, slowly behind them up towards the wall. Rick, Michonne and Morgan start sending off flares as we take the curve, keeping them on track. I hold my breathe as I keep my head on a swivel watching them start to slam into the wall. They ultimately bounce off of it though, and continue following us down the road.

After getting down the road a few feet I hear Abraham shouting out. I mutter, "what the hell?" As I look over my shoulder, seeing him go into the woods.

"Getting the lose ends." Daryl grumbles back to me knowing what he's doing.

"Well, he shouldn't be out there alone!" I tell him before letting go of his waist and swinging myself off the bike quickly. I almost trip and fall but catch myself quickly and start to follow Abraham's path.

"Sadie!" I hear Daryl call after me and look towards me.

"I have too! I'm sorry!" I shout back to him, shooting him my sad sorry eyes. I can tell he's furious at me but I turn away, wanting to stay focused and stay alive. I take one out with the end of my bow that was turned away going after him. I stay a few feet behind as he hollers after the dead, swinging something shiny around in the air, "that's good, lets go!" I holler to him, noticing some of the ones in the heard getting attracted to the woods. I move back to the road "WHOOH!" I shout, keeping their focus.

Abraham gets up next to me, his face splattered with blood. One of the walkers from the woods is next to us, "come on!" He shouts towards it, "this is my ride, asshole." And slams it across the head with his gun. He runs to the front seat and I run to the back, quickly getting in. I don't want to have Daryl stop on the bike, knowing how dangerous it could be to get moving again that close to the walkers. "Whoo!" Abraham chuckles, "well, look at me. " He looks at himself in the mirror.

"Calm down" I roll my eyes. Sasha looks at me with crazed eyes, not believing what he just pulled.

"You didn't see Reg the night he got it." He starts talking to Sasha, "that was a mess. And Pete. His face just blowing up like Pompeii right when we were cheek to cheek." As he talks, I notice Daryl slowing the bike down even more so he's right next to the car. I stare out the window and Daryl catches my eye. His jaw tightened, clearly mad at me. His eyes hold mind for only a moment before he picks up the speed just a little and takes the front again.

"What the hell are you doing?" I hear Sasha ask, grabbing my attention again.

"I'm just grabbing the bull by the nutsack." Abraham says. I roll my eyes with a chuckle, "I'm living, darling, just like you." It's not long after that before I can hear the sound of a faint horn in the distance.