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

Chapter 27: Going Back

"Do you hear that?" I ask Sasha and Abraham, hoping it's just me.

"What?" Sasha returns to me.

"That-- that sound. It sounds like a horn?" I question, the noise barely audible over the sound of the dead and the bike.

"I don't hear anything." Abraham comments back, "I still think I got some of Pete's brains in my ear." He sort of chuckles.

I move to the end of the seat and roll down the windows, "Daryl!" I call out, sticking my head out. He must hear me and slows his bike down, getting next to the car, "do you hear that?" I ask him.

He nods his head towards me and then moves one arm off the handles and radios out, "Rick."

"I'm here." He returns, Abraham grabbing the radio up from the dash.

"What's going on back there?" Daryl asks quickly in return.

"Half of them broke off. They're going toward Alexandria." Rick responds.

Sasha looks to Abraham then to me, "towards you?" Abraham asks.

"We ran ahead." Rick returns, "there's a horn or something. Loud, coming from the east." He's panting, clearly on the run, "it's not stopping."

"I'm gonna gas it up, turn back." Daryl tells him, wanting to help.

Rick quickly denies it though, "we have it. You keep going."

"They're gonna need our help." Daryl argues.

"Gotta keep the herd moving." Rick still persists.

"Not if shits goin down, we don't!" Daryl keeps trying.

Rick explains, "the rest of that herd turns around, the bad back there gets worse." No answer from Daryl, so Rick reaches out, "Daryl?"

"Yeah, I heard you." I hear him say, not liking the plan.

Daryl comes back up after going only a few more feet, "hey!" He shouts getting our attention, "we gone five miles out yet?" He asks.

"Give or take some yardage." Abraham quickly responds, "you got a reason for asking?"

Daryl answers, "next intersection, we're gonna spin around and go back." He informs.

"The plan is to go 15 more!" I remind him, knowing Rick wants us to keep going.

"Yeah, I'm gonna change that." Daryl says, "five's gonna have to work."

I roll my eyes at his words, "the magic number's 20." Abraham tells him, "that's the mission.
That's making sure they're off munching on infirm raccoons the rest of their undead lives instead of any of us."

"You want to go, we can't stop you." Sasha yells from the drivers side, "but without you, they could stop us."

Daryl puts his attention back on the road, and I breathe out believing he knows what we have to do. But I was wrong, as he shouts out to us, "nah, I got faith in ya's!" And pulls away quickly.

"Daryl!" I yell out the window to him but he probably doesn't hear me over the engine of the bike and keeps going, "asshole!" I mutter loudly, slamming my back into the back seat.

"He'll be fine." Sasha tries to encourage me a few minutes later, eyeing me from the rear view mirror.

"Ya, I know." I return, still biting at my nails.

My mind continues roaming through the worst possible sceanarios about Daryl and Alexandria. It's not until I hear Rick on the walkie that I focus again, "I'm in place by my best guess. You guys make it back yet?" He asks, not meaning for us to reply. "Glenn?" He waits but no one answers, "Tobin, you there?" He asks. No answer back, "Daryl?" My heart races, worried I won't hear his voice echo through the car.

"I'm here." He says.

"Won't be long now. They're almost here. I'll get them going your way again." Rick explains, I exhale, happy the plan will get back on track again.

"How 'bout that, Daryl?" Sasha grabs the radio from Abraham, "he's gonna be coming our way."

Daryl doesn't answer. Rick comes on again, "there's gunfire coming from back home." He keeps us informed. We must be too far out to hear it now, "we gotta sit with it and hope they can handle it. I think they can. They have to. We keep going forward for them. Can't turn back 'cause we're afraid."

Sasha shares the radio with Abraham, "we ain't afraid." He says. I nod my head, trying to buy into it. Although I am afraid, afraid of a lot of things right now.

Rick adds, "this is for them. Going back now before it's done, that'd be for us." A few seconds of silence, "the herd has to be almost here."

Minutes pass when I hear Daryl on the radio again ",Rick? Rick? Rick? Rick?" He's asking over and over again.

"What?" Sasha questions, unsure why he would be doing that.

"Maybe he heard somethin' we didn't?" Abraham asks.

"Give me that!" I demand, reaching my arm over the middle console to grab the radio from Sasha's hand. She lets it go and I pull it close to my lips, "don't be stupid Daryl. Be careful!" I tell him. I know how he thinks. If he's worried for Rick, he'll go off and try to find him or something. I wait for a response but don't get one. I throw the radio on the seat next to me and we all just stare ahead in more silence.

As the miles slowly go by we come to a fork in the road. Sasha hears it first, "you hear that?" She turns her head to smirk at me.

"Huh?" I ask, not knowing what she is talking about. She turns her head and I follow, turning mine as well. From a distance I see the familiar silhouette of Daryl Dixon riding up on his motorcycle. He gets closer to coming into our road and I mutter out for the second time that day, "asshole" with a smirk on my lips instead of a scowl.

The sun sits high in the sky and Sasha notices the mile marker up ahead, she asks for the radio and I quickly pass it over to her, "all right."

Daryl asks, "that's 20?"

"It will be." Sasha informs him, "we gotta put distance between us and them before the turnoff."

Abraham adds on, grabbing Sasha's hand, "so floor it."

Daryl jokes, "all right, try to keep up."

I smile as he pulls off in front of us, "Daryl, have you looked at this car?" Sasha chuckles out, "believe me, we want to get back there, too."