My Secrets In The Apocalypse

Chapter 27

Riley had only been walking for a few minutes when she noticed a big green road sign that had her name smeared on it in mud. She went to the sign curiously, noticing a piece of paper taped to the bottom of the sign so she could reach it. She yanked it down and unfolded it, reading the messy writing.
"Riley,
Road blocked ahead, had to go around.
We will wait for you."
Under the short note was a messily drawn map showing her which way to go. They had doubled back from the roadblock a little way to a small road just off of the main highway. It wasn't very far ahead of her so she continued walking, picking up her pace since she was losing the daylight.

She found the side road easily, not surprised to see it was a gravel road that seemed to cut through the woods. They had survived the winter so far by staying off of the main roads and sticking to back roads. The highways were dangerous, usually because of herds of walkers, but also because of other groups. People were getting desperate, willing to do pretty much anything to steal any supplies they could.
Riley's feet crunched on the gravel as she trudged down the narrow winding road. The sun was really low, the light almost gone as the woods around the road grew thicker. She held her hatchet firmly, her senses on high alert as she continued through the darkness. There was a rustling in the trees along the side of the road, closely followed by moans and growls. She turned around in time to see three walkers come stumbling out of the woods just behind her. She took a step forward, ready to strike when there was more rustling just behind them.
"Shit!" she breathed as several more stumbled out of the bushes behind the first three.
The walkers caught sight of her, hissing and moaning hungrily as they lumbered towards her. Riley took a shaky breath, quickly turning on her heel and running down the road, away from the walkers. Her lungs burned with her labored breathing as she barreled down the gravel road, desperately searching through the darkness for any sign of her people. She pushed her already tired legs to keep going as she slowly gained some distance between herself and the group of walkers.

Riley panted heavily, feeling her side start to cramp as she ran. A faint dot of orange came into view in the distance and she felt like she could cry, knowing that had to be her group. She threw a glance over her shoulder, noticing there was a pretty big gap between herself and the walkers. Some of them were still following her, not giving up on the meal before them, but it seemed like a few of them had meandered off. Glad that the number was down to one she could manage, she pulled her hatchet from her belt and waited as they approached her.
She bashed the first walker in the head, gagging when the heavily decomposed skull splattered her with blood and gore. She didn't have time to throw up, the other walkers were right on her. Riley yanked the hatchet from the mess of the first walkers skull, swinging it down hard on the next two. She made quick work of the rest of the walkers that had followed her, smashing their heads in quickly. Once she was out of danger, Riley quickly used her shirt to wipe some of the blood from her face before continuing onwards.

Riley felt relief flow through her when she saw the familiar outlines of her group sitting around a small campfire. One silhouette in particular caught her attention, Daryl, who was still wearing that silly poncho, was pacing up and down the road near the small camp restlessly. He held his crossbow at the ready, surveying the area while Rick paced the edge of the woods with his pistol. Riley made her footsteps more pronounced on the gravel road as she got closer.
Daryl's head snapped up at the sounds of gravel crunching in the distance. He lifted his crossbow, aiming it into the darkness warily.
"Who's there?" he called out, catching the attention of the group as they all looked over nervously.
"It's just me," Riley said as she continued walking closer.
"Dinky," Daryl immediately lowered the crossbow and started walking in her direction.
Riley sped up, jogging up to Daryl and throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. He wrapped his strong arms around her tightly and buried his face in her hair as she laughed in relief. The rest of the group was immediately on their feet, they all hurried over toward them with a mix of relieved and happy expressions.
"You crazy lil shit," Daryl mumbled squeezing her tighter before releasing his hold on her. Before Riley could take a breath, she was being crushed in another hug.
"You had us all really worried," Daniel said before letting her go.
"What the hell did you blow up back there?" T-dog asked.
"A gas station," she shrugged.
"I taught you well," Dimitrij chuckled ruffling her hair affectionately, making Riley laugh.
"Thank you," Rick said putting a hand on her shoulder briefly before going back to his watch by the woods.