A Brother's Influence (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Sutter's Mill

Road sign up ahead said Ivey.......three miles. Macon.......twenty four miles. That was the first road sign they had seen in hours. Both men were tired and in desperate need of rest. If they didn't find something soon, they would just have to stop and make a camp, which neither felt comfortable doing. The moon was at half now and gave some light but the woods still held an ominous feeling. They were starting to see abandoned vehicles on the side of the road now and they took the time to rummage through them looking for anything that could have been left behind. It was unbelievable that they hadn't come across an old gas station or something. They had just passed a crowd of vehicles when they heard a large group of moaning Walkers. They couldn't see them yet but they were close. Because there wasn't much light, their vision was strained. They both decided to jump into a nearby Tahoe that was sitting in the middle of the road. 

They waited quietly, not even whispering to each other. The moaning got louder and they could actually feel the ground shake a little. It must be a big group which scared the hell out of them. They kept their head low and remained quiet, too scared to even move. It was a full hour after they had heard the last of the moaning before they allowed themselves to move. "What the hell was that?" Merle crept his eyes above the door of the Tahoe and searched for any stragglers.

"I have no idea." Daryl had climbed into the back storage area and was looking out the back window, making sure the coast was clear. "Let's get going, I think it's clear."

They jumped out of the Tahoe and started up the road. The night was warm and muggy, and walking this much made them sweat. They finally came to the little town called Ivey. It was small and looked abandoned. They tried the little cafe, which had a sign saying it was open but no one was around. They helped themselves to some food and some juices that were in little boxes.

They left the cafe and headed toward the middle of town. In a few houses, small dim lights could be seen but when they knocked on their doors, no one would answer. Just a few blocks away, not too far into the city, they came to an upscale restaurant that was built inside an old mill. It was called Sutter's Mill. It had a big windmill at the top and it looked picturesque against the woods. It looked like there were windows up high so the guys thought that would be a good place to spend the night. They walked to the front door but it was locked. They went around to the back but that door was locked too. Daryl dropped his bag on the ground and jumped on a fence and used that to climb to the roof. Once on the roof, he tried the windows but all were locked. He used his foot and kicked through the glass and slipped in the window.

Once in, Daryl fumbled his way downstairs to the door to let Merle in. The electricity didn't seem to be working so when they opened the back door, no alarms went off. They walked through the dining area and headed back upstairs to where the offices were that Daryl saw on his way down. Daryl started to push open the door to the room he thought was the office when he heard a voice say, "Take one more step and I'll unload this shotgun into you." 

The voice was female that was a given but the voice was shaky and young. "Who are you?" Daryl asked the stranger. "We are not here to hurt you, we are just looking for shelter for the night."

"Go somewhere else, we were here first." The girl said. 

"We? Who is here with you?"

"Never mind, it's not your business." She sounded so young.

"Hey, it's just me and my brother, we're not here to hurt anyone."

Before the girl could answer, they could hear a Walker downstairs. It sounded like more than one but not a large group. Daryl put his finger to his lips to tell the girl to be quiet and held his bow and started for the stairs with Merle behind him. In the dining area, they could see the shadows of three Walkers roaming around. Daryl motioned for Merle to get the far right one while he took the one on the left. He pointed his arrow at the head of his Walker and pulled the trigger. Merle jumped behind the his Walker and stuck the knife into the top of her head. They worked fast and efficient and they had the third one down without any struggle. They dragged them out to the garbage bin and threw them in. Looking down the street, they started to see more and more Walkers. They rushed back in and barricaded the door with tables and chairs.