Mute

T H I R T E E N

Soon after my encounter with Daryl, Rick and Jace pulled back up; but they weren't alone. Randle was still with them and they looked very beaten up.

Rick takes Randle to the barn and ties him up again, leaving him alone. I walked up to Rick and stopped him as he tried to go back inside. 

"What happened, Rick?" I sign as he sighs and shakes his head, walking away. 

-----Time skip to next day-----

"Shut up Jace! We haven't even talked about what you did to my barn yet." Dad snapped, making me smirk. 

"Hershel, hear me out." Jace paused, still running his mouth. "We have two pregnant women. One is your daughter." My smirk fell, he was right. We couldn't drop off Randle, but I didn't want to kill the kid. Daryl wrapped his arm around you, making sure no one would see, since you guys were in the back, standing in the corner. 

"I won't let anything happen to ye. Ok?" Daryl whispered, his breath tickling down my neck, making me shiver. I looked over at him and smile, leaning more into him. Sighing, i place my hands on my stomach, just a little above Daryls. 

"Everyone get some rest. We will finish this discussion tomorrow." Rick says, shaking his head, glaring at Jace. I grab Daryl's hand and wait till everyone is out of the room. I grab my dry erase board and write. 

"Sleep with me?"

"Uh, Nicole... I don't know if that's a good idea." Daryl says awkwardly, pursing his lips in a flat line. Sighing, I nod sadly and clean my board. I start to walk away when Darry grabs me and pulls me into a kiss. "Fuck it. Let's go." He whispers, still holding my face close to his. A giant smile crosses my face, as I interlace our fingers and yank him up the stairs. I open my bedroom door, slam it shut, then drag Daryl to the bed and lay down. He wraps his large arms around me, pulling me close and kissing my head. "Good night Nicole."

-----Time skip middle of the night-----

"He's gone!" Someone yelled from down stairs, waking up the whole house. 

Daryl and I jolted out of bed, him grabbing his crossbow and me grabbing my hatchet. Daryl was ahead of me, as we ran outside to see what all the commotion was about. 

The group huddled around something, murmurs erupting along the group, as we walked over. Jace stood in the middle of it all, with blood dripping down from his face. I glared at him, clutching onto my hatchet with force. 

"What the hell?" I sign, everyone turning to look at me. 

"Language Nicole." Dad said softly, returning his focus to Jace.

"Randles gone! He's gone and armed!" Jace freaked out, scaring Carl and Lori.

"What do we do Rick? He can't  be free!" Lori panicked, holding onto Carl for dear life.

"Calm down. Me and Jace will go looking in the fields. Daryl, Glenn and T will go check around in the woods." Rick intrucks, as Daryl hops over the fence, as I latch onto his arm, shaking my head no. 

"I'll be back." 

-----time skip-----

"They should be back by now!" Lori paced around the kitchen, as I stared out the window, awaiting their arrival.

"Let's go get you some water." Carol smiled softly, grabbing Lori's arm and dragging her into the kitchen.

"Do you think they're ok?" Zoey piped up, watching out the window beside me.

"Yeah." I sigh, my eyes never leaving the empty porch.

"I hop---" Zoey was cut off by a gunshot ringing out. Lori and Carol rush back into the living room, giving us a worried glance.

"Maybe they found a walker?" Carol asked hopeful.

"I don't know." I hear someone say as I start getting off the couch and make my way outside, seeing Daryl, Glenn and T emerge from the woods, coming back to the house.

"Where's Rick?" Lori asked them, as I ran up to Daryl and hugged him.

"Maybe they found Randle." Zoey adds, coming outside with us. 

"No, we found Randle as a walker, but the funny thing is, he wasn't bitten or scratched." Daryl growles, wrapping a protective arm around me.

"How is that possible?" Lori askes, taking a seat on the steps.

"I dont know." Daryl mumbles, kissing my forehead. Carol walks back inside, leaving us alone.

"Lori! Where's Carl?" Carol yells from inside the house.

"What do you mean? He should be in Nicole's room!" Lori says, rushing into the house.

"Uh, guys..." T says, fear very evident in his voice.

"What?" Me and Daryl say in the sink, turning towards him. He pointed in front of us, making us look. A giant horde of walkers limped towards us.

"Damn it!" Daryl cursed, reloading his crossbow. "T go warn everyone." 

"Patricia killed the lights!" Dad said, going inside. 

"Nicole, go pack your bags." Daryl instructed me. I nod and take off running up stairs into our room. I pack my clothes, hygiene products and weapons. I rush down stairs and pack the food and water too, carrying each bag onto the porch and waiting.

"Can't we just hide inside?" Patricia asked Daryl.

"Not unless there's a secret tunnel i don't know about!" Daryl snapped, turning his attention back to the horde. "They'll rip right through this place. We need to get moving!"

"Not without Rick and Carl!" Lori snaps, I pick up the bags and rush to Carol's car, tossing them in the back. 

"Let's try to lead them away." Glenn suggest, looking around at us.

"Better night than any." Daryl mumbles as I follow him to his bike. He sighs and nods, telling me to get on. I smile and sit down, as he starts up the bike and starts driving. I hold tight as we drive around the walkers, trying to get them to go in the other direction but failing. 

I pull on his shoulder slightly, telling him to turn back and he does. The barn was up in flames, making me gasp. Who did that???

Daryl pulls the bike to a stop and gets off, followed by me. The walkers were on the farm now and everyone was fighting and running to the cars. We got separated but he didn't notice. I ended up beside Andrea, fighting off a big hored. The cars started pulling out, leaving us.

"No! No! No! No!" Andrea screamed, stabbing a walker. I froze in fear. We're being left behind to die! "We gotta run for it, Nicole!" Andrea yelled, grabbing my hand and started pulling me into the woods with walkers right behind us.