Angel

Chapter Nine: Jessie & Daryl

Jessie

I had been gone two full days from Daryl, and there was no way I was making it back tonight. Traveling in the dark through the thick, dense woods was nothing short of stupid and deadly. There was no way now I was going to make mistakes when so much was at stake.

After I left Daryl, I had walked for a couple hours before I started seeing signs of walkers and then actually encountering them. I had been able to avoid them for the most part, but as I got back into civilization as we used to know it, it was pretty bad. Worse than when I had left this area a little over a week ago.

Supplies were getting harder to come by, and the dead were all over. After searching several dozen houses, I lucked out finding one that was set back from the road a bit and that had supplies that no one had touched. Of course, I had to fight off the lone walker guarding them the basement, but once he was out of the way, there was a storage area that no one bothered to look at. I was able to fill up my backpack and a gym bag and still hadn't taken it all. This was enough for at least two weeks, maybe more and by then Daryl would be either in shape to hunt, or we could move on.

But for now, I just needed to get back to him, and that was proving a bit harder than I expected. First, I needed to find the trail that led me out of the woods so I could take it back. Both of the packs were extremely heavy so it would be a much more arduous trip back, but what worried me was that my reaction time wouldn't be as quick as it should be carrying these overweight bags.

The path I had to get back to was a couple miles away. I had gone just a little way further when I realized I needed to find shelter and fast. The street was filling up with the dead and I was greatly outnumbered. I was trying to quickly access my options, when I saw a driveway to my left. Couldn't see much past the overgrown trees and bushes, but my gut told me to go with it. So I did.

Best decision I had made in a long while...besides saving Daryl.

It was a long driveway, but when I got to the end I found a gate. The house was surrounded by a high and sturdy wrought iron fence. The groans behind me were getting closer, so I looked for way over to the other side. That's when I saw a square brick post, maybe three foot by three foot with a light on top. The brick may just give me a foothold enough to climb up and over.

I tossed both of the bags I carried over the fence. There was no way I was going to be able to carry them as I climbed. When I started to see bodies headed toward me, I knew my time had run out. I grabbed the fence in one hand and as high up on the brick as I could reach and pulled myself up. It was a miracle and sheer adrenaline that got me up and finally over. I landed with a hard jolt on the other side...but I was safe.

The two heavy packs were in my hands as I hit the front porch. The crowd at the fence was starting to grow, so I needed to get out of sight. Eventually, they would wander off, but not as long as they saw me or smelled me. I tried the door, but it was locked. I hated the thought of kicking it in, because then you couldn't lock it again, but without a key that would be the only way.

I put the bags down as I decided to try the obvious places someone may hide a key. There was nothing under the mat and the door frame as too high to anyone to ever reach up there. Everyone always hid a spare key, I just had to find theirs. I ran down the steps and looked for a fake rock. My parents had used one of those until I told them they might as well have put a sign there instead that said "House Key."

No such luck. There weren't any rocks in their planting beds by the stairs, just a few ornamental statues. An angel and two bunnies were on the right side, but they were solid. On the left, was another bunny and two frogs. Still nothing. That's when a small turtle caught my eye. It was partway under the steps, so I reached for it and the shell came off in my hands. There was my key. Hot damn.