Don't Leave Me -DISCONTINUED/READ NEWEST CHAPTER-

Wild Child

"Yes!" I cry out as my trap is sprung. I made it from my shoelaces. Daryl had shown me how to do it with rope.

My shoelaces were ruined now and my shoes useless so with bare feet, I pad towards the wiggling rabbit caught in my trap.

I tightened my shoelaces around it's neck until I heard a crunch and the rabbit went limp.

It was sad and I didn't want to do it but I was starving and Daryl had only briefly gone over what plants were okay to eat.

I had no fire but I spent a long time making a sharp rock for a knife. It was tough but I eventually dissected it and ate the raw meat.

It was nasty but I was hungry.

Next was to find some sort of clean water. I leave my shoelaces that had ripped and my shoes on a tree.

A had come across a small shopping center. There were abandoned cars and I decide to look inside before I check in the cars.

I enter the tiny supermarket which was mostly emptied out. I had spent a long time walking so I was hungry again.

There was a few cans left in the fridge that had long since been broken. There was a can of beer, a can of alcoholic lemonade and a moldy glass of soda.

I did manage to find a water bottle tucked under a shelf that had fallen. I take a few large gulps before placing it on the counter.

I scour the rest of the store and manage to find some gum, a can of beans and a small pistol taped to the bottom of the counter.

Using what I remember watching the other do, I take the cartridge out and count the bullets.

Two.

I find a grocery bag and load my goodies into it, tucking the gun into my waistband. I then head outside and start checking the cars.

Only one was unlocked and still had the keys in it.

There was a walker in the front seat, head resting on the steering wheel.

It takes a while to drag the body out where I then stomp on its fragile head to make sure it's dead before I climb into the drivers seat.

The car turns on and the little arrow indicates that it has a few clicks above the E worth or gas.

I head back inside the store and gather some long planks of wood and some bricks, dragging them out to the car.

This could be shelter, it could lock and protect me. It could move me fast and provide a bed.

This was good.

"Yeah. That's his."

Maggie stares at the ribbon and car that  balances on the tree limbs.

"That's the car that I got him." Aaron points out.

"Okay." Rick nods. "Michonne and I will go right. Daryl will go with Maggie south. Glenn and Aaron will head left. Okay? Let's go!"

" Okay. We found some child's shoes." Rick speaks into the walkie. "And a dead rabbit."

This brings the group back together at the next clue.
"Taught 'em how to do that." Daryl grunts as he nods towards the trap that was still set up.

"Well, he ate..." Glenn frowns at the corpse of the rabbit. Blood and dirt stained the fur of the rabbit who was missing it's legs and part of its stomah. It's guts were in a tiny pile nearby.

"He should of slept on the couch. He should ate breakfast. He should of went to school. He should be safe and sound. Not wandering around the wilderness, cold hungry and shoeless." Maggie cried. " Why would he go over the wall?!"

Driving was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Especially because I couldn't reach the petals. I used the large planks of wood to push the petals. It was touch and go for a while but I figured it out.

They almost lost hope. It was like Sophia all over again.

Andrew had been gone for almost a month. No more clues were found after the rabbit trap.

The group was losing hope. Deanna wouldn't authorize search teams to go outside the wall to look for him anymore.

To Alexandria, Andrew was dead.

But to Ricks group, there was still a sliver of hope that the weak and fragile boy was still alive.

Aaron would tie small bags to trees for Andrew that had a meal and directions to the gate.

And Justin.

Justin was filled with guilt.

None of the other kids ever played with him so when Andrew approached him, he was so happy to finally have a friend.

And he thinks that he's killed him.

He's riddled with guilt.

He made a grave in his backyard.  Small sticks tied together into a cross. A stuffed bear resting in front.

Andrew was dead. To them at least.

He was still very much alive.

Struggling- but alive.