Starting Over... |Daryl Dixon| |The Walking Dead|

Chapter 19: Adventure with the Dixon Brothers part 2

AN:: Hey, guys! toritee0749 here. I just wanted to start out chapter 19 by saying... WOW! I think the last time I checked, this story was at 2.3k views, 200-something votes, and 71 comments.

That is sooo amazing! I'm so happy, and all of you reading and supporting my work ((Not just this story, but also my two X-Men stories)) are so wonderful. I appreciate every vote so much, and I love all the comments and feedback. So, please, keep it up! xx

So, I guess I just wanted to say thank you for making my hobby as a writer so enjoyable and rewarding. (: xx

Now, here we go! onto chapter 19!

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My heart felt like it was rattling and bouncing around inside my ribcage. The same dingy, musty odor as the gift shop smacked me in the face, coming from inside the store.

My movements were cautious as I crawled through the tiny gap between the stacked up vending machines that barricaded the store's main entrance. It was a squeeze, but I made it happen.

It was as if that little space had been carved out specifically to fit the curves of my body.

It was pitch black inside the Grab 'N Go, minus the splotch of light leaking in from the gap I had just crawled through. The only good that did was illuminate the very tops of a few dusty shelves, and the corner of a moldy sign in the back of the store. Most of the letters were still engulfed in darkness, so I couldn't quite read what it said.

There was a single window on the left hand wall, but it was nailed up with pieces of plywood, only allowing tiny slivers of pale, translucent light to peek in from outside.

My finger tips gently felt around as I blindly inched further inside. The thin, hollow sheets of metal that the vending machines were made of bowed and dented under my weight as I moved across, making me feel a little unstable. Now completely inside the building and hopefully safe on my perch, I squinted and blinked my eyes to try to improve my vision.

Neon splotches flashed in front of my eyes in the pitch black, a sign that the transition from bright sun to total darkness was a bit of a strain on my retinas. At this point my body's natural defenses were taking too long for my liking, so I reached into my back pocket for my lighter.

"See anything in'ere, princess?" Merle's husky whisper came from outside.

"It's too dark," I whispered back over my shoulder as my fingers wrapped around my lighter, "There's only one window, and it's boarded up. But I've got my lighter, so-"

Suddenly, something stopped my voice in its tracks, freezing it in my vocal chords. I held completely still as I listened... Footsteps, shuffling in an even pattern.

*scuff* *scuff* ...... *draaaag*
*scuff* *scuff* ...... *draaaag*

Accompanying the footsteps was the sound of breathing... Sickly, wheezy, ragged breathing. And then came the overwhelming odor of decomposing flesh, muting out most of the mildew smell.

If that wasn't clear signs of a walker, I don't know what would be.

The problem was, I couldn't see where it was at, not even when I struck the flint of my lighter.

The flame ignited and gave me a satisfying orange glow, enough for me to get a glimpse of an empty, broken down beverage cooler next to me and a little more of those shelves in the flickering light, but not much else.

"So...? What?" Daryl called up to me, startling me. I flinched and almost lost hold of my lighter.

"Shhh..." I quietly hushed him over my shoulder, listening to the inside of the store.