Home Is Your Heartbeat ('Home Is' Book Two - Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 35 - Stupid Girl (Garbage)

NATE

I stumble on heavy feet towards what I think is Alexandria. Taking care of a couple more Walkers on the way.

Quickly this time. At least I can do so with weapons and without being hampered by handcuffs.

It still concerns me a bit though? How few Un-Dead are actually around here. Deanna mentioned that D.C and a fair chunk of its Virginian surroundings had pretty much been evacuated quite early on. But even so....

"That bastard sure believes in tough love"  I groan out loud, rubbing the back of my head again.

Feeling a decent lump there, that appears to be the size of an Emu egg. To me anyway.

I really  should've known better.

Jorge never took chances when he trained me before. So why would today be any different? He firmly believes in real-life scenarios. Ergo, any injuries arising from them are simply par for the course.

"If a little hurt now saves a lot of death later then it's worth it, don't you think?"  He always asked me whenever I bitched over cuts, bumps and bruises.

Except it never ends up just being 'A'  little hurt.

*

I stop walking, my foot in mid-air when I hear the faintest of noises. Slowly lower my boot and turn an ear to where the sound is emanating from. It's almost like wonky wheels on a shopping trolley?

I follow the tiny squeaks, but they suddenly cease. Keep creeping forward and within a few minutes, I spy it.

A large pallet trolley is piled high with dead-again Walkers. It looks like someone's been doing a spot of housekeeping.

'Clearing'  was the word that Morgan used, trying to describe it to me. What happened to him whenever he succumbed to one of his fugues and what he subsequently did.

Not just to the dead either. He found that  out....in the worst possible way  😢

But these guys have all been shot in the head and elsewhere? Which equates to a lot of ammo being wasted.

Sneak closer and scrabble up the mound of earth sitting next to a large ditch. Peeking over the edge I get a shock to see another pile of bodies and....wait....SASHA?

She was sprawled on her back with her eyes closed. A few dozen more bodies are her mattress.

Maggie told me. How she and Mich had gone looking for her again yesterday, only to find her taking potshots at the dead. Tried to get her to return with them....

Tried....  😟

"Sash?"

Her eyes opened briefly to squint at me before closing again.

I jump into the pit. Grimacing when my feet hit the ground, jarring already sore limbs. Clamber over a few bodies and lay down next to her. Then gaze up at the clear blue sky, through the leaves of overhanging trees.

After a few minutes, her hand tentatively reached out for mine. I latch on, not daring to let go. Terrified I'll lose her completely if I do.

"Talk to me?"  I whisper, just as I do with Daryl.

It was a half-hour later....when she began.

Bob got bit on a run, not long after they escaped from Terminus. She couldn't bring herself to give him his final death, so Tyreese had to do it for her.