Mushaboom • Daryl Dixon

16

:)

Rachel

I felt Milo shift his weight uncomfortably from under my arm. I was weighing him down.. It killed me, but I couldn't help it. I was too weak. I was healing, but between the soreness and the dehydration, I couldn't keep up on my own.

This was our second day without food, and the water was running so low, I was certain Abraham, Daryl, and Sasha haven't had a real drink in a day. We were at a brink. Our feet dragged on the ground, but still managed to inch us a bit further each time. It was quiet now. There was nothing to say. It felt like any steam we had left died with the van. We were all on edge. And we all knew what it meant if we couldn't find anything within the next day.. Anything said was pessimistic and usually met with a sharp reply. We really didn't have much longer now. We couldn't have.

I stopped the two of us and took some weight off Milo. Ricky, who was up ahead took notice and stopped as well. He didn't have to look at Milo. He stared me down for a beat before dipping his head down and making his way to me. He didn't say anything, but lightly grabbed Milo's arm, having him back up, then quickly set my arm over his shoulder and started us forward. Milo walked on ahead.

I couldn't even apologize anymore. It felt like it wouldn't matter, that all my efforts didn't matter. It felt like we went through hell and for what? To starve to death on the road, after everything else we beat. Our bodies would slowly shut down, and we'd be in agony, until it ended.

The thought of Julian in his last week played in my head. The slow yet sudden deterioration of the most warm and giving man. It would happen to Milo. To Ricky. To me and Daryl and these good people. The thought infuriated me. And I guess that's why we had to keep going, why we'd keep trying until we couldn't walk anymore. We'd fight it as long as we could.. So there really was nothing to say. Nothing to apologize for. We just had to keep walking.

I looked on ahead when I noticed someone cut left towards the tree line. Daryl. He'd been doing that, looking for water, or at least that's what he'd say. But he couldn't be around anyone, not now. He was far gone.. Carol followed after him despite some protest. She was trying to get him out of his head.

Over sometime, a group of walkers were trailing behind us. They were a bit a ways away, they weren't a threat- not yet. I could hear their groans.. It was almost like they were taunting us.

We came up to a pass that had a ditch on both sides. We stopped for a moment and Rick looked and paced around. After a beat, he nodded to himself and quickly announced, "One by one, we know how to do this.. Carl, Rachel, Milo wait at the end." He pointed to the other side of the bridge. "Alright everyone line up. Just let them fall into it."

I walked back with the boys after giving Ricky a look. He didn't look me in the eye, he just walked on ahead once he traded with Milo.. There was only silence apart from Judith's occasional noises. We watched as the small herd finally caught up to everyone up ahead.

It seemed as it was going effortlessly. Everyone was heavy on their feet, but they moved quick enough for the walkers to fall right past them, sometimes with a little push. Everything was going smoothly when
Sasha lunged forward, taking a walker head on and ruining the plan. Instinctively, I stumbled forward. Milo followed a bit but still kept me from moving too fast. I held my breath as I watched it all unfold. I kept my eyes on Ricky. Everyone was armed and fighting. It seemed like it always lead to this.

Ricky moved to the left quickly to cover Sasha, when she suddenly flung her arm back, knife in hand, after cutting through a walker.  Ricky suddenly flinched back and lost focus, barely dodging it. A walker grabbed him and he tripped back.