Daughter of a Dixon ✔️

43: Night Sky

I ended up dozing off just as dawn was beginning to break, and didn't wake up until the sun was well into the sky. By then, our second car had run out of gas, and we were forced to return to walking the lonesome road.

The events of the previous night were fresh on all our minds, and our guard had drastically been raised. None of us knew why completely random people would waste bullets on trying to shoot us, but we did know that we wanted to put as much distance between us and them as possible. We had all realized that, in the world we were living in, no one could be trusted anymore, and in all honesty we probably should've realized that much earlier.

We walked in deafening silence for a very long time, before eventually, Lea spoke.

"Do you think everyone else will go to Terminus, too?"

We had just passed a sign several feet back saying that we were approximately forty miles from Terminus, and that we were going the right direction to get to it.

"What do you mean by 'everyone else'," I asked her, shrugging my shoulders.

"You know... our group. Rick, Ben, Maggie, Beth, Dar-..."

"How many of those people do you think made it out alive?" I interrupted, not wanting her to bring up my dad.

She stopped walking, and turned to face me with an incredulous expression overtaking her features. "All of them... every single one... how many of those people do you think made it out alive?"

I knew she would be less than pleased if I shared my answer with her, so I only looked at her with narrowed, uncertain eyes.

"Do you honestly believe that everyone is gone?" Her tone was sharp, and her voice had raised a notch in volume.

I exhaled, holding Judith against me slightly tighter as I looked to the ground. If I was being honest, I didn't believe that everyone was dead. I was holding out strong hope that they were alive, praying that they were. But, I knew that if I tricked myself into believing that, and come to find out that they were dead... I knew that would kill me.

When Lea figured out I wasn't going to answer her, she sighed impatiently, and said in a small voice, "I bet Daryl believes you're alive."

The statement startled me, and I think I physically jolted at the mention of my dad's name. I fought back the tears in my eyes, and cleared my throat before saying, "come on... we gotta keep goin'."

I didn't wait for her to respond. I simply paced forward to catch up with Alex, who had continued walking throughout Lea and I's entire discussion.

Later in the day, when the sun began to fall, we took shelter in a small, secluded cabin we saw off the road. There wasn't much inside except for three cans of old, runny applesauce. It tasted absolutely horrendous, but we all, including Judith, ate it anyway out of pure desperation.

As I was searching the house for any other supplies, I ended up finding jars of what looked like water. I took a hesitant sip out of one, and immediately spit the clear liquid out. It was most certainly not water.

"What's that?" Lea asked, coming up beside me and taking a jar of her own out the crate.

"I wouldn't do-..."

But, she had already taken a sip, and swallowed the liquid with a grimace. "Ugh," she groaned, squinting her eyes at the jar. "Someone didn't know how to make moonshine." Then, surprisingly, she shrugged, and took in another sip.

"Why are you still drinking it?" I asked with a shy laugh, only to turn around and find that Alex had picked up a jar as well. "Why are you-..?"

"Well, we're stuck in a cabin full of moonshine for the night. Might as well make the best of it," Lea said, shrugging.

"Well, not me. Someone's gotta stay sober, take care of Judith," I told them.

"We're not gonna get drunk," Lea said. "Just.. maybe a little tipsy. You know, so we can be happy for a little while."

I sighed, and raised a hand in defeat. "Alright, you two have fun getting 'tipsy'. I'm gonna see if Judith will sleep, then I'll take watch outside."

Lea shrugged, tilting up the jar to take another sip. "You do you, boo."

I scoffed as I walked away, a small smile crossing my lips for a moment.

I took Judith in the only bedroom of the cabin, and set her down gently on the bed. I surrounded her by a wall of pillows, and by then, she was already knocked out cold. I made sure she was fully asleep before I left, and walked back out into the main room.

"If you two could check on her after a little while, that'd be great," I said to Alex and Lea, who already looked a little dazed.

"Okie-dokie, girly," Lea said, flashing me a wobbly thumbs-up.

I scoffed, and shook my head. It would be their hangover in the morning, not mine.

I walked outside onto the cluttered porch of the cabin, and took a seat on the top step leading to the ground. I drew my gun from my holster, and rested it on my lap, just in case.

The night was eerily silent, save for the constant chirping of various insects and the occasional squirrel jumping from tree-to-tree. The stars were extremely visible, and the full moon lit up the dark, night sky. I let out a quiet breath as I gazed upward, taking in the serenity of the night. And, despite everything that had happened to us, I found peace in admiring those shimmering stars.

Snap!

I jerked my head to the left, immediately positioning my gun in my hands. I slowly rose from the porch, carefully stepping down onto the ground. I raised my gun, walking cautiously in the direction where the sudden snapping sound had come from.

I figured it was just a stray walker, so I let out a sharp whistle, trying to lure it to me so I could put it down.

Then, a slew of high-pitched whistles erupted from around me, and I immediately gripped my gun tightly with two hands. I spun around in a circle, looking for any people in the area, but I could hardly see anything. All I had to go on was the frightening whistling, which seemed to be trapping me from every angle.

Just as I was about to back slowly into the cabin, I heard pounding footsteps from behind me. Before I could spin around to shoot whoever was coming, a bag had been thrown over my head, and was being held there by two, immensely strong hands.

I writhed, I kicked, I screamed; I did anything to try and get the person off me, but it was all to no avail.

My struggles earned me nothing except a punch to the back of my head, which subsequently led to darkness and silence ensnaring me.