Hiraeth (The Walking Dead)

Chapter 9

Nearly a week passed. Same old routine, Cailey hanging around Daryl to hunt and smoke and chop wood, Shane always being skeptical of her, and the occasional fighting off walkers near the fence. There was once when Daryl went down to a nearby town to find supplies, and Cailey had to follow Rick around. Rick seemed incredibly bossy and annoying. He was a preppy city boy, Cailey had decided that day.

Nothing truly happened until Cailey and Daryl were returning from the river. They walked side-by-side, although Cailey more limped than anything else, and each had a decently sized fish hanging from a string on their belts. There was silence until a piercing scream alarmed them.

"Ahh!" Daryl knew it was Carol. They picked up their feet quickly, and Cailey had to push through the pain in her leg to run with Daryl back to the farm.

Walkers. They were everywhere. As the sun was beginning to set, the hunters could see the undead people finally being able to climb over the fence. The wood was already starting to break. Some were already inside the farm.

Daryl didn't waste anymore time running down the hill, shooting at a few stray walkers coming towards him. He ran through to pick up his arrows, hearing Cailey's uneven footsteps running behind him. She swerved to the left, and Daryl just barely glanced back to see her hopping the fence and shooting two walkers that came for Andrea. He let her be and tried to push back the wave of undead with his arrows.

Unsuccessful, Daryl had to flee before he would get eaten. He retrieved what arrows he could, stopping a few more walkers with a knife to the head. He ran past a few dead farmers, only a few of them even barely familiar to Daryl. None of them were entirely significant to him or his group.

Meanwhile, Cailey had managed to shoot and stab her way through several of the rogue walkers who had broken into the farm already. She picked up one of the farm cats, putting the fluffy grey tabby safely in a tree. The creature climbed up quickly to the top as Cailey ran off again towards the house.

Maggie and Beth stood in horror on the porch with Carol. A dead walker was already lying on the steps in front of Carol. Daryl quickly stepped up next to Cailey. He took a breath before speaking. "The hell happened?"

"They're breaking through!" Beth cried out. She held a knife tightly to her chest.

"Well, obviously," Cailey commented as she began jogging off. She aimed her bow at a few random walkers that approached, trying to protect the fearfully-frozen girls.

While shooting and trying to fight back the wave of walkers, Cailey was yanked back. She choked on her jacket collar as she was pulled against the house. Shane had her pushed against the wall. "You did this," he snarled. There was a new angry flare in his eyes.

"I did this?" Cailey puffed out her chest. "How is this my fault?"

"None of this shit happened 'til you got here!" Shane towered over her. "I don't know how, but I know this is your goddamn fault."

"Oh, yeah, you got it," her voice rose sarcastically over the walker growls. "I lured all these undead people here! I know you're a slicker, but how fucking stupid are you?"

"You don't talk to me like that!" Shane's hand impacted against her face hard. Cailey winced, but didn't bring her hand to her stinging right cheek. "You're living with my group, don't forget that!"

"Shane!" Rick shouted in his deep voice. He sounded angry. "We've got bigger problems!"

Shane didn't exchange any more words. He glared at Cailey, walking away quickly. He pulled a new gun from is belt to begin shooting loudly at the walkers. The young hunter ran off quickly, gripping her bow tighter as she tried to ward off the human-like monsters.

Within only minutes, Cailey was standing in the middle of the dark clearing, surrounded by limp bodies. They were coming from every direction only hundreds of feet away.

"Clodhopper," she heard a shout. Cailey turned her head to Daryl and his designated name for her, watching him as he jogged by and gestured his head for her to follow. The teen followed quickly to the house. Daryl kept speaking as she caught up. "We gotta take care o' the younger ones. Carl, Beth an' 'em. Too scared to move."

Cailey huffed to herself, pulling her wide hunting knife from her belt. She kept running as she seamlessly thrusted the blade into a greenish-black head that sauntered along slowly. "Babysitting. Great."

"We gotta get 'em outta here," Daryl decided out loud, making it more of a command than anything.

"How the hell are we gonna do that? Car ain't never gonna get through these."

Daryl stopped at an old camping trailer, climbing up to the top. He gestured Cailey to do the same. "Ever driven a bike?"

"Motorbike? A couple times."

"Yer' gonna go. Don' go tell Rick I'm lettin' ya. Pick up Carl and Beth. Bring 'em to the road with Carol. I already told 'er to go with ya. She'll tell ya the spot ya gotta go. Then ya gotta get yer' ass back quick as ya can."

Cailey nodded as Daryl pointed out an old chopper-style motorcycle. He held out a set of keys on his index finger. "Don't fuckin' die, clodhopper."

"I know what I'm doing, redneck," she reassured him sarcastically. The younger hunter held tightly to the keys as she climbed quickly from the trailer, avoiding and slicing through the oncoming walkers. Daryl watched with the first feeling of worry in his chest since his brother- and he never really had to worry for his brother. He gripped tightly to his crossbow, aiming for a few stragglers that came for Cailey as she started up the motorcycle in the pitch-black farm. He climbed back down to finish his job as Cailey drove off towards the groups' tents.

The smaller girl sped off, adjusting the bike's sitting position as she moved. She ran over corpses and limbs before she swerved to a stop in front of the house. The grey-haired woman, Carol, ushered Beth and Carl off the porch quickly to Cailey. The hunter urged them over silently, gesturing the much shorter Carl to sit in front of her. Beth and Carol held tightly to each other behind Cailey on the bike's seats. Overcrowded and heavy, the bike shifted down slightly as Cailey began trying to speed off before more walkers would appear.

As soon as Cailey hit the road, Carol began shouting out instructions. She pointed out where to go, a random place down the highway. The bike swerved through and between broken down and crushed cars and corpses, making loud engine noises. Cailey cringed at the motorcycle's ability to attract more walkers because of the noise.

"Here!" Carol yelled at the top of her lungs. She pointed to a rather clear setup of cars and trucks in the middle of the road. Cailey slowed to a stop quickly in between. Carol climbed off quickly, and Cailey helped push the two younger tweens off. The hunter pointed to a more sturdy pickup truck, covered in dirt and grime. Carol nodded, ushering the two children inside. The woman then nodded at Cailey, giving a quiet "Thank you."

Cailey only gave a curt nod before turning sharply on the bike and speeding off. As she drove by, she cringed at an awful burning smell. She sped up quickly as she looked down, miles away from the farm.

Smoke. Even in the pitch-black sky, there was fire smoke. The farm had blown up.