Heartless ➳ TWD² [COMPLETED]

Chapter XXXIV ➳ Before

➳ RIGHT after leaving Kingdom, we stumbled upon Ozzy, Alek, and D.J. in the woods — where we were called to about an apparent "attack."

It didn't take long for us to come off of our convoy and follow Ozzy and his crew into the woods, where he reported: "We were clearing the roads. Spotted tracks leading here."

We came upon the disaster in the woods of a cart overturned with supplies dropped out everywhere on the ground surrounding it. I didn't know what to say as I quietly poked my head around at the scattered items.

Magna bent down and picked something off of the ground. "It's from Hilltop."

"Dead didn't do this," Ozzy added in his deep voice. "People did."

I shook my head and agreed, "You damn right 'bout that."

"The skins?" Michonne retorted, turning her head towards Ozzy — who was now bent down on the ground and examining the supplies down there. "You know about them?"

Ozzy's eyes glared up from underneath his black cowboy hat up at Michonne when he replied, "We got the download." He ate something from the ground in the very same breath. "Strange times, strange ways to cope." He wasn't wrong, as we all stared down at him. "Anyway... Yeah. That'd be my guess. If anyone else was out here, my patrols would've seen 'em. Something else... They put up a fight."

Daryl softly tip-toed away towards the brush that surrounded us and, thanks to his tracking skills, he announced, "Hey. Drug 'em out this way."

Kal stepped up and blurted out, "Let's go."

Daryl shook his head and claimed, "We can't all just go rushing in there."

"They could still be alive," Diane quickly claimed, in support of her people. I couldn't blame for her still having some hope.

Marco swiftly barked back, "But if those skin-freaks followed them from Hilltop, the whole community is in danger right now."

I started to have this weird feeling deep down in my stomach while my heart twisted around in my chest. The pain was almost like a clenched fists ramming straight into random parts of my body. I couldn't describe it, but I knew that it felt like it did right before Paul died and I didn't have reassurance of his safety or not. I didn't like this.

"So, we split up." I turned my head towards Michonne when she announced this, as our strict eyes met.

"Michonne and I can go with Daryl," Carol suddenly declared before I turned my head towards her and our equally cold eyes met. "Tess, too. We'll track 'em. The rest of you, go on to Hilltop."