[Finished] Living Among the Dead

62. Gaurdians

We make it to a place where the dirt is turned in all directions, "Dammit." I mumble. "Daryl, they caught him, didn't they?"
"Yeah."
Dog barks once and Daryl looks, Dog is sniffing and then looking at Daryl.
"Good boy," Daryl praises him, and leans down and picks up Henry's stick.
"Damn it," I repeat, dejectedly.
"Yeah. They went that way," Daryl points, and I grunt and nod.
At the sound of wheezing, I turn around to see two of the Dead on our trail. Daryl and I exchange a look and a nod, before both of us aim our arrows at the dead and in sync we shoot, killing both walkers seamlessly.
"Nice," he compliments before whistling, "Dog."
Dog goes and breaks his arrow off and brings it to Daryl.
I smirk and have to suppress a laugh. Who knew the day Daryl Dixon would try to impress me with how well he trained his dog would ever come. Let alone it be also the day that his dog just barely messed it up.
Daryl glances at me then mutters, "Bad dog." And I actually end up snorting.
"Shut up," he orders, gruffly.

We catch up and watch as two of the whisperers drag a large wrapped something towards the herd. One of the dead, no, another whisperer approaches and the two drop the wraps, one walks away but the new whisperer and the first one unwrap what appears to be two bodies. Then the dead start moving in, dropping down to eat.
I have to turn away, one of those bodies could be Henry.
"Its not him," Daryl whispers softly, I look up at him to see he's looking at the bodies.
I nod, and then we slowly move back, waiting for the best moment to make our move.

When darkness hits, we slowly move in. We watch as a tall Whisperer holds Henry by the hair, Lydia stands holding a knife next to Alpha. We can't hear what's being said, but soon the Dead start infiltrating their camp.
Screams can be heard, and the growling and moaning of the dead.
We approach slowly, and we can hear Henry say, "Lydia, we need to go." When she hesitates, Daryl steps forward and puts a hand on Henry's shoulder, causing the boy to jump about a foot in the air.
"Keep your head down. We're leaving." Daryl orders.
"Not without Lydia," Henry responds, stubbornly.
"No, the girl stays."
I take out my knife and begin killing any of the dead that get too close.
"Then so do I."
"Henry," I hear Lydia say, softly.
"No," Henry says, sounding panicky. "I'm not leaving you. I won't."
"Daryl, we got to go." I mutter. "Just take the girl. We'll deal with the reprocussions later." The words hurt. I know the decision I'm making. I send a prayer up to whoever could be listening that my kids will be safe. That someone will teach them that we never wanted to abandon them.
"Now," I hear Daryl say, and as I glance behind me I see him dragging Henry behind, Henry urging Lydia on, and we take off.

[A.N.] This chapter was pretty straightforward to write. I hope your still enjoying this story, because there's more to come.