[Finished] Living Among the Dead

63. Chokepoint

As we run as fast and as far as we can, I hear Henry fall, and turn around as Daryl asks, "You all right?"
Henry gets up and looks around, "This isn't the way back to Hilltop."
"I'd made a deal with those Skinfaces, we just broke that deal. We can't go back now, it'll put everyone in danger." My heart clenches, the kids...
"She's right. There's too many of them. Alpha would destroy Hilltop to get me back now."
"And why didn't you tell us there was that many of them?" Daryl asks.
"You kept me locked in a cage. What did you expect? I wasn't going to betray my own people!"
"Well, maybe you should go back to 'em." Daryl snaps. "Henry didn't know what he was getting his ass into, but you sure as hell did."
"I thought I could go back." She takes a deep shaky breath. "I can't."
"Well, you ain't coming with us."
"Hey," Henry says, quickly. "Hey, we could run. Me and her. You guys go back, and-and we keep running. They can't blame Hilltop if we just disappear."
"Henry, we can't." Lydia contradicts.
"Let me fix this."
"No," Daryl speaks up. "There's no way in hell I'm letting you run away with this one. No way. Think of your mom! "
"Daryl, we don't have time for this conversation." I but in, harshly. "We took the girl, we can't take that back now."
"No, she's right. Come on. We gotta go." We start moving as Daryl continues talking. "Come on. It's this way. Yeah, this way."
Dog starts growling and getting antsy, Daryl looks at him, "No. No. Dog!"

We make it to a city, and I notice a skyscraper, I nudge Daryl, and point to the top floor. "Hey, an advantage point."
"Yeah, good idea." He agrees. "Come on," he orders, turning to the kids as we start towards the skyscraper.
"I don't understand," Henry speaks up.
"They use walkers to protect themselves, right?" Daryl asks.
"So we go up, where the Walkers can't protect them," I add.
"We separate the living from the dead," agrees Daryl. "They travel in a herd, but there's only like five or six of them in the middle, right?"
Yeah," Lydia agrees, hesitantly. "But if we go up there, we're trapped. Alpha's not gonna send an army 'cause she doesn't have to. She'll send Beta."
"I'm sick of running," Daryl says. "This Beta; He their best?" Lydia nods. "Good. We'll kill him first. Come on."
I notice Lydia's hesitancy, but choose to ignore it.

Daryl turns on his flashlight and I kick in the door, when he shines his light on the stairs, we notice its already barricaded. We make it up the stairs no problem, and I notice something off with the floor at the landing of one of the upper floors. Part of its wood is raised awkwardly, and so I move the table standing on top of the raised flooring, move the chunk of unattached floorboards, and... a stash, someone's staying here.
"That stairwell's already barricaded," Daryl says, walking into the room.
"Someone's stash is here," I reply, gesturing to the goods.
"Right. So, there's only two ways up," he says, changing the subject.
"Good," I respond.
"I think these barricades are a little too barricaded. So, we'll cut open holes so that they can walk up here. All right?"
"Okay."
"This might work," Daryl informs me.
"Then?"
"Then we go."
"And we take the girl."
"No. No."
"Daryl," I start, but he interrupts me.
"If we take her back, our friends die."
"She needs us," I respond, harshly.
"You can't go 'round adopting every orphaned child out there!" He snaps.
I glare at him, my stare as cold as ice as I respond, "Watch me." I then turn and leave the room, not taking his shit.
I head up to higher ground, knowing Daryl will get the kids and follow me up.

"There," I hear Lydia say from outside. "They're coming."
Daryl shoots an arrow at one of the dead's heads.
"All right, they're here." He calls coming back inside. "Let's go."
We start boarding up the windows to block out the light coming in.
"Hi," I hear Daryl tell Lydia, "You're with me. Come on, boy." He instructs his dog.
"Ready Henry?" I ask.
"No," he responds honestly.
"Daryl will protect Lydia, I promise. And I'll protect you. Now get in that closet."
"Wait, what?"
"Now, Henry."
"Okay, okay." He mutters going inside the closet.
It takes three more seconds for the whisperers to come inside and I immediately engage in combat.
Ducking as one goes to slice my head, and quickly sidestepping another as I shove my knife in the first one's chest.
I jump and kick one down, and quickly turn around to knife another, it takes a few seconds before more come in, and I roundhouse one's ass, before stabbing a new one. They seem to have more and more people flooding in the room, but as I'm given a breather, I look and the closet door to where Henry was stashed is open and empty. "Henry?" I call.
After finally stabbing the last skinwearer, I start my search, and that's when I notice Daryl in combat with another skinwearer.  He has Daryl with his neck over a table saw. I rush forward and pull the man with all my might, he elbows me in the face, causing my nose to break painfully, and squirt blood everywhere.
I quickly punch him, hitting his face as hard as I can.
I'm shoved into a wall and everything goes black.

Next thing I know Daryl's standing over me, and my visions slightly blurred.
"You alright?" He asks.
"Yeah. Let's go." I mumble, allowing him to help me up.

As I look out a window, I throw a rock at the window of a car to draw the walkers towards it, then throw another a little further away, before turning to look back the others.
"They're distracted," I inform Daryl, as he stands with Henry and Lydia.
"All right, we should go." Daryl states.
"You figure out where we're going?" asks Henry.
"Well, Alexandria's the closest to us."
Daryl nods, and turns to Henry, "We'll get you stitched up there."
I glance back at Henry, guilt for him getting injured during my watch swirling inside of me.
"No, we can't." Henry argues. "If her people find out we're there, everybody-"
Daryl interrupts him, "Hell, we ain't staying. We'll get you back on your feet, and then we'll move on. All of us."
"No... No, but-" Henry hesitates, looking at all of us. "No, but where are we going?"
"I heard there's a whole world out there," Daryl responds. "Come on."

[A.N.] Don't worry, I know your all wondering if Daryl and Anne forgot all about their kids. They didn't quite... they just now need to keep them out of harms way.