A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S4Pt3 - The Run to Big Spot

Daryl was finishing packing the car and I walked over with some extra gas cans. I saw Beth talking to her boyfriend Zach about the run.
"How long are you going to be gone?" She asked Zach.
"Awhile." He said. "It could get dangerous."
"Okay." Beth said, and started walking away.
"I don't get a kiss goodbye?!" He called out to her.
"Nope." She called back and left.
"Not wanting to say goodbye. That's understandable." I thought.
"This ain't no damn romance novel." Daryl scoffed at the kid.
"Yeah. Says you." Zach said and pointed at me.
I smiled at Daryl and he quickly kissed my cheek. Then Sasha, Bob, and Glenn showed up and got in the car. I got on Daryl's bike and we drove down to the front gates. We saw Michonne and Rick talking to each other and Daryl stopped his bike.
"Glad your back in one piece." Daryl said.
Michonne nodded. "I didn't find him." She said slowly.
I sighed and shook my head. We were still looking for the Governor, just to make sure we knew he was finally dead.
"I'm thinking of looking over near Macon. It's worth a shot." She said.
"That's 70 miles worth of walkers. Do you really want to take that chance?" I asked.
"Might even run into a few unneighborly types." Daryl added.
Michonne just sighed and looked at us.
"We're just worrying for you. We don't want you to get into trouble we don't need." I convinced.
She nodded in agreement and I smiled at her.
"We're going to check out the Big Spot. The one I was talking about. Just seeing." Daryl told Rick.
"I'll go with you guys." Michonne said and walked over to the car.
"But, you just got here." Carl said to her.
"And I'll be back." Michonne smiled at him and got into the car.
"Yeah. I was about to go out and check the snares. Don't want to lose anything to the walkers." Rick said.
"Be careful." I told him.
"I will." Rick said.
I grabbed his arm and he looked at me.
"Please. Bring your gun out there." I begged.
Rick has refused to touch a gun or even carry one ever since he stepped down from the leadership role. But, in a seriousness, he needed to carry a gun with him outside of the prison.
"I have my knife." He said. "If I get into trouble, 6 bullets won't make a difference."
"Yes it will. It's life or death out there, and we can't lose you." I told Rick. "We need you."
Rick sighed and nodded in agreement, and began walking back to the crops. Carl then walked over to me and I hugged him.
"Bye. Be safe." Carl said.
"Always." Daryl said.
"Hey." I said to Carl. "You make sure your dad brings his gun. Okay?"
"Okay." Carl said.
"And stay with your sister today, at least until I come back." I said. "I'll see you later."
Carl nodded and walked away. Daryl started up his bike and we left to the store.
Once we arrived at the Big Spot, we parked outside of the fences that enclosed the store and parking lot. We all gathered in a group and grabbed our personal weapons.
"The Army came in and put up these fences, made it a place for people to go. Last week, when we spotted this place, there were a whole bunch of walkers behind this chain-link, keeping people out like a bunch of guard dogs." Daryl explained.
"So they all just left?" Bob, a newbie who's been in the group for only a couple weeks now, asked.
"Give a listen." Sasha said.
We all were quiet and could hear music playing in the near distance.
"You drew them out." Michonne said, impressed.
"Put a boom box up there three days ago." Sasha said.
"Hooked it up to two car batteries." Glenn added.
I finished loading my gun clip and clear my throat. "Alright. Let's make the sweep." I ordered.
Everyone nodded and we opened the gate. We cleared out the walkers in the parking lot, which wasn't a lot, and walked up to the front doors. Daryl sat on the window sill of the store window and knocked on the glass.
"Give it a minute." Daryl said.
We were all quiet while we waiting until Zach started talking.
"Okay. I think I got it." He said.
"Got what?" Michonne asked.
"I've been trying to guess what Daryl did before the turn." Zach said.
"Not this shit again." I muttered under my breath.
Daryl heard me and chuckled. "Alright shoot." He told Zach.
Zach started thinking really long and hard about his answer, so I drank some water to pass the time. When he finally got it, he rubbed his hands together and clapped.
"Okay, the way you are back at the prison. You're on the council, you can track, you help people but you're still kind of... surly. And you have a caring side because of Kelley. Big swing here..." He said and paused. "Homicide cop."
I was so shocked by his answer and instantly started choking on my water. I started coughing and spit out the water. Daryl started laughing but noticed that I was actually choking. He chuckled and tried not to laugh at me as he pat my back. I wiped the water off my mouth and took a deep breath.
"Homicide cop." I mumbled.
I threw my water bottle bag in my bag and cleared my throat.
"Homicide cop." I said, and looked at Daryl with a confused look.
Everyone around me was trying not to laugh at the scene I just made. Daryl smiled at me, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me closer to him. I sat in his lap and he kissed my hand.
"Actually the man's right." Daryl said. "Undercover."
"Come on, really?" Zach asked.
"Yep." Daryl nodded. "I don't like to talk about it because there was a lot of heavy shit, you know."
"Dude, come on. Really?" Zach said, realizing that Daryl was messing with him.
Daryl just stared at him and nodded. He cleared his throat and I chuckled.
"Okay. I'll just keep guessing, I guess." Zach said.
A few seconds later we heard the thud of a walker against the window, and knew it was time to clear out the store. Once the store was clean of walkers, we pulled out our lists and began getting what we needed. It was quiet, and all we heard was the squeaking of the shopping cart wheels. A few minutes later we heard a loud crash and someone yelled. I was closest to the noise and saw Bob was stuck under and wine rack that fell on him. Daryl then showed up and saw what happened.
"You alright? You cut or something?" Daryl asked.
"No, but my leg's stuck. I can't move." Bob said.
"He's just caught." Daryl said.
"Babe, help me move this." I said as I began lifting up the wine rack.
"What happened?" We heard Glenn's voice in the distance.
"It's alright. Just an accident. We're over in wine and beer." I called across the store.
Me and Daryl managed to lift up one shelf, but there was one still on top of him. Then the roof started creaking and we looked up. We watched at a walker fell through the roof, it's organs suspended from a crashed helicopter.
"Hurry up." I ordered. "Bob's still stuck."
But, too quickly, more walkers started falling through the roof. Soon the walkers began coming after all of us, and we had no choice but to run. We started yelling at each other to start killing the walkers.
"Hey!" I heard Bob yell at us, and he was panicking.
Walkers soon started to surround me and I had no option but to retreat. I ran down an aisle with four walkers following me. I turned around and pulled out my gun, ready to shoot them, when a walker grabbed my ankle from behind. I quickly shot that one and fired more at the walkers after me. I tired to run the opposite direction when three more walkers appeared and trapped me in the aisle. I fired off my remaining bullets but still had two walkers on each side. I pulled out my knife, then pushed through them. I turned around to face them when I tripped over a basket. One walker fell on top of me and straight onto my knife, and the other three soon piled on. One held onto my boot and the other two laid on me. I struggled to kill them and saw their teeth get closer to my skin. I was trying to keep them pushed up, but my arms were getting weak.
Instantly I felt the weight leave my chest and saw Michonne had stabbed the walkers on me. I kicked the one away from my foot and she stabbed that one too. She helped me up and I quickly hugged her.
"Thanks." I said.
"No problem." She said.
I looked at my shirt that was covered in blood and sighed, because I actually liked this shirt.
"Don't worry. I'm not bit." I said.
She nodded and I saw her sigh with relief.
"Now, let's get Bob and get the hell out of here." I said.
We both ran over to where Bob was and saw that Zach and Daryl were trying to free him. I helped lift the shelf and Bob wiggled his way out. We were about to run when we heard Zach scream. I turned around a saw a walker biting his ankle and he fell to the floor in pain. Another fell down and bit his neck.
I gasped and stood there. I couldn't look away and watched them surround him. I don't know what overcame me, but I couldn't move, my body didn't want to function.
We haven't had an accident in months, and the first one was this young kid. It made me remember the pain and death that happens in the world. It showed us everything we were trying to forget.