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

S5Pt8 - Taking Shelter

We were only a few days walk from D.C. but we were exhausted at this point. The entire group was walking in the middle of the road, and I noticed a group of walkers following us. I looked over my shoulder and Rick saw.
"We are weak right now. They are far enough away. We'll get them when the time is right." Rick said.
Judith cooed in my arms and I kissed her head. I held her and rested her against my hip. I had one hand on my back to support it and groaned in pain.
"Here. I'll take her." Rick said.
I nodded and handed her off and instantly felt better.
"Thanks." I said.
I saw Daryl walking ahead of me and I walked over to him. I held his hand and he lightly squeezed mine. He still didn't look at me, but maybe that was best.
"We're almost to D.C." I said. "Maybe we'll find somewhere safe there."
"Don't lie to yourself." He muttered.
I just stared at him and let go of his hand. He looked at me and I saw he was still upset.
"What do you want from me Kelley?" He asked rudely.
I just scoffed and shook my head. "I just want my husband back..." I said quietly.
Daryl's face changed and I saw he felt bad, but I didn't care. I was hurt and exhausted, and didn't have the energy for this. I slowed down and walked behind the entire group.
The next few minutes were utter silence. We were just trying to keep moving, one foot in front of the other.
"I'm gonna head out." Daryl said.
"Don't take too long. It's almost dark." Rick said.
I looked up and saw Daryl looking at me.
"Kell." He said.
He held out his hand but I didn't take it. I walked right past him into the woods. He followed behind me and once we were out of range, he grabbed my hand. I turned around and looked at him.
"I'm sorry." He said.
I just shook my head and sniffled, wiping away a few tears.
"No, I'm sorry." I said. "For everything. For what I assumed about you and Beth, you and Carol... Listen, I know I haven't been a good wife, and I haven't said I love you enough and I just-"
"Stop." Daryl said and grabbed my shoulders. "You don't have to be sorry." He said and then caressed my cheek. "I still love you."
I nodded and he wiped away a tear.
"You're not a bad wife Kell. You're the best I could ask for. You and this baby," Daryl said and touched my stomach. "That's why I'm still here."
I nodded and Daryl kissed my forehead. He rubbed my stomach and we felt the baby kick. He looked up at me shocked and I smiled.
"Did it just..." He said.
I nodded my head and held his hands that were on my stomach.
"Yeah. He's been really active lately." I said.
"He?" Daryl asked.
"I have a feeling." I said. "Mother's intuition, I guess."
Daryl smiled and kept holding my stomach and our baby kept moving. We stood there for a minute until it stopped and Daryl sighed.
"We should look for some food or something." Daryl said.
I nodded and we started walking and searching for anything useful. I looked into the trees for squirrels and listen for deer, but it was quiet.
"Anything?" I asked Daryl.
He shook his head and tossed a rock on the ground.
"No. It's too dry." He said.
I sighed and followed him as he walked down a clear path. I was looked down at my feet when Daryl stopped.
"Kell." He said.
I looked up and saw he was pointing at an old wood barn.
"Should we check it out?" I asked.
Daryl looked up at the sun and it was already setting. He shook his head and grabbed my hand.
"No, it's almost dark. We need to head back." He said.
I nodded and we walked back through the forest. We found the road and saw the group of walkers now dead on the ground. A little further down the road we saw the group.
"You okay?" I asked when we walked closer to them.
"Yeah, just tired." Rick spoke.
"We need food. I'll go hunting tomorrow." Daryl said.
Rick nodded and Daryl walked away. Glenn started a fire for us and everyone sat down. I picked up Judith and sat down on a log. Carl sat down next to me and Daryl leaned against a tree.
I bounced Judith on my knee and Daryl watched me. Carl sighed and played with her feet. She giggled and started playing with my hair.
"I'm hungry." Carl said.
I put my hand on his shoulder and nodded. "I know." I said. "Daryl's going hunting tomorrow. Why don't you go with him?"
"Would he mind?" Carl asked.
"He'd probably like the company." I said.
"Why aren't you going?" Carl asked.
I rubbed my stomach and looked at him. "Does it look like I'd do any good out there?" I joked, then paused. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."
"No." Carl sighed and nodded his head. "I'll go."
We all sat in silence as the sun went down. The fire kept us warm, but there was nothing to eat, nothing to drink, and nothing to do.
Then we heard a crack from the woods besides us. A pack of wild dogs emerged from the trees and growled at us. We stayed still, trying not to aggravate them, but they were ready to attack. Before they even had a chance, I shot all of them with my pistol. The group looked at me in shock, but quickly forgot about it, because we had food waiting for us.
That night, we had a feast. Everyone was perking up because of the food we had. I ate more than enough for me and the baby, and there was still more food to be shared. I leaned against the tree and Daryl knelt down in front of me.
"You want anymore food before we turn in for the night?" Daryl asked.
I shook my head and rubbed my stomach. "We're okay."
"Good." Daryl said.
He kissed my forehead and I closed my eyes. I was so exhausted and took the chance to catch up on my sleep. And going asleep on a full stomach is the best thing I've felt in a long time.

~~~~~~~~~~

Daryl woke me up the next morning and I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
"I'm going to look for water. I'll be back." He said.
I nodded and he helped me stand up. I was about to offer to go with him, but he had this look in his eye, and I knew he wanted to be alone.
"Okay." I said.
I kissed his cheek and he walked into the woods. In a few minutes the rest of the group woke up and I told Rick that Daryl went to look for water. We all gathered our supplies, I grabbed Judith, and we started walking again. Only a short walk down the road, we saw something strange. There was a pile of full water bottles and a sign in front of it.
"From a friend." Rosita read aloud.
"Nobody drink anything." Rick ordered. "We'll wait for Daryl."
We stood around for awhile until Daryl came out of the woods. His eyes were red from crying, I could just tell.
Rick walked over to him and handed him the paper. Daryl wiped his eyes and held his crossbow.
"So what are we gonna do?" Tara asked.
"No drink it." Rick said. "We don't know who left it."
"What if someone put something in it?" Michonne asked.
"I'll risk it." Eugene said.
He picked up a bottle and was about to drink it when Abraham smacked it out of his hand.
"We can't." Rick said sternly.
Everyone just stood around and stared at the water that was slowly tempting us. Then a rubble came from the sky, snapping us out of our silence. Rain began to fall and we looked up to the sky and opened our mouths.
"Open your water bottles." Rick said.
Everyone did and started gathering the rain water while I covered Judith with a spare jacket. Some people started cheering and laughing at the rain, but myself, Daryl, and Sasha just stood there.
Then a crack of lighting lit up the sky and thunder boomed. Judith got scared and started crying and Rick looked at us.
"A storms coming." Carol pointed out.
Judith started to shiver and cry, and I hugged her tight to keep her warm.
"There's a barn." Daryl said.
No one hesitated and we all followed Daryl. The rain came down quickly and the ground turned to mud. We were all slipping and Daryl had to help pull me up. The sky turned black and thunder boomed loudly. It was pouring so badly, that I didn't know if we'd make it.
But the barn came into view and we ran inside. Rick and Abraham barricaded the door the best they could and Carol and Maggie searched the barn.
No walkers. "Good." I thought.
We instantly gathered together and acquainted ourselves with the barn. We started a small fire and everyone tried to dry off and get warm.
I was wiping mud from Judith's face and she was throwing a fit.
"I know baby. It know it's cold, you don't like it." I said.
Everyone tried to relax, but the storm was loud outside. Carl managed to fall asleep in front of the fire and I covered him with his jacket.
Glenn, Carol, Michonne, Rick, Daryl, and I sat in front of our pity fire in silence. Everyone else was in there own spot and minding their business.
I soon got Judith to calm down and she fell asleep in my arms. Rick threw a stick into the fire and sighed.
"When I was a kid, I would ask my grandpa if he ever killed a German in the war. He would answer, saying it was grown up stuff. So I asked if the Germans ever tried to kill him, and he got real quiet. Said he was dead the minute he stepped into enemy territory. Everyday he woke up, told himself 'rest in peace, now get up and go to war'. Then after a few years of pretending he was dead, he made it out alive..." Rick said. "That's the trick of it, I think. We do what we need to do, and then we get to live. Whatever we find in D.C, I know we will survive. I know this because...
We are The Walking Dead."