The Fear (The Walking Dead / Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 70 - Shower

The following day Rick told the group to go out and explore. Their jobs weren't starting right away, they were allowed to take a few days and settle in first. Everyone left the house they had slept in and then began to fan out once they hit the streets. Daryl remained sat up on the deck though and Kat chose to stay standing by him as he fiddled with his crossbow.

"I said explore." Rick said. "Let's explore."

"Nah, I'll stay." Daryl shook his head.

"I've gotta talk to Aaron." Kat spoke. "See about the horse float and go and see if we can get Nelly."

"No." She shook her head. "In case something goes wrong with the float, might have to ride her back. Can't have more than two people and I need to take Aaron to find this farm. Plus he knows the area."

"Are you sure?" Rick asked.Daryl sighed as he jumped to his feet and grabbed his crossbow.

"Already argued about it. You won't win." He said to Rick as he made his way back inside and Kat gave Rick a small smile.

"I'll be alright." She said to him. He nodded before they both left the house, parting ways at the bottom of the stairs, one to catch up with his son and the other to find Aaron.Aaron agreed to go and they had their supplied ready and an SUV with a tow ball ready to go within half an hour.

It was a fifty minutes trip to the farm, the horse float was in decent shape, and then after that another couple of hours to the barn they had been in. The trip was horribly silent for the most part, but there was small talk here and there. Kat spent a good portion of time looking through a bin of supplies she had grabbed at the farm filled with brushes, hoof picks and other items.

"Why us?" She finally asked after a long silence had grown a little too much for her and she had finished dusting off and organising the items she had grabbed.

"What?"

"Why us? Why did you choose us? We were heavily armed, a threat."

"You had a baby. Kids. And out here... you have to be armed. And you all looked like you'd come far... were hardly on your feet. Some more than others." He gave her a sideways glance, letting her know she was one of them.

It dropped back into silence after that and soon they found the barn. There were a couple of walkers banging up against it and a few others trapped amongst the obstacle course the debris made from the storm. They took them out quick and simple and then there inside was the chestnut mare, moving about anxiously. She had water left, but had eaten through her food supply so Kat allowed her to graze a little before they loaded her up.

"A lot of people would have left her." Aaron commented.

"Yeah, well... she's come with me a long way. I raised her." She said. "Back on the farm before all this. Assumed she died when it fell, but I went back a little while ago and there she was. Couldn't leave her." She finished explaining as she lifted the tailgate up and latched the back shut as Nelly munched on some grass at the front of the float.

"Come here." Aaron nodded for Kat to follow him and she did after a second, following him around the side of the barn until he stopped. "I was over there." He nodded to a densely covered tree line 20m away.

"What?"

"You asked why you. Why your group? I saw Daryl lead you all to safety. To the barn during that storm. The one you two found." Her jaw clenched. "And I was standing over there the next morning when you came out with Judith and Carl. I'd been watching for days. I had to. To make sure you were the right group to bring back. I don't think I heard you say a word until you spoke to Daryl the night before. You blamed him for something, someone... not looking after 'her,' I don't know, but I don't think you meant it and I understood. You were hurting. I don't always trust people who are hurting. I think they can be more dangerous than the others. Then the storm came and Daryl led you all away and I started to reconsider. I don't know what changed, but something did." Aaron said. "In you."