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

S6Pt1 - Insanity

I didn't even bother to stay and clean up the mess that was made. Aiden and Aaron started moving Pete's and Reg's bodies, and Morgan walked over to Rick, but I turned around to go home.
I saw Maggie sitting on the porch waiting for me and I walked over to her.
"Thank you for staying here." I said and hugged her.
"Its alright. I don't mind." Maggie said.
I nodded and heard the front door open. I saw Carl walk out and Judith right by him.
"Hey Carl." I said.
He gave me a side hug and then I picked up Judith.
"Mama." She babbled.
I smiled and kissed her, and she laughed at me. I put her back down and Carl grabbed her hand to take her home. Maggie said goodnight and I waved goodbye to them. I walked inside, closed the door, and then went upstairs to the nursery. I saw Lee playing with one of his toys, and he smiled when he saw me. I picked him up and sat down in the rocking chair. I took my gun off my belt and put it on the end table, and slowly relaxed into the chair.
I felt much better after a long day, just sitting here and holding my son. Within a few minutes he fell asleep in my arms, and my eyes finally started to close.

~~~~~~~~~~

Its been awhile now since Morgan's arrival, and things seemed to have settled down.
To help me adjust to being back outside the walls, Daryl has been taking me out there. Being out there every day now and coming back to Lee after each time has made me gain my confidence back.
This morning Daryl and I were sitting on the porch together and watching the ducks in the pond.
"You ready to go out soon?" Daryl asked.
I sighed and nodded my head.
"I'll go get ready in a few." I said.
Daryl nodded and I felt him staring at me. I looked at him and grabbed his hand. He caressed my hand, feeling my ring, and then I kissed his hand.
"You know I love you right?" I said and smiled.
He chuckled and nodded his head. I took a deep breath and squeezed his hand. Daryl was about to say something when something caught his eye. I followed his gaze and saw he was staring at someone running down the street.
It was Rick, and he was running fast.
He stood at our porch and we instantly stood up.
"Kelley, Daryl. Let's go!" Rick ordered.
"What's wrong." I asked.
"There's an emergency outside the walls! Let's go!" Rick said and stared running away.
Daryl grabbed his crossbow and I grabbed my gun, and without hesitation we followed Rick to the gates.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rick led the entire group to this abandoned rock quarry that the town has been using for materials.
At first I didn't understand what the emergency was, but once we arrived I knew automatically. The moans of the walkers were so loud I could barely hear anyone else speak.
I looked down over the ledge into the quarry and saw a herd of walkers stuck behind two large semi's which were keeping them in. It wasn't going to hold for long though, and some were already finding their way out.
"I know this sounds insane, but this is an insane world!" Rick yelled at the group over the moans of the walkers. "We have to come for them before they come for us. It's that simple!"
Several people nodded and Rick looked down at the walkers one more time.
"Toby gets in the truck, opens the exit and we are off. He catches up to Team Red on the west side. Daryl will take Kelley on his bike, drop her off at Orange and she'll help us there." Rick planned.
All of a sudden, we heard a loud bang and saw that some of the walkers managed to push over one of the barricades. Now, more were flowing out of the quarry and we knew we had to act now.
"You know what to do!" Rick yelled. "Move!"
We all did what we were told without wasting a second. I got on Daryl's bike with him and we drove off to help with this insane mission.

~~~~~~~~~~

"We're at Red." Sasha said over the walkie talkie.
"The walkers are on our tail. Be ready." I said and clipped the walkie onto my belt.
I then tapped on Daryl's shoulder and he drove us to Team Orange. I looked behind us and saw that the herd was only several feet away, and they were quite motivated by the meat being so close to them.
I tapped his shoulder again. "A little faster."
Daryl nodded and sped up a little, but still enough for the walkers to follow us. Ahead of us down the road we saw Sasha and Abraham show up and soon start driving next to us.
Then, riding side by side, we drove five miles per hour, for what seemed like forever.

~~~~~~~~~~

We eventually arrived at Orange and saw Rick, Michonne, and Morgan standing behind a wall of sandbags on top of an RV. Daryl sped up and got farther away from the herd to give me some time to get up the RV.
Rick fired a flare west to alert the next team and lead the walkers there.
We got off the bike and Daryl quickly helped me up. With one hand on my back and one on my butt he pushed me up and Morgan pulled me up.
"Kell, you good?" Daryl called up at me.
"I'm fine. Go." I said.
Daryl nodded, got on his bike, and continued to lead the herd away with Sasha and Abraham.
I stared at him as he drove off and felt a hand touch my shoulder.
"Everything alright?" Rick asked me, and I knew he meant.
"I don't know. It's been.. different." I said.
I just shook my head and I heard Rick sigh.
"Besides." I added. "We got bigger things to worry about... Let's go."
Rick nodded and led us into the forest out of the sight of the herd, but we could still see them. We were at the same pace as Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham and so far it looked as if Rick's plan was working.
I saw Daryl starting to look around, looking a little panicked, and he stopped when he saw me.
I caught glimpses of him and we just looked at each other. He nodded at me and I nodded back, but then I heard a branch snap behind us.
We all turned around and pulled out our knives, but lowered them once we saw it was just Glenn and Nicholas.
The herd didn't notice anything and kept following the noise on the road.
"It's working." Glenn said and nodded at Rick.
Rick nodded back then looked at the herd. I sighed once I saw them, still finding this plan insane.
"Okay, we need to finish this. Keep moving and fan down there." Rick said and pointed ahead. "If anything gets sloppy, we fire our weapons and keep them on track."
"Sounds good." I said and checked my ammo, which was still full.
Then, in the distance we heard a ringing sound that wasn't stopping.
"What is that?" Michonne asked.
I turned my head towards the noise and realized where I was looking.
"Home." I said. "Shit, Lee." I yelled.
I grabbed a walkie from Glenn and radioed Daryl.
"Kelley, what the hell is going on?! Where are you guys?" I heard Daryl's gruff voice crackle through the radio.
"I don't know! This noise is coming from home. It's drawing the walkers. I have to go to Lee." I said.
"Should we turn back?" He asked.
Rick then took the walkie from me and spoke. "Keep moving 20 miles out. If they aren't following you anymore by then, circle back home. We'll check it out now." Rick ordered.
We heard radio static then a sigh.
"Got it." Daryl said, but clearly he was hesitant.
But I wasn't. I held my gun in one hand, knife in the other, and started running towards home with some walkers following. I was not going to waste another second while my baby was in danger.