Little Mouse

Attack

"Hey, at least you'll look more bad ass than you really are." Amy says, reassuringly.

I laugh a dark laugh, not very amused. If Daryl still cared about me, he'd probably get upset with Ed. More upset than Shane, even. I couldn't help but smile a little.

We go outside to take a breath of fresh air. On top of the RV, Dale has his binoculars. He looked confused.

"What's up?" I ask him, shading my eyes from the sun.

"Jim's diggin' holes." Dale declares, confused.

"Huh." I grunt. "You gonna talk to him? I can look out."

"Ok. Thanks Cori." Dale mutters, climbing down the ladder and handing me the binoculars. Then he heads towards the small clearing where Daryl taught me how to use a knife. I assume that's where Jim was. Climbing up the RV, I glance around. We're surrounded by trees, although in the distance, I can see the outline of the city.

Daryl's there.

I can't help the feeling of anxiety for him and the group.

I hope they're alright...

Below me, Amy and Andrea start towards the quarry, some of Dale's fishing poles joining them. I smile and sit down, enjoying the view.

...

Later that night, we sat around the campfire, eating some fish that Amy and Andrea caught today. It was dark, and we were laughing.

"So, Courtney, you said that you were a doctor, right?" Shane asks, taking another bite of fish.

"Not technically. But I did go to college to become one." I state.

"So, how much do you know?" Lori asks, glancing at Shane. There was something in her eyes. Something like...a threat?

"Um, not much, really. I can fix a cut, mend broken bones, maybe even deliver a baby." I list. "Plus I can detect a disease, but I can't really cure it. I'm not good with medicine." I add.

"Hm." Shane grunts. The fire was silent as everyone ate their fish. Until Morales clears his throat.

"Why do you wind that watch every day?" He asks Dale, who's winding his watch.

"Yeah. There's no point since the world is over." Jacqui adds.

"It's important to keep track." Dale declares, looking up from his winding. Then he goes on and quotes something that I have no idea what it is about.

"You are so weird." Amy jokes, getting up. Andrea glances up at her little sister.

"Where're you going?" She asks.

"Bathroom." Amy states, then starts toward the RV. We continue to converse. Mostly about pointless things, until I hear Amy call from the RV. "Dale! You're outta toilet paper!" I can hear the laughter in her voice. Until it's cut off by a scream. Everyone whips around, just in time to see a walker bite into Amy's throat, leaving her gurgled screams to fill the camp.

"Amy!" Andrea screams. I grab my knife from my belt, just as several other walkers come roaming out of the forest. Their jaws gaped at the sight of prey. I tremble in terror, looking around frantically as walkers begin attacking people left and right. I turn around and run to the RV, but I'm stopped when something grabs my hair. I scream, the stench of decayed flesh overwhelming my nose. I feel something clamp down onto my shoulder. A walker head appears next to mine, it's jaws clamped down on my jacket sleeve. I tug it off in sheer terror, and continue towards the RV.

A rotten hand grabs my forearm, ripping me back. I shove back, then whip around. The same walker lunges at me again. The camp was filled with the sound of screams. I take my knife and lunge forward. I feel it sink into the walker, but when I open my eyes again, it's only in its shoulder. Fuck! I stagger back, hitting my back against the RV. The walker falls onto me, pinning me. Trapped, I grab it's shoulders, trying to keep it away. But it's getting closer and closer, until it's face is only inches from my own. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the end to come.

It didn't.

Suddenly, the walker stops moving. Opening my eyes, I recognize the orange and green feathered bolt. The walker is ripped away from me. Daryl stands there, throwing the walker to the side. He glares at me, anger flaring in his chilly blue eyes. A great weight is lifted off my shoulders as I see him alive and well. Before I can say anything, he roughly grabs my arm, and thrusts me into the camper.

"Guard the kids!" He orders.

"I lost my knife!" I call above the noise of the screams.

Daryl rips his knife out of his belt and hands it to me. "Don' loose it or I'll stomp yer ass!" He shouts, turning back and running into the chaos. I glance behind me at Sophia, Carol, Lori, Carl, Louise, Eliza, and Miranda. They tremble at the massive amounts of walkers outside. A close groan makes me whip around. A walker attempts to get in. Taking Daryl's hunting knife, I jam it into the walkers skull. It stops moving, and I try to take it out. After jiggling it around, I remembered some of Daryl's advice.

"Don' wiggle, yank."

I yank it out, gore spewing out of the open hole. Behind me, the the little girls start screaming at the blood. I shove the walker away, just as another one comes up.

And that's how the night goes: walkers come, I stab, they die. I worry about the others. More specifically, Daryl.