DECIMATION, the walking dead¹

009.

            when nobody came out, camila and rick moved closer to daryl, holding out their weapons. as daryl unzipped the tent, camila diverted her gaze to the former cop. only to catch him already staring. the girl quickly turned back to daryl, following him into the tent. camila immediately brought her arm up to her nose, trying to block the horrid smell from filling her nostrils. "jesus," she coughed out. daryl moved in front of the chair that sat in the middle of the tent with camila close by his side while rick 'guarded' the entrance.

         sat before the pair was a man who had seemingly shot himself, the rotting corpse was crawling with maggots and other insects. the smell of it was indescribable, almost worse than a walker.

            daryl shook his head, "no sophia."

            daryl and camila followed rick out of the tent empty-handed. carol gave daryl a hopeful look, "it ain't her."

            "what's in there?" andrea asked curiously. "some guy. did what jenner said." daryl shrugged, "'opted out.' ain't that what he called it?"

            suddenly, a church bell ringing loudly startled the group. camila looked around, wondering where the sound was coming from. rick nudged the girl and pointed to his left. the group took off in that direction, praying sophia was there.

            the group arrived at the church, specifically in the back graveyard. "that can't be, got no steeple. no bells." shane announced. rick didn't listen and went ahead. "rick," glenn ran over to the side of the church, where there was a small cable box. glenn opened it and pulled the handle inside, making the bells stop ringing. "it's on a timer!" glenn called out.

            everyone filed into the church, resting before they would continue their search. camila sat on one of the pews. after a few minutes of quiet, glenn sat down next to her. "hey cam," camila muttered a 'hey' in response. "you've been distant, what's wrong?"

"i dunno. i guess i'm just scared. after everyone we've lost— i'm scared that i'll lose you too. it's not just that, everyone dies, i know. but imagining you or charlotte as one of them.." glenn's heart broke for the girl. he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "you won't lose me. ever. i can promise you that. and you know i'll always help you look after charlotte."

the two sat in silence for a few minutes before they decided they should follow the rest of the group outside.

shane walked over to the group with his hands on his hips, "y'all gonna follow the creek bed back. okay? daryl and camila, you guys are in charge. me and rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area for another hour or so. just to be thorough." shane instructed. "you're splittin' us up? you sure?" daryl voiced his concern.

"yeah, we'll catch up to you." shane replied.

"i want to stay too, i'm her friend!" carl interrupted. lori looked between shane and rick, pondering for a moment before she caved. "alright, but stay right where they can see you. okay? be safe." carl cheered and moved to stand by his dads side. "i'll be going back to the rv, okay? be careful please." glenn pointed a finger at the girl. "always am. don't do anything stupid, alright?" she replied.

"i won't make any promises," glenn said jokingly. camila pulled him in for a hug before
they said their goodbyes. rick attempted to give his gun to lori but she refused, saying that he needed it more. which only resulted in lori getting daryl's gun. andrea huffed in annoyance as dale wouldn't 'allow her' to have her gun. she was definitely jealous.