His Everything

Chapter Four

   I step out of my tent, the oncoming dread of what is to come setting in.

   "Look at 'em." Glenn says as I approach him after making sure I knew where Rick and Carl were. "Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean," he calls out as Dale and Jim take apart the sports car, he brought from the city yesterday. Dale apologizes, explaining that the RV wouldn't be able to run if they didn't. "I thought I'd at least get to drive it at least a few more days," Glenn pouted as I rubbed his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

   "Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday," Rick says walking up to us.

   "Oh, now you're all for grand theft auto..."I mutter playfully.

   "That was before the world fell apart Abbs, and you didn't even have your license, and I was a rookie, if I didn't pull you over you would have been in a lot more trouble," Rick defended himself.

   "You stole a car?" Glenn asked me surprised.

   "Yeah... I was thirteen, and Rick had just gotten hired at the sheriff's station and pulled me over not even two minutes after I pulled out of the parking lot, I thought I was driving really well actually," I explained.

    "Well, you weren't, I thought I was going to be dealing with a middle-aged drunk man," Rick laughed, and walked away, probably to find Lori.

   "Yeah, yeah laugh it up!" I exclaimed as everyone started giggling.

   "Water's here, y'all. Just a reminder to boil before use," Shane yelled a few minutes later.

   "We know officer Dipshit, you've been saying it for weeks," I complained rolling my eyes.

   "Mom! Auntie Abby! Dad!" Carl screamed, we all started running as fast as we could.

   "Carl!" I yelled, hearing Rick and Lori echoing me as Sophia calls for Carol. I got their first and caught both Carl and Sophia leading them away from a Walker eating a deer with bolts in its flank. Daryl's bolts.

    "Are you two, okay? No scratches? No bites?" I asked them both, they didn't get a chance to answer me before Lori and Carol arrived along with everyone else taking over, asking them what I had just done. The men of the group started beating on the Walker like they were aiming for anything but the head.

    "Men," I scoff under my breath. Dale chops the Walkers head off with an axe, and I make a face at it as it rolls to my feet.

    "It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain," Dale says looking at the body.

   "Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what," Jim replies. A branch snaps and everyone raises their weapons, except for me, I already knew who it was. Daryl steps out of the trees stopping short when he sees all of us, then relaxes and as he looks back to the Walker his brows furrow.

   "Son of a bitch." Daryl starts, "That's my deer! Look at it all gnawed on by this..." He starts to kick the Walker, taking his anger out on it, "Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" He says through his teeth kicking it with each word.

   "Calm down, son. That's not helping," Dale says calmly.

   "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'on golden pond'? I've been tracking this deer for miles," Daryl made eye contact with me for a second, before looking away quickly, "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He continues still frustrated.

   "Yeah, no, we have no idea if it's infected or not, we ain't risking it," I said, completely against the idea of eating that deer after what the Walker got to. Daryl sighs, looking up at me again.