Saved

III

It had been four days since I woke up, and three days since we had been back to the prison. Rick, Carl, Michonne, Dale and I hadn't been back since we left to look for Daryl and the others. The first day we found the town. Woodbury. Michonne said that she and a friend of hers stayed there for a few weeks when her friend was sick. But Michonne started feeling uncomfortable there, with the leader, the Governor. So she left, and her friend refused to come. She saw the man who chased her down take Daryl and Merle, and she figures that Maggie and Glenn were either found by some of the Governor's men, or they found the town, and tried to sneak in but were caught. But if they weren't here, then they were dead. So we are choosing to believe that they are here. 

But, since it is such a highly protected town, I convinced Rick that we should come up with a plan before going in. So, day two, we spent in a town nearby, scavenging for supplies while Rick and I tried to figure out what we were going to do. I did find a Moby wrap in a Target in the town, so that was amazing. And we got a few new sets of clothes, but there wasn't very much food, so we ended up splitting a can of peaches for dinner. 

And now, it was day three of the search, and we had finally decided how we were going to do this. We were gonna burn the forest down. 

Dale, surprisingly enough, had done very well with the traveling. He hardly ever cried, and when he did, it was because he was hungry, which was an easy solution to fix, since my milk had apparently come in while I was asleep, and Carol had been using a pump to stimulate production while I was asleep, since she was worried that the formula would run out and Dale would need some milk. She apologized profusely for it, saying she felt very much like she was assaulting me in the process, but I assured her that I didn't mind, and that I was grateful. Especially now, since it meant that I could simply feed him while we walked, and the only time we had to stop was so I could change his diapers, which I had plenty of in my backpack that used to hold ammo. 

Rick had been unsure when I demanded that Dale come with us. Saying it would be safer for him at the prison. But, what if the Governor got our location out of one of them? And he attacked while we were gone and the group had to flee? I could not get separated from my baby. I already missed two months with him. I wasn't going to miss any more. 

"How much further do you think we need to go out?" Rick asked, glancing back at me as we fumbled through the woods, trying to find a spot to light a fire. The plan was, light a fire, close enough to the town to possibly be dangerous to them if it continues, but far enough away that they have to leave so they can put it out. We were about half a mile away from the far edge of Woodbury, the edge furthest away from the prison. 

"Not too much further. Maybe another half a mile? I want us to get far enough away that it will take them a bit to see it, so we have time to get back before they leave. Give us as much time as possible to break in and find everyone." I said quietly, glancing around again for any walkers, but surprisingly there hadn't been many since we got near Woodbury. They must have a way of keeping them away from the town. 

I could hear Michonne groan from behind me, but I didn't turn to look at her. She was frustrated with us. She wanted to go in that first night, and was angry when I said no. It just felt wrong. Like if we had gone in that night, we just would have ended up getting trapped as well. And then who was going to come save us? Hershel?

After another ten minutes or so of walking, we finally made it to a spot that I thought would work. There was a tree that had been downed, possibly by lighting, but it had happened long enough ago that the trunk was completely dry and rotted. Perfect kindling for a fire. 

It took us a good hour, to get enough dried twigs and grass to start the fire. But after we got it lit, and placed in in a hollowed out part of the trunk, the large tree didn't take long to catch fire. And when the smoke was starting to become unbearable, I thought it would be enough, and we could make our way back. 

"All right. It looks good. Let's go before they see the smoke." I said, turning around and following a different path than the straight shot we took to get here, since that was the way they would come from, and I started to jog. I could hear the feet pounding behind me, so I knew they were following, but I just focused on making sure that Dale was squeezed tightly enough to my chest that he didn't bounce around and get hurt by the jog, and that my gun didn't fall out of my holster, and that I didn't trip over myself and hurt us both. 

We were almost back to the town when I heard the shouts coming from inside, and moments later a loud roar started up, and the gates were yanked open, and three very large trucks full of men came barreling out of the gate and towards the fire behind us. I stopped in front of the gate, staring up at the people patrolling it, to see that they were young. They looked frightened, and were definitely not the people that were on guard this morning, or two days ago when we scoped out the place the first time. 

These were the second string players. We had done it. 

Daryl... here I come. 

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait! I've been really busy! 

Also, my 21st birthday is tomorrow! Yay! 

P.S.: This is a Moby Wrap: