What We Become

Chapter 15 - The Outskirts

Although I hated to admit it, she was right. I was stupid if I thought I could get in and get out without anyone noticing me. If this plan of mine was gonna work, I was gonna need reinforcements.

"Fine. I'll take you to their camp. But we do this quietly," I warned.

"Well, that's obvious."

I rolled my eyes and took the lead, embarking on a now two person rescue mission.

"How the hell did you even come across the store? I figured you would have just passed it," I said after we were a few minutes away from where we had started.

"Your footprints were a dead giveaway."

"So you're a tracker?"

"Ain't that hard to do."

"Wait stop," I said before he took a step further.

We had come across a ditch to the left of us. I went over to investigate. There were clear signs of a struggle.

"Shit. Something went down here." Daryl joined me and looked around.

He then picked up a stick and looked at it carefully.

"Yeah. This is Henry's. He was here. He must have caught up to them."

"Or they caught up to him."

Connie then got my attention by waving her hands. She pointed at our mouths then her eyes. "You can read lips."

She nodded.

"Sorry," I said, not meaning to exclude her out of the conversation.

"He was here," Daryl looked over at her and said.

She went ahead and wrote something else. Daryl and I waited patiently for her to finish. She then turned it over for us to see.

"He put up a fight," she wrote.

"Looks like it," I said, scouring the place.

"We're close to their camp. It's that way."

Daryl took Henry's stick and both he and Connie followed Dog and me who had come to stay by my side. I couldn't help but smile at the guy considering his dad was right behind me. I didn't think bringing it up would sit well with Daryl so I chose to keep my thoughts to myself. We had been walking for a good while until we came across an open field.

"Duck," I said.

There were two tree stumps that we're large enough to hide behind.

"We're here."

In front of us was a horde of the dead that they usually had nearby to guard them.

"How many of them are the real dead?" Daryl asked.

"They all are. Alpha usually has two people check on them every now and then. Wait...ok...here comes their food."

As we looked on, there were two of her people that came out of the trees, dragging a tarp with some bodies. The dead wasted no time in devouring them. I looked away and took a few breaths before looking back.

"You good?"

"Yeah. Just...I didn't think I'd be back here so soon."

"You think you can do this?"

I looked over at him.

"For Lydia, I know I can."

He nodded.

"Why do you care so much for her?" he asked.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"In a way, she sort of reminds me of myself. The physical and I'm pretty sure the emotional abuse she's endured...I don't want to get too into it but that's why I care so much."

"Alright. I can respect that."

Just then there was some groaning that got close to us. I looked up and could see the two whisperers slowly making their way toward where we were.

"I got this," I whispered.

"Nat. What the hell are you doing," he whispered sharply.

"Just trust me."

I placed all my gear down except for my knife and stood up. I grabbed some dirt and rubbed it on my face and hair. I walked straight for them and wobbled a few times. As I got closer, I moved over and tried to avoid them. Once one of them reached out for me, I grabbed their arm and drove my knife into their skull, quickly doing the same to the other. When they were down, I knelt down and looked over at the herd. Luckily they were still too busy eating to notice. I slowly stood back up again and headed back to Daryl and Connie.

"It's clear."

"How do we get past them?" Connie wrote on her notepad.

I knew the only way to do that was to have the skins on.

"Follow me."

I grabbed my gear and went back to where I had left the bodies. Daryl and Connie followed me.

"You're gonna have to put these on," I said, looking down at the two dead Whisperers.

"What about you?"

I cleaned my blade on my shirt.

"Don't worry about that."

I made my way to the herd and got one of the dead alone before I ended it. I then started the process that I wish I could forget but unfortunately couldn't. How to get the skin off the walker. It was like second nature to me which I hated but this is what had to be done. I had endured much worse than this. It was the least I could do. For Lydia. And Henry. When I was done, I washed it off with the water I had with me.

"It'll be dark soon. It's best to move in then. We'll guide the dead to them. They can't stay silenced if they're being chomped on."

"You're right about that. Alright then, we walk around a bit or what?" Daryl asked.

"Only way."

We stayed away from the herd until the sun started to set.