Greek Tragedy | Daryl Dixon

Chapter 19 | We've Gotta Go

When the group converged at the cookfire that evening and tipped out the day's haul, it was a meagre fair but it would tide them over for a few days if they stretched the rations out. No one's spirits were in particularly good shape after the day they had had; Daryl's group had also come back with next to nothing. Despite that, with a hot meal in them and Beth singing something from her extensive country music repertoire, the group managed a few smiles. Rick was worried by Cass's report about the mass of walkers that followed them but it seemed they had lost them on the way back. They huddled close together in one end of the shelter rather than split and, as the storm raged outside, the group bedded down for another night.

The next few of weeks passed by in much the same way with rations running lower and lower and the pickings becoming much slimmer. Every time groups went out, they came back with less food. It was not until the snows finally let up a month after they started that it looked like spring might be just around the corner. 

It began one morning when Cass was on watch. The day dawned, sun burning away the morning mist within hours of cresting the horizon. The sky was clear as still water, turning from deep purple to orange and finally a brilliant, vibrant blue. It truly was beautiful, the girl thought to herself. For the first time in a long while, as the night's frost melted from branches, a bird's soft chirruping lit the air. Cassandra sat back in her deck chair, blankets wrapped tightly around her, closed her eyes and basked in the tranquillity with eyes closed. She felt the morning breeze, brisk against her vulnerable cheeks. She felt the subtle, distant warmth of the winter sun. And she heard the sounds of the forest around their storage facility home coming to life. Then there was something she could not place, a whisper beneath the soundscape of the morning. Cassandra's eyes snapped open, listening closely. The sound was getting closer, louder, clearer. And she could finally tell what it was. 

Leaping up from her position, Cass left the blankets piled on the floor and bolted inside to the still-sleeping group. 

"Rick!" She barked. The leader in question was curled up in his sleeping bag near the entrance with Carl sleeping soundly next to him. 

When he merely stirred at the sound of her voice, Cass crouched beside the man and shook his shoulder, successfully rousing him if in a dishevelled and groggy state. 

"Wha...what is it?" He mumbled as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. 

"Rick," her voice was sharp, "Rick, you need to come and hear this, I think we're in trouble."

"Sure." Rick was now fully awake and pulling on his coat and boots. He followed her outside and was a bit miffed to see her treatment of the blankets meant to keep the watch warm. They now all lay damp in the dirt. "What's happened?"

"Listen," Cass commanded.

And so he did. 

"Do you hear it?"

"Yeah, I hear it."

Behind the symphony of forest wildlife, rumbled the distant, myriad voices of dead people. They growled and snarled and grunted. They could not tell how many, just that it was far too many to fight off. And they were finally mobile after the long, frozen winter. 

"Can you tell me how close they are?" Rick asked worriedly.

"I'd say we probably have until midday at the latest. They're louder now than when I came to get you. Menas they're getting closer and quickly. But I can't see them so I can't tell you how far away they really are."

Rick was silent for a few moments, hands on hips, contemplating. "Go get Daryl, take his bike out until you see them. Try to see how far off they are. I'll get everyone else up and ready."

Cass looked up at the group's leader with apprehension. "Are we gonna fight?"

"If we can." Rick sighed and met her piercing blue gaze. "This place... It's too good to give up without a fight. Not unless there's no other choice."

Nodding with a heavy heart, Cassandra went inside to obey his orders silently. Daryl, as a light sleeper, was already up since she had come in to rouse Rick. After relaying her instructions, the hunter nodded and got ready as well. Soon enough the pair was on his bike and on the road. They were riding for no more than a quarter-hour before they saw the horde facing them. It was only a few miles off and massive. Maybe fifty-strong, the walkers' collective sound was a din at this proximity. Luckily, it was further off than Cass had expected – the sound carrying towards the camp on the wind – but she had been correct in her assessment about midday. 

"We need to go. Now."

"Mhm," Daryl replied gravely. 

As the motorcycle engine roared to a halt outside the storage lockers, most of the group came outside to meet them. With barely a second to lose, Daryl and Cass were pelted with questions from anxious faces. Rick silenced them all swiftly and moved everyone inside to the warmth of the fire for a breakfast Carol had just finished cooking. 

With plates of hot beans in their hands, Rick finally asked the two the herd's status.

"Fifty," Daryl grunted solemnly. "Maybe a hundred. They're takin' up the entire freeway as they come but could be just as many stragglers in the trees, just can't tell."

Cass nodded in agreement. "They're farther off than we thought, but we still don't have a lot of time. Soon we'll be blocked in and there's no way we can hold against so many." She paused for a moment, met many of the concerned looks directed on her and finally looked Rick in the eye. "I know it's a horrible decision to have to make and it seems safe here, but we can't stay. There's no hope against so many and the longer we delay, the more likely it is we'll be surrounded or followed in our escape."

Rick got up and paced for a bit, scrubbing his stubbly face with a hand. Suddenly, he kicked his backpack violently let out a vicious, short-lived cry. 

Turning back to the group, Rick had composed himself and was nodding. "Fine. Alright, everyone, pack up your things and load everything into the cars. Do we still have enough fuel?"

T-Dog answered in the affirmative and the camp flew into action. Daryl and Cass stood over their belongings and packed in sullen silence. It seemed no one had much of an urge to talk (apart from Glenn, obviously, so he was sent on watch). Soon enough, everyone was packed and piling bags into the cars. The hunters were riding the bike and, just as they were loading their own packs into Rick and his family's car, a yell came from Glenn.

"Walkers!" He cried.

Sure enough, the fastest biters of the herd were lumbering into view. These corpses were mostly intact, hence their faster movements and Cass quickly fired arrows into the heads of the first two to round the corner. 

"Everyone move, now!"

The less skilled members of the group piled into cars while the rest held them off. Finally, almost everyone was in. Only Carol remained, grasping a large rifle that she must have gone back for. She was nearly surrounded and about to get overwhelmed when the hunters swerved in on the bike and Cassandra shot from the back. 

"Go!" She yelled and covered the older woman's retreat.

Carol did not need to be told twice and rushed to hop into the bed of the pick-up truck. From there, she was able to use the weapon that had nearly cost her life. At first, she hit nothing but was soon shooting limbs and even skulls from their attackers. The group tore out of the storage unit, leaving the hungry mass of walkers and their winter home behind forever.