Adasyn
"Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl asked as we approached the house. Everyone was standing around in the kitchen, clearly worried.
"No," Lori said.
"We heard a shot," I added, looking her way. I was starting to get really worried but I had to have faith in Rick and try not to send anyone else into a panic.
"Maybe they found Randall," Lori suggested.
"We found him," Daryl said.
Maggie looked over at us, now having more interest in the conversation. "Is he back in the shed?"
I shook my head, "He was a walker."
"Did you find the walker that bit him?"
"No," I breathed. "Weird thing is, he wasn't bit."
"His neck was broke," Daryl added.
"So he fought back?"
"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other," Daryl explained. "And Shane ain't no tracker. So he didn't come up behind him, they were together."
"Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane," Lori asked, a desperate edge to her voice. "Find out what on Earth is going on?"
"You got it," Daryl said.
Andrea, Glenn and I followed him out onto the porch and I was getting ready to strike up my argument with him about me coming along but the thought completely left my mind when my eyes scanned over the farm.
There were walkers coming from every direction, I had never even see this many together at one time like this. Could this night get any worse?
The others spilled out behind us, taking in the sight as well.
"Patricia," Herschel whispered. "Kill the lights."
"I'll get the guns," Andrea said.
The two of them took off inside and I couldn't tear my eyes away from the scene in front of us. "Maybe they're just passing, like the herd on the highway?" Ashlynn said. "Shouldn't we just go inside?"
"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs that I don't know bout," Daryl replied. "Herd that size will tear tha' house down."
"Carl's gone," Lori's panicked voice called out.
"What?" Daryl asked, spinning towards her.
"He - he was upstairs. I can't find him anymore."
"Maybe he's hiding?" Glenn suggested. "He could have seen the herd from the window and gotten scared?"
"He's supposed to be upstairs! I'm not leaving without my boy!"
"We're not," Carol assures her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We're gonna look again and we're gonna find him."
"I'll help you guys," Ashlynn said.
"Ash," I whispered, grabbing her arm. "We need to stay together."
She pulled me into a hug, squeezing me tighter than normal. "Lori is freaked, and Carl is missing. I have to help where I can, Ads. I'll be back soon."
"I love you, Ash. Just in case."
"I love you too."
Andrea returned with the guns, passing by Ashlynn, Lori and Carol on their way inside but asking no questions. Maggie took the bag from her and started passing out them out to everyone.
"I got tha numbers," Daryl said as she handed one to him. "It's no use."
"You can go if you want," Herschel grunted, pulling back the hammer on his shotgun.
"You gonna take 'em all on?" I asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of my lips. If this had happened a week ago, Herschel would have tried to figure a way to trap them all. Now here he was, a new man and a total bad ass, ready to protect his farm and his family.
"We have guns, we have cars."
"Kill as many as we can," Andrea said, loading up her clip. "And we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm."
"Are you serious?"
"This is my farm - I'll die here."
"Alright," Daryl chuckled, "It's as good a night as any."
He leaped over the railing on the porch and as soon as his feet hit the ground he called out my name. I looked down at him, and he was standing there impatiently. "Grab a gun, some ammo and get yer ass down here. We got some walkers to take care of."
I smirked, "Yes sir."
••
"What the hell?" I asked over the loud roar of Daryl's motorcycle. "The barn just went up in flames!"
"That's where we'll go first," Daryl responded.
We drove up to the fence surrounding it and started picking off the closest walkers. Jimmy pulled up a couple of minutes later in Dale's RV, leaning out the window, taking down walkers like a pro.
"Yo!" Daryl shouted, driving over to where Jimmy was parked. "Must've been Rick or Shane who started that fire! Maybe they're trying to get out back, why don't ya circle 'round!?"
"Got it!"
We sped off and I kept one arm around Daryl and the other on tightly closed around the handle of my gun, taking out any walkers that got close to the bike.
"They're all over the place," I spat. "There's no corralling them. We'll run out of ammo before we make a dent!"
"It's time ta go," Daryl yelled back.
"No! We have to get back to the house, Ashlynn is back there! I'm not leaving without my sister!"
Daryl started revving up the engine and I knew he was about to drive off so I jumped off the back of the bike. I could hear him calling my name over all the growls, walkers surrounding me the minute my feet hit the ground. I took out the ones closest to me, trying to find a way through them all to get back to the house.
"Adasyn, damnit!"
I tried snatching out of Daryl's grasp, his hand locked around my arm tightly, but it was too strong. "You will not make it back! We have ta' go!"
"I can't leave her," I cried. "She's the only thing I have left Daryl I can't just leave her to die!"
"She ain't stupid, Adasyn. She probably left with tha others! I just seen a truck leave here, crammed with people. We'll head to tha highway, wait it out and see if we see anyone else shows up but we have got to go!"
"What if she wasn't - what if she wasn't one of them? What if she's in trouble, I have to go back to the house!"
I shot at a few more walkers gaining in on us, only drawing more attention our way.
Daryl grabbed me by my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "I aint loosin you, you hear me? I can't do it. Not you. I ain't ever lied to you, I've helped you look for her before. We have to go, but we will find her ok? We always do."
I nodded, taking his hand in mine and allowing him to drag me back to the bike. We drove away just as a pack of them lunged for us, and I watched from over my shoulder as the farm faded away into the distance.
Daryl
Adasyn had her arms clenched around my waist as tight as they would go since we left the farm. The sun was well out now and we were approaching the highway. We had ran up with Maggie and Glenn along the way but so far that was the only people from the group we had seen. I hoped like hell her sister was here - cause I knew it would break her if she wasn't. And seeing her suffer was something I don't think I could handle. Hell, I hoped everyone was there. This group had become the closest thang to family I'd ever had.
We came to a stop, back at the same place we had stayed when we were searching for the girls. The note we left Sophia was still stained on the car window, and the canned goods sat covered in dust. It was crazy, how things had changed since then.
Herschel, Rick and Carl immediately came over as we pulled in and before he could even say hello, a truck pulled in behind them, Lori, Beth and T-dog spilling out of it. It looked like most of us were here now, but still no Ashlynn.
"How'd you find everyone?" Rick asked me.
"Well - those guys tail lights zigzaggin all over the road, figured it had to be an Asian drivin."
Glenn chuckled, "Good one."
Adasyn
"Where's the rest of us?" I asked. climbing off the back of the motorcycle, trying to keep my voice steady. So far we had everyone except Andrea and my sister.
"We're the only ones so far," Rick replied.
"Shane?" Lori asked. Rick shook his head, looking down to his feet. He had handled it.
"Patrica?" Herschel asked next. Beth cried, leaning into his shoulder. "They got her too - took her right from me. I was holdin' on to her - they just took her. What about Jimmy, has anyone seen Jimmy?"
"He was in the RV," Rick said. "It got overrun."
"Ashlyn?" I asked timidly.
"She saved me.." Carol said. "Then I lost her."
T took a deep breath, "Ady I'm so sorry."
"Sorry?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Why? Why are you sorry?"
"We saw her go down. We tried there was - there was just too many of them."
It was like my whole world had just turned upside down. and I felt like I was going to be sick. "Y-you definitely saw Ashlynn?"
"There were walkers everywhere," Lori replied.
"Did. You. See. Her?"
Nobody had an answer, except Daryl. "I'm gone go back."
"No," Rick intervened.
"That is my sister - we can't just leave her! We have got to go back!"
"She's dead, Adasyn." T-Dog said. "She's dead. I saw everything happen. Her and Andrea. We can't go back."
"No," I cried, my breath becoming sharp and uneven. I kicked the nearest truck tire as hard as I could, slamming my hand down on the hood. "No! She can't be dead - she can't be!"
"Ady," Daryl grunted, attempting to restrain me as I thrashed about. "Stop. Adasyn, I know. I know okay? Stop it. Adasyn!"
I finally stopped struggling to get away from him, allowing my emotions to fully take over as I leaned into him, loosing all the strength in my knees. He caught me, sinking down to the ground with me so that I didn't hit it full force. Sobs racked through my body and I genuinely felt like I was dying.
"Shhh," Daryl whispered, pulling me up onto his lap. "You gotta be strong Ady."
"My whole family is dead!" I shouted through my tears. "I can't do this anymore. I've lost them all."
"Look at me," he demanded, grabbing my chin in his hands forcing me to face him. "I know. I lost my only brother, I know. But look at me - look at us. I'm your family, so are these people. You ain't alone. And you are gonna keep goin. You're gonna do it for me, and you're gonna do it for your sister. You hear me?"
I couldn't respond, I just sank into his shoulder as I continued to sob. I'm not sure how long we sat there, him holding me while I cried. Eventually he tilted my chin to force me to look at him again, and it almost looked like he wanted to cry himself. "We gotta go," he mumbled. "Ain't safe here."
Slowly I pulled myself together, rising to my feet and wiggling out of Daryl's grass. Everyone had their eyes on me - and everyone else was crying. It pissed me off but I didn't say anything. I listened as they talked over their plans for where we went to next, but not actually paying attention. I may have stopped crying but on the inside I felt like I was dead. I promised I'd keep both of my sisters safe and I failed both of them.
And now I have to live without them.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when Daryl placed a jacket over my shoulders, and it was only when he did that, that I noticed how cold I was. I nodded as a form of thanks, and soon after we all piled up in the cars, me staying with Daryl on his motorcycle - and took off.
Back on the road again, with no place to go.
••
One of the two cars behind us honked, causing everyone to pull off on the side of the road. We all piled out of the cars, and we met in a group in the center of the road.
"You out?" Daryl asked Rick.
He nodded, "Been runnin' on fumes."
"We can't stay here," Maggie said, her eyes scanning around the place. Glenn looked over at her, "We can't all fit in one car either."
"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning," Rick sighed.
"And stay here?" Carol asked.
"I'm freezing," Carl said through chattering teeth.
"We'll build a fire," Lori assured him.
"We'll go on a run for firewood," Daryl said looking at Glenn. "Stay close, I only got so many arrows. How you doin' on ammo?"
"Not enough," he sighed.
"We can't just sit here with our asses hangin' out," Maggie spat.
"Watch your mouth," Herschel demanded. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."
He nodded and layed out his plan. "We'll set up a perimeter. In the morning we'll find gas and some supplies - we'll keep pushing on."
"Glenn and I can make a run now," Maggie nearly whispered. "Try and scrounge up some gas."
"No we stay together." Rick retorted. "God forbid something happen and someone get stranded without a car."
"Rick," Glenn sighed. "We're stranded now."
"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure - I really wasn't, but we did. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter, there's got to be a place."
"Rick, look around okay? There's walkers everywhere, it's like they're migrating or something-"
"There's got to be a place somewhere," Rick argued, cutting Glenn off. "Not somewhere we just hunker down but that we fortify! Build a - a life for each other! I know it's out there we just have to find it!"
"Even if we do find a place," I said, "somewhere we think is safe. How long will it last? Look at what happened at the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinkin' that was safe."
"We won't make that mistake again," Herschel said. Rick looked us all over . before turning towards the woods. "We'll make camp over there - start out first break of light."
"Does this feel right to you?" Carol's timid voice whispered, her eyes trained on Daryl.
"What if walkers come through?" Beth asked Rick. "Or another group like Randall's?"
This caught Daryl's attention and he too turned to Rick. "Ya know I found Randall, right? He had turned but he wasn't bit."
Rick's facial expression dropped and it was clear he knew something. "Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori asked.
"Shane killed Randall just like he'd always wanted too," I said, keeping my eyes locked on Rick.
"And then the herd got him?"
Rick was silent but I could tell his mind was screaming. "We're all infected," he said suddenly.
"What?" I spat.
"At the C.D.C," he replied. "Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."
"And you just decided to keep that to yourself instead of telling us!?" I nearly screamed. It's like things were just becoming worse and worse by the second.
"Would it have made a difference?"
"You knew this whole time."
"How could I have known for sure? You seen how crazy that-"
"That is not your call!" Glenn spat. "When I found out about the walkers in the barn I told for the good of everyone."
"Well I thought it'd be best if nobody knew," he argued back.
Nobody had anything else to say, and I genuinely didn't understand how everything could have turned so sour in the matter of a day.
***
We were all gathered around the fire, some people engaged in conversation and the others, like me, completely consumed by their thoughts. A branch snapped in the distance and everybody went into panic.
"What was that?" Beth asked.
"Could be anythang'," Daryl responded. "Could be a raccoon, a possum -"
"A walker," Glenn added.
"We need to leave," Carol whined. "What are we waiting for?"
"The last thing we need is for everyone to go running off in the dark," Rick spat. "We don't have the vehicles, nobody is travelling on foot."
"Don't panic," Herschel said as another branch snapped. Everyone else was standing up and ready by now, everyone but me.
"I'm not," Maggie said. "I'm not sitting around and waiting on another herd to blow through. We need to move, now."
"Nobody is going anywhere," Rick said.
"Do something," Carol spat.
"I am doing something! I'm keeping this group together, alive! I been doing that all along, no matter what! I didn't ask for this! I killed my best friend for you people for Christ's sake! You saw what he was like, how he pushed me. How he compromised us. He tried to kill Adasyn. He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice! He was my friend but he came after me. My hands are clean! Maybe you people are better off without me. I say there's somewhere out there for us but maybe - maybe it's just another pipe dream. You think you can do better? Go - there's the door. Send me a post card! But let's get one thing straight. If you stay, and remember..
This isn't a democracy anymore."
Long ass update haaaaay.
That's a wrap for season 2!
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