Living Like You're Dead

Addie found that having an upwards of twenty or so walkers was actually a little scary to have following you. Her bike told them exactly where she was, and she wasn’t going to lose them unless she thought of a plan.

The River, It had to had storm drains somewhere. She could hide the bike – hike back and pick it back up in a few weeks; Daryl was going to kill her though. After she let the walkers get one good last look at her she sped up trying to clear the stretch of road before the next turn. And that’s exactly what she did.

The storm drain wasn’t hard to find, and it was the perfect size to hide the bike, and it was well concealed if she did say so herself. She then quickly made her way into the woods and watched the walkers stumble from confusion from a distance. Granted she had added a few miles to her trek back home she was glad that she had led them away, and hopefully saved Daryl. He was going to kill her for doing that too, damn now she had to die twice.

The wilderness seemed to echo her every step as she took, she found it eerie, and creepy. Her feet kept her moving. She thought about how similar it was to the situation she found herself in months ago, only instead of crashing a helicopter, she stashed a motorcycle. But now she was trekking through the woods once again, only not being followed buy a blood thirsty creature. She found a tall boulder that gave her enough height to see that the walkers behind her were wandering aimlessly through the streets, and she could now see the distant schoolhouse, she used the small scope she had borrowed from Daryl’s hunting equipment to get a closer look. And the car was in fact gone, Thank God.

She took a deep breath before she was pushed off the boulder landing on her shoulder, she felt a dislocating pop as she slid down the soft dirt slope the jagged rock that hit her jaw seemed to spring blood only instantly. She tried to get to her feet.
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Returning home was quite relaxing to Rick and the others. They found it odd that the gate was locked from the outside. All would seem normal except for the padlock was on the wrong side. Only Daryl thought about it, wondering who had gone out. But it also made him think that just to be safe he should check on his bike, after he ate the largest meal of his life and kissed the girl he’d dreamt about those two lonely nights.

They parked the car in back with the others, and he did in fact notice his motor cycle missing. Now he was pissed. No one here could ride it, something had to be wrong, and he was gonna murder the person who took it.

“Who had the guts to take my god damn bike?” was the first thing that came out of his mouth when he walked in. Lori had been graciously waiting to hug Rick after Carl had jumped in his arms. The tender welcoming party was a little put off.

“Who do you think would have the only guts here?” Dale stated. After a long thought about how it couldn’t possibly be Addie, he asked.

“Where is Addie?”

“What do you mean?”

“She never came with us.”

“We know that. She… left this morning? I assumed you returned meant she had found you?”

“Addie came after us?”

“Damn girl slipped right past us cause of Lori.”

“Hey a very big spider is reason enough to scream!” she hailed back at them.

“Hold on,” Daryl said, “You mean to tell me she was the one on the bike?”

“I guess if that’s what she took. We didn’t even hear her leave.”

“Well my bikes’ gone.”

“We gathered that, and so is Addie. So presumably they’d be together.” Dale said.

“God Damnit!”

“I told you everyone should’ve stayed behind!” Rick said.

“We wouldn’t have gotten out if she hadn’t rode past dipshit!”

“Well we just have to go after her…” Daryl threw his arms up in frustration, now Addie was just making things harder for him.

“Or give her time!” Lori said. “She is certainly not stupid, she took guns, and how do you know she won’t lead the walkers away and double back on foot?”

“That’s true she could be back before sundown.”

“I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Are you underestimating her?” Andrea smiled. Addie had been the one to kill Jeremy Redfern in the forest; Daryl had underestimated her then too.

“NO! I’ve just been gone for days! She should be here!”

“Daryl you sound like a woman. She’ll be fine.”

His defeat was eminent. They all thought Addie should receive the benefit of the doubt, but Daryl couldn’t shake the fact that there was doubt. It wasn’t safe for her, he loved her; And he did not want to lose her.
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Sundown was here, the pink and orange sky was colorful, as was Daryl’s mood.

“Now we go after her,” he said. “It’s been too long.”

“Daryl calm down. She’d have to push the bike back here, you know she wouldn’t take any chances bringing anything here.”

“Then I should go help her push the bike!” he said. “I have to do something.”

“Then take your crossbow and head on foot, you’ll probably run into her on the road.”

“I can’t believe she’d be so stupid.”

“Yeah she’s stupid, for loving you. You know that’s why she went out there.”

Rick was right. He hadn’t managed to wait six hours for her she managed to wait three days. She had known that they needed help and she did was she could. But he didn’t know she could ride a motorcycle. He cringed at the thought of what the clutch was doing… jamming, churning. It gave him chills.

He set off with crossbow in hand to find her. He hoped more than anything that she’d be seen a mile down the road pushing his motorcycle. She’d smile at him and he’d chastise her for being so reckless. But he’d probably find her looking so hot next to his bike that he’d have problems keeping his hands off her, and maybe he’d properly thank her for coming to save him.
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With a few miles under his belt and darkness surrounding him he worried. He stumbled upon a sight that he'd never even thought of. He found a person before him, a blood smeared face, and tired eyes. He had expected to see Adeline pushing his bike, not a man.