Walking With the Dead

One week later Glenn and Emma left for a run into the city.

Everyone was running low on supplies. They needed clothes, soap, batteries, antibacterial ointments… The list went on for two pages and exceeded what Glenn would be able to find at the town’s local market. Maggie mentioned there was a Walmart about forty miles north on the freeway. It was risky to drive so far away from what was now their home, but Glenn promptly volunteered to take charge of the run. Emma asked if she could join, and ten minutes later they were packed up in the truck with guns and enough food and water to last them two days. Just in case.

Emma had to admit she was glad to finally be out of the farm. She enjoyed the crisp breeze – hinting of the approaching autumn – as she rose with the windows rolled down. It was relaxing, and for a moment Emma felt like she was on just another road trip to her families’ summer home on Lake Tahoe. The threat of walkers couldn’t be further from her mind.

“So… Daryl lent you his crossbow. What’s up with that?” Glenn asked only a mere minute after they merged onto the freeway.

Emma had to chuckle. Leave it to Glenn to be the first to point out the elephant in the room. She then placed a hand over Daryl’s crossbow, which sat resting against her shins.

“Honestly, I haven’t got a clue,” Emma admitted as she thought back on the interaction that had happened between her and Daryl just five minutes earlier.

Emma was just about to climb into the truck when she felt a weight being pressed on her shoulder. She stopped and turned around to find Daryl, blank faced and placing the strap of his crossbow over her shoulder.

“What’s this for?” Emma asked breathlessly. She lifted the bow and started handing it over to Daryl as if some mistake had been made. Strange chills were crawling up her arms, making the hairs stand straight.

“Figured you’re in more need of it today than I am,” Daryl said. He was avoiding Emma’s eyes at all costs. “If you so much as scratch my bow don’t even bother coming back,” he warned, but Emma knew he only half meant his threat.

Nevertheless, Emma promised no harm would come to the bow, and she joined Glenn in the truck and she drove off. Emma watched Daryl in the rearview mirror until he disappeared from sight. There was a strange expression on his face, like a mixture of pain and something else.

“Daryl had been acting really weird lately,” Glenn commented, pulling Emma back to the present.

“Yeah, he has been,” she agreed.

Daryl’s attitude had been shifting ever since Sophia was found. He’d grown angrier, more spiteful and increasingly more distant. He wouldn’t talk unless spoken to, and even then he would keep conversation to a bare minimum. Daryl’s attitude only got worse after people started whispering to each other, wondering what was bothering him.

And then, four days ago, Daryl moved his tent.

He wasn’t living with the rest of the group any longer. He was on the complete other side of the farm, bordering the forest. His new home was barely visible from the original camping site. At night the only sign of his presence was the faint glow of a campfire as he made his own meals.

Daryl had completely isolated himself from the rest of the group.

“Has he mentioned anything to you?” Glenn asked. “About what’s going on?”

Emma furrowed her brows. “Why would he talk to me?”

“You’re the only person he talks to anymore.”

“That can’t be true…”

“Well the two of you have been spending every day for the past week together. What do you talk about?”

What Glenn said was true. Emma and Daryl have been spending a lot of time together. It was a week ago when Daryl first taught Emma to shoot a crossbow. And every day since then, Daryl has taught Emma something else. One day it was the proper way to wield and use her knife, and the next it was how to skin and clean a squirrel. Daryl taught Emma how to identify edible plants in the forest, as well as how to make small snares.

In the beginning, Emma was surprised when Daryl would approach her in the early afternoon, inviting her to the forest for training in a new skill. But by the third or fourth day she expected it, and sometimes would approach him first, asking what was on today’s agenda.

In hind sight, Daryl’s behavior was weird. Even for Daryl. He never provided a clear explanation as to why he was volunteering so much time in training her. Emma never asked. She just followed Daryl’s instructions with blind obedience.

They never talked about their conversation from a week ago. They never talked about relationships and betrayal, nor did they talk about Daryl calling Emma a strange girl. You’re a strange girl. Even just thinking about those words made her pulse race and a feeling of rose within.

Emma shrugged. “We don’t really talk that much.”

“What?” Glenn shouted, and the truck swerved as he took his eyes off the road to look at Emma in horror. “Don’t tell me you are Daryl are—“ He couldn’t even finish his sentence.

“Ew! No! Get your dirty mind out of the gutter,” Emma said, slapping Glenn forcefully against his arm. “You know Daryl. He’s just not the talkative type.”

Glenn shook his head and his hair – which had grown long and hung low over his eyebrows – flopped from side to side. “Well if you have the chance, ask him what’s up. Everyone’s worried about him. Carol especially.”

Emma felt the muscles around her lips tighten at the mention of Carol. Carol had a soft spot for Daryl, Emma knew that. Daryl did the most in the search for Sophia, and Carol felt indebted to him. For some reason, that made Emma feel uneasy.

The rest of the drive was uneventful. They didn’t even see a single walker, and Emma didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. Glenn pulled up the truck next to the entrance of Walmart and killed the ignition.

“You ready for this?” Glenn asked as he grabbed two large duffle bags, one for himself and the other for Emma.

Emma nodded as she patted herself down. Knife: check. Gun: check. Crossbow: check. She had all the weapons she needed, but she still prayed she wouldn’t have to use them.

The parking lot was clear, but the windows to the superstore were broken in. Emma couldn’t tell if that meant someone broke the glass to get in, or if it was the other way around. Nevertheless, Emma and Glenn were on their top guard.

They stayed by each other’s side the entire time. Whenever Glenn was looking forward, Emma would make sure to look back. Glenn looked right, and she looked left. Before going down an aisle they would use a mirror (Die Hard style) to make sure the coast was clear. Emma and Glenn moved quickly, taking only the necessities that were on the list.

It was clear she and Glenn weren’t the first people to scavenge through this Walmart. Many shelves had been picked clean, but most of the missing merchandise was stuff that had no use anymore. For example, all television sets and laptops from the electronics department were gone, but there were still plenty of fresh batteries that had been left behind.

A sad smile crossed Emma’s face. To think that these were the things people wanted when the world was going to shit. These were the things people thought they needed. However, Emma couldn’t help but be grateful for the lack of foresight. Even though all the DVDs and computer games were gone, there were still more than enough supplies they needed, like laundry detergent and Tylenol.

Emma and Glenn moved through the superstore with efficiency, and in fifteen minutes they had collected most of what was on the list. Better yet, Emma and Glenn had made it through over half the store and hadn’t seen signs of a single walker.

Emma and Glenn walked past the book display and something caught her eye. It was a boxed set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Emma grabbed a set, her fingers cutting into the layer of dust that had accumulated over the months. “I was Carl’s age when I first read Fellowship. Do you think he’d like it?”

Glenn looked down at the books in Emma’s hand. “I don’t know. Maybe? Hey, what are you doing?” Glenn asked as Emma slid the books into her duffle bag.

“I’m getting these for Carl. It will be a present,” she said, and went back to examining the shelves. Maybe there were other books she could give to someone. The only books in circulation among their group were whatever was Dale had in his RV, and those were outdated.

“We can’t, Emma. We only take what we need. We can’t waste our time shopping around. We should have been out of here by now.”

“Come on, Glenn. Five minutes. Let’s just spend five minutes looking for gifts for the others. I promise you it will be worth it.”

Glenn looked at Emma for several moments. Finally, his face caved and he sighed. “Why do I always let you do this to me, Emma?”

Emma smiled, knowing she had control over Glenn. “Because you know I’m always right.”

They ended up spending ten minutes searching the store, looking for gifts people might like. There were books for Dale and Carol, and Emma couldn’t resist picking up some cute baby onesies for Rick and Lori. Emma even found a couple cool utility knives which she got for Shane and T-Dog. Glenn found a nice pair of gold earrings for Andrea, and he spent at least ten minutes picking out a silver bracelet for Maggie.

Emma wasn’t expecting to find anything Daryl would enjoy. Daryl was very much a function over fun kind of guy. But, just by happenstance, Emma managed to stumble across the perfect gift for Daryl. She packed his gift away carefully in her duffle bag with a smile. She couldn’t wait to go back to camp and give him the gift.

After they finished gathering gifts Emma to a look at what was on the list. There were only a handful of items, and they could all be found in the same place. Emma took the list from Glenn’s hands. “I’ll get the rest of the stuff. It’s just over here,” Emma said, pointing to the aisle on her left.

“I’ll join you,” Glenn offered, stepping towards her.

“Uh, Glenn, this is the feminine hygiene aisle.”

It was actually adorable how quickly and to what degree Glenn’s face reddened. Emma had to smile. He’s sleeping with a girl, but just the thought of a tampon makes him blush. How cute. Emma remembered that her brother had acted the same way.

“That’s, uh… Cool. I’ll just hang around here,” Glenn said, trying to appear preoccupied with the labels on the back of shampoo bottles.

With a smile, Emma went down the aisle and grabbed several boxes of tampons, panty liners and every bottle of Midol she could find. Emma came across the condom display and, after thinking of all the drama associated with Lori’s pregnancy, added several boxes to her bag. Better safe than sorry.

Emma took another look down the list, just to make sure they hadn’t missed anything. She noticed that she and Glenn had forgotten to get salt, which was their main ingredient these days. The food section was too far away. Emma glanced up at Glenn, who was distracted with looking at the bracelet he had chosen for Maggie.

I’ll just take a quick trip to the food section. This place is clear, anyhow. Nearly thirty minutes here and not a sign of a single walker. Glenn won’t even notice I’m gone.

Emma readjusted the duffle bag on her shoulder and quietly tip-toed down the aisle.

Emma went closer to the food section and the air grew thick with the stomach-churning stench of death and decay. Emma had to press the hem of her sleeve against her nose and mouth to keep from gagging. Where is this smell coming from? she wondered. Then Emma realized it must be from the refrigerated section. The power had been out for over two months. Whatever perishable foods that were once being kept cold were now in the prime state of decay.

The stench was beginning to make Emma’s eyes water, but she pushed through it and walked past what was once the frozen food aisles.

Suddenly, Emma’s body froze.

No more than five feet away was a walker.

It hadn’t noticed her. Yet. The thing was kneeling on the ground in front of an opened refrigerator, eating a gore of mess that Emma didn’t even want try to identify. A deep feeling of revulsion hit her and she grew lightheaded from both the stench and her own fear. Emma tried to back away, but her feet stayed glued to the floor. All she could think about was the walker that was less than five feet away from her: its feral grunts and the sickening wet sound as it chewed at what was once meat.

Glenn, Emma mentally cried. She was too frightened to make a noise and attract the walker. Emma willed herself to close her eyes, to escape from this place, but it didn’t happen. Even her eyelids remained paralyzed. Why did I leave Glenn?

Suddenly, the walker stopped chewing. It looked up, as if sensing some other presence. Emma watched in horror as it turned its face to her. If Emma’s vocal chords hadn’t been rendered useless by fear she would have cried out in terror.

The walker had no eyes. Its left eye was completely missing – exposing a dark, moldy hole – and its right eye was… Oh, wait… It had a right eye, but it was dangling against the monster’s cheek, a shriveled ball that waved back and forth as the walker’s head swayed left and right, searching for the foreign presence.

“Gl-“ Emma tried to call his name but only a strange gurgling escaped her lips, bubbling in her throat. Her cry was soft, but it was enough to get the attention of the walker. Even blind, the beast knew she was there. The walker climbed into a walking position and stumbled towards Emma. Its groaning grew faster in anticipation of its next meal.

At that moment it was like the spell that had bound Emma in place had been lifted, and Emma went into autopilot. She dropped her duffle bag and reached for Daryl’s crossbow. She backed up several paces to increase the distance between her and the walker, and loaded an arrow into the bow. Emma lifted the crossbow, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

The arrow flew from the bow and landed with a wet thunk in the walker’s neck. The walker paused, as if trying to understand what had just happened. Then, the walker let out a loud, bubbling growl. Globs of congealed blood spurt from its mouth, landing on the ground and on Emma’s clothes. Emma backed away further, but her foot caught on the duffle bag and she fell to the ground, landing painfully on her elbow. She was on her back, prone to any attack the walker might make.

“Glenn!” Emma finally shouted. “Glenn!” Emma tried to reach for her knife but she couldn’t reach her elbow behind her body. The walker was above her now, growling and raking hungry hands through the air. Emma closed her eyes.

Suddenly there was a loud thud, followed by feral cry cut short. Emma peeked her eyes open and saw Glenn standing above her, his hatchet having cleaved the walker’s head in two. Glenn’s face was stony and impassive as he pulled the hatchet out from the dead body, creating a wet suction sound. The walker fell to the ground in a heap.

When there’s one walker, there’s bound to be more around the corner. Emma didn’t know how she knew it, but she did. There were more walkers.

“Glenn! Behind you!”

On her command, Glenn turned around. All Emma saw was Glenn high-kick something and then hack at another thing with his hatchet. He then returned to Emma, grabbing her duffle bag and helping her up. “Come on! We need to go!”

Emma didn’t ask any questions. She followed Glenn at a full sprint to the front of the store. She didn’t have to look back to know they were being chased. She could feel their angry, hungry, deadly presence on her heels.

They jumped through the broken doors and what Emma saw was like something out of a horror movie. There were dozens of walkers all converging in the parking lot, coming closer to the truck. In a matter of seconds the truck would be surrounded and their chance at escape would be gone.

Glenn wasted no time in running to the truck, carelessly throwing the bags in the back. He pulled the door open and dove into the cabin. Half a second later the truck roared into life. Emma was only a few paces behind Glenn, and she dove into the passenger seat and closed the door right as a walker reached to grab her.

“Drive!” Emma cried, as if Glenn needed to be told. Glenn peeled out of their spot, slamming the gas pedal against the floor. Emma watched as the hoard of walkers turned around to follow the truck at a run. But, no matter how fast the walkers ran, they couldn’t outrun a truck. Within thirty seconds there wasn’t a walker in sight. Still, Glenn didn’t stop the truck until they were five miles away. When he did, he pulled over to the side of the road and started pulling at Emma’s arms, looking for any wounds.

“Are you okay? Are you bit?”

Emma, who was in a state of shock, shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”

“You sure? No scratches?”

Emma nodded. “Positive. He didn’t touch me.”

Glenn finally sat back and let a curse slip between his lips. “Shit, Emma! What were you doing alone?”

“I-I didn’t think anything would happen…”

“Obviously! Shit. You almost got us both killed.”

Hot tears blinded her vision and Emma looked out the window. It was a while until she could talk. “I-I’m sorry. I d-didn’t know. I d-didn’t want…” Emma could hear the tears in her shaking voice, so she stopped talking.

Glenn sighed. He placed a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Emma. It’s not your fault. It could have happened to me, as well. Here’s let’s get you cleaned up.”

They went to the side of the road where Emma changed her shirt and cleaned the blood off her arms and face. Glenn made sure to wipe his hatchet clean. Within five minutes the only evidence they had encountered walkers were Emma’s shaking hands.

Glenn drove home like a madman and thirty minutes later they were at the farm being greeted like heroes. Glenn doled out the supplies, and Emma watched as people smiled, opening their gifts. Even though they were small things like books and knives Emma could see they were genuinely happy to have something new.

“Was it safe? Did you meet any walkers?” Andrea asked as she was putting her new earrings through her lobes.

Emma glanced at Glenn, but he didn’t look back. “It was fine. Didn’t see a single walker anywhere.”

“Maybe that means the walkers are disappearing. Maybe we can return to normal life soon, Mom,” Carl said looking at his mother.

Lori simply smiled and placed a kiss on her son’s forehead. “Maybe.”

Emma looked over at Glenn and they made eye contact. “I’m going to go return Daryl’s crossbow,” she said. For some reason she now felt obliged to tell Glenn where she was going.

“Hey,” Glenn said, and he gave her a look. He narrowed his eyes and raised his eyebrows, a gesture that asked, “Are you okay?”

Emma gave a small smile and a slight nod, answering, “Yes, I’m fine.” It was a lie, but there was nothing Glenn could do about it. Swinging the crossbow over her shoulder and grabbing the bag that contained Daryl’s gift, she went across the farm to Daryl’s camp.

Daryl was sitting on a log, skinning a squirrel, when she came up to him. Wordlessly, she set the crossbow at his feet as well as the quiver of arrows.

“Thanks,” she said.

Emma looked around Daryl’s camp. He had strung up several squirrels on a line, letting the blood drain. Emma looked at the end of the line, and there hung a necklace with shriveled black pieces of flesh. Emma felt her stomach churn when she recognized the pieces of flesh as being walker ears. There were about eight in total now, a sign that squirrels weren’t the only things Daryl was hunting.

Daryl grabbed the crossbow and examined it for damage. Finding none, he looked at the quiver of arrows and frowned. Emma suddenly felt her mouth go dry. Daryl had very few arrows, and each one was precious. Emma expected he would be mad to know she left an arrow behind.

Daryl looked up at Emma knowingly. “You at least make the arrow count?”

Emma thought about lying, but she knew it would be pointless. Daryl would see right through her lie. She averted her gaze to the ground. “I missed. Shot the walker in the neck. Glenn had to kill it.”

Daryl nodded and set the quiver aside. Emma hated the fact she felt like a kid being scolded by her parent. “Well, nothing we can do about it now,” Daryl said.

Actually… Emma reached into her bag and pulled out an ordinary shirt box. She handed it to Daryl, who looked at it suspiciously.

“What is it?”

“Just open it.”

Daryl took the box and removed the top. Resting inside were a dozen crossbow arrows inside. Daryl looked up at Emma, and she couldn’t help smile when she saw his surprise. “I stumbled across a small stash of arrows at the store. They’re the same length as your old ones; I checked to make sure. And these are stronger than the wooden ones, so they’ll last longer.”

Daryl looked down at the box, and then back at Emma again. Emma was pleased to see that Daryl was physically speechless. Daryl opened his mouth, about to say something, but he stopped when a foreign noise reached them.

It was the sound of several running motors, a low rumbling echoing across the otherwise silent countryside. Emma turned her head to the dirt road that lead to Hershel’s farm house. She could make out the hazy clouds of dust that were kicked up as someone drove up the pathway. Emma felt her muscles clench in fear, unknowing of who these intruders were.

“Daryl, what should we-“

Emma didn’t have time to finish her question before Daryl was running toward the farmhouse, his crossbow close to his body. Knowing she had somewhere to be, Emma grabbed her gun from its holster and ran to the farmhouse.