Somebody That I Used to Know

It was hot and balmy in the thick Georgia forest. Little beads of sweat kept running down Daryl Dixon’s face and he kept lifting up the oversized, filthy wife beater that he wore to wipe it away. He’s not too concerned about the dirt smeared on his tanned skin and continued trekking west with the sunset. After two nights out in the woods, he’s getting hungry and he’s not skilled enough to catch a squirrel just yet. He wondered briefly about what his mother is making for dinner but quickly stopped himself. At his house there was no such thing as ‘family meals’. It was a can of spaghetti being thrown at his head as his mother screamed about being out of cigarettes.

He sighed, swatting at the gnats swirling around his head. Daryl forced the lonely thoughts out of his head and instead preoccupied himself with the complexities of catching a squirrel to eat. Would he ever be agile -

“Mommy I’m sorry!”

Daryl stopped in his tracks and looked over his left shoulder. He stopped and listened to the heavy, humid air around him. The faintest sobbing could be heard and despite the possible dangers of it, Daryl turned and started heading toward the sound. His curiosity has the best of him and he has to know what it is. Is it one of those feral children Tommy Douglas told him about last week?

He had to know.

“Mommy, mommy, mommy...I’m sorry.” The cries continued and Daryl stopped by a tree that was hanging off the edge of a small shelf, cliff like feature. He carefully held onto the tree as he looked around. On the other side of the small, babbling brook sat a small girl with long blonde hair curled up and shivering. His eyebrows furrowed, how the heck can she be cold in this weather? That’s when he realized she was completely soaked from head to toe.

She’s too busy crying for her mommy to even realize Daryl’s there. He’s debating if he should help or just leave... his brain and stomach tell him to go home while his heart gets the better of him.

“Ya better shuddup or the mountain lions will hear ya.”

Her neck craned upwards. For a brief moment she was terrified. This dirty boy was a stranger and her mother told her never to talk to strangers. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. Now she was worried about mountain lions eating her and just wanted to go home.

“Are ya lost?” Daryl asked after a good five minutes of a silent staring contest. The little girl nodded too scared to speak. Her brilliantly hazel eyes pleaded with him.

“Do ya need help out of there?”

She nodded again but remained in her crouching position. Daryl could tell she was still unsure about the whole thing. He scratched the back of his head as an awkward silence fell over them.

“Uh, what’s yer name?” He asked, hurriedly adding, “I’m Daryl Dixon.”

It took her a minute or so until she opened her mouth to speak. Her voice was quiet but very clear and understandable. “My sister calls me Pixie.”

Immediately a guilty look crossed her features and Daryl knew she was hiding something but didn’t press it. The woods were dimming with the arrival of dusk and he wanted to get out of there before they were stuck traipsing through the forest at night.

“Well, c’mon Pixie. Come over ‘ere so I can pull ya out.” He said and yet she remained seated just staring at Daryl’s face, which was starting to get on his nerves. He wiped his face one more time with his wife beater and as he stepped away he told the little Pixie, “Or else I’m leaving ya for the mountain lions.”




“Daisy! Please! Come home now!” Lily pleads over the phone. Her voice is anxious and scared.

“Lily! I’m sorry but what do you want me to do exactly?! Flights from every damn direction are being cancelled! I can’t even hear myself think over all these people yelling about it.” I tell her impatiently. She's been calling me for the last hour, leaving dozens of voice mails and sending a flurry of text messages one right after the other.

“Pix,” Lily says softly. She hadn’t used my nickname in years and just hearing it stirred up an overwhelming sense of anxiety. “Please. You need to come home. I’m so scared and I don’t know what the hell to do.”

I heave a sigh. Sure things on the news lately haven’t been good but it’s not that bad yet. I don’t know what she’s so worried about.

"Lily pad, everything is going to be fine - "

"You're kidding me, right? Daisy! Open your fucking eyes - nothing has ever happened like this in my forty years of living and, and -" She breaks off into a sob. Hearing her cry pulls on my heart strings but I know I must remain the strong, level headed sister.

"Lily pad," I say quietly, trying to sound soothing over the phone. The crowd in the airport is growing with impatience and things are getting heated now between different passengers who have been waiting for hours now to fly home. I grab my luggage and eyes glance around for the nearest exit.

I tell her calmly and start heading towards the doors. "I want you to think of the safest place in the world."

It takes her a second but she whispers back, "The cabin?"

“Yes. Pack up the truck and go there. If anything happens, I promise I will meet you -”

Suddenly her line crackles and goes dead. All I can hear is dial tone. I pull my phone away and stare at it, confused as hell - the carrier still shows I'm fully connected to the network so it was all on her end. My heart drops and I can only pray she was listening.

That's when it happens. Every single thing that used electricity goes down. Everyone is baffled and stands in a stunned silence... that’s when the staff started panicking because the computers and systems are down, and the emergency generator isn't starting up. The crowd realizes what's happening and as soon as I'm out the door that's when I hear the sound of glasses breaking, and people shouting over free things.

I run to the nearest taxi and offer the driver a over a hundred dollars to take me as far as he can outside of Orlando.



“I really don’t know how to thank you ladies,” Daisy Carmichael states to the two blondes sitting up front in the red Ford Fiesta. She quickly adds with a smile, “Besides gas of course.”

The youngest of the sisters, Amy, turns around in her seat and grins.

“It’s cool, Daisy. It’s really nice having someone else to talk to besides my dear sister Andrea.” Her eyes roll at the comment causing my smile to turn into a grin. Andrea and Amy are exactly like my sister, Lily and I. We even share the ten-year age difference so I know first hand what it’s like having an older sister and being still thought of as the ‘baby’.

I only just met the Holden sisters a few hours ago at a gas station on the outskirts of Orlando, Florida. They saved my life because no one else would take up my offer of free gas for a car ride down to Georgia.

“She’s right. You add some stress relief. Three days in the car with this kid hasn’t been the vacation I was expecting.” Andrea says as she changes lanes on the interstate. We’re close to Atlanta but because of the sudden wave of traffic that came out of nowhere we are behind schedule and stuck in a sea of vehicles, all honking and driving at incredibly fast speeds.

“Are you sure you can’t stay longer?” Amy asks.

“I would love to come to Louisiana but my sister’s waiting for me in Atlanta.” I remind her and she frowns dramatically. Amy is about to say something when we both notice the car is slowing down at a rapid pace until Andrea is fully stopped behind a large RV.

Amy gripes, “What the hell is this?”

“This, my dear sister, is a traffic jam.” Andrea replies putting the car in park and rolling down the windows as she turns off the car.

“Don’t do that! It’s so hot outtttt!” Amy whines.

“Well sis, you can push the car to Atlanta when we run out of gas because you decided it was better to waste it on air conditioning.”

Amy quickly shakes her head and shuts up about it. Andrea reaches over and ruffles up her sister’s head, saying, “All part of the adventure kiddo.”

Andrea unbuckles herself and turns around in her seat, grabbing three chilled iced teas from the cooler behind that’s sitting on the floor next to me. She hands them out and opens her door.

“I’m going to take a walk ahead to see what’s going.” Andrea says while climbing out.

Hastily Amy unbuckles herself, turns around and looks at me with pleading eyes.

“Will you stay and watch the car while I go with her?”

I nod and wave her off, “Go ahead. I’ll take a nap or something.”

The young girl is already out of the car, slamming the door while thanking me and running off toward Andrea who’s just a couple cars ahead. I watch as they disappear, thinking about my own sister and if she’s stuck in a traffic jam like this one.