Lone Survivors

After I collected my gear that I always brought with us when we went hunting, we informed Rick we were leaving for a few hours, and then Daryl and I headed outside with Maggie. On the way we passed Axel and Carol who were supposedly checking the perimeter, though because of their beaming faces and interlinked hands it appeared to be more of a romantic stroll. Glenn let us past the gate and said he was on watch so would keep an eye out for our return. The few Walkers that lingered nearby didn’t pay us any attention, and it was easy for us to sneak into the forest.

Daryl shot a few squirrels and even managed to hit a rabbit. He taught Maggie how to track an animal as he did it, claiming she needed to know tracking before learning how to actually kill. I checked and reset the snare traps and fortunately we had caught another few rabbits. The knowledge of snares had made me relax; if Daryl ever left, I could still find meat. We found a clean creek that formed a wide pond, and after scouting the area for Walkers, decided to take a break. Maggie headed upstream to fill containers with water while Daryl and I remained at the pond, gutting and cleaning the squirrels. My handiwork was still messy, but Daryl constantly gave me pointers. I washed my blade in the warm water, noting that the sun was out and it was actually a nice day.

“Ya know, maybe we should take a break and cool off,” I said in the most inviting tone I could manage, gesturing towards the pond.

“And what if Maggie comes back and see that we’re doin’ it in the pond?” Daryl chuckled.

“Well we did catch her and Glenn a few days ago,” I remarked.

“I still don’t know how they got their bodies bent like that,” Daryl said with a shake of his head. “Must be their youth.” I heard a rustling behind us and turned my head, seeing a dark figure emerging from the bush behind us. It was going for our backpacks.

“Daryl! Behind us!” I hissed as I pushed myself upwards. He whipped around too and the creature raised its head. Blood covered its teeth as it had been eating some discarded guts from Daryl’s kills. “Is that… a dog?” Daryl didn’t reply, and started walking back to our gear slowly. The ragged dog backed away into the forest, but still warily watched Daryl.

“Come on, come have some more,” Daryl said quietly, holding out an organ to the large dog. It didn’t move, and took a few steps back once I joined Daryl’s side. He tossed the food towards the dog and he scurried forwards and swallowed it whole. I noticed Daryl smile before throwing a squirrel heart forwards, but not as far as the first one. With softly spoken words and the promise of food, Daryl won the dog’s trust and was soon patting it. Maggie returned shortly afterwards, dropping the heavy containers and coming to coo over our new companion.

“We should bring him back with us,” she suggested.

“You think Rick would let us?” I wondered, earning blank looks from them both.

“I think the main thing is that he could smell our food, which means a Walker could too. We should leave,” Daryl reasoned. We all agreed and packed up our gear, all of us suddenly on edge. Daryl buried the guts of the animals to attempt to disguise the smell, but kept a few organs in his hands to lure the dog back to the prison. The scruffy dog cautiously followed us back and received approving words from Axel and Carol. Now we just had to wait for Rick to come back from his supply run.