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To Keep You Close to Me

125 Miles

125 miles ahead of us. This is going to be a long ride on the back of Daryl’s bike. They siphoned all the gas they could from the truck and other surrounding vehicles. Daryl was leading the small parade. The scenery hadn’t changed much. The roads were covered with abandoned vehicles. A few miles along the highway, we ran into a small pile up. Daryl and I drove through first and watched as Dale carefully maneuvered the RV through the maze of cars. Not much further down the road, we drove into another tight area. Daryl circled back around to the RV.

“Can you get us through this one?” Dale asked Daryl. Daryl nodded and drove around the RV and led the way again. He made sure to drive slow, just in case Dale couldn’t get around. This area was more terrifying. Cars were flipped on their backs, doors were left wide open, blood dried on the asphalt, bodies remained seated in cars. I wrapped my arms tighter around Daryl’s torso and tried not to look around me.

The road had cleared up now and the RV was free. However, when we heard a loud screeching, we knew we had to stop. Daryl turned the bike around as the RV pulled to a stop. I pushed myself up and swung my leg around. Everyone crowded onto the road and watched as the RV began to smoke.

As soon as Daryl joined up with the rest of us, he began searching through a nearby car. I didn’t blame him. We might as well look for supplies while we’re here. The RV won’t be fixed just like that.

“If we can’t find a radiator hose here…” Shane started.

“Could find a whole bunch of stuff here,” Daryl said as he dug through someone’s belongings.

“We could siphon more fuel from these cars for a start,” T-Dog suggested.

“Maybe some water,” Carol added.

“Or food. We might get lucky,” I said, hopefully.

“This is a graveyard,” Lori pointed out. She had a point, but why not take this opportunity? Daryl paid her no attention as he stuck his head back into the trunk. I opened the passenger door and began searching through the glove box. The only things in the glove box were a broken flashlight and registration papers. Disappointed, I began searching through the middle compartment. A partially empty cigarette box laid at the bottom of the compartment. I grabbed it for Daryl because I knew he liked Marlboro’s. He’d smoke anything, but he favored reds.

After shoving a few things in his pockets, Daryl moved on to the next car. Our searching continued for a few short minutes. We made it a little ways down the highway before I heard Rick calling my name. He motioned for me to get down and once he was within speaking distance, he told me to get under a car.

I spared no time with crawling onto the floor. I dropped down onto my stomach and shimmied under a car. I had a feeling as to why Rick was making everyone get under cars. But when I saw multiple legs walking past, I knew we were in trouble. I tried to look in front of me for any sight of Daryl, but a car was blocking my view.

It seemed as though there was no end to this herd. Walkers upon walkers passed by, leaving me nervous for the group ahead. I waited patiently and silently underneath the car. Suddenly, I heard screaming. I quickly peaked my head out and checked my surroundings. Once I knew the area was clear, I rushed out. I ran towards the others, who ran towards the side railing.

“My Sophia,” Carol cried. Though I was worried for Carol, I rushed to Daryl.

“Are you okay?” I asked him when I saw his shirt covered in blood.

“I’m fine. T-Dog’s the one who got hurt,” he said, pointing to T-Dog. I saw the wound on his arm and knew that we had to act fast.

“Daryl, you need to go help Rick look for Sophia, you can track her. T-Dog needs help,” I ordered. I instructed T-Dog to keep pressure on his arm to try and stop the bleeding. I told him to stay put as I rushed towards the RV. I knew there were some first aid supplies, but I didn’t know what and how much we had. I found bandages and medical tape, luckily. Once I collected everything, I ran back to T-Dog. He had lost a lot of blood at that point so I knew I had to work fast.

I placed several bandages on his arm, trying to be as gentle as I could, but every little bit of contact sent him into a screaming fit.

“You have to try to be quiet. I know it hurts, but that herd could still hear you,” I advised. “Let’s pray this does not get infected.” I led him over to the RV, making sure that he was able to walk. With the amount of blood that he lost, I’m surprised he hasn’t passed out yet.

“You stay here,” I told him, helping him sit down. After leaving him, I walked over to the rest of our group. I quickly learned that Daryl, Glenn and Shane were all out looking for Sophia. When Rick had come back without her, Carol was distressed. I don’t blame her.

Not much longer, Shane and Glenn came back up from the ditch below us. They assured us that Daryl and Rick would find her. We all decided to keep busy by clearing some of the cars out of the way. The RV wouldn’t be able to fit through some of these tight spaces. Shane stood off to the side, egging everyone on. I noticed Carol standing back at the railing, watching impatiently for her daughter to emerge. I left the working crew and walked over to her.

“They’re gonna find her. Daryl’s an amazing tracker,” I said to her. “He’ll bring her back.” She looked up at me with a smile, but just as soon as her smile appeared, it faded away. I placed my hand on her shoulder for comfort, but decided that I should continue my search from earlier.

With machete in hand, I walked to some of the further cars that no one had checked yet. In one of the car windows, I could see luggage bags. I opened the back door of the car and began my search. I was hopeful that at least one of the bags would have something useful. The first bag had clothes. Had they been my style and size, I would’ve taken some. I tossed the bad up to the front seat and pulled the second one closer. The next bag contained a surplus of toiletries. Toothpaste, shampoo, soap, this stuff was all useful. I threw the bad over my shoulder and climbed out of the car.

I then came face to face with Andrea. She looked at me with her apologetic eyes. She needed to rethink this if she thought I was going to forgive her.

“Valerie, I just wanted to apologize for what happened back there with Daryl. I didn’t really mean what I said. You know we were all stressed,” she begged.

“Don’t apologize to me,” I snapped, walking away from her.

“Val,” she called. “I’m trying to apologize.”

“I know what you’re trying to do and I don’t care. Sophia’s out there somewhere; I don’t have time to listen to your apology. I’m collecting stuff so that when Daryl, who is a very intelligent tracker, finds her, we can move on.”

After my final argument, the faint sound of shuffling caught our attention. I looked behind me and saw a lone walker approaching. Andrea grabbed for her gun, but soon realized that she didn’t have it. Walking up to the walker, I gripped my machete and swung it down onto its head. I pulled my machete free from the now broken skull.

“Don’t say anything to the group. We don’t need Carol worrying anymore,” I said sharply to Andrea. I wanted Carol to think that it was only Sophia out in those woods, no walkers trying to eat her.
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