To Keep You Close to Me

“No. Our plan was to take one of these,” Glenn told us as we stood inside of the store. We decided to get a move on so we didn’t run into any more of these zombies. The extended group ran outside, searching each individual car for a pair of keys to get it started. I climbed into a small car and started looking around, first checking the sun visor. Nothing fell from the visor, so I checked the glove compartment, but was unsuccessful. It was locked.

While I was climbing out of the car, I heard an engine starting beside me. I turned around to see Daryl starting up a truck. Glenn, Jacqui and T-Dog ran towards the truck, throwing their weapons in the back and climbed in. Daryl and I ran towards our car and hoped in. Shane took the driver’s seat, quickly pulling out of the parking lot. Glenn, who was driving the other truck, followed behind. Shane was quite the violent driver. I guess he was still in cop mode.

Within minutes, we returned to camp. The others were still outside, and we could see that they were confused when two cars returned. We jolted forward as Shane slammed on his brakes and stopped the car.

Dale stepped forward, wanting an explanation for the three new group members. And since it was my fault, I explained the situation.

“There’s plenty of room up here, so welcome to our camp!” Dale exclaimed with open arms. I liked Dale. He was very generous and I admired that.

After everyone went around and introduced themselves, we took out all of the food and beverages that we had gathered. It wasn’t much since it was only a gas station. Dinner was going to consist of lots of chips, pastries made of preservatives and canned soup. Dale also had some other things to offer from his RV.

“So you guys don’t have geeks up here?” Glenn asked, only receiving strange looks from everyone else.

“Geeks, ya know, walkers?” he clarified. The term walker made more sense than geek. It explains the dead people walking around.

“You mean the dead people? The zombies?” Lori asked. Glenn nodded his head. He suddenly realized that we were all unaware of his terms.

Conversations were short from that point on. I think we were all exhausted from the day’s events and just needed to rest. The sun was sinking beneath the horizon, creating a beautiful sunset. Since we were at such a high elevation, the sky was beautiful. The group sat silently admiring its beauty.

“I hate to ruin the moment, but where are we all going to be sleeping? In our cars? We’re going to need shelter if we stay here any longer,” Lori protested.

“I have two tents in the RV that we can set up,” Dale offered.

“If we’re gonna do it, we best do it fast. We’re losing light,” Daryl said. He stood up and walked to the truck, grabbing a bag from the bed and dropped it at my feet. In the bag was a tent. Daryl pulled out the contents, tossing the instructions aside. I argued that he’d need the instructions, but he assured me that he put this thing together many times. Merle had jumped in to help Daryl out. I offered my assistance, but they declined, so I sat back and watched them put the tent together.

Lori’s family and Carol’s family each took a tent; the others had to sleep in cars. I felt bad for them since sleeping in a car couldn’t be that comfortable. But as far as we knew, this was only short term and we’d deal with it.

Daryl and Merle got the tent set up within a few minutes. I decided to help by getting the blankets that I had packed. I carried them into the tent and unpacked them on the floor. There was about six in total, three of which Daryl claimed. I was uncertain if he had claimed them for himself or for us. But I quickly realized it was for both of us. He laid one blanket on the floor of the tent, and then he folded another one up like a long pillow and put it at one end of the other blanket. The third blanket was still under his arm as he motioned for me to lay down.

I noticed Merle was doing the same thing. I kneeled down and crawled into the makeshift bed. Daryl followed me to the ground and pulled the blanket on top of us. I rolled over on my side, facing Daryl, who was facing me.

“I told you we’d be alright,” Daryl whispered. I smiled but let a sigh escape my lips.

“What’s wrong?”

“Earlier. I’m just a little shaken up, that’s all,” I explained.

“Ya sure? Didn’t get scratched did ya?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine. It was just scary,” I admitted.

“I wouldn’t let anythin’ happen to ya,” Daryl whispered.

“Will ya both shut the hell up? I’m tryin’ to get some sleep here,” Merle shouted. Daryl rubbed his hand over my shoulder comfortingly, and then draped his arm over my waist. I wiggled myself closer to his body, feeling the heat radiate off of his body.

Through the night, I had woken up to every sound I heard. The ground was so uncomfortable. Rocks jabbed into my back and my shoulders. I was constantly tossing and turning under Daryl’s protective arm. Daryl was out cold, he was used to this. He practically grew up outside and spent numerous nights out in the woods.



The morning sunlight flooded through the thin tent walls. I woke up alone. Nor Daryl or Merle were in the tent. I threw the blanket off of my stiff body and climbed out of the tent. All of the adults were crowded around one of the cars, listening to the radio. I couldn’t hear what the reporter was saying, so I stepped in closer.

“What’s going on?” I asked Daryl.

“The city ain’t safe.” I tried to read his expression, but it was useless. Daryl could hide his emotions better than anyone I knew. I looked around at everyone else’s faces. Panic was present; I could see it in their eyes. As I listened to the radio, it was evident that we no longer had any place to go. Nowhere was safe anymore. The infection was out of control. It gets progressively worse by the hour. The last thing I heard before I walked away was that the infection went global.