The Darkest Storm

She sees the way they just stand there mindlessly as Rick kicks down the door; the walkers. It was as if the lack of food and distraction made them sink back into themselves – whatever they were – and shut down as if they were actually bored until the bloodthirsty monster reappeared when a life source passed by.

It wasn’t eerie anymore; their behavior. Even though it was completely erratic but at the same time very patterned, the walkers didn’t attack in surprise anymore unless they were right behind you and had gone unnoticed. It seemed the only thing to really look out for now where the larger herds.

These past winter months were grueling. The way the group had to keep on the move, with less than the proper amount of warm clothing, food, supplies, and water – each day became more and more difficult. They were used to jumping from one place to another every few days, maybe less depending on the movement of the walkers while they were freezing, unsheltered, and feeling defeated.

It was as if they were migrating like birds; the walkers. They would travel to the warmer areas, down south for the winter and up more towards the north for the spring months that the group now found themselves approaching. The past few weeks, the group was cut off from all angles of where to run. They marked down on the map where the more crowded areas where, and kept moving towards hopeful locations.

It seemed to help, but the group soon found the possible safe havens were becoming more scarce.

Darcy follows Carl into the small abandoned house, a command only given to her by a meaningful look from Rick as the others searched the small rooms. She didn’t say anything or give direction to the young boy, but let him take the lead in his search.

Carl directs her into a small bedroom first, and does not hesitate to take down the lone walker whose skin had sunken back into its body. It’s dark black blood splatters on the white window curtains behind it from the silent gunshot.

Carl walks out of the room, passing Darcy with a callous look as she watches him closely. He is completely unphased. Something the whole group now feels, but it doesn’t sit well with Darcy. She looks back and forth between him and the walker once before following him out again and into the kitchen.

Carl has grown from a needy child to a young boy who just wished to pull his own weight and prove he was worthy to survive in this world. He ignores his mother now, who for the longest time has blamed Rick and was essentially disgusted with him because of the hard but necessary decisions he had to make as the leader.

Darcy has told no one, but she has lost respect for that woman and sees her as pitiful and useless, not to mention pathetic. What is important is that Carl believes his father is doing the right thing, and he looks up to him. As well as Darcy, who he has viewed as his older sister from the start, is another whom he respects and desires recognition from as well.

Carl searches the empty cupboards and drawers for anything to salvage. The house is quiet except for the footsteps creaking throughout the upstairs rooms of T-Dog, Rick, and Daryl. She watches as Carl stops at one bottom cupboard in particular, pulling out canned dog food and hesitating for a small moment.

He looks to her, holding the can. She shakes her head. They will not resort to that. No matter how hungry they were, they are not animals and they will not act that way.

He looks up to her with confidence, “It’s something.” He nods his head, ignoring her command.

Carl takes the remaining cans and walks into the living room where the rest of the group has joined the search team. They sit in a circle with T-Dog peering out the window on watch. It was a typical afternoon.

Darcy eases herself down against the wall and her bow in her lap. She’s exhausted, they all are. It’s shown on every feature of their worn faces, covered in dirt and sweat from the oncoming Georgia heat.

Daryl walks in, pulling feathers out of an owl and some land on Darcy’s legs. She is too comfortable to swipe them off and just let them lay where they may. She watches the group instead, seeing the expecting looks of Lori towards her husband as she rubs her large stomach, and how he ignored her every step of the way.

Rick is done trying to make things work, to make her happy. It has been clear he is doing everything in his power to keep them safe: he feels as though there is no way to satisfy her, to do anything good enough. He has been this way for a long time. The realization has set in Lori’s gut and she knows she was wrong from the start, but the lack of love and respect between the two has made them both exhausted and untrustworthy.

As soon as Carl sets the can on the floor, all eyes are on him. They watch, and wait. They are all too drained to say anything; maybe secretly they don’t want to object over the painful aches of their empty stomachs.

From the window, Rick hears the can opener grinding against the metal. He walks over to his son and takes the can from him. He reads it, and throws it harshly against the sidewall. It startles Daryl; he is too occupied with cleaning the owl. The look Rick gives the group is daring; challenging anyone to say a word about the dog food. They don’t – they’ve been brought back to reality.

It was then T-Dog gave the whistle and he bobs his head towards the window. The slow figures of walkers are weaving in and out through the trees. They are on the move again.

-

Driving a few miles down the road, Darcy leans her head against the window of the Honda. She drifts in and out of sleep, since she hasn’t been able to get any lately. Well, less than she can normally get anyway.

When they stop along side of a back road, everyone springs into action and takes guard while the “core” group gathers around the Honda with the map propped on the hood.

“We got no place left to go.” T-Dog informs them.

Maggie points to the two markings on the map, “When this herd meets up with this one, we’ll be cut off.” She sighs. “We’ll never make it south.”

“What you say?” Daryl leans against the car looking across at Darcy. “There’s a 150 head?”

She makes an unsure face and Glenn answers for her, “That was last week. It could be twice that by now.”

“This river could have delayed them.” Hershel points. “If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through there.”

“Yeah but if this group joins with that one they could spill out this way.” T-Dog says.

“So we’re blocked.” Darcy says simply.

“Only thing to do is double back at 27 and swing towards Greenville.” Rick responds.

T-Dog scratches his neck, trying to get his point across carefully as to not overstep his boundaries. “Yeah, but, we picked through that already. It’s like we spent the winter going in circles.”

Rick nods, “Yeah, I know. I know. At Newnan we’ll push west. Haven’t been through there yet. We can’t keep going house to house.” He looks to Lori, still sitting in the SUV. “Need to find someplace to hold up for a few weeks.”

“All right. Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out?” T-Dog asks. “Won’t take long. We got to fill up on water. We can boil it later.”

“Knock yourself out.” Rick nods.

Darcy rubs her neck and stretches her arm. Darcy comes up to her with his crossbow loaded. “What’s wrong? Seem kinda quiet.”

She turns and nods, “Can’t get any sleep.”

“Same dream?” He lowers his voice.

She nods, “Same dream.”

For the past few weeks, Darcy has had a recurring dream. What it exactly means, she isn’t sure. The second night she had it though, she woke up in a cold sweat with Daryl and Rick standing over her and holding her, she had been shaking violently.

She stands in the street, with Daryl and a stranger with them. To this day, she can’t remember the face, only that there was another friend along their side. The small street shows a development of houses, all abandoned and decayed. The trees are bare, and there is neither wind nor sound.

They walk in to search a nearby house; it is completely empty with no furnishings inside. Not even the pictures that used to hang on the walls left a mark. The walls themselves are destroyed, as if a twister came through and tore the bits and pieces away. There is no sign that anybody has ever lived there, but there is a shadow behind every corner, watching them. Darcy can sense it.

When Darcy steps into the center room, the black-cloaked figure shows itself. It vanishes into the thin walls, and reappears out of nowhere. Daryl twists and turns with his crossbow, trying to catch it as she stands just out of his reach.

The figure appears suddenly, standing in front of Darcy. It knocks her on her back against the wall and she cowers with fear. One eye is bloodied, but their features are dark and covered with the black cloak. She cannot see who it is or what was the wound. She is terrified, but she knows why it wants her.

It threatens her, pinning Daryl and the stranger against the wall as two other men show up suddenly holding them. She cannot hold off much longer – she cannot bear to see Daryl and this stranger be sacrificed because of her. She surrenders, letting the figure handcuff her wrists to him and leading her to God knows where. She turns back to get one last look at Daryl, for she knows she might never see him again, but he is gone completely. Then, she wakes.

“It’s just a dream.” He reassures her. “C’mon. Let’s go hunt – take Rick with us. Looks like he needs to get away from all this.” Daryl motions widely with his arm back to the cars.

Darcy slightly shakes her head to get the nightmare out of her mind, “Anything to get my mind off of it.”

-

The twang of Darcy’s bow was loud in their quiet surroundings. The unsuspecting squirrel was now being tied to Daryl’s belt – the only thing they were able to come across. The start of spring was slow regarding the animals coming out from their winter homes, but the Georgian heat refused to hold itself back either way. Darcy continues to reach up and wipe the thick beads of sweat from her forehead.

She steps in front of Daryl when he is finished tying the rodent to him. He watches her carefully as he picks up his bow and follows her along an abandoned railway track. Just like the air around them, they are silent.

With the world growing more dangerous and Lori’s pregnancy advancing closer every day, Rick continues to search for a safer home for the beleaguered group. Darcy can see around the leader’s eyes that the constant pressure of holding the group together is wearing thin, and making him grow old more quickly.

“What’s that?” Rick stops, listening to the air. His voice is raspy, like he had just woken up. The other two stop and turn around to look and see if they can catch it too.

“Walkers.” Darcy says, turning her head up to listen more carefully; trying to tell which way they were coming from. Daryl passes by her, and his musk scent reaches her nostrils. She becomes distracted and watches him walk towards an opening through the trees.

He nods at her and Rick. He found where the walkers were. As Rick and Darcy made their way next to him, he sighs, “That’s a shame.”

Another eerie sight; a prison. An emotionless, cold cement structure signifying the confined freedom of hundreds of men, convicted men; whom to this very day continue to walk among the inner corridors and fields to which the three gazed on – they would never see freedom again with those glazed over eyes.

Darcy puts her hands on her hips and scans the grounds. “Gates must be secure if there are no civilians –“

“From what we can see.” Daryl finishes for her.

Darcy looks to Rick then; the all too familiar glint is held in his eyes and she sees him nod his head very subtly as if he almost didn’t. He smiles with a slight twitch of the corner of his mouth. She knows what he’s thinking; this was the safe haven they had been searching for all winter.

“Those guard towers –“ Rick points with his pistol.

“-Look out posts.” Darcy finishes and nods.

“Could be food, medicine – “ Daryl spoke.

“-Could be all kinds of things in there. Untouched.” Rick tells them.

Rick keeps his eye locked on the grounds, filled with who knows how many walkers that roam around it. He nods repeatedly as he walks backwards and head towards the group, “We can take that field.”

-

The gravel was loud beneath their feet, but it was no comparison to the gnashing of teeth and outstretching fingers of the dead that surrounded them on either side of the chain link fences.

It was simple to break in; as easy as using wire cutters and slipping through the gates. The group huddled together and remained close while they jogged carefully on the gravel road that seemed to be untouched by the walkers. They now faced another gate, and on the other side, the field that was overthrown; the only wall that stood in their way to reach safety.

“It’s perfect.” Rick pants. “If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We’ll take the field by the night.”

“So how do we shut the gate?” Hershel asks.

“I’ll do it.” Glenn volunteers. “You guys cover me.”

“No.” Maggie shakes her head, out of breath. “It’s a suicide run.”

“I’m the fastest.” He responds.

“No.” Rick points, walking towards the group. He starts to plan things out like he used to – with confidence. “You, Maggie, and Beth draw as many as you can over there. Pop ‘em through the fence. Daryl, go back to the other tower. Carol, you’ve become a pretty good shot. Take your time. We don’t have a lot of ammo to waste.”

Rick looks to Hershel then, “Hershel, you, Carl, and Darcy take this tower. I’ll run for the gate.”

Darcy swings the rifle off her back and checks the barrel. Clipping it shut, she looks up the tower before entering it and climbing up the steps quickly with Hershel and Carl. She kneels, resting the gun on the metal rail and waits with her eye against the scope for Rick’s signal.

A whistle comes from the other tower and she lifts her head, she sees Daryl across the way and he gives her a nod. She smiles competitively and repositions herself – she remembers the gentlemen’s bet they have between themselves – who can kill the most walkers.

Darcy hears the gate screech open and then soon closed. The sound of Rick’s gun blazed through the air as the first walker goes down; it was the signal they waited for.

Darcy steadies her breathing and takes her time – salvaging as much ammo as possible and making the shots count. She takes down her first three walkers with ease that are closest to Rick. When she sees Daryl and Carol are focused on Rick too, she scans the field and takes out the farthest ones.

Hearing the empty rounds clink against the cement ground she kneels on, she pulls back and reloads. In the distance, she can see Rick has closed the gate and is making his way towards the other tower.

Daryl’s words only confirm this for the entire group, “Light it up!”

-

Darcy sits with her feet slightly swinging on the overturned truck near the fence, leaning back and resting on her palms as she scouts lazily around the perimeter. Daryl paces on top of the truck with her, watching as Rick keeps more of a lookout than the two combined at the moment.

They are both highly distracted by the other’s presence, more so Daryl since he can’t seem to take his eyes off her. It made it easier when her back was to him. He didn’t feel as reticent. They are in complete bliss. They haven’t felt safe since the farm.

Daryl enjoys watching the tangled braid flow down her back and gently about by the slight wind. He enjoys that she talks with her hands and how even then she moves so gracefully. He enjoys how she turns around occasionally and gives a small smile at something he’d say – how he didn’t have to try. He enjoys being entirely himself and how it feels uncommonly natural.

Darcy suddenly sits up pulls out a crumpled pack of cigarettes and hits it against her palm. The thin paper sticks to her chapped lips and hangs limply from her mouth as she searches the pockets of her black leather jacket for the lighter Glenn picked up for her one of his runs.

Daryl sits down next to her and hangs his feet over the edge. “What you got?”

She holds up the pack, “Took them off T-Dog.” He takes one from her. “Not sure if he knows.”

“Look at you.” He says, pulling out his lighter and motions for her cigarette. She lets him light it for her, and inhales the first puff of smoke greedily. He does the same and breathes out slowly.

“I’ve never been a heavy smoker.” She admits. “Don’t see a reason why I should worry about it now anyway.”

Daryl nods and watches her bring it to her lips. “Ever think this will end?” Daryl motions with his hand.

Darcy looks at the cigarette in her hands and flicks the end while she shrugs, “I don’t know. Doesn’t seem that way right now.”

“Hey you two.” A small voice is heard from below them, and they look over at Carol motioning to them with two bowls with a few pieces of food in them. “Brought you dinner.”

Carol reaches up and gives them each a bowl. “It’s not much, but you gotta eat.” She shrugs.

“I guess little Shane over there’s got quite the appetite.” Daryl mumbles, and Darcy stifles a laugh as does Carol.

“Don’t be mean.” She responds. “Rick’s got us a lot farther than I ever thought he could, I’ll give him that.”

“Mm-hmm.” Daryl nods and takes a bite of food.

“Shane could have never done that.” Carol adds.

“I’m gonna turn in.” Darcy hops down effortlessly from the truck and holds her empty bowl in her hand.

Daryl nods and looks over at Darcy as he flings his cigarette butt into the tall grass. “Me too.”

Carol looks between the two. “You two are pretty romantic.” She teases. “Gonna cuddle under the stars tonight?”

Both hunters are taken aback by what their older friend says and although no one could tell in the darkness, the heat rising to their cheeks was the only signal to themselves that they were blushing a crimson red. They looked between each other and let out a nervous but sincere laugh at how awkward it really was – but in all reality they somehow wished it were true. Carol joins in the short laughter; she knows she’s made them uncomfortable.

“C’mon you two.” She walks in front of them back to camp.

Daryl pulls out his metal flip lighter and tosses it to Darcy. “Hey.” He grabs her attention and she just catches it in her palms. “Hold on to this for me.”

She smiles lightly at his gesture. “Sure.”

They reach the campfire and Rick has rejoined the group but is quiet during Beth’s melody Hershel has asked her to sing. Darcy and Daryl have caught the end of it, just before Rick announces to all his plans for the future.

“Better all turn in.” His voice is raspy again. “I’ll take watch over there. Got a big day tomorrow.”

“What do you mean?” Glenn asks, something everyone is wondering. They have already felt like they’d been pushed to their limit – the thought of going to battle again was weighing heavily on their minds.

“Look, I know we’re all exhausted.” Rick starts, “This was a great win. But we’ve got to push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early. It could mean the supplies may be intact. They’d have an infirmary, a commissary.”

“An armory?” Daryl asks.

“That’d be outside the prison itself, but not too far away. Warden’s offices would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine…” Rick lists off enthusiastically, “This place could be a gold mine.”

“We’re dangerously low on ammo.” Hershel spoke. “We’d run out before we make a dent.”

Rick nods hesitantly, “That’s why we have to go in there…” He looks towards Daryl and Darcy out of the others. “Hand to hand.”

Their leader sees the unsure and nervous faces of the group, “After all we’ve been through, I know we can handle it, I know it.” He looks to Carl. “These assholes don’t stand a chance.”

Darcy watches, as does the rest of the group, Rick toss the light piece of grass to the side and make his way to take watch like he said. Darcy sighs heavily and sits down on one of the horse blankets she gathered the day she found Daryl’s poncho, and he follows suit.

They exchanged glances that have the look of what’s to be expected tomorrow: more exhaustion, possibility of being overrun, or having to turn back altogether. But he gives her the nod, the one that tells her silently that everything was goin got be okay and they would clear it with no problem. Rick was right, they’d come this far, and they can push on further to gain the safety they so well deserved.

So Darcy lays back and looks at they sky and out of the corner of her eye she saw the man that made it all seem much less worse than it really was when he was by her side. She closed her eyes and leant into her pillow as she prepared to make way for their new home.