I'm with You

After walking for most of the morning, I decided that I needed to rest. It was warm out and the sun was directly above me, indicating that it was around noon. I took a few sips of the creek water since I haven't gotten sick yet, and it seemed clean enough to me. I took a look around trying to figure out where I was, even though that was pretty pointless. I had no idea where I was to begin with, besides knowing the state. For all I knew, I could be in Florida now.

I searched for a tree that had limbs that wouldn't break if I climbed up it. After finding a pretty big tree, I went and started climbing as high as I could. Sitting up on a limb at least twenty feet up, I began looking around. The creek went on farther into the forest. There were also no signs of any walkers around this area. I laid my head back against the tree and closed my eyes, taking a few moments to rest.

I knew I needed to make a choice soon. So far my only choices were staying in this tree until tomorrow morning, head back towards the motorcycle and hope Daryl was there, or keep following the creek, not knowing what lies ahead. It took me a few minutes before making a final decision. I let out a long sigh before climbing carefully down the tree. My plan was to keep following the creek until it was evening.

I walked for awhile before thinking of an idea that could save me from walkers. I began searching for a big enough stick. Once I found one, I got another stick and began rubbing it against the other. I sat against the tree as I tried to make the bigger stick have a sharp point at the end. I began to wonder why I never carried a knife with me. How stupid could I be?

Thirty minutes later and I had a newly, not so sharp, weapon. It's was pretty crappy, but it would have to do for now. It wouldn't be long until I came across a knife that I could use.

I smiled when the creek ran off into a river. It took hours of walking to get to the river. I honestly thought that it was a never ending creek. I took a look around, taking in my surroundings. I saw a bridge not too far away with parked cars on it. The sun was beginning to set, but I could make it to the bridge before it was dark.

I began walking quickly not wanting to waste any of the daylight that was left. As I got closer to the bridge, I began wishing that there were no walkers. So far I have managed without seeing one which I wasn't sure if that was good or not. Usually there would be at least one stray walker staggering around in the middle of the forest, but not this time.

I began my climb up the steep embankment to get to the road. After several times of slipping and sliding back down some, I made it to the top. I took a few seconds to get my breathing back to normal before making my way to the vehicles. The first vehicle was a van that had a walker in the back seat. I opened the door and let it come out before stabbing it with my do it yourself weapon. Once it fell to the ground, I began searching through the van to find some aspirin. I shoved the small bottle into my pockets and went to the next car. It had nothing useful inside it, so I went to the next car. It had two walkers inside and I didn't really want to mess with either of them. I put my face against the back window and saw nothing useful inside, so I went to the last vehicle which was a semi truck. Beneath the driver's side of the seat was a pocket knife. I put it in my back pocket. I found a few bullets on the floorboard, but weren't the ones I needed. I went ahead and shoved them in my other front pocket knowing they would be useful in the near future.

I took a look around me once more before climbing into the semi, shutting the door and locking it. It was the safest place to be for the night. I got comfortable in the driver's seat before noticing the keys on the dashboard. I glanced at the fuel gauge to see that it was half full. Smirking, I took the keys before starting the semi. For someone who had never drove a semi before, I was pretty confident. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get it moving.

"Holy shit! I am driving a big rig..." I muttered to myself as I slowly pushed the vehicles in front of me out of the way. I was grinning as I drove around them once I was off the bridge.

I didn't have a clue to where I was going, but that was nothing new. Something about driving this semi made me feel powerful. I guess it was due to the fact that I could plow down almost anything that crossed my path. For instance, I just ran over a walker and it felt great!

After an hour of driving and running over walkers, I spotted three cars that were very familiar pulled over on the side of the road. I stopped and parked the semi before getting out. A flashlight shined into my face causing me to squint my eyes.

"Liz?" I heard Glenn's voice.

"Yeah, it's me." I spoke.

"Holy shit! Where did you get that?" Glenn asked as he shined the light onto the semi.

"Found it parked on a bridge, keys were in it." I explained.

"Y'know that thing makes a lot of noise don't you?" I heard Maggie ask.

I noticed that everyone was standing around the cars. A small fire was going in the distance.

"Sorry." I apologized to them all, realizing that I probably just caught a lot of walkers attention. "At least I can run them over."

I went over to where they were all standing. I was brought into a few hugs. I realized they were looking behind me for something.

"Where's Daryl?" Rick asked looking towards the semi once again.

"Um, I don't know..." I said quietly.

"What happened?" Lori asked quietly.

I let out a small sigh before walking to the small fire. I sat down on the ground and they were watching me.

"Well first off, Daryl nearly got me killed. He wondered off before the walkers came and got back after you all left. I was so close to being their food." I ran my hand through my hair. "We couldn't find where you went, so we found a cabin and stayed in it for the night. This morning we went back to the town, but didn't stay long."

"We went back as well once we realized neither of you were with us." Rick told me.

"Yeah, well it was overrun with walkers. Scariest shit ever was driving through them on the back of a fucking motorcycle." I shook my head as I began remembering earlier. "We got out of town and the motorcycle ran out of gas." I stayed quiet for a moment realizing I needed to be choose my words carefully. I didn't know how any of the would react to me leaving Daryl by himself.

"And...?" Glenn spoke, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, well, I was a bit pissed off. I began arguing with him and he walked off. I took off through the woods." I quickly told them the rest of my adventure. "I then found a creek, drank some water, climbed a tree, made a decision to keep following the creek, made a homemade weapon, found the river and bridge. I then killed a walker, got aspirin, a pocket knife, and some bullets before deciding to stay in the semi. I noticed the keys and decided to go driving." I took a deep breath before finishing. "And that is how I ended up here."

"Wow..." Glenn seemed pretty amazed.

"So, you left Daryl out in the middle of nowhere?" Carol asked a bit upset.

"Not exactly. Last I knew, he was walking down the highway." I tried explaining.

"We should try to find him." Rick spoke. He didn't seem angry at me.

"It's late, Rick. He could be anywhere." Lori spoke quietly.

"If he's out of gas, then he is probably somewhere near his motorcycle." Rick explained to us. "We all need to stick together."

They all look at each other before agreeing. I let out a small sigh knowing that it was best.

"Can I go with Liz?" I heard Carl ask as I was walking towards the semi. I glanced back in time to see Lori nod her head yes.

I was soon leading the group back towards the town with the motel we stayed in. Rick had told me it was at least two hours from where we were.

"Cool!" Carl exclaimed from the passenger seat as I hit a walker. I laughed a little.

I hoped Daryl was alive. I actually had a feeling that he was. Things were going to be awkward when we found him. I just hope that he stays the hell away from me.