In the Shallows

After the whole C.D.C. incident, we all decided to lessen our load and get rid of some of the unnecessary vehicles when we started to siphon for gas. Giving up the truck, T-Dog's van and the Jeep Wrangler, we all piled into Carol's old Jeep and the RV; while Daryl rode on Merle's bike. He was absolutely crazy to think that I was going to join him on that one. Hell no. I'd rather feel claustrophobic than unprotected on a loud ass bike. I didn't care if he was mad at me for that, he just couldn't make me.

I sat on the floor of the RV, with my back against the counter set, while watching Shane and Andrea converse about guns, I rolled my eyes slightly. Ever since that whole ordeal of Andrea trying to die along with Jenner and Jacqui, she had been in an annoying funk. I mean I understood that Amy had died and she just couldn't live with that but it was all starting to get a little drama queenish. Her constant huffing and eye rolls. I wanted to punch her, if we were just being honest. I heard Dale exhale loudly, turning my head, and knitting my brows together, "What's up?" I stood up, looking out the window, my mouth dropped slightly, while my heart sank deep in my chest. There was a major road block, so many cars and so little space to squeeze through. I walked a little closer towards the front of the RV, my hand resting on their seats, "Great." I mumbled.

Daryl rode up to Dale's window, "See a way through?" Dale asked, his tone reading hopeful. Daryl nodded, motioning back towards the traffic, he turned around. We started moving forward again, but slowly.

Glenn looked at the map, "Uh, maybe we should just go back? There's an interstate bypass-."

My eyes flickered towards the speedometer, looking over towards the gas, I sighed, "-We can't. We'll be broken down before we ever reach it." I pursed my lips, "We just gotta hope that there's a clearing." I felt sick to my stomach, this place was dead silent and I didn't like that. Dead bodies were scattered in almost every single vehicle we passed. I shrieked when the RV started squealing and sputtering, "Mother of God." I ripped myself away from them and headed for the door.

Dale was following closely behind, "I said it, didn't I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water."

I was getting real sick of Dale's pessimism, and apparently I wasn't the only one, "Problem, Dale?" Shane rolled his eyes, his eyes scanning the area, his hand gripping his rifle.

Dale responded just as quickly, "Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere. With no hope of-" He stopped short as he watched Daryl rip and dig through belongings in another car. He raised an eyebrow, "Okay, that was dumb."

I rolled my eyes, looking around, I ran a hand through my hair. "Daryl's got the right idea. Maybe we can find a radiator hose here or something that can help."

Daryl nodded, still going through whatever he was going through, "There's a bunch of stuff we can find."

T-Dog chimed in, agreeing, "I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." Everyone started to chime in with things that we could find, and I had to admit, this was kind of like a blessing in disguise. We were stuck in the middle of nowhere but with plenty of things to add to our necessities. Gas? Water? Tools? Anything, really.

Lori spoke up, her voice quivering, "This is a graveyard. I don't know how I feel about this." Daryl and I exchanged glances while everyone just stood there, unsure of whether to proceed onward or stop.

Shane spoke up, "Come on, y'all. Just look around, gather what you can."

We all nodded and started to disperse, I jogged up towards T-Dog, "I'll keep you company and help." He gave me a nod and smile, and shortly after, I felt Daryl's presence not too close behind me. We came up to a white car, "Daryl." I stood back as he stuck a crowbar in and pop it open, "Thanks." He gave me a slight nod before going to a different car. I bent down and helped T-Dog put the siphon into the fuel tank, once T-Dog got the gas flowing, I kept a look out for any stray wanderers.

After T-Dog got the gas flowing through the tube, he placed it in the gas can. "So what's the story between you and Daryl?"

That question took me by surprise, my mouth dropped slightly, "What?"

He smirked, a chuckle coming from his lips, "Oh come on. We're all wondering. What's the story?"

I pursed my lips, standing straight up, I glanced towards Daryl a little ways away from me, I shook my head. "There is no story."

"Bullshit, Alex. There's something going on between the two of you. We all see it, we just don't know what it is."

I snorted, crossing my arms, "Nothing is going on between Daryl and I. I've known him since I was little." But that was lie. Something was going on. I just didn't know what. We had both agreed to drop the subject that day when he mentioned my crush, but it always crept back up and part of me was halfway hoping that it did with him too.

He laughed again, "Okay, okay. I'll drop it. Come on." We started headed towards other cars that seemed like it had potential fuel inside. We had successfully gotten some from a few more cars before I felt a strong hand clamp over my mouth and one around my waist. I spun around the second I was on the ground, my eyes widening at Daryl.

"What-" His hand clamped over my mouth again, he pointed through the car window, my eyes following his finger. Holy fuck. My mouth dropped and my heart started racing, there were so many of them. Where did all of them come from? I started to look around me, wondering where T-Dog went. My eyes finally found him, I gasped as he cut himself deep from one of the shards of a broken car window. Daryl kept a firm grip on me, I gave him a dirty look which he replied with shaking his head.

I bit my lip as I watched him move closer towards us, blood gushing from his wound. I squealed silently as I watched a geek move in closer on him, I just couldn't sit here and watch him get torn to shreds. I looked around me, trying to find something or anything. My eyes falling on Daryl's arrows, I yanked one from his crossbow and moved towards the geek that was making it's way towards T-Dog. Grabbing it from behind, I shoved the arrow up into its skull.

I dropped the arrow and the walker from my grip, my mouth hung open from shock. I heard Daryl grunt with anger from behind me, I felt him harshly pull me away from the dead walker. He held his finger to his lips as he dragged T-Dog all the way to the ground and place the geek over top of him.

Turning towards me, he swiftly pulled me down to the ground and placed another dead walker on top of us. I closed my eyes as a whole bunch started walking past us. I knew that it had only been a few seconds but it felt like hours. My heart was thumping hard against my rib cage and I seriously thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest.

Daryl pushed the geek off of us and quickly scrambled towards T-Dog, removing the dead walker, he inspected the wound. He handed him a rag, "Lex, help me." He whispered. I got up and grabbed T-Dog by the other arm and sat him upright, I took the rag from his hands and quickly tried to wrap it. I started to tremble as his blood started staining my hands. Daryl placed a firm hand on my forearm, "Go, go find the others. I got this."

I nodded, standing up, "Okay." I looked down at my hands again, I hated blood. I didn't know why, I just did. I never fainted or got queasy, it just made me shake uncontrollably. I guess the idea of blood keeping someone alive and it being all over me made me think that-that they weren't going to survive. I staggered to find the others, soon finding them all waiting at the edge of the highway, my eyes scanning over the group, confused to find two people missing. "Where's Rick and Sophia?"

Carol started sobbing, "Oh my baby! Two walkers chased her into the woods! Rick went after her! What am I going to do!" She helplessly threw herself into Lori's arms.

My mind was spinning, "Daryl!" I turned around to find him not too far behind me, I sprinted towards him, my breathing uneven, "We gotta go find Sophia."