Echoes

We crept through the abandoned city streets, the moans of distant walkers echoing off crumbling skyscrapers. Never in my life did I imagine our own armed forces would have dropped fucking Napalm on Atlanta, let alone the other cities they all but demolished.

I walked slightly behind Daryl, following him closely. It made sense for us to distance ourselves rather than move together, it gave us more vantage. Plus, I was more than happy with my viewpoint, admiring the toned arms and shoulders that swung from the man in front of me.

He must be wondering why on earth I chose to stay and help him. We don't even know each other. To be honest, I'm perplexed as to how I ended up here as well. I started my day by soothing my tired feet in a stream, it almost felt relaxing. Now, here I am, in the single stupidest location I could be in, following a complete stranger around looking for his one-handed brother...

"You got a plan?" I asked him once we'd made it beyond the blocks we'd already searched with the others.

"He'll need bandages or some shit." He uttered back, still moving swiftly, no attempt to make eye contact with me.

"So pharmacies, hospitals, things like that?" I replied, relieved we had something to scour for. Until now, it had mainly felt like we were wandering aimlessly.

Daryl nodded, giving no verbal response. He didn't seem to be a man of many words. I'd only met him a few hours ago, but my observations made me feel like I was starting to get a sense of his personality.

He was generally quiet, speaking only when he had something to say or when his temper flew. That temper was quick - demonstrated by the way he'd lost it back at his camp when he was given the news about Merle, and how quickly he'd turned his crossbow on T-Dog when we were on the roof. I could also tell he cared deeply for his brother. Why else would he still be out here scouring the most walker-dense location in the state?

We headed first in the direction of the hospital. We moved there cautiously, opting to duck into hiding spots when walkers got too close, rather than trying to kill them - the noise was too risky - the last thing we needed was to draw more of them in.

On arrival, it became clear that there was no way Merle could have made it inside The Grady Memorial. It was filled to the brim with our enemies. They lined every door and window, snapping and snarling as they pushed against the glass...

After another hour of searching, during which time Daryl hadn't so much as looked at me, let alone conversed with me in any way, we finally stumbled across our first in-tact pharmacy.

"Here." He directed, gesturing toward the building, a fleeting look of hopefulness crossing his face before it returned to his usual scowl.

The glass covering the shop front had shattered, It's once neon sign laying smashed on the concrete. The building itself seemed stable enough though, I edged forwards.

Before entering a place, I'd usually bang on a door or window - disturbing any walkers inside and alerting me to their presence, but here that wasn't an option. We needed to make as little noise as possible.

Daryl entered first, crossbow raised and eyes scanning carefully for threats as I followed behind him. We moved down the aisles, searching for any sign that Merle had been here. The shelving that once divided the sections of the store was strewn across the floor. Most products that had been on offer already looted by others.

I halted as I noticed a small, black backpack on the floor, almost completely hidden by the upturned counter. I crouched over it. Whoever had left it had been in a hurry, not even bothering to zip it up. Inside, I could see a mishmash of items that looked first-aidy. Someone had been gathering supplies but not finished the job...

"Recognise this?" I asked Daryl expectantly, hoping his eyes would light up with recognition and our mission could stop feeling like such a non-starter.

Curiously, he moved in my direction, eyeing the bag, but taking care not to look at me personally.

"Nah." He muttered, quickly dashing my optimism.

I couldn't help but wonder if this man had some sort of issue with eye contact. Since we'd met in the woods this morning, he'd barely met my gaze. I was starting to get the feeling he wasn't a fan of me, which would be a shame considering I'm out here risking my ass for his brother.

"Shame to leave it behind." I said to him, chucking the pack what I intended to be toward him, but ended up being more at him. It bounced off his chest, hitting the floor with a thud as he glared at me. At least he was looking at me now.

"Why ya givin' it to me!?" he barked, annoyed at not having enough warning to catch it.

"I already have a bag on my back." I told him, gesturing over my shoulder. "You don't."

He looked unsatisfied with my response, but threw the backpack on regardless. In hindsight, I should probably have kept it myself. That stuff would be handy for when I said my goodbyes to this drama filled lot and went back to my quiet life. Still, there was no chance I was asking for it back right now. I'd try to nab it when we got out of Atlanta.

"Why would someone just leav-" I started, before a store cupboard door flung open with a clatter. An incredibly fresh-looking walker pounced toward me, reaching it's arms out expectantly and gaping it's mouth.

Daryl moved toward me, but I reacted quickly despite the shock of the walker's arrival. Initially reaching for my gun before the split-second realisation that it would make too much of a racket. I opted to grasp my knife instead, plunging my blade into its forehead and throwing it backwards. It fell hard, taking with it one of the few shelves still left standing, causing an almighty racket.

My eyes took in the sight before me. She'd been a woman, probably in her early twenties. Her blonde hair still neatly braided around one side of her head. She can't have been dead long, some semblance of humanity still evident in her appearance. I pondered if she'd been bitten then managed to make it into the cupboard before being fully devoured, turning afterwards, probably while we were already searching the place.

Growls sounded from the street outside, walkers undoubtedly notified of our presence by the loud crash of the collapsing shelving unit.

"Fuck!" exploded Daryl, readying his crossbow while retreating toward the back of the pharmacy.

"Reckon there's another exit?" I asked, now pulling out my Glock as well as my knife, aware it was too late to worry about staying quiet.

Walkers started bursting through the empty window frames, a couple tripping on the ledge at the bottom but most making it through. I'd have laughed if the situation allowed it. Seeing these monsters falling on their asses was pretty hilarious.

The stream of them making their way toward us was rapidly increasingly in size. Daryl threw open the door behind where the counter once stood, keeping it ajar so I could shimmy through next to him.

This room was somehow even more messed up than the front one, but I was elated to see another door facing us, parallel to the one we'd just entered through. I shook the handle, it was locked tight.

"Move!" Daryl roared, using the butt of his crossbow to bash the lock and swinging the door open. We flew through it, finding ourselves in an alleyway, both of us scanning our new surroundings for a feasible exit route.

No such luck. In the approaching darkness of night, walkers were now emerging from both ends of the alley, foiling our escape plan.

Fortunately, I spotted a fire escape just a few feet away from us. Unfortunately, our new pals were quickly encroaching on it too.

"Lift me!" I yelled to Daryl as we ran toward our only means of escape.

The bottom of the ladder hung around two metres from the ground. Just higher than I was able to jump and grasp. In seconds, he grabbed my legs and hoisted me forcefully into the air. I gripped the bottom rung, pulling myself up and beginning to climb, but not before reaching down and offering my hand to Daryl.

He looked from me, to my hand...

"Go!" he bellowed, opting instead to jump and swing himself up onto the ladder, shooting bolts at a couple of walkers that were getting too close for comfort while he was at it.

"That was just showing off." I grumbled to myself as I scaled the fire escape, pausing to make sure he was following me. We ascended quickly, stopping as we reached a broken window five storeys up.

I climbed through first, tentatively taking in our new environment, Daryl hot on my heels. We made our way through what I quickly determined to be an abandoned school building.

Even though night had almost fallen, there was still just enough light left to observe books littering the floor and the remnants of varsity flags on the walls. Ahead of us stood a jumble of lockers, thrown onto their sides and creating an interesting obstacle course for the two of us to attempt.

We clambered across the metal obstruction in sync until my foot slipped painfully through a gap I hadn't seen - my vision blurring as agony seared through my right thigh...

You probably weren't expecting me to diverge from the show's plot so quickly. 😅

I'm sure many of you will have read a bunch of TWD fanfics already, so I'm trying to avoid just repeating the same events you've already seen over and over again.

Let me know what you think to this idea. Would you prefer more divergences like this? Or do you like the story to say the same?

I'm hoping it's the first one! 😜

Thank you so much for reading!