Stray // Daryl Dixon

The Distance

The winter months were long and harsh. We spent most of our days hopping from place to place, scrounging up whatever we could find and never staying long enough for walkers to sneak up on us. Food was scarce as we only ever searched through house pantries, too scared to venture into larger buildings that could hold more walkers. Hunting was rough as well, most animals had crawled away into hibernation and walkers seemed to get to the remaining ones before we could.

All of us had changed quite a bit over the winter, the hunger pains and fear twisting our mindset. The change was good in the sense of navigating our way through this new world, although, for our humanity, not so much. Our spirits and faith in something good were beginning to deteriorate. It's been quite a while since we were able to feel any sort of safety or relief, nothing like how we felt on the farm.

People's opinion of Rick has also changed since that night at the bridge, they at least had faith in him now. He has only ever done his best for us and you could argue that he was the reason every one of us made it through this winter. He searched desperately for a place for us, somewhere safe. Lori was due to have her baby soon which left us all in a little bit of a panic. We needed security, having a baby while hopping from place to place would make us an easy target for walkers, we'd be sitting ducks.

We were currently looking for our next house to scavenge, my stomach growled so loud for food that I could barely hear Glenn when he told me to get in a tighter formation. We created a system to carefully enter into houses, everyone had their place and everyone had their own job once we opened that front door. Rick pointed to a house up ahead, it looked fairly untouched making it the obvious choice, it was the best chance of there being few walkers and food still stashed away somewhere.

Walking up the front steps, Rick took the lead, kicking in the door swiftly. We made our entrances quick now, taking out anything that laid on the inside before it had time to react. T-Dog followed suit along with Daryl behind him, then Carl and I. Carl had grown up quite a lot over the winter, he was no longer the scared little kid worried for his friend. He had become a valuable member of the group, quickly learning his way around a gun and becoming an asset. The rest of the group remained outside, for the time being, watching the perimeter for anything that caught our scent.

Rick immediately shot down a walker that turned to him, the sound moderator on the end of his gun keeping the shot quiet. The silencers were by far the best find we had made in months. T-Dog then stabbed the second walker through the skull with a fire iron, allowing Daryl, Carl, and I to venture into the rest of the house. I immediately went upstairs, clearing the rooms of any more stragglers. Thankfully this house was pretty quiet.

I entered the master bedroom, the last room of the bunch, it was empty as well, and the top floor was clear. The room appeared untouched, the last time it had been occupied by a human was the day they scrambled out of here. The bed was unmade like someone had woken in a hurry and the closet was still full of clothes, only a couple of items yanked from the hangers here and there. I pulled down a maroon long sleeve shirt, removing my jacket and tossing it on over my battered grey tank top. The material was soft against my skin, other than resting in a dusty closet for a year it was clean. 

I then made my way to the connecting bathroom, looking for any supplies that could be useful. I was raiding through all the cupboards but it looked as if whoever lived here took as many supplies as they could when they left, the only thing I could find that I wanted to take was a bottle of Advil. This would come in handy for me if I ever experienced one of my fatal migraines. I dreaded the day I got another one of those as the aura from it causes me to lose 75% of my vision until it went away. Something that was simply a nuisance before, could be deadly in the world I live in now.

I tried my best not to look at myself in the mirror, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't even recognize the person standing before me. I felt like there wasn't an ounce of the happy girl I was before, left. I grabbed an old towel hanging on the door and pressed it against my face, scrubbing at my skin trying to get the residue of dried dirt off. I then dropped it to the floor, whipping open the drawers once more to look for a hair tie. I had no such luck, but I did find a loose elastic band. I brushed out my knotted hair with my fingers as best I could and collected all of my hair up into a high ponytail, removing it from my face. I huffed out a breath of frustration, at least this was better than before. 

I made my way back downstairs, the rest of the group joined us inside now, knowing that it was safe in here for Lori. Most of them sat on the floor around the living room, I passed Glenn and T-Dog just as they were piling up the dead walkers off to the side. This house ended up being a bust for food but at least we had somewhere to catch our breaths for a moment. I sat down on one of the chairs, needing to take a breather, I hadn't slept well in days. Daryl sat beside me, picking the feathers off an owl that he killed in the kitchen window.

We all looked pretty rough, the same way I did when they found me in that alleyway in Atlanta. Sweat and dirt clung to our skin, our hair was greasy and dishevelled, and our bodies looked frail, fatigue and hunger taking their toll.

I glanced up when I heard Carl enter to room, he looked excited as he held two cans in his hand. He sat down in the middle of the room on the floor, pulling out his knife to open up a can of dog food that he found. We all stared at him, most of us in a state of shock. We pitied him and ourselves, this is what it has come to, getting excited over a can of dog food, that's how hungry we were. Just as Carl got the lid off Rick walked over to him and picked up the can. He looked down at it, reading the label before whipping it into the fireplace. He was angry and disappointed in himself, you could see it in his face.

"Psst," T-Dog then whistled at us, bringing our attention outside. There were a few more walkers headed our way. And just like that, we were on the move again.

Daryl led us out the back door, moving quickly as we rather avoid the walkers than hit them dead on, we didn't have the strength for that anymore. One by one we filter out of the house and ran back down the street to our cars. No one spoke a word, trying to remain as quiet as possible.

I often rode along with Glenn and Maggie, throwing my bag into our SUV's trunk. It seemed like the walkers multiplied by the second as they limped out of the surrounding woods, and without a second thought, we were on the road again. This feeling was constant, we had no place to call our own. It was exhausting to think that after nearly a year from the outbreak we still hadn't found a place to try and start a new life or at least a life that was worth living in a time like this. We were beginning to wonder if it was even possible.