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Mibba

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Tomorrow Never Dies

Into The Woods

I guess I’m losing hope that you can hear me. But there’s always that chance, isn’t there? That slim chance. It’s all about slim chances now. I try to do everything right. Keep people safe. I tried, Morgan. I tried. Our group’s smaller now. We lost another, day before last. It was her choice; I won’t say I blame her, she lost faith. The CDC’s a dead end. I met a man there, a scientist. He told me something, he told me...It doesn’t matter. What matters is, we’re moving on. Atlanta’s done, we’re gonna try for Fort Benning. We’re facing a long, hard journey. Maybe even harder than I can imagine, but it can’t be harder than our journey’s been so far, can it? One hundred and twenty-five miles. That’s what lies ahead. And I’m trying hard not to lose faith. I can’t; if I do the others, my family...my wife...my son. There’s just a few of us now, so we gotta stick together. Fight for each other. Be willing to lay down our lives for each other if it comes to that. It’s the only chance we’ve got. Be careful out there, Morgan. I hope you and Dwayne are okay. Stay off the road, keep moving, keep your eyes open. I don’t know, just...just be safe. Maybe we’ll see you in Fort Benning someday. Rick, signing off.

* * * It felt like they had been driving for weeks. Trees were just green and brown blurs in the corner of her eyes and the road was endless, just like it had been since they left Atlanta. Parker leaned her head back onto the pillow of the RV’s pull out bed and turned to face the inside of the bus, no longer wanting to see the deserted world fly past her. She looked in front of her to the small, cream sofa on the other side of the RV where T-Dog was sleeping. After what happened at the CDC, after losing Jackie, he had been quiet, reserved. Parker didn’t blame him, she had been quiet too. With Dale driving and her brother Glenn sat at his side, reading a book he had probably read about 10 times by now, that only left Andrea and Shane for company. They were both sat at the table in the middle of the RV, talking about guns and whatever else Parker was too bored to listen to.

Since the CDC, since losing the last bit of hope she had left of finding a cure for whatever had destroyed the world, she had been miserable. Usually, Parker and Glenn were the group's way of keeping themselves entertained, telling stories of their childhood and the antics the twins used to get up to back in Michigan, even going so far as to share the time in middle school when Glenn vomited on a girl shoes because he was so scared of asking her out. That one had even made Daryl snort with amusement, and he usually never batted an eyelid.

Parker didn’t understand Daryl Dixon. He was out here, in the middle of nowhere like the rest of them, but with no family by his side and no real reason to stay with the Atlanta group. Not anymore. Rick had Lori and Carl, his entire family, and Carol had Sophia, the only family she wanted. T-Dog, Andrea and Shane were still alone in the world, but they had each other's backs, as did Dale when he was discussing car mechanics with Glenn or reading in silence with Parker. And of course, the twins had each other, so they chose to stay. Daryl however, he was different. He really had no reason to be here, not after his brother ran off with one of their trucks, he just stayed with the group for the numbers; for the safety. At least, that was the only reason she could think of for his constant presence.

Parker rolled back over towards the window and sat up, stretching her arms slightly, before looking out onto the road again, noticing the small metal barriers that cut off the forest from the tarmac and realised they were nearing the highway. She heard the far off rumble of Daryl’s motorbike and craned her neck to get a look at him, hoping to see anything beyond the bike that might give the group some indication on how much longer they would need to drive.

The moment she caught a glimpse of the familiar black leather jacket, white angel wings stitched carefully onto the back, she smiled. She had been meaning to ask him where he had gotten it from, never seeing a jacket like it before, and why the angel wings? Glenn had told her that biker’s wore them on their jackets to symbolise them surviving a motorcycle accident, as if to say God himself protected them and brought them back. Knowing Glenn, he probably made it up just so she didn’t go over and talk to Daryl, not wanting his sister to get the same cold glare he received on a daily basis. Glenn wasn’t entirely sure if it was because he was Korean - his redneck brother had been a well known racist back at the Quarry and that trait might have rubbed off on him - or because Daryl wasn’t able to convey any other emotion other than anger.

“Ah, geez.” Parker looked up at the sound of Dale’s exasperated voice, and carefully sat up in the bed, not wanting to push her tired muscles too much. She hadn’t been able to sleep properly in days, only seeing the CDC explode every time she closed her eyes, and Glenn had put her on almost permanent bed rest the moment they escaped the city. Parker draped her legs over the side of the bed and leaned forward to get a better look out of the windshield. That’s when she noticed the pile up.

“Oh no.” Glenn sighed as hundreds of cars drew closer and closer, all abandoned, and all in their way. Behind him, his sister stood up and made her way to the front of the RV so she was leaning against the passenger seat, staring at the mess in front of them. They both wore similar, pained expressions, making them look even more identical. Glenn sighed and looked down just as Daryl pulled up to Dale’s window, revving the engine to get his attention.

“See a way through?” Dale called down from the window. Parker couldn’t see past Dale’s head, but after a pause he nodded at Daryl and she heard the engine roar to life as he started to make his way past the RV and then back again, having circled round and rushing off into the cluster of cars, trucks and minivans, disappearing from view altogether after a few seconds. Dale kicked the RV back to life and he slowly weaved his way through the cars, narrowly avoiding an upturned truck right in front of them. Glenn was holding a map and shaking his head.
“Uh, maybe we should just go back.” He suggested, and Parker bent down to get a closer look at the roads drawn on the paper, seeing them wind endlessly around each other, looping back to Atlanta, or just heading off further South.

She had never been good at reading maps, or giving directions, which was the reason Glenn had been the navigator back when they made runs together in the city. She was the muscle, funnily enough, having taken self defence classes and becoming a gym freak throughout College. Glenn still hadn’t lived down the time she managed to save his whiny ass after he ran into three walkers, knocked them over, screamed manically, and proceeded to thrash around instead of hitting them with the club his sister had found him. The moment she bludgeoned the walkers to death, Glenn was red in the face and begging her not to tell anyone how he almost cried like a little girl, but Parker was still laughing when they made dinner that night, and news travelled fast in their group.

“There’s an interstate bypass-” Glenn offered, but Dale was already cutting him off.

“Can’t spare the fuel.” He said, Shane nodding behind him in agreement. Parker held onto Glenn’s seat as Dale drove the RV, whilst leading the car behind carrying the other two families, through the wreckage of traffic. Everyone was silent as they saw the overturned cars, the bodies that lay lifeless on the ground and the quiet, unnerving atmosphere that seemed to spread across the highway. It was like a graveyard, Parker thought, seeing a family lying dead in their car as they passed. Her stomach churned, but she kept a straight face, not wanting to show her brother any sign of fear. He’d just baby her more, and she needed to do something other than rest.

“Can we get through here?” Glenn asked no one in particular as the pathway between the cars started to grow narrower, only to jump in his seat as a loud bang erupted from in front of him. Steam exploded through the vent in the front of the RV and Dale groaned as it started to hiss and spit, signalling that it couldn’t go any further. Parker stood up straight as he pulled the RV to a stop and turned it off, dropping his hands from the wheel. It had been stupid to rely on the old thing to keep going this long, especially since they needed as much shelter as they could out in the open, completely exposed.

Everyone piled out of the RV, Parker following a fuming Dale and Shane, who was carrying his shotgun over his shoulder, trudged out behind her. “I said it, didn’t I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water.” Dale threw his arms up at the sight of his RV smoking and all Parker could do was shake her head and walk over to an abandoned car, lean against the hood, and watch the rest of her group file out of the car and huddle together.

“Problem, Dale?” Shane asked, walking over to him.

“Well, there’s the small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no hope of-” Dale then looked around him and Parker did the same. Even though they were stuck, these cars were filled to the brim with supplies. Maybe everything hadn’t gone to shit just yet. “Okay, that was dumb.” She smiled slightly before dragging her feet across the road and joining Daryl, who was rummaging through an open boot. She noticed a large blue and white checked shirt and snatched it up, admiring its almost pristine condition, before looking over her shoulder at her brother. He merely shrugged, realising that this was probably the only chance the group would get at finding clean clothes, and nodded at her. Parker then turned around and pulled the shirt over her battered up Thrasher shirt, an old one of her father’s that had always been way too big for her, rolling the sleeves up just above her wrists and feeling the most relaxed she had in days, enjoying the feeling of the soft fabric against her dirty skin.

She felt eyes on her however, and slowly glanced up to see Daryl watching her. He didn’t seem impressed, or annoyed, but she frowned at him anyway. “I don’t think it counts as stealing anymore, not really.” She said. He didn’t say anything, just huffed, before turning away. Parker pursed her lips but did the same, facing the group and leaning against the car.

“Well, if we can’t find a radiator hose here.” Shane said, surveying the vehicles around him that might do the job.

Daryl, who was still sifting through random cars, finally spoke up. “There’s a whole bunch of stuff we could find.” He muttered, dragging out a bag and opening it up to search through it.

“Siphon more fuel from these cars for a start.” T-Dog joined in, making his way to a nearby people carrier. Parker walked up to her brother, placing a hand on his arm. He seemed tense, but once he saw her at his side he softened and smiled.

“We can get some new clothes.” She said.

“Maybe some water?” Carol perked up.

“Food.” Glenn said with a grin. Then Lori spoke up behind them all.

“This place is a graveyard.” She said grimly and everyone paused. “I don’t know how I feel about this.” Parker turned to her.

“It’s the best we’ve had in days. I’m not letting it go to waste.” She said, before wandering off into the sea of cars, not looking back. Glenn sighed but followed his sister, not wanting her to go too far from his view. He noticed Daryl glance at the two of them and Glenn hesitantly smiled at him politely, only to receive a glare in return. He hurried off after Parker, feeling a chill go down his spine. The twins weaved through the cars, looking into the windows to see if they could find anything useful, before Parker finally stopped outside of a large 4 seater, thankfully seeing no bodies inside, and opened the door. She spotted a suitcase in the driver's seat and reached over to grab it, dragging it out onto the road and opening it up only to grin for the first time in days. It was filled with clothes, both men and women's, and even had some protein bars and juice boxes. She spotted some toiletries in the netted pocket of the case and realised that this ‘graveyard’ was more like a goldmine.

“Hey Glenn!” She called over and her brother jogged to her side instantly, staring at the case in shock.

“Is that stuff even real?” He asked, bending down and picking up some deodorant and a baseball cap that was on top of the clothes pile. He almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “What else is in there?” He asked, pointing to the car, and Parker closed up the case before placing it to the side of the car, and wandered over to the boot whilst Glenn checked the glove compartment.

“There’s another case in here.” Parker called out, pushing the boot door above her head and pulling the black and purple suitcase from underneath a sleeping bag that had been haphazardly thrown into the back of the car. She checked inside, seeing it was once again completely full, before zipping it up, rolling the sleeping bag under her arm, and reaching over to get the other case.

Glenn almost laughed at how much she was carrying, her tiny frame looking even smaller under the weight of the cases, but felt relief at the realisation that this stuff could last them weeks, maybe longer, if they grabbed enough from these cars. “I’m gonna put this stuff in the RV.” Parker said, her brother nodded, and headed back to the parked cars. Dale was staring into the RV’s broken vent and desperately trying to take out the screws with a screwdriver as Andrea paced around him. Shane, Rick, Carol, Sophia and Carl had all gone to search themselves, Parker even noticed Lori holding a jumper up to her chest and she smirked.

“Whatcha got there kiddo?” T-Dog asked, staring with wide eyes at the amount of stuff she had brought back already. Parker held back from rolling her eyes at the nickname. Her and Glenn were the youngest in the group of adults, only just turning 23 a few months back, and T-Dog never missed an opportunity to not only bring up their age, but their height, Glenn only being about 5”9 whilst Parker stood at 5”7, making them also some of the shortest in their group, apart from Sophia and Carl who barely made it up past Rick‘s waist.

“Hit the jackpot.” She beamed, climbing into the RV. “Seriously, look around, who knows what’s left out here.” Parker dragged the cases and sleeping bag all the way into the small, makeshift bedroom of the RV and placed it all on top of the duvet, piling it to the side to make room in case she managed to find anything else. Once she was back outside in the heat, she saw her brother with Dale, holding some tools the older man occasionally took to try and fix whatever had burst earlier on. Parker looked around, wondering which way to go next, before seeing Daryl further up the highway climbing into the back of a mini van. She bit her lip, looked over her shoulder at her brother to make sure he wasn’t paying attention, before heading in the direction of the van. She passed Carl and Sophia who were both inside a car searching through glove compartments and under the seats and she couldn’t help but smile at their eagerness to help the adults.

When she first met the two of them, Sophia had barely said a word her way. Carl on the other hand was happy to chat with Parker, seeing as they both shared a love for the outdoors and, strangely enough, fighting, one of Carl’s favourite subjects to talk about. He asked her how she knew so many fighting moves and techniques and the moment she told him of her time in judo and self defence class back in College, he wanted to learn too. Lori had been extremely tough on him, however. She refused to let him anywhere near the weapons the men had in camp and she especially didn’t want her boy to know how to fight. Parker disagreed on some level, seeing as the world wasn’t how it used to be.

“He should know how to protect himself.” She said one evening at dinner, sitting beside her sleeping brother and Andrea as they wolfed down the rabbit Daryl had caught that morning. “It’s helped me out over the years, it could help him too. It’s never too early to start.” Lori grimaced.

“My son doesn’t need to know how to fight.” She said firmly, stroking his hair. “He needs to know how to keep quiet and stay with the group.” Carl went red, knowing he had a tendency to wander off from camp and out of his mother’s view, which never went down well. Parker shrugged. No one could get through to Lori, not even Shane or Rick. So she dropped it. Carl wasn’t her kid, she had no right to interfere.

Parker stopped once she was less than a stone's throw away from Daryl, who was searching through the back of the van, crossbow around his shoulders. “Need any help?” She asked, putting her hands on her hips. For a few seconds, Daryl didn’t reply, he just kept his back to her. She crossed her arms. “Daryl-”

“M’fine.” He said, his voice muffled by the junk that surrounded him. That’s when Parker noticed the contents of the van. Band gear, musical instruments, boom boxes. It must have been a tour van, a very small one. She let her eyes gloss over the equipment before settling on an acoustic guitar. She stepped forward to grab it and admired the shiny wooden body, taking a small purple pic from the neck of the guitar and strumming on of the strings lightly. Daryl suddenly stepped out from the shadows of the van. “You play or somethin’?” He asked with a grunt. Parker glanced up at him, realising this was the first time he had ever actually asked her a question, and nodded her head.

“Glenn too.” She said, moving over to the edge of the van where she perched herself, lifting one of her jean clad legs up to rest the guitar on her knee. She strummed again, harder this time, and winced at the sound of the untuned strings clash together. “I played everyday, before all of this. Thought about running off with a band once when I was a teenager.” Silence. She turned her head to see Daryl looking at her through narrow eyes. She blinked. “I was rebellious when I was 17.” He scoffed at her. Parker turned her body to face him as he dropped down out of the van and kicked open the door of the car behind it. He was closer to her now and she could hear him mumbling something under his breath. “You don’t like talking, do you.” She said, leaning on the guitar. Daryl didn’t stop riffling through the car. “You can speak to me you know.” She continued. “You don’t have to be so quiet all the time.”

“Ain’t nothin’ to talk about.” She almost didn’t hear him over the sound of him throwing empty bottles of water over his shoulder.

“Isn’t there?” She snorted. Daryl sighed in annoyance and straightened up, looking over at her. The pair stared at each other for a while before he shook his head. He walked around to the boot of the car and yanked it open, then leaned down to dig his way through the pile of clothes and shoes littering the back of the car.

“Ain’t got nothin’ in common.” He said. Parker frowned.

“How would you know?” She asked, putting the guitar down and standing up again, making her way over to his right side and crossing her arms. “You haven’t bothered to get to know to me.” Daryl instantly stood up, causing Parker to step back in shock. He looked angry, or at the very least pissed off for her still being here. But she held her ground.

“You hunt?” He grunted. Parker blinked at him.

“What?”

“Do you hunt?” He asked again, slowly his voice down so she could understand it better. To be honest, it just made him sound condescending.

“No.” She replied with a frown. “I don’t.”

“Do you know how to track?” He asked. Parker could only shake her head. He looked her up and down and snorted. “Then we have nothin’ in common.” She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head and scoffing.

“So you won’t get to know me, because I’m not like you?” She asked. Daryl’s eye twitched.

“Seriously? We’re in this together.” Parker said sternly, moving closer to him. “All of us. Who cares if we don’t have similar interests or even similar morals? That doesn’t mean we can’t know who we’re travelling with.”

“Just leave me be, alright?” Daryl spat suddenly, getting in her face. Parker didn’t step back this time, she stood her ground and kept eye contact. Daryl sneered. “Go back to yer brother.” He said, his voice low and gravely. “Annoy him for a change.” Parker watched as Daryl stalked off, hitching his crossbow up higher onto his back, and kick a door shut loudly for good measure. She glared at his back.

“Asshole.” She muttered. She was about to turn back to the RV, start heading over and seeing if there was anything in the cars parked back near the group, when she heard the sound of Shane laughing not too far away. Parker walked over, curiosity taking its toll, only to see Shane grinning at her brother, who was trying to take apart the inside of one of the cars, as the two stared at the van he had found...filled with tanks of water. Parker could have wept tears of joy. Shane eagerly ripped open one of the tanks, letting the water flow out all over him, letting it rush over his body and occasionally opening his mouth to savour as much as he could. Glenn was jumping and yelling at the others, who were all laughing and smiling.

Parker leaned against a car and shook her head, biting her lip at the sight of her brother. It was good to see him happy, even for a moment. He looked like the old Glenn from before it all started. The one who always had a smile and a joke ready to brighten her day, or annoy her depending on her mood. She wished she hadn’t taken that part of her brother for granted, because nowadays she only saw the quiet, sad side of him.

Parker heard a loud scoff behind her and looked over her shoulder at Daryl sitting a few cars down from her. He had one leg propped up on the edge of a boot and had a suitcase open in front of him, but he was shaking his head at Shane, still drenching himself with water. Parker rolled her eyes at him and for a second she thought he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He was always so negative, she thought, why couldn’t he just enjoy this moment with the rest of them? Like a normal human being.

Parker was just about to rush over to the water truck, wanting to fill up her dry water bottle, but was stopped mid step by a gurgling sound not too far away from her. She slowly turned her head to see a man limping towards her, jaw hanging from his face and blood splattered across his chest, eyes milky white and bulging from their sockets. His right foot was broken and turned inwards, so he was walking on his ankle and he had both of his arms spread out in front of him, reaching for her.

She wanted to yell, her instincts told her too, but then she glanced to her right only to see several more coming her way. She let out a shaky breath before slowly inching her way backwards, her hand blindly grabbing at one of the cars, hoping to open the door and give her some cover. She eventually found a people carrier and quickly ducked behind it, pressing her back to the tire and gripping the hunting knife in its holster attached to her thigh.

A bottle suddenly rolled across the tarmac and she turned to see Daryl crouched opposite her, holding his finger to his mouth and signalling her to be quiet. She nodded before licking her lips nervously and watching him take a silent step forward, his crossbow raised to his eye before firing a shot. He caught the walker right between the eyes, and it fell in a heap of blood and guts by Parker’s hand. She quickly snatched her hand away but then grabbed the walker’s head, pulled it back, and drew the arrow slowly but firmly from its skull.

Daryl nodded once at her and started to take off in the direction of the walkers, hoping to take more of them down before they reached the others, but just as he passed her Parker looked up and nearly screamed. She grabbed Daryl by the shirt and pulled him down beside her.

“The hell-” She pressed her hand over his mouth, much to his surprise and pointed over his shoulder. Daryl swivelled round to see a group of nearly 50 walkers coming their way and his eyes widened. He took Parker’s hand from his face and gripped her wrist, dragging her away from the people carrier and back towards the group as quickly and as quietly as he could. Parker panicked at first, not being able to see anyone from their group anymore, before she heard someone whisper her name. She looked down to see Rick under one of the cars and she got on her all fours only to see Lori and Carol a few cars down, holding each other. She turned to the other side of the road, and Parker felt a chill run down her spine at the sight of Carl and Sophia under two separate cars near the metal barrier on the edge of the highway, nowhere near the others.

“Park.” Daryl whispered and she whipped her head round. She was ready to question him about the sudden nickname, one that only Glenn used for her, before she remembered where they were. Daryl gestured at the car next to Rick and she got the message, falling to her stomach and sliding underneath, holding her breath and taking out her knife, stuffing Daryl’s bloody arrow into one of her belt loops to keep it secure at her hip. Daryl made sure she and Rick were out of sight before shifting to a crouch and heading back the way he came. Parker looked around the cars, desperately searching for her brother, before craning her neck round to see him a few feet behind her to the left, back to back with Shane under the water truck, and she let out a breath. At least Glenn was okay.

All they could do was wait for the herd to pass, and Rick kept putting his finger to his lips to remind Carl and Sophia to stay quiet. Parker watched the kids, as did Carol and Lori, with baited breath as the herd started to pass them. She saw broken feet and wrecked shoes, ripped jeans and dirty socks for at least 5 minutes before the numbers started dwindling. She kept her lips tightly pressed together, not wanting to risk making any sort of noise, and waited until there was only one walker left. It dragged itself slowly by her car and she felt her heart stop as it paused right by her head. Her grip tightened on her hunting knife as the walker turned around a few times, as if looking for something. Parker prayed that it couldn't smell any of them. She’d be screwed then. Rick looked her dead in the eye from underneath his own car and gave her a reassuring smile, and relief flooded her body as the walker slowly dragged itself away and towards the rest of the herd.

After a few more minutes of silent waiting, Parker lifted her head and looked underneath the cars ahead of her, and sighed in relief as the area was completely deserted. The herd had moved on. She snuck a glance at Rick who was also looking to see if the coast was clear. He nodded once and she started to crawl out from underneath the car, Rick right behind her. Carol and Lori began to shift as well and Parker went over to the kids, only to stumble in shock at the sight of a walker ducking down between the truck and two seater convertible that Carl and Sophia were under. She held her knife close and rushed over ready to attack, only to see that the walker had already crawled under the car after a screaming Sophia.

“Carl, stay there!” Parker ordered, as the young boy scrambled from his hiding spot, wanting to run after his friend. Sophia had crawled underneath the highway barrier and was hurrying off down the small, grassy bank that led into the forest. Parker stared in disbelief as the walker, and she held her breath as she spotted another already in the woods making its way after the little girl, chased after Sophia with its arms stretched out and jaw open, growling at her. Rick pushed past her, jumping over the barrier and sprinting into the woods. Carol was crying and calling Sophia’s name frantically somewhere behind her. Parker thought fast and sheathed her knife, catching Carol mid run so she didn’t blindly hurl herself after Rick. “We can’t all go out there, it’s not safe.” Parker said but that just made Carol cry even harder.

“But-but my baby, she’s out there!” Carol sobbed, holding onto Parker’s new checkered shirt with all her strength, shaking in the younger girl's arms, and staining it with tears. Parker rubbed her thumb over Carol’s shoulder as comfortingly as she could but nodded.

“I know.” She breathed, but she took Carol’s hands away and forced her to look into her eyes. “But Rick will bring her back. You hear me? He won’t let her get hurt.” Lori jogged over, grabbing onto Carl and hugging him tight to her chest. She looked up to Parker, giving her a grateful look for comforting Carol. It didn’t take long for the others to hurry over. Dale clambered down from where he had been hiding on top of the RV just as Andrea stumbled out of its open doorway, covered in blood. Parker’s eyes widened but Andrea shook her head. It wasn’t her blood. Shane and Glenn ran over, Glenn rushing to his sister and pulling her away from Carol, who went back to Lori for comfort, and scanned over her tiny frame with his eyes, turning her body with his hands to make sure she was okay.

“Glenn, Glenn!” Parker protested, but her brother didn’t listen.

“Are your hurt?” He asked. “Any bites, scratches, bruises, cuts-” He fired words at her and Parker had to grip his face to stop him.

“Glenn, I’m fine.” She offered him a small smile. “I’m okay. Are you?” He paused, trying to get his breath back but nodded.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.” The two embraced, laughing slightly at how frantic they had been. Parker eventually pulled away as she spotted Daryl and T-Dog walking towards them over her brother’s shoulder, then froze at the sight of T-Dog’s blood soaked arm.

“Jesus christ, T!” She exclaimed and ran over to him. Daryl was holding him for support, T-Dog’s left arm over his shoulder, but was staring grimly at his right arm. A huge gash from the top of his wrist up to his elbow was pushing out blood at an alarming rate and Parker had to muster up a lot of courage not to turn away and vomit. Glenn was by her side in seconds and helped Daryl bring T-Dog into the RV.

“What the hell happened?” Glenn asked, grabbing some towels and dabbing at the wound, making T-Dog cry out and squeeze his eyes shut. Parker was trying to use some paper towels to wipe away the blood and turned to stare at Daryl who was in the RV doorway. He looked just how he always did, annoyed.

“Slipped near a car door.” T-Dog managed to get out after a few seconds of deep breathing and wincing. “The car was...broken...must have been a bit of...m-metal or somethin’. Cut it...right down the...middle. Ah!” Glenn put pressure on the wound but flinched as his friend cried out. “Hurts like a son of a bitch!”

“We have to get the blood to stop.” Parker said to her brother just as Dale pushed past Daryl and stared in disbelief at T-Dog. He went into the bathroom and grabbed some alcohol and a clean dishcloth, he then told the twins to leave. “Dale we can help you.” Parker retorted but he gave her a stern look and she bit her tongue, not wanting to argue with him. She ushered both Glenn and Daryl out of the RV and slammed the door just as T-Dog’s cries got louder. The others all stared at them wide eyed, wanting to know what was going on. Parker just let Glenn explain it all, wandering off back into the pile of cars for some fresh air and a chance to breath.

She soon found herself sitting in a small, silver Toyota, gripping the steering wheel and staring out of the windscreen in a daze. She missed being able to drive down the main roads back in Michigan; having that feeling of complete freedom. She could go anywhere at any time and for however long she wanted, even just for the night. But now, she couldn’t go anywhere without someone by her side as back up. She had no time to herself. She refused to bail on this group though, especially Glenn. She would never abandon her brother, no matter what happened. He was the only family she had left, as far as she knew, and she wasn’t going to be alone in this type of world. Not like Daryl and Andrea, who both lost their siblings in the same week.

She jumped in fright as something slowly shuffled past the car, and she almost forgot that the Toyota had lost the driver’s seat door, leaving her exposed to the highway. She grabbed her knife and on instinct, held it up to the throat of whoever was next to her. Daryl instantly held his hands up in mock surrender and Parker felt her breathing start to steady. She paused before letting her hand fall into her lap.

“Chill out girl.” Daryl grunted. “S’just me.”

“Yeah well, a little warning might have been nice.” She spat and Daryl almost looked startled at her tone. "I thought you were a walker." He raised an eyebrow at her and reached up to shrug the crossbow higher onto his shoulder. Parker glanced at him and gulped, running a hand through her messy, black hair. Since she left Atlanta, her hair had been limp and lifeless across her shoulders and she knew it needed washing. She felt disgusting as well as pissed off. She closed her eyes and gripped the wheel again, letting out a long awaited breath. “I’m sorry. Just a bit jumpy, and scared.”

“Why?” Daryl asked with a gruff voice. He was a smoker, Parker knew that from living with him back at the camp, and his voice just seemed to get lower when he was talking quietly. When he was yelling though, his voice became strained and higher pitched; panicked. She hated hearing him like that.

“Sophia’s out there.” She said, staring off into the forest. “I just hope Rick finds her quickly so we can grab what we need and leave this place.” Daryl didn’t say anything, just looked around the graveyard of cars and bodies. His mouth twitched and looked down at the girl in the car. He hadn’t taken much notice of Glenn or his sister since he joined the Atlanta group with his older brother. But he was long gone now, and Daryl began to feel the urge to get closer to the group. He felt like he needed to talk to them, otherwise he’d go insane. Now Merle wasn’t with him, and possibly out in Atlanta on his own with only one hand to defend himself, he felt abandoned like a stray dog.

He hated his brother’s company before, but without it he felt isolated. The group didn’t particularly like him, at least he assumed they did by his attitude towards them and his tendency to be hot headed, but for some reason Parker Rhee was insistent on trying to talk to him, to make him feel included. And he didn’t know how to feel about it. She had tried to listen to his ideas and opinions throughout their time together, agreeing with him on more than one occasion to both Daryl and Glenn’s surprise. Why bother?That’s what Daryl had wanted to ask her for weeks now. Why bother with someone like him? He didn’t care about her, why should she care about him?

“You got somethin’ of mine.” He drawled, awkwardly shuffling his feet, hating the silence and just wanting to walk off and shoot something. Parker frowned, still not looking at him, before staring down at her belt. His arrow was pressed into her hip, leaving a dent, and she pulled it out quickly. She then got out of the car and stood right in front of Daryl, almost toe to toe. He blinked at her. She didn’t seem uncomfortable standing so close to him, yet he felt the urge to step back, but he didn’t. Parker handed him the arrow without another word and Daryl hesitantly took it, taking a second to look between her and the arrow, as if he didn’t know what to do next.

He then cleared his throat before stalking off back towards the group, just in time to see Rick come back, but without Sophia. Parker watched Daryl go, and she watched the group’s mood go from bad to worse as Rick talked to them in a hushed voice. Carol’s wailes could be heard across the highway. Parker looked out into the forest and felt her bad mood start to return. Not only had T-Dog wrecked his arm, but now they’d lost one of the kids, as if this day couldn’t get any worse.

Notes

Due to my previous story, 'Moonshine Lullaby', not being as well thought out and planned as I would have liked, I've changed my mind and decided to write a story on what I believe would happen if Glenn had a twin sister. I'm already dreading writing the events of season 7...but also excited for what I have planned for it! I'd love some feedback, so please let me know what you thought!
Thanks so much for reading!
- Abi











Comments

Still here! Yes excited for season 8! July 21st first sneak peak of it!! Love this story!!

Loul461 Loul461
7/7/17

Wow!! Other than Herschel getting hurt, that was great!! Thank you for the updated chapter and hope you keep doing it!! You are a great writer!!

JetCmoon JetCmoon
4/10/17

Yay youre back ! Cant wait to see where it goes now!

Loul461 Loul461
4/10/17

yayy you're back

milouuu milouuu
3/20/17

I'm so glad you're back, I've missed this story! :)

daniellarose daniellarose
3/19/17