Seal Our Fate

"I know this sounds insane, but this is an insane world. We have to come for them before they come for us. It's that simple." Rick called out to us. The infiltrating sounds of the walker's snarls and gurgles were loud enough to hear for miles. We had to yell at one another to communicate over the noise. My stomach did somersaults in my body. Every time I glanced beyond Rick and over the edge of the cliff I felt like the sight before me wasn't even real. My brain simply could not comprehend what we were about to do. "This is where it all starts tomorrow."

My palms began to sweat, my nervous tick settling in as I profusely wiped them against my jeans. I couldn't even focus on Rick as I stared down at the thousands of walkers stirring in circles at the bottom of the once-construction dumpsite. There were two entrances, one on the west side and one on the east. There were two makeshift ramps leading up to each exit, both blocked off by trucks that had once upon a time been backed up and stationed as barriers to keep the walkers trapped down there. As time passed, the more walkers that fell off of the cliff and into the walker pit, the louder they became, only drawing more and more here. It was clear to us now how Alexandria has been able to stand on its own for so long. Some, if not most of the walkers being drawn to the sound and wounding up here.

Although, we were lucky that Rick and Morgan found this sinkhole when they did. The truck placed on the east side entrance was slowly beginning to slip off the edge of the cliff. One more heavy rain and the rubble would crumble, opening up the pathway for the walkers to walk straight to Alexandria's front doors. It had been a long two weeks of preparation for the plan we created, but tomorrow we'd be opening up the doorway on the west side, letting the walkers out and drawing them away from Alexandria before the truck on the east side set them free.

"Tobin gets in the truck, opens the exit and we're off. He hops out, catches up with his team at red staying on the west side of the road," Rick began to go over the plan one last time. We had different checkpoints set up along the way, each one marked with coloured balloons so we knew exactly where we needed to be. "Daryl gets on his bike--"

A huge rumble caused all of our heads to snap away from Rick, towards the east side of the cliff. I threw my hand over my eyes, blocking out the sun so I could see that far. I stood beside Daryl, my heart beating rapidly as my other hand clutched on my belt of weapons.

"You see that?" Sasha yelled out. Rick turned, his eyes landing on what we were all watching.

The truck screeched against the rocks, boulders crumpling to the ground under its left wheel. We watched as the truck slowly slid off the side of the cliff, the tractor head teetering over the side. I stepped forward, getting a better look at it as more rocks began to slip from underneath. The metal creaked as the right wheel finally rolled over the edge, flipping the entire truck over and landing at the bottom of the dumpsite. Our plan was beginning to dissolve. The walkers were free on the east.

"It's open!" I shouted, yanking my gun from my holster.

"We've got to do this now!" Rick shouted. "We're doing this now!" Everyone began to run off, getting into their designated places. Most ran towards their cars, preparing to drive off to their assigned checkpoints. "Tobin's group, get moving, go!"

"No, Rick we're not ready!" A man named Carter yelled back at him.

I stood wedged between the two trucks on the west side, keeping my distance from the small crack the walkers were slowly squeezing through. Daryl stood next to me, shooting down any that managed to peel their way through before the truck would be moved. Then I was to go along with my own group to our designated checkpoint.

"Sasha! Abraham!" Rick ignored Carter, calling out for the two of them to get a move on.

"Damn straight, we'll do it live!" Abraham said back, leading Sasha over to their car.

"You meet Daryl at red. Let him take them through the gauntlet."

That was the plan, we mapped out an entire route to lead the whole herd as far away from Alexandria as possible. My only concern was that Rick had Daryl be the one to do it. We all had our jobs, each of them equally as dangerous, but Daryl was the one to be on his bike, baiting the entire herd through our route. If any one of us fucked up our jobs Daryl would be the one in the most danger for it.

"Yeah, we got it! Meet at red!" Sasha confirmed, jumping into the driver's seat and taking off.

"Rick, this was supposed to be a dry run!" Carter yelled, petrified.

"Get ready! They're coming!" I shouted, watching as the first walker made its way through the crack in between the two trucks. Its skin caught on the metal as its left arm reached out for us. The only thing holding it back was its flesh slowly peeling from its body before it finally tore and its body fell through.

"We haven't even gone through the whole plan!" Carter cried out.

"Daryl, you got it?" I yelled over. His arrow went flying, lodging its way directly through the walker's skull. The walker crumpled to the ground, revealing the next walker trying to shove its way through.

"You want to go back, go back. We're finishing this," Rick was firm, shutting Carter up for good.

"Rick, I'll hit the tractor place first," Glenn ran by us, picking up his backpack ready to get a move on.

"Okay, who else?" Rick questioned.

"Scar! Heath!" Glenn called out for us. My head snapped around, looking back at Glenn. It was time, this was actually going down right now. "Let's go!" I nodded my head, shoving my gun back into my holster.

I looked over at Daryl, he still stood firm, his eyes locked on the next walker. I took two steps towards him, giving him a peck on the lips goodbye before I had to leave. "Be careful," I smiled before running off to catch up to my group.

"Tobin, you hit it on my signal. They're heading for home. We don't have a choice. Get ready to hit the flares." I could hear Rick yelling out orders from a distance.

We were about to take off running when Nicholas stepped in front of us. "I'm here, let me help," he pleaded.

"No," Glenn immediately shot him down.

"I'm here!" Nicholas yelled.

Glenn gritted his teeth, he was trying not to yell but it just ended up coming out as a muffled shout between his teeth, "Do everything I say!"

"I will," Nicholas nodded vigorously.

"Alright, there's a tractor store with about a dozen walkers inside. We got to take them out or they'll distract the horde," he explained before we all took off in a sprint.

"Now!" Rick screamed from behind us. I could hear the truck engine revving. This was it. We were going to need God on our side today.

~ Three Weeks Earlier ~

I sat on top of the roof of the gazebo, overlooking the small pond as the moonlight rippled in the water. I sipped on a bottle of Jack Daniels, already putting a dent in a quarter of it. No one would be sleeping tonight, not after everything that went down during our meeting. I pressed my knees up to my chest, hugging my arms around them. My skin began to itch from the caked-on blood that I still hadn't washed off from hours ago. How did everything get so fucked up? I refused to make sense of everything that happened tonight so I clutched onto a bottle of whiskey instead. Up on top of this gazebo, overlooking the water, and my mind a little fuzzy, made everything else feel a little less real. Even if it was just for the time being.

"Can I join ya?" A voice called out from down below. I didn't even have to look in the direction it came from to know that it was Daryl.

"I'm warning you, it's sad up here," I responded, letting him know how I was feeling. I wasn't declining his offer though.

"Would it make you feel better if I said I had something for ya?" he asked. My ears perked up at that, listening as I heard him struggle to climb up the side of the gazebo from behind me. "How the hell'd you get up here?" He huffed, causing me to snicker. I could feel him standing above me now. I turned to look at him as he sat down, dangling his legs over the edge as his left hand remained hidden from me.

"I'm hoping it's chase for my drink," I said, taking another swig from the bottle. The liquid stung my throat as I swallowed it, feeling the shocking yet exhilarating burn as it settled in my stomach.

"Why you drinking?" he asked, his tone holding a fair amount of concern.

"A bad judgement call," I responded dryly.

"Well, I got you this on our run. It's nothing special, but I saw it and thought you might want it. Thought you may have missed it," he said, finally pulling the item from behind his body. He reached over and placed the cold metal crowbar in my hands. It really wasn't anything special, but at the same time, it was. This weapon was my comfort and I hadn't had one since we left the farm and Daryl knew that about me.

I smiled as I held the crowbar in my hands getting a feel for it again, "Thank you," I said, my voice just above a whisper. Then with the alcohol surging through my bloodstream, my emotions came crashing down. Tears rushed out of my eyes as I silently cried, realizing how much I missed him after I came back from that first run and everything that happened in between. "Noah's dead," I cried out, leaning my head down on his right shoulder.

"I know," he said quietly, allowing me to go through the motions with him there, "Rick told me." I could feel him place a kiss on the top of my head.

"Everything just feels so unfair," I whispered.

We were both silent for a while. I had stopped tearing up, but my head still remained on his shoulder as we looked across the water.

"Red, I-- I need to tell you something," Daryl's voice cracked like he was unsure of himself. I raised my head looking up at him. He was unsure if now was the right time to tell me whatever it was that he had to say. I blinked up at him, waiting for him to continue. "Aaron and I came across something on our trip. I don't know what it is or who they are, but it ain't good," he explained.

"Is it another group?" I asked, my brows furrowed.

He shook his head, "I don't know. I think so. It was like a trail of walkers, all of them with a W carved in their forehead."

"You think it's a branding for the term walkers?" I asked, trying to figure out what he saw.

"Nah, we are the only group we've come across that call 'em that," he shook his head again like he was trying to make sense of it himself. "We found a campsite that was completely torn through. The camp was raided and people were tied to trees with the carving. I think it's worse than that."

Then my hazy brain finally put the pieces together, the image flashing like a quick memory in my mind. "Wolves," I said quietly. "When we were in Noah's community, the word Wolves was spray-painted on the wall. I think they did that to Noah's family."

Daryl looked down at me, seeing the fear in my eyes as they mirrored his own. "Whoever they are, if you cross their path on your runs you either kill them or run as fast as you can," Daryl warned me, "Red, I'm not kidding, don't even give it a second thought."

I nodded my head to show him I understood. I didn't know what exactly he saw for the days he had been out on the road with Aaron, but the fear in his eyes told me everything I needed to know. He grabbed both of my cheeks, leaning his entire body into me as he kissed me. I melted in his hands.

"Welcome home," I smiled.