Give Me Your Crossbow (DARYL DIXON)

You're Alive!

1 MONTH LATER

CHRIS POV

We made it a fair ways out of the city but eventually had to stop the car because of the traffic pileup. That's how we met the group. We were all now in a grassland just outside of Atlanta, set up with an RV and cars that were not ours. Our family and Shane all stayed together. Amy and Andrea were sisters who were saved by Dale when the outbreak began. Carol and Sophia offered us food but Carols husband Ed wasn't so nice to us. The Morales family seemed nice enough and Theodore was the muscle of the group. He asked everyone to call him T-Dog, which I found kinda funny. Glenn was a pizza delivery boy who was travelling alone. And last but not least, the Dixon brothers were rednecks from the North who were hardcore survivalists, they did most of the hunting around here. Merle Dixon was a bit of a pervert, he was always making snide comments at the girls and trying to be a flirt. He made me feel really uncomfortable. I had not yet met his younger brother Daryl, but I assumed he had the exact same personality as Merle. Daryl was always up and hunting by the time I woke up every day and I guess he wouldn't return til after I fell asleep of a night.

That day, Shane had decided to send a group of people on a run to the city; Glenn, T-Dog, Morales, Andrea and Merle. The government had napalmed the city, and the fumes had finally settled enough so that we could scavenge supplies. They all left for the city, while the rest of us sat and ate at the picnic table. Carl loved playing with the two younger girls, Sophia and Eliza and Lori loved talking to Carol about cooking. I never took any interest in anyone. Amy was constantly trying to get my attention but she did kinda annoy me a little. If anything, I was itching to use my throwing knives and hunt for animals. But Shane wouldn't let me leave, he constantly said that it was too dangerous for me to go out there. Yeah fucking right.

****

The group didn't return til the next day. I was sitting at the table daydreaming when I heard a faint car alarm going off. I stood up and climbed over the seat, running towards the opening of the camp. The car alarm was getting louder by the second, making everyone leave their tents. A bright red sports car came screeching down the gravel drive, the car alarm was ringing in my ears. A couple miles behind was a large moving van. Glenn was driving the sports car and Morales was driving the van. Glenn jumped out of the car and Dale put down his binoculars.

"Turn that darn thing off!"

"I don't know how!"

Shane barrelled towards the car, threw open the hood and ripped a handful of wires out of the engine. The alarm stopped immediately and we al breathed a sigh of relief. Shane turned to Glenn, his face like thunder.

"Are you stupid?! You could've been drawing Walkers for miles!"

"I think we're okay. The alarm echoed off the mountains, so they can't pinpoint where the sound was coming from."

The group trailed out of the truck, Amy ran to Andrea and Morales' family ran to him. The only person missing was Merle.

"What happened to Merle?"

Dale stepped forward towards Andrea, her face hardened.

"The idiot was shooting walkers with his sniper, the sound was drawing them to us. T-Dog tried to talk him down but he went completely insane. The man we saved reacted quickly and handcuffed Merle to the rooftop. We had to leave him but we locked the door so the walkers wouldn't get to him. We had to, he was putting us at risk."

"Daryl's not gonna be very happy. Who's the man you saved?"

She gestured to the back of the van, where a figure stepped out into the sunlight. My breath hitched as I ran toward my brother, my supposedly dead brother.

"Rick?! You're alive!"

He wrapped his arms around me, nestling his face in my neck.

"Of course I'm alive, why wouldn't I be?"

"Shane told us you were dead!"

We let go and turned back to the group. Lori and Carl started to run towards Rick, while Shane stood there, dumbfounded that his supposed dead best friend was now alive and standing in front of him.

"Dad! You're okay!"

Carl jumped into his arms, while Lori hung back for a second. She shared a look with Shane, what was happening there? My face contorted into a scowl as I looked at the exchange between Lori and Shane.

"Rick, how are you alive? You were dead!"

"I guess they had it wrong, huh. Thank you Shane, for taking care of my family."

Rick put his arms around Shane, who only managed a meagre pat on the back. There was something going on.

I just knew it.