The Walking Dead: Danielle Grimes

176. The Cave

Daryl's POV

"Hey, guys?" Jerry points to a place up top, where Alpha is standing watching us. Out of no where, Carol lets out a raging scream at her. I can faintly see Alpha smirk at her before she turns and leaves the cave.

Magna turns around and tries to climb the rocks, trying to see if we can get out the way we came. Me and Jerry give her a boost, and she almost gets a grip on the next high ledge before she loses her footing. She yells out as she comes tumbling back down, Jerry barely managing to break her fall before she hits the ground.

"Damn....you okay?" Jerry asks as he helps her up. "I almost had it." She groans in frustration. "Nah, it's too high." I protest. "You'll risk breakin' your neck. We gotta find another way."

Our voices can barely be heard over the snarling's of the horde. We can just about hear one another as our words echo off the rock walls, that are surrounding us.

I hold up my flashlight, scanning over the sea of walkers to look across the cave. I can just about see a steady flow of water coming from a gap between two big rocks.

"You got something?" Aaron asks, stepping beside me following my gaze. "Groundwater's deeper in here." I reply. "That's water comin' from outside."

"I don't see a way across." Carol says lowly. Dani uses her flashlight to look around but I can see she's in pain, by the way her face keeps scrunching up. "Whoa, whoa." Aaron catches her arm. "Go back, De."

She moves her flashlight back over to where she was pointing it, seeing some large boulders in the middle of the horde. "We could use those to jump across." Aaron suggests. "Nice." I nod simply.

"Wait...." Kelly questions as she translates for Connie. "For real?" Aaron gives her a sad look and nods. It's the only way we've got.

I turn around and see Dani looking distant at the ground so I walk up to her. "Hey." I raise her chin with my knuckle so her eyes meet mine. "You good?" I ask in concern. "Uh.... yeah just- just having a moment." She tells me.

"It's gonna be okay." I tell her confidently. "You are way too calm about this." She replies, shaking her head at me. "We're gettin' out of this together, alright?" I cup her cheek.

"Alright, together." She whispers, taking a deep breath. I peck her forehead, rubbing my thumb across her cheek before letting go. I step towards the edge of the rock platform. "Let's go." I call to everyone.

Without letting myself overthinking it, I jump over the walkers to the first boulder. The surface is a little lower than the big platform, so when the walkers reach for me, their hands are only inches away from my feet.

I glance behind me to see Carol following me as Dani calls out. "We got walkers coming up!" She yells to the others as she pulls out her claw and strikes it. "Over here too!" Aaron shouts back as he takes out a walker with the mace on the end of his arm.

Magna, Connie and Jerry make their way across the boulders, but Kelly seems afraid. Walkers start coming from around the back and joining the last of the group on the platform. Dani stabs another one just as Aaron knocks one down.

"Kelly, go now!" Dani insists and Kelly makes the jump. As she lands, she loses her footing and the walkers get close to grabbing her. Aaron and Dani start waving their flashlights and yelling at the walkers to draw their attention as Kelly gets to her feet and jumps to the next boulder.