𝐇𝐀𝐙𝐀𝐑𝐃 │ 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐘𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐗𝐎𝐍 ¹ [✔]

[27]: wedding bells

In the morning, we all got right back to business; to finding Sophia. Early enough that I was still half asleep and popping my back. Sleeping in an abandoned car was never the most comfortable thing. Correction: anything that is not specifically designed to be slept on (like a bed) is never the most comfortable thing to sleep on (unlike a bed).

Rick unrolled an arsenal of weapons on the hood of a car. Carl claimed he had found them.

"Everybody takes a weapon," he ordered, looking at all of us. I looked at the assortment. There were things like knives, machetes, hatchets, and things similar.

I immediately went for something that looked like a hook-knife-thing. It looked unique and deadly. Like a strong female lead in an action movie. I strapped the holster it had to one of my belt loops, tugging it to test whether it was tight enough.

Glenn opened up his own weapon, and saw that it was something almost identical to mine. He smiled at the funny shape. But when he caught me looking at him, he stopped and put it back in its holster.

"These aren't the kind of weapons he needs," Andrea said, jutting her hip out. "What about the guns?"

I had never seen her this bitchy before.

"We've been over that," Shane said. "Daryl, Rick, and I are carrying. We can't have people poppin'; off rounds every time a tree rustles."

"It's not the trees I'm worried about," Andrea instantly replied.

"Say someone fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it," Shane said firmly.

Now, I know I had the guns under my shirt. I put them back on this morning.

And I did know that I should be handing them over. But I felt like I would be embarrassed, after all this discussion about how we can't all carry guns, and only now would I be handing them over. I felt like a school kid who hadn't handed in their homework, and hoped their teacher would just think they lost it.

I had told no one of them. I just needed to keep them there - for insurance.

Daryl cleared his throat from beside me. "The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down to other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."

"Stay quiet, stay sharp. Keep spaced between you but always stay within sight of each other," Rick said, finally.

"Everybody assemble your packs," Shane ordered.

We all assembled our packs. Meanwhile there was a slight dispute between Andrea and Dale (which we all watched awkwardly), and on whether Carl was allowed to come. They decided that he was and I was thrilled.

As if on instinct, I immediately followed Daryl. Having to walk a little faster due to his strutting pace.

In the woods, we soon formed a single line through the tall grass. In the order of Daryl, Rick, me, Andrea, Carol, Glenn, Carl, Lori, then Shane.

All you could hear were the puffs of everyone, we were already exhausted, and the ruffling of grass. I worried it was too loud, that if Sophia made a slight noise, then we wouldn't hear it.

I had to readjust myself every few moments or so. It just looked like I had a broken bra on. The shirt I had on wasn't the most comfortable thing either. It was scratchy, and the collar was incredibly stiff, also the sleeves only rolled up so far. The guns were heavy, and the straps pressed into my skin in

the most awkward places. I was starting to severely regret carrying guns I probably wouldn't use.

"Marley!" someone called from behind me. I instantly recognised the voice to be Carl's.