Sneaky

Chapter 31

We stuck together as planned until we reached our separating point near the creek.

I broke off to go but didn't get twenty feet before Daryl called, "'Ey"

Halting, I turned to meet his gaze.

"...Be careful. I ain't gonna come save ur ass if ya get in trouble."

A broad smile spread across my face. I nodded, giving him a pointed 'you too' look as I started off again.

There are hardly any walkers in these woods. I think the bigger danger will be not getting lost ourselves. I'm not worried about Daryl, he's Mr. Tracking extraordinaire— I'm worried about me.

"Meet back 'ere before dark!" Daryl called and I waved my hand in acknowledgement. I don't know if he saw or not, but I'm gonna assume he did. Besides it's not like he expects me to answer; verbally at least.

~

You can bet your ass I'mma be back before dark. I'm confident I would not be able to find my way back in the dark. I would have to hole up for the night and there are not a lot of places to do that out here from what I can tell.

I'm not much of a tracker but in my opinion I've got an excellent memory and sense of direction. I can tell when things look out of place but to be honest, I mostly run off instinct in this regard.

Now that I think about it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have Daryl teach me a thing or two about tracking. It would certainly come in handy right about now. Not to mention any future endeavors.

I highly doubt this will be the last time a skill such as that will be useful.

It's only been like an hour or so since we split up. It's a lot of time to myself and my thoughts; More than I realized.

I wandered past some tracks I recognized to be deer tracks. I might not be a tracker, but I'm versed enough to at least tell the difference between a human footprint and a hoof.

Under any other circumstance, I'd have followed them in the hopes of catching something that isn't squirrel(cue involuntary cringe, shiver combo) but I'm not here to hunt.

I can't risk firing my gun unless it's life or death anyway, and I doubt even I could get close enough to throw my knife at it. Unless I get ridiculously lucky.

Plus if I did that I'd risk losing my knives; I've only got two with me —and they're my favorites— it would idiotic to risk losing them for a deer I don't need.

Besides, how would I even get it back to the farm? I'm not exactly capable of lifting a deer, that's at least my size judging by that print, on my best day; let alone with cracked rib—

A moan stopped me dead in my tracks and my knife automatically raised.

My head was on a swivel, searching for the source. My feet firmly planted to the ground, tense and waiting to react.

Several seconds passed in eerie silence, without so much as a leaf rustling.

My eyes narrowed as I shifted once again. Maybe it wasn't a moan, but just sounded like one. Could've been an animal, or a breeze, or—

A twig snapped on the other side of the substantial tree beside me.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down my temple as I moved around it, careful not to step on so much as a crusty leaf. Not even my breathing made any noticeable sound.

Even though I expected it— I was prepared for it, I still jumped when a walker came at me the second I stepped around the tree.

It's much bigger than I expected— at least twice my size.