Unattainable (A Daryl Dixon love story)

28

“We are in desperate need of supplies and I’d really appreciate it if the four of you would go out on a run” Hershel said sitting the four down after breakfast.

“It’s no problem at all” Pepper told him and the other three agreed.

Hershel gave them a list and sent them out. Daryl’s motorcycle “had been making weird sounds” so he rode with Pepper in the prison’s blue truck while Glenn and Garrett rode in the red car. Before they left it was decided Daryl would lead the way.

“Books?  Is that really a need?” Daryl said, as Pepper read the list to him.

“Look, if all goes well we’ll all be there for a long time, and the twins and Carl and even Littleone need something to do” she said.

“It’s Asskicker, and they should all learn how to do laundry, Maggie-“ he began, “Something useful, Daryl” she playfully scolded.

The list had a lot of useful things on it: canned food, more weapons, tools, duck tape, blankets, formula, but Pepper’s favorite item had to be books. It was simple but she knew it would really make a big difference.

The first stop was a small corner store that was next to four others. It looked rummaged through already, with every window broken and blood smeared randomly all over the door. But they were desperate.

There were seemingly no Walkers around but all four moved quickly and carefully just in case. They found nothing but a few crossword puzzle books, so they walked about ten feet to the next; which looked even worse.

Surprisingly they found a lot there: a few cans of tomatoes and peaches, three rings of silver duck tape, a pocket knife, and a copy of The Alchemist from behind the counter. The next building was a complete dud but the one next to it was the most promising, supplying them with two more pocket knives, a large purple blanket, an unused first aid kit, a hammer, and a pair of scissors that Glenn absolutely thought would come in handy for something.

On the way over to the last corner store a lone walker started limping its way out of the open door. They all continued walking toward it, until a group of about twelve began to spill out of the small building.

“Do we fight or leave?” Glenn called out, as if to really no particular person. “There could be formula in there, we have to-“ Pepper began, then was cut off by a Walker who got too close. She quickly took care of it with a baseball bat.

“What if there isn’t any?” Garrett called out, struggling a little with two Walkers. “We’re already almost halfway done” she called back.

It was true; there was about six left. Garrett still hadn’t shaken the two he had so Pepper threw him her bat, and he quickly brought them down. Just as she gave away her bat a badly decomposed woman pinned her down. Pepper quickly picked up a piece of glass from the ground and shoved it into her head.

Getting up she saw the rest had been taken care of, and then she checked her hand, making sure she hadn’t been cut from the glass. When all was clear she led the others into the last building. They found a backpack and put their stash in it along with a four pack of canned soup.

The next place they found was a grocery store. “It’s probably cleaned out, but it couldn’t hurt” Daryl said, as he opened the door to the fairly good looking building.

As they looked they stayed in their pairs. There were no Walkers inside but they did walk away with two more backpacks full of blankets, a package of diapers, a small container of formula, and more cans of soup.

“Do you think it’s enough?” Garrett asked as they were walking back their vehicles. “I want to try one more place. I know there is one of those huge ass supermarkets somewhere down the road” Daryl said, throwing their haul into the bed of the truck.

It took fifteen minutes to find it, but there was one.

On the outside there were cars and trucks and other vehicles just like at any other place but they were all clean and neatly parked and the outside of the place looked untouched.

“Daryl, there’s people living there” Pepper said. He stopped and parked in the cover of the trees surrounding the building. Glenn did the same.

“Daryl, this isn’t a good idea” she repeated. “It’ll be okay, we can handle them” he said.

As the four began to walk toward the building a voice called out something inaudible and shots were fired at them.

“Damnit Daryl, I told you!”