Red ~ TWD (Daryl Dixon)

The Only Easy Day was Yesterday

The next morning the six of us who made up the raiding party stood outside the main gate leading to the interior of the prison. Clearing the yard was no walk in the park, but it was shaping up to be a veritable spa day compared to what lay ahead.

I tried for a solid five minutes to count all the walkers just beyond the gate, but there too many, and if I was being honest it wasn't the one's I could see that had me worried. This place had more blind spots than Ray Charles. We were about to run headfirst into an urban battleground with a multitude of unknowns using a force with limited experience and less than ideal weaponry. It reminded me a little too much of Iraq, and I knew firsthand how that worked out.

"Ya good?" Daryl asked me softly, stopping next to me.

I cracked my neck, eyes never leaving the prison. "I don't want to adult today."

His face scrunched up in confusion. "Ain't gotta go. Ya earned a break."

I chuckled. There was a better chance I'd use the expired condom tucked in his back pocket than let them go in there without me.

"Let's go Rambo, timeout's over."

I pulled two knives from my sheath, striding towards Hershel who was manning the main gate.

"You ready?" the old man asked. They freakin' better be because as soon as he opened that gate it was on, ready or not.

T's eyes were hard as he held one of Daryl's broken arrows in his bear claw sized hand, his body rigid, ready for battle. Glenn looked more worried about Maggie than himself, eyes constantly darting to her every few seconds. I nudged his foot, giving him "a look", silently reminding him he couldn't protect her if he was dead. Rick was in the lead looking about as scary as I'd ever seen him. That face meant one thing, and one thing only, we were taking this prison or we were gonna die trying.

In the words of Daryl Dixon, now was as good a day as any.

Katniss and I were bringing up the rear. Our job to protect the group's six. I swallowed hard, sneaking a look at him. He was already watching me and I unconsciously shifted closer to him, the back of our hands brushing. It shocked me when he slide his hand into mine, squeezing firmly, a serious look on his face. The meaning was clear.

Stay alive.

I nodded, squeezing back, my own message clear.

You too.

Hershel unchained the fence, sliding it open as Rick and T advanced inside quickly, both stabbing walkers immediately while everyone else followed.

"Daryl, Alex!" Rick yelled, a brief nod to our exposed flanks.

We moved silently, him to the right and me to the left, taking down the walkers attempting to box us in.

Our group moved as a unit, a small circle with our backs to each other while we carefully made our way forward. From behind me I heard grunts and curses every time someone was forced to break ranks, lunging forward to take down a target before hastily jumping back in formation. I thrust my knife into the head of a walker in front of me, and was rewarded with a spray of blood that coated my arms and tank top. Nasty. Laundry day was gonna be a real bitch this week. We should probably consider just calling these clothes a loss and burning them with the pile of dead walkers.

The rest of the group hollered and shouted from the fence line, doing their best to gain the attention of the walkers, but with fresh meat within arm's reach it was wasted effort. The walkers closing in around us were steadily growing, and I could practically feel the need to lash out and create some space pulsating through the group.