Hiraeth (The Walking Dead)

Chapter 12

The two hunters managed to drag Rick through the forest to show him the prison, to which the leader decided to bring the entire group. The former sheriff was surprised by the unfamiliar building, but he was more than happy to pull out a set of bolt cutters to cut through the fence. There was a gravel pathway between two sets of metal fencing, and Rick cut a narrow doorway through the middle of the first mesh wall. He helped everybody inside, then tied the doorway shut with a thick red wire.

"We've gotta clear the field out before sunset," the scruffy man decided. "Some of us can take the towers, some will pop the walkers through the fence. One of us should make a run from that big gate there so we can close it off until tomorrow. We can stay in the field here for the night after we clear it out."

"I can run for the gate," Glenn nodded. "I'm fast, all you have to do is cover me."

"No," Maggie shook her head immediately. "It's a suicide run."

"I'll take the run," Rick announced. "Daryl, you, Cailey, and Carol run up to that tower. Maggie, on the one over there with T-Dog. Rest of you can get the walkers through the fence."

"Rick," Lori shook her head, one hand on her massive stomach. "You can't go for the gate on your own. If something happens to you..."

"It'll be all right," the man assured his wife.

"There are too many of them," the woman frowned.

"I can take the run," Cailey declared finally, gripping her bow tightly. "Fast enough, and if shit goes down, someone can run to the gate after I clear it as much as I can."

Everybody listening in knew the translation of that sentence was 'none of you care enough about me, so it will be okay if something happens.' A couple of the quieter adults almost protested this, but Rick's thoughtful face kept everybody silent. He nodded carefully. "We will cover you as much as possible," he handed the young brunette a massive metal clip connected to a chain from one of his bags. "I'll give you the cue to go, so run as fast as you can, and be careful."

Cailey nodded sharply, fixing the black bandanna headband around her forehead. She gripped the clip until her knuckles were nearly white, and rested the other palm against the fence as she stared out at the walkers.

"Ready," Rick called out loudly. Everybody ran to their posts, and Rick stayed right behind Cailey. He began cutting another doorway into the second set of fencing, holding it closed until he was ready.

"Light it up!" Daryl's thick Southern accent echoed loudly. There was a loud rumbling of bullets being shot, knives forcing into bone, and bodies dropping. Rick held the makeshift doorway in one hand, leaning back in a runner's stance in case he had to run after Cailey.

"Ready," he mumbled quietly, gun in one hand. Rick waited for there to be a mostly-clear path, even though walkers were flowing through the field gate from the building- which Cailey would be closing. The girl stood almost lunging, grasping her clip in her left hand with her bow on the ground. Her hunting knife was being gripped by her right hand, and she pushed back all her weight. Rick began slowly moving his hand. "Go!"

The teen bolted through the door, ripping her camouflage cargo pant leg against the fence. She sped past two walkers, and zig-zagged around a cluster of the undead. As she neared the gate, her elbows thrusted up, and she flung her knife into a greenish-grey skull coming towards her. A handful of walkers began rushing through the gate, but Cailey brought one knee to her chest and kicked straight out against one's chest. It fell back against two others like a set of dominoes, but began crawling up again. The brunette rushed the gate door closed, sliding it loudly.

Cailey whistled loudly with two fingers in her mouth to signal her accomplishment. T-Dog's voice echoed as he whooped and hollered. There was a little bit more cheering from some of the younger ones in the group. Everybody else sighed in relief as they stared out at the body-ridden field. But nothing was moving. The field was finally safe from walkers.

The adults in the towers hopped down the stairs, and Daryl climbed up a sideways car keeping the outside gate shut. He stared out, still waiting for any signs of the undead.

"I think we're safe, Daryl," Rick assured him.

"Down, boy," Cailey pointed to the ground. Her voice was always so dark and sarcastic it was almost hard to tell she was joking. Daryl glared at her as he hopped down to the dirt again. The girl nodded curtly. "Good redneck."

The dirty man clipped Cailey upside the head with his palm, just enough for it to barely hurt. "Better watch yer' mouth, clodhopper."

The teenager snorted quietly, hooking her bow over her shoulder. The rest of the group was beginning to collect in a small circle in the middle of the field. Glenn was beginning to build a firepit with rocks and dirt.

"We'll coop up here tonight," Rick decided out loud. "We'll take the rest of the prison tomorrow."

There were a few murmurs and protests, but most of the group nodded as they hung around the rock circle that Glenn was making. Daryl gestured his head to the side to Cailey, and the girl followed him to the edge of the fence to find something to hunt.

"There's the river down there," the hunter swung his thick finger around the treeline. "Could head down there, maybe find a squirrel or some fish."

Cailey nodded, pulling her headband tighter around her forehead. Her hair was beginning to get longer, just past her eartips on each side, and it kept pulling the bandanna down.

"We can split up," Cailey decided, loading an arrow into her bow as they fit through the fence. "Not dark yet. Got time."

Daryl nodded his head once. "Be safe, clodhopper."

"You too, redneck."