𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 | 𝐭𝐰𝐝 ¹

24.

   After hours of limping in silence, church bells sounded off in the distance. It startled Nicole, who was on the verge of passing out. She hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours and her ankle was throbbing something awful each step she took. 

   Nicole didn't know what to do. Sophia wanted to race toward the sound, but Nicole shot her down. The bells echoed through the trees; it would have been difficult to find it, especially with her ankle. Georgia's heat was not helping her predicament.

   "I need to sit down," Nicole uttered in pain before sliding down a tree. Her ankle was throbbing worse than it was moments ago. Nicole could deal with pain, but at that moment, she wished she could revert back to her old self. She wished she could have a gram of weed to ease her pain. Nicole mentally scolded herself for thinking about that -- she hadn't thought about that for years.

   "Are you okay?" Sophia whispered to her friend.

   Nicole nodded as her green eyes started to droop from the lack of sleep. "I just need a break," she whispered back.

   "Nikki, please don't go to sleep," Sophia pleaded nervously. Both of them were getting dehydrated and hungry. They would need to find a place to stay for the night -- they needed to rest up.

   Nicole deeply exhaled and opened her eyes. They were bloodshot and watery. The back of them ached. Nicole wanted to sleep, but she couldn't. She knew that she had to get Sophia somewhere safe for the night.

   With a groan, Nicole pushed herself up using the tree and her bat. "C'mon," she rasped. Sophia wrapped her arm around Nicole's waist, helping her again.

   "Do you think we'll make it back tonight?" Sophia questioned, glancing up to a tired Nicole for half a second. She didn't know what else to say.

   "I don't know, Sophia," Nicole snapped. "I don't know, okay?" Nicole felt tears rise in the back of her throat. She wanted her daughter. She wanted to sleep. She wanted her family. She wanted Daryl.

   Nicole flinched when a single gunshot rang through the trees. "What the hell?" she whispered, pausing for a moment.

   "Maybe it's Rick or Shane!" Sophia exclaimed in excitement. Nicole scolded her for being so loud.

   "Maybe," Nicole murmured. "We need to find a place to stay. I can't walk much longer." Sophia's eyes pleaded for her to keep going. She missed her mom.

   "You can't keep going?" Sophia asked as they continued limping forward.

   Nicole looked up to the sky. The sun was no longer shining above them. That's what told Nicole that nightfall was not too far away. "By the time we get to the highway, Sophia, it will be pitch black," Nicole tried to explain. "We'll find a place for the night and we will get home in the morning."

   Sophia stared her for a moment. "Promise?" she asked, holding out her pinky.

   Nicole chuckled before taking the girl's pinky with her own. "I promise."

   The two found a small rock formation. It was basically a miniature cave. "We can stay here for the night," Nicole told the girl.

  "There's nowhere else?" Sophia whispered. The crickets started to chirp as the sun set below the treeline.

   Nicole sighed and limped inside it. "There is nowhere else unless you want to trip over yourself all night," she sighed as she slid down the inside.