Theme Song: "Coming Undone" - Korn

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I was slow to walk due to my illness, but Calvin kept the same pace as me even though I knew he wanted to walk faster.

I kept popping my knuckles out of habit and every time Calvin would crane his head up at me and look with a quirked brow.

Finally, I murmured quietly, "I'm nervous, Calvin. That's all." Calvin nodded silently, but I saw the way he eyed me as I wrung my hands.

We walked in silence out of the town, sweat beading up at my brow and falling like dew drops down my cheek.

I wiped them away, pausing momentarily to take a break as Calvin grabbed the water for me to take a sip.

"Are you going to make it, Vicki?" Calvin asked, his brows creasing in concern and I nodded. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and gave Calvin the water back.

He put it the backpack, but before I could start walking again Calvin had reached his hand out to mine.

I looked at his hand..up his arm and then to his face. He had a small smile on his face and I couldn't help but smile back before placing my hand in his and feeling the stability of a friend; an ally.

We walked hand in hand, heads swiveling the perimeter for any sign of movement, but all was silent. We reached the edge of town where the dirt road started that would lead us to the factory.

We were still a ways away from the factory, but just seeing it creep closer sent nervous shivers down my arms and straight to my gut.

Calvin felt my tremor, "I just don't know where else he would be.." He trailed off, trying to comfort me as best he could, but still being realistic about the situation.

I bit my chapped lips and shook my head, "For once, I'm at a loss as well, Calvin."

If we hit a dead end I didn't know what we were going to do. Not only was I sick, but Calvin would be alone if I didn't get better.

All of these thoughts twisted my stomach muscles and I felt my bottom lip tremble, but I shook it away.

No! No crying. You don't do that, Vicki.

We walked on for awhile in silence.

We were walking on the dirt road that would lead to the little turn off on the the left. And that would lead to the factory. There was a dingy Chevrolet truck parked on the dirt road and the two right tires on the passenger side were flat.

I felt my bladder constrict and looked to Calvin, whispering, "Mind if I take a bathroom break?" His cheeks turned red and he looked at the truck and realized I meant to take cover behind it.

He nodded and I made it around the truck before taking my sickles out, crouching down and dropping my shorts.

I didn't have an iron clad bladder like some people. As in..Daryl. The thought made me soften as I remembered being on the road with him.

He'd chastise me for having to go to the bathroom so much, but sometimes I caught him smirking when I'd start bolt for a large tree to squat behind. I was a woman with a small bladder, I couldn't help it.

I started to stand and pull my shorts back up when Calvin came crouching behind the truck as my jeans slipped over my bare hip bones, "Hey, what the heck-"

Calvin's face was distraught with horror and I felt my heart drop as he spoke.

"Get down under the truck! NOW!" His voice was a harsh whisper and I obeyed without even buttoning or zipping her shorts. I grabbed my sickles with haste.

We quietly crawled under the truck so our forms were hidden, my knees scraping against the dirt road. What I saw next made me clap my hands over my mouth.

A small horde.

There had to have been a couple dozen of them. They were ambling away from the factory and back out into the wooded area that lay across from the factory.

My breathing hitched, but I stayed silent as the horde walked past us slowly.

My left hand found my sickle and I gripped it tightly while my right hand covered my mouth, sweat pouring down the side of my face as my heart rate accelerated.

I glanced silently over at Calvin and he had his knife in his right hand and his mouth was agape, but silent. I wondered if the kid was even breathing.

We hadn't been seen; otherwise the walkers would have crowded the truck. We were safe, so long as we stayed quiet.

I felt my body twitching from the extreme duress and watched as decaying bodies ambled past the truck and into the woods. Their moans were sickening and their smell..even worse.

I still never got over how disgusting they smelled; like rotting flesh. We stayed that way underneath the truck for quite some time, ensuring that no other stragglers came walking out.

Once the coast seemed to be clear we rolled out, standing up and brushing ourselves off. Calvin had helped me to my feet and I made note of the way Calvin had taken such good care of me in Daryl's absence.

Besides defying Daryl's order and leaving.

My eyes cast to the woods and not a sound could be heard now that they had waited for the horde to walk farther away. I looked towards the factory and Calvin snuck a glance to the gate before nodding, "Let's make this quick..before they decide to turn around or something."

Not like that was likely, but anything was possible and I couldn't agree more.

"They came from the factory.." My voice was a whisper, cracking slightly as the walkers' footsteps and shuffle marks led all the way to the gate and then beyond the gate into the factory.

The front doors were ajar enough for a couple dozen bodies to fit right through. "Oh god.." I mumbled, realizing the horde had in fact just come from the factory.

"What if.." I couldn't even finish my sentence since it had broken off, leaving a pit in my stomach. Calvin squeezed my hand and then let it go as we walked through the gates towards the factory, weapons at the ready.

We swept the perimeter before coming back around to the factory doors in the front. It was a really big factory and it took the two of us about five minutes to secure the outside before meeting back up.

"Anything?" I asked while holding my sickles loosely at my sides. Calvin shook his head, "All clear. The windows were tarred and gunky; I couldn't see much on the inside."

I nodded silently and saw how dark the inside of the factory was by poking my head in the door.

"You're staying here." I said firmly, grabbing the flashlight from his backpack and turning it on to make sure it worked.

He flushed red from his ears to his neck in anger, "The hell I am! I'm not standing out here. We're going in there together."

I chewed on my bottom lip and heaved a large, breathy sigh that rattled my chest cavity. I was still having trouble taking deep breaths.

I then coughed, coughed so much I bent down on one knee and had to drop my sickles.

The coughs wracked me and I knew I was red faced from the exertion. Calvin sat there silently with me before meeting my eyes once I looked up.

"That's why you're not going alone."

I nodded miserably, feeling desperate again for answers.

Where the hell was Daryl?

Calvin helped me to my feet again and he straightened his backpack, taking out his own knife. He watched as I gripped my sickles in my hands until my knuckles turned white.

"Vicki.." His words trailed off, never really finishing his sentence and I breathed in deeply as best I could to steady the anxiety.

Slowly, my hands loosened on the sickles so my knuckles weren't white anymore. Calvin seemed relieved, "Ready?" I nodded curtly in response.

We both walked into the factory and were met with a long hall that was dark, but the flashlight lit up the hall to reveal the corridor was littered with blueprints, paper and blood stained concrete floors.

The blood was old and I sighed in relief.

I noticed the floor was first concrete, but then it opened up to a type of black grating with small holes. The surface made clanking noises as we walked on it.

We pushed through the corridor until they got to a fork in the road that branched off to the left and the right.

To the right led to the actual working area with a bunch of equipment for the factory and a set of stairs that gave a good aerial view.

The windows filtered in a little bit of light in that area and I could see a little bit better. To the left was a dimly lit corridor that led to who the hell knew where.

"Where to first, kid?" I asked softly, keeping my head on swivel to inspect the area.

I hated being in a place like this. It was creepy to the max and the eerie feeling that loomed gave her goosebumps.

Not to mention, it all just screamed bad horror movie.

Calvin looked to the right and nodded, "Let's check this area that's better lit first. Then we can sweep the left."

I nodded wearily and he caught my  eye, "Scared of a spooky factory, Vicki?"

I shoved his shoulder lightly, "I've seen a lot of bad horror movies. So, yeah..I'm definitely rattled."

He smirked in response, clearly not as creeped out as she was and we walked together up the stairs, our boots clanking on the steel surface.

It was deathly silent in the place and the only thing we could hear was our own breathing.

The area we were in had large scaffolding and shelves full of items that were foreign to me. The shelves reached almost as high as the factory ceiling.

An old dolly and a bloody forklift were down at the bottom, along with papers, disassembled equipment that was long since rusted and there was even piping scattered on the floor.

A person in the forklift caught her eye, but their moans were a dead ringer for the undead.

We were up close to the rafters after ascending the stairs and the wrought iron surface we walked on shook a bit. I shined my light on everything so we could see every square inch of the place.

My legs quaked as we walked around, looking down at the bottom floor below us every so often.

Once we had searched every inch we back tracked, went down the stairs and then scoured the work area where so much had been left behind and forgotten.

Every so often I whispered Daryl's name, but no one ever answered back. The walker in the forklift, caught our attention again.

He made minimal noise and there was a large pipe protruding from his chest as he reached forward, hands and arms outstretched as if he were reaching for something. He was stuck in the seat and his eyes were glazed over.

Calvin climbed the forklift carefully and slid his knife in the side of the man's head, silencing the walker for good.

As he hopped down Calvin caught my saddened face in the light of the windows, "Hey, we'll keep looking..okay?"

I nodded numbly before following Calvin back to where we had been at the start. Now, we headed straight towards the left side of the factory.

This part opened up to different rooms such as bunks, a locker area and offices.

"We're in the bosses quarters now." Calvin muttered as we turned into an office that was littered with paper work, numerous awards and family photos were littered on the shelf behind his desk.

Some items had blood smears and I turned my nose up, "He's not the boss anymore." His lifeless form could be seen from behind the desk.

I inspected his body and saw the knife wound in his head. He was still clad in his boss attire; slacks and a button down with a fancy belt.

"Someone out him down a long time ago." I muttered more to myself than anything.

Calvin whistled lowly and nodded back towards the hallway. I quickly maneuvered out of the office and back to Calvin. It grew dark where we were at until we reached the locker room.

Finally we found a more well lit area. Some of the lockers were half opened, some closed and some looked dented.

Blood was smeared on a set of lockers to the right towards the corner of the room.

Fresh blood.

A moan farther to the right had me moving the flashlight towards the sound and the sickle in my right hand clattered to the ground, clanking loudly on the grates beneath our feet.

A walker munched on something in the corner, but what was next to the blood and guts had me blinded with rage, confusion and shock.

Daryl's bow.

Calvin stood stark still next to me in shock. Our bodies were frozen in place, rooted to the spot while watching the horror scene play out before us.

For me at least, time completely stopped. My ears started to ring, a telltale sign that a panic attack was happening.

No..Daryl. No, this can't be happening. No..Not Daryl..no way..

I quickly grabbed my sickle that had fallen and in a blinding rage I severed the walkers head with an anguished cry.

The head rolled towards Calvin's feet and he yelped, jumping back in surprise and in fear of my quick reflexes and scary outburst.

The head continued to moan, but stopped as Calvin bent down to stick his knife in the temple.

And then..just like that, Calvin was forgotten.

My eyes cast down to the guts that remained on the ground and the bow that lay carelessly as if it had been dropped.

Not an article of clothing was on the ground, but a boot was lying not to far from the bow and I felt my body collapse in a heap around the blood.

The flashlight rolled from my grasp and Calvin grabbed it quickly.

Daryl's boot.

"No, no..no..no..no..Dary's boot..no..no..no.."

I could only repeat this word over and over again to myself. My limbs felt numb, cold even. My head was about to explode from the pounding in my temples.

I realized I could hear my own heart beat frantically pumping away in shock and anguish. I wanted to curl in a ball..I wanted to die.

This wasn't happening. This was not happening.

The flashlight Calvin held illuminated the scene before me and I lost it.

Daryl's bow, his boot, the blood and guts on the ground that the walker had been munching on..it was all too much.

My eyes started to cascade a fountain of tears, my hiccupping coupled with my rattling breaths and then I couldn't see anything.

My tears flooded my vision and I covered my mouth with my hands, sobbing silently and feeling my heart break in a million pieces.

No, this wasn't breaking. It was having my heart wrenched from my chest and stomped on.

I hadn't been here for him. He had been trying to find medicine for me and he'd been killed. Because of me!

It was all my fault. None of this would have happened had I not gotten sick, had he not felt so damn set on saving me. I shouldn't have let him go. It was all my fault…

And now it was too late..Daryl was dead.