❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter nineteen ―― graveyard

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE GRIPPED THE SIDES of Daryl's leather vest as they made their way down the road on his motorcycle – technically it was Merle's, but neither had really mentioned him since they left the city. They were leading the group down a deserted road, the only cars they still had were the rv, Carol's Cherokee, Mason's black Chevy, and the motorcycle – they were trying to cut back on gas usage. Charlie had been wanting to ride with Daryl more times than not and he didn't mind all that much.

He leaned back a little, letting his left arm drop from the handlebars and rest against her leg for a moment. He'd done it a few times and she assumed it was because it was uncomfortable to keep his arms up that high for so long. Usually, they were quiet, but he turned his Head a little, keeping his eyes on the road as he spoke. "Why'd you wanna ride with me?" He asked, over the sound of the motor and the winding rushing by.

"I'm avoiding Shane." She told him, her hands tightening around his vest.

"Why?"

"Maybe later." She told him, not really wanting to get into the whole situation with Shane – she had been avoiding him since they left the C.D.C. "Then there's Josh."

"Why you avoiding your boyfriend?"

"We had sex, he's not my boyfriend." She huffed, she knew he had heard her tell Mason that day in the cafeteria so she saw no reason to beat around the bush. "You know, I like riding with you because you don't usually ask questions."

"Sorry, princess." He smirked to himself as he patted her calf and she rolled her eyes as they fell back into a comfortable silence and he moved his hand back to the handle bars. She let her eyes fall closed as she took a breath, letting the sun warm her cheeks that were getting slightly chapped by the wind but she didn't mind. She liked the air and since nearly being locked in and killed, she preferred the open space to a car.

They neared what looked to be a pile up – cars were lined up as far as the eye could see, a big rig had been knocked over and it looked like most cars had been abandoned. He slowed down a little bit and weaved through the cars as she wrapped her arms around his waist as she looked around. She held onto him a little tighter when he turned and made his way back through the cars to the rv. He slowed to a stop and the both looked up at Dale.

"See a way through?" He asked and Daryl nodded his head before he drove around the rv, cutting in front of the truck Mason and Josh were in before he made his way back to the front to lead Dale through the mess of cars.

"She's avoiding me." Josh huffed as he looked away from the girl that clung to Daryl to the boy that sat in the truck next to him.

"She just needed some air." Mason told him as he slowly followed behind the yellow car that Rick was driving as they weaved through the cars.

"No, she was avoiding me at the C.D.C, too."

"Give her time." Was all Mason told him, the last thing he wanted was to get put in the middle of whatever was going on with Josh and Charlie.

"This place gives me the creeps." Charlie muttered, mostly to herself and she loosened her grip on Daryl as they passed a car that had a dead body in it. Then she jumped a little, a gasp leaving her lips and she squeezed him again, when a sound echoed behind her and Daryl chuckled slightly then she heard squealing and she turned to see smoke coming from the rv and she patted Daryl's side, making him stop.

He let the kickstand out and Charlie slid off the back as he leaned the bike over and climbed off himself, looking over at the girl as she stretched – her arms above her head to the point her shirt had ridden up a little. "You good?"

"Yeah, my ass is numb though." She muttered and he chuckled, shaking his head as he made his way over towards the others as they stood near the rv. "Stop laughing at me, asshole." She huffed as she caught up to him and shoved him forwards. He chuckled as he stumbled a little but he found his balance then he rounded a car that had the back windshield open and he started digging through it.

"If you can't find a radiator hose here. . ." Shane trailed off.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl stated, still digging through the car.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T-Dog added.

"Maybe some water." Carol put in.

"Or food." Mason nodded.

"Oh, hell yes." Charlie mumbled, mostly to herself. "Mase, throw me my bag."

"Got it." He made his way back to the truck and grabbed the bag before tossing it to the girl and she grinned as she turned, scanning the cars to see which one she wanted to start with.

"This is a graveyard." Lori stated and they all turned to her. "I don't know how I feel about this."

"Sorry, Lor." Charlie gave her a sad smile. "But we gotta do what we gotta do." She added, slinging her bag over her shoulder before she walked away, humming to herself as she went. She kept walking until she came to a blue SUV, the doors were opened and it was clear of dead bodies. She peaked in and looked around, smiling when she found a few unopened bottles of water. She grabbed them before dropping them into her bag. She lifted herself into the car and checked the glovebox, she closed it when she didn't find anything. Then she checked the floorboard before hopping down to check the backseat. She found a bag of Cheetos, a box of fruit gummies, and a small pocket knife that had been tucked in between the seats. She added the food to her bag and shoved the knife into the pocket of the shorts she wore.

She looked over the back seat and her eyebrows pinched when she found a blanket. She reached over and tossed it back to find nothing, she let out a sigh but she picked up the blanket and jumped out before making her way to the next car.

"Why are you avoiding me?" She turned, her knife raised but she relaxed when she saw that it was Josh.

"Don't sneak up on me." She huffed before climbing into the bed of a white pickup truck, she moved the trap to see a tool box and she heaved it open and smiled at the stash of guns, hunting knives and ammo. "Thank God for rednecks." She chuckled to herself as she squatted down to check the guns.

"Whatever." Josh mumbled before he made his way to a different car to see what he could find. She picked up one of the larger knives and chuckled to herself.

"That's not a knife, that's is a knife." She mumbled in her best Australian accent, laughing at herself as she ran her finger along the edge to see how sharp it was. "Hey, Josh, wanna give me-" she turned, looking for the boy but he was already gone. She shrugged and turned back to the tool box, the large knife in hand.

Then Rick ran over, lightly hitting the truck to get attention. "Get down." He whispered and her eyebrows pinched. "Don't argue." He told her before running off to find his wife and kid. Charlie stood up and turned to see a hoard of walkers coming for them so she dropped to bed of the truck and pulled the tarp over her body and she laid still, the big knife discarded at her side. She hated that she couldn't see the others, especially Mason, Shane, and even Daryl – she knew they could hold their own, but still, she was worried.

Charlie held her breath as she listened to the moans of the dead stumbling by, she flinched when one hit the side of the truck she was in but she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes closed. Another one hit the truck and she flinched again, though none seemed to notice that she was there and she was grateful for that.

She hated being in the dark and she hated so much more that she didn't know where the others were. She felt like she was trapped, it got harder to breathe with each passing second no matter how hard she tried to push it away. She took a slow breath, in through her nose and out through her mouth, but her breath shook the tarp a little and it made a noise, she held her breath and waited for the walkers to find her but it never happened. She turned her head to the side and let out breath towards the inside of the bed and not the trap so she didn't make any more noise.

Mason was laying in the backseat of a car, the windows were up and the doors closed, but he had pulled a sleeping bag he had found over him. He fought the urge to jump out of the car, swinging the crowbar he had found, so he could find Charlie and he was sure that she was safe but he knew that was stupid and that she would most likely kill him if he risked his life like that.

Josh was under a small Toyota, a gun by his hand and he watched the feet of the walkers as they went by. He had started counting but he quickly lost count as more and more stumbled past him. He hated himself for leaving Charlie the way he did and he hoped that she was okay, because he knew it would be his fault if she wasn't. He had walked away, he had left her alone in that truck. His mind was racing, what if no one told her, what if she was still there on that truck trying to get away from walkers but she had nowhere to go.

NOVA SPEAKS !

I'M BACK!!!  dude, it's been forever, but i'm
finally back and i am so excited for act two!!

i know it's been a while. i took some time to
think and really work on myself and now i'm
in a much better place and i'm so happy to be
writing again!!

i know that it's wednesday,
but updates will be every tuesday!

i would like to thank all of you for being
so patient with me. i really appreciate it
and I hope you're all as excited about this
as i am!!