Daughter of a Dixon ✔️

52: Starving, Thirsty, and Tired

When Rick and his team finally arrived back at the church, light was beginning to shine down upon the world. Rick and Dad buried Tyreese next to Beth, and we held a combined funeral for the two of them.

Shortly after that, though, a large herd of walkers approached the church; too many for us to fight off alone. We were forced to hit the road once again, piling into three cars. We decided to continue to head for Washington D.C., even though Abraham was the one to inform us that Eugene wasn't even a scientist. He had lied in order to get protection. He was a coward.

But, Abraham was still right in his assumption that, if there was any government left running, it would be in D.C., making it our next best option.

As we were driving, I was in the van with Rick, Dad, Carl, Alex, and Lea. We were following Abraham, Rosita, Ben, and Eugene in their truck, considering they were the people who came up with the idea to go to D.C.

It wasn't long, though, before all our cars began to slowly run out of gas. First was Glenn's car, then Abraham's truck, and then our van. We were deserted, in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely no means of transportation whatsoever.

So, in a desperate attempt to get to D.C., we resorted to walking.

We walked. And we walked. And we walked.

It really is true that you don't realize how much you desperately need something until you notice it's gone. And for our group, that "something" was water.

We were in a severe drought; every creek, every stream, every puddle was dried up completely. The carcasses of frogs and even some river fish could be seen in creek beds, dead and dried up like prunes. There was no water anywhere except for the drops we had left in our bottles, which were disappearing faster than we could replace.

We were also practically starving. I, myself, hadn't eaten in days, considering I had been unconscious at the hospital for a day and a half, and before then I hadn't eaten since the morning of the day prior to that one. So, in short, I hadn't eaten in about four days.

With the hot, Georgia sun beating down on us as we walked, I'm not ashamed to admit I was close to passing out on a few occasions. I would have to stop walking, and place a hand on my forehead to block out the sun for a moment. Within a minute or two, the light-headed, dizzy feeling would disappear, and I would continue to walk.

I didn't tell anyone about my dizzy spells, though, because I figured we were all starving, thirsty, and tired, and I wasn't any worse off than the rest of us.

As I was walking beside Carl, him holding Judith in his arms, I noticed that there was a herd of walkers trailing us from far behind. We were just letting them follow us like flesh-eating robots, with no other priority in their minds except to eat.

I understood why we weren't taking care of them, though; we were all just too tired to bother with it.

Then, with Carl beside me, another onslaught of dizziness washed over me, that one greater than the previous spells. I stumbled forward a step before stopping, catching myself before I could fall to my knees.

"Hey, you okay?" Carl had asked, stopping beside me.

I gave him a weak nod, clutching my head and screwing my eyes shut. "Just... need a minute," I uttered in an attempt at reassurance.

"No... what you need is water, and shade," he told me, sounding unconvinced.

"No, I'm-I'm okay, really," I told him, opening my eyes. "Already feeling better."

I turned and looked over at him, and saw the disbelieving look he was giving me. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Just got a little dizzy, that's all. It happens."

"Not when you're in good health, it doesn't," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, we're all in need of a nice milkshake and a five-course meal, so there really isn't much we can do about that," I told him, laughing to myself.

He cracked a small smile, but then furrowed his eyebrows at me a moment later. He shifted his grip on Judith so he was supporting her with one hand, and reached over with his free one to touch my forehead. I was confused by his action, but it was a quick one, so I didn't really have an opportunity to stop him.

"You're not even sweating anymore, Sidney, that's bad. Means you're really dehydrated," he said, worry overtaking his voice.

"Carl, I'm fine, okay?" I said, not seeing what the big deal was.

"Yeah, keep on lying to yourself, see where that gets you," he said before beginning to walk away.

"Where're you goin'?" I asked, not bothering to follow him.

He didn't answer me, but by what he'd said I had a pretty good idea. I watched, mentally face-palming myself, as he walked up to Dad. A moment later, he handed Carl a water bottle, and Dad nodded before Carl turned and walked back to me.

I shook my head at him disgracefully as he walked back over, extending the bottle to me. "Your stubbornness isn't one of the cute things about you, Sidney. Now, drink up."

His comment startled me, almost making me grin, but I quickly stopped myself, and just shook my head. "You need it too; you drink first, then I will."

"Sidney, I-..."

"'Aye," I heard Dad call from the other side of the road. I looked over, and saw him looking at me with a stern expression. "Drink it."

"Dad, I'm-..."

"Drink it," he said, pointing at me.

"Oka-..."

"Drink it!"

"I was gonna say o-...!"

"Drink the damn water!"

"I'm gonn-..!"

I stopped myself when I saw him about to interrupt me again, and just gave in. I tilted the bottle up, and drained what was left of it in one go. I looked over to Dad once finished, and saw him nod at me.

"Good girl."

I threw my hands up in the air incredulously. "What am I, a dog?"

"Nah, but you sure as hell are as stubborn as one," Dad retorted, and Carl snickered. I gave him a death glare, and he immediately bit his lip.

"C'mon, we gotta keep movin'," Dad said, the smallest hint of a smirk on his face.

And so, we did. We kept on walking. And walking. And walking.