Chasing Amy (Daryl Dixon/The Walking Dead)

Chapter 49 - Theodore Douglas

I couldn't bear to have my hands any closer to my body than at arm's length. The bodies stunk like nothing I could ever describe...

But as I bent down to grab the arms of a roamer, my nose purposely withheld from taking in any oxygen, and at the same time my mouth refused to breathe in the smell. It meant I was constantly tugging at roamers whilst holding in breaths, and it meant that the job was a lot more exhausting than I originally thought.

Carol was especially happy today, and it came off in her smile, and the way she didn't seem to really mind having to pick up bodies, despite her odd complaints that we all generally agreed with. Maggie was quiet, but I figured that was because she was either tired or she just wanted to be inside with Hershel.

Either way, everyone seemed quite content as we cleared the field.

We weren't working for long, maybe around twenty minutes, when the door of the cellblock opened. I dropped the arm of the roamer I was preparing to slide along to the heap of bodies.

Out stepped Lori first, her head turned in our direction as I stood to my full height. She edged down the steps, before turning back to face the door. The next moment brought a smile to my lips, as Hershel moved from the door on his crutches, Beth helping him from behind.

T-Dog stopped by my side, brushing the sweat from his forehead with the crook of his elbow.

"Is that Hershel?" He asked suddenly, even though we both knew the answer.

"Maggie!" I called, turning back to face where Carol and the woman were both looking down at a particularly large male body. "He's up!"

Instantly, she smiled. And it was a beautiful smile, her teeth flashing, her cheeks reddening, her whole face brightening as she jogged to where we stood.

"Dad!" She shouted, calling his attention as she slowed to a stop beside T-Dog.

Hershel turned in his crutches, the sound of it echoing through the courtyard. He didn't move towards us, and rather Maggie made her way towards him. She held her arms out as she moved, before wrapping them around his neck in a quick hug.

"You cleared all those bodies out?" Hershel asked slowly, a sense of life in his voice that everyone assumed would never be there again, after his near-death experience. "It's starting to look like a place we could really live in."

I looked across to the huge pile of corpses, a slow shiver creeping down my spine as I remembered the effort it took to get them there.

This place had better be the greatest "place we could really live in" ever.

Beth and Maggie stood beside him as he moved forwards on his crutches, to where the main gate was situated.

"Hey, you watch your step. Last thing we need is you falling," Lori said softly.

"Hell, that man could get run over by a tank and still come out of it alive and strong." T-Dog said quietly to Carol and me. Sweat was still dribbling down his forehead but his smile was sincere and kind.

I laughed, as Carol looked from Hershel to us again, before laughing too.

We watched as the small group moved forwards, but withheld our oown little conversation as they moved out of earshot.

"You sleep well?" T-Dog asked quietly to the both of us.

"Same as always, I guess." Carol sighed.

"I slept okay," I added. "You?"

"Not too great..." T-Dog watched the group still, "Think that after all this lifting I'm gonna sleep like a log."

"It's going to be great, T, just you wait..." I looked around the area, my eyes squinting under the light. "Is that--?"