Chasing Amy (Daryl Dixon/The Walking Dead)

Chapter 25 - Belonging

The truck was warm and quiet, two things I had yearned for after sleeping in the barn for the week or two I had spent in the farm. The pick-up rolled along the road, the faint rocking was enough to lull me to sleep after just ten minutes of being inside.

It was honestly the best sleep I'd had in a long time. I was pressed against the passenger seat door, my body curled against it in a ball so I wasn't in Carol's space. T-Dog and Carol didn't say too much to each other, the both of them silently watching through the windshield as we followed Rick and Lori in the SUV.

By the time I did wake up, the sky was dark and the truck had lost its warmth.

I shivered from the frosty air, my eyes still closed as I pulled my limbs closer to my body in an attempt to keep warm. I didn't want to open my eyes, and I didn't want to get up.

There was no sound in the truck, not even the faint sound of the engine that I'd been listening to for the time I was asleep. I slowly blinked my eyes open, before away rubbing the blur.

I needed that sleep.

There was nobody else in the car with me, I was completely alone. They must have found somewhere to set up camp for the night.

I pulled myself into a sitting position, instead of the uncomfortable slouched position I had been sleeping in.

There was a faint orange light outside, lighting the faces of the group that were all sitting around a dying fire. It looked miserable out there, some people were privately whispering to each other, others staring dramatically into the embers.

From where I sat inside the truck, I could hear the loud crack of a twig snapping, and the rustle of leaves.

I immediately jumped up, almost hitting my head on the roof. To say I was on edge would have been an understatement, after sitting alone in the dark for so long.

The shock was enough to send me out of the car door, and racing to the camp. I didn't care what they thought about me, I was not sitting alone in a flimsy car after what I'd seen at the barn.

"It came from over there." Maggie's voice was the first I heard as I neared them.

I pushed past a large stone wall, one that had been closing off the camp from the surrounding forest. They had set up a small fire inside what looked to be the ruins of an old house, the crumbled stone walls proving protection if any roamers decided to stop by.

Everyone was looking my way and instantly pulled out weapons, mistaking me for a roamer.

"Sorry!" I squeaked, putting my hands up in a panicked surrender.

"Did you make that noise?" Glenn asked quickly, lowering his shotgun.

"No. I heard it too." I rubbed at the rising goose bumps on my arms, which seemed to have developed after running into the chilly night air.

"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark." Rick emerged from the shadows, after standing out by another wall. He seemed a lot darker than usual, his voice was cold and unattached, but he still assumed the "leader" role. "We don't have the vehicles. No one's travelling on foot."

"Don't panic," Hershel agreed, extending his arms to a tense Beth.

"I'm not... I'm not sitting here waiting for another herd to blow through." Maggie insisted, "We need to move, now."

"No one is going anywhere," Rick growled. The look on his face surprised even Maggie, who stared back, wide-eyed.

Had I missed something? I wasn't aware of Rick's sudden aggressive attitude, and if I was, I definitely would have stayed in the car.