You've done everything to stay awake and focused. You were sure you're dehydrated and almost powerless, but you would have resisted. None of you felt really well... Every stream, pond or puddle you crossed was impure. Besides, it hadn't rained for days. The air was dry, very dry... The sun was heating you with these annoying hot rays. You didn't do anything except to walk or run. Rick didn't want to give up, but the situation was more than critical. Every time you raised your nose you hoped to see some gray clouds, but to your misfortune the sky was always clear and immaculate blue. Sasha flanked you and you thought she wanted to psychoanalyze you. What happened to you as she passed by completely proved you right and confirmed your thesis.

"Don't try it.", she said abruptly as you passed her.

You smiled at her, although you were out of breath. "You can come to me if you want."

Sasha remained speechless, but immediately frowned again. Rick stopped by now and looked around.

"Two of us go along there and two others there.", he said, gesturing left and right to let us hunt: "We others take care of the walkers."

The order was clear and concise, but you were all tired and sweaty. You looked at each other as if you wanted to understand who really had the power to go into the vegetation and hunt. Since you didn't feel like killing more walkers, you suggested yourself. Daryl and Carol went to the right.

"I'll go with you.", Eugene mumbled.

It could have been worse, you thought... He had been an asshole, but at least it was funny, maybe it would have given you a few relieving minutes.

"No.", said Abraham.: "I'll go."

Rosita began to reply, but then she shook her head. Abraham didn't trust the wrong scientist anymore, partly understandable. Anyway, you followed him. His gait was very unsteady and characterized by uncoordinated movements. He almost only had alcohol in the bloodstream and that didn't bode well. You stayed a good distance away from him, avoiding phrases or words that could annoy him. Although you were tired, you tried to make as little noise as possible and examined the area in search of possible tracks. Then Abraham saw a squirrel which, however, escaped him again.

"Damn shit!", he mumbled and threw himself to the ground.

"Abraham...", you said, like an exhausted mother watching her son have a fit of temper.

"Leave me here and go away!", he ordered, throwing the bottle away. "It's over."

You were sitting in front of him with exhaustion. "The whiskey? Yes. The world? Almost.", you replied.

"No, that's the end.", he murmured: "And so do we."

You had to lighten the atmosphere, maybe tease him a bit. "I really didn't expect that from you."

"What do you mean?", he has objected to challenge you.

"I thought you were a man of pride and courage, instead you play the victim, the whiny child, which makes the situation bizarre.", you said and got up suddenly, although you risked falling backwards due to the effort.

Instead, he leaned forward and thought he was about punching you, but his movements were slow, as you had expected.

"Look at you, you don't even have the strength to beat me!"

Then he looked at you with a different expression, removed his anger, and made room for rationality.

"I'm not as strong as you think, I've already lost my wife and my child."

"And do you want to lose Rosita, too?"

"No.", he replied weakly: "That I am here now, is thanks to her."

"Fine.", you smiled: "So don't be an asshole and get up."

And he did it... After another useless and futile search minutes, you decided to go back. Since you hadn't heard a shot, you were sure that they had gotten rid of these few walkers without much trouble, despite the general exhaustion. When you met again, you were disappointed that even Daryl and Carol had returned unsuccessfully. The discomfort was palpable... Rick gestured you all meanwhile to go. You continued nonstop for several hours and Daryl suddenly stopped. He looked at you as if he felt responsible.

"Ain't givin' up.", he said: "I'm goin' to hunt."

He set off without waiting for Rick's opinion, though he knew how much he loved having the situation under control.

"Stay in the area!", the sheriff warned.

Daryl disappeared into nature, you resumed your journey and occasionally glanced at the clearing in the hope that the archer would appear with a good prey. But time passed and your mouth became drier. You turned around and noticed how slowly you moved forward. Some walkers followed you and moved faster. They would have reached you in a few minutes. But it was the beginning of hunger and hardship. You had to find a solution. Anyway, you hurried to warn them of the impending danger. You positioned yourselves in parallel in two rows and distanced yourselves from what was sufficient to control the 'cleaning'. One by one, the walkers appeared and stumbled toward one of you. Holding your knife, you concentrated on the fluid movement of the living dead in front of you. As soon as it was close enough, you put the knife directly in the forehead. But it stuck in the skull, as soft as it was. You couldn't extract it anymore. You didn't have the strength. And so you helped yourself with one foot, kicked the decayed breast and the blade slid out again. Sasha suddenly left her assigned position and threw herself in anger at the walkers. You broke through the lines and flanked them to contain the sprawling herd. Until one of these, now dead walker, finally fell on you. Your legs were shaking, but unable to hold the weight, you fell to the ground. The hit on the tarmac was painful, but you didn't have time to complain, as other walkers attacked you immediately. You saw their faces multiply and darken the white sky. You tried to push away their jaws by holding them with one hand, and put your other hand and the knife in it. They lunged at you one by one, limiting your movements more and more. All you could tell was how Tara and Abraham tried to thin them out.

"Y/N!", Michonne screamed.

Your group was forced to shoot. You heard the bullets piercing the living dead and the distinct sound of their bodies falling to the ground. Eugene and Rosita took the bodies off of you and tried to lighten the weight so you could free yourself. Rick came up behind you, grabbed your arms and pulled you out of the pile. Sam crouched down and examined you for scratches or bites.

"Are you okay?", the sheriff asked gasping: "Were you bitten?"

You were sure that he would soon have a heart attack. Carl looked at you and held the baby in his arms. Abraham threw himself on Sasha and began to yell at her.

"What's your fucking problem?"

She was breathing heavily, a mixture of fatigue and panic attacks, but she did not answer.

"She's okay.", Sam said, making it clear you weren't bitten or scratched.

When you got up, you hesitated a bit, but luckily you managed to find your balance. But actually, you felt very weak, your head hurt and gave you a feeling of dizziness, perhaps because of the impact.

"You're putting everyone at risk, Abraham is right.", Rick said hoarsely, talking to Sasha, who didn't answer again, then you looked around worried.

"What about Daryl? It's strange that he didn't show up when the shots were fired..."

Michonne and Glenn hurried to the street and entered the forest. You looked at Rick and waited for his approval. As soon as he caught your attention and lowered his head and nodded, you forced yourself and went in search of the archer. Your head turned, but at the same time you heard a small voice asking you to look for this man, like an alarm bell. You could hardly imagine that he was in danger, but you were still scared that he wanted to do his own shit. He was able to hide his physical discomfort very well, so he probably fainted somewhere. In the dry and crushed ground, which was decorated by these lines and thin columns, you distinguished those that were due to his footprints. Following the footsteps in that direction, clinging to a branch and creeping by the sight of walkers, you caught sight of his figure in the distance. He seemed healthy. You put your hands on your hips, gasping for air and saw the earth staggering. Daryl turned around as you stepped on a branch, it broke and then he aimed at you with his loaded crossbow until he recognized you.

"It's me!", you announced and he lowered the weapon.

"The hell happened to ya'?", he asked without moving and looked at your bloody clothes: "What 'bout the others?"

You shrugged your shoulders. "They're fine, we just had some problems with walkers..."

"Well then.", he answered monotonously.

"Daryl-...", you started and moved forward.

"Stop!", he suddenly ordered, interrupting you and showing you his palm: "Can't ya' hear it?", he whispered, looking around.

"What's wrong?", you asked innocently and he looked at you.

"Stay quiet.", he whispered, cowering down.

At that moment, you noticed something strange on the surface, as if the leaves and the earth had been added at a later date. You focused on sounds in the area and heard the distinct complaints of a group of walkers. But there was nothing around you... It was as strange as coming from below. As soon as you understood, you glanced at Daryl and noticed that he had the same intuition. You started to speak, but you saw his expression change as if he saw something behind you. He stretched out his arms and called for someone to stop. Time slowed in your eyes... You then saw Sam come to you and the ground collapsed at his feet. His hand, which reached you, grabbed you and you fell with him into this huge pit. Shortly after, you felt a sharp pain and you looked at your hand. Your wrist was dislocated. Sam screamed and tried to tug at you... Gradually, everything returned in a natural way, so even the sounds to you normal again penetrated. You lay on the ground and around us the living dead. Then I looked up at the sky, aware that this was the last day you were living. Your moment has arrived...