Making It Through

Escape

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead

Note: I don't know how old Sam is in the show, but in this story he's about 7-8

They weren't really sure what had happened. One minute everything was fine and the next there were screams coming from outside. Walkers. They had broken through one of the walls and were attacking the unsuspecting Alexandrians.

"Grab your stuff and anthin' you can use as a weapon," Rick instructed to the group who rushing through the house as Rick continued to bark orders. "Glenn, Maggie, Rosita, Eugene, Tara, and Carl, head to where they keep the vehicles. We're gonna need a truck, maybe two if we can. The rest of us will get guns and meet you there."

The group ran out of the house with their packs on and were met by the biggest herd they had ever seen. Carl took Judith before he took off with the others to find some cars while Rick, Daryl, Carol, Abraham, and Sasha ran towards the building where the guns were stored. Some of the men were already in there.

"If we can get up high we can start takin' 'em out before too many more get through!" Tobin said.

"It's too late!" Rick shouted over the screams and growls. "Alexandria's done. You gotta get out of here!"
"Can't! Gotta save the town!" Tobin ran out before Rick could say anything more. Rick shook his head and focused on grabbing many guns and as much ammo as he could.

"Time to go!" Abraham shouted as the walkers drew closer and they took off, heading towards where the cars, and the rest of the group, were.

The others were waiting in one of the trucks. Glenn and Maggie were in the front, the woman had Judith on her lap, while Carl, Eugene, Tara, and Rosita sat in the truck bed.

"Hold up!" Daryl shouted and Rick turned to see him running over to someone kneeling on the ground. It was Aaron. He was leaning over Eric who, even at this distance, Rick could see had a large bite on his shoulder.

"No, no, no," Aaron said miserably, tears running down his face.

"Aaron, we gotta go," Daryl said, "Can't do anythin' for him, we gotta go."

"No!" Aaron shook his head as Daryl reached down and grabbed his arm, hating himself as he did so.

"Go," Eric choked out, "You have to go."

"I can't leave you here," Aaron said miserably, but Eric just smiled at him.

"You have to," he said, "Go with Daryl. Survive. You'll be fine."

Aaron sobbed harder. "I love you."

"I love you too," Eric said and then looked at Daryl. "Now go."

Aaron let Daryl pull him away. The hunter ran, dragging Aaron with him as he and the others jumped into the truck.

"Let's go!" Rick shouted and Glenn pressed his foot o the gas. The group stayed huddled in the middle as Glenn tore his way through the walkers, they shot any that came to close or got in the way. They were close to the exit when they heard a scream and Carl jumped out of the truck.

"Carl!" Rick shouted after his son and Glenn slammed on the breaks. Rick made to go after the boy, but Daryl stopped him.

"I got him! Go! Get out of here!" he shouted.

"We aren't leaving you here," Carol protested.

"I'll get Carl an' meet ya out there! Now go!" Daryl said, looking at Glenn. The other man nodded and as soon as Daryl hopped out of the truck he took off again. Daryl ran after Carl. The boy was taking down walkers, alongside that girl, Enid.

"C'mon, we gotta go!" Daryl shouted and the two teenagers followed him.

"Where are we going?" Carl asked.

"We ain't gettin' through on foot," Daryl said, running in the direction of what had been Aaron and Eric's house. They were almost there when-

"Mommy!"

Daryl looked around and saw Sam standing there, crying as a walker bit into his mother.

"Sam, run!" she screamed, but the boy didn't move. Seemingly too shocked.

"Keep runnin'!" Daryl shouted at the teenagers, "Get ta Aaron an' Eric's house!" They nodded and took off as Daryl ran over and grabbed Sam. Daryl lifted the boy into his arms and glanced at Jessie.

"Thank you," she rasped before Daryl took off with the boy. Sam had his face pressed into Daryl's neck as he cried.

"What are we doing here?" Enid asked. Daryl ignored her and opened the garage door.

"Get on," he said, walking over and sitting on the motorcycle, sitting Sam in front of him.

"We won't all fit," Enid protested. Daryl looked at the herd of walkers that had started to move in their direction.

"We don't got a choice. Get on."

Enid and Carl climbed on and Daryl took off at full speed, swerving in and out of walkers.

"Come on, come on," Daryl said, urging the bike to go a little faster. They were almost entirely surrounded, walkers reaching their arms out to grab them when Daryl finally broke through and made it out the gate. He kept driving, turning down various roads and making sure he lost any walkers that tried to follow before finding the rest of the group.

"Where are we going?' Carl shouted over the roar of the bike.

"Up if we can!" Daryl shouted back, "That's where the others will be!"

"How do you know?" Enid called.

"Just do!" he said. That was the plan if they ever got separated like this. Find a landmark or a high place that would make it harder for the walkers to climb up and reach them. Of course, that had been the plan in Georgia. This was Washington, there weren't a whole lot of mountains around here.

Daryl drove and drove until they finally found a path leading up into the forest. He stopped for a moment.

"Tire tracks!" he said, "They're fresh!" He looked around, they were right by the water tower they had seen before. There's their landmark.

"How far do you think they went?" Carl asked.

"Far as they could," Daryl replied, "Ain't a lotta mountains round here so they would've looked fer as much cover as they could get."

They took off again, not stopping until Daryl noticed headlights flashing off to the side in the trees. Daryl stopped the bike and climbed off.

"Wait a minute," he said to the kids as he took a few steps forward. "Rick?"

"Daryl." The relief was evident in Rick's voice as he broke through the trees. "Carl!"

Carl ran forward and hugged his dad tightly.

"I'm sorry," Carl said quietly, "I had to help her."

Rick looked over at Enid and smiled slightly, nodding in understanding. He then turned his gaze on Sam.

"His mom got bit," Daryl murmured to him, "Couldn't leave him there."

"What about his dad and brother?" Maggie asked, passing Judith to Carl. Daryl shrugged.

"Sam, do you know where your dad and brother are?" Rick asked gently.

"They got them too," Sam said, "Me and mom were running, but then she got bit." He started crying again. "What's going to happen to me now?"

"Well, you'll stay with us now," Rick told him simply.

"Won't I be in the way?" Sam asked quietly.

"Why would you be in the way?" Maggie asked.

"My dad always said I was in the way," Sam shrugged and Rick glanced over his shoulder at Carol.

"You won't be in the way Sam," he said, "Not with us. Now, why don't you go see Carol and she'll give ya something to eat, okay?"

The boy nodded and walked over to the woman.

"What do we do now?" Glenn asked and Rick took a deep breath. He had known this was coming for a while. But now it was here, they were back outside, Rick wished he had been wrong.

"We'll figure it out," Rick said, "Once the kids go to sleep, we'll talk."

An hour later, Carl, Judith, Enid, and Sam were sleeping in the back of the truck.

"So what do we do?" Carol asked.

"We keep moving," Eugene said immediately, "Find somewhere else to stay."

"Not yet," Daryl said, "We should stay here. Go back ta Alexandria in a couple days and see what's left. Guns, food, it'll all still be there. Maybe even another car."

Rick nodded slowly and they all knew Daryl was right.

"Alright," Rick said, "Give it a couple days and then we'll do that. For now, everyone get some sleep."

"I'll take first watch," Daryl said, walking over to a tree and leaning against it as the others settled in for the night.

WALKINGDEADWALKINGDEADWALKINGDEADWALKINGDEAD

Carol woke suddenly. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep, but determined it hadn't been too long as Daryl was still on watch. She wasn't too sure what had woken her until she saw Sam climb out of the truck and slowly walk into the forest.

Daryl made to stand, but Carol was already on her feet. She met his eyes and nodded before following after the boy.

"Sam."

They boy stopped and turned to her, his eyes wide with... was that fear?

"Where are you going Sam?" Carol asked and the boy shrugged.

"Are you gonna tie me to a tree?" he asked.

"No Sam, I'm not," she said, walking over and kneeling in front of him, "And I probably owe you an apology for that. I had to make sure you didn't tell anyone about the guns and I didn't know how else to do that. I'm sorry I scared you."

"It's okay," Sam shrugged.

"You want to tell me where you were going?" Carol asked.

"I dunno," he said, "I don't want to be in the way."

"Sam, we already told you, you're not in the way," she said, resting a hand on his shoulder. She didn't miss the way the boy flinched slightly, "Whatever your dad said and whatever he did... He was wrong. You are not in the way, you could never be in the way. What your dad did to your mom and to you was wrong and it wasn't your fault."

"How do you know?" Sam asked.

Carol hesitated for a moment. "Because my husband was the same. He used to hurt me and he always tried to hurt my daughter. He was wrong and so was your dad."

"Is he dead?"

"Yes, he was bitten years ago," Carol replied.

"What about your daughter?"

"I lost her too," Carol said sadly, "Same with two little girls I adopted..."

"Is that why you don't like me?" Sam asked, "Cause you lost your other kids?"

"I do like you Sam," Carol said.

"Then could you adopt me?" he asked hopefully, "Or, half adopt me? I won't call you mom or anything, just... I feel safe when you're around."

"I threatened you," Carol pointed out.

"But you never hit me."

Carol felt her heart break and she pulled him into a hug.

"I can't make any promises," she said, "But I'll do my best to keep you safe. In the future, we'll see, okay? But for now, you've got a whole group of people who care about you and will look after you, okay?"

Sam nodded.

"Now, let's head back. It's late and it's not safe to be out here alone." Carol took his hand and they walked back to camp. Carol kissed the boy's forehead before Sam climbed back into the truck. She looked over and noticed Daryl staring at her, smirking. She looked down at her feet for a moment before walking over.

"He okay?" Daryl asked.

"He will be," Carol replied, "He's been through a lot."

"Good thing he has you lookin' out for him," Daryl said, "With all that bad shit, kid deserves ta be happy."

"He's not the only one," Carol said, looking pointedly at the man lying next to where Daryl sat. At some point after she'd fallen asleep, Aaron had apparently moved from the spot he'd originally lied in and moved to lie next to Daryl. He had his hand resting on Daryl's leg and Carol smirked when Daryl started blushing slightly.

"Yeah, well..." he said with a shrug, "Him an' Eric were good people. Eric didn't deserve ta be bit an' Aaron didn't deserve ta lose him."

"You lost him too," Carol said quietly and he looked up at her in surprise. "The others may not have seen it, but I did. You were over there more often than not, sometimes even spent the night there. I told you before Daryl, I know you."

"Ya don't care?" Daryl asked and she smiled at him.

"You're happy for the first time in months. I saw you actually smile when you were with them," Carol said, "That's what I care about."

He smiled slightly and ducked his head, feeling his cheeks grow warm. She brushed some of his hair back and he looked up.

"If you ever need to talk..." she said and he nodded.

"Same goes for ye," he replied, "Things ain't gonna be easy, but if ya need anythin'..." He trailed off and she smiled. No, things wouldn't be easy, but they were a family, a bit of a larger family now, and they'd make it through.

I haven't read all the comics yet, but I know some of what happens and decided to play off what little info I have about the comics and my own ideas.

I love the friendship (and relationship in the fanfic universe) between Daryl/Aaron/Eric. I also love the friendship (if it can be called that) between Carol and Sam and I'm interested to see where the writers of the show are going with that now that we know more about Sam's dad.

There will be a part two to this story coming soon!

Thanks so much for reading and let me know what you think!