Day's End

Broken Compasses

"Shit," Sidney muttered to themselves, watching helplessly onward as their poorly aimed arrow scared off the target doe. She bounded out of the small clearing and disappeared in between the tightly woven trees of the woodland. Sidney stepped out of their wildflower and brush hiding place, picked up the arrow, and slid it into the backpack they wore. The grass was still dewy from the rain that had fallen just a few hours ago, and the saturation leaked into their old and terribly torn shoes. A cold gust swept through the clearing, rustling the trees' branches as the grass swayed with the slow movement. Sidney shivered and adjusted their over-sized hoodie, and the warmth flushed against their skin anew. 
        They began meandering in the direction that the deer had run in. They weren't in any rush, and they certainly didn't want to waste the rarity that was this peaceful trek. Azalia had given both Regan and Sidney walkie-talkies that Lafayette had fixed for them, so, if Regan ran into trouble while he was hunting, Sidney would know. They breathed deeply in and smiled; the smell of petrichor and the feel of the smooth, cold air filled their lungs. Regan's staticky voice broke the serene silence, "Hey, Sidney. You have the bag that Azalia lets us borrow, right?"
They grabbed the walkie-talkie from the side pocket of the backpack, pressed down on the button, and spoke, "Yeah, I do. Why? Do you need something?" They released the tab.
"I'm fine, but I did catch something in the traps." 
"I hope it wasn't Lafayette again," Sidney feigned concern. 
They heard Regan's chuckles when he responded, "No, no, it's just a rabbit and a squirrel. Did you find anything?" 
Sidney froze and crouched. 
"Sidney? Are you okay?"
They gently shushed him and whispered, "Wow. There are, like," Sidney paused and counted, "seven walkers over here; all crowded in one place." 
A whole minute or so passed before Regan responded, "Don't get too close. What are they doing? Are they eating something?"
The majority of the walkers were down on their knees, and only a few remained standing. They didn't seem to notice Sidney. "I can't see from here. It looks like it." 
       They observed the scene from their spot three trees away. Sidney leaned to the side to get a better view. They could clearly smell the foul stench of rot from where they were. They clutched their knife tightly and waited. Only one walker was standing now, and the others had found an area to feast on whatever lay on the ground. The lone walker looked around and stood eerily still; its eyes were locked with theirs. "Sidney? Sidney?" Regan's voice was distressed. 
"Sidney?" The voice wasn't Regan's; instead, it came from the walker-like figure staring them down.
"Are you okay? Did something happen?" He quickly bombarded them with questions. "Sidney?" 
        Sidney swiftly stood up and stepped back, unable to avert their eyes. The stranger strode towards them, and that's when they ran. Over fallen branches and roots they simply jumped. Their pulse beat wildly as they just narrowly avoided slamming into the trunk of a tree. The smell of petrichor intensified, and they felt droplets of water hit their skin. "Sidney?" Regan nearly shouted through the walkie-talkie. 
Sidney picked it up and whispered, "I need to run. I'll see you back at camp." 
        The last thing they heard of Regan was, "Wait, wait-" before they clumsily stuffed it back into the backpack. The rain began to fall even harder, and they heard their pursuer curse, "Shit. Sidney! Please, wait!" They looked back and did a hard stop right in front of a creek they would've run through. They finally recognized the stranger now that the rain had helped wipe away the guts and gore smeared on her clothes and face, but, before they could manage a word out, they were cut off by Regan's muffled static voice. Neither of them could make out what he said over the loud shouts and agonizing screams, but, right before the noise cut out, Sidney caught the words, "..plea-..stay away."
Lea grabbed Sidney's arm when they tried to turn away. "You heard them, Sidney. It sounds dangerous."
They obstinately looked away, jerked their arm out of her grasp, and snapped back, "You don't get to tell me what to do after being away for so long, and I'm not going to just sit by while whatever happens, happens. I won't abandon them."
She pulled her arm back and dramatically rolled her eyes. "Fine. I see where you're coming from, but you don't have to be so damn passive-aggressive about it. I'm here now, and I want to take you with me. I still have the cure, and I know exactly where to go for it to be the most effective."
Sidney stared at her, torn between just leaving without another word and leaving with a "F*ck you". 
"Listen, I'm sorry, okay? I did look for you. I looked for all of you, but I gave up. I'm not going to lie about this. The cure is more important than you or anyone else in that group, but you can still come along. We can do it together."
"If you really feel that way, why don't you just go alone? If me and the cure were put in a situation where you'd have to choose one or the other, I'd rather not die. I have something to live for, now, even if- even if that means giving up on the rest of the world." Sidney walked over the small stream and looked back, "Now, leave. Go on to save the world or whatever the hell you're doing." 
Lea followed them. "Wait! Take me to your group, and I'll tell them about the cure. Then, maybe, they'll come with me. You don't have to abandon them." 
They answered, nearly shouting, "Why, Lea? Do you really want people to come with you? Do you want friends or just pawns that will protect you because they think you're their savior? There's a difference, in case you couldn't tell." 
"Sidney, I-" 
"Are you there, Sid?" It was Lafayette's distressed voice this time. "I- hope you- on your way [Azalia, ov- here!], or, at lea-, not dead. Now would- a good time to show up. You-" His voice cut out. 
They closed their eyes and sighed. "I have to go. Now. Goodbye, Lea." 
        And off they went running through the woodlands- again; however, this time, they knew that Lea hadn't followed them, but they weren't relieved. A small part of Sidney wished that she would follow them, but they knew what she wanted to do right when she realized there was a cure, even if it meant throwing away her only friends like she hadn't even known them in the first place. Ren would've done the same; they were certain of that, but they also knew that it was more or less the right thing to do. 
        The camp was a massacre. Corpses were strewn about the dirt, tents were collapsed and torn, walkers roamed about, and no one was in sight. It had been deserted. One of the horses laid in the middle of the campsite, organs ripped out and being feasted upon by the monstrosities that were the living dead. Luckily for Sidney, there were only four walkers that remained; the rest had been killed off by the others. 'The rest,' of course, being way more than what Sidney guessed that they were capable of fending off. It must've been a massive horde. A horde, they guessed, that was undoubtedly brought by the Phoenix, even if they didn't have a particular reason to. They were murderers; they didn't need a reason to do what they do.
A familiar, staticky voice emanated from their backpack, "Hey, Sidney, are you there? It's me, R."
Sidney slid the backpack off of their shoulders and fished out the walkie-talkie. "Yeah, I'm here." 
"That's a relief. I was really worried when you didn't answer and just left me with saying you had to run, and-"
They smiled. "I'm sorry, Regan, but I'm okay. Where are you?" 
"I don't know," Regan paused. "But there's a sign nearby that says, 'Monroe County.' That must be where we are, huh?" 
Sidney chuckled, despite their unfortunate circumstance. "I guess so. Which direction did you leave in?" 
"East, I think. Yeah, east." Silence ensued before he spoke again, "Azalia wants to know if you still have your bow and knife." 
"I do, but I only have three more arrows left," Sidney answered. "Is everyone okay?"
"We're all okay, yeah. Nobody was hurt, and we've already set up camp. But-" He stopped.
They panicked. "R? Are you okay? R?"
"No, no, I'm fine. Tiffany is in labour." Regan audibly laughed. "We're going to have a new edition soon."
Sidney slowly wandered their way around the group of walkers and away from the camp. "She's naming it Jo, right?"
"I think it's a totally rad name, so I'm all for it." 
They scoffed. "Rad? Do you actually say that?" They jumped over a log. 
"Hey, what's wrong with that? I think rad is a pretty rad word." 
Sidney laughed. "Sure, R." 
"I can dream, can't I, Sid?" Regan over-dramatically sighed. 
They shook their head and smiled contentedly, and the familiar warmth and fuzziness grew in their chest. "Totally."
        A fence stood in front of their path, half-hidden by overgrown trees and bushes. A house remained on the other side. Sidney held the top of the fence, and, with a boost from the brush and more than a little struggle, pulled themselves over the barricade. They roughly landed on their back with a loud groan and a painful moan. Sidney pushed themselves up and brushed the grass off of their clothes. Since Tiffany was in labour and the group probably wasn't in any rush, they decided to investigate the house's interior. 
        The door was locked, so they cracked and broke a window with the bottom, small pointed end of their knife. Gently moving away the pieces of broken glass, Sidney crawled through the opening and into the living room. Everything was in place, except for the window they had just smashed, and oddly clean. The tables and furniture they walked pass hadn't even collected dust; strange, considering anyone living here would've heard their noisy entrance. 
        Sidney strolled down a hallway to the right and opened an unlocked door. It was a bedroom. The bed was neatly made, and the curtains were pulled back to let in whatever sunlight was filtered through the trees. A vase full of lilies was set on a bedside desk to the right, and a lamp was set on the one to the left. They stepped out and closed the door. Despite the clean appearance, the house gave them a weird uneasiness, like they weren't welcome here. Sidney hadn't ever felt like this with the other houses they had looted. Another door lay just ahead and, when they opened it, led to the garage. "Oh, boy," they muttered in awe. 
        Opened crates of canned food sat there, right in front of them; some were stacked on top of each other, and some were closed. A dog barked from inside its kennel; not a threatening or aggressive bark, but a greeting and playful one. The dog was a- maybe, some kind of terrier?-; Sidney wasn't too sure. First, they ran to the crates, filling their backpack as full as they could bear to carry; water and canned corn was the most abundant in the collection. Then, they turned to the dog, who had been barking and eagerly wagging its tail ever since it laid eyes on them. They pulled out their walkie-talkie, "R, you'll never believe what I just found."
It took a while for Regan to respond, "Yeah? I'll believe just about anything these days." 
"There's tons of food and water in this house I'm in, and, plus, there's a dog." 
"Uh, Sidney?"
"Yeah? Is something wrong?"
"Shouldn't you leave the food there? Does someone live in that house?"
"Nobody's here, and there's so much of it, R!" Sidney smiled and playfully rubbed the dog's neck. 
They heard Regan's frustrated sigh. "Just don't take all of it. Are you going to take the dog, too? You are, aren't you?"
Sidney opened the kennel, and the dog practically pounced on them. "Please?" 
"I don't know, Sid. Are you sure about this?" 
"We have nothing except the rabbits you caught."
"One of them was a squirrel, actually."
Sidney groaned. "Okay, a rabbit and a squirrel. That's it."
Regan, again, waited to answer. "A compelling point." He sighed in an over-the-top manner. "Fine. Get what you want and leave. Don't look back and don't get killed." 
They laughed victoriously. "Of course I won't. Oh, by the way, this dog's name is.." Sidney read the small print on the tag, which was covered in rust and dirt. "Her name is Bailey." 
"Just- Hurry back." 
        If they were being honest with themselves, they had no idea of where they were going. They hadn't ever been to Michigan until they practically forced Rose and Micheal to, and they had no idea where Moore County was. So, in short, they were terribly lost. "Um, R?" Sidney cautiously asked, stopping dead in their tracks at what lay before them.
"Yeah, Sidney?"
They pulled out their knife. "Is there, by chance, a tank surrounded by hundreds of walkers by the camp?" 
Regan laughed in disbelief. "Holy shit. You're an idiot, you know that?"