Dark Meat-Continuation [Walking Dead]

Chapter Sixteen.

The arguing started quite quickly, seeing as everybody was already high-strung to begin with. It started off with Daryl wanting to 'put a pick axe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it', or something along those lines. Naturally everyone was against it. Then it escalated into questioning people's morality.

At this point, Rick comes up with an idea. "What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure." Who would he have heard this from? It's not like he can walk down the street and pick it up in a conversation with a friendly neighbour.

"I heard that too." Shane agrees. I cock an eyebrow in surprise. It's not often that people agree with one another in this group. "Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."

I shuffle my feet nervously as the small group converses. I can hear them quite well from the cover of the trees. Jim is seated at the end of the caravan in the shade, looking far less than healthy. It's cooler in the shade. The trees hide me from the harsh summer sun, though dapples of yellow light stream down in thin lines. 

"What if the CDC is still up and running?"

"Man, that is a stretch right there."

"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd probably protect the CDC at all cost, wouldn't they?" He begins to sound a little desperate. He shifts the weight from one foot to the other and watches the others for answers.

Shane sighs and and shakes his head lightly. "Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right?" I can almost hear the mocking laugh in his voice at this point. "I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base: Fort Benning."

I have heard of Fort Benning. It's one of the largest military bases in North America, but they don't seem to have reinforced walls. It's a sprawling base with forests and ovals, though only protected with a few layers of mesh fencing and barbed wire. I doubt in serious attack they would be able to hold their own for very long.

"That's a hundred miles in the opposite direction!" Lori exclaims.

"That's right, but it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me," he turns his hand vertically and makes it pass his ear to the space in front of him to emphasise his words. "If that place is still operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."

"The military were on the front line of things. They got overrun, we've all seen that. The CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance." Both Rick and Shane seem so sure of their ideas, yet neither appeal to me. I realise that we can no longer stay here, seeing as last night's attack claimed half the camp and we can afford to lose any more, and there are bound to be more.

At Fort Benning, their main priority is to protect themselves and protect what is left of the government. Civilians will most certainly not be one of their concerns. Although we have survived this long, we are basically useless to the army. We'd only be more mouths to feed. And who's to say they won't simply shoot us the minute we come into view?

The CDC can't be much better. It means going through Nortown. I shudder thinking about my old home. The chaos there was unlike anything I have ever seen. People running screaming, children being eaten, grandparents being slaughtered in the street. There was so much blood. The army couldn't tell who was infected and who wasn't, so they exterminated everything in the town. Soon I was the only one left; completely alone in my own little hell. The Walkers who doomed Nortown came from further south, near the CDC, so I doubt we'd have much luck getting there.

Lost in my thoughts, I don't realise the figure sneaking up behind me. My indigo eyes trail the dirty sticks on the forest floor and the tiny ants crawling listlessly along their surfaces. A thin, bony hand clasps me on my shoulder. I turn, wide eyed, a scream lodged in my throat and-