BOUND BY BLOOD AND BRAINS || TWD¹

03 || Homesick

"Fine by me too," Rick called as he pulled something out of the front of the car, "You got everything you need?"

With a hard swallow, Audie nodded. Had she really just agreed to drive miles into a city in search of the family of a man she met yesterday? Slightly flustered, she glanced around the parking lot to see Duane standing over by his car waiting.

"Can I have a minute before we go?" She asked.

"Sure," Rick nodded towards her, more focused on the radio he was now holding out for Morgan to take.

While the two spoke, Audie slipped away, heading over to where the small boy stood. Duane and Audie had gotten along well over there time spent together. Neither child had been the most outgoing before the outbreak, and both had lost parents by some means around the same time, and as a result, there was a sense of understanding between the two.

"Hey," Duane beamed as she reached him.

Audie's smile faltered slightly as she tried to match his own.

"Everything okay?" The boy asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I'm going to go with Rick," Audie said, looking at the boy apologetically, "I'm sorry."

Duanes smile faded momentarily at the thought of losing his friend, but as he saw Audie gazing back at him, her eyes wide with the worry of how he would react, he pushed those feelings down. "Don't worry. Me and my dad will be following you in a couple days. I'll find you again."

"You promise?"

Forcing a reassuring nod, Duane replied, "I promise." 

"Autumn, you ready?" Ricks voice called from over by the car. With one final look at Duane, Audie gave him a small wave, dragging herself back across the parking lot.

"Ready," she tried to sound confident as she reached Rick. He pulled open the back door and she jumped inside, throwing her backpack down on the seat next to her.

Rick said a brief goodbye to Morgan and Duane while Audie waited inside the car, trying to stop her heart from pounding. A part of her still wanted to jump out of the car, to say she had made a mistake and she didn't want to go to Atlanta after all. But she couldn't shake the burning feeling that if she didn't leave now, she never would.

Before she could make up her mind, Rick had already jumped inside the car, the engine switching on with a low splutter as they began to pull away from the sheriffs department. By pulling herself up in the seat and pressing her head close to the window, Audie could catch a glimpse of Morgans car turning off in the other direction.

As she watched the vehicle fade out of view, she clenched her hands into tight fists and she prayed it wouldn't be too long until she could see Duane and his father once again.

AFTER WHAT felt like hours of driving in complete silence, Rick picked up a radio, identical to the one he had given Morgan, from the seat next to him. Keeping one hand on the wheel he brought the radio up to his face, holding down the button as he began to speak, "Broadcasting on emergency channel. Will be approaching Atlanta on Highway 85. Anybody reads, please respond."

Now resting her head against the window, Audie watched as the empty road blurred together as the drove by. She found it almost funny that she was now sitting inside a police car, the man in front dressed in a full sheriffs uniform and talking into a radio. If only they could have the sirens blaring.