His Cherokee Rose

How It All Began

The night is balmy. The air lays thick and heavy over the highway, but the gentle sound of cicadas singing in the trees nearby is drowned out by the blaring of car horns and the desperate, argumentative voices of a thousand people stuck in a traffic standstill that stretches on for miles.

Helicopters swoop low and slow overhead, circling the city of Atlanta and the massive pileup awaiting just outside its borders. People are wandering in the streets amidst the cars, confused and frightened and trying to figure out just what is going on. The radios are playing nothing but static, and at this point even the emergency broadcasting has stopped.

Shane Walsh leans out of the open driver's side door of his car, looking up to the sky as the choppers continue to pass them by. Parked next to him is an old tan Cherokee, and on its open bumper Carl Grimes sits with a young girl playing checkers as the adults linger nearby. Behind his shoulder stands his older sister Kylee Grimes, who has been keeping the children distracted with hints and strategic plays on both sides. It's been working for a little while, but they're all growing restless.

"Are we going soon?" the petite, blond-haired girl questions. Kylee is pretty sure her name is Sophia.

"I don't know baby," her mother Carol answers. "I sure hope so."

"I'm hungry," Carl pipes up, shifting to look between his sibling and their mother, who's sitting propped against the bumper of Shane's car.

"I know buddy, we all are," Kylee reassures him as best she can. "Maybe we won't be stuck here too much longer."

Carol speaks up from the side, offering to get Carl something to eat. "Ed's into all this survival stuff. We've got enough MRE's to feed a small army."

"I'd sure appreciate it," Lori Grimes responds while the other woman walks around to the driver's side of their Cherokee, assuring her that it's no trouble.

Kylee watches Carol's husband Ed follow her towards the front of the car, and hears their whispered argument as the two kids focus once more on their game.

The portly man chastises his wife for offering supplies to strangers, and the older Grimes child can't help but feel both sympathetic and aggravated at the way he treats her, speaking to her as if she's worth less than the dirt beneath his shoes. Ducking her head, Kylee pretends to have missed the conversation as Carol circles around the front of the vehicle to dig in her purse.

She turns instead to watch her mom speaking to Shane, leaning on the edge of the open window as their father's best friend continues to cycle through blank radio stations. She can't hear much of what they're saying from where she stands with the kids, but gathers that at this point even the emergency broadcast about the refugee center in Atlanta has stopped playing. She watches Shane step out of the car and slam the door shut, announcing that he's going to walk ahead to see what's going on.

"I'll go with you," Lori responds before turning to her daughter. "Can you please stay and watch your brother for me?"

"Yeah, of course," Kylee answers with a nod, turning to Carol as she offers a few granola bars.

"Ed must have forgot to pack those MRE's. I found these in my purse."

"Thanks Miss Carol," Kylee replies with a soft smile, glancing over her shoulder where her mom is explaining to Carl what's going on.

"Shane and I are gonna go scout up ahead a little bit and see if we can find someone that knows what's going on," she tells her younger son.

"I want to come with you," Carl pleads, only to be turned down.

"You stay here with your sister, alright?" She fixes a stray lock of his hair and kisses his forehead.