SHELTER | DIXON

|13|

Two days had passed since they left the CDC behind; since Jacqui had given up on life and allowed hers to be ended right alongside Jenner. Rick had decided to go with Shane's initial decision on heading toward Fort Benning, even though the trip would be long and tenuous on the group. 

It was getting harder to scavenge for gas, especially for all of the vehicles everyone was using, so it had been decided that they should part with what vehicles they could. Shane gave up his jeep, siphoning out its gas and giving it to Dale for the RV, instead. Daryl decided to leave behind his truck, since it was a gas-guzzler anyway, and instead drove his motorcycle. Madison had taken their things and put them in the trunk of Rick's car alongside the Grimes family belongings, but she rode on the motorcycle with Daryl. 

Dale had offered for her to ride in the RV, but it was already packed as it was― Glenn, T-Dog, Shane and Andrea were all piled up inside of it. Carol and Sophia rode in the car with Rick, Lori and Carl. So really, Madison's only option was to ride with Daryl; but even if that weren't the case, he sort of just assumed she was riding with him anyway. "Mads, hurry yer ass up," he had called out to her that morning as she was shoving the rest of her things into the car's trunk. Rolling her eyes, she hadn't bothered to respond as she slammed the trunk shut and followed him over to the motorcycle.

Hours passed as the group once again hit the road, Daryl driving his motorcycle ahead of the RV to scope out a way through vehicles that had been abandoned on the highway. Things were going alright until the RV sputtered to a stop, the radiator hose finally giving up despite being jury-rigged a thousand times. Daryl grumbled in annoyance as he circled the motorcycle back around and parked it. "Damned thing's nothin' but a shitty scrap o'metal," he muttered to Madison as they walked toward the RV. The others all came outside to inspect the damage, as well.

"I said it. Didn't I say it?" Dale was complaining as they approached. "Dead in the water."

"Problem, Dale?" Shane asked.

"Oh, just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of―" Dale cut himself off as he glanced over his shoulder and saw Daryl and Madison digging through the open trunk of a vehicle. The woman held up a child's toy to Daryl with a smirk on her face, and he scowled and smacked it out of her hands as he rummaged through the rest of the items in search of something useful. "Okay, that was dumb," Dale said, realizing he wasn't entirely out of luck when it came to the possibility of finding the part that he needed.

Shane nodded as he glanced around at all the vehicles. "If you can't find a radiator hose here..."

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find," Daryl spoke up.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start," T-Dog said.

"Maybe some water?" Andrea suggested.

"Or food," Glenn added hopefully.

Lori's eyebrows furrowed as she frowned. "This is a graveyard," she said, crossing her arms. "I don't know how I feel about this."

She had a point, but the fact remained that the group needed supplies. Everyone split up to look through the vehicles and see what they could find. Daryl grabbed the hose and the empty gas cans stored in the back of the RV and brought them to T-Dog, who started to siphon whatever fuel he could find in the cars. Glenn helped find a radiator hose for the RV, while Lori and Carol gathered clothes for whoever they could. Rick and Dale kept watch as everyone walked around trying to find anything of use.

Madison, admittedly, didn't find much. In one of the vehicles she struck gold and found some arrows left behind in the open trunk, as well as a dagger. It looked like whoever it was had been in a hurry and hadn't had time to grab what was left behind. She slid the dagger into the side of her boot and shoved the arrows into a duffel bag she'd found in another vehicle, thinking maybe Daryl could use them with his crossbow.