Hopeless

Chapter 67

I've lost count of how long we've driven, the hours blurring by in a hazy cloud of sleep and hunger. Everyone's getting impatient. Between the uncomfortably close quarters and the desperate need for more gas and food we're all a bit on edge. We decide to stop. Make a plan, scavenge, stretch, see what we can find close by. Maybe if we're lucky we'll find some place to sleep for the night. I don't think I can handle one more night crammed in this car. I sigh with relief as I extend my legs, stretching as I climb out of the car. Daryl hands me the baby, collecting some of her things before climbing out after us. He stands on his tiptoes, reaching for the sky groaning as he stretches his back. Ella giggles at him, a huge smile spread across her face. I watch her watch him, laughing with her as her daddy fakes another stretch, groan and all. He laughs with us, our sweet angel's happiness more infectious than any disease. My heart swells with so much love, as I watch the two of them. Her perfect little giggle, the way his face glows when he looks at her, my heart just might explode. I notice the others gathering at the hood of the car, Maggie spreading a map in front of them all. I nudge Daryl, nodding my head towards the others indicating that we should join. He nods and we make our way to the front, listening in on the conversation.  

"We got no place left to go." T-dog says 'matter of factly'.  

"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off. We'll never make it south." Maggie says pointing out the locations of each herd.

"What would you say? That was about 150 head?" Daryls asks, pushing forward and leaning against the car.

"That was last week. It could be twice that by now." Glenn says, the fear obvious in his voice.

"This river could have delayed them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through there." Hershel says, pointing out his sujested route on the map.  

"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." T-dog says, showing us all on the map.

"So we're blocked." Carol says, tightening her arms around her daughter. 

"Only thing to do is double back at 27 and swing towards Greenville." Rick says, displaying his idea with his finger. 

"Yeah, we picked through that already. It's like we spent the winter going in circles." T points out, obviously annoyed. 

"Yeah, I know. I know. At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through there yet. We can't keep going house to house. Need to find someplace to hole up for a few weeks." He says, looking over to Lori who stills sits in the car.

"All right. Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out? Won't take long. We got to fill up on water. We can boil it later." T asks Rick as everyone gets ready to move.

"Knock yourself out." He replies before turning to Hershel.

"She can't take much more of this moving about." I overhear Hershel say.

"What else can we do? Let her give birth on the run?" Rick says in frusteration.

"Do you see a way around that?" Hershel replies calmly before turning and walking away from him.

"Hey, while the others wash their panties, let's go hunt. That owl didn't exactly hit the spot." Daryl says to me.

 "Mind if I come?" Rick asks as he approaches us.

"Not at all." I relpy with a smile.

"I can take the baby." Beth says sweetly.

"Thank you." I give her a quick hug before handing little Ella to her, so gratful for her help.

"'Course." She chirps happily, snuggling my seet Rose as she takes her to the others. I unholster my gun, checking the magazine before nodding to the boys and clicking it back in place. We head into the woods, one of them at each of my sides, our weapons at the ready. Daryl indicates a set of train tracks a few dozen feet in front of us.

"What do you say we head up that way, follow it for a bit see were we end up?" He asks.

"Sounds good to me." I reply with a shrug. Rick nods in agreement and we all start towards it. We step up on the tracks, looking in either direction.

"Which way?" I ask.

"Left?" Daryl asks with a shrug. Rick heads to the left with no further conversation and we follow. We all walk in silence, our eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Rick stops a few feet in front of us on a bridge overlooking a small valley, staring at something in the distance. As we join him I see realize what has caught his attention. Just beyond the edge of the woods lies an enourmous prison, a concrete fortress. Gaurded by watch towers and multiple rounds of fencing, barbed wire framing the entire place. The entire place ridden with walkers.

"What a shame." Daryl says with a sigh. Some place as locked down as that is a dream come true in a world like this.  It would mean safety. It would mean a home, a real home. I lower my head sadened that at the reality that we may never find that.

"We can do it." Rick mumbles.

"What?" I ask. Lifting my head up to look at him.

"We can clear it out." He says excitedly.

"You really think so?" Daryl asks.

"We should get the others, use the wire cuters to get into that part of the fence there, use the lock and wire to close it back together once we're in." He points to the outer most defenses. A passageway to all of the watch towers sandwhiched between two fences. "Make a plan after we assess things from up close." He proposes.

"Between those two fences are safer than stuck out here" I say with a shrug. "The watch towers give us a place to go if we get stuck down there, I think its worth a shot." Daryl nods.

"Sounds as good of a plan as any." He says, wrapping his arm around my waist. I lean into his side, the three of us watching the walkers mill around in our new home. I rest my head against his chest, letting myself wonder about the future we could have in this place. The stability this would give us all. I smile, a warmth filling my body with something i havent felt in a while. Hope.