"How do we know we can trust you?" Hudson asked. Everyone had their gun pointed at him, no one was budging.
"You don't." he said modestly. "Look, you just came from the Gardens; you would've seen what happened. That was my wedding, we were attacked, my wife got away, I saw her. I know you probably don't need another person and you probably don't have room; but I need to find Willow." He was sweating, which meant he was running, most likely chasing the RV. Hudson stared at him, he didn't blink once.
"Hudson, I think he is okay." I mumbled. Hudson took a deep breath in and nodded, lowering his gun.
"Okay, I want Luis and Wren to sit beside him in the back and Oscar in the front." He said turning around. "The rest of you in the other car, Joe you drive."
"So you're kicking me out?" I laughed following Hudson to the car.
"Sorry." He said, his mouth dropping down slightly. "I want you there, but I couldn't run the risk of him lashing out and you being the victim."
"It's - its fine Hudson." I smiled grabbing his hand and squeezing. "Oh and seeing as we will be driving for a while and I don't know when I will talk to you next, I left you a present on top of my clothes in the bag. Open it when I'm in the other car." I said getting on my tip toes to peck him on the cheek. I let go of his hand and walked away, smiling to myself. I got into the front seat, with Winter, Freya and Grace in the back. I put on my seat belt and watched the car in front. Hudson opened the door and pulled my bag out, onto the road. He unzipped it and froze, staring down at the photo frames. He straightened up, covering his mouth with his hand. He looked at me, his eyes shiny with tears. He bent down and pulled out the photo of Hadley and Ruby; his two sisters, and removed his hand from his mouth. He was smiling, but barely holding back the tears. He pulled out the other one of his whole family. Wren limped around and tapped him on the shoulder, telling him it's time to leave. He nodded, placing the photos back in my bag. He picked it up and put them back on the passenger seat, on top of Oscars lap. He turned towards me and mouthed 'I love you.' I smiled, mouthing 'I love you more.'
+++
I sat awkwardly in the car full of girls and Joe. Know I knew Winter's true feelings for him, it felt weird for me to be sitting next to him. I looked back at her, to find her watching me. I just shrugged and looked forward.
"So, what do we do now?" I asked.
"I think we are going to find a place that is truly safe." Joe smiled, looking out at the road. "Somewhere we can grow old ya' know."
"That sounds nice." Grace said.
"Do you think there is a place?" I asked.
"There would have to be, not everyone could be dead." Winter mumbled. "We nearly just hit a man crossing the road."
"Where do you think it would be?" I asked.
"Chicago." Joe sighed. "I heard on a radio in the first couple days of D-Day that that was the place they would build if they were going to. They mentioned a plan of a wall, but that would take years to build."
"It would be great though." Freya smiled. "Having a place where you don't have to worry about a Walker sneaking in."
"And you could sleep heavily." Grace interrupted laughing.
"Guys stop." I whined. "I'm craving a soft bed and no interruptions while sleeping."
"Well then let's go!" Winter sat upright. Everyone stayed silent, so she carried on. "What's stopping us? We don't have anywhere to go? Let's go and find a safe place, we'll look at Chicago, and we'll look a Canada. If we search hard enough we might find it."
"That's true." I mumbled. "It couldn't help to look."
"And I'm getting sick of driving the same streets in Texas and California." Joe said.
"Well that's that then. We'll look hard until we find something." I said smiling. Maybe it's out there, maybe we might find it. Maybe - just maybe - this is the road to happiness. So why not take it? I'm so sick of being scared and holding back. But I'm truly in love with all these people, and I want to grow old with them. I want to live with them, and feel like we can talk loud. I want to sing again, I want to have lights on at night; I want all the best things with these people. They are my family. They are my home. Hudson is my rock. That is enough... all we are missing is safety. And I actually believe we might find it.
The end.
(Epilogue soon to come x2.)