𝙴𝙿𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙳𝙴 𝚃𝙴𝙽 - 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴
𝙰 𝙵𝚎𝚠 𝙳𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝙻𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛
It had been a few days since the group had been on the move since everything that happened at the CDC. Fort Benning was still on everyone's mind. Daryl was travelling on his motorcycle, Rick, Lori, Carl, Sophia and Carol were in one car and Madelyn, Dale, Shane, Glenn, T-Dog and Andrea were travelling in the RV.
Whilst Shane and Andrea were talking, Madelyn was sat on the other side of the RV, playing with her wedding ring that sat on her finger. She missed Landon, of course she did. He was the love of her life. She didn't wish that Landon was with her. She would never wish for her husband to have to live in a world like this. Madelyn only wished and hoped and prayed that Landon was at peace with their unborn son. She hoped that they were both happy together.
"Are you ever going to take that off?" Glenn asked, sitting next to Madelyn.
"Actually, I am." Madelyn said, taking her ring off. "I will always love Landon. I only pray that he is at peace. I don't need my ring. I have his." She said, holding onto the gold ring that hung on a chain around her neck.
"So, what are you going to do with it?" Glenn asked.
"I want you to have it." Madelyn smiled.
"Me?" Glenn asked, confused. "What am I going to do with a woman's diamond wedding ring?"
"Maybe you'll meet someone. This world is unpredictable. We can't say what the future has in store for any of us. I would love that you, my bestest friend in this group, held onto this and maybe one day, you'll give it to a special girl." Madelyn said before placing her ring in Glenn's hand.
Glenn smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Mads. I promise I'll take good care of it." He said.
"I know you will." Madelyn smiled.
"Oh jeez." Dale said, grabbing everyone's attention. The group had now approached a highway where there were a bunch of abandoned vehicles blocking the road. Daryl had a look and circled back to the RV on his bike. "Any way for us?" Dale asked.
Daryl shook his head and went to see if there was any spot he missed. "Maybe we should just go back." Glenn said, looking at a map. "There's an interstate bypass-"
"We can't spare the fuel." Dale said as he carried on driving until a row of cars blocked the highway, preventing any vehicle from passing.
"Oh my goodness." Madelyn said, looking out of the window at all the abandoned cars. It was eerie. All these cars just left there, probably filled with corpses. It sent a shiver down Madelyn's spine.
"Can we get through here?" Glenn asked as the RV started breaking down before stopping.
"I'm taking that as a no." Madelyn said as everyone got out of their vehicles.
"I said it. Didn't I say it?" Dale asked as he walked to the front of the RV. "A thousand times. Dead in the water."
"Problem, Dale?" Rick asked.
"Oh, just the small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-" Dale said before seeing Daryl looking through the cars. "Okay, that was dumb."
"Can't find a radiator hose here." Shane said.
"There's a whole bunch of stuff we could find." Daryl said, looking through a car.
"Syphon more fuel from these cars, for a start." T-Dog said.
"Maybe some water?" Carol asked. "Food?"
"This is a graveyard." Lori said, making everyone look at her. "I don't know how I feel about this."
"There are a ton of supplies here that could help us. We could find everything we've been running low on." Madelyn said. "If we don't take this stuff, it'll only be a matter of time before someone else does."
"All right, just look around. Gather what you can." Shane said. Everyone went their separate ways, scavenging the cars to see what they could find. Madelyn went to a truck and looked in the trunk before smiling.
"No way." Madelyn said.
"What is it?" Daryl asked. Madelyn smiled and pulled out a crossbow with a bunch of arrows.
"I bet you're happy with this." Madelyn said.
"You keep it." Daryl said.
"What? Are you sure?" Madelyn asked.
"Yeah, mine is working just fine for now and I see you eyeing mine like you wanna sleep with it." Daryl said, making Madelyn chuckle.
"It is pretty cool." Madelyn said.
"I'll teach you some time. If you want." Daryl said.
"Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks, D." Madelyn said, making Daryl smile slightly before leaving to look in other cars. Madelyn strapped the crossbow to her back and began looking in other cars, finding food, water, medicine, tampons which she desperately needed and some fresh clothes to wear. Everything was going well. Shane had even found a truck full of fresh water. Then things started going bad.
Walkers were starting to show up.
"Everyone get under the cars." Rick said to everyone. Madelyn felt a hand grab her arm and she almost screamed but another hand covered her mouth before she was pulled under a car. Madelyn was about to bite the hand before she realised it was Daryl.
"What the hell is going on?" Madelyn whispered.
"Walkers." Daryl whispered. Madelyn looked out and saw a ton of walkers approaching the vehicles in the distance.
"You just saved my life twice now. Stop putting me in your debt." Madelyn joked, making Daryl smile at her. It was as if he couldn't do anything but smile whenever he was around Madelyn. He liked being around her. He liked being close to her. Madelyn stopped smiling when she realised Daryl was staring at her.
Madelyn liked talking to Daryl. She knew he was a good guy, even with his tough guy front. He was definitely a real softie inside. Madelyn felt little butterflies in her stomach and to be honest, she kinda liked it. The pair were broken out of their trance when they heard walkers groaning. They were now walking past the vehicles they were hiding under.
🧟♀️ 🧟🧟♀️ 🧟
After around twenty minutes, the herd had passed but Sophia was chased into the woods by a walker so Daryl, Shane, Rick and Glenn went to go and find her. Carol was waiting for the guys to get back, Dale was fixing the RV and everyone else was helping to move the cars out of the way.
"Why aren't we out there looking? Why are we moving cars?" Carol asked.
"Well, we have to clear enough room so I can get the RV turned around as soon as it's running." Dale said. "Now that we have fuel, we can double back to a bypass that Glenn flagged up on the map."
"Going back's going to be easier than trying to get through this mess." Shane said.
"But we're not going anywhere until my daughter gets back." Carol said.
"Carol, we won't leave without her." Madelyn said, rubbing Carol's shoulder.
"Rick and Daryl are on it. It's just a matter of time." Shane said.