Adelaide woke up early the next day, and Glenn is still asleep. Not wanting to wake her sleeping Asian mate, she walks very carefully out of the RV. Adelaide was greeted by Andrea, who sat beside Amy’s corpse.
Adelaide stiffened at the sight of her friend’s lifeless body. “I am so sorry for your loss, Andrea.” She addressed her condolences then, Andrea bobs her head slowly, not removing her sight from her younger sister.
Adelaide felt a presence beside her, and it was Lori. Lori squats next to Andrea. “Andrea,” She started, her knees now on the ground. “I am so sorry. She is gone. You got to let us take her. We all cared about her, and I promise we’ll be gentle as we can.” Andrea didn’t utter a single word. She is staring at her sister with dried tears on her face.
Adelaide gets on the RV. Glenn was no longer sleeping on the couch, and then she heard water splashing inside the toilet. Adelaide went through her backpack if she still has any chocolates or biscuits left—she did find three granola bars and two chocolate bars.
She fills up her bottle with clean drinking water and puts the water and the biscuits on the table. Right on time, Glenn came out of the lavatory.
Glenn greeted his lady friend with a smile. “Good morning, Beauty.” He asserted.
“Morning, Beast. Did you have a good and enough slumber?”
“The sleep was nice, but my shoulder isn’t,” Glenn complains as he sat next to her, rubbing his hand to his aching shoulder. “What about you?”
“It was good. Oh, and maybe you slept in the wrong position last that’s why your shoulder is hurting.”
“Maybe,” He sighed at the look of their table. “This is our breakfast?”
Adelaide nods, “It’s better than nothing,” She shrugged her shoulders. “Do you like raisins? Cos I don’t.” She asked; there were two raisins granola bars and one peanut butter.
“They’re... fine.” Adelaide handed Glenn the two raisins granola bars. Glenn raised his eyebrows, “But, you only have one.”
“I’ll live,”
Glenn didn’t argue because he is too hungry for that, and then they started eating the granola bars together. Then, they heard two voices of kids getting on the RV.
It was Carl and Sophia. “Adelaide, do you still have the chocolate you told me about yesterday?” Glenn’s mouth hung open loosely, he looked at Adelaide.
“You had tons of chocolates?”
Adelaide nods her head innocently, pulls the chocolate bars out of her bag and shows them to Glenn. “I had five bars, but I gave the other two to them yesterday,” She answered calmly; she gives the other bar to Sophia. “I only have two, so would you mind sharing this?” She asks the children in front of her, and they agreed immediately. They said thank you and ran out of the van.
Adelaide handed the chocolate bar to Glenn–the Asian man had a long face, confused. “You’re giving this to me?”
Adelaide chuckled softly, “Yeah. Is there something wrong with that?” Glenn shook his head and continued eating. The RV was silent for five minutes until Adelaide remembered what Glenn said last night.
“So, they were curious about the real score between us?”
Glenn bobs his head, “Disgusting, I know. Rick didn’t believe me at first. I don’t know. I feel like he has more to say but chose not to open his mouth and address it. I don’t even know how he got the idea of the two of us being romantically together.”
“Must’ve been the anklets that I gave you, I don’t know. He was there when I took it at the shop.” Adelaide guessed. Rick was a bit nosy when she picked up the anklets at the store. Why would someone be that nosy? They just met.
“Oh, and Daryl acted like a teenage kid when he asked me. He was hiding it, but I noticed it. That was the first time I saw him act like that.” Glenn added, remembering the look on Daryl’s face.
“You wouldn’t be able to tease him about that. He would literally use one of his arrows on you. No joke.”
“Guess he would.” Glenn chuckled. The atmosphere inside the RV became suffocating. “How are you coping with, you know, Amy’s death?” Sincerity was expressed in his eyes and his tone.
“To be honest, I think I am doing great,” Adelaide professed. She is sad about Amy’s death, but what can she do about it? It’s not like she can perform a miracle and magically raise the dead to life. “It didn’t hurt me as I expected. Maybe because we just met because of the apocalypse, but still, it was a sad death.” A forced smile appeared on her face.
“But the way you acted last night, you were like, you switched into a different person. How is that?”
Adelaide closes her eyes, breathing. “I was scared.” She felt his calloused hand touch her soft hands. “As I close my eyes, I thought about you. I remembered my mom, my dad, and my grandparents. I imagined your reaction coming back to the camp, and the first thing you will see is me. And I turned like one of the walkers. I thought that it would be you who has to take me down, and after you did take me down. I know you will feel guilty.”
She paused as she felt her eyes welling, she opened her eyes, and the tears continuously fall from her eyes. “So, when you appear right in front of my eyes. I felt my heart skip. I was so relieved that you were fine and you were alive. If it weren’t for those walkers that attacked our camp, Amy would still be alive today, no one has to grieve and mourn for their deaths. I vent my anger and frustration towards the walker—it felt good, by the way. It looks disgusting and lunatic, but I guess it helped me to release my grievance and anger.”
Glenn wiped the tears off her face with his sleeves, “I will never leave you again, Adelaide. I promise you. Unless you want me to.” He murmured.
Adelaide leans on his shoulder, “I will never leave you too. I’ll be with you, forever and always.”
After their breakfast and cleaning up the table, the duo exited the RV and helped the others on clearing the dead bodies in their camp.
Glenn and Adelaide helped on carrying another walker’s body into the fire. “There’s two more left,” Adelaide grunted, motivating herself. T-Dog dismissed her optimism and points his finger to another side of the camp that still have a lot of bodies.
Adelaide groans, “Okay,” She uttered, almost out of breath. “The sun’s too bright, and we’ve been dragging bodies for like three hours. We deserve a break. I say, let the others do this too. We treat them like a baby, then they’ll act like one,” She continued.
Glenn grins, “Too much talk, Adelaide, just go sit beside your brother. He looks lonely over there, go join him. We’ll just finish this one.”
Adelaide accepted and hurried to where her brother is perched. Shane glances at her, then back to the ground. “Are you alright, Shane?”
“Yeah, are you?”
“I am fine, just a little tired.” She muttered under her breath. “How are you holding up?”
Adelaide’s puffy eyes landed on Andrea, then on Amy’s body. She shut her eyes and breathes deeply. “I’ll get over it soon,” She stuttered.
“You were pretty close to her,” Shane stated as Adelaide only nods her head.
“That is why it is too freaking hard to get attached to someone, especially now.” She commented, opening her eyes, and it lands on Glenn, then on Carl. The kid has grown to her, and she treated him as his little brother.
“Are you and Glenn—”
“Gosh, why does everybody ask that? No, Glenn and I are just friends. He is more like a brother to me.” She cuts him off before he can say the word dating. There was a pang on Shane’s chest when he heard his younger sister calling someone else her brother.
“That was very insensitive of me. I am sorry, Shane.” Adelaide apologized. Who is stupid enough to call another person her brother in front of her biological brother? The one and only, Adelaide Walsh.
“Eh, there is no need for that, I understand. I was a shitty brother. I do not deserve to be called one. In fact, it should be me who is supposed to apologize, not you.” He said, fighting his tears to not come out of his eyes. “I am sorry, Adelaide. For being an asshole, for blaming you for our mom’s death. I am just sorry.”
Adelaide put her hand on his shoulder, tapping it. She sighs, “I have already forgiven you. Besides, we cannot change the past, can we? Let bygones be bygones.” She wholeheartedly smiled at her brother.
“Tell me the truth, is that how everyone looked at Glenn and me? Do they always assume that Glenn and I are romantically together?” Adelaide’s curiosity is consuming her alive, and she wants to know what everyone says about them. Besides, she finds it hilarious also.
Shane nods his head, “That’s what everyone has been dying to know since the beginning, but no one was brave enough to ask.” Then, she hears the dried leaves rustling as if someone stepped over them. She looks up to see who was the culprit, and it was Rick. Wearing a filthy white t-shirt, his eyes were on Andrea.
“She still won’t move?” He asks Dale; then he glanced at his best friend and his best friend’s sister. “Won’t even talk to us,” His wife whispered, sitting not far from them.
Adelaide peeked where Lori’s voice came from; she sits on a pulled-out car seat right next to Carol, who sat on a chair.
“She’s been there all night,” Adelaide mentioned, then Rick turned his head towards Adelaide and then back to his wife.
“What do we do?” Lori asked her husband gently. “Can’t just leave Amy like that. We need to deal with it, same as the others.” Shane commented, piercing his eyes on Andrea.
Adelaide looked up at Rick, dazzled by the sunlight. “I’ll tell her how it is,” Rick said with a sigh, running fingers through his hair. He headed to where Andrea is crouching, but before he could hunker down, Adelaide heard a gun clicking as Andrea aims her gun at Rick’s face.
Adelaide, Shane, and Lori abruptly stand up, anxious looks on their faces. Rick murmured something to Andrea that Adelaide couldn’t hear, and then he sauntered away from Andrea, lowering her gun.
Lori regained her composure as Rick slowly steps back to where he previously stood. Daryl marches towards them, and his resentment festered in him. “Y’all can’t be serious. Letting that girl hamstring us,” There was a streak of frustration in his tone. “The dead girl’s a time bomb,” He spat, nothing but the ugly truth.
“What do you suggest?”
“Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here.” Daryl points his finger at his temple. “Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from the distance.”
Adelaide speaks in a monotonous voice. “Daryl, it’s not an option. Amy is...or was a friend. Andrea’s grieving. Just let her be.” The three men share a look at each other, the two former cops agreeing with Adelaide while Daryl isn’t.
Daryl smiled bitterly and walked away from them. A few seconds after, Adelaide followed the youngest Dixon to help Glenn, T-Dog, and Morales.
Daryl helped Morales by dragging a body that was once a member of their group. They carry the body to the other walkers that are being burnt until Glenn interferes.
Glenn shot them a quizzical look and asked, “What are you guys doing? This is for the geeks. Our people go over there.”
Adelaide effortlessly dumps the walker’s body on the fire by herself, letting it burn. She just stood there, observing the three men. But then, they continued to drag the body toward the fire, “What’s the difference? They’re all infected.” Daryl answered back.
“Our people go in that row over there,” Glenn repeated as he raises his tone, then Daryl and Morales stopped, looking at Glenn.
Glenn felt his throat closing up, “We don’t burn them.” He shrieked, tears rolling down his face. “We bury them. Understand?”
Adelaide sprints to her best friend, caressing his back as Glenn rests his head on her shoulder. “Just do what he says, Daryl. Please.” She requested, clutching her best friend’s arm. Daryl glanced at her, giving in. That’s when they drag the body in the opposite direction.
“You reap what you sow.”
However, Morales was disgruntled, “You know what shut up, man.”
“Y’all left my brother for dead! You had this coming.” Daryl shouts at everyone.
“Again with the blaming bullshit? Merle is or was an asshole! Just because he is your brother, doesn’t mean you have to justify it and in case you haven’t noticed, he literally beat T-Dog almost to death.” Adelaide refuted. At first, she understood him, but it seems wrong to her that they all got the blame when they didn’t do anything wrong. They just did what they thought was right.
“For what’s its worth, he also had that coming.”
Daryl continued walking away and ignored Adelaide’s comments. All she said was right, but of course, he would not let her know that she is, his ego won’t let him.
The younger Walsh ran inside the RV to find clean water for Glenn. After finding one, she transferred the water to a neat water bottle and went back outside. She found Glenn pulling a walker’s body to the fire.
Adelaide pats Glenn’s shoulder, which makes him turn around, “Bottoms up. Wouldn’t want you to pass out because of dehydration and exposure to the sun, would we?” She asked, offering the bottle of water to him.
“Thank you,” He uttered.
“A walker bit Jim,” Jacqui announced to everyone that made their heads turn to them.
“I’m okay. I’m okay.” Jim lied; he looked far from being okay.
Glenn blocked Adelaide with his arm so she wouldn’t come close to Jim.
“Show it to us,” Daryl demands, holding a pickaxe on his right shoulder. Jim grabbed a shovel for his defence while the men circled on him.
“Easy, Jim.”
“Grab him.”
“Jim, put it down. Put it down.” Shane pleaded. Glenn grabbed both of Adelaide’s shoulders and said, “Stay here,” He sprinted to the others to try and help to calm Jim.
Adelaide moved to where Carol stood, “Did I hear it right? Jim got bit?” Carol asks for confirmation from the young maiden next to her. Adelaide nods her head slowly.
“I don’t know how it happened, but yeah, Jim got bit and he also looks like shit.”
Carol was surprised by Adelaide’s comment. “Sorry,” Adelaide whispered, witnessing the older lady’s reaction. The two ladies just stood there as T-Dog holds Jim from behind, and Daryl lifts Jim’s shirt, revealing a walker’s bite. Carol heard Adelaide gasp, then pulled the young lady into her and hugged her.
“I’m okay. I’m okay.” Jim kept uttering the exact two words, letting everyone believe that he is okay–it was more like letting himself believe that he is, but Adelaide knows the truth, he isn’t, and he will never be.
“I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl’s and be done with it,” Daryl suggested.
Daryl Dixon is always so brutal.
“Is that what you want if it were you?”
Daryl stared at Shane, “Yeah, and I’d thank you while you did it.”
“I hate to say it—I never thought I would, but maybe Daryl’s right,” Dale commented, which made Adelaide grit her teeth.
“Jim’s not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog,” Rick stated, with both of his hands on his hips. Adelaide’s lip turned up a little at hearing Rick’s words.
Dale was offended by his words, “I’m not suggesting—”
“He’s sick. A sick man. We start down that road. Where do we draw the line?” Rick spat.
“The line’s pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be.” Daryl uttered, his muscles tensed.
“What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure,” Rick said, trying to give them hope, or himself hope.
Shane replies, “I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell.”
“What if the CDC is still up and running?”
Adelaide chuckled, “That’s another pipe dream of yours, Rick.”
“Why? If there’s any government left, any structure at all, they’d protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn’t they? I think it’s our best shot. Shelter, protection—” Rick argued with the Walsh siblings.
“Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do, too, okay. Now, if they exist, they’re at the army base. Fort Benning.” Shane responded.
“That’s a hundred miles in the opposite direction,” Lori remarked, not even looking at Shane’s eyes.
“That is right. But it’s away from the hot zone. Now listen to me; if that place is operational, it’ll be heavily armed. We’d be safe there.” Shane briefly explained, trying to convince everyone around him to go to Fort Benning.
Rick interrupts his best friend by talking, “The military was on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We’ve all seen that. The CDC is our best choice and Jim’s only chance.”
Adelaide was in deep thought, “If both of you are wrong, what are we going to do? Where are we going?” Her eyes were landing on Shane, then on Rick. They didn’t answer but only gape at her.
“You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem.” Daryl steps backwards as he is about to use his pickaxe on Jim’s head—but before he could do that, a click of a gun was heard.
Rick is now pointing his gun at Daryl’s head. “We don’t kill the living,” He retorted as Daryl turns his head to Rick, and Shane stood in front of Daryl.
The youngest Dixon put his pickaxe slowly, chuckling. “That’s funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head.”
“We may disagree on some things, but not on this. You put it down. Go on.” Daryl sent daggering stares at Shane, harshly putting the axe down.
Rick grabs Jim by the arms, “Where are you taking me?” The poor man asks, confused.
“Somewhere safe,”
Almost the entire camp went to the hill where Jim dug graves yesterday.
As Glenn said, they will bury their people. Sophia, Carl, Morales’s entire family were present too, and some other people she couldn’t name. Jim is at the RV; that is the place Rick is pertaining to be safe.
“The Chinaman gets all emotional, says it’s not the thing to do, we just follow him along?” Daryl questioned the two former cops.
“He’s Korean, dipshit. And he’s got a name.” Adelaide corrected him as she leans on a twig.
Daryl ignored her statement and continued talking about who’s the one in charge and the rules that should be strictly enforced. Rick stated that there are no rules, and it clearly shows on Daryl’s face that he is beyond disappointed.
“Well, that’s a problem. We haven’t had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn, and we need to bury our dead. It’s what people do.” Lori addressed her husband and marched away.
Shane and Rick stood there in silence. “Need any help with burying the bodies? I got nothing to do,” Adelaide awkwardly offered.
Shane, as usual, didn’t reply, did not even bat his eyes at his sister. Rick, though, kindly declined her offer and asked her to go back to the camp and take care of anything that needs to be taken care of. Everything seemed fine, so she decided to read.
She pulled a book inside her bag that she found weeks later. Adelaide sat on the pulled-out car seats and started reading. Adelaide is almost done with chapter two when someone interrupted her reading.
“What are you reading?” Carl sat next to her.
“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” She replied shortly, her eyes focused on the book.
“What is it all about?”
Adelaide calmed herself, “An orphan kid trying to defeat a force of evil with the help of his two friends.” She responded, and then Carl asks more questions. The younger Walsh gave in and spilt the whole plot of the entire first book.
“If you knew all of that already, why are you rereading it?” Carl asks again. Gosh, kids have a lot of questions, Adelaide thought.
“Because your dad declined my offer to help them and told me to get back here.” Adelaide sardonically replied to Carl. The Grimes kid stared at her blankly. “Sentimental purposes, I guess. I grew up reading these books even if my grandmother was so against it—all magic and stuff. I left my original copy at home and then saw another one. So, why not take it and reread it?” She answered honestly.
“Can you read it for me?” Carl requested with his doe eyes that Adelaide couldn’t resist.
“That’s a trap,” Adelaide snickered as Carl giggled. She opens the book and reads chapter one aloud to the kid next to her, shortly after, Sophia joined them, silently listening as she reads the chapter aloud. They were halfway through chapter five when Carl’s parents arrived wherever they came from.
“Do you think Hogwarts is real?”
“Maybe, but if it does exist. I will punch Dumbledore in the face for not sending me my Hogwarts letter when I was eleven.” Sophia looks up with her brows raised.
“I thought Professor McGonagall was in charge of the admissions?”
Adelaide tilts her head, “Yeah, but Dumbledore’s kind of an asshole, so he is the one who deserves to be punched.” She scrunches her nose.
Carl and Sophia made Adelaide promise to read them the other books—it sounds easy, but given the situation, they are in right now, she doesn’t think she can retrieve another copy of Dobby’s book. But knowing Adelaide, she will flip the world upside down to fulfil her promise to them.
Adelaide and Carl remained in the pullout car seats when Shane proposed a meeting with the entire camp. Everyone gathered around as they were waiting for either Rick or Shane to begin talking.
“I’ve been thinking about Rick’s plan. Now look, there are no guarantees either way.” Shane caught a glimpse of Adelaide and then at everyone else. “I’ll be the first one to admit that. I’ve known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together.” He addressed. Everyone has a deep thought.
“So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?” Shane announced.
Adelaide looked up in shock, mouth agape. “Wait? Immediately?” She caught the attention of everyone.
Shane nods his head, “Wouldn’t want to waste time. Gotta move faster.” Explained by the former cop that also happens to be her brother.
The time has come, this is the time that they have to leave the camp. Adelaide doesn’t feel sentimental at all, and she felt neutral. She is terrified about what is going to happen next. She didn’t even have a good sleep last night because of her overthinking everything.
Adelaide had a lot of what if’s. What if this plan fails? What if the CDC got overrun? What if Fort Benning got overrun too? What is going to happen to them? There are kids in their group. How are they supposed to live in a world like this?
Jim’s condition got worsened, and Jacqui has been taking care of him. After the loss of Amy a few days ago, she promised herself not to get attached to another human being. She will not be able to move on, and maybe she will lose herself too.
Adelaide sat on the stairs of the RV while Glenn stood next to her. Everyone was gathered again by Shane for his other speech and for quick instructions about how to use the CB’s and what channel are they going to be on, which is channel 40.
“Any questions?”
“We’re not going,” Morales announced. Rick and Shane looked at the man like he was crazy. “We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people.” His wife added.
Adelaide heard her brother sigh, “You go on your own; you won’t have anyone to watch your back.” Rick looks at the ground.
Why does everyone look at the ground?
“We’ll take the chance. I got to do what’s best for my family.” Morales responded. Rick, who is dressed up in his old uniform, asks for confirmation. “We talked about it. We’re sure.” Morales affirmed the man.
“All right,” Rick and Shane shared a look. Rick looked at his bag full of guns and gave Morales a .357 and some bullets. “The box is half full,” Shane mentioned.
Adelaide got up and walked closer to Morales. She greeted him with a thrift smile and patted his back. “Thank you for not letting me be killed on our last scavenge at the city.” She joked, pulling away from Morales when she heard him chuckle. She hugged his wife and Morales’ children too.
“Listen to your papa and mama, okay? They know what is best for you.”
“Stay safe, Morales. Take care of your family.” She gave him one last smile and headed back to the RV. She watches everyone saying goodbyes to the family and noticed Carl was weeping, and then his mother hugged him.
The kid saw Adelaide stepping inside the RV, “Adelaide! You’re not staying in the same car with us?” Adelaide shared a look with Lori, with whom she received a tiny smile. “I’m sorry, Carl. But I will be at the RV with Glenn, Dale, Jacqui, and Jim. Someone has to take care of idiot number two. Besides, six people will not fit in a five-seater car.” She beamed at the kid.
Rick grinned at Adelaide’s statement. “Do you really have to mention that in front of a child?” Glenn whispered in her ear.
“Which child?”
Glenn rolls his eyes, almost ready to talk back, “Come on! Let’s move out!” Shane shouted.
The RV was filled with Jim wincing in pain as Jacqui sat next to him. Dale is driving while Glenn is looking at a map, figuring out which road they are in. Adelaide just exists in the van, sitting, and waiting for them to reach their destination.
“Are we there yet?”
Glenn took off his cap and ran his hand through his hair. “For the million times, Adelaide, no! We haven’t arrived yet.” Glenn sent daggers to her through the mirror.
Adelaide shut her mouth as she noticed the sudden change in Glenn’s voice. She could tell that he is getting really annoyed. She would too if someone bugs her with the same question for like a hundredth time in just an hour.
The van made a disruptive noise, smoke coming out of its engine. The van stopped. Dale and Glenn got out of the van, trying to mend what was broken.
Rick got out of their car, and so is Shane, as they were curious about what made the van stop. With her sweat keeps on falling on her entire body, she got out immediately. She was greeted by Glenn, who stood behind the door. When he noticed Adelaide coming out of the van, he moves closer to Dale and Rick.
Keeping a distance from him, she heads to where her brother stands.
Shane is using the binoculars, searching for a place to stop by. “I see something up ahead, a gas station if we’re lucky.” He announced.
Adelaide crossed her arms and rubbed them gently. “Y’all, it’s Jim. It’s bad. I don’t think he can take it anymore.” Jacqui proclaimed to everyone, and then she comes back to the van shortly.
Adelaide let out a heavy sigh, “Another death to mourn, great.” Adelaide’s lip formed into a line.
Rick entered the van after Jacqui delivered the news to everyone, and it was almost five minutes later when he came out of the vehicle. He told everyone what Jim wanted, “It’s what he says he wants.
“And he’s lucid?” Carol asks him.
“He seems to be. I would say yes.”
Adelaide sat on the side of the road, turning her back away from them and listening to what they said, not uttering a word from her mouth.
“Back in the camp, when I said Daryl might be right, and you shut me down, you misunderstood.” Dale pauses as everyone turned their attention to the old man, “I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just going to suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer.” He continued as he makes eye contact with everyone.
“We just leave him here? We take off?” Shane looked at his partner.
“Man, I’m not sure I could live with that.”
Then, Adelaide heard Lori’s voice, talking to Shane. “It’s not your call, either one of you.”
Adelaide grunts as she stands up. She excused herself to Rick and Shane as they were blocking her way to the RV. She could feel everybody’s eyes on her. She walks inside and saw Jim sweating bullets. She sat beside him.
“Hi, Jim. How are you holding up?” She awkwardly asked.
“What do you think?” He stammered.
Adelaide nodded her head, cursing at herself. “We may not be close enough to each other, but I just want to say that I am grateful for everything that you’ve done for our group. I appreciate the help and support that you’ve provided for everyone, and I wanted to say goodbye. I guess.”
“Thank you for your kind words. What are they discussing outside?” He stuttered.
“They are considering your wishes. I just wanted to say that I am sorry for what you’re going through right now.” Adelaide’s eyes welled up, “I just–I wanted to say goodbye because I never had the chance to say my farewell to Amy, my parents, and my grandparents—even though they died before this. And I felt like I took them for granted. Might as well say my farewell until I can.” She flashed a melancholic smile.
“What do you want to say to them?”
“That I will be alright. I will probably experience the time I’ll get tired, but I promise them that I will never give up. That I miss them, and I love them.” She responded.
Jim touched her hand, “I’m sorry for the harsh words I said to you, Adelaide. Don’t worry. Your messages will be sent to them, I promise you that. Live a long life, Adelaide.”
Adelaide beamed at the dying man in front of her, the same time, her tears fall.
The van creaked a little, and someone cleared their throat behind her. She quickly wipes the tears off her face, rose from her seat, and walks past her brother and his partner. She exited the van and walked towards Daryl, a scowl on his face.
“What?”
Adelaide managed to gather all her courage and utter the thoughts into words. “Can I hitch a ride with you?”
Daryl stared at her like she was a madman. “What? You on a quarrel with Chinaman?” He glared as Adelaide rolled her eyes.
“Again, he is Korean. Come on, just answer the question. Yes or yes?”
Daryl’s eyes are glaring, “Just keep your mouth shut.” Adelaide forced a smile on her face and mouthed thank you. The younger Dixon hissed and walked to his vehicle.
Rick and Shane are struggling with lifting Jim just a few steps away from a massive tree. Adelaide strides into the van to grab her bag, and just right on time, Glenn came out from the restroom.
A look of puzzlement crossed Glenn’s face when he saw Adelaide with her bag on her back. “Where are you going?”
Adelaide bit her inner cheeks, “I will be hitching a ride with Daryl in his car. He’s, uh, alone. Might as well keep him some company.” She taps her right foot rapidly.
“Are you mad at me?”
Adelaide shook her head immediately, “No! Why would you ever think that?” She faked a smile. “Just wanted to be with someone that is—”
“Not me. You are trying to avoid me. Great.” Glenn cuts her explanation off. Before Adelaide could protest, “It’s fine. Maybe we need to keep a distance from each other, right?”
Adelaide couldn’t let a word out of her mouth. Glenn totally misunderstood her actions, “I just thought that you—” Glenn lifts his hand, telling her to stop.
“There’s no need for that, Adelaide.” Glenn crouches down and takes off the anklet that Adelaide gifted to him on his ankle. “I figured your new best friend might need this,” He handed the jewellery to her.
Adelaide clenched her fists, drawing in a breath, hoping the feeling would pass quickly. She harshly took the anklet from his hand and sprinted to where Daryl’s car. She slammed the door loudly and threw her bag on the back seat.
Daryl opens and closes his mouth several times before forming words. “The hell happened to you?”
“Had an encounter with a douche.”
A few minutes after, Daryl got out of the car—so did the others to pay respect and to say goodbye to Jim. Adelaide did not. Her reason was she already said what she wanted to say. It took them almost ten minutes before they decided to go.
Adelaide had a last glimpse of Jim as the car she was in passed the tree where Jim was lying. He wouldn’t be able to feel pain anymore. She convinced herself.
Adelaide found herself watching the tree dances as they passed by. During the entire trip, she and Daryl never utter a word towards each other. She kept her promise, heh. Daryl focuses on the road, but he could not put into words why the Asian man and the cop’s sister are not talking. As far as he knows, the duo was inseparable.
As for Adelaide, she could feel Daryl glance at her and back to the road. This was her last straw. “You keep stealing glances. What do you want to ask?”
Daryl lands his eyes on the maiden next to him then back to the road. “What the hell happened between you and the Chinaman?” Gosh, he’s acting like a teenage gossiper.
“Again, Glenn is Korean.”
“You get my point,”
Adelaide gulped, “Misunderstanding. I was childish. He got pissed. He gave the anklet back to me, and I got offended. End of the story.” Adelaide forced a smile.
“You were immature, and he was stupid,” Adelaide gasps at his harsh words. He may be correct, but there’s no need to state the obvious, “What, am I wrong?” Daryl snapped.
Adelaide grimaced and didn’t answer Daryl. Daryl smirked as he noticed Adelaide pursed her lips into a pout, she certainly looks adorable.
The car in front of them–which is droved by T-Dog stops, and so did their engine. Adelaide swivels her head to Daryl. “Are we there yet?”
“I supposed so—we’ll continue our talk later,” Daryl said, leaving the car without waiting for her to respond.
Adelaide chuckle. “Yes, Father.” She got out of the car, slipping her bag onto her body. The buzzing of the flies was the first thing she heard. Several dead walkers lay on the ground, and some were about to come to them.
The entire group heads to the door of the vicinity, covering their noses with their hands. The smell of the walker’s body is so strong that Adelaide believes it can be the reason for her death.
Adelaide stood behind the others as Shane and Rick try to open the roll-up doors, but they didn’t move. They pound at the door. Still, nothing happened.
“There is nobody here.” T-Dog worded as everyone shut their mouths.
“Then why are these shutters down?” Rick spat.
Adelaide rolls her eyes, “So what now? We’ll miraculously wait for someone to open up the doors?”
Daryl warned them and shouted walkers, then afterwards killed it. Adelaide heard the children crying. “You led us into a graveyard!” He accused Rick.
Adelaide glances at the camera. Because of the sun going down, it is easy to know if a CCTV is recording or not. She could still hear them bickering, her eyes still on the tiny white camera on the wall.
Then suddenly it moves, “Wait,” She looks back, and Rick stood behind her. “Did you saw it? The camera moves!” Her heart beats like a drum, a smile appears on her face.
“The camera! It moved.” Rick announced to the group.
Dale replies, “You two imagined it.”
Adelaide shakes her head, “No, he didn’t, Dale. I saw it too. It really moved, I swear!” She looks at the older adult, almost begging him to believe her.
Shane argued with Rick, telling him that it is an automated device and that no one was inside the building. Dale held both of Adelaide’s arms, “I’m sorry, Adelaide.”
Adelaide’s blood boils; she breaks free from Dale’s grasp and walks toward the camera. “Hey, you asshole, whoever you are! Open the fucking doors!”
Rick slams his hand on the shutters, “I know you’re in there. I know you can hear me. Please, we’re desperate.”
Adelaide hears her brother telling the others to get into the cars. “Please, just–just let us in. I’m begging you.” Adelaide wipes the liquid running off her face. She couldn’t differentiate between her tears and her sweat.
“Please help us. We have women, children. No food, hardly any gas left. We have nowhere else to go.” Rick practically begged, not sure if he was really talking to someone on the other side.
Adelaide sat on the floor. Lori was talking to her husband, convincing him that they have to go. Adelaide facepalms, she closes her eyes, and the tears swept off quickly.
“Hey, Adi. Get up. We have to go.” Glenn carefully touches Adelaide’s wrist. She looks back and saw Rick dragged out of the shutters by Shane.
She sent daggering stares at the camera. “Whoever you are, I hope your conscience won’t let you sleep at night!”
•─────⋅☾ 𝔭𝔥𝔬𝔢𝔫𝔶𝔵𝔳𝔦 ☽⋅─────•