Thank you for the 1k!
I'm so pleased to see this story grow and see you all as I struggle to continue lmao. But it means so much to me. I love you guys! As this book comes to an end, I think of how you all helped me to continue.
So thank you for giving me a chance and supporting me until the end.
***
Willow doubled over, leaning against a tree as she cried. The farm no longer stood, and the others were nowhere to be seen. Only she and Daryl stood on the side of a lonely road, far from anyone. Willow feared the others to be dead, including Jodie. That pain took hold of her, and she could no longer keep it in. She begged Daryl to pull over, and after some time, he did so. As soon as the motorcycle stopped, Willow wiggled from the passenger seat and stumbled towards the very tree she now leaned against.
Daryl stood awkwardly beside her, watching Willow with grief in his blue eyes. There wasn't much he could do this time around. His thoughts wandered back to Rick and Shane, then Carl and Sophia, and eventually the others. If they were all gone, what else is there? That feeling of survivors' guilt may eat them both whole. Still, Daryl held a candle to the hope that everyone had made it out.
"It is all gone," Willow sobbed, "All of it. Fucking gone."
"We don't know that," Daryl states. "If any thin' - those sum of bitches got out and is somewhere out there lookin' for us."
Willow raised her head to gaze through the thick tears blurring her vision. She wanted to agree with him, believe that to be true, but her faith vanished. The herd wasn't typical, and Willow could only guess what happened. She remembered screams, someone asking for help through the growls. Yet, they chose to leave to save themselves. Back on that farm, someone precious to them may be a walker by now—someone like Jodie or Carol.
"Listen," Daryl placed one hand on Willow's shoulder blade and the other on her shoulder. He forced her to stand straight with a soft expression, turning Willow to face him fully. His hand that once held her back sat on her temple, rubbing sweaty hair from her damp face. "We go to the highway and see if they are there; if they aren't, we can wait for a little. Someone has to be there."
Willow looked at Daryl with utmost conviction. Usually, Dixon kept the notion of everything working out. His hunches were hardly wrong, and things tend to work out in mysterious ways. If only Willow could think like him. Assume optimism in a world full of terrible surprises. Their luck could only go so far, and Dale's death seemed to hint at that.
"Get yourself together, huh?" Dixon pats her arm before taking her hands and guiding her back to his motorcycle. He could already hear the distant growls from walkers growing closer. There is no more time to sit and mourn what could have been. Willow wiped her nose with her sleeve and carefully crawled onto the back of the bike with her bow on her shoulder. Daryl's crossbow sat on the front of his handlebars, where a makeshift hook for the weapon had been placed.
The motorcycle's engine quickly roared to life, and Daryl kick-started just in time. A small group of walkers fell from behind the trees, and as the pair moved away, Willow searched their deceased faces. Not recognizing one familiar face.
***
Along their journey, the pair saw a curious SUV driving as if the motorist hadn't learned the basics of operating a motor vehicle. Willow pointed out the blood smeared across the back window and how the SUV reminded her of the one back on the farm. After the SUV stopped, Daryl and Willow were greeted by Maggie and Glenn. The pair looked worse for wear but were just as glad to see Dixon and Hunter. They had little to no hope that anyone made it out alive. So, Daryl encouraged the couple to follow them back to the highway. At least the four had each other, and if no one else made it, they weren't alone wholly.
Willow squeezed Daryl's midsection as the sun signaled mid-morning. The highway drew closer, and she could already see the pile up on the road leaving Atlanta. Neither individual spoke as they searched their surroundings. At first, they couldn't see any moving bodies, but Daryl is the first to point out something up ahead. Then they saw people standing in a circle, their people; it didn't take them long to hear Daryl's engine. And Jodie quickly stepped forward from the group, waving her arms above her head frantically.
The motorcycle and SUV drove over the grassy section to keep the opposite way lanes separate, and before Daryl could come to a complete stop, just like before, Willow jumped from behind Dixon. Tears took hold of her bottom brim, and she could barely contain the joyful sobs that left her lips. She stressed the worst. Willow retained existence because of Jodie, who stood beside a cheek-stained Sophia and an anxious Aya.
The two sisters ran into each other's arms, crying as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Losing the only family Willow had left - nearly broke her heart, and she knew she could never be the same. Stepping back, the eldest Hunter embraced Jodie's face with her hands, holding her still so she could get a good look. Their faces were tinged, sweaty, and bloody. But neither cared. Legend jumped exactly between them, oblivious to the situation at hand. All the German Shepard cared about was Willow arriving. His new owner gave him rough rubs behind his ears, and he lapped at the moisture upon her face, giving Willow a reason to chuckle lightly.
Sophia was next to hug Willow, crying into her chest. Carol's death stung the little girl. Her hands shook, recalling her mother's screams. She dreaded the idea of Willow also being dead, which put so much weight onto her tiny shoulders. Willow kissed Sophia's hair, blessed to see her alive. And while they spoke brief emotional and incoherent words, Jodie strode over to Daryl.
Before he could warn her to keep her hands to herself, the youngest Hunter threw those arms around him and cried for a few moments.
"I thought you both were gone forever." Whimpered Jodie into his shoulder, gripping the back of Merle's old kutte. Daryl wasn't sure what to do or say, but he accepted the hug the best he knew how. Deep down, he, too, felt relieved to see everyone alive. Well, just about everyone.
Once the group greeted the others with tearful happiness, they all stood with their respective loved ones. Counting each head.
Lori. Carl. Rick. T-Dog. Daryl. Glenn. Hershel. Maggie. Beth. Jodie. Sophia. Aya. Willow.
Shane, Andrea, Carol, Jimmy, and Patricia were missing from the group.
"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl questioned, quickly noticing Carol's absence.
"We're the only ones who made it so far," Rick spoke with a breathless sigh, holding Carl close.
Daryl's expression instantly dropped. Jodie lowered her gaze as it did so, swallowing with some difficulty. She knew this time would come, and she'd have to explain her failed attempt of keeping everyone alive. The guilt tore deep into her brain.
"Shane?" Lori questioned. Possibly the only one who seemed concerned about Rick's best friend. Rick swiveled his head towards his wife, unable to speak the truth about what happened on that field. He shook his head to break the news, giving Lori a moment to reflect on what she had said to him before his passing.
Did she feel mournful that the violent man now lay cold like ice, or did she feel guilt for not saying more to him?
"Andrea?" Glenn continued to ask questions.
"I saw her when I pulled up with the truck; then, from what I could tell, she went down before I could do anything," T-Dog spoke, leaning against Otis's driver-side door. One arm hung lazily over the top while his other hand gripped the sharp edges.
"Patricia?" Hershel asked with eagerness. Praying Otis's wife still lived out there somewhere.
"They got her too," Beth spoke with a quiver, holding Maggie's hand and pressing her side against Hershel's embrace. "Took her right in front of me, I was - I was holdin' onto her, daddy, she just -" Beth couldn't finish the scene that had unfolded just the night before. The memory of Patricia being torn into pieces is too much to bear. Hershel pulled her head into his chest so she could cry. Rubbing her hair as she mourned. Then, after some time, Beth lifted her head, and through the tears, she asked;
"What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"
"He was in the R.V. It got overrun." Informed Rick, sending Beth into another fit of cries.
Daryl gripped the strap of his crossbow, licking his lips with some uncertainty.
"Carol?" Daryl finally queried, placing his roaming sights on Jodie.
Jodie watched Daryl, shifting her weight while gripping her bloody bat. She could barely speak the words, but Dixon had already put most of the story together once Jodie placed her glossy gaze on him.
"I tried to save her and Sophia from a group of walkers.....they got to her before I could," Jodie lowered her stare, sniffling softly.
Daryl rubbed the tip of his nose with some aggression. Mixed emotions crossed his face. Nonetheless, he kept his mind to himself. Beside him, Willow held a crying Sophia close, lowering her head in sadness. Carol shouldn't have died; she should have been here with everyone else. Sophia just came back after being missing for weeks. How could fate do this to them?
What made the matter worse was the way Carol spoke; it was as if she knew what would happen to her.
"You for sure saw Andrea?" Aya pressed, placing a supportive hand onto Jodie's shoulder.
"There were walkers everywhere," Lori glanced at T-Dog, confirming what she saw back on the farm.
"Did you see her?" Willow asked in a stern tone.
"I'm gonna go back," Daryl starts, but Rick shakes his head.
"No."
"We can't just leave her," Daryl argues.
"We don't even know if she's there," Lori replies, running her fingers through her brunette hair.
"She isn't there. She isn't," Rick spoke with some annoyance, winking through the morning sun. "She's somewhere else, or she's dead. There's no way to find her."
"So we're not even gonna look for her?" Willow scoffed, "Dale would want us to look for her."
"Willow is right," Glenn agrees. "We should do something."
"We gotta keep moving. Walkers are crawling all over here," Rick ignores Willow and Glenn. An unusual action he performed. Usually, Rick listened to possible ideas and negotiated all options. Now, however, Rick shot down their concerns. Not even giving them the time of day.
"I say we head East," T-Dog spoke up, still on that idea from earlier, just before Jodie and Lori nearly jumped out of the truck to look for their loved ones. And as he spoke, a lone walker that had been wandering the highway for days came stumbling towards the group. Slowly but surely.
"Stay off the main road," Daryl agrees, loading his crossbow with a bolt arrow, and moving past the others. He lifted the semi-heavy weapon and aimed for the walker's forehead with a grunt. "The bigger the road, the more walkers, more assholes like this one. I got him."
***
The group rode East as T-Dog had suggested on the back roads of Georgia. The temperature dipped as the day went on, and there were still no signs of life or a place to go to stay safe. No one knew where to belong, and no one could put forward more information. With the farm gone, the group moved aimlessly. Confused and exhausted.
Willow held her chin on Daryl's shoulder as they led the group along the quiet roads. Finally, before five o'clock in the evening, Rick honked the horn of Hershel's pickup wagon. Daryl stopped immediately, and so did the two cars behind him. One-by-one, each member crawled out of their vehicles and motorcycle, shivering and searching the trees for any danger.
"You out?" Daryl pointed his question toward Rick as he helped Willow from the passenger end of his bike. She had complained before that her leg began to bother her, and Daryl worried the injury back in the woods caused permanent damage - trauma Hershel hadn't seen.
"Running on fumes," Rick informs while stepping beside them, appearing rigorous. The others followed, looking to Grimes for an answer.
Legend took the time to relieve himself near a few bushes after Jodie helped the dog from the bed of Otis's truck.
"We can't stay here," Maggie hissed.
"We can't all fit in one car," Glenn adds.
"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning," Rick tells them, wiping the sweat from his forehead. The pressure is getting to him.
"Spend the night here?" Aye raised one brow towards her hairline. The Filipino woman lived on the roads, running and covering in abandoned homes for a while. It didn't seem ideal to stay in the middle of nowhere.
"I'm freezing," Carl whines. Lori shrugged off her coat to place it on her son's tiny shoulders. Jodie does the same for Sophia since she wore two layers underneath the jacket. Willow tugs Sophia close after helping the pair place the rather large fabric onto her body, rubbing Sophia's right arm to warm her up.
"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori reassured her son and then Sophia.
"You go out lookin' for firewood; stay close. we've only got so many arrows; how are you doing on ammo?" Daryl counts his arrows and Willow's in silence, not impressed with the amount the two had left. What little they had left put together wouldn't last a week.
Rick answers coolly, admitting he suffered from the lack of gear. His feet led him pacing while T-Dog took on keeping watch.
"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out," Maggie groaned.
Hershel shot his eldest daughter a look, scolding her with a simple glare. "Watch your mouth. Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."
"All right, we'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on," Rick tells them swiftly, moving his hands as if he were manic.
"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas," Maggie steps forward, her shotgun in hand.
"No, we stay together. God forbid something happens, and people get stranded without a car."
"Come on, Rick," Glenn couldn't believe how uptight Grimes had become after the farm. To him, the group always managed, and if Rick would put his faith in them like he always did, everything could work out. "We are stranded now."
"Look," Rick began, warning in his voice. Unable to hide his emotions any longer. "I know it looks bad; we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure - I really wasn't - but we did. We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."
Willow threw Daryl a suspicious glance, noticing Rick's sanity slowly slipping. A short silence fell upon the group until Glenn again spoke to get their leader to budge.
"Rick, look around, okay?" Glenn spoke softly, not to trigger the man's pride. "There are walkers everywhere, and they're migrating or something -"
"There's gotta be a place not just where we hole up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a LIFE for each other," Rick threw up his hands, spit fell from his mouth. Blue eyes angered by the loss of his friend and their short-term home. "I know it's out there. We just have to find it."
"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves thinking that was safe," Maggie spoke with reason, pleading with Rick with a simple gaze to see what they were witnessing.
"We won't make that mistake again," Hershel nods his head. He was the only person to agree with Rick and support their leader's desire. Any way to keep structure and Rick grounded.
Rick gave their surroundings a quick look before noticing an arrangement behind him. Stone walls had been built to keep the river up ahead flowing many years ago. It looked like it had been left to decay over time, like a castle out of its time. The water flowing down the edges gave off a relaxing melody, and the stone walls surrounding it could give them cover.
"We'll make camp tonight over there. Get on the road at the break of day."
Willow tugged at Daryl's sleeve to gain his attention. "Does this feel right to you?" she mumbled, knitting her brows. Daryl shot her a look yet chose not to say his opinions.
"What if walkers come through, or another group like Randal's?" Beth walked closer to Rick, genuinely more concerned about the humans than the walkers that stalked the vast unseen nature.
"You know I found Randal, right?" Daryl finally spoke, tearing his wandering glances at Willow to talk about what they had witnessed earlier. "He had turned, but he wasn't bit."
Rick said nothing.
"How's that possible?" Beth asked.
"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori challenged.
Still, nothing.
"Shane killed Randal," Daryl answers truthfully, "Just like he always wanted."
"And then the heard got him?"
A scene of unknowing dawned on the group. So many strings didn't add up; this infection or disease seemed to send everything they knew out the window. When the group understood at least presumed the surface, nature threw a curveball.
Rick, in his dreadful silence, gave each member a sorrowful glance. His secret is about to be revealed.
"....we are all infected..."
Every set of eyes grew ten times their size; a sharp knife dug into their hearts. But Rick wasn't done. Subsequently, pressing his chapped lips together, his squinty orbs fell onto Jodie and Willow. At first hesitant, but he continues nevertheless;
"Everyone is infected, except for Jodie and Willow."
All heads spun towards the Hunter sisters, who quickly shrunk underneath their shocked gapes. The news is too much to fathom. Willow held Sophia closer, glancing up at Daryl as if she had betrayed him.