NOT A DEMOCRACY-011
Heading back towards the highway the group had let supplies for Sophia, Rick had asked Hershel to check over his daughter.
Matilda winced as Hershel's cold fingers pressed against her bruised neck. Lee was clutching her hand as he watched.
"Sorry, hon, I know how tender it is. You'll need to try not to talk for a few days." The elderly man said, feeling how swollen and tender her throat was. "The swelling will go down in a couple of days, yet your neck will still be tender."
Matilda nodded as Hershel examined her nose. It had stopped bleeding by morning and the pain became bearable. Blood covered her chin and neck and had soaked her shirt while some had dried on her temple.
Hershel walked away from.
the car, heading towards her father as Carl storm to his sister. He wrapped his arms around her waist, burning his head into her stomach.
"What's wrong, papillon?" She whispered, ignoring the elderly man's directions.
"Dad wouldn't go back for mom." Carl said, his voice muffled.
Matilda leaned down, pressing a kiss to his dark hair. "She'll find us. All of them will."
Suddenly a snarl from a walker alerted the six of them. Matilda snapped her head towards the sound before slipping out of the car and pulling the kids down.
Her father and Hershel came over, guns in hand as they pressed themselves against the car. The six of them waited for the walker to stumble passed the vehicle before shuffling towards the near.
"I don't know how much longer we can stay here." Hershel whispered.
Carl looked at their father. "I'm not leaving without mom."
"Me neither. I can't leave without Kelly and Lola." Violet added, clutching Tilly's hand.
"So we're just gonna walk away?" Rick whispered with urgency. "Not knowing, if my wife, your girls are still out there? How do we live with that?"
"You've only got one concern now—just one—just your children alive. Nature may be throwing us a curveball, but that law is still true." Hershel replied.
Rick kneeled down in front of his children and Violet, his hand encasing around his oldest child's. "Carl, Lee, Tilly, Vi, it's not safe here. I'm sorry. We'll—"
A motorcycle engine had cut their father off, the six of them snapped their heads towards the two cars and a motorcycle. Matilda smiled down at the three kids before looking at her father and Hershel.
The six hurried over the car where the group had parked their cars. Matilda watched as her mother flung herself out of the car she was in and ran towards them. Carl and Lee sprinted towards her, meeting her halfway as Violet hurried towards her sister and Lola.
Rick dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around his sons and wife as Matilda stayed standing where she was. A hand was placed on her shoulder making her turned towards the person and saw Daryl.
"Ya alright?" He asked, his voice laced with concern as his eyes scanned over her.
"Yeah." The dark haired girl said, her voice coming out constrained. "I'm—I'm okay."
Daryl's fingers softly grazed her bruised throat, which caused her to flinch back harshly. "Who did this to ya?"
Matilda shook her head. "It doesn't matter."
The redneck stared at her for a moment before nodding. She took the risk by wrapping her arms around the man's neck, resting her aching head on his shoulder.
Daryl stiffen slightly before relaxing and wrapped his arms around her waist. His hand lied in the middle of her back, rubbing up and down ever so slightly.
"Tilly?" Her mother's voice called out for her.
The pair pulled apart, Matilda looked at her mother who was standing with her arms open.
"C'here, baby," her mother said making the dark haired girl hurry into her awaiting arms. "Oh, look at you."
Lori's hand cuddled the back of her daughter's head, as she muttered softly how glad Matilda was safe. When they pulled away, her mother cupped her blood-covered face with a worried expression.
"Where's you find everyone?" Her father asked looking around the remaining group.
"Well, those guys' tail lights zigzagging all over the road—figured he had to be Asian, driving like that." Daryl replied, motioning towards Glenn who was hugging Violet and Lee.
Glenn chuckled. "Good one."
"Where's the rest of us?" The redneck asked.
Her father glanced at the man. "We're the only ones who made it so far."
Lori looked over her daughter's shoulder at her husband. "Shane?"
Rick shook his head as Matilda stiffen in her mother's arms. Lori tighten her arms around the girl, pressing a kiss on her forehead.
"Andrea?" Lola asked, looking at her leader.
"She saved me, then I lost her." Carol replied.
T-dog furrowed his brows. "We saw her go down."
"Patricia?" Hershel spoke up.
Beth shook her head, crying. "They got her too, took her right in front of me. I was—I was holdin' onto her, daddy. She just—what about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"
"He was in the RV." Violet answered, moving back towards her sister. "It got overrun."
"You definitely saw Andrea?"
"There were walkers everywhere—Matilda!" Lori started, but her daughter collapsing to the ground made her cry out.
A wave of dizziness hit Matilda like a
train. She had collapsed to the ground with her mother following before placing her face into Lori's neck. Her eyes felt extremely heavy as Rick and Daryl kneeled next to her.
"Don't let her fall asleep." Hershel ordered. "She had an concussion."
"We got to keep moving. There have been walkers crawling all over here." Rick said, looking at his daughter in concern before glancing at Daryl. "Can you carry her to the car?"
"Yeah," The redneck said as he picked up the girl bridal style.
"I say head east." T-dog suggested as Daryl placed Tilly in the back seat of the car.
Lee and Carl sat on each other of her, theirs encasing hers. Daryl looked at the two boys with a serious expression.
"Ya two make sure she stays awake, ya hear me?"
"Gotcha, Daryl." Lee said, nodding. "We'll make sure."
Daryl gave one last at Matilda before walking towards his bike and picked up his crossbow. "Stay off the main roads. The bigger the roads, the more walkers, more assholes like this one. I got him."
The group decided to only take two cars and the motorcycle. The Grimes and Jacksons all crammed into the red vehicle while the Greenes, T-dog, and Lola were in the lime green one. Carol and Daryl were on the motorcycle.
An hour had past since the group left the highway. Matilda seem to be a little bit better after having a conversation with her brothers. Though she was still drowsy. Rick had let her sleep after her having a intelligent conversation.
Soon the engine of the car started to sputter making her father hit the steering wheel.
"Damn."
"What's wrong?" Her mother asked.
"We're been riding red for the past hour." Rick replied.
Kelly leaned forwards slightly. "Better make sure we don't get forget."
Her father honked the horn causing the group ahead of them come to a stop. After waking up Matilda, everyone climbed out of their cars and circled up.
Lee stand in his sister's arms, shivering for the cold. Matilda rubbing her hand over his chest, trying to warm him up.
"You out?" Daryl asked, glancing at the dark haired girl.
"Running on fumes." Her father replied.
"We can't stay here." Maggie added.
"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn said.
Rick looked at his group. "We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning."
"Spend the night here?" Carol questioned, furrowing her brows.
Violet shivered, where she was standing into her sister's arms. "I'm freezing."
Lee and Carl nodded in agreement as their mother and sister tried to keep them warm. Matilda shrugged off her jacket, her father and Kelly doing the same, wrapping it around her younger brother.
"We'll build a fire." Her mother told the kids.
"You go out looking for firewood, stay close." Daryl instructed. "Tilda and I got so many arrows. How ya going on ammo?"
"Not enough." Her father answered, pacing like a caged animal.
Maggie frowned. "We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out."
"Watch you mouth." Hershel warned. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."
"Alright, we'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on." Her father announced, firmly.
"Glenn, Kelly, and I can make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." Maggie suggested.
"No, we stay together." Rick held up his hand. "God forbid something happens and people get stranded with a car."
With strained weak voice, Matilda spoke. "Dad, we're—we're stranded now."
"Save your voice, Tilly." Hershel said.
"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worst, 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."
Glenn looked around at his group before addressing his leader. "Rick, look around. Okay? There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something."
"There's gotta be a place not just where we hold up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other. I know it's out there. We just have to find it." Rick exclaimed.
"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we never be sure. For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe." Maggie countered.
Hershel shook his head. "We won't make that mistake again."
"We'll make camp tonight over there, get on the road at the break of day." Her father said, pointing into the woods.
"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asked Daryl who glanced at her.
Beth stepped closer to her leader with a desperate expression. "What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?"
"You know I found Randall, right?" Daryl added, looking at Rick. "He had turned, but he wasn't bit."
"How the hell is that possible?" Lola spoke up, frowning.
Matilda and her father made eye contact. Something flickered in his blue eyes as they trailed down to her bruised throat.
"Tell them, dad." She said, hoarsely.
Lori glanced at her injured daughter before turning her dark eyes towards the father of her children.
"What the hell happened, Rick? What happened to my daughter?"
"Shane killed Randall." Daryl concluded. "Just like he always wanted to."
"Then the herd got him?" Kelly asked.
Matilda stared at her dad, whispering. "Dad."
"We're all infected." Her father finally said.
Daryl frowned. "What?"
"At the C.D.C, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."
The redneck let out a sigh as he turned away from the group. Carol crossed her arms over her chest, stepping Rick.
"And you never said anything?"
"Would it have made a difference?"
"You knew this whole time?" Glenn questioned again.
"How could I have known for sure? You saw how crazy that mo—"
Glenn glared at his leader. "That isn't your call. Okay, when Tilly and I found out about the walkers in the barn, we told, for the good of everyone."
"Well, I thought it best that people didn't know." Matilda's father replied before he stormed away. Lori glanced at her children as she walked after her husband.
***
Matilda sat in front of the fire with Lee leaning against her chest, watching Daryl fiddle with the fire.
"We're not safe with him—keeping something like that from us." Carol whispered, looking at the redneck. "Why did you need him? He's just gonna pull you down."
Daryl shook his head. "Nah, Rick's done alright by me."
"You're his henchmen." The woman scoffed, quietly. "And I'm a burden. You deserve better."
Matilda shifted slightly as she listened to the conversation between the redneck and woman.
"What do you want?" Daryl asked, irritated.
"A man of honor."
"My dad was honor." Matilda cut in, defending her father. "And don't ever forget it."
Daryl gave the girl a look of admiration as her protective instincts came out. Their eyes meet, hazel meeting blue, tiny smiles spread across the lips.
"I think we should take our chances." Maggie spoke up. She looked at her boyfriend.
"Don't be foolish. There's no food, no fuel, no ammo." Hershel said, dismissing what his daughter said.
Suddenly a ruffle of leaves alerted the group. Tilly stiffen, holding Lee tighter as her father appeared and another ruffle of leaves sounded.
"What's that?" Violet asked, looking up at her sister.
"Could be anything." Daryl replied, standing up. He took off his crossbow, getting it ready. "Could be a raccoon, could be a possum."
"Walker." Glenn suggested.
"We need to leave. What are we waiting for?" Carol said with urgency in her voice.
"Which way?" Glenn asks.
"It came from over there." Maggie held her gun in a direction.
"Back from where we came." Beth said.
Maggie nodded. "Yeah."
"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark. We don't have the vehicles. No one's traveling on foot." Rick spoke as another branch snapped in the distance.
Hershel held onto his youngest daughter's arm. "Don't panic."
Maggie shook her head in distress. "No, I'm not—I'm not sitting here waiting for another herd to blow through. We need to move, now."
"No one is going anywhere." Rick says, firmly.
"Do something." Carol demanded.
Matilda's eyes widen as her father's face turned with rage. Lee sank into his sister, trying to make himself smaller as their father exploded.
"I am going something! I'm keeping this group together. Alive. I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this! I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake! You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised is, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, choked my daughter until she was unconscious, led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave no choice. He was my friend but he came after me. After my daughter."
Matilda pulled a crying Lee closer to her, burying her face into his chocolate brown hair.
"My hands are clean. Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe—maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe—maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you—why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a postcard. Go on, there's the door. You can do better? Let's see how far you get."
Nobody spoke.
"No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight—you're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore."