ACT TWO ; CHAPTER NINETEEN
✎ . . . we're all infected
"—𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄." Lori spoke as the trio stepped inside Hershel's living room, shutting the door behind them. "And if Randall comes back, we're going to need you here." She finished, glancing around the room with a harsh glare. Camila immediately went over to Charlotte, scooping the young girl up into her arms.
"You alright?" Cam asked quietly. Charlotte nodded, a small smile on her face.
Daryl looked around the room, noticing two people still missing from the group. "Rick and Shane ain't back?" Lori shook her head, nervously biting at her thumb nail.
"We heard a shot."
"Maybe they found Randall." Lori suggested.
Camila bit her lip, setting Charlotte down on the couch. "No, we just found him."
"Is he back in the shed?" Maggie piped up.
"He was a walker."
"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked calmly.
"No, weird thing is... he wasn't bit."
"But his neck was snapped." Daryl added on.
"So, he fought back." Patricia said before looking at Daryl for confirmation, he nodded.
"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. and Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together."
"Would you please just get back out there and find Rick and Shane?" Lori pleaded desperately. Daryl nodded his head.
"Sure thing."
—But as soon as him, Andrea, Glenn, and Camila made it back out onto the porch, the massive herd of walkers was already at the fence, and the fence wasn't holding.
"I'll go get the guns," Andrea announced before hurrying inside. By now the whole group stood on Hershel's porch.
"Maybe they're just passing by? Like the herd on the highway, we could just stay inside?" Glenn suggested.
"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about—" Daryl shut down the idea. "—herd that size will tear the house down." Camila finished for him.
Lori ran out of the house frantically, "Carl's gone he—he was upstairs. I can't find him anywhere." She sounded almost on the verge of tears.
"Maybe he's hiding?"
Lori shook her head, "He's supposed to be upstairs; I'm not leaving without my boy." Carol set her hand on Lori's shoulder, gently assuring her that they would find Carl.
"I can go out, maybe he's by the RV. or the barn." Camila suggested.
"Alone?!" Glenn exclaimed, sounding slightly angry.
"I'll be fine." Camila argued as Maggie and Hershel passed out guns.
"Nope. No way. You aren't going period, let alone by yourself."
"Fuck you, I can take care of myself. I'm not going to just sit back and relax while everyone else is helping." Camila glared at Glenn, stepping away from him.
"Y'all can go if you want. I'm staying." Hershel interrupted.
"You gonna take 'em all on?"
Hershel nodded. "We got guns, we got cars."
"Kill as many as we can. Then use the cars to drive the rest off of the farm." Hershel sent Andrea a grateful nod as everyone got ready. "Hell with it. I'm in." Cam agreed. She wasn't ready to lose her home, not yet. Especially when she had Charlotte to worry about.
"Are you serious?" Daryl asked, looking between the three like they were insane.
"This is my farm. I'll die here." Hershel deadpanned.
"Alright. It's as good a night as any." Camila tossed Daryl a box of ammo, "Be careful." Daryl caught the box with ease, sending the girl one last nod before hopping off the porch.
"Cam, I'll keep an eye on Charlotte for you. I promise I'll keep her safe." Lori assured the mother, squeezing her shoulder in a comforting manner. Camila sent Lori a grateful nod and a quick 'thank you'.
The group dispersed into vehicles, Daryl on his own, Glenn and Maggie, Andrea and T-dog, and finally Jimmy with Camila in the RV while the rest stayed back at the house. She noticed a good chunk of the herd going towards the barn which was engulfed in red hot flames.
Jimmy was leaned out the driver side window, shooting any walkers who got close enough while Camila leaned out of one of the side windows, doing the same. Though she missed a good amount, she was definitely getting better at shooting.
"Yo! Must've been Rick or Shane who started that fire. Maybe they're trying to get out back! Why don't you circle around?" Daryl yelled to the pair over the loud groans from the dead and the added on chorus of gunshots. "Got it!" Jimmy got back into the RV, driving towards the barn.
Sure enough, Rick and Carl were in the loft. Rick shouted orders at Jimmy, telling him where to park the RV. Camila holstered her gun and pulled herself through the hole in the bathroom ceiling. The hole that Dale had made on the highway to help her and Andrea.
Rick held onto Carl while the two made their way onto the roof of the RV where Camila now stood. "You okay?" She asked, Rick nodded.
Walkers swarmed around the RV like moths to a flame. "Jimmy come on! You have to get out!" Camila yelled.
"I can't there's too many!"
Camila reached her hand down by the driver side window, Jimmy grabbed onto it but before she could pull him up it was too late. The walkers had gotten into the RV and Jimmy was pulled out of her grasp in an instant. All she could hear was his screams and cries for help.
"Camila! Let's go!" Rick shouted, snapping the girl back into reality. Once Carl was down the ladder, Camila followed, then Rick. The three circled around the RV, just as blood splattered all over the windshield. Rick grabbed Camila's hand, pulling her behind him. "This way!"
The two had hardly talked at all since Rick's little 'confession' about a week ago, yet her stomach twisted at the gesture, but not in a bad way. A small but noticeable electric shock spread through her hand when it met Rick's. Not the time, she had to tell herself.
"Go through the woods! Now, hurry!" The trio moved quickly through the woods, making sure to be as careful and quiet as possible until they made it back to Hershel's house. Everybody was already making their way off the farm. Camila could only pray that Lori stuck to her word.
A walker came up behind Hershel, about to take a bite out of his neck right before Rick shot it in the head, letting go of Camila's hand. Camila almost frowned. "Hershel, where's Lori? Did you see Lori?" Rick asked immediately as Camila took out her knife, just in case any of the dead got too close.
"I don't know what happened, Rick. They just keep coming. It's like a plague, they're everywhere!"
"Lori! Did you see her?!" Rick ignored Hershel.
"No!"
"We have to go. Find mom and the others."
"That's my farm!" Hershel protested.
Rick grasped his shirt tightly, pulling him along. "Not anymore it's not!"
Camila flung open the car door, quickly climbing over so Hershel could get in. Rick and Carl sat up front and the second that Hershel shut the door behind him, they were speeding off of the farm.
"Did you see Glenn? Is he okay?" Camila asked hesitantly, unsure she wanted to know. Hershel only shook his head. The gesture caused her stomach to twist, not in the way it had when Rick held her hand. In a sickening, 'I'm gonna puke' way. If her last words to him were 'fuck you', she would never forgive herself.
After a little under an hour of driving, Rick parked the car in the middle of the highway, stepping out. Camila didn't move. Tears fell down her cheeks as she watched the sun begin to rise out of the dirty, blood covered window.
Now it had been at least twenty minutes of just sitting around, what felt like forever, before Camila's head perked up at the sound of Daryl's motorcycle followed by three other vehicles. In an instant Camila was out of the car, everyone began getting out of their vehicles, reuniting with their loved ones.
Charlotte jumped out of the blue truck, running straight into Camila's arms. "Hey, baby. Are you alright?" Camila gently grabbed Charlotte's face, checking for any injuries.
"That was scary," The toddler muttered, burying her face into her mother's neck.
"I know, I'm so sorry." Camila stroked Charlotte's hair, standing up with her arms still wrapped around the girl. Camila's glanced around the remaining group, her eyes landing on Glenn.
"You're okay." Glenn breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of his best friend. A smile broke out across Camila's features, "Oh God," Glenn slowly walked over, tears brimming in his eyes as he engulfed the girl and Charlotte in a tight hug. "I thought you were dead."
Camila laughed through her tears, "I told you I would be fine,"
"How'd you find everyone?" Rick questioned. "Well, those guys' taillights zigzagging all over the road—figured he had to be Asian driving like that." Glenn chuckled sarcastically, "Good one."
"Where's the rest of us?"
"We're the only ones who made it so far." Rick confirmed.
"Shane?" Rick shook his head. "Andrea?"
"She saved me and then I lost her." Carol spoke up.
"We saw her go down." T-dog put his head down.
"Patricia?" Hershel asked hesitantly. "They got her too. Took her right from me. I was holding on to her daddy, she just—" Beth choked out a sob.
"What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"
"He was in the RV. It got overrun." Rick said.
"I tried to get him out, but it was too late. I'm sorry, I tried." Camila explained, she felt guilty and responsible for his death. Maybe if she didn't leave him in there alone...
━━━━∞━━━━
𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐍, signaling for everyone to pull over. "You out of gas?" Daryl asked as everyone started getting out of their cars.
Camila glanced back at a sleeping Charlotte in the backseat before following suit and hopping out of her car.
"Running on fumes."
"We can't stay here." Maggie pointed out.
"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn chimed in, "We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning."
"Spend the night here?" Carol wrapped her cardigan tighter around herself.
"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori suggested as Rick handed carl his jacket.
"You go out lookin' for firewood, stay close. Only got so many arrows, how you guys doin' on ammo?" Daryl asked, looking between Camila and Rick.
"Not enough." Rick bit his lip at the same time Camila said, "Barely got any."
"Well we can't just sit here with out asses hangin' out." Maggie was getting agitated.
"Watch your mouth." Hershel scolded his oldest daughter sternly, "Now, 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."
"Glenn and I can go make a run now." Maggie suggested. "Try and scrounge up some gas." Rick shook his head.
"No. We stay together. God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car." Rick. shut down the idea immediately.
"Rick, we're stranded now..."
"I know it looks bad but we've all been through Hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I—I wasn't sure. I really wasn't—. But we did. Now we're together. We keep it that way." Rick spoke. "We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place." He assured the group.
Glenn hesitated before stepping forward, "Rick, look around, okay? There're walkers everywhere. 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. 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 at what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that, that was safe." Maggie argued. "We won't make that mistake again."
"We'll make camp tonight over there," Rick pointed to a spot under a bridge. "Get on the road
at the break of day."
Beth walked towards Rick, a worried look on her face. "What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?" She asked.
"You know we found Randall, right? He had turned, but he wasn't bit." Rick nodded slowly, deep in thought.
"How's that possible?"
"Rick, what the hell happened?"
"Shane killed Randall. Just like he always wanted to." Daryl confirmed with a salty tone.
"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked.
The air fell silent for a few seconds, everyone awaiting their leader's response.
"We're all infected."
"What?" Daryl exclaimed.
"At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it." Rick explained. Lori held Carl closer. Camila glanced over at Glenn who looked just as confused as everyone else.
"And you never thought to tell us?" Carol questioned angrily.
"Would it have made a difference?"
"You knew this whole time?"
"How could I have known for sure? You saw how crazy that mo—"
Glenn cut Rick off, "That isn't your call. Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told for the good of everyone." He argued.
Camila didn't know what to think of the situation. Her mind raced with a million and two different thoughts. The thought of inevitably becoming one of those things made her feel sick.
"Well, I thought it was best that people didn't know." Rick walked away leaving the group angry and confused.
A/N
so i originally wrote this book like 3 years ago
and tbh the non-capitalization was annoying me,
so i'm probably going to go back at some point and fix everything else. for now imma be lazy though<3