Not much time had elapsed since the group left the C.D.C., and their next destination was Fort Benning at Shane's insistence. Leaving the nursing home was easier than going into it, which made a lot of sense since they decided to leave during the morning the safest time of day.
They made a necessary pit stop to refuel their vehicles and gather essential supplies. Along with Rick decided that they were going to drop one of the cars so that there weren't that many things on their trail. The relentless repetition of the sun beating down on them made the passage of time blur.
Daryl stumbled upon an abandoned motorcycle, a fortunate find amid their preparations. As everyone fueled their vehicles, ensuring they had enough to reach the next gas station, Lori observed Natalie. Natalie, clad in the same clothes she had worn for the past couple of days, had a buttoned-up shirt tied around her waist. Faith sensed a gradual departure of vitality from Natalie's demeanour over time.
Despite the shared experience at the C.D.C. and the unresolved argument, Natalie and Lori hadn't addressed the incident. Natalie emerged from the RV, a gun secured in her belt—now given to her by Rick, who had taken over the responsibility from Shane. Shane, unable to reclaim the firearm, found himself unable to have a private moment with Natalie.
"Are you finally getting in my car?" Shane questioned raising an eyebrow and grabbing the attention of the young women.
Natalie turned toward Shane, surprise evident on her face as his voice cut through the air. "Why, want me to?" She crossed her arms, tilting her head ever so slightly, her gaze fixed on Shane. A subtle smirk played on her lips, a challenge in her eyes.
"Rick is clueless," Shane pointed out, a note of frustration in his voice. Natalie chuckled, shaking her head in disagreement. "Fort Benning is my first option... Wouldn't have lost people to it."
"Shane, don't blame Rick for something he couldn't control," Natalie defended Rick, her tone firm. Shane dipped his head, locking eyes with her as if trying to discern her thoughts. "Alright, let's settle in," Dale intervened, repeating the plea to diffuse the tension.
Nodding towards the RV, Shane followed Natalie as she finally yielded, walking up the stairs. He closed the RV door behind them, leaving Dale to watch the two disappear inside, settling into the booth.
The car ride stretched endlessly along the empty road. Natalie decided to close her eyes, lying down next to Shane. Curled up in the corner, her eyes were semi-closed, the slow attempt to fall asleep evident.
"It looks complicated," Andrea observed from across the table, watching Shane clean the inside of the pistol. His eyes lingered on Natalie's gun on the table, tempted to hide it from her, but he resisted, knowing she'd notice.
"The trick is getting all these pieces back together the same way. I can clean yours, show you how?" Shane suggested, taking out a grey pistol, and aiming it in front, Andrea's weapon. "Looks sweet."
"He gave it to me, my father," Andrea explained, laying back a bit on the table, finding comfort. "Just before Amy and I took off on our road trip. He said, 'Two girls on their own should be able to defend themselves.'"
Nodding in understanding, Shane continued, "Your father is a smart man. Look, it's a limited capacity. See, it only holds seven rounds."
"Oh jeez," Dale interjected, pulling them back into the conversation.
Natalie waited a moment, Shane tapping on her leg to wake her. Pretending to be fully asleep, she turned and rubbed her eyes, looking at Shane and nodding towards the view. Ahead of them, a traffic jam loomed, cars flipped and burned, a haunting scene left to dust with no signs of life.
Standing up on the RV; Natalie had patted Shane's back moving past him and ducking next to Glenn. The sounds of an engine were heard through the window of the RV. Daryl had ridden his back in their direction. "Ya see a way through?" Dale shouted over the rumbling of the engine.
Natalie ducked down with Glenn moving to the side a little so that they could sit next to each other. Holding a map in his hand trying to understand it. "Uh, maybe we should just go back." Turning his head and looking at Dale. "There's an interstate bypass-"
"We can't spare the fuel" Dale made his understand.
Shane ducked down leaning towards Dale but mostly Natalie since she was close to Glenn like they always were. Not listening he had started to slowly drive past the abandoned cars that were blocking the front way path. Daryl was in front guiding them through the clear path. With them passing all of the cars that had been abandoned with stuff inside of the car. It was the first time in a while this had all felt real.
Seeing everyday things turn into something utopian. Inside a lot of the cars laid bodies, it was hard to tell if they were Walkers or just dead. "Can we get through there?" Natalie questioned furrowing her eyebrows and turning to Dale.
Right at the top of a pin, smoke started steaming from the engine. Popping itself and sputtering out into the world. Now they were trapped again in another graveyard. Dale had opened the door getting down and out of the RV, Shane, Natalie, Glenn, Andrea and T-Dog had ducked down as well. Turning her head and squinting at the sun, Rick and Lori started to make their way over to the group interested in what was going on again.
"I told ya didn't I?" Dale said walking towards the front of the engine. "A thousand times dead in the water."
Natalie placed her pistol inside her belt. "Problem Dale?" Rick questioned tilting his head a little.
"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere." Dale sassed mostly irritated by the RV than at anyone. "With no hope of-- " He had cut himself off looking at Daryl go into the back of someone's car grabbing something. "Okay, that was dumb."
"If you can't find a radiator hose here..." He continued to look through someone's abandoned car. "There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find."
T-Dog started to walk not caring that there may be Walkers inside of the cars. "I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start."
"Maybe some water."
"Or food."
Lori pointed out the exact thing that Natalie was thinking about. "This is a graveyard." Her voice was laced in worry not knowing how to feel about the whole thing. This seemed to grab everyone's attention causing the group to turn to her. "I don't know how I feel about this."
"Come on, y'all...Just look around," T-Dog didn't listen needing something to drink. Natalie stared at her mom with her arms crossed before turning around and starting to walk forward.
Walking towards a red jeep close yet in the distance. Opening the door with a pull since it seemed to be jammed. Ducking to see more into it, there wasn't a Walker inside of this car, unlike the other's meaning it was just abandoned. Reaching her hand for the glovebox, cigarettes were lying there she grabbed placing them inside her pocket.
Natalie went through the whole car as she found a couple of bandaids placing them in a women's black purse she had left behind that had money, a wallet and many other things. Closing the door of the car she went to the next closest one. Grabbing onto the door and opening the trunk that had a bunch of suitcases inside of them.
A small smile had gone on her lips knowing that this wasn't a good thing to do but now it was abandoned not going through things that still belonged to people. Inside of this car, though resting in the front seat was a Walker flies flew around it almost tempting its wakening. At the sight of this, her heart started racing pulling the suitcases and baggage out of the trunk and placing it on the floor unzipping it.
Inside was a bunch of clothes, checking the size's they seemed to range from kids' clothes to women's. Meaning it was a mom and son that had to wind up escaping. "Nat! Glenn" Shane's voice called for her as she turned seeing Shane standing in front of a bunch of bottles. "Were we short of water?"
Pulling it out of the truck a little before popping it open and letting the water fall on him. Glenn had laughed excitedly about this with Natalie smiling ever so slightly. At this sight, Natalie smirked biting her lip a little bit. "Save me some!" Glenn announced.
"It's like being baptized, man." Shane opened his mouth letting the water fall quickly into his mouth as he held himself up. Natalie flustered turned down to the clothes closed the suitcase grabbing the bag, and purse.
Seconds had passed feeling Shane's arm around her waist grabbing and guiding her away. "Shane-" She tried to struggle a bit confused by what he was doing letting her go hiding under the truck with Glenn there as well.
"Shh," He muffled, an arm around her waist trying to hide her under the car. Looking forward under the car she felt a bunch of gravel holding into her stomach. A bunch of feet were seen from her gaze as they were slowly walking it had to be over a dozen of them slowly coming.
Lori from under the car she had scared looking at her daughter under a truck with Shane, and Glenn. The sounds of hissing had quickly filled her ears causing her stomach to drop. Jaggered walking past the truck she was under. It felt like hours continuing to pass hiding her heart beating inside of her chest.
After moments passed silence had flowed through her ears. Natalie's right hand softly and slowly went into her pocket to grab the grey pistol Rick had given her. Shane leaned forward grabbing onto the shotgun he had.
The silence was interrupted by the sounds of screaming of a little girl. Sophia. Natalie had run out of the underground with Shane muttering her name trying to stop her but quickly following after her. "Two walkers are after my baby!" Sophia had pleaded into a cry.
"Where's Rick?" Natalie noticed that her dad wasn't anywhere to be seen. Carl grabbed onto her waist and Natalie couldn't move the cause of the hold of her brother.
Lori tried to calm down Carol turning and seeing her daughter's worry for Rick. "He went after her," Nodding towards the woods in the distance, it had to be more than twenty achers that she had now run into.
Natalie wiped the sides of her mouth licking her lips a little bit trying to calm her nerves that Rick was down there by herself. "Okay, everyone- let's...Rick will find her until then let's stay put so we know their fall gone." Shane had informed the group.
"Go to mom," Natalie held onto Carl's arm as he let go of her nodding and making his way towards Lori.
The dishevelled strands of dirty blonde hair clung to Natalie's face as she briskly traversed the terrain, her senses heightened by the urgency of the situation. The RV loomed ahead, its door ajar, an unusual sight that immediately etched concern onto her features. Furrowing her eyebrows, Natalie quickened her pace, her fingers tightly gripping the gun held resolutely in front of her face.
Approaching the open door with caution, Natalie's movements were deliberate, a ballet of stealth and awareness.
The RV's interior beckoned, and she slipped inside, the dim light revealing a scene of eerie stillness. Her senses heightened, and Natalie advanced slowly, suppressing any sound that might betray her presence. The air hung heavy with an unspoken tension, the anticipation of what lay ahead amplifying the gravity of each silent step.
On the floor lay a motionless walker, its eye socket gruesomely impaled by a screwdriver that remained embedded within.
Natalie, ever watchful, kicked the lifeless body cautiously, ensuring it remained inert. Satisfied that the immediate threat was neutralized, she stowed her gun back into her pocket, adopting a lower stance as she hurried towards the source of the faint cries echoing through the confined space at the back of the RV.
Andrea was crying holding herself as blood was all over her face, clothes and hands. "Jesus" Natalie muttered rushing towards her and ducking down. "Are you hurt, no bites?" Inspecting her making sure everything was okay with her body since the question 'Are you okay?' would be the dumbest thing for her to ask.
Not saying anything she had just quickly shaken her head. "It's the Walker's blood" Andrea finally spoke shaking her head. "It- It- It didn't touch me."
Natalie didn't touch her right away just standing distant to not scare her. "Stay here, I'm going to go get clothes for you okay?" Searching the woman's eyes in the hope of comforting her knowing how she was feeling since she had lost her sister to one of these creatures and now it was trying to kill her having to kill it manually instead of blood.
After she had gotten clothes from the bags she had left behind. Grabbing an off-the-shoulder black and white stripped shirt that belonged to women handing it to Andrea as the woman stood in the bathroom cleaning herself off from the blood. "Thank you," She used a cloth to wipe off blood that was on her arms that didn't belong to her.
"No problem," she said before grabbing another towel and helping her whip the back where blood sat.
Looking over at the Walker's body who was still laying on the ground. "What are we going to do with it?" Andrea questioned cocking her head to the side a little.
"Shane or Daryl should be able to get it out" Explained to Andrea trying to help her calm down, feeling her breath pacing from her back. "Luckily it was only one of them...Had to be a dozen out there."
"What's happening out there?" The clueless women had spoken.
Sighing as she bit her lip a little bit. "My dad ran after Sophia...They can't find her 'cause she ran into the woods from the Walkers." Mentioning how she saw and witnessed things go down. "Walkers are down near the creak now, more down the road."
"Carol has to be a mess."
Natalie hummed instead of answering as she finished handing Andrea the shirt she had found. "You're a good kid," Andrea said to her as a thank you. Natalie cringed at those words forming a fake smile walking over the Walker's body. From those words, she could tell that Andrea had seen her as nothing but a child. Wondering how many people had thought she was a child.
Going out of the RV and made her way to the group trying to stay calm. Everyone was standing around waiting for Rick to com back. "Where did you go?" Lori questioned since her daughter was now back after a couple of minutes away.
"Walker in the RV..." She tried to stay calm crossing her arms.
The men who were unaware of this had started to come to action. Looking to see that Rick and Daryl were nowhere to be seen. "It's dead again...already" Trying to correctly form that sentence. "It just needs to be removed."
"I'll do it" Ethan cut in walking past Natalie not making eye contact with her stall. "Rather than sitting around waiting for something to happen." Muttering to himself with his arms crossed.
"All right, we're going to get settled here until we find Sophia." Shane had tried to make everyone understand with his gun resting at his side. A hand softly touching his hip.
Shane and Daryl stood on top of cars seeing if they saw anything from their view. Holding on for a second Lori was rubbing Carol's back as the woman was worried. Natalie held onto her little brother also worried since one of the only children he had left was now gone.
The crickets were the only thing filling the air quickly being interpreted by. Rustling of leaves coming from the area causing everyone to look over. "Lori!" Rick had muffled lowering his voice.
"We're over here," Lori called out for Rick before they had saw him rushing up the hill trying not to trip over his own feet.
The man had fully made it up the way panting and trying to catch his breath. But from his gaze, Sophia wasn't found. There was blood on his white shirt now, and a scratch on his head. Quickly his panting became static trying to hold something in.
Carol had caught onto this as tears started to form. Natalie held onto Carl who ran into her chest hiding the tears in his eyes. "Where is Sophia?" The question being asked shocked the group counting he was supposed to be looking for her. Raising her eyebrows Natalie's jaw dropped a little bit. "She's not back?" Carol almost fell to her knee crying.
Lori quickly tried to go to the woman's comfort. Rick put his hands up into his hair confused and lost about what was happening. Shaking his head distressed.
Carol was being held by Andrea and Lori who were trying to comfort her. Natalie knew if she didn't have Carl holding onto her she wouldn't been trying to help the older lady as well not understanding what she was going through since there were a lot of emotions in the air.
jules' talk ♱ ; heyyy, we haven't talked in awhile.
How are you liking this book....we know what is coming in this season.
BUT, love Natalie being a girl's girl no matter what, that will be tested trust.
Love you all.
xx.