The next day, we were burying or burning the bodies from the attack last night. We were burning the Walker's bodies, while we buried our people.
Andrea hasn't left her sister's side; she's been there all night. Lori was over by her side talking to her.
I was taking a break next to Shane, when Clive came walking over to me, "Hey, what are you doing over here?" Shane asked him, forcing a light smile onto his face.
Clive's eyes shifted over to him, "Hi, Shane." He smiled, waving to him.
"He is right, what are you doing out here, bubba?" I asked him, furrowing my brows a bit, "You're supposed to be the R.V reading one of those books Dale loaned you."
He nodded to me, "I know, and I am." He dug into his front pocket, "I wanted to give this back to you, Aunt Grace." He handed me the closed dagger I had given him last night.
I shook my head, "No, bubba, you keep it." I mumbled, giving him a light smile. I pushed it back towards him, "You might need it."
I watched as a smile started to creep onto his face, "Grandma Ellen isn't gonna like it."
I leaned a bit closer to him, "I don't give two shits what your Grandma Ellen thinks." I joked lightly, giving him a light smile. He gave me a toothy grin, as he put it into his front pockets.
"Hey Clive," Shane says, my nephew and I looked over at him, "Why don't you go back to the R.V where Sophia and Carl are, okay? Go finish that book. You don't need to see any of this."
Clive's brows began to furrow, as he looked over at him, "Trust me, I've seen worse."
"Yeah, I'm sure you have." He nods, giving him a light nod. I smiled lightly, as I looked back to my nephew, "Go on, bubba, go back to the R.V."
He nodded, before turning around and walking back towards the vehicle. Shane and I watched as he walked past Glenn and Daryl, and back into the R.V.
"He's one tough kid." He breathes, glancing over at me.
"Yeah, he is." I nodded, smiling lightly, "I don't know, ever since we separated from Sam, Dean, and his mother, Jo, and grandmother, Ellen..he's been putting up an act."
"What do you mean putting up an act?" He asks, furrowing his brows as he looks over at me.
I took a breath, "I mean, l like he's been acting like everything that's happened to us in the past three months isn't affecting him." My green eyes shifted over to him, "I know it is, but.."
"But you're worried about him." He nods, cocking his brow at me.
I stared at him for a couple of seconds, before nodding, "Yeah, I'm worried about him." I took in a shaky breath, "He needs his father and he needs his mother, and all he has right now is his aunt." I mumbled, running my hands through my hair.
"And that's all he is going to need right now." Shane reassures me.
I stared at him for a couple of seconds, before giving him a light nod. Lori and Dale then come walking over to us, and take a seat next to me. I began to watch as Glenn and Daryl burned the Walker's bodies.
Rick then came walking back over to us. His light blue eyes were on Andrea, "She still won't move?"
Dale and I shook our heads.
Lori's eyes were up on her husband, "She won't talk to us, and she's been there all night." She started to lean forward in her seat, "What do we do?"
"We can't leave Amy like that." I stated, barely shaking my head. Dale nodded to what I said, "Grace is right, we can't leave her like that."
Shane nodded to the both of us, "We need to deal with it, Rick."
It started to go quiet between all of us after he said that.
Rick nods, "I'll tell her how it is." He walks over to where the blonde was, "Andrea-" He was cut off by her pulling her gun out and pointing it up at him.
My eyes widened a bit, as I sat up a bit.
"I know how the safety works." The blonde mumbles, a cold look on her face as she glared at him. Rick nodded, "Alright..okay..I'm sorry.." He slowly started to take a couple steps back, heading back to where we were.
Daryl, T-Dog, and Glenn noticed what Andrea had just done. The three of them walked over to where we were.
"Y'all can't be serious." Daryl mumbles, scoffing quietly, "You're letting that girl hamstring us? That dead girl's a ticking time bomb."
My gaze shifted over to him, "What do you suggest we do?" I asked, throwing my hands out a bit. His eyes shifted over to me, "You take the shot."
I scoffed quietly, as I rolled my eyes a bit.
"Hit it clean right in the brain." He snapped, he then scoffs, "Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."
"No." Lori bluntly said, our eyes shifted over to her, "For sake, let her be."
Daryl looked at us, before scoffing. He rolled his eyes, turned, and walked off.
Shane then rubs his forehead, "How could something like this happen? We were just outside the city, and not too far from the abandoned checkpoint." His brows raised, "We haven't been here but for three months. We should've known that the dead could travel up this far."
We all stared at him for a couple of seconds, before giving him a light nod.
"Hey Grace," Jacqui says, my green eyes shifted over to her, "Can you help me with this?" I nodded, "Yeah, I can." I stood up from my seat and started to walk over towards her.
As soon as I got to her, we crouched down by the body and was about to move it when Jim came walking over towards us. Jacqui's brows were furrowed as she looked up at him, "Are you bleeding?"
My eyes looked over to him. I saw that his shirt had blood on it, and tiny holes were on it. He hesitantly shakes his head, "I just got some blood on me from one of the bodies." He mumbles to us.
She shakes her head, "No, that blood is fresh."
I nodded to what she said, "Yeah, it kind of looks like a bite mark, Jim." I mumble to him, furrowing my brows a bit. His eyes shifted to me, "It's not, Grace."
"Then what is it?" I scoffed, throwing my hands out.
His eyes glanced between Jacqui and me. His eyes shifted down to the ground, "I got scratched during that attack."
A bit of a shocked look came onto mine and Jacqui's face, "You got bit." She says, as her and I stood up to her feet.
He shakes his head, "I'm fine-"
"Then show us!" She shouts, a stern look on her face, "Show Grace and me.
Jim's eyes glanced between us, before he took a step closer to us, "Don't tell-" He whispers to us.
My eyes widened, as Jacqui grabbed me by my shirt and pulled her and I away from him, "A Walker got him!!" She shouts, as we take steps away from him, "A Walker bit Jim."
An alarmed look came onto all of our faces, as our gaze turned to him. He had a worried look on his face, as all of the men in the group started to walk over towards him.
The more they got closer to Jim, he started to repeat that he was okay.
A stern look was on Daryl's face, "Show it to us."
Jim didn't move, as his eyes glanced between all of us. He then turned around, picked up a shovel, and held it out in front of him. Shane's eyes widened a bit, "Whoa, easy there, Jim."
"Put it down, Jim." Rick said, sternly.
"Aunt Grace," I heard Clive say. I looked over to see him, Carl, and Sophia standing on the stairs of the R.V, "What's going on?"
Just as I was about to say something, Lori started to walk over to them, "Everything's fine, now go back inside." She mumbles to them.
The three kids stared up at her for a second, before turning and walking back inside.
I then looked back over to Jim, and I watched as T-Dog ran up behind him and started to hold him back, "I'm okay, I'm okay.." He repeated. Daryl dropped his pickaxe, ran up and pulled up his shirt to reveal a bite mark on Jim's side, "I'm okay, I'm okay.."
My eyes widened once I saw the bite, "Holy shit.."
T-Dog lightly pushed Jim off of him, while Daryl's eyes pierced into him.
"Guys," Rick muttered, their gaze shifted over to him, "Come on." He mumbles, motioning us over to the campfire. Daryl picked up his pickaxe, and walked over to us.
Rick's eyes glanced at all of us, "What do we do?"
"I say we put a pickaxe in his head, and the dead girl's." Daryl says, raising his brows a bit, "Then we'd be done with it."
Shane's eyes rolled over to him, "Is that what you'd what if it were you?"
"Damn straight." The redneck nodded, as he looked over at him, "And I'd thank you while you did it."
Dale sighs quietly, "I hate to say this..I never thought I would say this, but Daryl may be right.."
"Dale," My eyes shifted over to him, "Jim's not a rabid dog. He sure is hell not a Walker yet."
"Yeah, but he will be." Daryl said, raising his brows.
Rick began to shake his head, "If we go down that road, where do we draw the line?" Daryl's eyes shifted over to him, "The line's pretty clear to me. Zero tolerance for Walkers or them to be."
"What if we can get him help?" Rick asks, his eyes glancing between us, "I heard the C.D.C was working on a cure."
Shane looked over at him and nodded, "Yeah, they're using the last bit of their resources to make a cure."
My began to furrow, "Okay then, what if Atlanta's C.D.C is still up and running?" I stated, my eyes glancing between them, "Do you think they'd be able to help Jim?"
"That right there is a stretch." He replies, looking over at me.
"Yeah, but it's the only chance we got." I stated, raising my brows.
Rick furrowed his brows a bit, "If there's any government left, they'd protect the C.D.C at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. It has shelter, protection-"
"Rick, don't you think I want all of those things?" Shane asked, taking a couple steps closer to him, "I do, but I think our best shot is Fort Benning."
"Shane, that's 100 miles in the opposite direction." Lori states, furrowing her brows as she shakes her head. He looks over at her, "That's right." He nods, "It's away from the hot zone. If that place is still operational, it would be heavily armed, and we'd be safe."
"Okay, what happens if it's overrun?" I asked, furrowing my brows.
"There's multiple outposts scattered across America." He answers, his eyes rolling over to me, "The second closest one is somewhere up in New York I'd say."
Rick nods, placing his hands onto his hips, "Most of the outposts have been overrun. We've all seen that. The C.D.C is our best choice, and it's Jim's only chance."
Daryl nods, before looking to Rick, "If someone goes looking for aspirin, you do what you need to do." I watched as anger started to fill his face. He turns, and walks back towards Jim. He grips onto the pickaxe in his hands, "Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!"
I gasped loudly, as he went to swing the axe at Jim's head. Rick quickly ran over and pointed a gun at Daryl's head, "Hey!!" He cocks it back, as Daryl froze where he was, "We don't kill the living."
Shane ran over and started to stand in front of Jim. Daryl looked over at Rick, and lowered the pickaxe, "That's funny coming from a guy who just put a gun to my head."
"We may disagree on some things, but not on this." Shane says, Daryl looked over at him, "You put it down." The redneck rolls his eyes and slams the pickaxe to the ground before walking off.
My green eyes shifted to the R.V where my nephew was.
I began to walk towards it, and climbed inside. My green eyes landed on Clive taking up the whole seat reading the book Dale loaned him. Carl and Sophia sat next to one another drawing in notebooks.
"Clive," I spoke up, the kids' heads perked up, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure." He nodded. He put his book down, and climbed out of the seat. He walked over to me, and we climbed out of the R.V. His dark blue eyes were up at me, "What do you need to talk about?"
I didn't answer him right away. He and I walked towards the dirt path where the tents are, and toward ours. A bit of a confused look came onto his face, "What is it, Aunt Grace?"
"I want you to start packing your stuff." I breathed, opening our tent and climbing inside. His brows stayed furrowed, "Why? Are we leaving?"
"The group is, yeah." I nodded, sighing quietly, "We're either going to the C.D.C. or Fort Benning. So, pack your bag-"
"No, Aunt Grace, we can't leave." Clive says, sternly as he shook his head, "Dad and Uncle Sam that they would meet us here in Atlanta. We can't just leave now-"
A pained look came onto my face, "Clive, please don't do this-"
"No, you're giving up on dad and Uncle Sam-" He snaps, shaking his head.
"I'm not giving up on them." I stated, a stern look on my face.
"Then why do you want to leave?" He asked, tears beginning to fill his eyes.
I stared at him for a couple of seconds, before taking a step closer to him and got down on his level. I grabbed his hands, and held them in mine, "Clive, I know you wanna stay and wait for your dad and Uncle Sam to get back. I honestly hoped they would have shown up by now-"
"They will show up." He quickly said, a bit of a sad look coming onto his face.
"I know they will, Clive." I stated, my brows raised as I looked at him, "But it's not safe for us to stay here anymore, especially after what happened last night. We're going to go somewhere that's safe, and hopefully your dad and Uncle Sam will be there..or we'll somehow run into them."
I stared at me for a second, before giving a shaky nod. Tears then began to fill his eyes, and his lip began to quiver.
My brows began to furrow, "Clive?"
He then takes in a shaky breath, "I just want my dad, Aunt Grace." He mumbles, tears starting to fall from his eyes.
"Oh, Clive." I whisper, pulling him into my arms. I cried into my shoulder, and I began to rub circles into his back, "I want my mom and my dad back."
I felt tears form into my eyes, as I nodded, "I know you do, bubby." I sniffled, "I know.."
~~~
"Alright, everybody, listen up." Shane exclaims, everyone that was still left in the camp gathered around in a circle around Rick and Shane. He was telling us what to do and what not to do while we were heading to the C.D.C.
Everyone who was leaving had all their stuff ready in cars and was ready to go. Clive was in front of me, and we were going to be riding with Rick and his family, as well as Carol and her daughter.
"Those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? If you got a problem, and don't have a C.B., you can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan." Shane's eyes glanced between them, "Any questions?"
"We're uh.." Morales stepped up, "..We're not going.." Everyone's eyes shifted over to them, "We have family in Birmingham. We're going to be with our people."
Shane's eyes shifted over to him, "If you go out on your own, you won't have anybody to watch your back." He says, placing his hands onto his hips.
"Yeah.." Morales nods, wrapping his arms around his wife, "We'll take that chance."
"Are you sure?" Rick asked, shifting his weight onto his right leg.
"We talked about it." Morales nods, smiling lightly, "We're sure."
"Alright." Rick turned to the bag of weapons. He pulled out two guns, and two boxes of bullets. He walks over to Morales, "The boxes are half full."
Daryl scoffed quietly, as he rolled his eyes a bit.
"Thank you all, for everything." Morales's wife says, fighting through the tears.
Lori got up from beside Carl and me, and she walked over to hug the family. She placed kisses on the top of the children's heads.
Rick's eyes stayed on Morales, "Use Channel 40 if you change your mind." Morales gave him a light smile and nodded, before turning around and walking off. Tears began to fill my eyes, as I looked down to my feet.
Shane's eyes rolled over to my Rick, "What makes you think our odds are any better?"
He didn't say anything, before he turned to the rest of the group, "Alright, let's go!!"
"Come on, bub." I mumble to my nephew.
He and I walked to the backseat of the car, and climbed inside. Carl, Sophia, and Carol followed behind, slamming the door shut behind them.
After everyone was in their vehicles, Dale drove the R.V in front of our cars, and started to lead the way to the C.D.C.