Rick said we should go to the highway where we left supplies for Sophia. So that's what I did, we pulled up the the car that still had the food and water on it. The writing on the windshield was washed off though.
I parked and we all got out, hoping the others had the same idea was squashed when we realized it was just us here.
My stomach knotted at this, Daryl wasn't here. Where is he? He had to of got out right? He's not dead. Glenn, he got out with Maggie right??
"Wait, where's mom?" Carl asked Rick, his voice shaking. "You said she'd be here." Rick didn't say anything and I knew he was trying to figure something out. "We got to go back for her." Carl demanded.
"Carl-" Rick tried to reason but Carl wasn't having it. "No, why are we running? What are you doing!" Carl yelled at his father.
"Shh, you need to be quiet ok?" Rick said after looking around, worried about walkers. "Please." Carl begged "it's mom."
Rick bent down to explain that its to dangerous to go back, to look for anyone, but Carl pushed him back and stormed off behind the car we drove.
Rick went to follow him but was stopped by Hershel "Rick." He turned to looked at the old man and then me.
"You've got to get your boy to safety." Hershel started. "I'll wait here for my girls and the others. I know a few places, we'll meet up at one of them later."
"No Hershel, we can't split up not now." I said looking at him. "Where? Where is safe?" Rick asked, not expecting an answer.
"Please, keep Carl safe. I'll hide in one of the cars-" I cut Hershel off, "We. Are. Not. Splitting. Up."
"I've lost my farm," Hershel tried to argue. "I've lost my wife and maybe my daughters."
"You don't know that." Rick argued right back. "They'll be here."
"And you don't know that."
"You're a man of God." I said, "Have some faith."
"I can't profess to understand God's plan, but Christ promised the resurrection of the dead. I just thought he had something different in mind."
I chuckled at Hershel's words, earning me weird looks from the men. "God. He works in mysterious ways."
"We stick together." Rick said after a minute then walked over to Carl. I looked at Hershel and he looked at me, I shrugged and moved to sit on top of the car.
~*~
A little while later we heard a walker and moved to the side of the car to hide from it. I don't know why though its one walker. It passed the car and we moved behind it and watched as the walker stumbled away.
"I don't know how much longer we can stay here." Hershel whispered and Rick moved so her could see him.
"I'm not leaving without mom." Carl said looking to Rick. He looked at me and I nodded indicating we should stay. He nodded back then looked to Hershel.
"So we just gonna walk away?" Rick asked "knowing my wife and your girls are still out there? How do we live like that?"
"You've only got one concern now. One concern and one helping hand." Hershel stated and I shook my head. I can't believe him.
I could tell Rick took in Hershel's words, thinking he may be right. He bent down to be more at Carl's level "Carl, its not safe here."
That's when I heard it, the sound of a bike. Not just any bike, Daryl's bike. He appeared from the other side of the highway followed by two other car's. Rick looked back and I smiled as did he, I turned to see Hershel smiling to.
As they got closer we moved to meet them. I saw carol get off of Daryl's bike and Rick and Daryl clasped hands.
I went to hug him but was soon hugged by someone else. I noticed the black hair and knew it was Glenn. I hugged back tightly.
"Thank God your ok!" Glenn cried and I laughed. "I could say the same for you."
We let go and I moved to look at the man on the bike watching us intently. I smiled and moved towards him. He got off the bike and hugged me with no hesitation.
"Your ok." He whispered and I nodded "Yeah, and so are you." And he nodded back. We pulled apart and I smiled.
"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asked. I turned to look at him, leaning against the car that was behind me.
"Well, this guys' tail lights were zigzaggin' all over the road. Figured he had to be Asian drivin' like that." Daryl joked, pointing to Glenn. I laughed.
"Good one." Glenn chuckles and I smiled.
"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asked Rick and I looked around.
Maggie, Beth and Hershek stood by the Car we drive here. Lori was with Rick and Carl. Daryl and Carol are standing by me. And Glenn and T-dog are standing by Glenn's car.
We're missing Jimmy who died saving Rick, Cark and I. Shane who Rick killed, for good reasons. Patricia, I don't know about her. And Andrea. Oh my god where's Andrea?
"We're the only ones who made it so far." Rick sighed. "Shane?" Lori asked. Rick and I looked at each other for a minute before he shook his head.
"Andrea?" Glenn asked. "She saved me then I lost her." Carol said and I looked at her. "We saw her go down." T said and I sighed shaking my head. I felt a hand on my back and knew it was Daryl.
"Patricia?" Hershel asked. "They got her to. Took her right from me." Beth said and started to cry.
"What about Jimmy?" She then asked, frantic to know if her boyfriend was alright. "He was in the RV. It got over run. I'm sorry." I said and she broke down.
"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asked and I looked back toward them. "There were walkers everywhere." Lori said, not really answering.
"Did you see her?" I asked and no one answered.
"Imma go back." Daryl said moving toward his bike. "I'll go to." I said and he nodded.
"No." Rick said and I stopped and looked at him. "We can just leave her."
"We don't even know if she's there." Lori said. "She isn't there, she isn't." Rick said. "She's either somewhere else or she's dead. There's no way to find her."
"So we're not even gonna look?" Glenn asked and I looked at Daryl. He seemed to be upset yet looked to know Rick was right. And he was, it was just hard.
"We need to move. There's walkers crawling all over the place." Rick said as a walker decided to show up.
"I say we head east. Stay off the main roads." T suggested. We all nodded.
"Bigger the roads the more walkers. More assholes like this one, I got him." Daryl said shooting the walker with his crossbow.
Everyone got in their cars. The Grimes, Carol and T-dog in the car Rick and I drove, the Greene's And Glenn in his car the Daryl and I on his bike.
We sat waiting g for everyone to get situated. I looked at his vest for the hundredth time.
"I like your vest." I said even though he probably figured that out. "You look like an angel." I smiled and he snorted.
"Yeah, a fallen one." He chuckled dryly. I didn't find this funny. "A fallen Angel is still and angel, Daryl." I said and he turned to look at me.
I rested my chin on his shoulder so our heads were closer. "Tell me something interesting." I said and he chuckled. "I like you." He said and I smiled. "That is interesting."
I then kissed him, not even letting him respond. He didn't kiss back for a moment but then he grabbed my head and deepened the kiss.
"Yeah!" I heard Glenn yell and some whistling from T-dog. We pulled apart and I laughed and Daryl coughed.
Glenn and T were quieted by Rick but he looked back at me and smiled. Everyone was chuckling. I rubbed Daryl's back to get him calm down, knowing that probably made him uncomfortable.
A few minutes later we were off. Leaving behind the highway, the farm, and possible Andrea.
~*~
After driving a few hours we heard a car horn from behind us and we all slowed to a stop. I got off the bike and stretched my legs. The lack of sleep was also cathchig up to me quickly.
Rick ran up to us, "You out?" Daryl asked, trying to figure out why we stopped. "Running on fumes."
"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn said as everyone pilled out. "We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning." Rick said and I nodded.
"Spend the night here?" Carol asked confused. It was cold as hell right now. I'm in jeans, a T-shirt with a flanel over it and combat boots. I'm not winter ready.
"We'll build a fire." I said and everyone nodded. "You go out looking for fire wood stay close." Daryl said looking at me. I rolled my eyes but nodded.
"Only got so many arrows, how you doing on ammo?" Daryl asked Rick. "No enough."
"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out." Maggie said "Watch your mouth." Hershel scolded. Really? She's 22 and she can't say ass. That's fucking bullshit.
"Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick." Hershel finished. I never thought I'd hear him say that.
"Alright." Rick started. "We'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, well fund gas and supplied. We'll push on."
"Glenn and I can make a run now and try to get some gas." Maggie suggested.
"No we stay together. God forbids something happens and people get stranded without a car." Rick said making a good point.
"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn said and we all knew it was true. We lost our shelter, now we're on the run.
"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure, but we did. We're together." Rick said and I nodded.
"We're together now, but for how long? We're not safe, not at all. We need shelter." I said and everyone looked at me and nodded, seeming to agree.
"We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place." Rick said, more to himself than anyone it seemed.
"Rick, look around. Ok? There's walkers everywhere. Its like there migrating or something." Glenn said calmly.
"There's gotta be a place. Not just where we hold up but we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other." Rick frantically said. He's losing the small grip he has, fast.
"I know its out there we just have to find it."
"Even if we do find a place," Maggie started. "And we think its safe, we're not sure for how long. Look at what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves thinking it was safe."
"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel said, I disagree.
"Yes we will, its human nature. We feel we're safe for a long period of time, we look the other way, and something comes and ends our safety." I said and Rick looked at me.
"We'll make camp tonight." He said, ignoring my statement. "Over there, get on the road at the break of day." He pointed towards what looked like a bunch of torn down stone walls.
"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asked, looking and stepping up to Daryl. He looked at her before Beth started at Rick.
"What if walkers come through or another group like Randall's?" She asked, eyeing our leader worriedly.
"You know I found Randall, right?" Daryl said looking between Rick and I. "He had turned but he wasn't bit."
Ok, I know I wasn't good at math but this really doesn't add up. Like, at all.
"How's that possible?"
"Rick, what the hell happened?"
Questions flew around, asking Rick. Everyone looked at him Like he knows the answer to every question. Which he doesn't.
"Shane killed Randall. Just like he always wanted to." Daryl stated.
"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked referring to Shane.
Rick stayed quiet. Stared at nothing as I saw the wheels turn in his head. Is he gonna tell them?
"We're all infected."
Shit. Maybe he does know everything.
Wait, what?
"What." Daryl voiced for me. Everyone eyed the man before us, expecting an explanation.
"At the CDC, Jenner told me. What ever it is we all carry it."
I blew out a big breath and ran my hands through my hair. This means, how ever we die, we turn. Damnit. Why did he keep this?
"Why, why didn't you say anything?" I asked, not staying quite for once.
"You knew this whole time." Glenn spit.
"How could I have known for sure? We saw how that crazy mo-" Rick said, eyeing Glenn Daryl and I. He was cut off by Glenn though.
"That wasn't your call. When April and I found out about the barn we told, for the good of everyone." Glenn said getting g more pissed by the second.
"Well, I thought it would be best if people didn't know."
I should say it, I should tell them about Shane. Rick even eyed me for a few seconds. But I didn't, he has a right not to say his best friend went crazy because he wanted what Rick had.
Rick walked away. Everyone stood there, shocked beyond belief. I decided to go talk to the man in charge.
He was by the edge of the road, looking out at a water fall. We need to talk about what happened and how we deal with it.
"So, what do we say. About Shane. I mean." I said, still standing behind him. He didnt turn to look at me "I don't know."
I sighed and moved to stand next to him. It was silent for a moment, us thinking up ways to deal with this.
"I'll Handel it." He finally said and I looked at him for a moment. He seemed frustrated with his features hard. I nodded and he nodded back. I heard foot steps behind us and whipped around to see Lori.
"I'll just, yeah." I stuttered and left.
~*~
Its night now, we have a fire going in that broken down wall section. T is on watch and Rick is, well, somewhere.
I sat by Daryl as the fire crackled. "Were not safe with him," I heard Carol whisper to him. "Keeping somethin' like that from us. Why do you need him? He's just gonna pull you down. April to."
Really?
"Nah, Ricks done alright by me." Daryl answered quickly. "Your his henchmen. And I'm a burden. We deserve better."
"What do you want?" I asked, butting into their conversation. "A man with honor." She answers.
"Rick has honor." Daryl defended. I nodded and we turned back to the fire. There was a sudden rustling noise and everyone bolted up right.
Rick appeared then, but the noise wasn't him. Everyone started to freak out though. Saying it was a walker or we needed to leave.
"Last thing we need is for everyone to go runnin' off in the dark. We don't have the vehicles, no one travels on foot." Rick said as everyone was gonna go look for the source of the sound.
"I'm not sitting here waitin' for another herd to blow through. We need to move, now." Maggie panicked, trying to convenience us and really Glenn.
"No one is going anywhere."
"Do something!" Carol cried desperately.
"I am doing something!" Rick started. "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 sake!"
Well, clears that up.
"You saw what he was like. How he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back and April's. He gave me no choice! He was my friend but he came after me. My hands are clean."
Carl started to cry in Lori's arms. Every was silent as Rick ranted.
"Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for all of us, bit maybe that's just another Pipedream. Maybe I'm foolin' myself again. Why don't you go find out yourself? Send me a postcard! Go on, there's the door. Think you can do better? Let's see how far you get."
Everyone stood still, looking around awkwardly not wanting to leave. Rick nodded.
"No takers? fine. But get on thing straight. You stayin', this isn't a democracy anymore."
Everyone stood still, looking around not sure what to say or do. So it stayed silent as Rick walked away.
We have no shelter, no food or water, barley any amo, and no gas. Winter is gonna be a bitch, not to mention Lori is pregnant and Andrea might be out there.
All I know is that we're safe, somewhat, and together. And right now, that's good enough for me.
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This is really long.
But it's done.
I will post a separate thing so just give me a second.
But hope you enjoyed this chapter and book!!!
Please vote & comment!!!
~Kenna