"Maybe you should listen." Michonne said, trying to sway Rick. Terminus had heightened the group's sensitivity to strangers and with the new additions to their family they were finding harmony more difficult to keep steady. Objectives were another matter and as DC seemed to be the place on everyone's mind Rick kept it at the forefront of most all decisions. They stayed together for the most part, occasionally splitting for a few days to weeks depending on supplies but safety in numbers took on a whole new meaning now. Those still alive this long after the turn faced a new breed of human, one more territorial, more violent, and more hungry.
"Resources are getting sparse," Rick turned to look at Abraham who spoke. "We hit another herd we could be toast."
"Not if we're careful." Carol interjected herself into their conversation. Tyreese held Judith as Carl took his eyepatch from her. He had withstood an eye injury from the Termites and kept it covered since. He put it back on sliding the band over his long hair.
"We need a place to stay for the harder months of this winter." Maggie said and Glenn nodded in agreement.
"We could spend all winter looking for a place to stay all winter." Sasha stated.
Beth took Judith from Tyreese and wrapped a jacket around her. "It's already getting cold," she said.
"Nothing has to change. We push forward through Hunter's Run, here," Rick pointed on a map that found them in northern Georgia. "Now, we find us a place to hole up for awhile with good proximity to supplies, and goods. All of us." He looked up at the group. "If we don't find a place we keep pushing northeast toward DC till we do."
The group was tired and with a somewhat disappointed agreement they all settled into their respective areas for the night. Daryl was on watch when Rick and Abraham approached him.
"Me and Abraham were talkin', and we think we should split the group to cover more area for supplies. What do you think?"
Daryl looked back out into the darkness.
"The direction we're headed," Daryl replied, "we're on the heels of others. Keep findin' two sets of tracks ahead o' ours."
"Walkers?" Abraham asked.
"Don't think so." Daryl jumped down from the top of their car. "They ain't far, might not be the best time to split."
Tara screamed in the distance outside of the camp's secure circle. All were alerted to her scream and found a herd of 30-40 walkers not far behind Tara as she ran grasping the top of her shoulder. "Walkers, run!"
As Tyreese, Carol, and Michonne drew their weapons heading toward the first line of walking dead.
Rick called to Carl who was fighting back walkers alongside Michonne. Soon there were more walkers.
"Too many, we got to get outta here." Daryl yelled to Rick.
Rick motioned for everyone to follow Daryl as he stayed behind to cover Carl and Michonne who were encircled by five walkers. As Michonne's katana blade sliced the heads off two of the rotten corpses, one of the other walkers tripped over a stump and fell, grabbing Carl along with him. Carl reached for his knife as he held the walker's forehead away from his living flesh but was unable to tug it loose from under him. When Rick saw his son from a distance he rushed upon the two walkers closing in on both he and Michonne. Carl's strength gave way and as the corpse's hungry mouth slung toward Carl's stomach to disembowel, a tomahawk flew out of the darkness and landed square into the hard skull of the undead. It collapsed on Carl as two figures ran to the aid of Michonne and Rick. One woman grasped the tomahawk and tugged it out kicking the cracked skull away. Carl rolled over and stood finally gaining access to his knife with his right hand and drew the gun in his holster with his left.
Carl looked to the long haired woman who slung her tomahawk wanting to express his gratitude but unable to speak. Gun shots rang through the dry, cool air as walkers not far from them started to fall and Rick could hear the bullets whizzing by him.
"Carl!" Rick grabbed his son's shirt and pulled him away from the two strangers panting heavily from running and fighting. The woman he could tell was injured badly with a huge gash to her upper stomach and the man, who appeared to be in military clothing, looked like he had taken a slice to his arm. "You have to run, all of you," said the fair-haired man. "Humans, they are closing in, clearing these woods."
Daryl approached them, crossbow aimed at the man who was talking.
"Daryl, no." Rick waved him down.
"I think it would be a good idea to head to the car now." Michonne said as she killed three more walkers and Daryl took out two.
Carl was already running when he turned behind and yelled, "Lets go!"
They all followed Daryl looking to see if the two strangers were following. As he did the sound of gunfire was closer and two shots fired, one hitting the back of the woman's left leg and as she turned to grasp at the sudden pain a second shot flew into the front of her thigh. She fell to the ground as her partner in the camouflage ran to her side."
"Just a bug bite hold on," he said as he wrapped her arm around his neck and forced her to run along side him. Daryl felt the need to assist but rattled by the unexpected gunfire he fled in the direction of the car where he found Rick already inside ready to drive with Michonne in the passenger side and Carl in the back.
"Where are they?" Rick asked as Daryl shut the door. A few moments after the camo man flung himself against Daryl's car door yelling for assistance with the woman hanging on his shoulder.
"Let them in, we can't leave them!" Carl yelled.
"The hell we can." Daryl sat unfazed by the bloody hand the man pounded on the car window.
"She saved my life, you're letting them in." Carl's more rough tone made Daryl shift his crossbow into his other arm as he opened the car door. The man emptied his arm of the woman who crawled in with him following close behind. As the door shut walkers began to rush the car and Rick took off. The woman sat up next to Daryl holding her ribs with her forearm. He saw the blood running over her white limb, sure it was her own from the brightness.
"Ain't a gun shot wound," he said.
"Took a fall and a rock cut her clean open, lost a lot of blood," the camo man pulled a rag from his pack lifting her arm and placing it over the long cut.
"She doesn't look good." Michonne said looking back handing a bottled water to Carl.
"We'll take you a couple miles out, know someone who can stitch her up," Rick said driving quite fast on a fairly clear road.
"You bring the heat with you or somethin'?" Daryl asked.
"Military, like myself, they are a strong group I left a few months ago. Coincidence they are going in the same direction as us."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Levi Cole. My partner is…is going to pass out on you, now."
The woman's brown hair fell forward as her body weakened and slid to her right falling against a rigid Daryl who caught her before she slid into his lap.
As Rick continued driving Daryl had taken and propped her back against his chest while Levi looked at her gun shot wounds. He saw the first bullet went clean through the outside of her leg, but the second had no exit and was still in the top of her thigh. He clumsily cut the top of her jeans with his pocket knife. Frustrated at the dullness of the pocket knife, Daryl pulled his hunting knife out and cut it himself. Levi was agitated at Daryl's impatience but looked closely at the entry wound and pressed into the opening with his finger to feel how deep it had gone. Before he could feel it his finger was nearly half of the way in when she jolted forward out of her unconsciousness with a scream that startled the entire car.
"Shit." Levi cursed as he realized the depth of the bullet. "I'll need something long with a good grip." He leaned over the woman and touched her shoulder. "Have to get the bullet out, Sky."
She grabbed him loosely by the shirt, "Get your bacteria-ridden finger out of my leg, you fool. Fuck the bullet, I'm bleeding to death."
Levi looked somewhat concerned but nodded his head as he pulled her wrists off his collar. Carl took a rag out of his pocket and handed it to Daryl. "This is cleaner," he said as he moved to the front of the vehicle between Rick and Michonne providing more room for them.
Tying the rag tightly around her leg Rick ran over debris in the road and the car jerked sending the back seat up and crashing hard back to the ground. Sky winced and screamed in pain. "Hold her down, will ya?" Daryl held her arms down and yelled up to Rick, "Ain't the best time for off-roadin'."
Daryl's arm began to feel the warm blood as he realized it was wrapped over the long laceration on her stomach. Carl noticed at the same time as he peered over the middle of the seat where he sat.
"We need to find a place to stop for the night, we are far from the direction the herd was going." Michonne told Rick.
"A little further," he said with a glance to Michonne, unsure if they should mention how many others in their group were still out there. Daryl noticed Rick's hesitation and motioned for Carl to turn around. The painful exasperations that rose from her throat fell to a strange silence as her eyes glazed over and her face washed over a pale white.
"Sew me up, I'll be fine," she mumbled with all the breath she had left, audible only to Daryl and Levi, and passed out, her head falling backward between Daryl's neck and shoulder.