Chapter 1
The walker snarled as Daryl's arrow popped into it's eye socket. The small group of friends stood ready in a circle in the middle of the street. It had been a quiet day, without many incidents. It seemed as if the number of walkers they
had encountered during the last week had fallen off dramatically, which couldn't have happened at a better time, because everyone was tired and just a bit grumpy. They had been on the road for three straight weeks, and they had
finally found a seemly safe place to stay for awhile. . .a nice little storybook town, with paved streets and sidewalks. Rick warned everyone not to get complacent, due to the low number of walkers they had encountered since arriving here, and the crew knew the drill only too well.
Beth and Maggie ran out of the store ruins, carrying bags of merchandise. and joined the others. Rick glanced at the large, black bags the girls carried.
"Find anything good?" he asked, still looking over the sights of his rifle.
"Some. . ." answered Maggie, as the crew began to relax a little.
"Uh. . .ya know, I'll feel better once we're a little less out in the open." said Daryl nervously.
"Yeah. . .everything seems a little too quiet." Rick agreed. "Guess we best keep movin'."
The small group lowered their weapons, and proceeded down the middle of the street. These small towns were like little gold mines for scavengers. Sure, everything had been greatly picked over, but every now and then they found goodies. Especially rarities like any kind of canned meat, vegetables, bottled water or soup. The best finds were when they snatched anything sweet. For some reason, those were the items that seemed to disappear first. And it was always about food. Everything else was secondary.
Carl increased his gait to catch up with Beth. "Find anything good?" he asked.
Beth smiled, "A little. . .nothing major."
"Any chocolate?" he grinned.
"No," she wrinkled her nose. ". . .found a few bullets, though. . .and a couple of shotgun shells."
"Well. . .what's in the bags, then?"
She smiled, "Wouldn't you like to know, Mr. Man!" She slowed down to let Maggie catch up, as Carl sped up to meet his father.
"Is he bein' nosy again?" Maggie giggled.
"Yup, just can't seem to mind his own bees-wax." Beth smiled.
"You'd think he'd-a learned by now. . ."
They walked along for awhile, then Carl looked at Rick and said, "Uh, Dad. . .d'ya think that. . .maybe, sometime soon. . .uh. . .y' think you could, maybe. . .teach me how to. . .uh. . .teach me how to drive?"
Rick stopped in the middle of the road and just looked at his son. After a few moments, he shook his head. "You want to learn how to drive. . ."
He smiled, "Yes, sir. . .I guess I could be a bigger help. . ."
Rick interrupted him. "Now, don't ya think you might still be a just a little bit young. . ."
This time Carl interrupted him. "What is the legal age to drive now. . .y'know. . .since. . .?"
Daryl and Glen snickered under their breath. They walked along in silence for awhile, then Carl continued.
"Uh. . .Y'know, I've got a birthday comin' up."
Rick stood dumb-founded in silence for a bit. Daryl and Glen burst out laughing at the look on his face.
"The boy does have a point. . .guess the new legal age is about five." Daryl laughed.
Rick looked down at the road for a moment, and then said, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Tell ya what. . .the next town we stop in for a bit, we'll give it a try."
"Where is the D. M. V. nowadays?" chuckled Glen.
"Always hated that place. . ." said Daryl.
They didn't see any more walkers until they picked a house to camp in. Even then, there was only one or two, and they went down quickly. It felt good to be indoors, and out of the elements. But it bothered Rick that there were so few of the dead. Everything just seemed too still. . .and Rick told Daryl and Glen about it.
"I don't know why, but I just don't like it. It just ain't right. Things are way too quiet. . .hasn't been this quiet since the whole damn thing started."
"You're right," said Glen. "I'm afraid they'll all congregating somewhere. . .then hit us again in force like at Herschel's. . ."
"Well," said Daryl, "why don't we just ring the dinner bell and see what pops up?"
"I saw a lawn mover in the shed," said Glen. "That oughta be loud enough."
Daryl agreed. "Let's find some gas and make some noise. If they don't come a-runnin', maybe we could take a day or two off.
Glen grinned, "Sounds like a plan, Stan."
Daryl bumped Carl on the shoulder. "It's you and me on guard." he said as he raised his crossbow. "Lock and load!"
The boys drained some gas from the old car in the neighboring driveway, and got the riding mover started quickly.
"Hey, Carl. . .you wanted to learn how to drive, right?"
Carl winced. "Uh. . .yeah?"
"Well, I guess this is your first lesson." Glen explained how to use the mover, then turned Carl loose.
"Y'know, he'd be complaining about this if he had to do it." Daryl laughed.
"We had a push mover when I was a kid. I'd go through the neighborhood, tryin' to make enough money to go to the movies on weekends."
Daryl snickered. "Me and Meryl would buy old junk movers, and fix 'em up to sell to skinny little snot-nosed teenagers, tryin' to get enough money to go to the movies."
"What did you do with your cash?"
"Hell if I know. . .Merle would always take it from me. . .I guess to buy beer."
Carl finished the front yard quickly, and moved on to the neighbor's. By the time it started getting dark, Carl had finished all the front yards on both sides of the street. And still, not a walker to be seen. Not one.
After a dinner of Spam and baked beans, the guys gathered in the living room. Glen unfolded a map and set it on the floor. The candlelight danced in the breeze, and made it hard to see. Daryl squinted, "So, Rick. . .what d'ya
think?"
"Well," said Rick, "We've been North and South. . .so, I guess tomorrow, we'll move east."
"Guess that'll work. . .nothin' goin' on here, anyway."
Glen spoke up. "Hey, did you notice all the well-manicured yards on the street?"
"Not to mention the lack of walkers. It's kind-a weird." said Daryl.
"Let's hope it stays that way." sneered Rick. "We're gettin' low on ammo, anyway."
Glen looked at the holes in his tee shirt, then over to Carl, who was sporting an extra large one near his collar. "Maybe we can find a clothing store. . .looks like Carl 'n me could use a major make-over."
"Yeah, and maybe we could find a new car dealership!" Carl piped in.
Rick laughed. "Hold on there, Carl. Best learn in a beat-up one, just in case. . ."
Suddenly, the door from the kitchen burst open, and the girls, laughing at the top of their lungs, carried in a cake with a burning candle on the top. Everyone started singing 'Happy Birthday' as Carl's eyes grew large.
"Michonne made the cake, Carl." Maggie laughed.
"First one I've made since. . ." Michonne seemed embarrassed.
"Well, son," said Rick, softly. "Make a wish."
Carl closed his eyes, then took a deep breath, and blew out the candle.
Glen smiled, "Well, Carl. . .What d'ya wish for?"
Daryl seemed to get serious for a moment. But, then, Daryl always seemed serious. "What do you mean, Glen? There's only one thing to wish for. . ."
"And, what would that be?"
Daryl grinned, then said, very 'matter-of-factly', "Beer!"
Carol said, "Daryl!" very disapprovingly.
Carl chimed in. "Hey, Dad. . .what is the legal drinking age these days?"
Rick shook his head. "Now, don't you try to be growin' up too fast, now."
Carl glared at Rick, as if to say, "My childhood is all fucked up already. . ."
"Aw, shit, Carol," Daryl said. "Who'd wanna drink a hot beer, anyway?"
It turned into a wonderful evening. Everyone ate the best chocolate cake. . .Beth and Maggie sang the most beautiful songs. And there were presents! Somehow, the girls had found a new outfit for Carl. . .consisting of a new pair of Levi's that fit better than perfect, and some new white tee-shirts: so white, they almost glowed in the dark. He got two other tee shirts, too. . .but they were black. One had a great, big smiling skull on it, and the other had a girl walker on the front, and said "Night of the Living Dead" under the picture. Carl put that on one over his shirt.
Daryl looked at it, then back at Rick. "Humph. . .Who would-a thought. . ."
"Yeah," said Rick. "I saw this one at the drive-in." He stood up. "Scared the hell out of me." He pinched Carl on the cheek and smiled. "Scared your mother, too."
The girls were sitting on the floor, playing with Judith, when, suddenly, she pointed her finger at the boy, and said, "Carl". They got excited, the girls started laughing and clapping their hands.
"Rick?" said Carol. "Judith just said her first word!"
He walked over and picked the baby up. Again, she pointed her finger and said, "Carl!"
"Yes, Judith. . .that's Carl, your brother. And who am I?"
Judith made a strange face, and Rick realized that she had just filled her diaper. It took the lasting smell of the fresh cut grass and wonderful cake out of the room, and replaced it with. . .
Carol awoke first. She started looking into the cabinets and drawers. She gasped as she pulled out an unopened pound of coffee. "Coffee. . .oh my god!" She pulled out a knife and opened the container, then, immediately smelled it.
"Oh, wow. . .real coffee! And it smells fresh."
She found an old peculator, and, she had a pot going in no time at all. She gave the first cup to Glen, as he had been on watch. She poured the second for herself. She continued to look through the cabinets, and found some non-diary creamer and sugar.
Rick was up next. "My, my. . .something smells really familiar in here."
Carol giggled, "Look, Rick! We've got coffee! Real Coffee!"
Rick took the cup and smelled it. "Wow!" he said, "been a long time." He closed his eyes and sipped a little. "Mmmm!"
"There's even creamer and sugar on the counter." Carol sounded absolutely giddy about it.
Beth and Michonne wondered into the kitchen. "Is that coffee I smell?" Michonne said, as Carol handed out the cups.
Rick smiled, then walked outside. He asked Glen if he had seen anything during the night. Glen told him 'nothing that needed killing'. "Well," Rick said, "Why don't we take a little stroll around the neighborhood and see what's happening."
"Yeah, It'd be nice to take a day or two off to rest up." Glen said, "I'm kind of exhausted. Besides, this place seems nice. Quiet, y'know. . ."
"Yeah," Rick agreed. "That's what bothers me."
They walked two blocks up, an two blocks over, and hadn't seen any walkers at all. "You know what bothers me about this?"
"What's that?" said Glen.
"Where's all the bodies? Everywhere we've been, there's always been bodies, or walkers injured so they couldn't walk anymore. But here, there's no walkers. . .no bodies. . .just nothin'. . .like it's all been cleaned up, or somethin'."
"Hey, Rick. . .look over there. Is that. . .?"
"Well, I'll be. . ." said Rick, as they walked over to what seemed to be a little neighborhood store. Sure, it was tiny. . .but it seemed to be untouched. Glen cupped his hands to eliminate the glare from the glass.
"Rick, it looks like the shelves are full."
Rick said, "Well, let's find out. . ." And with that, Rick kicked the front door open with a thud. Next came the sound of the glass from the door breaking. They rushed into the store with their guns up and ready. After a quick scan of the room, they stopped. There was no sound. . .just silence. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust, and when they did, the first thing that Rick noticed was a whole shelf of baby food. There were a couple of boxes in the floor; like they were stalking the shelves when they had to leave suddenly.
"Check this out!" whispered Glen. "A case of chili and a case of beef stew!" There was so much stuff for such a little store. Medicine. . .little tins of fish. . .vienna sausage and deviled ham. There was powdered and condensed milk, and cases and cases of sodas.
Rick said, "Let's see if we can't find a car to load up with. It'd be easier than trying to carry this stuff a little at a time." There were lots of cars, one or two in almost every driveway. The weird part was this. . .although there was a plethora of automobiles, there was no gas. It was like every car on the street had been siphened off. Eventually, they found an old Chevrolet Caprice inside a garage with a little less than a quarter tank. The battery was almost dead, but they got lucky and it had just enough juice to turn over.
The boys loaded up the car, then closed and braced the door, just in case they needed to make another run. When they got back to the house, Rick called everyone together. "We've made a long, hard run. . .pushed ourselves somethin' awful, to get to this point. In case ya'll haven't noticed, we ain't seen very many walkers over the last few days. I was just thinkin' that maybe we could take a couple of days off, and just rest up for awhile. Then, once we're strong again, we can get back on the road. Does that sound good to you guys, or do you wanna keep movin'?"
Michonne said, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'd love to sleep in a bed again. I'm just a little afraid I'd get use to it, and get soft."
"Aw, hell, Michonne. . .I don't think you could ever get soft again. I know the hell I couldn't." said Daryl, in his usual fashion.
"A couple of days would be really nice," said Carol. "Especially since we've got coffee."
"Well, that's the other thing. Glen and I found a little store that looks like it hadn't been touched. There's a ton of stuff out in the car, so why don't we unload that, then take inventory of what's left. After that. . .a couple of days off sounds really good to me."
"All in favor?" said Glen, grinning.
It was unanimous.
The first two days were spent being lazy. Everyone took lots of naps, or spent the time relaxing with a book or a glass of sweet tea, lounging in the sun. And everyone ate better than they had since Herschel's' farm.
Finally, Carl just couldn't take it anymore.
"Uh, Dad," he winced. "Do ya think that, maybe, I could get that driving lesson now?"
Rick put his head down for a second, then, looked up and smiled. "I always knew that this day would come. You are becoming quite the young man. Guess I just hate to admit that you're growing up." He shook his head. "Well, I guess we might as well get on with it. Let's go."
Rick pulled the car out into the street. Then, the two switched sides as Daryl watched from the small porch.
Carl was obviously excited.
"Okay, son. . .Now, I'm going to go over everything with you like you don't know nothin'. That way, I'm sure that you've learned everything correctly. I'm sure you already know a lot, but just bear with me. Okay?"
Sure, dad. . .you bet."
Okay, then. . .the first thing to remember is that this is no toy. It's about two tons of metal that can come flying at you at a great amount of speed, so you must always respect it. A car is a wonderful tool, if you use it correctly. But it can also be dangerous to the driver, the passingers, and to everyone in the vicinity. Do you understand this?"
Carl's eyes grew wide. "Yes, sir. . .absolutely."
"Okay. . .now look down at your feet. You see that there is three pedals?"
"Yes, sir."
"You see that long pedal? That's called the accelerator, and that is what makes the car go. The further down you press it, the more gas it sends to the carburetor, and the faster you go. Now, the pedal beside that is the brake. You
use that when you want to slow down or stop. Now, it's best if you get in the habit of only using your right foot to accelerate or to stop. That way, you're not giving it the gas at the same time you are planning to stop."
"Okay," said Carl. "right foot only."
"Another good habit to get into is always putting on your seatbelt whenever you sit down in a car. Seatbelts save lives. Believe me, I've seen enough wreaks to know. . ."
Carl quickly put on his seatbelt. "Check!"
"That little pedal all the over to the left is your emergency brake. Do you know when you use that?"
"In an emergency?" guessed Carl.
"Yeah, well. . .You can, I guess, if your regular brakes fail. Usually, you just use that if you're, like, parking on a hill. It gives that extra stop that can cause your car to not roll down a hill. Also, when ever you park on a hill, you turn the
steering wheel so that, if the car should roll, it'll just go into the curb. Understand?"
Carl seemed a little lost. "Uh. . .yeah, I guess. . ."
"Well, never mind that, for right now." He continued, "Okay, now look up here above the steering column. You see the letters, P. R. N. D. L., right? Well, the 'P' stands for park, and that is what it does. When the car is in Park, it
doesn't move. Now, go ahead and turn the key."
It started on the second try.
"Okay, good. Now slowly put your foot on the accelerator and push down easy."
He did, and the car revved up.
"Do ya hear that? That is the sound the engine makes when it gets gas to the carburetor." He revved it up again two or three times. "Now, whenever you start the car, you want to make sure that the car is in Park. The next letter is R for
Reverse. That is the gear you want to be in whenever you back up.
Rick continued, "The D is for Drive. That is the gear that makes the car go. Now, anytime you shift the car from one gear to another, you keep your foot on the brake, then, you shift, then step on the accelerator. Have you got all of
that so far?"
"Yes, sir." Carl said confidently.
"Now, the 'L' is for low gear, and you only need you use that on special occasions, like really, really steep hills and the such. So, we don't really need to go over that right now."
"Check"
"Now, the steering wheel is pretty easy, it just takes some practice. If you turn the wheel to the right, the car goes to the right. If you turn it to the left, the car goes to the left. The more you turn the wheel, the harder the turn. You got all that?"
"Yes, sir. It seems pretty simple."
"Okay, so far, so good. Now, imagine the steering wheel is a clock. You want to put your hands at ten and at two. . .like this." Rick showed him where to put his hands. "Like where the ten is, and where the two is. If you are at ten and two, then the car will be going straight. So far, so good?"
"Got it!" said Carl.
"Well, okay, then. . .let's do this. First thing, put your foot on the brake, and push it as far down as it will go."
Carl pressed the brake. "Check!"
Now, while your foot is still on the brake, shift the car into drive."
Carl slowly moved the shifter into the 'D' position.
"Check!"
"So far, so good. Now, take your foot off of the brake, but don't give it any gas yet. Just let it roll a little. . ."
He took his foot from the brake, and the car started to roll a little. Rick said, "Okay, now put your foot back on the brake." Carl slammed his foot on the brake, and the car squealed at little as it stopped.
"Okay, now. Remember that you need to do everything slowly. If you push the brake slowly, the car won't jolt like it just did. Slow and smooth. . .understand?"
"Yes, sir. . .slow and smooth."
"Okay. Now, slowly take your foot off of the brake a give it a little gas."
"Right!" Carl said.
The car suddenly jumped, and Carl screamed, taking his hands off the steering wheel. It went about half a block before crashing into a tree, which caused the horn to blow in a long, loud trumpet blast. The front end of the car was smashed like an accordion. Rick got out of the car with a huge red spot on the right side of his head, and immediately fell to the pavement. He regained his feet, and staggered to the front of the car, as Daryl ran from the porch.
He managed to raise the crumpled hood, and disconnected the horn.
"Oh, my God! Dad, I'm sorry!" Carl cried.
Daryl raised his crossbow, checking the perimeter for walkers, then looked at Rick. "Are you alright?"
Rick was holding his head. "Yeah," he said, "guess I should-a been wearing my seatbelt."
"Dad, I am so sorry."
"Uh, that's okay, son. But you've got to remember, slow and steady. And, no matter what, never, ever take your hands off the wheel."
"Yes, sir, Dad. I'm so. . .so very sorry. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. . .just fine. But, I think today's lesson is over for now."
The three walked back toward the house, looking for walkers, but did not see any.
Daryl said, "Don't feel bad, Carl. I did the same thing the first time I tried to drive."
"Really?" said Carl.
Daryl, realizing that Carl was looking straight ahead, looked over to Rick, and, almost laughing, shook his head, and pantomimed the word, "No!".