Footsteps of the Damned

Chapter 4 - Miles Behind Us


The next day, Rick informed me that we were moving the camp. He said something about checking out the CDC building- Center for Disease Control- or looking for somewhere safer to stay. I had no objections with the plan and even if I did, I'm sure it wouldn't have made a difference.

They did however, give me the keys to my van and my supplies, along with my crossbow and kukris. They had taken a portion of my supplies and most likely moved them to their own storage area. It made more sense to store everything in my vehicle, considering I had the most room because my van only had five seats then an open trunk type area, but I understood that they didn't trust me enough to not drive away with all of their stuff. I was grateful that they at least let me have my weapons though.

"You got one too?"

I looked up to lift a brow towards Carl.

"You're, uh, crossbow," he added. "Daryl has one too."

"Oh, yeah. It's quiet, so it's good to have."

He nodded and watched as I sharpened my knives. The four kids had been playing with Thor, but I seemed to have caught Carl's attention. Lori had been quite blunt about me keeping my distance from the kids, so I had set up my stuff a little ways away from them. She did, however, allow them to play with Thor. I guess she trusted a dog more than she did me. I didn't really blame her though.

"And those knives...? Why are they so big?"

I chuckled at his curiosity, but it seemed to catch Lori's attention from where she was supervising.

"Carl, don't bother her, she's busy."

I wanted to tell her that it was okay and I wasn't actually busy, but I knew that was just an excuse to keep Carl away from me. He looked hesitant for a second, but eventually turned around towards the other kids.

It sucked that they were all so cautious about me, but I could see where they were coming from.

When everything was packed, we all took one last look at the camp ground before piling into the cars. Minus my van, they had the RV and Daryl's pickup truck. I was curious to see if they'd all pile into the RV or if they'd trust me enough to ride in my vehicle. Eventually, I saw Glenn hop into the pickup with Daryl, and Rick walked over to the driver's side of my van.

"You wouldn't mind a few extra passengers, would you?"

"Not at all," I answered. "And as long as Thor get's his seat, he'll be fine too."

Rick chuckled and gave a nod before waving Lori and Carl over. I was surprised that she was actually okay with the arrangements, but I guess it was one step closer to gaining their trust. That, or Rick just wanted to keep tabs on me.

"We've got the map here, so go ahead and take the lead," Rick informed, leaning through the front seats. "We're headed about thirty miles east, so we can just take this main road for the most part."

I took a quick look at the map before nodding and heading out onto the road. Before long, I had Dale and Daryl driving behind me. It was a quiet trip, but I didn't mind in the least. I was used to the quiet after traveling on my own for so long anyways.

Along the way we had to make frequent stops to push stalled cars off the road so we could get by, then take an extra minute to siphon whatever was left of the gas in each vehicle as we did. By nightfall we had to have pushed twenty four cars and seven vans. It almost felt as if we had spent more time moving cars than driving. When it started to snow again, we decided that this would be the last car for the day.

"Whew, I don't think I could have lasted much longer," Allen, the twins' father, sighed in exasperation.

"I hear ya," Glenn chimed in.

Both men leaned against the car they had just moved off the road as everyone else set up for the night. By the sounds of things, we were all going to sleep in the vehicles while someone would keep watch from on top of Dale's RV. I was slightly grateful that they didn't trust me enough for night watch, it just meant that I wouldn't have to sit up there in the cold. Not to say that the vehicles were that much warmer though.

"Hey, Rick, you and your family are more than welcome to stay in my van for the night, I'm sure the RV's probably packed."

"I'll check with Lori, but thanks, Riley."

I gave him a quick nod before making my way back to the van. When I heard Thor start growling, I quickly got onto the roof of the vehicle and aimed my crossbow down the street. The rest of the group seemed to notice as well and soon we could see the outlines of three walkers.

"Don't let yourself get surrounded!" Rick called out.

I waited another minute before shooting, but when the figures became clearly visible in my sights, I didn't shoot.

"Rick, wait! They're not roamers!"

I hopped down from the van and made my way to the front, crossbow still raised. There were two males in the group and one female, the leading man and the female of African decent, from what I could tell.

"Whoa! Don't shoot!" The first man called in a panic, raising his hands. "We didn't mean to sneak up on you, especially in the dark, but we saw the headlights and didn't want to risk missing any survivors."

Rick stepped up to my side and put a hand on my shoulder. My crossbow lowered slowly as he extended his other hand to the man.

"The living are hard to come by," Rick informed as the man shook his hand. "I'm Rick."

"Tyreese," the man replied. "And this is Julie and Chris. Any chance you have any food?"

Just as Rick had done with me, he welcomed the three into the group and once everyone had set up for the night, everyone was fed. Tyreese told us a little bit about them and where they had been staying. His daughter's boyfriend, Chris, was having some family issues so he was staying at Tyreese's house when the dead started walking. They had enough food for the first while, but eventually they ran out of food and it started getting colder so they decided to hit the road.

"We really appreciate this, Rick," Tyreese informed as he ate. "We haven't had much to eat for a long while. Man, who knew this canned stuff could taste so good. Thanks again, Rick."

"Don't mention it. It's always nice to see a new face," Rick replied honestly. "Listen, we're getting ready to call it a night. If you'd like, I'm sure we could find some room for you and your family."

I gave him a sceptical look from where I was sitting and I'm sure I saw similar looks from a few other of the survivors. Rick was a nice guy, we all knew that much, but that was being a little too nice.

"If it's all the same, I think we'll just stay in one of those cars for the night," Tyreese informed. "The kids aren't so good with strangers."

"Alright, we'll see you tomorrow then."

With everything settled, everyone headed into the vehicles for the night. Lori had instantly vetoed my offer of sleeping arrangements and moved to the RV with Carl. Of course, we all had to listen to Rick and Lori discuss it though.

"First you let in some random person, then invite the next three strangers we meet to sleep in the same room with us?"

I sighed and stretched out in my empty van with Thor laying right beside me. I was thankful for his warmth and comfort, but unfortunately I could still hear Lori outside.

"Rick, you're too trusting."

"Lori, he has kids-"

"So do we," she argued. "What if one of them turns around and steals our supplies, or hurts someone, or-"

"Lori, calm down. Riley's a good kid, and Tyreese and his family are just as cautious about us as we are with them. We're going to be fine."

I was glad that at least Rick trusted me to some extent. It made me feel much better, especially since Lori practically thinks I'm going to stab her in the back while she isn't looking. That's the last thing I'd ever do. The walking dead, I could kill, but it'd take a lot for me to hurt the living.

Oh well, I told myself, sooner or later I'd be able to gain their trust. I'd wait patiently for that to happen. It was more lonely to be on the fringe of the group than to be on my own with no one else.

I didn't sleep much that night, like every other night, so it didn't bother me much when the wake up call was when the sun raised. Before long, everyone piled back into the cars and continued on our trip. I offered to let Tyreese, Julie, and Chris ride in my van so Rick and his family could move into Dale's RV. Everyone seemed more comfortable that way so I didn't give it a second thought.

We drove for the entire day once more, only stopping for stalled vehicles. There had been a lot more this time and eventually, we ran into a roadblock of cars. Once we moved them, we'd settle down for the night.


Footnote:

Thanks for the support everyone :) I posted a pic of Riley and Thor on my deviantArt account, so search for xcas92x on deviantArt

The next chapter will be out monday. I promise there will be more Daryl time soon ;P