AN: If I'm writing here, you know I don't own anything related to The Walking Dead or AMC. Thank you all so much for the reading, reviewing, and following! The show is giving me life right now!

itscalledkarma: Glad the last chapter made you clutch your pearls.

cakebythepound: Nothing's wrong with laughing at Abraham's expressions!

ezillyamused: Yes, Rosita better check herself (lol)! I have the most trouble writing for her, because she has been around mostly as eye candy. I had to write Daryl as the Daryl I fell in love with. Same with Glenn. Thanks as always for your comments! Let's see how clueless Carl was about the whole thing (ewww, in my teenager voice).

kimyso: I guess you're gonna find out who knew about the gas station incident in this chapter. Thanks as always!

literaturechick: Wouldn't it be nice if Rick decided he waited long enough on the show…excuse me, sorry, I blanked out for a sec. Anyway, yes, kids should stay on the bus. Thanks again!

Alex311: You killed me with the "smack that was heard throughout the South" comment! Gabriel may need more reasons to pray soon.

Chapter 10: The Roads

Tara noticed that Eugene wasn't tagging along as her shadow like he used to. She had an idea as to why, but if her inkling was true then her patience with him might actually wane. She never outwardly admitted how some of his ways vexed her, but that was because she felt as if she was his protector. Abe quit that position and was often looking at Eugene like prey. Tara had to reason with herself that friends do get annoyed with each other from time to time.

She sighed and walked to his seat. "Eugene?" He looked the other way. "Why are you upset with me?"

"There are not many joys men can have nowadays," began his monologue. "Before, a man could do what he pleased in order to have some type of fulfillment. The ladies didn't love me, so I found my way. Then everything went to shit. You're lonely, just like me. I'd think you would have allowed me to see what I don't get to do. I probably will never get the chance to see girl on girl action between you and someone else." Tara glared at him. "However, that was my one chance to see an interracial couple in person. And I don't mean the typical black man and white woman like Tyrese and Lori, or Asian guy with a white woman like Glenn and Maggie..."

Tara rose her hand. "Oh my God. Okay, I'm gonna need you to stop. You're gonna have to stop that. People are not here for your personal porn viewing pleasure."

"You say that, but..."

"But I probably saved your life. They both use long sharp objects pretty well, and probably wouldn't hesitate chopping you down."

He frowned even more. "Then why did they do it in a way that everyone could watch?"

"Hey fuck face," Carl rudely interrupted. He was only two rows down on the bus, but could hear the whole conversation. "You won't need to worry about just them if you keep on being a perv. Now shut up."

Eugene's back shot straight up in a perfect right angle. He reacted in a way a student would if they were chastised by a stereotypical nun in a Catholic school. That "kid" could be scary at times. Tara wanted to tell Carl that his language was horrible, but really couldn't blame him.

She leaned in to whisper to her friend. "I'll try to find a porn mag for you, okay?"

Eugene gave her puppy dog eyes. "Promise?"

She exhaled and pinched her nose. "There's not even a promise of eating...I'll see what I can do."

-00000000000-

They didn't have much conversation since the pit stop. Words weren't needed to express their amazement that it finally happened. The ecstasy competed with embarrassment. Everyone knew what happened. Anyone with ears knew. Rick wanted to be as nonchalant as Abe was after his many apparent rendezvous with Rosita, but he did, on some level, care about what his people thought. Then again, those intimate moments had to happen again with her. It was something to remind him that he was still alive. Even better was that this was something he wanted from the start. He was slowly removing himself from guilt. He was no cheater. Lusting over a woman the day after his wife died? Yes, that was bad. Consummation of love with someone important long after the death of a spouse? Maybe not so much.

Her head shifted in his shoulder as baby Judith rested on her chest. He proudly beamed...they were so beautiful, even more so with each other. Carl didn't say a word to him when they entered the bus. He just handed Judith to him and stormed off to sit next to Noah in the middle.

Okay, Rick could give two shits if anyone heard Michonne's possessed screams. They were mostly adults and he had to deal with their smells and attitudes, Abe and Rosita's moans, and Father Gabriel's judgmental eyes. They could deal with the one time he and Michonne let go (and boy, did she). However, he felt true remorse for putting Carl, and even Noah through that. He had to plan this a lot better without disgusting his son.

Making love to Michonne couldn't be a onetime event.

-00000000-

Sasha decided to set up a perch on top of the bus at nightfall. Michonne offered to stay up there with her.

"I'd figure you would have wanted to be part of the new leadership," commented Sasha.

"We all are, aren't we?" Michonne responded.

Sasha shrugged. "I guess. Who knows if we'll bump into people over there?"

"True. You know anything about that place from the National Geographic?"

Sasha chuckled. "Not more than Laura might have. I wasn't gonna touch that subject much. I think Daryl has marked her on his shit list."

Michonne's eyes widened. "Yea. She should keep her distance. While they're planning things right now, I'm sure she's hiding under your brother." Sasha rolled her eyes. "What, you don't want them to be together?"

Sasha shrugged again. "I wouldn't hide under my brother. I love him to death, but this world is too much for a man like him. I'm glad he found love, again, but if something happens to her... No one's ready to lose the person they love. I mean, look at me. I listened to a liar just because the guy's name was 'Bob'". She stopped talking when she noticed Michonne's breathing had changed. "I'm sorry, I know you and Rick are just starting out, but I know you two are stronger than that."

Michonne wiped a tear. Her whole body vibrated with conflicting emotions. "I've, I've lost before." There was pain in just saying that.

"Oh. I didn't..."

"How could you have? Everyone has lost. I'm sure you lost people I didn't even know existed before we met." Sasha nodded her head. "Rick lost, I lost. I died inside. Some of me wondered if I would live again. Another part wondered why I even cared. But now, here I am, in love again and wondering if the ball will drop again."

There was silence. What could Sasha say about the joy of finding love in a world like theirs? It was as if it was nothing but a tease: be in love to feel alive and potentially land devastatingly lose it, or just don't love and live miserably anyway.

"Don't worry about your brother, he'll do what he can to protect her."

Sasha pulled out a box of raisins and offered it to her friend. "You notice something?"

"What?"

"Carol's been keeping her distance from them, and your man has been looking at all three of them strangely."

-000000000-

On the bus...

The meeting took place in the middle. Everyone stood in a circle; Carol had made sure she had some people to stand between her and Tyrese and Laura. Now that any of his confusion about Laura's appearance had evaporated away, he came back to his snares to notice that a new conflict could be developing. Tyrese had probably moved on, but guilt was suddenly creeping up on Carol's face lately. Clearly, things that happened in Georgia didn't always stay in Georgia.

"I knew you were a ton of bricks in school, but I thought you at least had common sense," Abe insulted.

"Listen, maybe it was hard for you to understand with all of that carrot top, but if we go where there are less roads, then we avoid more walkers," Daryl retorted.

"That's true," Laura jumped in. "Wouldn't more people have lived where there were more roads?"

Daryl sarcastically remarked, "Well gee, thanks Olive Oil."

Tyrese's jaw clenched. "You gonna stop calling her that!"

Daryl looked at Rick. Rick tilted his head, but could almost care less. "Fine."

"Look, we're gonna take the route where there is more elevation, so it'd be harder for the walkers to reach us. This road," he pointed at the map, "seems the most reasonable because it isn't surrounded by many streets." He looked at Daryl. "Do you know if that area is wooded?

"Nah, there ain't too many trees. Look, there's some water there," Daryl pointed.

Rick concluded, "Okay, we set out in the morning."

Carol interrupted, "what about food, clothes, supplies? If we're far from where there was a lot of civilization in the first place, how will we survive?"

Rick simply replied, "We will."

-00000000-

Rick had some decisions to make when the group dispersed. He wanted to put Michonne on the top of his list, but he knew better. She decided to keep Sasha Company because she knew he spoke for her and vice versa. He also knew it was to mainly keep their heads on straight - if they weren't careful, they could be a drug together. Intoxication could easily lead to death in their world.

The more urgent issues were his son and Carol. Carl was avoiding eye contact with him. They never got the chance to have the "talk". Now, he might have to, especially after his son heard him with someone other than his son's mother. Terrific. Carl wanted them to be together, but he probably didn't understand the implications. Then again, Rick knew he could have controlled his urges better.

Then there was Carol. He wasn't sure how, but if she didn't get over her guilt of killing Karen in the past, then something bad might happen.

It wasn't easy to decide who to talk to first.

"Riiiiiiiick," Glenn interrupted his thoughts.

Rick was taken aback. "Glenn?"

Glenn handed him a bottle of water. "You know, I've been losing hope lately. Maggie is my, she's my everything. I'm not gonna pretend that losing Hershel and Beth didn't affect me, because it did. But what's worse is to see Maggie go through it. She's my everything, you know." Rick nodded as he listened. "It's just been getting darker." His voice was low, but it was as if it traveled a distance. "But then there's you."

"Me?"

"Yes you," continued Glenn. "When I met you, I thought you were out of your mind delusional. A man trying to find his wife and kid. But you did. And look at you now: you've managed to get us all back together, raise your kids...but even better I think you're getting what you deserve at last."

"What do you mean?"

"We've all been waiting for you to be happy with Michonne. It's about time," Glenn patted his shoulder.

Rick laughed. "Yea, yes it is. Glenn, does Maggie tell you everything?"

Glenn's smile dissipated. "I hope she does. Why?"

"Anything about Carol at the prison?"

Glenn thought back. "Like what?"

"...Karen..."

"No, she didn't. Wait...no way!"

"That's why I haven't told too many people about it. I wanted it to stay in the past, but the way Carol keeps on looking at Tyrese and Laura..."

Glenn scratched his head. "What are you gonna do?"

"Talk to her. She might be considering leaving us."

-0000000-

Daryl climbed to the top of the bus with Carol in tow to relieve Sasha. Sasha momentarily thought they had ulterior motives, but reminded herself that they could be asexual for all she knew. More importantly, she reminded herself to mind her business. As they walked into the bus, she thank Michonne for keeping her company and went to sleep in a row ahead of her brother.

Michonne slowly walked, eyeing each seat as she passed them. She already noticed Glenn and Rick talking in the back row. She passed Carl and Noah, with little Judith, before she got there.

"Hey, what's going on y'all?" She smiled.

"Hey," Noah simply responded Carl chose to look out a window instead.

"Anything happened while I was up there?"

Noah responded, "we're gonna avoid major highways and we picked a spot close to water with few trees."

Michonne nodded. "Okay, okay." Carl continued to ignore her. "Well, I'm gonna call it a night."

Noah replied, "Okay."

"Carl?" He continued to look elsewhere. She wanted to give up on the conversation she was thinking of. This was something father and son needed to discuss. However, she did tell Rick once that she was done taking breaks. "Noah, can you give us a second?"

"Sure," the young man obliged, and limped away.

Michonne sat next to him and pulled out a bar. "Big Cat?" Carl refused. "Okay, I'm gonna say this, whether you're listening or not. If I could take back what happened earlier today to make you more comfortable, I would. I'm sorry if we did make you uneasy. Sometimes adults do things that don't make sense to kids..." Carl's gaze never left the window. "I had a step dad once. He was pretty cool, but I couldn't stand him at night. I would hear the weirdest noises come from their bedroom at night."

Carl turned his head from the window. "Yea, it's pretty nasty!"

"It is, it is. I still feel disgusted from just talking about it". She shuddered. "But eventually, I learned that they do that out of love." Carl went back to looking out the window. "If you don't want me with your father anymore, just let me know."

Carl looked at her. She must have forgotten about him telling his father off in her honor. "Of course not. You two better stay together!"

She snorted. "Here," she handed him the Big Car. "Share with Noah." She ruffled his hair and went to the back.

-0000000000-

Miles away...

A young woman was adorned in twigs and jewelry. She didn't cry as the people she used to go to church with hacked away at her body. ..

-Don't worry, there will be no Gareth or Terminus 2.0 coming up! Lori was enough…-