To my absolute shock, everyone supports my idea.
I thought that Jude would FOR SURE be against it, and maybe Bob or Sasha too, maybe even Kat, but they all agreed that this trip needs to happen. Maggie was the first to respond to it, though, and now she insists we leave today. Which we are. I would've thought we'd prepare for a day or two, but nope. Maggie is so beyond ready to get back to searching for her husband.
We've been at Judy's house almost a week now, and plus with the week before that, it's been roughly 2 weeks since the Prison fell. Two weeks since Maggie and Glenn last saw each other. I can't even imagine how Maggie has stayed sane this long. If I was separated from Connor and Ashley, not knowing where they were or if they were dead or alive, I wouldn't be able to sleep until I found them.
But now it's time.
Maggie, myself, and Sasha, that's who's going. Bob wanted to tag along, but we couldn't take too many people with us. I was sad when Isaac didn't volunteer to go, because I know how good he is with that machete of his. Plus, he's a freaking cool guy.
After saying our goodbyes, and packing two weeks worth of food and supplies, we're off, exiting through the black barred gate, back out into the walker infested hell we live in. I have my pistol that I got from the gas station drawn and fully loaded. Jude has a stockpile of ammo, so all of our ammo stores are replenished. Beyond convenient.
At first, it's eerily quiet, but soon Sasha and I fall behind Maggie by a good 20 feet.
"Hey, how's your head feel?" Sasha asks me, breaking the ice.
"Still a headache here and there, but otherwise i'm fine, Sasha. Didn't you have the, ah, whatever it is when we were at the Prison? The flu?"
"Don't remind me." She says quite seriously, but a second later breaks into a smile. "It completely sucks. And you had it off easy, you know. You got to sleep it off. I had to help Hershel and Glenn keep everything together in A Block. It was a struggle."
I wince at that. "Ugh, that does sound like it sucked."
"It did." Sasha reminds me.
"I remember, that night, I was in the Administrative building, keeping watch with Carl while Connor and Ash played Yahtzee in one of the offices. His dad showed up and Carl went with him. Turns out the walkers broke down part of the fence, but they took 'em all out."
Sasha starts to say something, but stops, and quickly wipes her eyes. "I'm sorry. Just thinking of what we had there at the Prison...it just really, really sucks it's gone."
I don't know what to say, and Sasha continues.
"It's just so-so frustrating not knowing where anybody else is. Rick, Carl, Daryl, Carol...Tyreese."
Oh, that's right. Sasha has a brother, Tyreese. All of the sudden I feel this pang of guilt, a hollow feeling almost. Sasha doesn't know if her brother is dead or alive, and Maggie doesn't know if her husband is dead or alive. But here I am, with my two siblings safe and sound. Sure, I'd like to know where my best friend, Carl, is, but other than that I didn't really have any super close connections at the Prison. Sasha and Maggie, on the other hand, had a lot.
For the longest time, nobody talks. All three of us just feel too bad to talk. Hours go bye, with just the sound of boots scraping against the pavement of the road and the occasional distant growl of a walker somewhere deep in the woods to listen to. It's a cloudy day, and it's threatening to rain. Must be well after noon by this point. The first drops of rain just start to fall when we see a couple buildings in the distance.
Maggie halts, and so do Sasha and I.
"Looks like that's a town up there." I comment. Nobody replies. Both of their faces are numb and tired, sorrow filled expressions on their faces.
"Glenn could be there. Tyreese maybe." I say, trying to get one of them to talk. It works.
"Let's go, then." Maggie says, and we start walking towards the town.
Well, to call it a town is really an understatement. Although it looks relatively like a town from a distance, it's really just 5 big old brick buildings centered around some train tracks. An old train station, with some shops around it. All the shops are 3 stories high, with flat roofs and mostly smashed windows. Dead bodies liter the streets, along with other trash. Upon inspection, we find that one of the shops, a clothing store, remained mostly intact, and we spend a good hour "shopping" there.
I find a nice pair of running shoes, a couple good pairs of cargo shorts, with LOTS of pockets, and even a shirt with a huge Batman logo on it. Standing in front of the cracked mirror by the changing booth, I almost look like a normal teenager. Nice shirt, shoes, and shorts. But then I see the dirt and grime covering my face, arms and legs. And my super greasy hair really kills the effect. Before the end of the world, I used to gel my hair so much it almost looked black instead of brown.
"Alex, what the HELL are you wearing? Is that a Batman shirt?" Maggie asks, dumbfounded, from across the store. She's dressed in a navy blue tanktop, with a stack of them in her arms, and a fresh pair of yoga pants on. The ones she'd been wearing as of late were ripping at the knees.
"Hell yeah, you jealous?" All the negative energy from the walk here has been washed away, replaced by the giddy feeling you get when you go shopping.
"Don't be jealous of him-" Sasha says as she walks out of the booth next to me, wearing "fashionably" ripped skinny jeans and a nice leather jacket. She proceeds to unzip the jacket partially, and opens it wide, revealing a Superman logo beneath. "BAM!" She exclaims, confidently.
I can't help but giggle. "Are you kidding me, Sasha? Aren't you supposed to be the grown up here?"
"Hey!" Maggie yells.
"There's other superhero shirts in aisle 7." I say, and she run/walks away. Moments later, she returns wearing a Wonder Woman tank top, with a second one added to her collection of shirts. She throws them into one of her backpacks, along with a couple pairs of short jean shorts and yoga pants, before lacing up her boots again.
I grab a couple more shirts that look pretty cool, and manage to find a sweet black jacket a lot like Sasha's. We pack up all of our clothes, and exit the store, only to see a caravan of people marching down the street a ways. Quickly, we all dive back into the store, peaking at the group from the broken store front windows.
"Looks like some kind of slave traders..." Sasha says, the disgust of what she sees obvious in her voice. And I think she's right. In the front of the caravan, there's a horse drawn carriage with 4 or 5 people in it. Behind them, there's a block of probably 20 people, ranging from my age to elderly. They're in 4x5 rows, linked to the person in front of them by a couple feet of rope that's also tied around their hands. The people at the front are tied to the carriage. And, behind everybody, another horse drawn carriage brings up the rear, with a couple more people relaxing in it.
"Oh my god, I think you're right." Maggie says in awe.
"That's horrible...People seriously do that?" I ask her.
"I guess so." Maggie replies, still staring at the approaching slave block.
"We've gotta save them." I decide, out loud, and both Sasha and Maggie look back at me.
"I don't think so, Alex." They both say in unison.
"What? How can we just let them cruise on by and be slaves to those people? That is not right! Glenn could be in there. Tyreese! Somebody else that we know!" I yell, pleading with them to change their minds.
Maggie's expression softens, and so does Sasha's. "We will hide here, watch while they pass. If there's anybody we know, we'll break them out. Otherwise, they go one way and we go the other. Deal?"
The last time someone said "deal" to me, they died.
"Maggie-" I start, but Sasha stops me.
"Alex. We can't save everybody."
I don't' reply, and we silently climb the stairs to the second level of the store. From there, we watch from the un-destroyed windows as the slave caravan goes by. At first glance, I don't see anybody I recognize. But then I here Maggie gasp.
"Beth?"
"Where? She's in there?" Sasha asks Maggie, urgently. I'm to shocked to speak. I spot her a couple seconds later, through the heavy rain that's falling. Her blonde hair, that beautiful, long, blonde hair, is soaked beyond belief. Her clothes are ragged, blood stained even, and I want to cry. The look on her face is so hopeless, and it breaks my heart. She trips on the train tracks cutting across the street, scraping her bare knee on the wet cement.
Right next to her, I spot a man with long, greasy brown hair. What was once stubble has grown into a small beard. There's a blood soaked bandage wrapped around his forehead, but if comes off in the rain, revealing a nasty looking cut. The man who once walked so proudly around the Prison, so sure of himself, is limping bad, barely able to keep up with the others. The expression on his face is just as lost as Beth's. His sleeveless jacket with the angel wings on the back confirms my fear.
"Daryl" I croak out, and tears start flowing down my cheeks. Him and Beth look so miserable, I can't take it. We've been relatively well off these last two weeks, but they obviously haven't. Probably starved and beaten, while we've been having fresh baked bread and tea at Jude's.
I glance over at Sasha and Maggie to my left, and they're both crying as well. Maggie worse than Sasha. I wipe my eyes, and look for anymore familiar faces in the crowd of slaves. I don't expect to find any, but in the last row, on the side closest to me, I see my old best friend.
What.
I haven't seen Elijah since this all began, but yet there he is. I don't know how he managed to end up here down in Georgia, but that doesn't really matter. I'm so shocked I can't speak, but my sobs make up for the silence. His once styled blonde hair hangs in a wet, greasy mat that goes down to his shoulders. One of his eyes is bruised and swollen, and I can see he has a broken nose. Before I can get a better look, the back carriage blocks my view, and then they're all out of view.
But I still see him there, in my mind. Bruised and beaten, all hope lost. Him and Daryl and Beth. All the horrible things they must have endured crash into my mind like an angry wave against jagged rocks. I don't know how long I stare at the empty road, but Maggie has to slap me in the face to snap me out of my daze.
"Alex, get it together. We have to follow them!" She says, her voice filled with a lethal dose of sadness and rage. I look up at her, defeated.
"My best friend was there." I croak, my voice hoarse.
That surprised her, and Sasha turns away from the window to stare at me as well. "Before the turn, my best friend. Elijah. He was there." I look up at Maggie, completely lost. "How did he get there?" I ask, hoping against hope she'll have the answer.
Maggie takes a shaky breath, pushing loose strands of hair behind her ears. "I don't know, Alex, and I don't care. All I know is we have to catch up to them. We're taking those sick fucks down, and saving our friends." The venom in her voice startles me, even in my defeated state.
"No, we have to get ahead of them, before it's too late." Sasha says from her position by the window.
Before Maggie and I can ask her why we have to get ahead of them, she answers our question.
"We came from the way they're heading. Isaac and Kat and Jude and the rest are all still there, completely unaware what's coming."