Logan glared up at the trailer ceiling. His thoughts rang as he recounted what just happened. Why did it happen? What was it about to bring?
He turned over in the trailer bed to see the back of Andrea's head. Her bare back shimmered in the moonlight. This was no good. He couldn't even recount how it came to be or what exactly happened to make it turn out the way it did. At most he remembered comforting her through Dale's death and then having her leap for his lips. Logan sighed and sat up. As he rubbed his face he felt a hand rest on his lower back. He didn't turn around.
"Where are you going?" Andrea asked. Logan paused and slowly turned around.
"Just a- just thought I would check in on the rest of the group," Logan paused. "On Brady, make sure the kid doesn't have a too much of a traumatizing birthday."
Logan rose from the bed and reached out to his pants and shirt. As he slipped them on, Andrea rose and rubbed the back of her neck. She chewed her lip for a moment as Logan had his eyes fixed away. Andrea got up and stood in front of him. There's eyes locked for a moment before she stepped forward and kissed him. Logan hesitated than lightly kissed her back. She pulled away and looked at him once more, motioning her fingers on his cheeks.
"You better stick around," she said. Logan stood there as she put a shirt on and walked out of the room. He glared in her direction for a moment before he shook off his thoughts and headed out.
Daryl, Glenn and Michael headed up before them to assure the group they were okay. Jane, Rick and Carl slowly made their way. Something was off. Jane felt a sick feeling come to her stomach. Her thoughts released as Rick and Carl spoke about Shane. Jane escaped the talk and looked off into her mind's distance.
Jane's thoughts were interrupted when Rick and Carl stopped. Rick gave a glimpse to Jane. She sighed as she prepared for what Rick was about to say. He stopped and listened in. Jane saw his confused face and glared off into the distance. That's when she saw them. Walkers by the hundreds were making there way ever so closer to them.
"Rick, we need to go," she whispered. Rick looked back and quickly rushed Carl on.
"We need to get to the house and tell the others," Carl said as they paused beside a tree.
"We will never make it. We need to make our way to the barn," Rick stated. He glimpsed at Jane. She gulped back and nodded. "go, go." Rick said shoving Carl.
The three of them dashed their way through the few walkers. They slashed their hands at them. Jane jumped back when a hand wished her back. Rick quickly turned. Jane slowly took out her machete and smoothly shoved it in the walkers head. She quickly dashed to keep up with Rick and Carl.
Once they got to the barn, Rick, Carl and Jane quickly closed the door and held it back. Rick chained it and they began to step back slowly. They looked around trying to find a place to hide. Jane glared at the top.
"Up there. After we get there we kick the ladder down. It's not the greatest but right now it's all we got," Jane said. Rick looked up and nodded.
Just before Rick could go up he paused to look over at gasoline. He picked it up and began to spread it in front of the entrance. He grabbed Carl by the arm and shoved him towards the ladder.
"Go now," Rick said.
"What about you?" Carl asked.
"I will be up there in a bit. Toss the lighter when I say," Rick said firmly. Jane gave him a look. "Go up with him."
"Rick-"
"Go. This will distract them from getting to the house and will give us time to escape," Rick stated. Carl began to breathe heavily. "Hey, you can do this. I love you."
Carl and Jane began to climb the ladder as Rick kicked at the entrance. She quickly turned when she heard the door open. Jane's heart began to beat. The one thing on her mind was Brady. Rick yelled at the walkers than quickly jumped onto the ladder and climbed up.
"Now!" he yelled.
Carl opened the lighter and dropped it down on the walkers. Flames rose as the walkers still reached out for them. Jane glared down. Her eyes turned when Rick came running over to them. Jane gave a look when she heard gunshots outside. Rick and her gave each other a look and escaped the barn through an open part in the side. They climbed down slowly off the roof area. As they looked over they saw the RV coming through. Carl brought out his gun and began to shoot at the walkers.
"I'll meet you after," Jane said.
Before Rick could grab her arm, Jane brought out her swords and began to slice through them. Out of nowhere, Lyria, Monk and Spud came biting at the skulls of the walkers. She ran closer to the cars as she took out as many walkers as possible. As she turned and sliced one, another came chomping at her. She fell down on her ass and looked up. Her swords flew to the sides. She cursed. One of the walkers came closer to her. She kicked it in the face and rushed to get her swords. One grabbed her leg. She quickly turned and kicked it off. Again she reached for her swords. Her hands grabbed the handle and she quickly got up. As she looked at the walker, she saw an arrow in their heads. As they fell she saw Daryl holding up his crossbow. Jane looked at him and nodded to him.
Jane's head turned when she saw Terry and Brady running off to the cars with Lori, Beth and T-Dog. When she turned her head Daryl was gone. She glared in panic. Logan quickly popped up and grabbed her by the arm.
"Come on! We gotta go!" he yelled. Jane turned panicky looking for Daryl.
"Wait! Daryl!" she screamed. He was nowhere to be seen. Logan gripped his hand on her and pulled her to the car. Monk and Spud leaped in the car. Lyria saw Jane and quickly ran back into the chaos.
Lyria ran out and found Rick, Carl, Michael and Hershel. She quickly looked around once more. Rick gave the cat a look as it licked its lips. He helped her onto the truck and they drove off. Lyria stood in the back with Michael. She glared off to hear the screams of someone. As she glared she looked at one individual left to defend for herself. Andrea.
Carl, Michael, Rick, Hershel and Lyria soon stopped by a car graveyard on the highway. Michael looked at one of the cars to see "Sophia, stay here." His eyes glared at it over and over again. This is where they had lost Carol's little girl. Michael sighed at the sight of it. It was depressing. He turned around to see Carl storming off. Rick looked down with disappointment. He then rose to go after him.
"Rick. We have to get you're boy to safety," Hershel stated. Rick looked down.
"Hershel and I will wait here for the others," Michael said.
"I know some safe places. We can meet up there later," Hershel stated. Rick bit his lip.
"Where? Huh? Where is safe? We are not splitting up!" Rick snapped. Michael looked down as he chewed his lip.
"Keep your boy safe. Michael you should go with him. I'll wait in one of the cars. If a walker gets me than so be it. I have lost my farm, my wife and maybe my daughters," Hershel said. His old blue eyes almost began to tear up.
"You don't know that," Michael jumped in.
"They will be here," Rick added before turning.
"We don't know that either," Hershel shot back. Michael sighed and leaned against the car with the words written on it.
"You're a man of God!" Rick snapped.
"Christ had a plan of the resurrection of the dead. I just- I just thought he had something different in mind," Hershel added. Michael turned away. The idea of this whole thing made his stomach sick and his mind turn.
"We stick together," Rick stated before walking off to his son. Hershel said nothing. Michael sighed and looked around further.
A few miles off the main highway, Jane, Logan, Monk and Spud were heading out. Jane's eyes shot wide. Her thoughts were spreading a mile a minute.
"We have to find them," Jane said with a look of shock on her face. Logan glimpsed at her as he drove.
"Are you insane? We will never find them," Logan said. Jane shook her head.
"Rick once said something about a highway. That's where they left a message for Sophia. It's just off-"
"Jane, no! It's a suicide mission! There is no God damn way!" Logan yelled. Jane gave a look.
"So what? We leave Terry? Michael? Lyria? Brady? I said turn the fuck around! I'm not leaving Brady!" Jane snapped. "Or any of the others!" she added. Logan gave her a look as tears rolled down her cheeks. He sighed.
"God Dammit," he said. He turned the wheel and turned around sharply.
As they approached the car wreck, Jane got a glimpse of everyone. A sigh of relief came to her as she looked out at them. When the car came to a stop she quickly bolted over to them. Brady was the first to make his way to her. She leaned down and scooped him up in her arms. Tears streamed down her face. As she lightly put him down she looked over at Terry. She made her way there and wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you. Thank you for looking after my boy," she said.
Terry nodded and hugged her back. As she turned to the others she saw Daryl. He looked back at her. She wasn't sure what to do with the situation. She wanted to hug him but since it was him, it seemed odd. Then, Daryl made his way to her. He gave her an awkward look before wrapping his arms around her and then lightly kissing her on the lips. Rick turned off giving Glenn an odd look. As he pulled away she smiled at him.
"That must have taken a lot," she whispered. Daryl gave a half smirk and turned to the group.
"Where are the rest?" Maggie asked.
"We're the only ones who made it so far," Rick stated. Lori slowly looked around.
"Shane?" she asked. Rick's eyes quickly looked to Jane. He looked down then shook his head. A look on Lori's face made Jane question.
"Andrea?" Glenn asked.
"She saved me from the walkers," Carol added. T-Dog looked down.
"I saw her go down," T-Dog stated. Logan looked down. His heart began to beat slowly.
"Patricia?" Hershel asked.
"They got her too," Beth stated as she snuggled into her father's arms. "Anyone see Jimmy?" Beth asked.
"He got over run in the RV," Rick stated. Beth's eyes watered up. She had lost her boyfriend, a close friend and almost her father and sister.
"Are you sure you saw Andrea go down?" Carol asked. Jane bit her lip.
"There were walkers everywhere," Lori added.
"I'll go back for her," Daryl said before setting on his bike.
"No," Rick said firmly.
"We can't just leave her there," Logan stated.
"She might not be there. She's somewhere or dead," Rick replied.
"He's right, it's too risky," said Michael.
"So we aren't gonna look for her?" Glenn questioned.
"We needa get off this highway," Rick stated firmly. Jane looked off down the road further. Making its way over was a single walker. Daryl reached into his bike pocket.
"If we don't we run into more asshole walkers like this one. I got it," he said as he rose his crossbow up and shot it through the eye. A final look was made before they all got back in their vehicles and headed out.
As they made their way down the road, a honk was heard from the car Rick was in. They all stopped and got out of their vehicles.
"What's up?" Michael asked. Rick looked over at his car.
"Car's outta gas," Rick stated.
"We can't stay here," Carol stated. Jane looked around as the men pulled out guns and stood on guard.
"I'm freezing," Carl complained.
"We will build a fire," Lori said as she rubbed his back.
"We gotta stay close. I'm low on arrows. How are you doing on ammo?" Daryl asked.
"Not enough," Rick stated looking around with precaution.
"We should stay here with our asses hanging out either," Maggie snarled. Hershel turned to her.
"Watch your mouth. Listen to Rick," he said.
"We stay here and set up a perimeter. Tomorrow we look for gas and supplies," Rick ordered.
"Glenn and I can go now," Maggie volunteered. Rick shook his head.
"We stick together, God forbid we lose another person or get stranded without a car," Rick replied.
"Rick, we are stranded now," Terry stated.
"It looks bad I know but at least we found one another. I wasn't so sure but we did. We are together now let's keep it that way," Rick paused. The group looked around nervously. "We will find shelter I'm sure there is a place."
"There are walkers everywhere, they're migrating or something," Glenn said.
"There has to be a place. Not just some place to hide out but possibly live," Rick said passing nervously. "Build some sort of life for each other."
"How long will this place of safety last? We thought the farm was safe. Look how that turned out," Michael stated. The group glared down questioning everything.
"We won't make that mistake again," Hershel said quietly. Jane looked at him.
"We stay there," Rick said pointing at an old stone monument.
"Are you sure?" Carol asked. Daryl bit his lip. His mind let go of the current situation.
"You know I found Randal. He had turned. No bites," Daryl stated. Rick looked down.
"How is that possible?" Beth asked.
"What the hell happened?" Lori asked. Rick felt shoved into a corner. He turned down and began to think of what to say. Jane glared at him.
"Shane killed Randal. Like he always wanted to," Daryl stated. Jane gulped back. Daryl's eyes moved back and forth from Jane and Rick.
"So then the herd got him?" Lori asked. Rick said nothing. He just looked away trying to avoid the question.
"All of us are infected. At the C.D.C we stayed at, Jenner told me," Rick paused.
"Whatever it is, we all carry it," Terry added. Jane looked at him. The group went quiet disturbed with what they had heard.
"And you never said anything?" Carol snapped.
"Would it have made a difference?" Rick asked.
"When I heard about the walkers in the barn, I thought it was best for people to know," Glenn stated.
"Well I decided this one was best for you guys not to know," Rick stated glaring at each individual. The group remained quiet.
"Did you guys know about that?" Carol asked Logan, Terry, Michael and Jane.
"Terry told us when we found him. I thought you guys already knew," Jane replied.
The group fell back to silence. Rick quickly walked off away from the group. Jane watched as Lori followed close behind. She sighed and stepped off to the side. She gave it another look before she headed closer to the water. As she got there she paused for a moment to take in what the group was right now.
"You okay?" Jane turned to see Daryl. She wasn't really in the mood.
"Yeah," she lied.
Daryl looked off awkwardly and sat down next to her. Jane didn't turn to him. She didn't want to. Right now she was scared, worried and impatient. She wanted things to be done with. Wanted to find a place to stay.
"I think I let my group down," she finally said. Daryl and her locked eyes for a moment. She turned back and looked at the water. "I pushed so much for Michael and Logan to stay at that farm. It felt safe, it really did. Than finally they trusted me and we stayed. I felt that finally for once since this plague started, we had a safe home."
"Things will never be safe," Daryl stated. Jane nodded slowly.
"I know."
Daryl edged closer to her and wrapped his arm around her. He motioned his thumb on her shoulder. She snuggled her face into his neck and rested her eyes for a brief moment. Daryl had an odd feeling. One he wasn't familiar with. He kissed her head and began to wonder what was next. What was he world about to bring them?
Later that night, Everyone began to sit around the fire. Jane held Brady as he slept in her arms. Carl watched the flames as Lori began to get ready for bed.
"We can't stay with him. Keeping something like that from us," Carol stated. "He's just gonna pull you down," Carol said turning to Daryl.
"Nah, Rick has done alright by me," Daryl replied.
"You're his henchman and I am a burden," Carol said looking down. Daryl gave her a look.
"What do you want?" Daryl asked.
"A man of honor," Carol replied. Daryl gave her a look before throwing another piece of wood in the fire.
"I think we should take our chances," Maggie snapped.
"Don't be stupid. We got no food, fuel and no ammo," Hershel stated.
"Rick is gonna get us killed," Maggie shot back. Jane heard enough and she stood.
"That's enough! All of you. Rick is doing fine! He's our leader. He chose not to tell you that because it would have just caused havoc between yall. The point of a group is to trust everyone," Jane snapped.
"How can you trust someone who keeps a secret from you?" Beth stated. Jane glared down no too sure how to respond.
"He killed Shane," Lori stated. Jane turned to her. The group fell silent.
"I know," Jane paused. The group glared back at her. "He did right by all of us. Even you Lori. Shane was a problem and if he wasn't taken out we all would be dead by now. Probably even you and Carl," Jane stated. Lori knew what she meant by that. The group was interrupted by a crack.
"What was that?" Beth asked.
"Could be anything," Daryl said quickly standing.
"We need to leave, what are we waiting for," Carol said in panic.
"It came from over there. Where we came here from," Maggie stated.
"Last thing we want is for all of you to be running off in the dark," Rick said after coming out from the corner.
"I'm not waiting for another herd to blow through. We need to go, now," Maggie added.
"Nobody is going anywhere," Rick said firmly.
"Do something!" Carol begged.
"I am doing something! I'm keeping this group together. Alive. I've been doing that all along no matter what. I didn't ask for this. I killed my best friend for you people for Christ sake!" Rick paused. The group stared. "You saw what he was like. What he did. He staged the whole Randal thing just to put a bullet in my back, he gave me no choice! He was my friend but he came after me. My hands are clean," Rick ranted. Jane looked down. She turned as Carl turned into his mother's arms and began to cry. "Maybe you guys are better off. I think there is a better place but maybe I'm just fooling you. Go on, go. Go find out yourself. Send me a post card when you find it. I mean if you can do better let's see how far you can get."
"Rick," Jane began.
"What?" he snapped.
"Stop." Rick looked down at his son. The look in his eyes was on of guilt and displeasure. Jane sighed as the group remained quiet.
"You guys staying. This isn't a democracy anymore," Rick finalized before walking off. Jane looked up and closed her eyes. Nobody spoke or said another word. Things were about to be tested. Through judgment and tragedy.