"You got a group?" The sheriff, who I learned had the name Rick, which somehow seemed fitting, questioned us. We were walking with them back to where they were staying, after they had gotten rid of the Biters that were following us. They called them Walkers, which seemed odd, but it didn't really matter what you called them. They were the same either way.
"We did. Not sure where they are now," I spoke, my voice hoarse after the scream I had done. Johnny was latched onto my waist still; he'd been quiet since the whole thing happened, but I could understand that. Shock could do that to someone, I think.
"You got separated?" Shane- the one with black curly hair and the gun questioned us. After my adrenaline started fading, and my fear had subsided, I realized there might be something a little off about him; the way his eyes darted around and he looked guilty made it seem so.
"Yeah, yesterday. There was a group who were trying to raid us for our supplies and…" I trailed off for a few seconds, overwhelmed with the feeling of lose that it made me temporarily breathless. "And I grabbed Johnny here and hid. Told his dad I'd protect him no matter what." It was reckless to open up to these strange men that I had just met, but I had no choice at the moment. They wanted answers and that's the least I could give them for saving Johnny from the fatal bite- and for taking us back to their group.
"When we went back, one of the cars was gone and there were only one of our people on the ground," I stated for them, confirming that our group was not the one who had been defeated. Johnny tugged at my shirt, and I stopped to lean down to him. He whispered in my ear, and my heart tugged for him. He really must have been tired; we'd been moving all day.
"Can we stop for a minute? Johnny's tired. We've been moving all day." Shane looked unhappy at us, and Daryl, the man with the crossbow and vest, seemed irritated, but Rick looked concerned for us. It was surprising how much Rick reminded me of Ralph; they had the same soft-hearted personality. Daryl was a lot like Aidan; rugged, and aggressive-looking, but there might have been a hint of something under all that. I might have been looking too far into it, but I somehow felt myself drawn to Daryl like a moth to a flame.
"Of course we can." Rick spoke, and the other two leaned against a tree. I squatted in front of Johnny and let him climb onto my back and adjust himself comfortably until I stood up again. Rick looked at me questioningly, but understood what I was doing.
"You said something about a raid. Was that all the gunshots we could hear yesterday?" Daryl's gruff tone filled the silence and I nodded, to which he grumbled.
"We can go now," I paused, "I just needed to get Johnny up. He's tired." I was tired, too, but I could wait. Johnny was my top priority right now, and somehow, I think Rick could understand that without me having to say it.
We walked for a bit longer until we broke through to a placid farm, an RV with a man sitting on the top, using binoculars to look at us before he sat the large gun down. There were many others around a small campfire, and even more moving around in the house. My eyes darted around the area as I readjusted Johnny on my back, my muscles aching and cramping in ways I never thought could happen. Johnny had already fallen asleep while on my back, so it was a chore to keep him up right, supporting all his weight, which wasn't that much, but after a while could be really heavy.
Everyone around the camp fire looking over at us questioningly, sharing glances of confusion at one another as we made our way over there.
"This is Ellie. Her and Johnny got separated from their group," Rick explained, gesturing toward me and my sleeping companion. "The gunshots were from their group and another." He added, which seemed to smooth some of the noticeable tension within the group.
Without thinking about it, I had leaned against Rick's side. I was tired and it was finally catching up to me; or maybe it's just the relief I felt when everyone around the fire had smiled at us, some more welcoming than others. Either way, I hoped Johnny would be taken care of. I may not have promised him that we'd find his parents, but I was sure that we would.