"We need to think about the coming months," Rick said two days later. He'd given the group time to mourn over the loss of Sophia—more specifically, Carol, Lori, and Carl—but now he believed the time had come to think about the winter months. None of them were sure how simple or how harsh this winter would be, and their plan of staying out in the open on the highway had just about run its course.
The group was convened shortly after breakfast. Daryl had gone hunting early that morning and managed to bring back a string of squirrels and one fat rabbit. They dined on bad coffee and squirrel meat, which Leigh had learned was routine for them.
"We don't know what this winter's going to be like, and if it's bad, the ground will freeze and we won't be able to pitch tents. Now, I did some scouting yesterday morning. There's a housing development not far off the road in the opposite direction. I'm not sure what the walker situation is there or the scavenging situation, but these houses will more than likely have generators and propane tanks. We can stay warm this winter and if needs be, we can build a fence. We can stop on the way to pick up some more supplies, too."
Everyone seemed to agree that this was a decent proposal, so no one disagreed.
"All right, let's start getting things packed up." He ended it with a ceremonial clap and everyone got to work. There wasn't much to pack up, just a few chairs here and there and whatever anyone else took out. Before they left they fished through some more cars for whatever supplies they could use.
Leigh looked towards the RV; it would be crowded with Dale, Glenn, Andrea, T-Dog, and Carol, and Carol's crying, however accepted and understandable, was beginning to get to Leigh. Every time she heard the woman sniffle or wail, her heart broke just a little bit more for her lost little girl. Daryl brushed by her at that moment and she watched him head to his motorcycle. He straddled the vehicle and moved to turn it on, stopping as Leigh called out his name.
"Can I…well, would it be okay if…" she trailed off as he nodded. He'd caught her looking apologetically at the RV and he knew it was because of Carol's crying that she didn't want to ride with them. It was nothing against Carol, but one could only take so much crying before he or she lost her own grip.
Leigh seemed somewhat surprised that he allowed her to ride with him, but she didn't question it as she stepped closer to the bike. She'd never been on one before and, looking at it now, it seemed utterly terrifying. Daryl smirked slightly at her reaction to motorcycle—Merle's—before he pulled his crossbow over his head.
"You gotta hold onto Luna, though," he reasoned, handing her the massive weapon. She struggled to get it over her head without knocking herself out, and once it was safely secured on her back, she climbed onto the bike behind him. "Ever been on a bike?" She shook her head.
"'S gonna get loud and 's gonna get cold. Hold on tight, too." She nodded as he started up the bike, wrapping her arms around his waist. He whipped the bike around and sped past the RV, causing Leigh to let out a surprised shriek and tighten her grip around his waist. Her finger curled around his thermal shirt, gripping the material like a vice.
Daryl was all too aware of her arms around him, her fingers against his stomach as she held on for dear life. Her thighs were lined up with his hips and occasionally he'd feel her clench the muscles in her legs in a desperate attempt to stay on the bike. Her face was against his back, blocking it from the chilling wind. When she wasn't standing stock-still in the face of danger, she wasn't that bad of a girl. She could vocally defend herself—she'd proven that against Shane—and she didn't make mindless chatter.
Leigh kept her head against Daryl's back, too fearful that the wind would whip it clean off if a powerful gust swept by them. His shoulders were well-muscled, as were his arms and his stomach, which she would occasionally feel clenching under his shirt. As she pressed her face further into his back, she could smell the combination of cigarettes, smoke, pine, and something she deemed "just Daryl" on his shirt; it was a pleasant smell, and it helped to calm her nerves from being on a motorcycle.
The caravan came to a stop some time later outside a massive shopping outlet. About twenty walkers littered the area surrounding it, and a few had begun making their way towards the vehicles. Daryl quickly pulled his crossbow over Leigh's head and took down the approaching geeks with ease while the rest of the men quickly ran forward with bats and broken pieces of metal. The walkers were quickly taken care of in a matter of minutes and the group once again convened to plan.
Leigh shakily got off the bike and wobbled over to the group; T-Dog smiled at her when he saw how unsteady she was on her feet. Daryl, too, grinned slightly, allowing her to use his shoulder to steady herself.
"All right. Daryl and I will head in through the front and grab what we can. I'd like everyone else to stay here and keep hidden and quiet," Rick ordered. He grabbed the bat from Glenn and the two of them hurried into the store.
They emerged about twenty minutes later, their arms full of bags of food, medical supplies, and whatever ammo they could recover. Daryl dumped the stuff off in the RV and met Leigh back on the bike. She groaned slightly as she got back on behind him and Daryl chuckled.
"Could always walk, ya know."
Daryl pulled the bike to a stop outside the housing development. He cut the engine as the RV pulled up beside him, and he, Leigh, and Glenn all looked out at the development. It was swarming with walkers, despite it being further away from the interstate, and there was no way they'd be able to clear them all out. Rick approached the bike as he looked over the land. He sighed in disappointment before telling Daryl to continue west. Restarting the bike, Daryl pulled away from the development just as the closer walkers caught sight of them.
The caravan pressed on for a few miles before Rick pulled up in his SUV to call for a meeting. The convoy pulled over and everyone approached Rick's car, where he'd spread out a map on the hood.
"All right. Development idea is shot, but Fort Benning is still an option." He looked at the group as he spoke, waiting for someone to disagree. "It's over a hundred and twenty miles, but I think we can do it. Does anyone have any objections?" When nobody spoke, he folded up the map and slapped the hood.
The convoy continued south until the sun began to set, and then it pulled off onto a dirt road that Leigh had pointed out. It rumbled along slowly, and Leigh had a handgun at the ready just in case. She scanned the woods as they drove, watching for any kind of movement in the woods. A few deer leaped across the road, piquing Daryl's interest, but Leigh ordered him not to stop, that he could hunt in the morning if they found somewhere to camp.
About a mile and a half later, the convoy headed into a rather large clearing—a campground if Leigh had to guess, where about eight cabins had been built in a circle. A fire pit sat in the middle, surrounded by rocks with a grilling grate on top of them. Daryl pulled to a stop outside the circle of cabins and Leigh hopped off the bike, rubbing her backside.
"I'm getting sick of riding that stupid thing," she grumbled. Daryl chuckled as he cut the engine, swinging his right leg easily over the seat. He helped Leigh pull the crossbow over her head and lowered it onto his shoulder.
"Let's scout the area. Remember, no guns unless it's absolutely necessary," ordered Rick, a bat in his own hands. Daryl looked down at the gun in Leigh's hand and quickly reached to retrieve it. When Leigh turned to him, ready to challenge his actions, he simply smirked.
"Might shoot yer foot off." Leigh pinned him with a threatening look, but Daryl only smirked again and turned to check out the area. Leigh followed him after grabbing a large stick from the ground, wielding it like a baseball bat. She fell into step beside him and Daryl almost laughed out loud at how ridiculous she looked.
"Don't laugh. You took my gun," she growled. It didn't faze him in the least as they pressed on through the camp, checking every cabin.
Daryl threw open the door to the first; it was empty aside from two bunk beds and a small desk against the back wall. Cabin number two wasn't so lucky. Just standing outside, it reeked of death, but it was silent as Daryl opened the door. He and Leigh both covered their noses as the stench was released, and Leigh felt her stomach churn.
"Jesus," she muttered as Daryl shook his head once at the smell and stepped inside. Leigh made to follow him but stopped when he spoke.
"Don't come in here," he warned. That was all the confirmation Leigh needed to hear and she promptly backed away.
Inside the cabin, Daryl found a pair of younger adults in their early twenties, he wagered, on the floor of the cabin. Both of them were missing most of their faces, and two shotguns, both empty, lay at their feet. The cabin floor and walls were covered in blood and brain and skull matter. Breathing through his mouth, Daryl searched for anything that might be scavenged, but he came up empty.
The rest of the cabins proved the same results as cabin one and after the bodies in cabin two were disposed of, it was blocked off.
"Won't the smell attract walkers?" asked Carol as the women watched the men move a fallen log to the door. They all exchanged glances, mulling it over. Andrea huffed as a fly buzzed around her head.
"It seems to have attracted every bug from here to Kingdom Come."
Cabin two was chopped down and used as firewood, with the bloody wood pieces in a separate pile to be burned first. The mattresses had been cleared out, although one of them had a copious amount of blood and was to be burned with the rest of the bloody wood. The second mattress was simply tossed and left outside.
Rick pulled Daryl and Shane to the side, ordering a scout of the surrounding woods.
"Only go about a mile and stay within sight of one another. I won't feel totally safe until we know nothin's out there waitin' for us. Let's go." They slipped off into the woods, armed and ready for any surprises.
The three weren't gone long, and they stumbled upon about three walkers totally, which were quickly dispatched with Daryl's crossbow. Daryl also said that a herd of deer had recently passed through an area, and he immediately went into hunting mode: keeping silent and low to the ground, staring down the crossbow. His eyes and ears were on alert and when Shane stepped on a branch behind him, he held up a hand for them to stay back. No way was a couple of apes going to stop him from bagging a deer or two.
Rick opened his mouth as Daryl disappeared into some bushes and out of sight. He shared a look with Shane, but the two stayed put. Moments later they heard the snap of Daryl's crossbow releasing once and then twice after he reloaded. They heard his footsteps in the leaves, heard him pull his bolts from whatever he'd shot, and a grunt. He emerged from the bushes with a rather large buck on his shoulder.
"Eatin' good tonight, boys," he said as he walked past them towards camp. The two officers smiled at one another—though Shane's was strained—and followed the hunter.