We have a big group of eighteen on the road, once again looking for a home. Just to give you a quick reminder of who is now in the group:
Eric., Leon., Rea., Tyreese., Sasha., Allen., Donna., Ben., Kylie., Ernesto, Teddy., Erin., Julian., Whiskey., Connor., Andrea., Michonne., Tess
We will slowly get to know our group over the next few chapters as they search through the Georgia countryside for a place to stay.
The next morning: 7.46am
I was on a mattress not far from where I had been against the wall last night. I must've fallen asleep and been moved here. I thought as I raised my head and looked around, The sun that was peeking through the boarded up windows was bright and intrusive and I knew I wouldn't catch any more rest, I looked over to see that it was Rea who had set the mattress up and was fast asleep next to me. Connor was wrapped up fast asleep in her arms and under the blankets, he looked so adorable that as I stared at his face I didn't want to look away. There is so much of Ro in that face. I thought solemnly.
I sat up and the blanket slipped off of my bare chest. There were small, dried blood splatters on my arm and ribcage and I sighed frustratedly. It was cold this morning, I could feel a sting in the morning air as I looked around the truck stop. Mattresses were set up left right and centre. Erin and Teddy were sound asleep not far away and Leon was on one of the leather couches that was already in here against the wall. I got up and changed from my black jeans and slipped on my thermal-lined, camo, cargo pants and my pair of black work boots. I was drowsy this morning and it was making me clumsy, it was the first realsleep I had had for some time and my guess was that I needed more, I started making my way to the wash bucket.
A few people were waking up at the same time as me, it was still quiet, no one was awake enough to engage in any conversation. Everyone was most likely still scared of Woodbury. I had a feeling that we it though... there weren't many armed men around when I was in there, an we had killed and injured a few. Soon, he'd have no more armed men than us. So he had most likely fallen back and was going to sit back and prepare something sinister for us, it would be hard for him to keep tabs on us, but it was a good idea to stay alert for it none the less. I got to the wash bucket, the water had been used but it wasn't dirty yet so I grabbed one of the cloths and dunked it in the water that was freezing cold due to the new morning weather.
I shivered uncontrollably as I dabbed the cloth over my blood and dirt spots on my body. I needed a proper wash and it made me laugh at how much our priorities had changed in a few months. I couldn't have gone two days without a shower, and now I was trying to remember the last time I had washed my body. The blood came off somewhat easily, the dirt was harder, it had been there longer clearly and I started to get annoyed when they wouldn't come off. I squeezed the cloth out and put it back in its place next to the bucket and grabbed a towel off of the chair and dried my body down.
"How you feeling this morning?" I heard Andrea ask me from behind.
I chuckled. "Alive... and you?" I asked her plainly.
She smiled at me as I turned to look at her. "Bout the same." She said slowly. "This group needs to talk... today... about what we are going to do."
"Sounds like a conversation that should be had with Tyreese." I said carefully as I put the towel back. "I'm going to go and put a shirt on."
She followed behind me as I walked and I chuckled to myself. "The group I was in before... with Shane... they were always fighting over who should be in charge." She muttered.
"Rick and Shane?" I asked her.
"Yeah..." She said in surprise. "How'd you know?"
"I witnessed a few of those arguments before the turn. Rick had legal authority over him then though." I said with a chuckle. "Probably the only reason he listened... which wasn't very often." I muttered, looking over at the man across the room with his newly shaved head as he devoured his breakfast.
"I don't want to see this group torn apart from the inside." She said imploringly. "People want you to be leader, you want Tyreese to be leader, Shane wants to lead and Michonne says that I should." She said quickly and frustratedly.
"Maybe you wouldn't be so bad a choice. I don't know you all that well but it seems like you'd be dedicated to the job..." I said carefully.
Andrea smirked at me before looking around embarrassedly. "I would never be able to make the hard choice... I wish I could but I'd hesitate, I'd have to think..." She said, looking at the floor sadly. "Now... I don't know you but it seems to me that you're plenty familiar with making the hard choice."
"I dunno about hard, but it seems I'm pretty good at making the stupid one." I said with a chuckle as we reached my mattress and I pulled on my padded, red and black, plaid shirt with a black and dark blue hoodie over top. I looked over at her as I finished dressing, she was still waiting and I chuckled at her again. "Shane will not be leader. I can't be leader, and you won't be leader. That leaves Tyreese... The best man for the job in my books." I said to her with a nod.
"I have something else I wanna talk about." She said softly. "It's... sensitive." She said sadly.
"Can we discuss it over some cereal or something, because this guy right here is hungry as a motherfucker." I said jokingly pointing at myself. Andrea giggled as we wandered towards the tables where Shane was sitting with Kylie, Julian and Allen.
"Morning folks." Andrea waved to them happily as we sat down next to Julian on the other side of the table. Andrea began to politely fill my cereal bowl as well as her own as she spoke. "I'm worried about Michonne..." She said quietly. "We've been together a while now and she hasn't told me anything about her past... She's been through some kind of trauma. She's used to being alone, hasn't been in a group for a long time… if ever." She added for dramatic effect
"So what do you want me to do?" I asked her.
"Talk to her, you've got just the right attitude for it. Be honest and outright with her and she'll like you, respect you… listen to you. She's really stubborn." Andrea warned me.
"If she doesn't want to be part of the group, the door is always open. If she has concerns she can address me or Tyreese." I said shrugging my shoulders. Andrea looked downcast and for some reason I felt guilty for shutting her down. "Yeah… I'll have a quiet word with her." I said, shaking my head as I dug into my cereal. "Shane…" I said, looking at him with a grin. "We haven't had a chance to catch up." I said.
"Well I'll be here when you're ready." He muttered as he took his bowl away and rose from the table abruptly.
"Something is up with that one too." Andrea said quietly as she twirled her spoon in the cereal. She wants me to speak to him also... Great.
"Seems to have an issue or two." Julian said with a smirk.
"Thanks… for seeing to my bruises and all… by the way." I told Dr Marsh gratefully.
"It's no trouble, you saved our lives, I figure I owe you more than a quick fix." He said, looking me in the eyes with a smile.
"You don't owe me anything Dr Marsh…" I muttered. "Only doing the humane thing."
"Well… far as I can tell not too many people can boast that they've been doing that these days so I owe you, whether you want it or not." He said with humorous sternness.
I smiled at him and continued with my breakfast. "Do you ever wonder what happened to your kin up in the capital?" I asked him curiously.
"Not really… I figure it's best not to make any assumptions, and thinking about it always leads in that direction so why bother. Like you said, we got a new family to embrace now." He said, clearing his throat.
"Amen." Allen said sadly from across the table. "Our family was always so close, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunties, in-laws… Everyone. We always stayed in contact, phone calls, holiday visits, vacations together… The American Dream right?" He said chuckling to himself. "Now all I have left is my wife and son, and you people who have supported us through this nightmare… And I couldn't imagine it any other way." He said, looking at the table.
"That's sweet Allen." Kylie said with a nervous smile. "I know how hesitant I was to come along with everyone. But I see that I was right to trust you Eric, this group of people we have here… We could have done a lot worse."
"I'm glad that no one has any regrets." I said morosely. "I know I do… I regret leaving everyone here, leaving you all behind… It was not my best move. But then on the other hand… If I hadn't… I wouldn't have Connor." I said slowly and emotionally.
"And we are all so glad that you've found him son." Julian said with a wide grin at me.
"Thank you… All of you, you are very kind." I said with a slight nod.
"I um…" Kylie said nervously, her eyes flicking towards and away from me. "I-I overheard your conversation with your brother…" She said carefully. "…Leon… y'know? Last night?"
"I remember it." I said darkly.
"The girl… Lila, she was like all of us… She chose her path when this all begun, she ended up in a situation she didn't like. She took her best chance to leave and it ended badly." She said as softly and tenderly as she could. "You did nothing to cause what happened. You gave her comfort; you made her feel good… and happy before she died. That much was obvious." Kylie said, her voice becoming more confident the more she spoke. "What I'm saying is you don't need to tear yourself up over it Eric… It's one of the hazards of the life we live today, there are a lot… I know… But we just have to get past them… like we did in the old world." She finished emotionally as her eyes teared up. "You're a good man Eric." She added kindly.
I stared her in the eyes. She had made a lot of sense, the fact she hadn't said jack all to me until now meant a lot as well. "Thank you Kylie, really… you are too kind." I said sadly.
Everyone was up and around within a few minutes after that and I finished my breakfast and found Rea slipping into her jacket as Connor was beginning to cry on the mattress. I discovered the problem and told Rea to bring me Connor's bag that Lila had packed before we left. Rea brought it back and I started to change my sons nappy. I had done it before, when I had lived with the preacher's family, one of his children was only a few months old and Leon and I had learned how to care for a baby quite well as the two 'upstanding members of the community' did their bake sales and galas and raffles. Phoney fucks. I thought with a touch of anger. I started to coo and pull my tongue out at Connor as I changed him and cleaned him up and he began to gurgle and giggle at me and everyone looked on.
They were all just happy to see such pure joy. That much was obvious. Connor seemed to be a conveyor of joy and I was happy to have him on my side. I finished changing him up and lifted him up victoriously in his clean nappy and he smiled at me as I raised him high. I hugged him close. He began to get restless in my arms and I laid him on the ground and started to use one of the baby toys to occupy him as everyone moved around and readied up around me. Everyone else was eating and I watched with a big smile.
"If only the walkers were so easy to distract…" I heard Teddy say in his Irish accent behind me.
"Or the soldiers…" I said thinking back to rescue. "Where'd you get the grenades?" I asked him.
"Your friends Andrea and Michonne found them in a National Guard Station on the way back." He said simply.
"Thank you Teddy… really... for saving my life." I said to him sincerely.
"You didn't need much saving brother… Leon told me about the man who died… he was your kin?" He asked me.
"Blood brother." I said simply.
"There was some history there I gather?" He asked curiously.
"I'm just like you Teddy, family and I never worked out as a good pairing."
"Amen to that brother… Whiskey… told me about the motorcycle club your dad was in. You two don't seem that close…" He said sadly
"Me and Whiskey?" I asked him and he nodded. I noticed Connor was growing angry and I gave him the toy and he squealed with joy. "We left on bad terms when I left home." I said with a pause. "And don't believe a single thing he says, they weren't some club, they were a motorcycle gang… drugs, guns, whores, extortion, robbery, murder… whatever you could think of. Bunch of fuckwits on bikes if you ask me." I said grudgingly.
"Fair few MC's in Ireland… Some of them dealt with us, guns and whatnot for the rebellion… I always understood the lifestyle… why can't you?" He asked me curiously. "You were raised in it…" He said sadly.
"I was raised at a bad time Teddy. In fact I would hardly say I was raised at all." I told him honestly.
"I suppose I can't compare." He said sadly, "I best get some grub."
He wandered off towards the table and I smirked. Why is everyone trying to solve my problems?
Later that Day: 10.03am
Tyreese had gathered us around after everyone had eaten and was ready to discuss what was happening. Tyreese had woken up last. His snoring had turned into a bit of a game for the rest of us as we waited those few hours. I had spent some time with Teddy and Erin after they finished breakfast. We had talked about allsorts, movies and books, life in Ireland compared to life in America. Where we had travelled to, things we had done for work. They were really genuine people, relaxed and funny, a really comforting and normal presence to have a group. They had only been married for two years. Erin even stepped so far as to say that she had a stillborn child with him. They weren't sure what the problem was but the doctor had told them they were perfectly able to have children. Erin said she had been too scared to try again.
I realised as we all sat around in this big congregation that I loved my group, they were all such relaxed genuine people that we all got along easily without any clashing or fights. I was worried about Tyreese and Shane however… They both wanted to lead, Shane should be smart enough to know that I wouldn't let that happen… or maybe he just underestimated me, it wouldn't be the first time.
Tyreese cleared his throat and all attention was instantly on him as he looked at us confidently. "So we had a shit couple of days… I won't lie… We lost a woman yesterday, she was new to the group, but she was cherished nonetheless, even in the short time we knew her she made an impact on all of us. In her loss we were delivered with the smallest, cutest bundle of joy that I have seen for months. As much as it is Eric's job to protect his son… As a family it is our duty, every single one of us, to help him protect and care for that child. We have new people and old and some people are even concerned about not knowing everyone's names." He said as the group chuckled softly. "We've been attacked; we've had to rescue one of our founding members from a town of brutal sons of bitches, we've been run from our home and forced to hide from these people." He said gravely, his voice tight and frustrated.
"If he was still after us, we would know it by now." I stated from my spot in the crowd. Everyone looked at me curiously. I stood up and looked back imploringly. "Think about it… We killed five men in one of those range rovers, two more of Blake's men died before my eyes at Woodbury."
"I killed five of them that tried defending those walls." Andrea remarked innocently.
I snapped my head to her smiled. "That's impressive shooting." I said with a grin.
"I know." She said with a smirk.
"One of the grenades blew up a man on watch on the wall." Allen muttered. "I saw it."
"So there are three holes in their walls?" I asked them curiously.
"No." Tyreese stated with a shake of the head. "Two big ones and one smaller one."
"They've lost too many men to come after us now, it would be too much of a fair fight for them. Plus they have to defend their town while the walls are rebuilt. That little rescue mission will set them back a fair way." I said with a wide smile. "Which… of course… I'm all for. But it just means he's going to be even more desperate to retaliate. He will look weak letting us get away with this." I told them all softly and apologetically as I leaned against the wall again.
Everyone was quiet after that and they all seemed deep in though. "So what do we do then Eric?" Sasha suddenly asked.
"I was hoping we could all come up with that together… Or Tyreese could decide" I said slowly. They all begun to talk at once and I couldn't even pick who to listen to
"I think there is something you should know." Whiskey suddenly said loudly and gruffly, everyone paused and looked at him nervously. "Sorry." He muttered with a chuckle. "Before you walked out of that caravan… I heard Blake and Crowley talking about you finding a helicopter... That third thing he wanted you to do… I think he wanted you to find a helicopter that we saw in the air a week or so ago in Woodbury… He started talking about there possibly being some army still left in the area before you showed up with Shumpert." Whiskey said slowly, looking at me sternly.
"You think that's true?" I asked him.
"It was an army chopper." He stated plainly. "Blake had a few areas he wanted to search… you give me a good look at that map and I can mark them out for ya." He said to Tyreese politely.
Tyreese nodded and Shane looked at everyone. "I don't think ya'll get the danger we are in. We gotta find Rick and the others before it's too late and this maniac has us all strung up like pigs for slaughter."
"You don't think the army might be able to help us out with that?" Andrea asked.
"I think that we don't need to go chasing ghost stories that we heard from someone who came from the enemy side." Shane said rudely, refusing to look at Whiskey.
Whiskey stood up straight and it was clear that he was bigger than the former policeman. "Whiskey don't…" I warned him as Shane sat still and smirked.
"Whiskey…" He said patronisingly. "He's a grown man, who still uses an alcohol for a nickname over his real name… He worked with this maniac before you found him Eric… Why do you trust him?"
"Why don't you? Blake wanted me to beat Whiskey to death. Kill him… and you think that he's still working for him?" I asked him angrily.
"I just think we need to be a little more cautious is all." He said, finally looking at Whiskey, who had fire blazing through his eyes.
"And you need to stop being overly cautious." Tyreese said suddenly and everyone else quietened down awkwardly. "This ain't the time to be picking fights Walsh…" He muttered.
"Why not? When it regards the safety of this group I believe I get to speak my opinion. I was a police officer Tyreese… safety was my job…" He said loudly.
"Being an asshole was your job." I said quietly and tiredly. "Or at least that's how you treated it. Being a violent, hot-headed, asshole. Taking your rage out on suspects, prisoners and god knows who else. Then using that gruff charm you think you still have to talk your way out of it." I said calmly. "I saw who you were back in King County, I'm just glad you're letting everyone else see too. It must feel very… refreshing to know you don't have to hide the real you." I said with a smirk.
Shane rose to his feet angrily and looked at me. "You didn't know shit about me… You don't!" He yelled angrily. He pushed a chair out of his way and came strolling towards me with his fists clenched.
I bent my knees slightly and readied for his attack but as I was about to defend myself Whiskey had grabbed him and was holding him in a cripplingly tight, full-nelson hold. Shane wriggled and kicked out angrily but Whiskey lowered him and Shane was suddenly powerless in the bigger man's tattooed arms. When he spoke his voice was deep, strong and fierce and everyone around was too shocked to intervene. "That man has a child!" He grumbled angrily. "And if you want to hurt its daddy, you gotta go through Great Uncle Addison... or Great Uncle Whiskey… however you want to say it." He said before he threw Shane's body onto the lino and he thudded down hard.
Everyone stood awkwardly as Shane breathed heavily, trying to stand up. "This group…!" He began to yell.
"WILL SURVIVE!" Andrea yelled suddenly, her voice piercing the room. "With or without you! So if you wanna run away, try go find somewhere where they will let you lead then go! Fuck off… Do us all the favour… Or shut up and let them do things the way they've been doing them!" She said to him, he stared at her blankly and went to sit against the wall far away from everyone.
No one was sure what to do… But we did have more to discuss. "Rick's group…" Michonne suddenly said, breaking the silence. "…Could be anywhere. We went back, looked around, tried to follow a trail, but there was just too much, and we knew too little."
I sighed suddenly. "These army boys… they'll be smart if their still alive, holed up somewhere secure… it's gotta be a decent distance from Woodbury, they got a chopper, probably plenty of guns, some good army issue vehicles. If we find them first, we can warn them about the threat in Woodbury. Maybe convince them to let us find Rick with the chopper… then we got three sets of manpower, a stock of decent artillery for the battle and then when we win... We have a mighty big, mighty close group, ready to find a home. To build a life for ourselves, start giving ourselves some normalcy…" I looked at my son with both determination and tiredness. "I dunno about ya'll but that's just what I could use."
"We hole up here a couple of days, we get our shit in order, we organise ourselves and our supplies." Tyreese said sternly after a swift pause. "If we gonna be out on the road… we need to be ready." He said ominously.