Chapter Fourteen: The Road

Eve's stomach growled for what seemed like the tenth time in the last five minutes. Her feet were aching and her back felt ready to snap in two from the weight of her bow and now empty backpack.

They'd been walking for four days now. The vans ran out of gas miles ago and they had no other choice but to hoof it on foot until they found another way to travel. Eve looked at the mothers with even more respect these days. Not one of them complained at all, even though she knew they had to be so exhausted they could hardly stand. The group tended to them the best they could, but with so little food to go around, the girls were as hungry as the rest of them.

The quest to DC had started out jolly enough. The group was still celebrating the successful mission into Atlanta and everyone was excited to get to know the mothers and learn their stories. Eve had listen as each girl described life before the hospital. And how they got captured. Many stories were similar to what happened to Beth. Their group was attacked out of nowhere by a group of walkers, the girls got separated somehow and then they were kidnapped by two men and taken to the hospital. Most of the the time the snatchers were Donahue and Marcus. Eve quickly learned that just those two names invoked more fear in the mothers than an entire hoard of walkers would.

Pepper nursed her baby. It was a girl that Pepper named Leona after her mother. Everyone fawned over the new baby, who had bright eyes and never cried. It was as if the child knew that to cry meant death in this world.

Days were short as winter came in full force and December drew to an end. They had stopped at Eve's motel for a few hours on the way, but it was decided that it was too close to Atlanta and too easy for the people from the hospital to track them. Eve and the others had gathered more supplies - sleeping bags, warmer clothes, more canned food - and they continued on their way.

That was three weeks ago.

Even though they'd gathered a lot of supplies, there were thirty of them now. And thirty people, thirteen of which were pregnant, consumed a lot. Now they were close to being completely out of food, walking long hours and had a gathering of walkers following on their heels. The walkers were the least of their worries though.. If they didn't get food soon, Eve wasn't sure how long the mothers would last.

Judith fussed in Rick's arms and Pepper offered to take her. Lately Pepper had been nursing Judith along with her own baby. Rick had refused at first, insisting that Leona needed it more, but he finally gave in when his daughter's wails grew into pitiful whimpering. Now Rick handed Judith over as Beth transferred Leona into a sling around her shoulder that she had fashioned out of a bedsheet found at the motel. Manuella had actually taught them all how to tie the sling so everyone could take turns carrying the baby. She even made one for Carl to carry Judith around.

Abraham stayed close, his sharp eyes always on the mothers. He'd taken it upon himself to be their protector and the new mission seemed to invigorate him. Eve sensed that Abraham needed the mothers more than the mothers needed him. He needed a mission. And now the mission was get these women and children to safety. And that was what he was going to do.

Rosita and Manuella had become close in the past few weeks, often chatting away for hours in rapid Spanish, much to everyone else's annoyance. That is, except Michonne, who chimed in every now and then much to everyone's surprise.

"What? I'm fluent in Spanish," she had explained with a shrug. "And French, and Vietnamese."

The day was cool and Eve flexed her chapped fingers. She had donned a pair of fingerless leather gloves, but that did little against the chilly air. Daryl sidled up beside her.

"I'm gonna head into the woods for a bit, see if I can find something to eat for everyone," he said.

Eve groaned. "I'll come with you," she said grudgingly. She was exhausted, but out of the rest of the group, she and Daryl were the best hunters.

Daryl gave a half grunt, half laugh at her response and nodded. "Well come on then, Pocahontas." He trudged off into the woods with Eve at his back.

They scouted around for a bit. Eve saw a few birds that weren't worth shooting but that was it. Daryl dug for some water but all he found was a worm which he offered to Eve as a snack. It was a staple of how hungry she was that she actually considered eating it. But she shook her head and Daryl gulped it down.

They found an old barn, but besides some old hay and some broken farm tools, there was nothing. Nothing worth taking anyway.

Discouraged and still hungry they headed back to the road to catch up with the group. Overhead clouds were gathering and Eve looked up as she heard thunder in the distance. She and Daryl looked at each other but they didn't want to jinx it. The group was getting really low on water. A good rain would be a blessing.

When they caught up to the group they saw that everyone was gathered around a dozen or so water bottles just sitting in the road. Rick handed Daryl a handwritten sign that read, 'From a Friend."

"What the hell?" Daryl grunted. He glanced around, his eyes searching for an ambush. Eve took the sign and stared at it. Handwritten in black marker. From a friend? Who would do this? Her stomach churned as she thought of Terminus and its friendly sign that turned out to be anything but. She felt her armpits prickle as she broke out in a nervous sweat. She gripped her bow.

"Should we drink it?" MIssy asked. Her lips were chapped from the wind and dehydration. Her arm was still wrapped in a tight bandage and nestled in a dirty sling and Eve could have sworn she saw her stomach bounce as the unborn child flailed inside her.

"No," Rick said. "We don't know where this came from. This could be a trap. It could be poisoned."

Eugene licked his lips. "I'm willing to take that chance," he said, grabbing up a bottle. Before he could put it to his mouth, however, Abraham slapped it out of his hands, littering the ground with undrunk water. There was an awkward silence and Eugene looked cowed, but Eve didn't miss the hungry way the mothers looked at the spilled water. Whether the water was poisoned or not, Eve wasn't sure the mothers really cared at this point.

While the group discussed whether or not to drink the water and how to handle this new threat, Eve glanced again at the sky. Clouds were coming in and getting heavier. It wouldn't be too much longer…

Thunder clapped overhead and it started to sprinkle. The whole group stopped arguing and looked to the sky.

The mothers stood with their mouths open, gulping in the fresh rainwater. Maggie and Sasha were laughing together, their canteens held open with their mouths. Tara and Rosita actually laid on the ground and let the water wash over them. Everyone scrambled to set out their empty containers, hoping to fill them with fresh water. Their happiness was short lived, however, as a lightning bolt pierced the sky and the wind picked up. Soon the cool rainwater that had felt so good on their parched tongues turned their wet skin to ice.

"We need to keep moving," Rick shouted through the wind.

"There's a barn," Daryl suggested.

Rick looked at the shivering mothers. "Where?"

…

The barn was the closest thing the group had had to shelter in four days so it's rough interior felt like a five star hotel. Tyreese and Glenn started a fire in an old barrel and the group gathered together to warm their wet clothes and bodies. One by one the mothers drifted into much needed rest. Even Abraham took a break from his vigil watching the mothers and curled up on the ground next to Rosita.

Eve sat at the fire with Rick, Glenn, Daryl and Michonne. She took off her shoes in hopes her socks would dry and had her jacket fanned out in front of her. Beth joined the group holding a squirming Leona.

"I wanted to give Pepper a chance to sleep," Beth explained. She rocked the baby in her arms until she quieted, her wide eyes watching the group.

"You know, Daryl," Beth said. "You haven't given her a name yet?"

Daryl rubbed his chin and glanced at the baby. "I reckon I haven't."

"What do you mean?" Eve asked.

Rick smirked. "You never wondered where Judith got her nickname? Little Ass Kicker?"

Eve laughed. "I should have known."

Daryl reached out and took little Leona from Beth. He cradled her in his arms and looked down at her sweet little face. Like her mom, she had large green eyes and a button nose. There was a light dusting of white blond hair sprouted from the top of her head and a sprinkling of tiny freckles on her cheeks.

"Let's take a look at ya," Daryl said. He tickled her chin and she smiled at him. "Ah, you're already a little warrior, aren'tcha? Got outta that hospital when all your brothers and sisters didn't make it. Growin' up in this world, you gotta be strong, huh?"

"In some ways I envy the kids," Rick said. Eve looked up and saw Rick watching Carl and Judith sleeping together on the floor a few feet away. "Growing up, that's when you figure out the world. This is all they'll ever know, so it will make them stronger. See, we, the adults, we cling to the past. We want things to be how they used to. It makes us weak. But the kids? No. This is their world now."

Daryl studied Leona a little longer. "Little warrior," he nodded.

Beth smiled. She and Daryl shared a soft look as he handed the baby back to her.

...

Eve was standing in her deer stand looking down at patch of flowers. They were all different colors and beautiful. Out of the trees a group of walkers appeared and started eating the flowers. But no, Eve realized in horror, the flowers weren't flowers at all, they were babies. She watched as the babies' blood was smeared over the walkers gnawing mouths and the snarling was getting louder and closer…

A loud banging pulled Eve out of her dream. She sat up and through her groggy mind she registered that Daryl and Maggie were holding the barn doors shut against a hoard of walkers. She'd fallen asleep against the wall near the back of the barn, her body so exhausted that she didn't even remember getting up from the fire. Her head was still swimming with the haunting images of her dream when she leaped forward and slammed her body against the doors. Outside the storm raged in full force.

She was dimly aware that others had joined in, bodies smashed together using every ounce of strength to keep the walkers out. She heard Judith crying and was again transported back to her dream, her eyes rolling as the lightning flashed in her head; bringing her in and out of delirium, reliving that awful nightmare. Walkers, gnawing on babies. The lightning flashed again and Eve saw glimpses of the mothers' pregnant bellies, the babies inside oblivious to the danger on the other side of the wall.

Eve continued to push and strain against the door, her shoulders and legs screaming, exhaustion just a breath away, but still she pushed. Thunder roared along with their voices and the growls of the walkers. The night was filled with the noise of agony as the sky bled and the walkers clawed.

And still they pushed.

…

Again Eve woke with no memory of having fallen asleep. Morning sun streamed through the walls of the barn leaving golden streaks across the dirt floor. The storm must have blown itself out.

Eve rose and stretched her sore limbs. Around her the rest of the group was starting to stir. It'd been a long night, much of which seemed like a terrible dream. She looked at Daryl who was sitting against the wall by himself. He looked like he hadn't slept at all.

Making her way to the dwindling fire, Eve stopped to glance outside and she did a double take. "Jesus Christ," she marveled. All the trees that had surrounded the barn the night before were completely uprooted.

"A damn tornado must've hit last night," Abraham grunted from behind her.

"Looks like it hit everywhere but us," she answered. Eve glanced at Father Gabriel and found that he too was peering outside. Although he didn't look surprised in the least.

Abraham followed her gaze and chuckled. "Guess it's worth it to have a holy man with us, eh?"

Eve just nodded in wonder as she remembered the chaos of the night before. There was a point where all she had heard was the loud roaring of the wind and then there was just silence. She had been too tired to feel anything but relieved when the walkers finally let up, but now she realized they must have been sucked up and spat out by a massive twister.

Eve tore her eyes away from the destruction before her as she saw Maggie and Sasha step out of the trees. With them was a man. A stranger.

"Everyone," Sasha said as she and Maggie entered the barn. "This is Aaron."