After a bit of a delay, here's the next chapter!
Alana awoke to Andrea moving about in the kitchen, looking for something to eat. In one of the cupboards she found a box of oatmeal. She was filling a pot with water to place on the stove when Alana sat up from the couch. Looking down at her watch Alana saw that it was 8:27AM. Even during the end of the world it wasn't easy to sleep in late. She stood up and headed towards the bathroom. After washing her hands she put the IV back in; she taped the IV bag onto the crossbow and slung it across her back. It was easier to carry it around than that coat rack. Alana walked into the kitchen to sniff at the coffee that Andrea already had brewing.
"Any more in the night?" she asked Andrea. During her own watch she Alana had gone outside to take care of one walker that had come out from the woods next to the house. She had waited till it passed the house, making sure there was no more coming behind it. Last thing she needed was to waltz out after one only to have ten show up behind her.
"No, just that one you got," Andrea answered, staring down at the water, waiting for it to boil.
It had been difficult for either to sleep after that walker had stumbled onto the farm. They kept waiting for the others to follow. For another herd to sweep over the farm. Both were thinking that perhaps this time they wouldn't survive.
Alana walked out of the kitchen, wandering aimlessly through the house; even going up the stairs and back down a couple of times. She was working out her knee. If they wanted to get going soon, her knee would have to be ready to endure it. She still felt unsteady on her feet. For the most part, she could fight through the pain in her knee, but allowing the infection to fester for two days, the antibiotics could only work so fast. Grabbing the bottle of Tylenol she took two pills.
"I think it's ready," Andrea called out. She had poured the contents of the oatmeal into the pot of boiling water and had been stirring it. It slowly began to thicken and she was hoping she had done it correctly. She thought it should have been prepared in the microwave, but the Greene's didn't have one. Goal was to pour it into some hot water, Andrea supposed, so boiling some on the stove seemed like the best plan there was.
She scooped the contents into two bowls, grabbed spoons, and headed into the dining room. Alana joined her. Andrea looked up at her carefully a few times; she wanted to make sure she hadn't poisoned her with her cooking guesswork. Alana made no comments about the food, but steadily ate. Andrea took that to mean there was nothing wrong with it. Tasting it herself, it tasted fine, just rather bland. She got up and headed back into the kitchen, looking through the cabinets. She came returned with a container of cinnamon. She took the entire lid off and let it flow into her bowl. Handing it over, Alana did the same.
They talked over their plans for the day. They'd finish gathering everything in the house that could possibly be of use to them, then go through the process of deciding what, and just how much, they could take with them.
Alana began going through what had already been gathered in the living room while Andrea went back through the rooms, bringing out whatever she thought might be useful. Alana then went through the rooms, making sure she had not looked over anything. Andrea had brought down her own clothing from upstairs, but had not gone into the room Alana had shared with Daryl. As Andrea sorted through her clothes Alana headed over to the room. She picked through her pile of clothing, trying to decide which pieces would be most needed. She was down one pair of jeans; the pair she had worn during those two days was better off just being burned. Alana looked over to Wilhelm's clothes. With unsure hands she set down the garments in her hands on the bed and lifted each article of clothing of Wilhelm's. She unfolded a pair of his pants and held them up to her. Too long and too wide. Her fingers slowly began to clinch on the fabric. The shirts. She could at least take the shirts. Alana laid the pants aside and picked up two of the shirts. One was a button-up with long sleeves. She began rolling it up. She shivered. The room was cold. All the rooms were cold. She was still wearing a pair of Wilhelm's shorts, the fabric at the waist bunched up from her belt holding them up. She'd have to change out of them. She stared at the discarded pile of clothes next to the chair.
Alana came out to the living room to grab the needed medical supplies and went back into the bedroom. She took the bandages off her knee and cleaned it. She wrapped a new bandage on it loosely then undid the belt at her waist, stepping out from the shorts. She pulled the pair of Daryl's cargo pants from the pile and put them on. She took the belt and slipped it through the loops. They weren't as big as Wilhelm's though she still looked somewhat silly with the top of the pants bunched up under the belt. She sat down and undid her boots, tucking the legs of the pants into them. She looked at the shirt she was wearing then over her shoulder to the crossbow and IV bag that hung on it. Once the bag was empty she could change shirts.
She grabbed her tube of arrows from the closet and headed for the door. Still under the bed were the presents the others had given her. She stopped and turned back. Grabbing the CampStove Alana left the room.
Andrea was choosing what clothing to put in her backpack when Alana rejoined her. She pulled her own backpack towards her and began taking everything that was inside out of it. She set it all on the floor then looked over everything, putting aside things that she didn't need. She put the rolled up shirt in the bottom of the backpack, along with a pair of her own jeans. Andrea had started separating everything into piles, food all in one, flashlights, handweapons, etc. Alana grabbed a flashlight, checking the batteries. She put it in her pack. She picked out a pocketknife and stuck it in one of the outside pockets of the backpack. They still had the two pairs of night vision goggles and so they both stuck one in their pack. The medication was split between them as evenly as possible.
"What about that one?" Andrea asked, indicating the bag of Hershel's medical supplies.
"We'll just have to carry that one as is."
Andrea pulled the pack with the guns over towards her and began looking through. They had two rifles and a handful of handguns. And plenty of ammo. Neither were packing much as far as clothing was concerned and so she began dividing everything up from that pack. It was the ammo that was going to make their backpacks heavy, but it was better then keeping it all in that one large pack and one person carrying it. Andrea handed Alana various bits of food from the food pack and she stuffed it in her backpack. They now had an empty large pack and the original food pack, only half full.
"Guess we should fill this back up," Alana said and stood up, heading to the kitchen. Andrea followed after her and two started going through the cabinets, picking items out.
"Which way do we go, when we leave?" Andrea asked. "I found Wilhelm's map, looks like there's a lot of deadends."
Alana froze.
There were plenty of deadends that she and Wilhelm had already encountered. But one had been a lie. She looked through one of the cabinets as she replied.
"We'll keep heading the way we were going."
Andrea shook her head. "Wilhelm said the highway was packed. And you already came from that direction, so there's nothing there, right?" She turned round to look at Alana. "You did come that way, didn't you?"
Alana didn't stop in going through the cabinets.
"We didn't. Wilhelm lied. Far as we know, the way is open."
Andrea set down the bag of dried apples in her hand and stared at Alana, confusion and then realization setting in.
"Then…you saw us then, didn't you? When that herd came and we lost Sophia?"
Alana sighed and turned to face her.
"Yes, we saw you. We were ahead of you. Hadn't had luck with other groups so we weren't eager to stay put and hope for the best. When we heard Daryl's blasted motorcycle we ditched our car and hid. Then the herd came and we hid. Your group stayed on the highway so we hid. We tried to sneak away, but then Wilhelm decided to double back and that's when Dale saw us."
She waited for Andrea's reaction. She didn't know what to expect.
Andrea shook her head.
"They're not my group." She turned and went back to picking out food for the pack.
They finished packing in silence. Andrea headed out to the shack and stables. She came back with an axe. Alana had her machete, she wanted something too. Some two hours later the car was packed and ready.
It was past 1PM when Alana had had enough of waiting for the IV bag to empty. She pulled the needle out and headed back to the bedroom to change shirts. She grabbed a tank top and pulled a thermal long sleeve shirt over it. When she came back out from the room, fully ready now, Andrea was sitting at the dinning table, looking over the map.
"There's a prison, here," she said, pointing to a spot on the map. Alana walked over and looked at it. It was off of the highway; looked like they'd have to take some backroads to reach it. "What's that, maybe…100 miles? That's…2 hour drive."
"Yeah," Alana said, nodding her head. "Probably longer, depending on the drive, if there's anything in our way."
"Well, what do you think? It's worth a shot. Look, it's in the middle of nowhere. No nearby towns, nearest one is…Woodbury and it's what, 50 miles away?" Andrea looked up at her.
She shrugged her shoulders. "In the middle of nowhere…if anyone else thought of heading there, likely didn't make it. Only locals would have known it was there and…well, in the middle of nowhere, there likely weren't many locals to begin with. We'll head there. Roads should be pretty empty."
Andrea nodded, a small smile on her face. Alana began to walk away.
"I would have done the same thing," Andrea quickly said, turning in the chair. "It was only the two of you…I wouldn't have jumped out to say hello either."
Alana gave a nod and continued into the living, grabbing her backpack and heading out to the car. Andrea folded up the map and stuffed it in her back pocket. The two women started carrying the various packs out to the car, placing them in particular spots. The extra gasoline stowed away in the trunk was still there. Alana emptied the tank from the truck and poured the gasoline into the cans.
Andrea made them two bowls of ramen noodles to eat before they left. They sat on the porch and ate. Afterwards, the two walked through the stables and shack one last time. They checked every room in the house, making sure all the windows were closed, curtains drawn; they turned all the lights off. The house keys hung on the wall next to the door. Andrea grabbed them, locking the door as she and Alana walked out.
They drove slowly off and eventually the farm could no longer be seen.
WDWDWDWD
They had reached the cells. Glenn was still holding onto Maggie, trying to keep her standing on her feet. She was doubled over, holding onto her stomach as she fought back the tears and tried to breathe steadily. Glenn kept looking back towards the hall they had come out from. Hershel walked slowly side to side. Dexter and Thomas were quiet, separated from them; both seemed affected by what had just happened, but at the same time had no true concern.
Carl came in and saw them. He was heading for the cafeteria, but heard their running footsteps.
"What happened?" he asked, stepping slowly closer to them, seeing the looks on their faces. "…where's Daryl?"
At the mention of his name Maggie bit back a sob. She had been right there, next to him. And then he was gone, moving away from her. She had wanted to rush forward and grab him, pull him back. But she was scared. Afraid for her own life. He hadn't asked for help, but he needed help. And she had frozen.
"Where are the others?" Hershel asked, coming forward.
Carl pointed back the way he had come. "Everyone's outside. Dad is still in the field."
"Come on," Hershel said to him and to everyone else. He held his arms out, trying to gather them all and usher them outside.
"Where's Daryl?" Carl asked again. Hershel didn't answer him, only placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him away.
Lori, Carol, and Beth turned around when the others came outside. They were sitting in chairs that had been found in the back of the kitchens in the cafeteria. Lori stood up when she saw the pale face of her son.
"What's going on? What happened?" she asked.
Hershel sighed. "Daryl's gone."
Beth began to cry, running over to her sister and clinging to her. Carol remained seated.
"What do you mean?" Carol asked.
Maggie took a deep breath. "We were in the gym and he…he just…he walked right into them. I tried…I tried…" She shook her head. "I couldn't move."
Carol then stood up and began rushing towards the doors. Hershel grabbed her.
"We have to go get him!" she was crying. "We can't just leave him!"
"He's gone," Hershel said calmly. "He's gone."
"We have to tell Rick," Lori said quietly.
Rick and the others had taken the suburban; the walkers were still piled up outside the prison. They had decided to just do digging today and tomorrow to begin moving them into the ditch. Only one of the three fences had been closed. Hershel and Dexter opened it, closing it behind Lori as she drove down the road in the truck.
It felt like forever that they stood there, waiting for Lori to come back with the others. It seemed pointless, but Rick rushed back in the suburban, the tires squealing as he came to a stop outside the prison.
"What the hell happened?" he asked, looking to Glenn and the others. Hershel told him and the rest what had happened, but none seemed able to accept it.
Daryl?
Gone?
It made no sense. And yet…it did make sense. He had rarely spoken to anyone since leaving the farm. No one had said anything about Alana in his presence, not wanting to upset him.
No one had said anything. No one acknowledged that she had even existed, that anyone that didn't make it off the farm had existed. In trying to make things easier, it had all gone to shit.
Rick kept looking over to the prison doors, trying to figure out what to do. What was the right thing to do? Was there a right thing to do?
Axel cleared his throat. "Hope you aren't thinking of going back in there." The words earned him a few disgusted looks. Some of those looks faded when they remembered they hadn't gone back for Alana. Or Andrea. "Walkers just got some fresh meat. All riled up. Open those doors and I bet they'll just be there, waiting for some more."
"He's right," Rick said though he wasn't exactly happy to be in agreement with him. He looked over to T-Dog and Glenn and the other men in their group. "We'll go back in, but not yet. And we'll bury him. We bury our dead," he said, echoing words that Glenn had said once. "There's still daylight left…we should get back to digging." The group raised their heads, unbelieving. So suddenly to move on? But there was no place for argument; they'd done it before, hadn't they? "The rest of you keep an eye out here."
In a trance the men went back to the suburban, driving back down the road. Dexter and Thomas headed back inside. Dexter could be heard muttering something about there likely not being much left to bury of Daryl. The others that had stayed behind glared at his back. Hershel remained outside with Lori and Carl. Carl wasn't crying, he was trying to hold it in. Lori left to bring him back something to eat. Maggie went and sat in her cell with Beth, quietly staring off towards the walls. Glenn sat on the floor in the corner. Carol sat in her cell alone, crying.
WDWDWDWD
The driving was slow and quiet. While the car itself wasn't loud Alana wanted to keep the noise to a minimum. If they had to stop for the night she didn't want a group of walkers creeping up behind them while they slept. And she wasn't keen on turning a corner too quickly only to find it blocked in some way. Andrea kept the map out, a pencil in one of the cup holders. She would occasionally make a mark on the map. They'd pass a road that led off from the highway and she would lightly draw a circle at the intersection, signifying that that road had not been explored and so it was unknown if it led to a deadend or not. There was a car here and there, either parked in the middle of the road or off to the side. The two would stop; one keeping watch while the other looked through the cars, looking for anything they could take. All the tanks were empty of gasoline. The lone walker would appear from time to time. They would stop the car and take care of them. It may have seemed pointless, stopping to kill a stray walker, but again, they were thinking of what could happen if they had to stop for a prolonged amount of time. One less walker was always a good thing.
There were moments when the silence in the car became awkward. Neither really knew what to talk about. Felt like every topic was taboo. Andrea looked around in the car, looking for something to occupy herself with, but she knew there was nothing. She looked over to Alana, then squinted her eyes.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing to her own neck.
Alana grabbed the chain around her neck and held up the wedding band.
"Belonged to Wilhelm." She kept her eyes forward on the road.
"I didn't know he was married," Andrea said absentmindedly.
"Yeah. Yeah, her name was Sabine. Had two little girls. Maria and Samantha. Sabine's mother was British; they were in London when everything started to happen. She didn't want to leave, she was scared. So they stayed. First report of infection started in Spain; wasn't long after that we stopped getting calls from her."
"Wow…it's just so weird, always saw you two as a duo. Never even bothered to ask about your families." Andrea admittedly felt a bit bad about the whole thing.
Alana shrugged. "After all of this…that's how he saw it too. Just me and him." She paused. "There was nothing he could do for them. They were over there and we were here."
"So he focused on you, made sure you were safe."
"Yeah."
They had more small conversations during the drive; they only lasted a few minutes at a time and were then followed by prolonged silence. There was a point, when Andrea was looking at the map, that Alana slowed the car down.
"What's wrong?" Andrea asked, looking outside the car, not seeing anything that would have prompted Alana to stop.
"Steering wheel's pulling to the right," Alana told her, killing the engine and getting out.
Andrea got out as well and the two looked to the front right tire. Alana crouched down, looking from it to the back tire.
"Air's low. Must be a puncture. Or the air valve could be leaking."
Andrea walked to the back, opening the trunk. She pushed aside the gasoline cans and lifted a small latch, pulling up the floor of the trunk.
"There's no spare," she said, letting it fall back down and closing the trunk.
Sunset was still a ways off.
"We'll keep driving long as we can. Sleep in the car," Alana told her. "Hopefully in the morning we won't be too far from the prison."
"Hopefully we'll come across another car with a tire we can steal," Andrea said.
Hope turned out to not be on their side.
The steering wheel kept pulling to the side and soon Alana could even feel the car sagging. The tire finally gave out and the two were forced to stop. Alana looked to her watch. They had an hour before sunset. There were at the bottom of a slight hill; the road went right over it.
"We should go a bit further," Alana suggested. "Get to the top. Might give us a bit of a view of the area."
Andrea agreed.
The two got back into the car and Alana drove slowly, the flop of the tire loud against the road. They cleared the rise in the road and came around a curve.
"Stop!" Andrea said loudly.
The two women stared out ahead of them.
Shane's car.
It was Shane's car.
They got out of the car quickly and ran over towards the car. They looked in, but it was empty. They turned round in circles. Both wanting to call out, but knowing they shouldn't. Andrea began walking towards a crumbled stone building on the side of the road.
Alana just kept staring at Shane's car. She looked back down the road. They had just…it wasn't even that far back that they had driven down the part of the road where they had walked out onto that night. The group…they had been this close to the group. And they didn't even know it. Alana looked through the car again. Maybe they left some sort of message for them? Telling them where they were heading. They couldn't have just broken down and kept moving on…
"They were here," Andrea was saying. "They were here. They were right here! And they…fucking left us!"
Alana began walking over to her. But she stopped. She stared down at the dirt. It felt like her insides were gone, suddenly gone. There, at the side of the road, the prints were so clear. Someone had stood there. You'd have to be blind to not see the marks. She looked out onto the road. Someone had stood there, watching the road. Someone had stood there for a long time, as if they had walked away, only to come back to that very spot over and over.
Daryl.
It had to have been Daryl.
…but why did he just stand there? Why…he just stood there. Why didn't he come looking for her?
…He had given up on her…didn't believe that she could possibly still be alive. So he marked her as dead and carried on. But…but then why would he stand there, as if he was waiting for something…someone?
Andrea kicked at the ashes of the fire the group had lit. "They didn't even look for us!" She could feel the tears on her face. "They were right here." She felt her legs going weak and she braced herself as she sat on the ground. Seeing now, that the group had been there, that they truly hadn't gone back for her or Alana…it felt so different now. Now it was true. It was real. The emotions were real. That bitterness she felt, it was all too real now.
Something caught Alana's attention, in the road. Some sort of spark of shine. She walked towards it. She stared down at a small silver ring. It was strange, she couldn't stop looking at it. Alana bent down and picked it up, the band cold to the touch. In the middle of the road, in the middle of nowhere, what was a ring doing here? She pocketed the ring and stood back up, not fully understanding her own actions. She looked back over to Andrea. She was still on the ground, talking, venting.
Andrea must have gotten lost within herself; next thing she knew, she was staring up at Alana, confused. She had her gun out, aimed at something behind her. Andrea turned around slowly.
A figure stood behind her.
Behind that figure stood two walkers.
Apologies for the delay; ran into a few bumps in the storyline and had to work them out. This chapter was actually supposed to include more, but had to stop ahead of schedule, the original outline for the chapter ended up feeling too bloated. Surprisingly, there is such a thing as "too much." So I've pushed some things back and they'll be covered in the next chapter; that also means the next chapter will STILL be about Day 3. Lots of stuff happens in this day and it's better for pacing to break it up into a couple of chapters. Good news is I know roughly 90% of what is supposed to happen in the next chapter, so it shouldn't take me more than a day or two to get it written.
AngieInWonderland: Hehe yeah I can't wait till they reach the prison. Going to be some nasty words tossed around.
Leyshla Gisel: Here's the update!
Amaya Dixon: I make no promises hehe
SaraLostInes: Haha and yet I keep prolonging the suspense!
Mrskaz: Lol beat the stupid off her! I love it! I can't stand her in the show either. I long for the day when they kill her off, she just needs to go.
KittyoftheNight: We all want to see them back together! Of course, I can't make it easy for them, now can I? haha
Emberka-2012: Indeed I am evil hehe
Limaro: welcome to the story!
Ambray: Thanks for letting me bounce ideas off your head!
Question for everyone!
So, when Alana and Andrea finally reach the prison, what are some reactions (from any and everyone) that you'd like to see?