"Dale could...Could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, Because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt."
Being a doctor, losing people was a daily occurrence sometimes back when the world made sense. Try as hard as you could you couldn't avoid death.
"That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us...The truth, who we really are."
And death was even more common now. The old world was dead, the dead walked the Earth, and people passed constantly from bites, injuries, illnesses.
"In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety...our future."
So why was it so hard for the doctor to listen to Rick's words? To sit through another funeral of a dear friend, to offer words of sadness and regret. Maybe because the day before everyone only held contempt for the man they lost, and now the guilt is what drew them together.
Guilt and shame.
"We're not broken, and we're gonna prove him wrong. From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale."
She looked away from the eyes she felt on her, avoiding the gazes of the group. She knew Rick's speech was not for everyone, but just for her. She had warned him of going down the path of violence and now they were paying the price.
She just wished it hadn't been Dale who was the cost.
Daryl led her away from the fresh grave, keeping an arm tightly around her and the other carrying their sleeping child. He guided her to the camp and set her down in a lawn chair by the firepit. He offered Eren to her and frowned slightly when she turned away from her son but brushed the decision off as grief. Daryl watched as Rick, Herschel, and Shane approached, tuning into their conversation.
"It'll be tight with seventeen people in the house," Rick said as he glanced around at the members of the group packing up the camp to set up for the move. He frowned when he caught sight of Daryl standing with Eren next to Airianna, who seemed to be deeply lost in thought.
"Don't worry about that," Hershel replied. "With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up…"
"With fifty head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing the damn dinner bell," Maggie added as she walked up to the men.
"She's right," Her father agreed. "We should've moved you in awhile ago."
Rick nodded, "Alright, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors facing out towards the road. Build a lookout in the windmill and another in the barn loft. That should give us sightlines on both sides of the property." Rick waved down T-Dog as he was unlatching a tent from the ground, "T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house. Keep track of everyone coming and going."
"What about standing guard?" T-Dog wondered.
"I need you and Daryl on double duty."
"Gotcha."
"I'll stock the basement with food and water, enough that we can all survive a few days if need be," Hershel added as he passed the men carrying a box of supplies from the old picnic table.
"What about patrols?" Andrea asked.
"Let's get this area locked down first," Rick answered. "After that, Shane'll assign shifts while me and Daryl take Randall offsite and cut him loose."
Shane scoffed, "we're back to that now?"
"It was the right plan first time around. Poor execution," Rick weakly explained.
"That's a slight understatement."
"You don't agree, but this is what's happening. Swallow it. Move on."
Shane glanced at the leader, "You know that Dale's death and the prisoner...That's two separate things, right?" Rick eyed the man challenging his authority and shook his head. Shane huffed but looked away from the other man. "You wanna take Daryl as your wingman, be my guest."
"Thank you."
"You got it."
Daryl rolled his eyes at the small pissing match. He wondered if he was the only one who noticed how unstable Shane was. Maybe not since Hershel was watching the two closely as well. A point made clear as the older man walked up to Rick as the leader was trying to step closer to Airianna's still form.
"I can see why you're not taking Shane with you," Hershel started. "Just know, I've got no patience where he's concerned."
"He's turning over a new leaf," Rick reasoned.
Daryl gave him a disbelieving look and he held back a snort. Rick may be naive about what the asshole had done to Otis, but surely he had seen how he treated the rest of the people around camp. How he treated his wife, the best doctor they had. How he had treated Dale, the most humane of them all. He, for one, knew Shane was practically incapable of 'turning a new leaf.' He snake would bide his time until he could strike again.
Rick waved down another member of the group to change the subject, "Andrea!" The blonde turned around. "While I'm out with Daryl, help Hershel keep an eye on things around here."
"Me?"
He nodded, "Shane's got a way of letting things get out of hand, especially when he's all torqued up."
"I think we're all torqued up at this point," She pointed out.
"If you're staying here permanently," Hershel added, "He's gotta understand that it's what Rick and I say, not whatever he wants."
Rick tilted his head in agreement, "You've become close."
Andrea paused, starting to get what Rick was aiming at, "We talk," She slowly admitted.
"Then you know he's not a bad guy. He's just his own worst enemy."
She scoffed, "You want me to babysit Shane?"
"Look, I need to make sure every time I leave the farm, all hell doesn't break loose," Rick said.
"Then maybe you should stop leaving," The blonde suggested. "Or have someone better watch him. I've seen Airi and him butt heads before, but he listens to her too."
Daryl growled at the woman's idea, "Girl, you must be real stupid then."
She glared at the Dixon, "Why do you think that, Daryl?"
"Daryl's saying that because Shane thinks I am useless," Airianna muttered, surprising the group. "And maybe he's right."
"You're a skilled healer," Hershel said in a soft tone. "You are one of our most valuable assets."
Rick sighed and glanced at Andrea, "Will you keep an eye on things?"
"Of course," She agreed as she spared a worried look to the doctor before heading up to the house to help the others unpack.
Rick waited until Andrea was out of hearing range to crouch down to meet Airianna's eye level and Herschel stepped away to give the couple a Rick some privacy. The woman flitted her eyes up to meet his before turning them back towards the ground.
"I'm sorry Airianna," She furrowed her brows at Rick's words. "What happened to Dale wasn't your fault."
"Rick I wonder how you can be so observant sometimes," She muttered. "And naive the rest."
"I guess I'm just human."
"Look, I don't blame myself for Dale dying, a walker got him," The redhead pointed out. "I blame myself for him being out there alone, maybe if I was with him, if I wasn't at the barn, or even if our debate had gone differently."
"You wanted to be with Randall," Daryl added. "Just the kind of person you are, you care. Dale understood that and he respected it."
"I feel guilty too," Rick admitted. "Maybe I should've listened more when you and Dale were talking. Maybe I should've been listening to you from the get-go. But we can't change the past, only the present." He offered a hand to the woman and she lightly grasped it, allowing him to pull her to her feet, "There we go, now do you feel up to helping out with the house?"
She chuckled, "Yeah I can do that Rick," She motioned to her husband. "Come on, pass Eren over, you have work to do too." Daryl gently lifted their sleeping son out of his arms and into hers, smiling when she scooped up the toddler and wandered to the house with him.
She smiled at Lori and Hershel on the porch as she stepped into the house to begin sorting all of the supplies out. She sat with Carol in the kitchen as they started to place the food items the group had into the different cabinets while Sophia sat at the dining room table with Eren. She paused in her work when Beth and Patricia wandered into the kitchen.
"Hey, Airianna," Beth beamed as she picked up a can of fruit. "Patricia and I talked, and we want you, Daryl, and Eren to take our room."
"Oh I wouldn't want to impose," She said to the blondes.
"Nonsense," Patricia brushed off. "Lori, Rick, and Carl are taking Herhsel's room. Only right for the families to have their own rooms."
"Well, might be better in case Eren wakes up in the middle of the night," She conceded.
Beth nodded her head, "Perfect, you guys can move your stuff up whenever."
The four women continued to unpack the edible supplies, sharing small conversation until Carol passed a bag to Airianna, "That's supplies for Randall, would you mind taking it to Rick and Daryl before they leave?"
"Yeah, Carol. You finish up in here," The grey-haired woman rolled her eyes as she shooed the Dixon woman out of the kitchen.
Airi stepped out onto the porch and walked over to the truck where Daryl, T-Dog, and Rick were placing a small number of supplies in the bed of the truck, "Got the food for our 'guest.'"
Daryl snorted at the finger quotes she used, "Thanks."
"Is that everything?" She asked.
"Looks about right," T-Dog answered with a nod. "Oh, wait…" He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small handgun, Dale's gun. He lifted it and offered it to her husband, "You only have so many arrows."
"That Dale's gun?" Daryl hesitantly asked as he grabbed the gun.
T-Dog nodded as he walked back to the tailgate, "Yeah."
Daryl nodded in thanks as he slipped it into the waistband of his jeans, "Wish I knew where the hell mine is."
"The one you keep in the bag on the bike?" Airi asked.
"Yeah, you borrow it?'
She shook her head, "No, but I'll keep an eye out for it. Maybe it got mixed up with the rest of our things." The hunter absently acknowledged his wife as Rick walked over to the driver-side door.
"Ready?" The leader called.
Daryl shrugged his shoulders and slammed the tailgate closed. He spared his wife a wave as he walked around to the other side of the truck.
"I'll get the package," T-Dog offered.
"Thanks."
T-Dog waved his hand and started toward the shed to collect Randall.
Airianna made her way back inside after watching T-Dog leave and assisted Hershel and Glenn with setting up sleeping bags in each room for the group members. She then moved her and Daryl's bags up the stairs but paused in her work when she heard T-Dog yelling from outside. She sprinted down the stairs and out to the porch.
Rick frowned as the African American man came running back to the truck, "What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.
"It's Randall," He wheezed. "He's gone, man."
The redhead furrowed her brows, "What?"
"How?" Daryl snapped.
"I dunno, The door was chained and locked."
The group of four shared a look before rushing to the shed. Daryl threw open the unlocked door and tromped in, glaring at the empty spot where he put Randall the previous night. Rick moved his eyes around the shed, looking for ways of escape, and frowned when the walls seemed completely intact. They all exited the building and looked around, hoping to see the man limping in the distance as the rest of the group came running towards them.
"What's wrong?" Lori asked.
"Randall's missing," Daryl explained.
"Missing? How?"
"How long's he been gone?" Hershel asked Rick.
"It's hard to say," T-Dog replied as Rick kept his eye on the shed door, glaring at the lock.
"The cuffs are still hooked. He must've slipped them," Rick said as he addressed the group.
"Is that possible?" Carol pondered.
"It's possible if you've got nothing to lose," Andrea pointed out.
"Yeah, except he would've run off with two dislocated thumbs," Airianna added.
Hershel eyed the door Rick was still turning back to, "The door was secured from the outside."
"What about the way Carl slipped in?" Sophia asked.
"Nah," Daryl disagreed. 'Sealed that up this morning."
"Rick! Rick!"
Everyone shot their heads towards the sound of Shane screaming and Airianna grimaced at the sight of his extremely beat-up face.
Lori gasped as he stormed up to them, "What happened?"
"He's armed! He's got my gun!"
"I'm fine. The little bastard just snuck up on me. Clocked me in the face."
Airianna raised her brow in slight disbelief at his story. He was a big guy, and Randall was half-starved and still recovering from a leg injury. Even if the boy had someone been able to sneak up on a trained cop, which was doubtful, there was no way he could have done such extensive damage to his face with a punch alone. Shane's nose was most definitely broken along with other cuts donning his face. If she was betting money she would guess he ran into a wall or a tree of some sort instead of getting punched.
Rick, turned back to the group, "alright, Herschel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house. Airi, Glenn, Daryl, come with us."
"T, I'm gonna need that gun," Shane said, giving the man a small smirk as he passed his handgun over.
"Hold up," Daryl called out to Rick. "Why's my wife comin'?"
"Just let him go," Carol suggested. "That was the plan, wasn't it? To just let him go?"
"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun," Rick said. "And Airi's a doctor. She said herself Randall must have dislocated his hand to slip out so he may need medical attention, plus it helps she knows how to track." Daryl scoffed but said no more words of disagreement with the leader.
Shane started off back towards the woods with Rick, Daryl, and Glenn following right after him. Airianna paused as Sophia offered the woman her quiver and bow, smiling at the little girl as she strapped the items onto her back.
"Don't go out there!" Carol pleaded at the doctor. "Y'all know what can happen."
"Get everybody back to the house," Rick called back over his shoulder. "Lock the doors and stay put!"
"We'll be back soon," Airianna assured the scared mother. "Can you and Sophia watch Eren?" The mother and daughter nodded at their friend and watched as she rushed after the men stepping into the tree line.
Shane led them out about a mile or so, and Airi kept her eyes to the ground trying to pick up some sort of trail Randall could have made. She bit her lip as they continued further into the woods, fearing for the safety of their group.
"I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out," Shane informed them as he pointed slightly east. "I'm not sure how long."
"He couldn't have gotten far," Rick said. "He's hobbled, exhausted…"
"And armed," Glenn added.
"Can't fire with no working thumbs," Airi muttered to the Korean man.
Rick gave the worried man a look of reassurance, "So are we," He turned to Daryl, "Can you track him?"
"No, I don't see nothin'." He said as he surveyed the ground around them.
"Hey, look, there ain't no use tracking him, okay? He went that way," Shane insisted. "We just need to pair up. We spread out. We just chase him down. That's it."
"Kid weighs a buck twenty-five soakin' wet. You tryin' to tell us he got the drop on you?" Daryl suspiciously asked the injured man.
"I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?" Shane smoothly replied.
"A rock?' Airi questioned with light amusement. "Would think you would have more bruising and fewer cuts on your face then."
"Okay, alright, knock it off," Rick scolded. He patted Daryl's shoulder as he pointed to the right of the clearing they were in, "You and Glenn start heading up the right flank. Me and Shane will take the left." He looked between the doctor and Shane before gesturing back the way they came, "Airi you head back to the farm in case Randall doubled back."
"Wouldn't it be easier if the doc went straight instead? Cover more area?"
Daryl growled at Shane, "Not a chance in hell."
"Daryl's right. She'll be safer if she heads back and keeps an eye on the farm with T-Dog," Rick agreed. "If Randall's hurt we'll bring him back and you can patch him up."
Shane glowered at the female and Rick but held his tongue. Airi narrowed her eyes as she caught the bloodied man's gaze, "You sure you want me heading back?'
"I'm sure," Rick said with added weight to get his point across. He locked eyes with the redhead and she caught onto his silent message. She then reluctantly tilted her head in agreement and Rick ushed her back the way they came, "Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out."
Everyone nodded as they made their way in the directions they were given. Airianna followed the path they made into the forest back to the farm and reached the treeline close to sunset, running through the fields and up to the house where she caught her breath on the porch.
Lori flung the front door open when she noticed the woman hunched over outside, "Are you okay? Where's everybody else?"
"They're on the way," She promised. "Rick just send me ahead in case Randall doubled back."
Maggie came out and offer and hand to the panting woman, helping her into the house and to the dining room. She placed the tired mother into the chair and grabbed a glass of water.
"Thanks, Maggie," She muttered as she sipped the cool liquid.
"You're welcome, Sophia and Eren are in the kitchen if you need them."
She smiled at the woman and after she drank her full she rose to return Sophia's bow but paused when she heard a gunshot echo through the air. She walked over to the window and watched as Daryl and Glenn came running into the living room.
"Rick and Shane ain't back?' Daryl asked when he noticed their absence.
"No," Lori answered.
Airi stepped closer to the pair, "We heard a shot."
"Maybe they found Randall."
Her husband shook his head, "We found him."
"Is he back in the shed?" Maggie asked.
"He's a walker."
"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel wondered.
"No, the weird thing is, he wasn't bit," Glenn replied.
Daryl nodded, "His neck was broke."
"So he fought back," Patricia guessed.
"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other," Daryl muttered. "And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. No, they were together."
"Randall didn't escape, did he?" Airi frowned as Daryl grimaced at her theory.
Lori brushed the doctor's comment aside, "Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane, and find out what on Earth is going on?"
"You got it," Glenn reassured.
"Thank you."
Daryl and Glenn walked back out of the house with Airianna and Andrea following after them. The two women were about to step off the porch to follow after the men when they spotted something from the edge of the property. Airianna squinted her eyes and gasped at the sight lumbering towards the farm.
It was the largest walker herd she had seen since Atlanta, and it was making its way directly to them.
She jumped from the porch and caught up to the men, gripping their arms and motioning to the distance where they both noticed the walkers shuffling towards the house.
"Holy shit…" Daryl whispered.
Glenn gasped at the threat heading their way before he snapped out of it and turned back to Andrea, "Get the others."
The blonde dumbly nodded and rushed back into the house, returning less than a moment later with the rest of the group. The women gasped at the sight before them while them men seemed as shocked as Glenn was when he saw it. Herschel shoved his way to the front of the crowd and Lori ran back into the house, most likely to find Carl.
"Patricia, kill the lights," Hershel order quietly.
"I'll get the guns," Andrea said as she followed the other blonde back inside.
"Maybe their just passing, like the herd on the highway," Glenn offered hopefully. "Should we just go back inside?"
"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about," Daryl scoffed. " A herd that size would rip the house down."
"Daryl's right," Airi agreed. "Besides we barely survived the herd from the highway. This one is twice its size."
"Carl's gone," Lori yelled as she ran back out to the porch.
The redhead turned to Lori, "What?"
"H-he was upstairs. I can't find him anywhere."
"Maybe he's hiding?" Glenn offered.
"He's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy."
"We're not," Carol assured her, ushering her back to the house. "We're gonna look again. We're gonna find him."
Andrea came back with the duffle bag full of guns, passing them out to the group as she passed each person. Airianna grabbed one of the shotguns and passed it to Maggie who began to swiftly load it to the surprise of Glenn.
"Maggie?"
"You grow up country, you learn a thing or two," She brushed off as she expertly handled the weapon.
"I got the number," Daryl cut in as everyone grabbed a firearm. "It's no use."
"You can go if you want," Hershel suggested.
"You gonna take them all on?"
"We have guns. We have cars."
"Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm," Andrea thought out loud.
"Are you serious?" Daryl asked.
"This is my farm," Hershel replied as he cocked a rifle. "I'll die here."
"All right," Daryl sniffed. "It's as good a night as any."
Airianna slipped one of the handguns into her waistband and turned to Daryl, "I'm going to grab supplies with Lori and Carol."
Daryl gave her a small nod before he jumped onto his bike and followed the rest of the members of the group in the cars as they made their way to the fence the walkers were closest to. Airi ran into the house and assisted in helping the rest of the group load up the two cars left.
Beth peeked her head out a window, "The barn's on fire."
"Might be Rick and Shane," Airi muttered as she ran to the door with a box full of canned food.
"They're heading for it," Patricia pointed out. "Maybe they set it to draw them in."
Lori ran down the stairs, "I can't find him anywhere."
"So maybe he snuck outside," Carol suggested.
"What do I do?" Lori cried.
"He was here," Carol calmly said. "He must have run off, maybe looking for Rick."
"Or went after Randall himself," Airi added.
"Maybe he set the fire."
Lori softly cried at the thought of her son being alone outside with all the chaos and Carol sat her down of the couch to help calm her down. Airianna stopped Sophia as she came running down the stairs with Eren and pulled something from a backpack sitting on the dining room table.
"What's this?" The girl asked as Airianna began to attach it to her body.
"It's Eren's carrier, you just hook him to the front of it," She said as she slipped the boy into the contraption. She then passed the bow and arrows back to their owner. "You keep these on hand, do not let them go. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, miss Airi," She smiled and ruffled the girl's hair before she picked up the box she left on the ground and ran to the station wagon with it, tossing it into the trunk. She spared a look at the fence and frowned as she saw the walkers breaking the wood and ran back to the house when she watched the RV become overrun, cringing as she heard Jimmy's cry echo through the air.
She called out to Lori and Carol and they ran from the house to the porch, all of them pausing at the horrors, "I checked the shed and he's not there," Lori spewed out.
"He's not in the cellar or the attic," Carol added.
"Why can't he just listen for once? Okay, okay, if he followed his daddy he went that way." She pointed out towards the flaming barn.
She started to rush off the porch when Airianna jumped in front of her, "No, you'll lead them right to him. We can't stay here!"
"But that's my boy!"
Carol patted her back, "you're gonna have to trust. If we find him he's gonna need his mother. We've gotta go!"
Lori stayed rooted in her stop and Airi turned to Carol, "Get everyone now." The grey-haired woman nodded her head and ran back to collect the rest of the group still inside the house.
"Carl!"
Airi and Lori both raised their guns as they started to shoot the walkers lumbering close to the house as the rest of the women and Sophia ran out of the house carrying whatever bags they could in their arms. The doctor motioned for Lori to follow after them to the cars still by the side of the house and glanced at Hershel, who was still rooted in his spot shooting down the corpses shuffling to his house.
"Hershel! Come on! It's time to go, Hershel!"
He ignored the woman and she instead ran to catch up with the rest of the women running to the cars. She had just jumped off the porch when she saw a walker grab onto Patricia and rip into her neck. Beth screamed as her aunt was attacked and tried to free her arm from the older woman's grip, but she couldn't. Airi ran up to the pair and gripped Patricia's hand to unlatch it from the teenager's arm as Lori pulled on Beth to get her out of harm's way. They were lucky to pull Beth away and the trio continued to run to the cars as they sobbed at the sound of Patricia's painful wails. They quickly reached the truck T-Dog and Andrea were in when more screams caught Airi's ear and she paled as Carol, Sophia, and Eren were cut off from the car by a small group of walkers.
"Get Carol and Sophia!" Lori begged as she and Beth were ushered into the truck's cab. Andrea ran after the Peletier females, shooting down the walkers in her way.
Airianna watched as she fought her way over, but gasped as Sophia paused when she ran out of arrows to fire, "Run Sophia! Run!" The girl shot her eyes to the redhead and sobbed, but listened. She wrenched her hand from her frozen mother's grip and sprinted off towards the stables, keeping Eren close to her chest as she ran.
Airi hopped into the back of the truck and flung her backpack to the floor, standing as she watched Andrea reach Carol before a walker fell on top of her.
"They got her!" Beth sobbed as she watched from inside the truck.
"We gotta go!" T-Dog yelled back at the doctor and sped off right as walkers began to descend upon the sides of the truck, trying to grab at the woman in the back.
Airianna tried to catch of glimpse of Carol and Sophia as they drove away from the carnage, but all she could see was Carol's retreating form as she rushed off the way her daughter ran. She slumped to the floor of the truck bed and let out a shaky gasp, she left her son and friends behind. God, was Daryl alright? Did he even make it out of there at all? She prayed someone got to the children before they were lost, but her tears would not stop no matter how hard she tried.
She barely paid attention as T-Dog continued to drive, just silently listened to Beth's hushed crying. She wiped her eyes and turned herself to the glass separating her from the other three when Lori spoke up.
"Hey, we gotta turn around."
"Straight back to that herd?" T-Dog asked with disbelief. "Um, no."
"The highway's back there," Lori argued. "That's where they'll be. Rick will go back to where we first broke down."
T-Dog shook his head, "We're heading east, get to the coast. We should have done that from the jump. Look we have a shot to get out of here in once piece."
"I gotta find Carl. He may have escaped with somebody."
"I hate to say it, but they're on their own," He snapped. "There's no way to even begin to start looking."
"Hey," Airi called through the glass. "We begin at the highway. That's our group, our family."
"You're wrong," Lori said to the scared man.
"Look, we can't go back. I'm sorry, it's suicide."
"Alright," Lori conceded. "Then let me out." She opened the passenger door, ready to jump from the moving car, and T-Dog scrambled to brake the truck. Airianna grunted as she lurched around in the bed of the truck from the sudden stop.
"Hey, whoa!" T-Dog yelled.
"You turn around, or you let us out right now," Lori insisted.
"I should do it, you know?" The man cried exasperatedly. "You're out of your damn minds," He muttered as he put the truck into reverse and turned back to drive towards the highway.
They drove a little longer and Airianna caught sight of a light green car ahead of them. She waved when she noticed Gleen's tired form in the driver's seat and relaxed even more when she heard the telltale sounds of Daryl's bike somewhere ahead of their current position. She pointed the noise out to T-Dog and he followed Glenn's car to the highway car pileup where they made out the bike and the station wagon parked to the side.
As soon as the truck was parked she lept from the back and ran to the bike, sobbing when she caught sight of Daryl standing near Rick, Carl, and Hershel. She stumbled into his arms and cried even more as he tightened his grip on her and buried his head into her neck. She gently rubbed his back when she felt tears on her neck and shoulder, but pulled away when a hand tugged on the back of her jacket. She spun around and beamed at an exhausted Sophia.
The girl gave her a weak smile as she loosened her arms from Eren's fidgeting form, waiting for the mother to unlatch her son from her torso before wrapping them around Airianna's waist instead, "I ran like you told me to."
"I am so proud of you, hon," She whispered into the girl's hair and watched over her head as Rick clasped hands with Daryl.
"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asked Daryl.
"Well, this guy's lights were zigzaggin' all over the road. Figured he had to be Asian, drivin' like that," he jokingly said as he nodded to Glenn.
Glenn chuckled, "Good one."
"Where's the rest of us?" Maggie wondered.
Airianna looked around and frowned when she noticed the people that were missing: Shane, Patricia, Jimmy, Andrea, Carol. She knew for certain two of the five had gotten overrun on the farm, but she bit her lip as she thought of the rest.
"We're the only ones who made it so far," Rick said.
"Shane?" Lori asked hopefully.
Rick's shoulders tensed and he shook his head.
"Andrea?" Glenn asked.
"She ran after Sophia and Carol," Airianna answered. "Then I lost her."
"We saw her go down," T-Dog added.
"Patricia?" Hershel asked.
"They got her too," Beth sobbed next to him. "Took her right in front of me. I was...I was holding on to her daddy. She just…" Hershel hugged her closer to him. "What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"
"He was in the RV. It got overrun," Rick muttered.
Beth gave another sob as she turned to her father's chest. Airianna felt Sophia's arms tighten around her more and she looked down at her, "What about Carol?"
"Daryl tried to grab both of us," Sophia whimpered. "But mom was already bit, so she shoved me on the bike...And...And we left her there." She pushed out before wailing into the side of the redhead. The mother gasped at the orphan and softly rubbed her back with her free hand.
"You definitely saw Andrea?" Glenn asked, trying to change the subject.
"There were walkers everywhere," Lori replied.
"Did you see her?" He repeated.
No one responded to him, but Daryl stepped forward, "I'm gonna go back."
"No," Rick ordered.
"We can't just leave her."
"We don't even know if she's there," Lori added.
"She isn't there. She isn't," Rick insisted. "She's somewhere else, or she's dead. There's no way to find her."
Glenn quirked his brow, "So we're not even gonna look for her?"
"We gotta keep moving. There have been walkers crawling all over here."
T-Dog perked up, "I say head east."
Daryl nodded, "Stay off the main roads. The bigger the road, the more walkers, more assholes like this one," He pointed to a walker shuffling towards them. "I got him." He raised his crossbow and took out the monster silently.
The group decided to take the station wagon and the green car, leaving the truck behind as it was already low on gas. Daryl and Airianna chose to stay on the bike and she insisted Sophia and Eren stay with Lori and Carl in the station wagon. As the group piled into the cars she and Daryl moved the small amount of supplies she was able to store in the truck into the trunks of the other cars. She gave Sophia a small smile when she sat down in the trunk of the station wagon with Eren, claiming the rest of the car was too cramped. The small cluster of vehicles then drove off, leaving the last remains of the farm behind.
She and Daryl led the small group as they traveled down the roads, both sitting in silence as the cold wind whipped against them. It was sometime in late September or early October maybe, judging by the sudden change in temperature. How odd that the world was normal in May but now it had completely turned upside down, leaving small groups of survivors like them the only normal people left.
Daryl slowed to a stop when one of the cars behind them honked, and helped Airi off of the bike as the rest of the group clambered out of the cars. Sophia was instantly by the couple's side, rocking Eren in her arms as napped.
"You out?" Daryl asked Rick as the leader walked up to him.
"Running on fumes."
"We can't stay here," Maggie said.
Glenn shook his head, "We can't all fit in one car."
Rick nodded in agreement, "We'll make a run for some gas in the morning."
"Spend the night here?" Sophia asked.
"I'm freezing," Carl whimpered.
Lori rubbed her son's back, "We'll build a fire, yeah?" Carl nodded and smiled when his dad gave him his coat to warm up with.
"You go out lookin' for firewood, stay close," Daryl pointed out as he picked up his crossbow. "Only got so many arrows. How you doin' on ammo?"
"Not enough," Rick replied.
Maggie huffed, "We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out."
"Watch your mouth," Hershel muttered. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."
"Alright," The leader said. "We'll set up a perimeter. In the morning we'll find gas and more supplies. What do we have now to work with?"
"Two boxes of canned food, three of the backpacks, and Eren's baby bag," Airianna stated. "It was all I had time to grab."
"That is more than enough," Rick insisted. "Thank you."
"After the morning run, we'll keep pushing on."
"Glenn and I can make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas," Maggie offered.
"No, we stay together," Rick argued. "God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."
Glenn looked around, "Rick, we're stranded now."
"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure...I really wasn't...But we did. We're together. We keep it that way." He looked around at their surroundings, "We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."
"Rick, look around, okay?" Glenn stressed. "There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something."
"There's gotta be a place," Rick continued. "Not just where we hole up, but we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other. I know it's out there. We just have to find it."
Maggie sighed, "Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe."
"We won't make that mistake again," Hershel promised.
"We'll make camp tonight over there," Rick pointed to a small cobblestone ruin off the side of the highway. "Get on the road at the break of day."
"What if walkers come through or another group like Randall's?" Beth asked.
"You know I found Randall, right?" Daryl said to Rick. "He had turned, but he wasn't bit."
"How's that possible?" Beth pressed.
"Rick, what the hell happened?"
Daryl scoffed, "Shane killed Randall, just like he always wanted to."
Lori furrowed her brows, "And then the herd got him?"
Rick paused at the questioning and looked away from the group, "We're all infected."
Everybody froze at his words.
Daryl glared at the leader, "What?"
"At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."
Airianna raised her brow at Rick, "And you never said anything?"
"Would it have made a difference?"
Glenn shook his head, "You knew this whole time?"
"How could I have known for sure?" Rick reasoned. "You saw how crazy that-"
"That isn't your call! Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone." Glenn hissed.
Rick shifted his feet, "Well I thought it best that people didn't know."
The group silently watched as Rick strode away towards the stone ruins they planned to camp in for the night. Airianna sighed but motioned for Sophia to follow her to the car to collect supplies. The blonde girl helped her bring the backpacks and the boxes to the ruins, watching as the doctor pulled a small blanket from Eren's baby bag. She wrapped the pale blue blanket around the girl's shivering shoulders and Sophia gave her a small smile. She and Carl then sat on the ground next to each other with Eren in her lap as the adults set up the rest of the small camp. Daryl had been lucky enough to catch two squirrels and they were currently roasting them on the fire. T-Dog stood on watch as the rest of the small group crowded around the tiny fire, vying for some of its warmth.
Beth glanced at Daryl and Airianna as they both watched the meat cook slowly on the fire, "We're not safe with him," She whispered to the couple. "Keeping something like that from us. What would've happened if I cut my wrist too deep? I could've come back and killed someone."
"Nah, Rick's done alright by me and my own," Daryl murmured.
"And I would've done everything I could to save you, Beth," Airianna said to the teenager. "You don't need to worry about 'what ifs.' We just need to focus on what to do next."
"I think we should take out chances," Maggie chimed in.
Hershel shook his head at his daughters, "Don't be foolish. There's no food, no fuel, no ammo."
A branch snapped in the distance and many in the group jumped st the sound, What was that?" Beth whispered.
Daryl shrugged his shoulders, "Could be anything. Could be a raccoon, could be a possum."
Glenn tensed, "A walker?"
"We should leave," Beth suggested. "What are we waiting for?"
"Which way?'
Maggie pointed behind them, "It came from over there."
Airianna turned her head towards where Maggie was pointing and noticed Rick had returned from his perimeter check. She pinched the bridge of her nose and pulled Sophia a little closer to her as the panic level continued to rise.
"Back from where we came?" Beth asked.
"Yeah."
Rick shook his head, "Last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark. We don't have the vehicles. No one's traveling on foot."
Another branch snapped.
Hershel looked at his daughters, "Don't panic."
"I'm not sitting here, waiting for another herd to blow through," Maggie bit back. "We need to move now."
"No one is going anywhere."
"Please do something," Lori begged her husband.
"I am doing something!" Rick snapped back. "I'm keeping this group together, alive. I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this. I killed my best friend for you people for Christ's sake!" The redhead lifted her head at Rick's confession and watched the shock fill people's faces as the words sunk in. Shane must have finally snapped, and she didn't blame Rick for defending himself or the others from the man. "You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice. He was my friend, but he came after me."
Carl started to cry at his father's harsh words and Lori pulled her son into her arms. Sophia leaned in closer to Airi, slightly sniffling from all of the news she'd been given.
Rick frowned at the sound of their tears, "My hands are clean," He observed the rest of the group, how some of them angled themselves slightly away from him. "Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you go find out yourself? Go on, there's the door."
He pointed to the road, offering anyone in the group the chance to leave. He locked eyes with the female doctor and let out a silent breath when she sent him a strong shake of her head as she cuddled the two children in her arms.
He waited another moment as the rest stayed in their spots, "No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight...You're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore."