It took them a while to get to the mall, between broken down cars everywhere and as they got closer to more populated areas there were more of the dead to contend with too. They needed to fuel up halfway there, and there were a few dead ones milling about that had to be dealt with.
It got easier it seemed, the longer they were from the beginning of things, they weren't as afraid as they had been at first. They could dispatch all twenty of them easily, and without much fanfare.
It was funny how they could adapt to new things so easily. Society had broken down and yet they lived, they found a way. With every roadblock that came up they had as a group figured it out. They had come a long way in a short time, all of them.
That's why it was so important to stay together, to fight together and have each other's backs. There were petty grievances going on and that was normal but they always came together as a group united.
Inside the convenience store Daryl grabbed some snacks and some crunchy cheese doodles for Lucy. As he walked by he tossed them into the truck through the window to Lucy along with a pack of twizzlers.
"Thanks!" She grinned.
"Yup," He answered as he passed by to go to the car where Merle and Andrea were waiting. Then they all pulled out single file, it wasn't too far now.
"You guys?"
Lucy shrugged as she opened the twizzlers and put one in her mouth, "Working on it." She spoke with the candy between her lips, "I know he cares about me."
"He does, and Daryl is a good man…"
"I know…"
Rick took a deep breath, there were things he wanted to get off of his chest, Lucy was a good listener and he considered her a friend. He needed to talk to someone and a female perspective might be good.
"Lori wants to stay together because of Carl." He began, "And she wants to save our marriage."
"And she's done with Shane?" She passed a twizzler to Rick.
"Yeah but I got a feeling he isn't done with her."
"He's gonna have to get over it and over himself." Lucy answered, "We have no time for drama and nonsense these days, food is getting harder to find, now we're hauling ass to Sears for another fucking generator."
"Shane's got a hot head." Rick reminded her, she had seen that first hand when Shane had pummeled Ed weeks ago.
"I know, but he's wrong."
"Do you think I'm a fool?"
"I think that life is complicated and we're all fools sometimes when we love other people." She answered truthfully, in the past she never took crap from men. In fact she had written men off for less than what Daryl had done. Her dating life had almost been like a Seinfeld episode.
He had soft hands, he chewed too loudly, and many other petty things made her lose interest in someone in the past, she had never been through this before. Not even close. There had never been someone she couldn't be away from, someone she desired and was willing to compromise for.
"You're right about that," Rick said with a smile.
"I think right now we all have to do what makes us feel good and lets us sleep at night."
"I can't abandon her," Rick stated, "I love her."
"Then that's your answer and I'm proud of you, you're a stand up guy Rick Grimes."
"Well, thanks Luce," Rick laughed, he held out another hand for more candy and she gave it to him. They had an easy friendship and talked with each other often. They shared their hesitations with each other before, both were afraid they were going to get hurt again by their respective partners.
She amused him with her matter of fact way of thinking. As if Shane would just see the error of his ways and back off. Rick knew that was never going to happen and that's what he and Lori were arguing about.
He didn't want to leave her there on the farm overnight and she had called him a chauvinist, then showed him the gun she was carrying. Lori had insisted that she could handle herself and take care of Carl.
"Anytime Rick, anytime," Lucy laughed, as if people acting the way they should would ever happen. Even when the dead were getting up and walking people still did petty things, because they were still human.
"Pass me another," He asked and held out his hand, she handed him another twizzler, while they drove down the road.
"Ok that's enough drama. Alright, Grey's Anatomy, Fuck, Marry, Kill, go…"
Rick laughed at that as they drove on, he had been worried about Lori but she was right, he needed to trust her to take care of herself and Carl and they were safe with Herschel. For the rest of the way he and Lucy amused themselves with dumb games from before the world ended.
/
Shane came upon Lori and Carl after breakfast who were sitting on the stairs talking to Carol and Sophia about going swimming in a pond on the other side of the field. His shadow looned over the group until Lori finally looked up. It was clear there was something on his mind and he wanted to discuss it with her.
"A word?"
Lori nodded and Carol stood up, "Come on kids, let's go find some shorts to swim in." It seemed no one had a bathing suit and it didn't even matter. They just swam in the pond in shorts and t-shirts. Life was different now, better.
When Carol and the kids were out of ear shot Shane sat down next to her. This was a conversation neither of them wanted to have, both for different reasons. He had seen her and Rick arguing and Shane just couldn't stand to see it.
"Shane," Lori began.
But he put his hand up to silence her, "I'm leaving, as soon as I can get a car working and supplies I'm out of here."
"No," Lori didn't want to hear this, it was all fucked up and it was all her fault.
"Afraid so," Shane replied.
"But where will you go?"
"West, see what's out there, maybe go look at Fort Benning anyway since I was vetoed on that."
"Shane, please don't leave because of this…"
"I can't be here," He ran his hand through his hair, "I can't watch this knowing what I know."
"Please sleep on it, then decide, Rick isn't here. You two have been friends since you were five, you can't not say goodbye to him."
"I can, and I will." He stated and then he was on his way back to the tents to pack. Lori sighed, knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop him and wishing she had known how things were going to turn out beforehand.
"You said you would help out here when everyone left this morning," She yelled after him.
"File a complaint…" He called back to her.
No one in this world was ever given the gift of hindsight and mistakes were always made. Some rolled downhill until everyone in its path was devastated. Rick would be upset that Shane left while he was gone, he would have forgiven him. Rick had been on the road to patching things up with Shane for the sake of their friendship which went all the back to kindergarten.
It was also what was best for the group and Rick was always mindful of that. Somehow he felt responsible for everyone and the burden was huge for him. He had wanted Shane to work alongside him and Merle to keep everyone safe and well.
/
The sun was setting and this was Maggie's favorite time of day. She always sat out on the porch when she could to watch the day end. She had gone away to college in Delaware for a year, but it wasn't the place for her. She missed the land and her family, she had a taste of city living and had found it lacking. She had come home the year before everything went down and was grateful she didn't have to make a lonely trek home the way Lucy had to do.
Glenn joined her after a while and they sat in silence for just a little while. They hadn't had much time to just talk since they took the run to the pharmacy which didn't yield much of anything of value but it did change things for both of them.
It was good to have some quiet time without other people around, both of them wanted to have time to get to know each other better. So far they had only met a few times in the few weeks that they had known each other.
"I thought you were with Lucy when we first met," Maggie laughed, "Imagine that?"
"Lots of people thought that I guess, we're just really good friends that's all."
"Well," She laughed, "I know that now."
There were fireflies out in the field and Carol was out there with Carl and Sophia trying to catch some, like any kids would want to do on a warm summer evening. It was peaceful and it was almost easy to forget where they were and what was going on in the world.
"We're safe here," Glenn mused as he watched the children play, he dared to think that maybe life was getting a little bit better..
"We are," She answered.
"Those kids are gonna sleep well tonight."
"Yes they are," Maggie slid her hand over to where his hand was and entwined their fingers, "It's good."
"Yeah it is," He smiled at her.
"What do you miss most from...before?"
"I don't know, life was so hectic then, now it's slower." He explained, "I don't know if I miss anything to be honest."
"What about your family?"
"Sure, I miss them, but they're in a better place. But I don't miss anything in particular. Not really"
"That's a good way to look at it, I miss drive in movies." Maggie said with a grin, "And popcorn with extra extra butter."
Popcorn was not out of the question and Glenn had an idea.
"We could do that. Run an extension cord, find a movie projector and show them on the side of the barn."
"That's hardly practical…" Maggie observed, but she was secretly thrilled. She had dated some of course, but no one had ever offered to go to so much trouble for her.
"Who cares, if you want a drive in movie, I'm gonna make you one." Glenn replied as if that was the end of it, "Tomorrow night, we got a date."
"Well, Alright," Maggie answered with excitement and squeezed his hand. They sat out there for a while watching the kids play and holding hands, life was indeed good.