Chapter 32-The Best Choice
Shane opens his eyes and feels a weight on his chest. He leans his head up and sees Madison's blond hair on his chest. He lays his head back and closes his eyes again. He feels movement as Madison slowly wakes up. "We should probably get back," Madison says.
"I like it here," Shane says as he lays his hand on her back.
"I do too, but I don't want my kids or friends to see me with no clothes," Madison says. Shane lets out a groan.
"Fine," Shane says as he leans up. Madison sits up.
"Should we talk about this?" She asks him.
"Yeah, we should," Shane says as he starts to put his clothes back on. Madison does the same and looks at him.
"The last two men I was with ended badly. One of them is dead, and the other one I think still loves me. That was in the old world. Now we're in a world where the dead tries to kill us, and so does the living," Madison says.
"You're scared something will happen," Shane says. Madison nods as she puts her pants on.
"I'm also worried about how Alicia and Nick will react," Madison says.
"They already know. Your kids aren't dumb," Shane says as he puts his shirt on.
"Okay, you have a point. I'm willing to give this a chance. It's not like we aren't used to each other," Madison says. Shane nods as he walks up to her and kisses her. After a moment, Madison pulls back. "We really should get back," Madison says. Shane nods as he opens the trailer door. They leave the trailer and head for the cars. Shane sees Daryl standing by a table. Daryl smirks at them as Madison walks away. Shane walks over to Daryl.
"Have a good night?" Daryl asks with a smirk.
"Shut up. Think about this if Madison and I ended up married and you and Alicia ended up married. What would that make us? Cause I would be her father-in-law," Shane says.
"I'm not thinking about that. I need to talk to you about something," Daryl says. Shane nods as Daryl leads him away from the group.
"What is it?" Shane asks.
"I was thinking last night. What if there are already people there. That would not be good for us," Daryl says.
"What is your solution?" Shane asks.
"One group goes there, and the other slowly makes their way there," Daryl says.
"You want to split us up?" Shane asks.
"Yes, I thought about it all night. There is also the fact that if we get trapped in a herd. We'll be walking over each other. We'll move better as a smaller group," Daryl says.
"Did you think about who goes where?" Shane asks.
"I did," Daryl says.
"Who?" Shane asks.
"I'll take a group to the house, and you'll stay out here," Daryl says. Shane nods as Daryl pulls a piece of paper out of his back pocket. He holds it out to Shane.
"What is this?" Shane asks.
"The groups. I wrote it down," Daryl says. Shane looks at the paper and back up at Daryl.
"Let's go talk to the others," Shane says. Daryl nods as they walk to the group. "Guys," Shane says. The group looks at them. "Daryl did some thinking last night, and he brought up that there is a possibility that there could be somebody at the house and a few other things. We made the decision that we will split into two groups. One will head to the house, and the other will stay out here and get supplies," Shane says.
"We are splitting up?" Ofelia asks. Daryl nods as Shane hands him the paper.
"I know you guys don't like this. But this is what we have to do," Daryl says. The group nods even though some of them didn't agree. "These are the people who will come with me to the house. Alicia, T-dog, Lori, Carl, Amy, Dean, Jim, Travis, Victor, Ofelia, Jake, Charlie, Rick, Hershel, Patricia, Lizzie, Abraham, Rosita, Mika, Reid, JJ, and Dale," Daryl says.
"My daughter will stay with me," Daniel says.
"She'll be more useful with me. I need the manpower," Daryl says. Daniel shakes his head but nods.
"If anything happens to her. You'll regret it," Daniel says to Daryl, who nods.
"Who takes what vehicle?" Derek asks.
"You should take the U-Haul, bus, and semi. That way, you can move the supplies you need. Fences, walls, gates. All of that should be able to be moved with those," Shane says. Daryl looks at Shane and nods.
"That will leave you with the two trucks and the two RV's. Will that be enough room?" Daryl asks Shane, who nods.
"Plenty," Shane says. Daryl hands the paper back to Shane. "Merle, Glenn, Carol, Sophia, Sam, Madison, Nick, Daniel, Andrea, Maggie, Troy, Morgan, Duane, Beth, Jimmy, Otis, Derek, Hotch, Mason, Michonne, Andre, and Eugene will be coming with me," Shane says.
"You're splitting plenty of families apart," Mason says.
"We don't want to, but I gave every person a thought. This is the best I could think off," Daryl says to Mason.
"How long do we have to say goodbye?" Hershel asks.
"Dale, what time is it?" Daryl asks Dale, who looks at his watch.
"8:30," Dale says.
"We'll leave at noon," Daryl says. The group nods as Daryl walks away. Shane slowly leaves too. Madison walks over to Alicia, who looks at her.
"Are you okay with this?" Madison asks her daughter.
"It's better for me to go with Daryl. I'll be more useful there. You and Nick will be fine," Alicia says. "I'll be surprised if Shane let you out of his sight," Alicia says to her mom, who blushes. "Mom, I'm okay with it, really you deserve to be happy," Alicia says. Madison hugs her daughter.
"So do you," Madison says to Alicia, who nods. "Take the chance when you have it," Madison tells her daughter, who nods as she walks over to her brother, who looks at her.
"Are you going to stay out of trouble?" Alicia asks him.
"Probably not," Nick says.
"I know, just try to for me," Alicia says to Nick, who nods and hugs her. Daryl walks over to Merle, who was sitting on his bike smoking. He holds the pack out to Daryl, who grabs a cigarette and lights it.
"You okay with this?" Daryl asks his brother.
"I don't like being separated from you, baby brother," Merle says.
"Me either, but you would be better with them," Daryl says.
"Why take Abraham with you?" Merle asks.
"He shouldn't be around Eugene for a little while, and I could use him. Also, I think the only person in this group he trusts is JJ," Daryl says. Merle nods as he takes a puff of the cigarette. Merle nods, agreeing with him. Merle looks at Lizzie, who was talking to Charlie and Mika.
"Watch that girl. I don't think she understands this world completely yet," Merle says.
"I think the same thing. Believe me. I will," Daryl says.
"Good, cause I think Charlie has a soft spot for her," Merle says.
"You worried about your niece?" Daryl asks.
"Yeah, I am," Merle says. Daryl nods as he stomps on the cigarette.
"We are splitting the supplies too. I'll go help them," Daryl says. Merle nods as his brother walks away. Hershel walks over to his two daughters as Otis goes to talk to his wife. Hershel walks over to them.
"Glenn, can you give us a moment?" Hershel asks Glenn, who nods as he walks away. He looks at his two daughters. "I hope you understand why I should go with them," Hershel says.
"Lori," Maggie says.
"Yes, she will need me, and they will need a doctor. You will have Madison," Hershel says. Maggie nods as she hugs her father. Hershel looks at Beth, who hugs him. Hershel holds his daughters tight. JJ and Reid were moving their things from the RV to the bus. As they were about to leave the RV, Hotch and Derek walked in.
"Are you two going to be okay without us?" JJ asks them. Derek smiles.
"We'll have some peace and quiet. You're lucky I have to deal with Hotch the robot," Derek says.
"You really never smile," Reid says to Hotch.
"There isn't much to smile about," Hotch says.
"We'll miss you too, Hotch," JJ says. Hotch nods as he hugs them. Derek does the same as they take their supplies out of the RV and head for the bus. Amy walked over to Andrea, who was sorting the ammo between the two groups. Andrea hears her behind her and turns around to look at her sister.
"Hey," Andrea says.
"Hey, I came over to say bye," Amy says to her sister.
"We are not calling this a goodbye. It's more like a see you later," Andrea says to Amy, who nods as she pulls Andrea into a hug. "Be safe and take care of Lori and the baby," Andrea says. Amy takes as she lets Andrea go and walks away. Dean and Sam were splitting the food up when Sam looked at his brother.
"I need you to know. I don't blame you for what happened to dad," Sma says to his brother, who looks at him. "You thought you were helping, and you didn't think about anything else, and you shot. Dad didn't blame you, and neither do I. That doesn't mean I forgive you. I needed you to know that before you go," Sam says to Dean, who pulls Sam into a hug.
"Stay safe, jerk," Dean says to his brother.
"You too, bitch," Sam says as he holds his brother before they get back to work.
It took a few hours for the group to get everything set up and get the right semi and trailer. Daryl walks over to Shane as Everybody starts to load up.
"There is a radio in the truck that you should be able to use when you get close," Daryl tells him. Shane nods. Shane grabs Daryl and pulls him into a hug.
"Don't die," Shane says.
"We are bad at goodbyes," Daryl says to Shane, who smiles.
"I love you, man," Shane says.
"Love you too, brother. Get to that house safe," Daryl says to Shane as he lets him go. Shane walks to the truck. Shane gets in, and Daryl nods to Glenn as he walks to the bus and gets in. T-dog drives the semi out first, followed by the U-Haul and the bus. They turn on the road as the two trucks and RV's out of the bus stop and go the other way. The group was going two ways, hoping that they would meet up again soon as one group headed for Griffin and the other for Howard lake.
Thanks for reading, the groups will probably have separate chapters, or they will be together. Who knows how I will do it, but I like this better. This will make it easier for me to make stories as they will be less in a group, and I can work with them better. I have some fun ideas, and I am excited about them. I did my best to separate the groups and made them as even as possible. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.