Chapter 42-Howard Lake
Daryl's Pov
Daryl honked the horn as they drove around Howard Lake towards a turn-off. T-dog stops the car at the front, and Daryl climbs out. "Why did we stop? We are close?" Martinez asks as he gets out of the back of the U-Haul.
"I know. That is why we stopped. I'm taking a small group to clear it out before we all go there," Daryl says. "I want to be safe,"
"Okay," Martinez says.
"We'll take the U-Haul, and I will take three groups of 3. Nine people in all and check the rooms and the surrounding shed. My group will be Alicia and Rick. T-dog will go in with Ofelia and Reid. Martinez will go in with Gideon and Dean. The rest of you stay here. Abraham is in charge," Daryl says. They nod as Daryl gets in the U-Haul and goes around the cars as Daryl directs Rick towards the house. They go through the trees and get to the clearing that leads to the house.
"You weren't kidding. This place is huge," Rick says.
"Yeah," Daryl says as Rick stops in front of the house. They get out. "Alicia, Rick, and I will check the second floor. T-dog takes Ofelia and Reid and check on around the house and the basement. There is a door in the back. Martinez take Gideon and Dean and check the first floor," Daryl says. Everybody nods. Daryl pulls out his hatchet and goes to the house as Alicia pulls out her gun barrel and Rick pulls out a knife. The others pull out their weapons behind them as Daryl pushes the door open and goes inside. He goes up the stairs. "There are 5 rooms up here. Three bedrooms and one bathroom. Everybody take a room and leave the bathroom for last," Alicia and Rick nod as they go into other rooms. Daryl pushes the master bedroom door open and looks inside. He walks inside and smiles as he remembers the time he spent here. Lucas and his mom were like the family he didn't have, and that was the best summer he had ever had. He didn't have to hunt for himself or worried about being hit by his father. He was able to be a kid for the first time in his life.
"Daryl," Rick says from behind him. Daryl turns and looks at him. "You okay?"
"Just deep in thought," Daryl tells him. Rick nods.
"The rooms are clear. Alicia and I checked the bathroom," Rick says. Daryl nods as he follows him out.
Abraham's POV
Abraham sat in a chair on the top of the semi, keeping watch as he watched the water. "Abraham?" Lori says. Abraham gets him and walks to the side.
"Yeah,"
"Rosita said that we have some fishing poles. Do you know where they are? The kids could use something to do," Lori says.
"Under the backseat of the bus," Abrahman tells her. Lori nods as she walks onto the bus. Abraham sits back down and holds his Ar, and watches the water. He sees Lori, JJ, and Amy take the kids to the water with the poles and use bread as bait. Abraham grins as he watches the kids. Abraham watched the kids and could only think of his family. His wife, Ellen, his son A.J, and his daughter Becca. He had lost them not long before he found Eugene, who was also on his mind. He wondered if he was dead or if he had woken up. He hears footsteps beside him and turns to see Rosita, who sat down beside him.
"You okay?" She asks.
"Yeah. I would like to be alone right now, though," Abraham says. Rosita nods before she goes back on the ground and walks over to the others as Abraham watches them.
T-dog's POV
T-dog, Ofelia, and Reid walk to the house's back door, and T-dog opens the door with his machete in his hands. He pushes the door open and shines the flashlight into the dark basement. He looks around and smiles when he sees two pallets of food. "Daryl!" T-dog yells. He hears footsteps as Daryl comes down the stairs, followed by the others. He looks at the pallets.
"Well, damn Lucas. I never came down to the basement when I stayed here. Lucas's mom Cass told me it was used for storage. This is what was down here," Daryl says with a smirk as he goes to the pallets. "All of these are non-perishable ideas. They should still be good to eat,"
"This was a nice find. Good job, T-dog," Gideon says to him.
"Thanks," T-dog says. "Let's check the rest of the house and around it before we call for the group," Everybody nods as they separate again. "I'll check the rest of the basement. You guys check the outside," Ofelia and Reid nod as they walk out of the house. T-dog shines his flashlight and walks through the basement and into a room. He walked into the room and heard a growl. He shines his flashlight but sees no walkers. He feels something at his feet and shines his flashlight at the floor. He sees a dog at his feet. "How are you still alive?" T-dog bends down by the dog and backs up a little. T-dog pulls a granola bar and takes the wrapping off, and holds it out to the dog, who takes a bite of it. T-dog shines the light and sees a generator by the wall. He walks to it and sees the meter was empty. He sees a note by the meter. He pulls it off. "My name is Lucas, and you found my house. I was bitten by a walker and will be in the shed. My dog Star is in there. She is 16 months old, and she has food and water for at least two weeks out for her. I hope you found her alive. If you find me, please bury me," T-dog looks at the German Shepherd. She was mostly black with brown parts on her body. "Come here, Star," T-dog says as he bends down. Star comes over to him with her tail wagging and presses her head up against him. "I'm gonna take care of you sweetheart," T-dog shines the flashlight and sees that there was still some dog food. T-dog goes to the door and lets Star out first before he walks out. He goes to the door and watches as Star goes outside and stops at the top of the stairs. He walks upstairs and sees Reid walking over to him.
"You found a dog?" Reid asks.
"Yeah, he belongs to Daryl's friend Lucas. He's in the shed," T-dog says.
"We know. Daryl found him," Reid says. T-dog nods as he follows Reid to the others, who all look at the dog who stops beside T-dog.
"Lucas had a German Shepherd when he was a kid. I guess he got a new one," Daryl says.
"Sorry about your friend," T-dog says to him.
"I'll bury him when the others get here," Daryl says.
"There is a generator in the basement," T-dog says.
"That should power the house. We need solar panels for the cabins we'll build," Gideon says.
"Let's call the group," Alicia says.
Kelly's POV
Kelly was watching the kids with her back up against the bus. She looks at Connie, who looks at her and smiles. "It's nice to see the kids having fun," Kelly signs to her sister. Connie nods with a smile as Luke walks over to the kids and helps Carl reel in a fish.
"Luke is having fun," Connie signs to her sister. Kelly nods as the radio goes off beside her.
"Anybody there?" Daryl asks.
"Hi, Daryl. Can we come?" Kelly asks.
"Yeah. Turn down the road and keep going. You should be able to find us," Daryl says.
"We'll see you soon," Kelly says. "Abraham Daryl said we need to start heading to the house," Abraham nods as he stands up.
"Let's wrap it up, people. We gotta get to the house," Abraham says. Kelly smiles when she hears the kids groan. She helps them get their stuff packed and get them on the bus.
Charlie's POV
Charlie sat in the back of the bus with Lizzie beside her. Carl has become good friends with Mika, and Charlie has become good friends with Lizzie. Charlie has been trying to teach the blond that walkers weren't people and that they were dangerous. She thinks she has been through with the girl. Charlie looks at Lizzie, who was reading a book. "What book is that?" Charlie asks the blond, who looks away from the book and smiles at Charlie.
"Odd Thomas. Eliza was reading it when she died. I decided that I'll start the book and finish for her," Lizzie says.
"That's nice of you," Charlie says. "I bet she would be happy about that," Lizzie smiles and puts a piece of paper on her page and puts it in her bag.
"What do you think the house will be like?" Lizzie asks Charlie.
"Who knows. Maybe after we get set up, we can go to the beach by the lake," Charlie says.
"I've never been to the beach," Lizzie says.
"Me either. My parents wanted to take me, but the world went to hell," Charlie tells her. Charlie thought back to when her parents were killed. It was only about two weeks before Daryl and Alicia found her. There were attacked by walkers in a house, and her parents protected her and got bit, but they all got out of the house, and Charlie watched her parents die and turned in front of her. She had to kill her parents after she turned, and she often dreamed of the same thing happening to Daryl and Alicia, who she saw as her parents now or her guardians. She saw them as her parents. She has woken up many times since she met the group and had lied to Daryl and Alicia about what the dream was about.
"What happened to your parents?" Lizzie asks.
"They died saving me. Your dad died saving you too," Charlie says.
"Was it walkers or people?" Lizzie asks.
"Walkers. I had to watch my parents turn in front of me, and I had to put them down," Charlie says to her. "I've lost more people to walkers than I have to people,"
"Do you think the world will ever return to normal?" Lizzie asks Charlie.
"No. This is the new normal," Charlie tells Lizzie, who nods and grabs Charlie's hand.
"It's better with friends," Lizzie tells her.
"Family. We're family," Charlie tells Lizzie as she grips her hand. Charlie keeps Lizzie's hand in hers as they stop at the house.
"Is that a dog?" Carl says as he looks out the window. Charlie and Lizzie follow Carl and Mika out of the bus before the adults can get up. They get out of the bus. "It is a dog," Carl says as he goes over to Star, who wags her tail as Carl pets her. Lizzie, Mika, and Charlie follow him to the Star and start to pet her.
"Where did you find a dog?" Mika asks T-dog.
"In the basement. Her name is Star, and she is a German Shepherd," T-dog tells them as he bends down and starts to pet her.
Alicia's POV
After the group got out of the car and gathered in front of them, Alicia stood by Daryl. "Like I said back at the station. This room has five rooms. For now, most of us will have to stay in tents. We will try to find some campers until we can get the cabins built. We need to find a chainsaw so we can cut the wood down. I want to cut some of these trees down for more land. If at one point I think there is a field on the other side of the trees. We might be able to build a dock," Daryl tells him.
"How are we going to decide who gets the room?" Lori asks.
"One of the rooms has a bunk bed. The bottom and top should both be able to hold two of you. So Carl, Lizzie, Mika, and Charlie will take that one. That is on the top floor. There are two more bedrooms up there, one on the first floor and one on the bottom. The room with the generator should be able to hold a bed. There is the master bedroom on the top floor. The room on the bottom floor and basement both have queen-sized beds," Daryl says.
"You and Alicia should take the master," T-dog says. "Anybody have a problem with that?" Nobody says anything.
"Okay. Lori can take the bedroom on the bottom floor with whoever she wants. The bedroom in the basement Abraham and Rosita can take it," Daryl says.
"I'll stay outside," Abraham tells him. "If Rosita wants it, she can have it," Abraham says. Rosita looks at him.
"I'll stay outside too," Rosita tells Daryl, who nods.
"Rick, do you want it?" Daryl asks.
"Sure," Rick says. He taps Connie's shoulder, and the deft woman looks at him. "Do you want to share the room?" Rick asks Connie, who looks at Kelly.
"Are you okay with this?" Connie signs to her sister, who nods. Connie looks at Rick and nods.
"What about the third room on the top floor?" Jake asks.
"We can leave it for Shane," Dean says.
"Yeah. Until he gets her. Patricia can use it," Daryl says. Patricia nods.
"Okay, let's move our things out of the cars and into the rooms. Hershel, you can take the couch," Daryl tells the older man, who nods. Alicia goes to the car and grabs her and Daryl's bag, and walks towards the house. She walks into the house and up to the top floor and goes into the master room. She throws the bags on the ground and looks around. The room was about the same size as her mom's room back at her house. The room was white with one dresser and a walk-in closet. Alicia walks into the closet and sees the clothes in there. "Nice room, isn't it?" Alicia jumps as she turns around and sees Daryl standing in front of the door.
"You scared the hell out of me," Alicia tells him.
"I hope it's okay that we're sharing. T-dog just assumed that you would be okay with it," Daryl tells her.
"It's okay. I'd be kinda disappointed if we didn't share. We have been since the CDC," Alicia says. "Was Lucas's mother married?"
"Was her husband was a cop and died in a shootout," Daryl tells her. "It was about a month before we came here. She wanted to come out here to get away from it all. I wonder if Lucas brought his boat,"
"He had a boat?" Alicia asks.
"Yeah, we went fishing and tubing on it. He kept it in a shed by the beach. We'll have to check," Daryl tells her.
"I'm sorry that he's dead," Alicia says.
"I thought he was dead before I came here. I'm glad I got the confirmation with that being said. I have to go bury him. He's body doesn't look too bad. I think he's only been dead a few days," Daryl says. Alicia nods as he leaves the room, and she starts to unpack.
T-dog's POV
T-dog sets his tent up in front of the house. He had one of the bigger tents in the camp. He hears footsteps behind him as Ofelia comes over with a bowl for water and one for food, and two bags of food. She sets them down in front of him. "Thanks," T-dog says as Ofelia bends down to pet Star.
"Is she staying with you?" Ofelia asks him.
"Well, she has been following me since I found her. So I'm going to say yes," T-dog tells her as he throws his bag into the tent. "Is your tent up yet?" Ofelia shakes her head. "Do you have more chocolate?" Ofelia nods with a smile. "Then if you want a roommate. Join Star and me,"
"Is my rent a bar of chocolate?" Ofelia asks. T-dog nods.
"Then yes," T-dog says. Ofelia nods as he goes to grab her bag.
Daryl's POV'
Daryl walks out of the kid's room after making sure they are in bed and walks into the master bedroom. He sees Alicia already in bed and walks over, and climbs in bed. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow we have work to do," Daryl tells Alicia, who nods as she lays down and goes to sleep. Daryl does the same.
Thanks for reading. This chapter used POV's, and I liked it a lot. I had fun with using other characters, and I will continue to use this for now. I would like to know how you guys feel about Rosita and Tara? Also you may not have been notified of chapter 41. So go check it out. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.