Chapter 6-Leaving Georgia
Daryl's P.O.V
It was the morning after they had found Merle. The group was getting ready to leave. They were only a few hours from Alabama. Daryl sits down beside Carl and Glenn as Lori and Carol make breakfast. "We aren't far from Alabama," T-dog says.
"We'll be in Texas in a few days," Shane says. "We'll stop when we need to but we should avoid the bigger cities,"
"We'll have enough gas to at least reach Louisiana," Glenn says.
"That is if we don't run into any more problems," Maggie says.
"Well, hopefully, there are no more assholes making roadblocks on our way," Merle says with a grin.
"Hopefully," T-dog says as Carol hands him a plate.
"If we keep bringing people in, we are going to need something bigger than the cars we have," Michonne says.
"We have Merle's truck," Andrea says.
"That can hold two more people, blondie," Merle says. Carol hands Merle a plate. "Thanks," Carol nods as she sits down with her own plate.
"You think we'll come across a lot of people on our way?" Glenn asks.
"We might. We don't know what other states are like. Some could be better than others," Lori says.
"What if we run into a camp or settlement?" Beth asks. "Would we stay there?"
"It depends on how they are doing. We haven't seen anything like that, and all of our camps have been taken down by walkers," Shane says.
"The herds are getting bigger. The one on the highway, the one on the farm. They could tear down walls with ease," Glenn says. "What are we supposed to do against that? We got lucky at the quarry. If a herd-like that came through, we'd all be dead,"
"Some of us are," Andrea says.
"I know," Glenn says as he finishes eating. "My point is we can't rely on places like the farm or the quarry. They have no protection. We need somewhere with big sturdy walls and enough people to keep it safe,"
"Woodbury had that," Merle says. "But I'm not going back there. The Governor will take my head,"
"We'll keep a lookout," Shane says. "We should get on the road soon,"
"Are you going to give me the keys to the bike?" Merle asks his brother, who shakes his head. "Figured," The group eat their food and get in their cars. They leave as they continue on towards Texas.
A few hours later
The group drove through the day, only stopping twice. They stopped once to eat lunch, and they stopped once to refill the cars. They were now in Alabama and had been for about two hours. They were back on the side of the road as the sunset. The group set up camp and ate. Daryl was on watch. He looked at the moon as Lori walked up to him. "You should be asleep," Daryl says.
"I'm not tired," Lori says as she sits down beside him. "If you want, I'll keep watch, and you can go to sleep,"
"I ain't tired either," Daryl says to her. The two of them sat in silence. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm okay. At least this time, I know he's dead. I got to see his body, and I got to see it buried," Lori says to him as she pulls Rick's gun out. "It feels weird in my hands,"
"I don't think that will ever change," Daryl tells her. Lori nods as they hear a scream coming from the woods. Daryl and Lori quickly stand up. "Stay here," Daryl says as he pulls his flashlight out and goes into the woods. Daryl heard another scream as he heard footsteps behind him. Daryl pulls his knife out as he sees a walker. He stabs it in the head and throws it to the ground. Daryl could see a light ahead of them as Shane, Michonne, Merle, and Glenn catch up to him. They go towards the light and see a few tents and four people fighting a group of walkers. Daryl stabs a walker in the back of the head as another grabs his shoulder. Merle stabs it in the side of the head as Michonne cuts a walker's head off. Glenn swings his machete, cutting off another walker's head as Shane stabs one in the eye. Daryl stabs another walker as it grabs one of the people. Daryl shines his flashlight around them and sees no more walkers.
"Who the hell are you?" One of the men asks.
"The people who just saved you," Merle says.
"Thank you," A woman says. The woman goes towards a dead body who had a bite taken out of his neck.
"What are you guys doing out here?" Glenn asks.
"We were on a run," The man says. "Our car got swarmed by the dead, and we ran. I'm Mike," Mike says. Mike was an average-sized man with short red hair. He was holding a spear and had a gun clipped to his side.
"Bill," The other man says. Bill was a tall man with short blond hair. He had a hatchet, and he had a Glock on his side.
"Emily," Emily says. Emily had long black hair and blue eyes. Emily had a dagger in her hands and a beretta at her hip.
"I'm Cassidy," Cassidy says. Cassidy had shoulder-length blond hair and green eyes. She had a bat with nails in it and Smith and Wesson model 29 at her hip.
"Daryl, this is Merle, Michonne, Shane, and Glenn," Daryl says. "You got a camp?"
"Yeah, it's about two hours from here," Mike says.
"We got a larger group. You should come back with us, and we can help you clear your car tomorrow," Shane says. "Either that or you stay out here,"
"We'll come," Emily says. Daryl nods as Mike takes the weapons and bag off the dead body and stabs the man in the head before he starts to follow them. Daryl and Shane walked in the back as Glenn and Merle walked in the front. Michonne walked beside Emily, Mike, Cassidy, and Bill.
"They are well equipped," Shane says to Daryl.
"We'll watch 'em," Daryl says to Shane, who nods. They walk for a few minutes and get back to camp, where the group was waiting.
"Who are they?" T-dog asks.
"Emily, Mike, Bill, and Cassidy. A group of walkers attacked them. They lost someone. They have a camp a few hours from here," Shane says.
"Where is your camp?" Lori asks.
"We are set up in a school. The place has got fences and has kept the dead out," Mike says.
"How many people?" Carol asks.
"Counting us 18," Emily says. "It should be nineteen, but you saw what happened to West,"
"You guys are welcome to come back and rest or stay if you want," Cassidy says.
"Let us talk it over," Shane says. "You guys can sleep in Merle's truck," They nod as they walk over to the white truck. The group walks away from them.
"What the hell were you thinking? You ran into the woods at night by yourself," Lori says.
"They needed help. Somebody died. We saved the rest," Daryl says.
"Are we going to go with 'em?" Maggie asks.
"I say we check it out. We don't need to live there, but we can rest for a few days, maybe trade with them a little and make sure we know our route. And if things don't work out in Texas, we can come back," T-dog says.
"Does anybody have any problems with this plan?" Shane asks. Nobody says anything as Daryl goes to Shane's car and grabs a shovel.
"What are you doing?" Merle asks.
"I'm going to bury their friend," Daryl says.
"We didn't know him. He isn't our problem," Merle says. "Your willingness to help people is what's going to get you killed, baby brother,"
"Daryl, we'll bury the body. You haven't slept. Get some sleep," Glenn says. Daryl nods as he hands Glenn the shovel. T-dog grabs another shovel and follows Glenn into the woods towards the body. Maggie goes with them to keep them covered.
The next day
Shane's P.O.V
The group had eaten early in the morning. They were now standing around the red jeep. "How far ahead is your truck?" Shane asks Mike.
"About 15 minutes from here," Mike says.
"Okay, Daryl, Merle, Michonne, Andrea, Glenn, T-dog, and I will go with Emily and Mike to get your truck. The rest of you stay here and guard the cars," Shane says. Cassidy and Bill look at Mike, who nods.
"Okay, let's go," Shane says. They nod as they start to walk down the road, following Mike and Emily. Daryl walked in the back, keeping it covered with T-dog. Merle and Shane were on the left. Glenn was in the front with Emily and Mike, and Andrea and Michonne were on the right. Shane looks at Merle. "Daryl isn't in your shadow anymore,"
"My baby brother has a good heart. That good heart will get him killed," Merle says.
"He isn't dead yet," Shane says. "He knows what he is doing. He walked at least a few miles after taking an arrow out of his side. Trust him, Merle," Merle doesn't say anything as they get closer to the truck. There were about a dozen walkers around the truck.
"The rest must have been the ones that followed us," Mike says. When they get closer to the truck, Daryl raises his crossbow and shoots a walker in the head. Daryl reloads his crossbow as Mike shoves his spear through a walker's head. Mike pulls his spear out and hits another one in the side of the head. Glenn swings his machete in the side of a walker's head. The top of the walker's head comes off as Glenn pulls his machete through its head. Michonne stabs two walkers through their heads and pulls the katana out of their heads as Andrea stabs another. Emily grabs a walker's shirt and stabs it in the eye as Daryl shoots another walker coming up to her. Merle stabs a walker through the jaw with his hand gauntlet as Shane stabs a walker in the side of the head. T-dog pushes a walker up against the truck and stabs it in the forehead as Daryl shoots the last walker in the head.
"That's all of them," Glenn says as he looks at the bodies. Daryl starts to pull his arrows out of the walkers after he reloads it. Mike goes to the driver's seat and sees the keys are still on the dash.
"Hope in. We should get back to the group," Mike says. They nod as they get inside the truck and the bed. Mike starts the car, and they start to drive back to the group.
Daryl's P.O.V
The group gets out of the truck once they get back to the others. "So, are you guys coming back with us?" Cassidy asks.
"We'll come to rest. We don't know if we will stay. Make sure your people know that so they don't take our supplies," Shane says. They nod as Emily, Mike, Cassidy, and Bill climb into their truck. The group gets in their vehicles and starts to follow Mike towards his camp. They drive for about 2 hours until they see a school with a handmade watchtower by the gate. Two people pull open the gate and let them in. They get out of their cars and look at the people who were looking at them.
"Looks like you brought back some friends," A man says as he walks up to them. The man was tall and had grey hair and a grey beard. He had a knife and gun.
"Yeah, Elijah. This is Daryl, Shane, and their group. They saved us from a group of the dead. We offered them somewhere to rest for a few days. We lost West," Mike says. Elijah walks up to Shane and shakes his hand.
"I'm Elijah Lewis. It sounds like we would have lost a few of our people if it wasn't for you," Elijah says. "You are welcomed to stay here as long as you need, and nobody will touch your things unless you decide to stay,"
"Thank you," Shane says.
"Yeah," Elijah says. "Let's give these guys some space. You guys can set up in that grass over there," Elijah says to his people, who nod as they walk away from the group.
"We can set up some tents," Daryl says. The group nods as they get a few tents out and start to set the tents up.
Thanks for reading. So one thing I want to explore in this story is how the fall affected the other states in the U.S, so there will be more places like this as this story goes on. I will also mention that the group will be back in Georgia at some point in this show, so if you want to see people like Tara and Sasha, let me know, and again, don't be afraid to message me. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.