Hi everyone, I know it's been a couple months since I last updated, and I'm sorry about that. A lot kind of came up out of nowhere and I have barely had a moment to breathe, not to mention I've spent the last three weeks being quite sick. There's still a lot kind of going on and I'm going out of town this weekend, so I'm not sure how often and regular my updates will be, but I wanted to just get a chapter up to let you all know this story is still going! I just fell behind and haven't had a chance to write. I'm hoping my next update will not be weeks from now either, especially cause this chapter is a bit shorter than I normally make them. Just wanted to let you all know what's been going on!
Thank you for the reviews on the previous chapter from galwidanatitud, saiyan angel blue, Mrloes, NOTagentsofnothing420, scarlettsoldier, TchaikowskyLover111, Lolzanjoss! Sorry I am not able to respond to you all individually as I normally do, I'm actually about to run out and only have a couple minutes to post this chapter before I do! But I read all of your reviews and definitely appreciated them! To quickly answer the questions I saw, yes there will be more chapters to this story, it is not over yet! And yes I plan to add in my own storyline between season 2 and 3 now that the group is no longer on the farm.
Sorry this chapter is shorter and took so long for me to finally update with. I hope to update again very soon!
The cold wind on my face had felt refreshing for the first part of the drive once we'd left the highway, but now I was starting to shiver. Daryl had insisted I ride on the back of his bike. I had a feeling he wasn't about to let me out of his sight anytime soon after having split up once the farmhouse had been overrun by walkers. I tightened my grip around his waist and leaned further into his back, stealing some of his warmth. I didn't have a problem with him wanting to keep me close by.
Despite the eerie lack of cars on the road, I was able to let my mind wander. I took in the sight of the trees we passed, their leaves a colorful smatter of reds and yellows and oranges. Quite a few leaves had already fallen off the trees and the wind would kick them up around us as we flew by. The sun was lowering itself in the sky, casting a beautiful golden glow around us. I closed my eyes and buried my face into Daryl's shoulder, trying to hide the smile on my lips. The smell of leather filled my nose.
Daryl shifted a little beneath me and suddenly the wind threw his voice in my direction.
"Cold?"
I glanced up and saw him trying to glance back at me.
"A little," I admitted, raising my voice so he could hear me above the noise of the bike and the wind.
He nodded once and I saw him glance into his side mirrors, looking back at the group of cars following behind us. He was probably thinking what I was, that the sun was going down soon and we would most likely need to find somewhere to stop and refuel.
It wasn't even a few minutes later when a loud car horn sounded behind us. I flinched at the unexpected noise, my head quickly darting to look behind us. The last car in the line was coming to a stop, causing the two before it to do the same. Daryl must have noticed because moments later we slowed to a stop. I reluctantly pulled my hands from around his waist and stood up as the others began filing out of their vehicles. Daryl put the kickstand on his bike down before he turned around and spotted Rick.
"Problem?" Daryl called out to him.
"We're almost out of gas," Rick explained. "We're basically running on fumes right now."
"We can't exactly stay here," Maggie said.
Glenn eyed the group before speaking up. "We won't all fit into just two cars either."
I felt something tugging at the hem of my flannel shirt and I glanced down. Emma was suddenly standing there staring up at me. I smiled down at her and she quickly grabbed my hand.
"We'll just have to make a run for gas in the morning. It's getting too late now," Rick told the group.
"And just stay here?" Carol asked, not sounding too convinced of how safe we would be so out in the open.
"It's freezing out here," Carl said from beside his mother.
Lori pulled her son closer to herself, rubbing her hands over his arms to warm him up. "We should make a small fire to keep warm."
"Couple of us should go lookin' for firewood," Daryl suggested. "I've got a couple arrows left." He glanced at Rick before asking, "How're you doing on ammo?"
"Not enough," Rick answered, his voice sounding thin.
I let go of Emma's hand, much to her dismay, as I began sliding my backpack off of my shoulder. I unzipped it and dug around until I found the handgun. I pulled it out and slipped it into the waistband of my jeans before I grabbed Emma's hand again and made my way over to Sarah.
"Keep an eye on her, okay?" I asked Sarah.
Sarah shot me a questioning look as I passed Emma's little hand from mine to my sister's. I handed her my backpack next, but she just stared at me.
"I'm going to help look for firewood. It'll go quicker with a few people," I explained.
Reluctantly, Sarah accepted the bag and slid it onto her shoulder. She didn't look like she approved too much of me going out into the woods.
"The rest of us can't just sit here with our asses hanging out," Maggie suddenly spoke up.
"Watch your language," Hershel harshly reprimanded his daughter. "Everybody just needs to calm down and listen to Rick."
As a whole the group suddenly became still and all eyes landed on the man. I watched Rick glance around the group and then take in the trees around us. I chewed my lip, noticing how tired Rick looked. If it had ever been a question before, here was proof that Rick had somehow become the official leader of our band of survivors. Everyone was waiting on him to give some sort of order or direction. That had to be a lot of weight on his shoulders.
"We'll set up a perimeter," Rick finally said. "In the morning we will find more gas and supplies and we will keep pushing on."
"Glenn and I could go make a run now and scrounge up some gas," Maggie offered.
Rick shook his head. "No, we don't need to worry about splitting up. We stay together. God forbid something happens and someone is stranded without a vehicle."
"We're already stranded now," Glenn pointed out.
"I know it looks bad right now," Rick said. "We've all been through Hell and worse—but at least we found each other." He emphasized the last part, silence meeting the end of his sentence as he eyed the group, his gaze staying on his family for a moment. "I wasn't sure we would, I really wasn't. But we did. We're together. We keep it that way."
Silence met his words. Everyone seemed to be taking in what Rick had said and what everyone had secretly been thinking. I glanced to my right and saw Daryl's face quickly dart away from my direction. I let out a sigh.
"He's right," I spoke up. "Last night was…rough." I cleared my throat, trying not to remember all the gruesome details. "But we're stronger if we stick together. If we're careful and we keep quiet, we'll get through the night and be on the road in the morning."
"There's got to be some place to find shelter," Rick said, almost more to himself than to the group.
"Rick, look around. There's walkers everywhere. It's like they're migrating or something," Glenn said.
"There's got to be a place out there somewhere!" Rick said, his voice earnest. "Some place we can all hunker down and make a life for ourselves. I know it's out there, we just have to find it!"
"Even if we do find a place," Maggie said in a tone softer than she'd used a bit ago, "and we think it's safe, we can never be sure for how long. We fooled ourselves into thinking the farm was safe."
"We won't make that mistake again," Hershel said in a whisper.
"We'll make camp over there tonight," Rick told the group, pointing to a spot among the trees just beside the road.
Beth stepped forward, a concerned look on her face. She eyed the spot Rick had pointed to, which had some crumbling brick walls we could shield ourselves in for the night, before she turned back to Rick.
"What if a group of walkers comes through? Or another group like Randall's?" she asked him.
Daryl spoke up before Rick had a chance to answer. "You know I found Randall, right?"
Rick's brows narrowed at the new information and he stepped closer to Daryl, waiting for him to continue.
"He had turned but he wasn't bit," Daryl said.
Rick's face quickly darted away, his eyes not making contact with anyone. I saw him tense up just a bit. My eyes narrowed at his response to the information. It was almost as if he wasn't surprised that someone had turned without a bite. Did he know something?
"How could that be?" Beth asked him curiously.
"Shane killed Randall," I spoke up. "I saw it."
Rick seemed to be having an internal struggle as the group eyed him curiously. I wasn't the only one who had suddenly noticed that Rick seemed to know something more than he was letting on.
"We're all infected," he finally said, his expression hard and unwavering as he stared at the cement beneath his feet.
It felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach when his words registered.
"What?" Daryl asked, his voice eerily calm.
"At the CDC," Rick said slowly, "Jenner told me…whatever it is…we all carry it."
A hand flew up to my mouth. I felt like I was going to be sick.
"And you never said anything?" Carol asked roughly.
"Would it have made a difference?" Rick asked the group.
"You knew this whole time?" Glenn shot.
"How could I have known for sure?" Rick shot back. "You saw how crazy he was!"
"That's not your call!" Glenn snapped. "When I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told for the good of everyone."
"I thought it best if people didn't know," Rick explained.
Tension filled the air among the group. Nobody knew what to say as we all tried to process this new information. I watched as Rick stormed off a little ways, Lori quickly following behind him.
My mind was racing now. I wasn't a survivor, I was already one of those things that we were fighting. What did it take for me to become one? Did it happen when we die? Or could it happen, eventually, over time? Could I just wake up one day and suddenly become some feral walker trying to kill Sarah, or Maggie, or Beth, or Emma? Or Daryl?
I wiped the sleeve of my dirty flannel shirt across my eyes roughly, trying to wipe away any tears before they could fall. I needed to pull myself together. We needed to get everyone in a secure location for the night, and we needed to get firewood to build a fire. It would be dark soon, which would make gathering wood difficult and more dangerous. Not to mention, without the sun, it would be a lot colder.
I checked that my knife and my gun were still on me, patting my sides down to make sure, before starting my way into the trees. I hadn't moved very far before a rough hand had grabbed my wrist, stopping me in my place.
"Where you goin'?" Daryl asked me, worry written on his face. "Not safe to wander off on your own."
"We need firewood," I said simply.
Slowly, Daryl's expression softened and his hand fell from my wrist.
"I'll come with you," he told me gently.
Together we both parted from the group and made our way into the cover of the trees.