Two weeks of searching around Atlanta yields nothing. Shane's worked their way down the western side of the city, even rechecking the quarry, but there's no sign that Rick or the others returned there. Only the weathering note for Rick's friend remains, so they add a note of their own, just in case, and put distance between themselves and the quarry.
Once he can find an isolated place to park, he pulls the Cherokee into a fenced yard and takes Sophia with him to clear the yard. It's not the first time he's let the now teenager take out a walker, and Carol both hates the necessity and appreciates that should Sophia be separated from them, she's far safer now than she was before. The boys haven't yet, but they'll have to learn soon.
When they return, the boys and Sophia explore the big backyard while Shane opens the big road atlas on the hood to show Carol the routes to King County. "I've checked everywhere around the city, and there's no sign of the Vatos or Rick and the others, so this is really the only option left. I don't want to keep the kids on the move like this."
Carol doesn't either, so she's glad she doesn't have to wheedle the idea past him. Shane listens to her in ways Ed never would have, but it's hard to forget that instinct to just let him lead where they need to go.
"Is there a safe place down there to stay? Yours or Rick's or something?"
Shane taps an area outside of the county seat. "Mine. Got it cheap for a place on the water because it was falling apart and just meant to be a boathouse. But it's fenced in, so…" he trails off, studying the town instead. "Rick's place isn't fenced at all, not even the backyard. Can't remember what house that friend he met was in."
"Hopefully it will be obvious." Even if they can't find the others, adding even one more adult to their number will help, and Carol imagines someone who has been living with just himself and a kid would be pretty damn skilled for this world by now.
"We can keep looking. Maybe even head over toward Fort Benning. It's always possible they decided to go with my idea thinking I might go that way."
Shaking her head, Carol glances at the kids. "We need a safe place to stay. With just us, if the Cherokee breaks down, we're in a hell of a mess."
They've gleaned supplies where they find them, to the point Shane liberated an enclosed trailer to tow behind the Cherokee for the extras. But staying on the move, they're always looking for places to sleep, and the fuel requirements of switching to an RV make them both wary for now.
Shane follows her line of sight and sighs. "Staying put would be safer. We could be circling each other now and never know it."
"That radio Rick's friend has would help, right?"
The nonplussed look Shane gets is enough to make Carol laugh, and he grins sheepishly. "Yeah, if Rick's remembering to check his. Not sure if he had a way to charge it. And if we can't find his friend, there's bound to be more radios at the sheriff's station that I can take. Couldn't hurt us to have them for our own use, although the damn things are older than dirt."
The sun is starting to set, sending the summer sky into a kaleidoscope of yellow, orange, and red. Carol eyes the house warily. It's probably hot as hell, even if they open all the windows. "Do we try indoors or set up the tent again?"
More often than not, their pattern has been to set up the tent and let the boys sleep while Carol and Shane take turns on watch. Sophia's set her own watch, but only overlapping an adult's. It's wearing on both Shane and Carol, so finding a permanent place to stay would help them both out.
"Tent." Shane flinches just a little, dropping his voice low despite the kids being across the yard, the boys swinging idly pair of swings while Sophia flops in the grass nearby, watching them. "Got a glimpse inside. Someone opted out."
"Oh, god."
Before she can ask, he nudges her elbow before gripping it lightly, and when she meets his gaze, he's as serious as she's ever seen him. "Didn't let Sophia see. It's not the same as walkers, and I know she's gonna come across it eventually, but for now, I can spare her that."
Carol nods, patting his hand as a sort of wordless thank you before going to open the back hatch of the SUV and slinging the bag with the tent out. As soon as the kids see her with it in hand, they come jogging over, gathering their own things from the back. By the time she's got the tent set up with Benjamin and Henry's help, Shane and Sophia have something warmed up for everyone to eat.
As they all sit on the grass, Shane tells the kids the confirmed plan to leave Atlanta, with no fuss at all from anyone, as expected. Sophia looks thoughtful as she finishes a bite of beef stew, though, prompting Carol to remind her to speak up.
"Away from the city, we might find gardens and orchards and stuff, right? Maybe like those you-pick farms?"
"Berries are starting to get out of season," Shane says, mulling it over. "But I'm betting the gardens people put in have some things we can use, if the critters haven't gotten them all."
"Be nice if we could get the fresh stuff. Save the canned goods."
As much as Carol loves Sophia's logic, she also feels guilty that her daughter comes to the plan so easily, thinking ahead about food in ways most girls her age wouldn't. It corners her into one of those painfully introspective moments that she hopes the kids just write off as being tired, especially as Shane keeps up conversation with enough ease they aren't exactly missing out. The kids go to bed with ease, so she figures she's succeeded until Shane calls her name softly before she can enter the tent herself.
"You okay? I know we're giving up the active search, but we won't give up in general. It'll be easier with more adults, but we'll be alright."
Carol thinks about the fact that she and Sophia can both take down walkers, something they couldn't do two weeks ago, and how the boys are included in everything their age and abilities allow. She gives Shane a bittersweet smile and comes to sit beside him where he's sitting his watch on the hood of the Cherokee.
"How many kids her age would start thinking about food like she did? Would Carl?"
Shane laughs quietly and rubs a hand over his hair. "Now? Yeah. Before? No, I doubt he ever considered where food came from or that he might go without. I think the kids have it easier than us, actually, because this world is more of an adventure for them than it can ever be for us."
"You really think we can scavenge from gardens?" It's a reassuring thought, being reminded that some foods are self-replenishing. Right now they've got maybe a week's worth of food, but the quarry camp's always precarious supplies taught her that it's a constant search.
"Yeah. Getting outside the city where more people at least put in a few things, we should get some decent pickings. Animals will have gotten into many things, but they won't eat it all." He turns to study her, brows furrowed. "The kids won't go hungry, Carol. We'll make sure of that, and honestly, it's easier with just the five of us. No one complaining or eating more than their fair share."
Guilt trickles through her that Ed was one of those types, but she reminds herself that he wasn't the only one at the camp who whined. Shane bumps her shoulder with his.
"Go get some sleep. We'll head toward King County come dawn."
She agrees, bidding him goodnight, but sleep eludes her. The light doze that seems her best effort does eventually set in, so she resolves to let the problems sort themselves out as they appear. As long as the kids are content, they'll all be just fine.
Initially, Shane had been genuinely concerned about his ability to keep Carol and the kids safe with everyone so inexperienced, but one thing he's learned is that they all four adapt quickly and easily. Being on the move is hard, but nowhere close to Atlanta is safe for a long-term camp, so suggesting they finally move outside the city had been the only option he could consider. Fort Benning is still a possibility in his mind, but it's not as viable with such a small group.
They're halfway to King County by noon, and the kids have been alert and watching for signs of anything like Sophia suggested. The further they get from Atlanta's sprawl, the less the shops have been looted as well, and Carol makes careful notes of where they might come back for supplies. Today is about getting somewhere he can set up a home base.
As much as he reassured Carol that they aren't giving up the search, it's been too long. If Rick's not headed back home, thinking Shane would go there or at least to find his friend, he really has no idea what to keep trying. The search eats up time that is needed to make sure the kids survive the next few months.
"Shane, look!" It's Henry who alerts him. "That's a really big garden, right?"
Sure enough, the side yard of a rural house alongside the state highway is one very large fenced-in garden. It's even netted over the top by a crafty gardener obviously determined to keep birds off their tomatoes. Shane makes the turn into the driveway, thanking Henry for the alert.
"Don't see any signs of anyone still living here," Shane tells them as he studies the domestic plants gone wild without a human gardener for weeding and culling. "There's too much left in the garden that a resident would be trying to eat or store."
There are no vehicles, either, so he's guessing the people living here evacuated like the government told everyone to do. Still, they're cautious as they ease out of the car. Carol takes the boys into the garden, unlocking the gate, while Shane and Sophia circle the house, checking for any signs people have come and gone, or that there are walkers inside. They find nothing except a locked-up house that shows signs of hasty packing through the patio door where the blinds were left open.
Sophia snags a couple of bushel baskets from under the overhang of a small metal shed that houses the lawnmower and a few outdoor implements, carrying them off to her mother and brothers. The only place left unsearched is the treehouse out back, but just when Shane starts that way, Carol calls his name.
"Maybe no one's living here," she tells him when he gets to the garden. "But someone has scavenged here. Fairly recently, too."
Nudging a mostly-eaten tomato rolled against a fence with the toe of her boot, she draws Shane's attention to the fact that there are three of the discarded little cores from where the big tomatoes are planted. He studies them for a minute, knowing they could still be animal related, but how would something get inside a secured garden like this? Then he spots the peach pit, and there aren't any peach trees on the property.
"What else did you find?"
"A few things picked. Mostly tomatoes, but there's a cabbage missing from the row and at least two watermelons. Things that can be eaten raw."
Carol looks worried, and Shane can't blame her. "Fill the baskets Sophia brought and get back in the car. Could be someone passing through, and maybe they don't know how to cook the other things or didn't have access to make a fire."
He stays on guard, gaze sweeping the property with his gun drawn. Not everyone out there will be friendlies. Rick's group in Atlanta had gotten damn lucky that the Vatos weren't the sort to actually hurt Glenn, but for Shane, it's a strong reminder that this isn't a world for the sweeter natured. The Vatos had needed guns and ammunition for a reason, and it wasn't the walkers.
Heading back to the Cherokee behind them with their overflowing baskets of fresh food, Shane hesitates as he opens the driver's door. Something about the unsearched treehouse bothers him.
"Sophia, that treehouse had the rope ladder down earlier, didn't it?"
Poised to get into the back seat, Sophia turns and looks, frowning. "Yeah, it did. I remember because it was blowing in the wind, and I was thinking it would be weird to climb if it could move when you did."
They'd been close to the treehouse, within easy range for anyone dangerous to attack him and Sophia both. The house probably has supplies, and the propane tank around the side tells Shane it would allow someone to cook or heat water, yet their watcher is in the treehouse.
"Oh, goddammit."
"What?" Carol asks, alarm creeping into her voice. But it's not the panic he would have expected back at the quarry. There's some fight to it now, not all flight.
"I think it's a kid."
This is where the debate begins. If there's genuinely a kid in that treehouse, one who didn't call out to Shane and Sophia, will they respond to Shane trying to get them to come down? He can't ask Carol to go alone, and venturing that far toward an unknown person with just the two of them makes him nervous. But there's no way in hell he can leave a kid on their own.
Neither can Carol, because he sees her square her thin shoulders. "Let's go help them."
"I can drive if need to," Sophia says, tipping her chin out boldly. "You showed me how it works."
They don't take the heavier precautions as much now, like that first night when he'd made Carol take the driver's seat to clear the concession stand himself, but if this goes badly, the kids being able to flee is important. When he looks to Carol for permission, she nods.
"You taught her back at the ballfield for a reason, right?"
It hadn't been a long lesson, just enough to prove to Sophia that she could drive the Cherokee around the track. There haven't been a lot of safe places to let her practice since then. But it should work, for this.
"Alright. You get in the driver's seat. Boys in the back." He reaches for the Mossberg, chambering a shell and laying it in Carol's seat. Sophia's never shot live ammunition, even though he's gleaned several boxes now while scavenging, but the shotgun is simple enough and she knows the basics. Hopefully, she won't need it.
Sophia starts the engine, and Shane nods approvingly when she puts it in gear and carefully maneuvers so that the Cherokee is facing toward the driveway. Both boys turn to act as lookouts.
"Stay behind me." Shane's found a small revolver for Carol, but just like with the shotgun, he hasn't risked letting them fire them yet. Guns are too noisy and their ammo stocks are currently too small. Once he gets back to King County, he knows what houses will be best to find extra.
Carol slips along behind his bulk, one hand gently against his back. When they reach the treehouse he sidesteps behind the shed before calling out a greeting.
"Hey, kid? You don't need to be out here by yourself."
There's a part of him that prays it's just one kid, if it's a kid. He knows it could also be an adult that's reasonably wary of other survivors, but for some reason, all his instincts are screaming that it's a child. There's no answer, so Carol tugs on his shirt. Glancing over his shoulder, he sees her mouth, "let me try."
When he nods, Carol calls out, "Sweetheart? If you're lost, it's safe to come out now. You saw the other kids, right? I'm their mom."
From the treehouse, Shane realizes its occupant might not have seen the boys or Carol. The garden entrance isn't clearly seen from here. Sophia's obviously young, but with the ballcap she's been wearing in imitation of Shane's, she also might have appeared to be a boy or young man.
His concerns are confirmed when there's movement at the treehouse door. He glimpses a flash of blond before the door is adjusted so he can't see inside. "I didn't see kids."
Female. Young. But hopefully not as young as the boys, Shane prays, if she's been on her own.
"They were in the garden with me. You didn't see me, either, did you?" Before he can stop her, Carol steps out away from the shed and Shane both. Holding her hands out, she smiles that soft smile she gave Shane back at the CDC. He can only hope it soothes wary lost children the same way it soothed an overwrought adult.
"There's five of us. Me and Shane here. You saw my daughter Sophia with him earlier, I'll bet, when they checked the house. The boys are nine years old. Twins. I'm Carol."
The door swings open to reveal a bedraggled girl who looks older than Sophia, but not by a lot.
"What's your name, honey?"
"Beth."
"Why don't we get you down here with us? We've got a place we're heading, and you can come with us."
"Somewhere safe?" The hope in the girl's voice nearly breaks Shane's heart.
"As safe as we can make it," he says, stepping out to stand beside Carol.
The ladder drops with a hurried motion, and Beth scrambles down as if they'll somehow change their minds if she doesn't rush. Shane's not surprised one bit when the girl allows Carol to wrap her arms around her and begin leading her to the waiting SUV. Beth is trembling as the tears start, big sobs that he imagines are relief as much as anything else.
Their little group of five is now six.