Jessica and Morgan

Morgan had the map out again, staring at it. Jessica smiled. He could look at it all day and it would never tell him where they were on it. At least they had a compass, so they had some idea which direction they were walking instead of just flying blind. The water had been simmering for what she hoped was at least twenty minutes now, and she scooped it out and poured it into the five mugs she had waiting that were full of ramen noodle soup mix and leftover wild turkey meat from the night before. All this time on the road had made even Duane better with his bow, and he had been proud to provide everyone with dinner the night before. He had shot the thing in the wing and Cassie had to help him catch it so he could wring its neck, but a dead turkey was still dinner no matter how it got shot. Duane and Desiree were still sleeping and Cassie had headed out to hide behind a tree and do her morning business.

Taking his mug, Morgan blew on it to try and cool it down. Jessica gave him a scolding look. That crap was so hot he was going to burn his lips. And she liked his lips the way they were. Morgan heard the crunch of the leaves behind him and thought for a moment that it might be Cassie coming back. But then he remembered that Cassie had gone in the other direction. A man with a strange scar on his forehead stepped into their camp and sat down, pointing a handgun casually in Morgan's direction. Jessica was on her feet quickly, aiming her gun at the man. But Morgan gestured for her to sit down. The man had been close enough that he could have shot them if he wanted to. And if he was from the area, maybe he could tell them where they were on Morgan's map.

Jessica had a feeling the man was not alone, and she listened carefully to try and hear if anyone was behind her. She found she could not hear anyone, but when the wind picked up she could smell the foul odor of someone that had not bothered to bathe in a very long time. She also wondered if the man had any bullets left in his gun. Bullets were heavy to carry and hard to come by. They had their guns, but had stopped using them a long time ago in favor of the bows. The arrows were quieter and they could use them over and over again, plus they could make new ones if they had to. Or repair the ones that the tips broke off of. When it came to killing the boogies that got in too close, Jessica used a bat, while Morgan preferred to whack them with his walking stick. He had gotten pretty good at using it too.

Morgan picked up his mug of turkey soup and sipped it. He waited to see what the man was going to say or do. The man said nothing at first, but then turned his head towards Jessica, looking her up and down. She wrinkled up her nose at the man. If he thought he or his stinky friend were getting anywhere near her, he had another think coming. These assholes were screwing with the wrong people. Morgan, Jessica and the kids had not had much contact with other people. This was the first time Morgan had seen another man look at her. And he found he was suddenly flooded with rage and jealousy. He sipped his soup and forced himself to control his breathing.

"Stop that," the man told him, gesturing towards the mug of soup.

"Why?," Morgan asked him.

"Because I want it," the man said, "I want everything you have including her." He pointed to Jessica. Before the man could say another word he felt the skin on his face and neck suddenly light up in burning pain. Morgan had thrown his soup on the man and then stood up, bashing him hard against the side of the head and knocking him out. The other man lunged for Jessica, but she was ready for him and darted to her right. The man stumbled over the small log she had been leaning against and she got up, hitting him hard in the back of the head with her bat. Cassie stepped out of the bushes behind him, her bow drawn. Jessica descended on the man, prepared to beat him in the head until he was dead, and then do the same to his friend. But Morgan grabbed her gently around the waist and pulled her back.

"Stop," he said, "we don't have to kill them."

"Fuck that," she told him, shaking him off, "he was going to rape me and probably Cassie and Desiree too if he caught them." Desiree woke at the loud sound of her name, and poked at Duane to wake him up. Cassie had her bow drawn and Morgan had his stick and her mom had her bat, so something scary must be going on. Duane was up, grabbing for his bow and looking around for the boogies he gussed must be close by. Instead he saw two men laying unconcious in the middle off their campsite.

"But that didn't happen," Morgan told her gently.

"Fine," Jessica cursed. She walked over and kicked the smelly man hard in the crotch and then did the same to his blistered friend. Then she took their weapons. She had been right, the jerk didn't have any bullets and neither did his friend. She tossed the guns away into some thorny bushes. Have fun getting those back you cowardly fuckwads.

"Feel better?," Morgan asked her.

"Yep," she answered. She still wanted to kill them. It was the momma bear in her coming out. But if Morgan was going to get all upset over it, she guessed kicking them hard in the balls was good enough. Fuckers would be sore when they woke up. Maybe it would teach them a lesson.

"Kids get your stuff right now, we are leaving," Morgan told them.

"What about breakfast?," Duane asked.

"You can take it to go," Jessica told him, stuffing her own things back into her bag while Morgan dumped some dirt on what was left of the fire. Then he poured the rest of the boiled water into everyone's canteens. The small group had set up and broke down their camp enough times that everyone knew their jobs without asking or being told. The soup was dumped into a large insulated thermos, which they could pass around as they walked. Cassie rinsed the mugs out with some unboiled water and packed them away into her bag. In less than five minutes they were ready to go.

Morgan wanted to try and head out of the woods and get somewhere with some landmarks or street signs. Since they needed to get as far away from their new friends, Jessica quickly agreed. And they did need to get their bearings. She didn't want to walk too far north and have to back track. Desiree was following Morgan, her little spiral bound notebook out, writing down what he told her to. Mostly addresses and street names. The problem was the map was so big, only the major highways and streets were listed. And most of the streets they came across were not on the map.

"We could look for a gas station and try to find a local map," Jessica suggested. Then she raised her bat and brought it down hard on the skull of a boogie that was wandering a little too close to them. Morgan nodded. That was a good idea. Now the only problem was going to be finding a gas station that still sold paper maps. Most of them did not because people stopped buying them they all got GPS on their phones.

"Lets go to Walmart," Cassie suggested, "they have everything there." She wasn't so sure about paper maps, but she did want some new socks. And she knew she could find those at Walmart. Or maybe a can of Coke and some stale chocolate bars. They walked by a fenced in parking lot. A ton of boogies were swarming a parked car.

"Got to be somebody in there," Morgan announced. Jessica shrugged but the kids looked on curiously.

"Maybe we should help them," Duane said. He knew he would want somebody to help him if he was stuck in a car surrounded by those nasty things. Jessica looked at Morgan and then rolled her eyes so far back in her head he was sure she could see her own brain.

"If we do this and these people end up being assholes like those guys this morning," she told Morgan, "I am not going to be a happy camper." Duane started laughing. Happy Camper. Morgan was more serious. There was a chance that the people they were about to help might try and hurt them. And he did not want anything happening to his family.

"Lets drop most of them with the bows," he said, "then I will go in with my stick and I want the rest of you to hide over behind that truck." Jessica nodded. The plan wasn't great and it was going to cost them most of their arrows, but it was better than leaving random people here to die, which even she didn't really want to do.

Daryl was inside the car, smoking what he thought was his last cigarette. He felt bad about not making up with RickyJo before he left. That had been a stupid thing to do. Then throught the dirty windows of the car he could start to see the walkers dropping.

"Someone is shooting them down with arrows," Aaron said with some excitement. Why that man always felt the need to state the obvious, Daryl could never understand. Walker after walker fell to the ground, and then he heard someone yelling.

"Out the passenger side now!," the man screamed. He was swinging at the walkers with a long heavy stick, spining it to get more speed. Daryl and Aaron bolted from the car and the three of them ran for the fence, pulling it closed and chaining it. Morgan checked to make sure Jessica and the kids were well hidden behind the truck. She was standing up, clearly visible, with her mouth hanging wide open in shock. Morgan did not put together what was going on until Desiree ran at the man holding the crossbow.

"Uncle Daryl," she screamed. She did not worry about the man that was with her uncle or Morgan's warning to stay behind the truck. With the special excitement that only the very young can muster, she ran at the man full speed and soon found herself swept up into his arms and hugged tightly to his chest. Daryl could feel his face start to get wet and he wasn't sure if it was because she was crying or he was. Cassie came at him next, tears already streaming down her face. She looked so grown up, almost just like her mom when he had first met her. He set Desiree down, where she collapsed on the ground, clinging to his leg, and he hugged Cassie around the waist, lifting her off the ground. Jessica came at him slower, not sure if she could believe what she was seeing. For a minute Daryl had the strange feeling that he had died in that car and was reuniting with his loved ones on the other side. But these were no ghosts. This was his family, and they were flesh and blood. Cassie let go and turned to cling to Morgan, sobbing into his chest. Jessica touched Daryl's face, and then she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him and trying not to cry. She pulled back and fingered a long piece of his hair.

"You need a haircut," she told him. Then they both cracked up into laughter. Aaron was smiling at them.

"Friends of yours?," he asked Daryl. Daryl nodded. He put his arm around Jessica's waist.

"This is my, well this is," he thought about what Jessica actually was to him and then went on. "This is RickyJo's cousin Jessica. And these are her daughters, Cassie and Dez." Aaron looked them over. The woman had bright red hair that he recognized right away. RickyJo's baby had hair that same distinct shade. She looked too young to be the mother of the teenage girl standing next to her, but Aaron could see the obvious resemblance. The girl had a different body type than her mother, she was thinner through the hips and larger in the chest. But they had the same facial features. The younger girl did not look as much like her mother, but she had a the same sprinkling of freckles across her nose and the same big eyes.

"RickyJo, is she alright?," Jessica asked.

"Shes fine," Daryl assured her, " her and Merle are back at camp." Jessica let out a sigh of relief. He decided to leave the rest out of the story for now or they were going to be here all damn day. Jessica finally remembered her manners. She let go of Daryl and took Morgan's hand.

"This is Morgan," she told them. The way she said his name, Daryl guessed that the man was more than a friend. Morgan extended his hand and Daryl took it. Since Daryl seemed to know her well and was just now being introduced to this man, Aaron guessed he was not the girls' father.

"I think I owe you some thanks," Daryl said, nodding towards the parked car. Morgan looked at Jessica with a soft smile.

"Seeing her and the girls this happy was thanks enough," Morgan told the man. Aaron stuck out his hand to the man. It was clear that Daryl was not going to give him a proper introduction. That was fine, he had no problem introducing himself. Duane darted out from behind his dad's back and grabbed the man's hand.

"Aaron," he told the boy.

"I'm Duane," Duane announced. Then he pointed to Morgan with his other hand. "That's my dad." Aaron smiled. He had guessed that, but you never knew these days.

"How far away is your camp?," Jessica asked. She really wanted to see her cousin.

"If we leave now," Aaron told her, "we can be there by dinner time."