Chapter 17.

Fire on the Mountain.

Rick.

"Now, the trick is to angle your hands with the sun and the horizon at the same time."

Rick stood behind his son, angling his hands so they made a perfect frame around the setting sun, parallel to the horizon. His eyes skimmed the tops of pine trees, still bathed in late midday light. A gentle wind pushed through them, knocking the branches into one another. Carl let his hands go crooked again, laughing, and then turned them into a spyglass.

"Can you see any further away with that?" Rick wondered.

Carl squinted, turning around to peer up at Rick through his hands, "Sort of."

"Maybe I'll find you a real one, huh?"

Carl dropped his hands, "Do they really have those? I thought they were just in movies."

"Come on, you serious?"

"Yes!"

Rick groaned dramatically, clutching at his heart. "Okay, okay. I'll give you that one, but only 'cause we never went sailin' on the ocean."

Carl reformed his spyglass and turned it toward the treetops, saying wistfully, "Maybe we still can one day." His voice resonated. "I can navigate us by the sun. See? It's over the trees right now, so it's gonna be night in… hmm… three hours."

"Four. Those trees are taller than you think. But good start."

Carl beamed.

Rick walked to the edge, where the rock dropped off into the quarry lake. Andrea was out there on the boat with Dale, and Carol and Amy were doing laundry by the water. It was a tranquil day, not too hot, a warm breeze blowing through camp.

It was days like this that tempted him to forget why they were all here.

"Uh, dad?"

Rick looked up. Carl had come over to him, and he was pointing to the woods – someone was staggering toward them, toward the camp.

He drew his gun, his heart pounding, his peace shattered.

"Walker!"

It was like yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater.

Morales came bursting out of his tent. Glenn rolled off the top of the RV and tried to get his rifle on his shoulder. Daryl jumped up and loaded his crossbow, striding across camp. Kids ran for the nearest adults and anyone who was unarmed ran for someone who was. Shane crashed out of the RV, hastily putting his gun back together, to join Rick on the front lines.

Seconds passed.

Rick raised his gun, advancing with his partner by his side.

He waited. And waited. His breath was loud in his ears.

But then he got a good look at her.

"Hold your fire!"

It was one of the survivors from the clearing camp. Audrey. She had been the one to turn them down when they asked for antibiotics for Louis four days ago.

She saw him and came straight for him, collapsing to her hands and knees, gasping for breath. "Help. Please. Help us!"

Rick crouched down, offering his hand to the woman. She took it, holding it desperately to her. She was sweaty and her skin was blackened – she smelled like smoke. "What happened?"

"They came out of nowhere! Please!"

Rick jumped to his feet. "We gotta go down the mountain! Who's with me?"

Shane cocked his gun pointedly, "Lead the way."

Morales joined them, sporting a rifle. Glenn hesitated at the base of the RV.

Daryl surprised Rick when he broke out of the crowd, "I'll come. Been bored as hell all day."

It was a race down the mountain.

Rick smelled smoke long before they got there. He let the adrenaline take over, let himself worry about every cracking branch, every movement he thought he saw. His companions spread out around him, forming a line through the woods. Gradually, the air began to thicken and warm. Rick had to stop before they made it into the clearing.

"Whole place is lit up," Shane said in a whisper.

"Looks like a damn barbeque," Daryl commented.

Rick got a little closer, until he could see the orange flames licking at the supply pallet. It was half ash by now. He saw no signs of life. Walkers roamed around, fire eating up their flesh. It was a nightmarish scene.

"Nothing here," Shane said, putting a hand on Rick.

"If we leave them here, they'll spread the fire up and down this mountain," Morales said. "How many can you see?"

Shane looked doubtful. "No need to waste bullets."

"Fire's gonna scare off all the game," Daryl said. "You wanna starve?"

"We don't have to kill them." Rick tried to draw on memory, and then turned to the only man who would know the answer to his question. "How far is the nearest river?"

Daryl glanced around, "Like a quarter mile past here. But the shit's on fire."

"I'll lead them to the water, get 'em put out. We don't have to kill them."

"I'd rather we take 'em down than you run off and do that!" Shane said. He sighed, checking his clip, "Lock and load, boys."

It was only a dozen walkers. Rick got two headshots, and by that time, the walkers knew they were there and were heading toward them. Shane took two down, Morales got one, and Daryl nailed two more with his crossbow. They split the remaining walkers between them, with Rick and Shane both hitting the last one at the same time. Their bodies lay there, smoldering.

"Spread out, look for survivors. Audrey had two more people in her group – a man and a girl."

Rick stumbled upon the girl, Claire. She was hiding behind the pallet, coughing, covered in ash. He dragged her up into his arms and carried her away from the fire, staying with her while the others searched the rest of the area – they came up with nothing. Michael was gone.

"Do you know where Michael is?" Rick asked.

Claire looked at him with big eyes and said nothing.

"Okay. We're gonna get you back to our camp. Audrey is there. Can you walk?"

She stumbled at first, but eventually the girl started a reasonable pace. Rick set his speed to hers, and the others followed. When she slowed, they slowed, until the quarry was within view. Rick carried her the last quarter mile.

Audrey was sitting with Lori, sipping from a canteen. Rick brought the girl over to them. Audrey put an arm around Claire and held her, seeming to have regained some of her toughness over the last hour or so. She nodded to Rick, and then pressed her face into the girl's hair.

"What happened to your camp?" Rick asked.

Audrey said nothing for a time. Claire started sobbing.

Slowly, the quarry camp dissipated. Everyone looked uneasily at their guests, giving Rick a strong 'us and them' vibe. But then something sweet kept happening. People would come by and visit, offer them food, or clothes, or a tent to sleep in. Carol left them some jackets. Lori kept bringing them fresh water. Dale offered to cook up some fish for them, and when he got no answer, he did it anyway.

When the sun was halfway down, Dale delivered his fish stew. Rick was still sitting with them, Lori beside him, Carl wrapped up in his arms.

Rick spoke again, "How you holdin' up?"

Audrey looked over at last, and he was worried to see that the life gone out of her brown eyes.

"If you need a place to sleep, and you wanna be inside, you can stay on the table bed in the RV. Amy already said it was alright with her."

She stared at him, saying nothing.

"What I'm sayin' is, you're welcome to stay the night, at least. Figure out what you wanna do. I know you've been through a lot today."

Her jaw seemed to unlock. She looked exhausted as she whispered, "Claire was… bitten."

Rick felt a jolt, like she had punched him. He thought of the man they had tried to save, the one who turned into a walker after a bite and nearly killed his family. His skin prickled with fear and anxiety, but he wouldn't let it get the best of him. Claire had been bitten, but she was still a person – at least for now.

Audrey obviously knew what it meant. Her eyes were defeated.

Claire barely looked awake.

"I'm sorry," was all Rick could think to say.

Claire stirred, "I'm fine."

"Yeah, you are." Audrey smiled halfheartedly, pulling the girl over so her head lay in her lap. She stroked her hair, like a mother would her daughter. "Just get some rest, okay?"

Claire hummed her agreement.

Rick wanted to keep her talking, "How old are you, Claire?"

"Sixteen," the girl murmured.

"High school, then?"

"Yeah. A junior."

"What were you gonna do after?"

Claire cracked an eye open, surveying him. "I don't know. My mom wants me to be a nurse, but I think I wanna be a chef. She said it wasn't gonna make any money."

"Well, now, money's not everything."

"I know."

He pressed on, asking her about what she liked to cook, and where she wanted to go to school. Anything to keep her talking. Lori chimed in a few times, telling short stories, talking about boys, and a few other people came closer to contribute. Carol asked her what her mom was like. Dale asked if she had ever been fishing and offered to take her sometime. But others hung back, intimidated by this scene. Glenn looked horrified and sad. Shane sat off on his own, thinking. Andrea was holding Amy, probably hoping this never happened to her.

As the night pressed in around them, the girl developed a fever. Sweat beaded on her skin like raindrops. She slid in and out of consciousness.

"How did you meet her?" Rick said to Audrey.

It was dark, but he could still see her face. She was looking down at Claire. "It sounds stupid, but I haven't known her that long. We ran into each other on the road – literally, she knocked me off my bike, and I gave her a ride. I just felt responsible for her, you know?"

Rick nodded.

"I wish we had come back with you, the first time we met."

"I wish that, too."

Rick left it at that.

The sun had set by the time the girl died. Her breathing became shallow and she settled against Audrey, giving one final shudder as the life left her.

"I'm sorry," Rick said again. "I can help you… bury her."

Audrey said nothing. She had tears in her eyes.

Rick sent his family off to bed. Lori and Carl were some of the last people still out there with him. Carl had fallen asleep in his arms, and Lori was nodding off. She led their son away.

He waited until they were in the tent, and then pulled a knife from his belt.

Audrey looked up at it, drawing a sharp breath.

"She'll come back if you don't-"

"I know," Audrey cut him off, managing to sound angry through her grief. She took the knife, wiping her tears hastily with he back of her hand. "I know."

She plunged the knife through her friend's skull and left it there. Blood oozed out. Audrey slid Claire out of her lap and curled her legs up to her body, pressing against the side of the RV like she wanted to get away. But she couldn't move.

Shane approached, "Me and Rick will bury her. Go on inside and get some sleep."

Audrey stared daggers at him. They had not gotten along the first time they met, and his tone was not friendly now. But she did as he said. She held the side of the RV on her way in, like she was having trouble staying upright on her own.

"We could have had those supplies," Shane said the moment she was gone.

Rick saw this coming. He nodded solemnly.

"Now all we got is a fire down the mountain, a dead girl, and another mouth to feed."

"That's not who we are," Rick said again, like he had that day in the clearing.

Shane rolled his eyes, groaning. "Maybe that's who we need to be, then, Rick."

"Is that what you want to be, Shane?"

He left it at that, and the two of them buried the body together. Rick had a bad feeling about his friend. Shane was right in some ways. If they had taken the supplies back then, the quarry group would have been better off. Louis might have been better quicker. And if the clearing group had joined them, they might still be alive.

Either way, the sum of all their decisions was this – a fire, a dead girl, and another mouth to feed.