With no reason to stay in the city with the growing horde and nowhere enough ammo to clear them all out we headed out after a quick stop in a parking garage on the top floor as everyone gassed up their vehicles being careful to store the empty cans Philip walked and leaned over the edge with the walkie in hand it was time to try Morgan. Not remembering exactly what was said I just cast my voice out over the airwaves to see if he or anyone else could hear me. Just saying that the CDC was a bust, The crazy doctor there had said they were all infected and that it didn't matter how we died we would come back as a walker. We will be pushing for Fort Benning it's a long way but it's the closest hope for safety.

As I walked back toward the vehicles I saw T-dog and Shane siphoning gas out of a handful of cars that were sitting on this level Brandon, Jim and Dale were below them doing the same with Andrea and Amy keeping watch on them. My attempt to reach Morgan done I whistled with my hand doing the roll out spin of my wrist. It didn't take long as everyone piled in and after a quick stop down ramp to pick the others up we began moving out. As we left the garage Merle and Daryl came running across the empty yard carrying four ten gallon cans of military diesel they had siphoned from an abandoned six by cargo truck.

A Humvee leading and ending the convoy with the last ahead of the others scouting we left the city.

The group had been driving for an hour leaving their hopes like the CDC far behind. Along the way they drove with little chitchat stopping here and there at military, civilian, or city vehicles stockpiling tools, weapons, ammo, and fuel. Despite passing several Humvees that could have been used they were bypassed the fuel they had would have to last.

On the second day after getting back on the road after lunch lori and carl who were in the lead Humvee with me started the scene. Lori brought up the trip to the Grand Canyon with Carl. Chuckling I guess even with situations so different they will still think the same before they were in a station wagon half-starved and barely armed. Now they were well fed armed and equipped to survive I thought as Carl leaning over the foot stand for the unmanned turret calls from the back seat

"I don't remember that."

Smiling Lori looks back and replies "No, you wouldn't. You were just a baby. Besides we never made it past fort worth."

Fuck why that was again….. Outload I said "yep and do you know why?" Carl curiously asked "Why?"

To which Lori said "you got so sick never thought so much puke could come out of a baby" me and Lori make puking sounds as Carol and Sophia giggle at Carl who was blushing saying "ick" making everyone laugh.

As I look around at the empty roads and woods I let them continue the conversation tuning them out. Amazed at the number of cars on the side of the road thankful that the drivers had at least pulled off before abandoning their cars with whatever they could. Just then the Humvees radio cracked to life it was T-dog and Jim in the scout Humvee.

"Hey guys its T we got a jackknifed semi up here blocking the road with cars on either side of it we are going to have to stop."

Reaching over I pulled the phone piece to my ear "Roger, everyone set security while me, Shane and the Dixon brothers look for a way around." A series of double clicks says everyone understood.

As the convoy stops and turns the engines off people pile out sweeping the area with their rifles. The coast is called to be clear. Everyone piles out glad to be able to stretch.

T calls out "looks like we can go forward in single line for a while I say we go ahead and see if we can get through."

"Sounds risky." I say "I like having a pretty clear view around us so nothing can sneak up on us I say we send a Humvee and the tow truck on ahead and clear the path while we stay here and search for more fuel and food were good now but…"

Im interrupted as the others in one voice finish my sentence "better to have plenty now then not enough later."

Laughing I ask "am I that predictable?"

"Yes" everyone says but Glenn says "but we can't argue with everything you have done for us so far." To which everyone nods. The brothers get into the Humvee and Jim gets into the tow truck and slowly start pulling through the stopped cars disappearing behind the trailer.

With that taken care of, I look back to the others "Brandon and Bob get to the Humvee and keep an eye out. The rest of us will start checking all of these cars and keep an eye on their passengers they might not be dead… dead."

Everyone called out that they understood and started opening doors and looking around Lori pulled me to the side "this is a graveyard we can't steal from them."

Looking at her with a dumbfounded look on my face I take her by the arm and guide her to the Humvee we were driving in out of earshot of the others "Are you serious? We are fine now yes but we won't always be look at Carl look and Sophia right now they are well fed but in a month…less. The food we could grab here and save could keep us going otherwise it just goes bad here and helps no one do you really want to look in his starving eyes later and say im sorry we don't have any food remembering all the food we could of grabbed from here?" as she looks at the kids covering her mouth as they find some toys in the back seat of a vacant minivan and start playing she can't speak but nods that she understands. "Good" I say as I walk away back towards the cars to help look for stuff.

I see the kids start going further in looking for toys nah ah not this time calling out "Hey Carl…Sophia why don't you guys play in the RV we will keep an eye out for toys I don't want you two running off ok?" Carl looks sad but Sophia looks relived "Ok dad, bring us some fun toys ok?" nodding as they head to the RV. I look at Dale "hey why don't you stay with them we have plenty of gas so keep the RV running and lock the doors just in case you know?" nodding he seems relived not to go too far from his RV.

Over the next thirty minutes a steady stream of canned goods, snacks, fuel, and over a dozen five gallon bottles of water which was poured into the half empty water trucks tank. Also found were several guns and even a couple of Bows also brought back was a dozen suitcases filled with clothes. Everything was going fine until the radio crackled to life "hey guys, we got about a hundred walkers coming up from back here." Smirking I called out "Shane, Glenn, and I are on the way to back you up, Brandon good job." Looking at Lori and Carol "we will be back keep looking for stuff but keep your eyes open." They both nod as we get into the Humvee.

It takes less than a minute to come up next to them looking over the horde of what appeared to be more than two hundred whistling I call out to the others "there are a lot of them but not enough to use the big guns. So let's get some target practice in get your rifles and make sure they are on single shot and lets wipe them out" smirking everyone grabs their rifles.

Shane and I rest the rifles over the hood of our Humvee Brandon and Bob lay on the road bracing their M16s on backpacks. Glenn opens the door of the guards Humvee and braces the rifle in the open window. "Remember everyone we have time so breathe and make your shots count." Shane reminds the others.

Taking a deep breath then letting half of it out I fire at almost the same time the others do down range five walkers snap backwards folding in half we do it again and again for the next five minutes the walkers slowly creep forward leaving a score of bodies in their wake. By time everyone has to reload there is less than a dozen walkers left spread out and new magazines are slipped home and charging levers are snapped back I whistle before anyone gets the chance to fire "great work guys now fix bayonets with only a dozen of them and five of us its good odds the way they are spread out we are not going to have a lot of bullets forever." Nodding everyone gets up sliding the bayonets onto the lug under the barrel when Glynn franticly pats all over his belt. "I can't find mine…." Looking at the others we all kinda laugh at his embarrassed expression "that's fine you can cover us and make sure none sneak up on us." Nodding relived he jumped to the top of the Humvee and stood above the .50 cal.

Turning and noticing the walkers were only twenty feet away now "Let's do this!" I call out as the four of us rush down to meet them Shane gets the first kill ramming his bayonet upwards under the chin followed closely by Brandon who butt stroke another to the ground and rammed his 'net down into its eye. I got the third jamming mine into the eye of a walker feeling it fall like the dead weight it was on the end of my weapon.

And before we knew it…. It was over. Panting hard we looked around with no walkers in sight Brandon starts to go through the pockets of one of his kills when I stop him "Don't worry about that we are getting a hell of a lot more out of the cars then we will the walkers."

He nodding "my bad habit now you know?"

Smiling "good because we need to keep in mind there won't always be a highway of cars to loot" I reply as we walk back to the Humvees and drive back.

Pulling in just as the Tow truck came through followed by the Humvee. Jim leans out of the tow truck "hey uhh guys the road is cleared now let's get a move on."

Looking over the piles of food clothes and extra gas cans they look over the nearby cars to add two pickup trucks to their convoy a red and a black ford Ranger who already had almost a full tank Andrea and Amy were given these trucks and after loading them up they all set off Grateful the path has been cleared.

They had been driving for just under an hour leaving the mass of cars behind when they saw a person with short brown hair with a poke-a-dot billowing shirt on horseback riding towards a large farm house in the distance.