A/N: A short chapter to transition into the next part of the story. More sibling bonding. Tension is starting to mount! XD Keep the reviews coming, I love hearing from you!
~A.S.D
We were riding down the lonely Georgia highway, the sun shining on us. The wind rustled my light brown hair as it rolled through the jeep.
"You sure you're okay? You haven't said anything since we left," Shane said, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. I had my elbow on the edge off the jeep, head resting on it.
"I'm fine," I said, not giving any more than that.
"Come on, tell me what's wrong," he said, his hand banging against the steering wheel.
"We almost died back there Shane! That man, he almost killed us, just like that!" I yelled, finally unraveling the way I'd wanted to for miles now.
"Addie. It's okay, we made it out, we always do. I promised you I wouldn't let anything happen to you, and damn it, I mean it!" he yelled back. I was crying by now, breaking down. No one except Shane had ever seen me cry like that, and I didn't want that to change. I wiped hastily at my eyes.
"Shane! Look at us! We have no idea where we're going, what we are going to do, or," I was cut off when Shane hit the brakes. The RV had stopped dead in its tracks, smoking again.
"Damn it!" Shane yelled and jumped out of the jeep. I followed after him quickly, definitely not liking being stuck on the side of the road. Cars littered the highway and I paused for a moment. All of the cars were either empty or had dead bodies ripped apart inside. There was no way to drive our cars through the mess, but we didn't have enough fuel to go anywhere else either.
"What's going on?" I heard my older brother yell as he walked up to Dale and Rick.
"That radiator hose again. What did I say? Dead in the water…" Dale trailed off as Rick gave him a look. We were in a freaking car graveyard and Dale was freaking out about not finding a radiator hose.
"Alright, everyone look through the cars. See what you can find," Shane said and we started off to plunder through the dozens of cars.
"This is a graveyard," Lori said and we all looked back at her. She stood silently for a moment, but then went to the nearest car and started looking. I opened the trunk of a large SUV that was full of suitcases and other luggage.
I opened one of the cases and found an art kit. I popped it open and it was full of paper, pencils, markers, paints, brushed, everything an artist would ever need. I ran my hand over the smooth leather case. I had always loved to draw, before everything went to hell, some of my work was about to be displayed in a prominent art gallery. I smiled fondly and closed the case, knowing there was no practical use for it. I opened another bag and rummaged through it for some clothes.
"Everyone, get down!" Rick hissed in a loud whisper. I looked over to where he was and saw a scene from my nightmares. A herd of walkers were walking down the highway towards us.
"Shit," I whispered and crawled under the car I was looking through. My heart was racing and I prayed that the walkers couldn't hear it. I saw dirty, limping feet walking by the car. I didn't hear any screams, but searched for Shane. He was a few cars over, safe, and I breathed a sigh of relief. When I looked in front of me, I saw T-Dog lying on the ground, blood pouring out of a fresh cut on his arm. A walker had caught sight of him and was heading for him. I saw Daryl come up behind the creature and stab it swiftly in the head and throw it to the side. He yanked open a car door, grabbed a dead body out of it and threw it on top of the bleeding man. He grabbed another body and covered himself just as the walkers reached them.
There were fewer and fewer feet passing the car, and it seemed like they all had passed. I saw Sophia go to scoot out from under the car she was hiding under, but there was a stray walker. He caught sight of the little girl and my heart dropped as another one joined the first walker and they chased the child into the woods, her crying and screaming. Once they were out of sight, I dashed out from under the car and started heading to the side of the road.
"Addie," Shane called and grabbed me around the waist.
"Let me go!" I cried but he shook his head and gestured to where Rick was in pursuit of Sophia and the walkers.
"We don't need more people getting lost out there," he said and let go. I looked over at Carol, who was crying and Lori was trying to comfort her.
We sat on the highway, Dale fiddling with the RV and the rest of us searching for supplies. My mind was racing and my heart clinched for Sophia. A while later, Rick comes through the tree line, alone.
"Where is she?" Carol cries, frantic.
"It's going to be okay Carol," Rick said and called Daryl over to him. Shane, Glenn and I followed.
"I lured the walkers away from her and told her to hide in a cave in the creek. I told her to stay there and when I got back, she was gone," Rick said and I stared at him.
"You left her alone?" I screeched.
"I had to. I had to get the walkers away," he said, but didn't sound like he meant it.
"She's twelve! How could you leave a scared little girl alone?" I accused, anger flooding my face. Shane put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a look. I fell quiet but was still stewing.
"She couldn't have gotten far, we'll find her," Shane said and Rick agreed.
"Take me where you left her. I'll see if I can follow her tracks," Daryl said and we started back into the trees. It was dark under the thick canopy and Rick led us to a creek.
"You sure this is where you left her?" Daryl asked as he inspected the surrounding area.
"Yeah, I told her to stay right here. Then, I told her if I didn't make it back to go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder," Rick said, very animated as we searched the area.
"She's twelve Rick! And she was scared. You have to wonder how much of what you said stuck," I spat at him, my stomach churning at the thought of her being out here alone.
"I did what I thought was best," he said, sounding a little defeated. I scoffed and kept looking for any sign of Sophia.
"I've got a trail," Daryl called and we all walked over to where he was. There were small prints in the mud around the creek bed. We followed the trail until the sun disappeared completely.
"We have to go back to the highway," Rick said and I turned on him.
"You want to leave her out here alone all night?" I asked him.
"We don't have a choice," Shane said and I knew they were right, but that didn't mean I had to like it.
We trudged back up to the highway where everyone else was waiting. Carol ran up to Rick and he started explaining the situation to her. I heard her crying, but kept walking. I walked over to the jeep, climbed in, and lay across the seat. I needed to be alone for a while, but that wasn't going to happen.
"You alright?" Shane asked, peaking his head in the jeep. I shook my head and he climbed in with me, putting my head in his lap the way he used to when we were kids.
"We never finished talking earlier. You know I'm going to do everything I can to keep you and the others safe, don't you?" he asked me, stroking my hair.
"Of course. It's not you I'm worried about. Rick's been here all of four days and looks what's happened. Merle is gone. Amy, Ed, and half of our camp are dead. Jaqui committed suicide. All of us nearly died. Now, Sophia is missing. He's not doing such a good job," I said, finally able to vent the way I've wanted to since going back to Atlanta.
"He's doing what he can. There isn't exactly a rule book about how to guide a group through the zombie apocalypse," Shane joked, but I didn't think it was funny.
"Well, maybe he shouldn't be in charge. We were all doing just fine before he got here and it's gone down hill since," I continued. Shane knew what I meant, but was trying to calm me down.
"Everyone seems okay with his leadership. What do you want me to do? Mutiny? Kill him off and take over? Tell me what I can do to make it better," he said. Shane had always taken care of me, and I knew it hurt him that I was unhappy. Maybe I was just being a brat, but I didn't care. Rick coming back had screwed everything up.
"Mutiny sounds nice," I said with a smile and Shane laughed.
"That's my girl," he said and ruffled my hair.
"I'm sorry. The last few days have been really stressful and I guess I need someone to blame," the words were true, but there was still a part of me that thought Rick was incompetent. We sat there quietly after that, looking up at the stars. "Nights like this remind me of mom and how she used to tell us that the stars were our loved ones, looking down on us. Then she would sing to us and kiss us goodnight," I was speaking softly, tears forming in my eyes.
"Yeah, she would sing those old country songs and we would laugh, but we'd be singing along by the chorus," he laughed and wiped a stray tear from my face.
I started humming quietly and he joined in after a moment. By the time we had finished, we were both misty-eyed. He hugged me.
"Promise me you'll always be here, that you won't leave me like mom," I whispered.
"I promise. And I always keep my promises," he said and I drifted off to sleep with my brother holding me like I was a baby again.