Part 8: Cause There We Are Again On That Little Town Street
"Are you sure about this?" G was standing in the door way of the room she'd called hers for the past 2 months watching her pack her belongings.
"We've talked about this for weeks, I don't want to stay here forever, and I know how to watch out for myself. I've supplied you with more than enough supplies."
"Now Alba, that isn't what I mean and you know it. Are you going to at least going to meet up with those people you know, travel with them?"
Alba thought her eyes would still get stuck in the back of her head she rolled them so hard, "Oh I do not believe so."
"Was that.." before G could finish the question an explosion shook the entire building, grabbing onto the shelf beside her to keep everything from falling.
"What the hell was that?" Alba just shook her head and then her and G ran from the room, up the stairs to the rooftop. It looked almost like the pictures she saw in school of a nuclear bomb. "Anyone know what that was?" she asked no one in particular. No one knew, but the silence was deafening as everyone just watched as the smoke settled.
The next day after saying her goodbyes to everyone Alba hit the road, with no exact destination in mind, just to get away from Georgia would be nice. The thought to go to the quarry appeared, but then she quickly made it vanish. She hit the road, slowing to stop and gather supplies from a few empty cars on her way out of Atlanta, wanting to be as far from the city as she could come nightfall.
Sleeping that night out in the open was nonexistent, every noise, every movement had her on alert. She would have kept moving, but she had already heard stories of the things out here that were worse than the walkers, last thing she needed was for them to see her headlights and find her. So no fire, no headlights, just pulled off the side of the road and keeping guard in the bed of her truck until dawn. As she laid there staring at the stars, humming one of her favorite of Arlo's songs, a stray tear ran down the side of her face as she remembered his smile, his laugh, and then lastly, the look of pain on his face, the knives….she wouldn't let herself finish the thought.
The next morning she hit the road again, but then as abandoned cars started blocking most of the road she stopped and got out, stretching her legs and looking around. That's when she saw it, or thought she saw it. A man standing on top of a camper? She lifted her hand to block out the sun to look again, and yeah, there he was, standing there staring at her too. She lifted a hand and waved and he returned the wave, too scared to yell and attract anything she started walking towards him.
"Maam, what are you doing out here alone? Are you crazy?" He'd crawled off the top of that camper faster than she thought any old man could move, coming at her looking around wide eyed.
"What are you doing standing on top of a camper in the middle of a deserted highway?" she had her gun in her hands, aiming it at the ground, not finding the old man in his bucket hat much of a threat.
"I'm here with a group…but they're busy right now. Do you need help or anything?"
"I'm just passing through, is there a way to keep going through here?"
He took his hat off and used it to wipe the sweat from his face, "We had started pushing cars out of the way until a herd came through, but now we've all been separated, a little girl got spooked, Sophia, and ran off into the woods. They're out there looking for her now. My names Dale, by the way."
Alba almost chuckled at the old man, he seemed more nervous around her than he would around a walker. She kept her eyes and ears open to any movement around them, for all she knew he was distracting her while someone was trying to sneak up on her.
"Do you need some water? We found a water truck that's plum full, we'd be happy to give you a jug or two I'm sure."
"That would be mighty nice of ya, if you have enough to spare."
A grin spread across his face, "Well sure, come right over here is where it's at."
As she came around the side of the camper, she stopped short. "Oh you have got to be shitting me."
The man sitting there on the ground leaning up against a car, pale and blood stained. He rolled his eyes to face her, "Well I'll be, you that girl Dixon was kissing"
Alba started looking around, and there was his bike sitting there. "T-Dog, right? Where's Dixon at?"
"They out there looking for a girl."
She looked up and down the tree line, expecting him to just appear from the woods at any second. When he didn't she looked down at T-Dog again, "You look awful rough, you didn't get bit did ya?"
"No, I cut it on some metal when I went to hide from a walker."
She took a step closer to him, "Mind if I take a look at it? I'm a doctor…or well, was a doctor until this all started."
"Be my guest, Red."
"Let me get my bag out of the truck."
Both the men nodded their heads as she went back towards the truck, she had kept a small bag of medical supplies that she had taken from the hospital, leaving most of the supplies with G and the rest of the nursing home folks.
Grabbing a bottle of water and the bag from the truck she made her way back through the cars towards the two men. She propped her gun up against the car and gave Dale a look that he understood, he tried anything it was death. He leaned down on the other side of T-Dog and asked if there was anything he could do. Alba just shook her head and she pulled on some gloves from the bag and started removing the bandage from around his arm.
"Shew, Buddy, this ain't good. You've got a major case of blood poisoning. Dale, do you have any antibiotics? I have some in my bag, but none that is going to help with this."
"Let me go look." With that Dale jumped up and headed off to look.
"T-Dog, right?" he nodded his head, his breathing becoming more labored. "This ain't gonna feel great, but I've really got to clean this and get you sewed up, ok?"
"Just do what you gotta do, Red."
Alba nodded at him as he turned his head to the side and let her get to work, a few hisses and cusses escaped him, but he sat very well as she cleaned the wound and then started stitching it up as fast as she could.
She was almost done stitching him up when she heard the voices coming from the woods, his in particular, but she refused to look up from T-Dogs arm to look their way.
Dale stood up and peered over the car at them, "Find her?"
"SHOT? What do you mean shot?"
Alba started bandaging up his arm and not listening to the very interesting conversation that was going on as the group started getting closer.
It wasn't until the group got to the car and came around to find her sitting there with T-Dog that the conversation stopped as everyone just sat and stared at her.
"What the hell are ya'll just gaping at?" Daryl came around the corner of the car where she had started packing her supplies up into her bag so she could get the hell away from here as fast as possible. "Alba? What the hell are you doing here?!"
"Passing by, thought I'd help save your friend. He's in dire need of some antibiotics if yall have any to spare."
Daryl just turned and walked over to his bike where he pulled out a large bag of pills and started digging through them, "Here."
She caught the bottle and inspected it and then looked at him, "Merle got the clap on occasion."
Alba couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh, Daryl just stood there and gave her a look she couldn't, wouldn't, try to comprehend. Dumping out 2 pills she handed T Dog a bottle of water, "This is a good start, but you need to head to that place with Glenn, they should be able to take care of ya better than being out here on the road for the night."
"Where you going?" she just smiled at him and stood up, dusting her hands off on her jeans and she grabbed her stuff and started heading to the truck.
"Alba, wait. There's a boy, he's been shot, it sounds like its bad…they could use you." Alba stopped in her tracks, but didn't turn around. "Please just go help that boy, then if you want to go, go. Don't let him die on his parents that way."
"Fine, I'll follow behind Glenn and T-Dog. You just stay as far away from me while I'm at it."
With that she jumped into her truck and took off behind them, not looking in her rearview.