Emotions ranged from disbelief to nervousness to pure giddiness as the group flew over what had been their home for the past few months to the military camp. Rick held Judith in his arms, trying to keep the baby calm as the roar of the helicopter's propeller boomed in their ears. Daryl and Rick locked eyes, sharing a sigh of relief. Throughout this whole endeavor, these people's lives had been on their shoulders. But they weren't just a group of strangers anymore, they were family and they had made it.
"We're taking it down. Hold on," Sergeant Adams said. The chopper began to lower over a large military base. The fence surrounding was reinforced with metal and civilians ambled about the base.
As the helicopter landed, three men ran to meet the group. The leading man seemed astonished by the number of people, silently counting them. "Fifteen? And a baby? That's fantastic. I'm Major Dustin Rice," he said, extending his hand to Rick.
"Rick Grimes."
Major Rice led the group into a large common room. People sat in chairs or on the floor, watching a few children play. They all watched the Atlanta group enter.
"This is our common area. We have plenty of room in the barracks and cabins," the Major said. He led them past the kitchens and through a back door. "Here are the barracks. The rooms are big enough to fit quite a few people if you all want to stay together. Or if you want some privacy you can just do a couple to each room, it's completely up to you." There was a sad look in the Major's eyes as he said the last part. "Please, get comfortable. The rooms in this hallway are all open, so take whichever you like. I'd like to talk to some of you later to get your story once you're settled."
"Thank you so much," Rick said. "I'll come find you when we've rested a bit."
The group began filling up the rooms. Maggie and Glenn and Jo and Daryl each took rooms together, happy to have some semblance of privacy. Andrea and Michonne paired up, while Rick, Carl and Judith took a room. Hershel invited Carol to join he and Beth and Tyreese, Sasha, Ben and Allen bunked together.
Jo stretched out on the bed as Daryl dropped their bags in the corner. He leaned his crossbow against the wall, surprised the military hadn't demanded they relinquish their weapons. He looked at Jo after she let out a sigh and smiled. She looked content, with a small smile across her lips and her eyes closed, enjoying the moment. Daryl lay on the bed next to her, resting his chin on his crossed arms. Jo opened one eye and looked at him.
"I guess this is real," he said.
"I guess so." She rolled onto her stomach, mimicking his body placement. "I wonder if it's too good to be true though."
Daryl had wondered if Jo and the others had caught Major Rice's look. He seemed ecstatic to see them, but what could that mean? "I saw that too. I wonder if we're the biggest group they've found?" he questioned. "I didn't see that many people here…"
"I was thinking the same thing. Jesus, could it be that bad?"
"You've seen what those things do and the amount of them. I could believe it. But that Sergeant said they were talkin' to other camps, so there's gotta be other people there."
"Well, if we ever make it through this we're gonna have to repopulate the world," Jo teased, kissing his nose.
"What are we waiting for?" Daryl grabbed her around the waist and flipped her. Lying on top of her he kissed her passionately before pecking kisses down her cheek and neck. She began to giggle.
"Don't mean to interrupt, but I'm heading to talk to Major Rice, you wanna join me, Daryl?" Rick said, smirking from the doorway.
"Yeah," he said to Rick. "We'll finish this later," he said to Jo, kissing her cheek quickly.
Daryl and Tyreese followed Rick through the common area and out the front doors. Sergeant Adams was talking with a group of soldiers when he spotted them and met them halfway.
"Get settled?" he asked.
"Yeah. Major Rice wanted to talk with us," Rick said.
"I'll take you to his office." The sergeant led the three men across the lot and into a bland, one story building. Major Rice's office was in the corner. He knocked twice before the major yelled for them to enter.
"Thanks, sergeant," he said to Adams. "Please, guys, take a seat." He motioned at the chairs in front of his desk as he stood to greet them, shaking hands with each. "So, please, give me a little back story about your group."
Daryl and Tyreese looked at Rick to take the lead. "Well, I joined a large group outside of Atlanta last summer. I was in the hospital when all this started so I had no clue. Atlanta was overrun and some of the members of the group saved my life. My wife and son, Carl, ended up being part of the group. We stayed there for awhile, but got overrun by walkers and lost a lot of members in one night. We headed to the CDC to try to get some answers, but there was only one guy there and the CDC went up in flames after the generators went down and it did a full decontamination.
"Then we found a farm with an entire family. We were looking for a lost girl, Carol's, so we were allowed to stay until we found her. Unfortunately, she was a walker. We were driven off the farm by a herd and the family that owned the farm joined us.
"After that, we just drove… kept moving throughout the winter. We found the prison in the spring. It was overrun with walkers. We were able to clear out the prison yard and a cell block to live in. But then walkers were let in and we lost some of our own…" Rick trailed off.
"We thought we were safe and we were until we discovered Woodbury," Daryl continued for him.
"Woodbury? That town was lost early on," Major Rice said.
"Well it wasn't anymore. A guy who called himself the Gov'na ran the town. They had it all blocked off and had a lot of survivors there. It seemed safe, but that guy was a nut job. All he wanted was power. Michonne, one of our people, she was out on her own but found us to tell us two of our people had been taken there. It pretty much started an all out war to get them back. That was about the same time Tyreese and his group found us," Daryl said, motioning toward Tyreese. "The Gov'na was beating Glenn and Maggie to get information on where we were. He saw us as a threat to his power. We had kids, women, families to protect. We were just trying to live, so we decided to take out the threat before he took us out."
"And?" Major Rice encouraged.
"When we got there, they had killed everyone – women, children, old, young – shot them all. We raced back to the prison and he had our people held hostage," Rick said. "He beat a young woman to a pulp."
At that, Daryl snarled, causing Major Rice to look at him.
"He beat her for no reason. Just to get a rise out of us. But we were able to take him and his men out. That was about six weeks ago I'd guess," Rick said. "It's been quiet since."
Major Rice let out a breath he'd been holding. "I'm so sorry for all you've been through and those you've lost. I can tell you we are as safe as we can be here. We haven't had a casualty in over two months. We've finally made contact with other military camps who are in similar situations. We have orders from higher ups to send out teams to clear out walkers on a weekly basis. They're trying to slowly handle the outbreak. Until then, we don't have much of a government. We've been sending out search teams for weeks. Your group is the biggest group we've found since the beginning. You've given us hope," he said.
Rick looked at the major sternly. "Are we safe here, Major? We want somewhere to make our home. Or as much of a home that is possible now."
"Absolutely. We have guards day and night, a kitchen, hospital… we're setting up a school right now for the children. We can use all the help we can get, but we want you to stay and to feel at home," he said.
"We're more than willing to help. Daryl is a real good hunter and I'm sure Carol would be a great teacher for the kids. We're all willing to pitch in," Rick said.
"Well, welcome home." Major Rice rose and shook all their hands again.
As the three of them left the building, Rick felt a wave a relief pass over him. "I feel good about our situation for the first time in a long time," he said.
"Me too, man. Me too," Tyreese said.