Authors Note: So here is the second installment, its pretty slow going and pretty long but I kind of like to take my time in setting up a story. I hope you like it lovies!
I don't own the Walking Dead, but merely the OC's that are my little creations.
Rick Grimes had grown accustomed to the sound of static in the airwaves, a constant and low hum that never seems to dissipate. It's always there. He knew there'd be no emergency broadcasts, that's not what he was listening for, he'd given up that hope a long time ago. Instead, he was listening for something else , for signs of other survivors, for anyone out there still alive and still fighting, and truth to be told, he was listening for some kind of hope. Anything to help save them. Shane had told him he would drive himself bat shit nuts if he kept up this habit of his, but it was all he really had left after the CDC.
Not a single person spoke about what had happened at the CDC to one another, they were all to rattled to even say a word. Rick felt as if it was all his fault and he willingly shouldered the blame for what happened. Lori told him late at night, cuddled in his arms, that he couldn't have known that was what would happen. He planned to get them there for answers, and that is exactly what he did, but they were unprepared for what they found. Jenner was a scientist that was all loose screws and crazed in the head, as Daryl had so bluntly put it, but to Rick he had been a man that had given up hope or any sense to live and he had tried to take all of them with him in the end.
And even though Lori was right and that she had a point, he still felt like it was his fault. That it was his decisions that led them to where they were now, terrified and hopeless.
He looked over to his sleeping wife and son; they looked so peaceful when they weren't awake, when they weren't in a state of perpetual fear. They look happy when they were like this, huddled together in the cab of the truck with a blanket wrapped snug around them tightly, even Lori content in her slumber. This kind of saddens him; he swears he hasn't seen her truly smile in weeks, and he almost forgets what it looks like to see her brown eyes sparkle as she laughs. God, how he misses it, because its only now when she smiles that it never reaches her eyes like it used to, it's almost empty. Hollow, you may even say. But when Rick thinks hard about it, he doesn't remember seeing anyone in their group truly smile either.
Rick tries to forget about it all, as he stares out into the open road. It's the only promising thing they have because its endless, open and its nothing but freedom laced with the fear of the unknown. In a way it's a comfort and Rick will take it just as is, it's all that he can afford to do, all that any of them can do.
He continues to drive, right smack in the middle of caravan with the radio still low and humming, with nothing but static. He still doesn't shut it off for fear that he might miss something.
They drive straight through the night and into the early morning and by late afternoon they have to stop the caravan. Daryl's pickup runs out of gas, his is the first one to go. From their Bronco he can hear Daryl cussing up a storm, and before Rick exits he looks to Lori and gives her a quiet nod. She knows what he means and reaches for the gun in the glove compartment, her eyes scanning the sides of the highway for any signs of the plagued.
"Fuck!" Daryl shouts, slamming the driver's side door shut with in sheer frustration.
Dale is out of the RV, "Now calm down Daryl, there's no reason to pitch a fit. We'll find some cars and syphon some gas like we always do." Dale says, trying to reason. The only problem is they're on a county road, not a highway or an interstate. There's not a car in sight aside from their own caravan and Daryl doesn't hesitate to point out this little problem.
Daryl, in fact, is not calm. "Calm down? There ain't a damn car to syphon from, so how the fuck we suppose' to do that? Huh?"
"There's gotta be a town close to here, right? Can't we just roll on in and get some fuel there?" T-Dog interjects, but everyone looks a little apprehensive. Going to town means there's a chance of walkers, and that's not something they are really willing to leave up to chance. Not right now anyway.
So no one answers immediately, but that doesn't stop Glenn from pulling out a map of the area, one he picked up at their last stop.
"We all knew this would happen eventually to one of us," he starts as he begins to unfold the map; Rick can see a several towns circled in red, and just a few in green. "so I took the liberty to map out a few place en route that might be good for supplies and fuel." The group takes a look over the map, and its Shane who brings up the differences in color.
"Why are some red and some green?"
Glenn looks almost pleased that he asked, and if Rick is right, he even looks a little proud of his handy work. "I factored in town populations, locations and easiest access routes. The ones I've circled in red are higher risk areas, ones with likely more walkers. The ones green, are probably our safest bet." No one was really surprised, this was sort of the kids thing but they were all a little amazed with his thoroughness and planning. "It's no guarantee they'll be safe, with walkers herding and stuff. But Gideon and Culloden are likely the lowest risks. They're close to here and both have a population that was under 300 people."
It doesn't take much thinking, or talking even, but they come to a decision. They'll search the road by foot first, and if within a few miles they don't find a car or any fuel they'll turn back. They can't think to waste fuel on driving any longer unless they absolutely have too, so driving to Culloden is their last resort.
Rick, Shane and Daryl are the only ones to walk the roads. Its safety in numbers and if they run into any trouble on the pavement, they're the most capable to handle it. So the others stay behind, after all they can communicate through the radios in case of any walkers. They tell the others they'll be gone for a few hours at most and with that the head on down the road.
Its late afternoon by the time they start walking and they know it will be near dark by the time they get back so they move quick and quiet. Their pace is fast and they use the scope of the rifle to look out ahead to scope it out and it's only a quarter mile down the road when they finally find something.
It's a beat up old Pontiac Judge that's red and rusted around its edges, it has certainly seen better days. What throws Rick off is the state it's in; the tires are slashed and the windows shattered from the outside in. He notices the traces of blood on the car and the pavement; it's a s mall amount but it's enough for him to notice and enough for him to worry. He feels like a sheriff again as he starts to survey the scene, this car wasn't just abandoned. It was raided.
Shane picks up a small, brass colored piece of metal, its warped and slightly pointed he shows it to Rick and the both nod. They know what it is.
Daryl hardly takes notice because he has one thing on his mind, he is at the gas tank immediately with the hose in hand and he doesn't hesitate.
"There isn't nothin' in that tank. Cars been raided." Shane says and Daryl looks up with that 'fuck you' look in his eyes and before he can even say it, Shane tosses at him a shell casing. Daryl catches it with ease and looks at it between his fingers. He lets out a curse and abandons his cause right then and there, he knows its pointless now.
"Just my fuckin' luck." Is all he says before he continues down the road, cursing and muttering to himself as he goes. Rick and Shane are not far behind him but they're talking in hushed voices, they don't know what to think about it.
"There wouldn't be shell casings if it was just looted for gas and supplies. There were people in that car. People that ain't there no more either."
Shane can't disagree, so he only says. "I know." And that is that.
They search the roads for a few more miles before they call it off. The sky is growing dark and every vehicle they find, whether it be a car or tractor, is bone dry. Daryl isn't pleased, not in the slightest. The two officers just let him fester on the way back, there's no point in trying to make him shut up because they both no there's only one way to do that.
It's almost dark when they get back, and all of camp is waiting anxiously for them to return. Lori and Carl rush to Rick immediately and they embrace quickly, she admits she was worried and Rick reassures her she has nothing to worry about. They explain how they found nothing and that it's settled, tomorrow they will all head out to Gideon. Its 9 miles down the road and they can make with enough fuel in the RV to get them to Culloden if necessary, just in case they don't find what they're looking for in Gideon. So with that they bunker down for the night, all of them in RV just to be safe while two men roam the caravan in shifts. However, no one sleeps well enough to be rested. Not out in the open, they're all too scared to even think about trying to get a goodnights sleep.
The first on shift is Dale and Glenn, after that is Rick and T-Dog, then finally Daryl and Shane. Nothing happens during first watch, there are no walkers or any sort of commotion at all aside from a stray dog that startles everyone from their beds. It was harmless, scrappy little thing just looking for scarps.
The night was surprisingly calm and uneventful, until around 11 O'clock, when the static in Rick's radio starts to clear up and he swears he can hear a voice.
He's standing near his truck when he hears it. It cuts in and out so quick he thinks he's imagining it. But after a few seconds he can make out actual words and even a voice so he starts tinkering with it mindlessly, furiously, trying to hone in on the signal. For a few moments all he can hear is static again and a curse falls from his mouth. Until the static starts to falter and voice cuts through again, clear as day.
"…if anybody is out there, please help us." It's a man's voice, but not so much a man as it is a boy's voice, he's young by the sound of it but not like Carl. Rick feels elation seep into him. He motions for T-Dog silently; he refuses to get the others for something that might have been broadcast months ago. It wasn't uncommon for radio signals to bounce around for a while in space and get lost in some other frequency especially when there wasn't anything to control the signals.
As T-Dog reaches Rick, the radio cuts out again and then back in; he feels like he's playing a game of chase, turning dials and nobs to get a good signal. And finally he does. "…this is Wyatt Fowler, we'll repeat this message in an hour like we've done for a few days now. I hope y'all are out there somewhere, 'cause we could really use yer help." And the radio silence, the voice of a Wyatt Fowler was replaced by static again and Rick can't believe what he has just heard. T-Dog looks to him, his eyes wide with shock.
"We have to tell the others." And even Rick admits, even if it's just a lost signal, the others need to hear it. T-Dog hardly even waits for an approval before he is bolting to the RV excitedly to stir the others to tell them what they've heard.
Within minutes there's a commotion from the RV and everyone is up in a hurry, scurrying from the camper. Shane, Lori, Andrea, Dale, Glenn and Daryl are rushing towards him and the radio, all of their faces ranging in emotion from excitement to confusion and he thinks there's even a little bit of fear mixed in there somewhere too. But all of them are curious non-the-less and Dale is the first to speak.
"T-Dog says you heard a transmission?"
Rick doesn't know what to say and everyone is looking at him waiting for answers, he's still not even sure for himself what had just occurred, so he just raises his hand to get everyone to calm down. "I'm not sure exactly what we heard, but it was definitely a transmission of some sorts."
"Was it from the air force base?" Shane inquires a spark in his eyes, Andrea looks just the same as him.
"Nah man, that was some kid, not some soldier. It was a distress call, right Rick?" T-Dog states, confidently at first but then he begins to question what he heard for himself. Everyone looks at one another, all mumbling about the possibilities of what this call could mean for them. Rick still has no idea what to say and everyone is looking at him again, waiting.
Daryl was the only one who didn't look at him for answers. His face read something else entirely, something Rick couldn't quite place.
"If it was just some kid then it was others like us, other survivors?" Glenn looks hopeful as he asks Rick.
All he does is shake his head. "We don't know for sure, but what we do know is there may be another transmission at midnight. All we can do is wait till then to see if it repeats, to see if we can contact whoever is making that call." That wasn't exactly the answer they were looking for, but what else could he give them.
Everyone agreed. So they waited patiently for the minutes to tick away. Most of the group stayed close to the truck, fidgeting around and pacing back and forth in anticipation. The only ones who are calm are Shane, Rick, Dale and Daryl, they are all quiet and patient.
When it's almost midnight, everyone is standing there waiting for the static to dissipate again. Andrea looks to Dale, and almost meekly she asks him, "What's the time?"
He looks to his watch, which they know is always precise and he replies. "It's 11:58. Two minutes till midnight." And he sighs; his heart is racing so hard he think it might rupture in his chest.
A for two minutes straight they listen to nothing but silence; it so damn quiet if someone dropped a pin they'd all jump in fright at the sound of it.
And as if it was like clockwork when its midnight on the nose the sound of static dies out and a voice breaks through the radio and it's something that they don't expect. Rick is even more jubilant now than he was before because the voice doesn't belong to a boy, this time it's the voice of a woman and everyone is leaning in close. They all listen with bated breath.
"This is Harper Qynn, again." She started. "It's day four and we're still here. Still alive. We are holed up in the town of Gideon, Georgia, it's a podunk little shithole only a few miles south of Macon if y'all know where that is. We've taken shelter in the Sid's Garage. The only mechanic shop in this dump so you can't miss it." Everyone is in a silent stupor, they can't believe what they are hearing. This message is coming from 9 miles down the road, they're so close they could run there right now if they tried hard enough. There were smiles on everyone's faces, everyone except for Daryl who is still distant from the group and as reserved as ever.
The broadcast continues, and no one dares to move in fear that they might mess with the signal or jam the transmission. "There's only three of us now, we're all that's left from our group. My brother, Noah, he's hurt real bad and we can't move him. He's not infected, just shot. The walkers ain't much but we've got hardly any food or water left and we've got one gun and a few rounds. It ain't enough to get us all out. " There exuberance fades when this woman, this Harper Qynn begins to choke out sobs and she sounds as desperate as they feel.
"I'm gonna be honest with y'all, I don't know what to do anymore, I don't even know how help them. If Noah doesn't get any antibiotics he won't last till the end of the week. It's gettin' real difficult to try and keep it all together. I'm tryin' so hard to stay strong for my family, but goddammit it all just seems so hopeless."
Something in the way she says this triggers something in Daryl, and he's up and off the bed of his truck quickly and he begins to walk towards the group. He can hear her trying to hold it together, but she's losing some battle with herself and she's sobbing now.
"Please, if there is anyone out there, anyone at all please help us! I'm begging you. I just…I just don't know what to do anymore, I sure as shit know that I don't wanna die!"
When the call cuts out they're sure it's the end of it, but after what feels like years her voice breaks through again. This time sounding stronger than before.
"We'll call out on the beginning of every hour. We'll call again every day, every hour and we'll wait for a response. If anybody is there just let us know you're alive. Once again this is Harper Qynn and this is our call for help. I'm signing off. I'll be back in an hour."
And that was it. That was the end of it. They try to hail them through the radio but there's no response. Maybe it's the bandwidth or maybe the radio is disconnected on the other end, they can't be too sure. But they try for 15 minutes before they give up.
No one speaks at first, they all just stood there ghostly white with puzzling looks on their face soaking it all in. There were three survivors out there, and just like Rick and the others, they were in trouble. Without their knowing, they had put Rick in a compromising position.
"They're right over in Gideon. Not even 9 miles from here." He won't make the call for them, but he sure as hell is baiting them. Lori looks at him in disbelief, she doesn't even know what to think so all she says is: "You're not seriously considering this? Are you Rick?"
They debate for what seems like hours and no one has come to a final decision. Shane argues that it could be a trap, masterfully crafted to get at their weapons, supplies and ammo. Dale argues back with, "What supplies and ammo?" because what they have is limited as is and their food supply isn't worth killing for.
Rick's only appeal to the group is with empathy. "You heard that call, you heard that women and how desperate she sounded. You can't tell me after hearing her you'd just leave that family out there to die?" Glenn backs him up with a simple "He's right."
But it doesn't help the cause because almost everyone is still on the fence for the most part. There's too many ifs and maybe and hesitations to make the tough call.
Their minds aren't made up until Daryl Dixon picks up his cross bow and slings it over his shoulder and he looks at all of them. "We ain't got a choice." They are shocked to hear the words come from the one person who never gives a damn about anything but him and his brother. "Gideon's close and they got supplies in that town that we need, don't make any sense if we went in and didn't even try to help 'em. Don't seem right to just leave 'em high and dry like that." He looks at Rick and T-Dog and they know full well what he's getting at and they understand.
It's agreed after that. Rick, T-Dog, Glenn and Daryl will make the trip into Gideon and that they'll leave in the late morning after they are all rested up.
Rick still can't wrap his head around what has happened, or why Daryl Dixon did what he did. Hell, not even Daryl full understood why. Come morning, he'd be riding into town to save some family and he didn't even know, other than say for a name. For some ungodly reason he had felt compelled or like he'd been sucker punched in some fight and was knocked right on his ass. He felt like he didn't have a choice in the matter.