f-1 "I'm glad we're doing this," Marie said. She couldn't believe that they were finally leaving the prison. They'd been on the road for a little over an hour and there wasn't really much with them. They had a few bags and Daryl's motorcycle in the bed of the truck. Parker, Airy, and Sophia were in the back seat. A while ago somebody had come across car seats for the aforementioned babies, and they were both sleeping. Gavin was sitting by the window of the front seat while Marie took the middle and Daryl drove.
"Let's jus' hope it don't bite us in the ass," Daryl mumbled. He didn't want to leave yet. Everything wasn't set up and they hadn't even really talked to anyone about who would go yet…Sure they'd made a list and gave it to Judd so that when they called over the CB the rest of the group could leave. But he wasn't sure if that would work. He just didn't want to leave the whole group.
"Have some confidence," Marie gave him a soft smile. In the car behind them was Maggie, Glenn, Beth, and Carl. They'd decided that they wanted out now. Sure Carl had Rick and Judith…But he didn't want to stay at the prison any longer either. Plus, it would only be two or three days. Four tops.
Gavin found himself staring out the window as the white line on the side of the road flew past. It looked more like the line was moving rather than the car because it was going so fast. He hated being in the car for so long. He only hoped that they'd get there quickly. And even more than that, he hoped that it would be safe. It was funny how much that word meant to him now. He hadn't even known what it meant before this, but now safety was everything.
"Will we be there soon?" Gavin asked his mother.
"Hopefully," Marie gave him a kind smile. She wasn't sure, but she didn't want to worry him either. "Why don't you go to sleep?" she offered.
"I ain't sleepy," he said, shaking his head.
"Okay, I don't know what to tell you, sweetheart. It'll be worth it when we get there."
"I just don't get why it takes so long!" he complained.
"Everything takes time, patience is key."
Hours later, the truck was a completely different scene. Marie was driving, Gavin was in the back sleeping next to the babies, Daryl was by the window sleeping and Sophia was in the middle. She was wide awake and keeping Marie company.
"How do you feel about all of this?" Marie asked her younger counterpart quietly.
Sophia only shrugged. "As long as I'm around the people that care about me, I don't care where we are." She said with a small smile after giving it a minute's thought. Marie smiled at this.
"Good, very good." She kissed Sophia's blonde hair and returned to looking at the road. "I never thought in a million years things would turn out the way they are," Marie admitted. "I mean not just the whole zombie apocalypse thing in general-but the fact that more often than not, I find myself being thankful to have met the people I have because of it. I wouldn't have this incredible family of people that I've adopted to be my own…Does that make any since."
Sophia nodded. She looked up at the woman she had come to love as a parent. "I love my mom and that won't change…But I am happy to have you and Daryl…and Gavin and the babies…And Carl…" She trailed off after a moment. Sophia hate to admit it, but she was happier in this world. Her mommy didn't have to suffer through her father beating her up all of the time. Carol was truly in a better place. And, Sophia liked to think that she'd be happy that Daryl and Marie were doing what they could to raise her.
"Speaking of you and Carl," Marie grinned. She deemed it best to direct the conversation towards a lighter subject. She found that being on such a heavy subject-like the meaning of life, or if there is a higher being that created them, was tiresome and could take a lot out of a person. "What's goin' on there, hm?"
"Nothing…" Sophia blushed. She tried her hardest to hide it, but Marie didn't miss a thing.
"Mm hm, whatever." She rolled her eyes.
"Well…I mean we were just friends…But then we were talking…And he said that if I was his girlfriend he could protect me better…Like how Daryl protects you or how Glenn protects Maggie…I didn't know what to say…I'd never had a boyfriend before…"
Sophia's shyness was something Marie found absolutely adorable. "It's normal to feel uneasy about having a boyfriend," Marie mused. "You'll probably feel uneasy about every boyfriend…It's just your brain over thinking things. Everybody has that problem. You always think about irrational possibilities. You simply need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and go where your heart is."
"Wow…" Sophia even could tell that those words were deep and meaningful somehow. It was one of those moments when you know that you just learned a valuable life lesson and you could feel it. Sophia knew that what Marie just told her would be helpful in other situations too.
"Before you ask, no I didn't come up with that on my own. That was the speech my father gave me when I was fifteen or sixteen. I was deciding whether or not to go off to some dance school. It would've been an honor to attend, but my heart was in King County…Needless to say, I didn't want to go. And I don't regret it a bit."
"Didn't you always wonder if life would've been different for you?"
"Sure, but I am grateful for how things turned out. I have three beautiful children, a man that I love with all my heart-and who loves me back, and I've got you and Carl too. I'm not saying that whether you and Carl are boyfriend and girlfriend or not will impact you whole lives-it could, but it's unlikely. So just follow your heart."
Marie realized that they'd gotten back to a heavy subject and that she was staring to sound like one of those creepy TV parents, like the one from the Brady Bunch or like the dad from Full House.
The sudden sound of a car horn pulled Marie out of her thoughts and Daryl from his sleep. Parker began to whine. He was alert right away. Marie pulled the car over and tended to Parker first. Daryl, without a word got out of the truck and went back to see what Maggie and Glenn needed. "What's the matter sweetheart?" Marie asked the baby. She unbuckled him from the car seat and cradled him in her arms. He continued to whine while she kissed his head. He was slightly warm, Marie noticed. His fever was back. "Aw, my poor little boy." Before they left, Laura had given him some of the little medicine they had, for that she was grateful, but it had worn off, and they were still an hour out for their destination. Plus, she didn't know if they'd even have medicine for him.
A knock to her window caused Marie to jump. Upon seeing Daryl's handsome face, she breathed a sigh of relief and rolled down the aforementioned window. "Car's shot," he sighed.
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused. She continued to hold the crying child, silently praying that he didn't wake Gavin and Airy.
"Thing started just smokin'. Glenn's lookin' at it…Gonna delay us a while." Like most parents, they'd learned to speak over their children. It didn't mean they didn't love the kids, it was just that he was going to cry no matter what, and they had things to do.
"Great," she sighed. "Can't we just leave it? We all pile in here somehow. We've gotta get Parker there…His fever's back…"
"Y'know we won't fit," Daryl stated. "Six of us can hardly fit, let 'lone ten."
"I'll hold Parker, put his car seat in the back. Gavin can sit on my lap, Sophia can Carl up front next to me-you drive, and Beth, Maggie, and Glenn sit in the back. Simple," she surprised herself at being able to work that out so quickly.
"An' the car? We jus' leave it forever?"
"No, we've gotta go back in a few days anyhow. We siphon the gas from it and put it in here. It'll be fine, trust me." They were going to have to stop and add gas from the cans soon enough anyway.
"It needs oil…the thing's bone dry," Glenn told the two when he came up to the window. "I saw a gas station a mile back…there could be some there."
"That's true…" Daryl said. He looked to Marie for her input. He knew that she'd have something to add and no matter what it was, he wanted to hear it. Marie would tell it like it was, and that would be the most useful thing.
"We can't wait that long," Marie pushed. "Parker's only gonna get worse. We've got to get there ASAP."
"What do you suggest?" Glenn looked to the woman holding the baby. She quickly explained the seating arrangement.
"We've got two hours to get there. I don't want to be driving in the dark. I just want to get there, worry about the car later."
"Okay," Glenn agreed. He wasn't happy about being crammed together, but he could live with it. "Let's get a move on."
Space was even tighter than they'd expected. But all of the annoyance of being trapped in the car disappeared when they pulled up to the wrought iron gate. It was a good twelve feet high with stone pillars on either side. There was even a box where a security guard would've sat, now it was just a glass box with blood spatter on either side of the glass. There were wrought iron fences-reaching about ten feet high all round the property. No wonder they'd been safe, Marie thought. Unlike chain-link fences, something couldn't break through that. If they did, it would take a whole lot more than it did with the chain-link.
"Stay here," Daryl warned everyone. He stepped out of the truck and walked up to the gate. There was a metal chain on the outside with a pad lock that you put a three digit code into. He knew it, Kim had told him what it was the day earlier. He pushed the gate open and watched as the truck pulled forward. Undoubtedly, Marie was behind the wheel. He locked the gate behind them, and reclaimed the seat by Marie in the truck.
As they began to drive forward, Marie noticed the large, glass house sitting atop the hill. The windows seemed to be the one-sided glass type. She couldn't see inside, they were tented. She looked up to the roof, flat to where there was a lip over the edge. There was a gun on said ledge. She grabbed Daryl's arm quickly. "Daryl…there's a sniper on the roof…" she whispers, so she didn't alarm everyone else.
He looked up and saw it too. He swallowed hard, fearing the worst. What if he'd messed this up for his family? What if he'd signed their death certificate himself? He didn't know what he'd do if that were the case.
"Who's that?" Maggie had seen her before anybody else. They all watched as the long haired blonde girl walked from the front doors. She was considered a 'girl' because she couldn't have been more than twenty.
"That must be Kim…" Daryl thought out loud. He put the truck in park and hesitantly stepped out. He told Marie and everyone else to stay put for a moment. If this was a trap, it was better he die then any of them.
"Kim Kelly," the blonde said, offering her hand as she saw the dark-haired man approach.
AN: Okay, got a few things I want to go over.
A.) I've never seen the Brady Bunch in my life, it was before my time. However, I did watch Full House, with I think that was technically before my time too, but whatever. So, I hope I was kind of accurate there?
B.) If you read my other stories, Everything Must Come to an End (Daryl/OC), in particular, I said that I have a shoulder injury and I'll be out of tennis for a week (at the least) so since I have more time on my hands, updates should be more frequent.
C.) Even though I said updates SHOULD be more frequent, I can't promise anything. I will TRY to be writing more, but if my teachers decided to load me down with homework and the medication I was prescribed makes me tired enough to where I nap when I get home each day, I can't promise anything.
D.) And finally, thank you Tori D, I love the character idea and she'll be popping up in the near future (hopefully). I don't plan on changing her name or anything, I love the back story. Maybe it's just me, but I love a flawed character, and she seems like she'd be flawed (in a good way) so thank you very much!
*Bonus Points if you can tell me what TV show the name Kim Kelly is from*
Somebody asked how long it takes to write one of my normal length chapters…An hour or two maybe? It's not that long. When I have a good idea it goes really fast.