AN: Here we go, another chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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They were making good time.
When they'd first hit the road, Carol had kept leaning over as Rick drove to watch the odometer. In all of her life she'd never felt so invigorated by the turning numbers on a dash. Each mile that clicked by was like a miniature victory. They were making good time. They would be in Richmond in a day. Two days. Three days at the very most.
When the first truck died—what Daryl suspected to be an issue involving trash and the engine, a hypothesis which Abraham seconded him on—they didn't even lose their enthusiasm. They transferred what they could to the other vehicles and they carried on. When the second truck died—from something that was likely very similar—and couldn't be brought back to life, they transferred as much as they could and carried on once more.
The shared enthusiasm of the group didn't start to take a hit until they were down to one vehicle and were facing the fact that they weren't going to make it very far driving that one slowly enough that the rest of them could keep up on foot.
The engine attracted Walkers and those outside were exposed. The speed they were moving at was taxing on the truck and the whole past automobile industry seemed against them. They passed dozens of cars whose engines wouldn't even turn over for them. All of them seemed as far gone as the rotting corpses that filled some of them. It felt like they were mocking the group.
They could have made it to Richmond in a day. Two or three at the most.
But by the time they actually reached Richmond, it had taken them almost a full week to get there. They'd lost most of the supplies they'd started with and been reduced to carrying what they had left on their backs. They weren't feeling nearly as optimistic as they'd once been. It was hard to hold onto optimism when it felt like life, at every turn, was simply knocking you down to see the look of pained surprise that crossed your face when you hit the ground.
They kept moving, though, because the only other option that they had was to sit down and wait for life to simply end. They'd come too far for that. They'd been through too much for that. They dragged their feet and walked along in silence, eventually giving up even searching for cars and trucks along the sides of the roads, and they finally saw the Richmond sign welcoming them just as darkness was starting to fall around them to mark the end of another day.
"Ten miles from here," Noah told them. "No more than that. We could make it there tonight and spend the night there. They'll have food. Water. Beds for everyone."
"Ten miles at this hour and we'll all get there as Walkers," Rick said. "We stop for the night. In the morning we'll find this place."
"Rick's right," Tyreese agreed. "It's dark. Worst case scenario is we show up at this hour and they don't know who we are. We're likely to get killed trying to stay alive. It's better to go in the morning."
Carol walked a few feet ahead of the group, bending forward to support the weight of the pack that she was carrying, and scanned the area around her. Finding a place to stay for the night wasn't going to be difficult. If they were brave enough to split up for the night, they could all have their own unprotected houses. If they wanted to stay together, though, where the safety lie, they were going to have to crowd into one house together and hope for the best.
Carol turned down one street, apparently making a decision for the whole group that followed her, and stopped on the sidewalk. From where she was standing, the place seemed to be clear of Walkers. Either that or they were all congregated in some other location. They hadn't seen any for a couple of miles.
"I don't think it matters where we stay for the night," Carol said, addressing everyone else over her shoulder with her voice barely above a hiss. "They all look the same and I don't see any fences anywhere."
"There weren't fences," Noah said. "Not out here. The gated communities were fenced in, but these houses? These were the—what do you call them? The historic houses. Doctors and lawyers lived on these streets."
"Old money," Michonne offered.
"Old money," Noah echoed.
"Old money, new money, no money," Daryl said. "It's all the same now. Dead money. Take that one. The gray one there in the middle. Looks like it's got a porch coming off the attic? Be good for getting a look around at things. Like a watch tower."
"What are you watching for in the middle of the night?" Noah asked.
"Whatever the hell's comin' to eat our faces off," Daryl responded.
Carol saw the house that Daryl was talking about, though she didn't think that the structure was actually gray. She thought that the failing light, coupled with tired eyes, was simply making it appear to be gray to Daryl. In reality, her eyes told her it was probably some shade of green. She continued on toward the structure and, having a place to rest in sight, everyone caught up with her and overtook her before she could get there.
All of them stopped at ground level, just off the porch, and waited to decide who would venture in first to clear the house while the others waited with the supplies.
"I've got it," Rick said, putting his bags down on the sidewalk.
"I'll go too," Daryl said. "Sooner we get it clean, the sooner we can eat."
"I'm coming too," Carol said, dropping her own bags. She was glad to be free of the weight of them for a moment, even if it meant that she was venturing into a dark house to go search out Walkers.
The three of them mounted the steps with Carol coming up last, so she naturally jumped when she felt fingers curl around her shoulder. She turned her head, ready to strike at the Walker that had somehow surprised them all, and laughed to herself when she realized it was only Michonne who was coming to join in on the clearing. She thought about offering her a warning, but didn't get around to it because Rick was already jimmying the lock to let them into the house.
Daryl produced a small flashlight from his pocket and shined the beam into the house as soon as the door swung open. He and Rick stepped in first and Carol and Michonne followed afterward. Michonne spotted a few decorative candles and, at the risk of burning the house down if they were surprised and knocked them over, she pulled a lighter from her pocket and used it to light them.
The house was clean.
"No Walkers in the house?" Rick asked, clearly surprised by the fact.
"Rich people got the fuck out," Daryl said. "You heard Noah. Doctors and lawyers. They were probably helicoptered out when shit got bad."
"I wouldn't say that," Michonne offered.
Carol knew that Michonne had been a lawyer—and not a small-time one—in Atlanta. It was clear that the government hadn't rushed to save her and her family any quicker than it had any of the rest of them. Still, the fact remained that the house appeared to be clear.
"We still have to check every room," Carol said. "And upstairs. At the last minute? They could've lost it. They could've..."
"Opted out," Daryl offered.
"I think it's safe to split up," Rick said. "At least long enough to clear. That way we get everybody off the street sooner. Getting dark."
Carol gestured toward the stairs to let them know that she was going upstairs and Michonne picked up one of the candles and followed Carol. At the top of the stairs there was a hallway and there were four rooms off the hallway. All of them were clear, though, just the same as the downstairs had been.
"It doesn't even look like anyone was living here," Carol said. "This looks like a show house. I mean—people lived here, but..."
"It doesn't look like they packed," Michonne agreed, still carrying her candle around. "They weren't scrambling to get out. There's nothing out of place. Even if they were clean, and even if they had maids or something, you'd think there'd be something out of place."
In the master bedroom, Carol picked up a picture off the dresser. Staring back at her were a middle aged couple at some sort of fancy gathering—a ball or something similar. The same couple looked back at her from other frames around the room.
"Vacation," Carol said.
"What?" Michonne asked.
"They were on vacation," Carol said. "A couple. Maybe a couple of grown kids. More money than they knew what to do with. They were on vacation. They weren't here when it happened."
"All the better for us," Michonne said. "Let's hope most of this town was on vacation. Come on. Let's go get everyone else."
When Michonne and Carol exited the master bedroom, they met Daryl coming down the hallway. He'd followed them upstairs, apparently, and he'd found what he was searching for—access to the attic.
"It's all clear up there," Daryl said. "Whole house is clear."
"Nothing's out of place," Carol said. "We think they were on vacation."
"They'll be pretty damn surprised if they get home tonight," Daryl said, walking around them and starting down the stairs. Rick met them all at the bottom, shaking his head.
"It's clear. The garage is too. But there's no car there and there's hardly any food in the kitchen," Rick said. "They were gone when it happened and it looks like they planned to be gone a long time."
"We're about two steps ahead of you," Carol said. "We think they were on vacation. Doesn't matter. We've got enough supplies for a couple of days. We'll get through the night and tomorrow we'll find Noah's family."
"I wanted to talk to you about that," Michonne said quickly as they spread out into the living room. Michonne put the candle she'd been carrying on a small decorative table near her and crossed her arms across her chest. "We don't know if Noah's family is going to be at this place. Shirewilt Estates? We don't know if it's even still there and we certainly don't know if his family is there."
"He said it was well-protected," Rick said. "He seems pretty sure that it's going to be there."
"And the prison was well-protected too," Michonne said. "Woodbury was well-protected. My point is that—we don't know if it'll be there. And if it isn't? He's practically a child. Seeing his family murdered or as Walkers?"
Carol's stomach knotted. She understood, even without Michonne saying it, what she was getting at. It was something that many of them had suffered seeing—their loved ones torn apart by this world—but that didn't mean that they wanted anyone else to suffer through that.
"You think it would be better if he didn't go?" Carol asked.
"I think it would be better if I checked it out first," Michonne said. "First thing in the morning I'll head over there. You can keep everyone busy scavenging. Tell them the truth. If you have to lie? Tell them that we're trying to take some kind of gift to soften the blow of taking in so many new mouths to feed. I'll come back and tell you what I found. If it's safe? We'll go tomorrow or the next day. If it isn't?"
"We move on," Carol said. She caught Rick looking at her and she returned his gaze. "What else are we going to do? If it's safe we've found somewhere. If it isn't? We're still looking."
Rick shook his head at Michonne.
"You're not going alone," Rick said. "We'll go with you. We'll split the group. Half of us will check out the place together and the other half can stay safe and quiet here."
"I can check the place out easier on my own," Michonne said. "I can get there quickly, I can check it out, and I can get back here. I don't even have to interact with them if it looks bad. If we go in a group we're more noticeable. We'll draw more attention from people and from Walkers."
"Rick's right," Carol interrupted. "It's too dangerous for you to go alone. If something happened, we wouldn't have any idea. I'll go with you, at least."
"I'll go," Daryl said, nearly cutting off Carol's offer to accompany Michonne. "In and out. Quiet. Won't take us no time. You two stay here. Start figurin' out where we go if we ain't goin' there."
Rick looked at Carol, obvious question on his face, and Carol sucked in a breath. She didn't want them splitting up, but she already knew that if Michonne and Daryl had their minds made up, they'd just sneak out once everyone was asleep and go anyway. At least, this way, they would know exactly when they left and when they expected them to return.
Carol nodded her head at Rick and he mirrored the action.
"Let's get everyone inside," Rick said. "Get some rest tonight. Tomorrow? You two can check out the Estates while we gather some supplies and see what the rest of the town looks like."