Oh god. I apologize in advance for this chapter. A whole lot of nothing happening and some out of character dialog. This was a hard chapter for me for some reason
….
Carlos carried Alice to the worn down shelter the convoy had set up camp around and gently placed her on the couch before kneeling down beside her.
"Alice." He said quietly, brushing her hair out of her face before leaning down to kiss her temple. "I've missed you." He sighed
"Shhh…"
"Shut up…"
"He'll hear us…"
*Smack* "Ow!"
"Shhhhhh!"
Carlos looked up to the window to see many of the younger members looking in. Smiling to himself Carlos stood up.
"Be right back" He said to the sleeping Alice before heading outside and around the corner to the group. Most of the other children ran except 15-year-olds K-mart and Angela. K-mart stood awkwardly folding her arms across her chest and leaning against the wall, Angela stood next to her giggling.
"Enjoying the show girls?" He asked smirking at them.
"Show? What show?" K-mart asked with a small smile on her face.
"K-mart"
"Carlos"
At this point both of them were trying hard to not smile while Angela was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe.
"I'm betting it was you that hit Connor." Carlos said to K-mart, folding his arms.
"Maybe…" K-mart said smiling.
At this point both Carlos and K-mart were smiling as Angela was leaning against the wall trying to take deep breaths.
"Hey Carlos how is Alice?" Angela said, finally able to control herself.
"Worn out." Carlos said looking in the window. "But she'll be alright. Can you two keep an eye on her while I get her some food and water?" He asked, turning back to the girls.
"Of cour…" Angie started to say when a red headed woman walked up to them.
"Claire" Carlos greeted her smiling.
"Carlos" Claire nodded to him with a smile of her own.
"What brings you out here?" He asked
"Actually I need to talk to you two." She said, gesturing to Angela and Carlos. "And Jill and L.J…." Claire was interrupted by screams coming from the rest of the convoy. Claire and Carlos shared a look before both drew their weapons and ran towards the sound with Angie and K-mart following.
"Oh god…" Carlos said.
"L.J…." Angie said quietly stopping right behind Carlos.
"When did he get bit?" K-mart said stopping behind the other two.
"Must have been when we were scoping out the hotel. He wrestled with one of those things but I thought…." Carlos stood pointing his weapon at the now undead L.J.
"It doesn't matter." Claire said, shooting L.J. once in the head. "He hid it from us. He could have killed someone." She said, placing her gun back into its holster.
"Betty! Betty!" Claire called out to the grieving medic leaning over L.J.'s body. "Betty I need you to do a thorough check on everyone who was around L.J. in the past 24 hours."
"That's everyone Claire." Jill said kneeling beside Betty trying to comfort her.
"Then check everyone." Claire said turning to Carlos. "Now we need to talk. Jill!" Claire called out to Jill. "Grab those two Alice came in with and meet me at my truck." She said walking away.
"Angie you help Jill and Claire check everybody." Carlos said looking at his fallen friend
"But Carlos…" Angela started to say
"No. No buts Angie. Jill, you, and I knew L.J. the best and none of us knew there was anything wrong with him. This is on us. This is on me." Carlos said looking down
"This isn't your fault" K-mart said reaching out to him
"It is. I was with him. I saw him struggle and it never occurred to me that I could've been too late. I should have known."
"If anyone should have known it should have been me. You know I can sense it. He's been avoiding us since you got back Carlos..." Angela said crossing her arms "And if I'm staying to help out who's going to watch over Alice?"
"I will." K-mart cut in. "I'll make sure she's safe and I'll get her whatever she needs when she wakes up."
"Thanks K." Carlos said, smiling to the teen. "Go to Claire's truck when you're done. I'll meet you guys there." Carlos said walking away.
"You think he'll be alright?" K-mart asked Angela
"I hope so. Alice is back but we lost L.J. We can't lose anyone else." Angela said looking after Carlos
…
"Claire!" Carlos said running up beside her.
"Carlos. Where are the others?" Claire asks looking at him.
"I told them to stay and help Betty."
"And I told you we need to have a meeting." Claire said coming to a halt.
"It will be quicker if they do it together and that way we won't miss anything. What's the meeting about anyway?"
"It'll be quicker to discuss it when the others get here. That way they won't miss anything." Claire said angrily moving crates into her truck. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't undermine my authority Carlos."
"Hey." Carlos said grabbing her arm. "What's wrong?" He asked gently
"What's wrong? What's wrong is we lose more and more people every day. What's wrong is that I've promised these people protection and I've failed them." She looks up at him, a tear slowly rolling down her cheek. "I've failed them again and again. Honestly if it weren't for you and Jill I'd probably be dead. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted the way I did. You're just as much a leader of the convoy as I am. I'm glad I have you." She said smiling slightly.
"Don't worry about it. I know how you feel." He said smiling at her.
…
"Carlos. Claire." Jill said nodding to both of them with Angela, Jules, and Ben following her and moving out to form a small circle.
"Anyone else infected?" Claire asked leaning against her truck.
"Nope. Everybody's fine." Angie said smiling
"We got lucky this time." Jill said.
"What's this meeting about." Ben snapped.
"Ben!" Jules said sharply. "Sorry everyone. It's been a long day." She smiled slightly.
"I want to know why we're here. What's the meeting about?" Ben said, folding his arms tightly across his chest.
"It's about Alice." Claire said also folding her arms.
"About Alice?" Angie asked cocking her head.
"What are we going to do about Alice?" Claire asked the group
"What are we going to do about Alice?" Jill asked raising an eyebrow at Claire.
"What is there an echo in here? What are we going to do about her?" Claire snipped
"It's obvious isn't it? I mean she came back so shouldn't she stay with us now?" Angie asked looking at the members of their group
"There's a reason she left Angie. You saw what she can do. I know you've all missed her but I don't know her and it's my job to keep this convoy safe. She's dangerous and frankly she frightens them."
"Alice wouldn't hurt us." Carlos said as Jill and Angie nodded.
"I need a real, valid reason to keep her with us. Your word isn't enough for this one." Claire said to him.
"You should talk to Alice about that." Jules said looking to Claire.
"Why?" Jill asked
"We found something in the gas station a few miles from here. Something I think you're going to want to see." Ben said.
"What?" Claire asked, raising an eyebrow at the twins.
"We shouldn't say. Seriously talk to Alice." Jules said
"Fine. I won't make my final decision until then."
"Wait how do you even know Alice wants to stay?" Ben asked
"Ben." Jules said nudging him
"What? I'm just saying maybe she won't want to go with them."
"Why wouldn't she?" Angie asked him
"Alice doesn't like being around lots of people. It makes her uncomfortable." Ben said looking at the rest of the convoy.
"Yeah he's right. Still I think you should talk to her." Jules said.
"Fine until then I want you all to help bury our dead and prepare the convoy for travel." Claire said.
"Yes ma'am" Ben said saluting.
Jules rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the convoy. Jill and Angie shared an amused look and followed them.
"Listen Claire." Carlos said walking over to her and leaning against her truck." I know you don't trust Alice but I do. She saved my life more times than I can count."
"I get that Carlos but what she did… I mean that isn't normal."
"She's not normal Claire but that doesn't mean she's dangerous. You'll see. You'll be glad you decided to let her stay with us." Carlos said smiling at Claire
"I haven't decided anything yet." Claire said looking at him