Sonora dropped her knife set back onto the top bunk of the cell she had been assigned to and then fell onto the bottom one with a groan and a thump. It hurt her belly but she didn't really care at that moment. All of those days of riding had finally caught up to her and her legs were screaming with every step she took. Conner seemed to be of the same mindset, he was lying underneath her, on his own belly, muttering curses under his breath.
"You make a pretty good pillow Con, bit lumpy on the pockets and back but still, best pillow I've ever had, all warm and not smelling of dogs…" Sonora muttered, lifting an aching leg slowly and then lowering it, trying to ease the sore muscles.
"Shuddap, when you going to tell your dad we're not actually married?" he asked, turning his head and looking at her from the corner of one eye. "I'm tired of the death threat looks he keeps giving me when we're doing something." He groaned again as Sonora shifted her weight and leaned up so her elbows were digging into his back, placing her chin in the cup made by her hands.
"Well, its Monday now… I think… and we've been here for a week… so probably tomorrow." She smiled slightly and then rolled to the left, standing and stretching as she got up off of Conner. She smiled a little and picked the katana up from the corner next to the door. "Come on, we gotta finish taking the bunks out of the cells we're going to put the horses in, don't want those two rogue prisoners eating them do we?" she poked Conner in the side with the butt of the sheath and then strolled out of the cell whistling yankee doodle.
Another groan and shuffling told her that Conner had heeded her words and was now following her. "At least we were able to find a couple of tools, if we hadn't we probably would have had to of found some sort of way to get those bunks out by pure manpower." He said, his voice coming from behind her and slightly to the right.
Sonora shrugged. "If we hadn't found the tools those horses would have had to stay in the cells with the bunks, I ain't lettin' them be hunted down by some prison cell hobo who hadn't done shit with his life so he figures he can bunk up in one of our nations fine facilities. Free of fuckin' charge." She told Conner, turning a corner and opening the door to the outside, a gust of air brought in some heat waves. "Ah, the sun, our friend and constant companion." Sonora stepped out and spread her arm, lifting her face to the sun and twirling around a little.
"I don't see how you can be in love with the sun when it's trying to roast you alive; it's like a hundred degrees out here for Christ's sake!" Conner walked out of the prison and shut the door behind him. He walked past her and towards the little area where the horses could be seen grazing, their tails swishing occasionally.
Sonora followed after him, her arms swinging at her sides, one sometimes bumping into the sword on her back. "Well, have you spent the winter freezing your ass off while on the move? Trying to get away from walkers who would like nothing more than for either me or the horse to get hurt so they could have lunch?" she asked.
"Well no, but I'm not the idiot who decided staying outside all winter and nearly freezing my ass of every day and night would be more welcome than being in a house." Conner threw back at her, finally reaching the pale horse he had ridden and grabbing the halter.
"Well I can't see me trying to get the horse into the house, cause I damn sure ain't walking my ass to Texas, and trying to get it back out again. Never mind what would happen if the walkers tried to get it in and eat us." She shook her head. "No, I think staying outside all winter was for the better, even if I did freeze my balls off the entire time… Fuck! I'll just go to South America or something! Somewhere it's warm all winter, and I can keep away from most of the walkers… Heeey, do you think those remote tribes that live everywhere in that continent are still alive? I mean, they fought off leopards and shit, what's a few zombies to them? Unless they tried to eat the walker meat…" Sonora trailed off as Famine nudged her hand, looking for something to eat.
"You talk too much, maybe I should look into some duct tape whenever you're around, just tape your mouth shut and not have to listen to your rabble." Conner sighed and turned to face the woman the old woman had sent him off with. "I should go back to Anne and complain, or maybe I should go talk to Rick, file a complaint. He could lock you up, we're already in a prison." He smirked as she flipped him off and grabbed her horses halter.
"Yea well you wouldn't get very far with that, I don't think Rick would want to hear every jail song I know sung loud and clear from wherever they lock me up. Daddy dearest would probably stitch my lips shut…" Sonora looked thoughtful.
"Gah, just shut up and come on, I'm not even sure these horses will fit in the cells, now that I'm lookin' at them." Conner trailed an eye over Moon's body.
Sonora frowned. "They'll fit, we just have to make sure they don't freak out or they could hurt themselves on something, like on the toilet or something." She stated, turning and leading Famine away, going back to the door that they had come through in the first place. "I've been thinking, as soon as we're done resting up here… maybe we should head south, I wasn't exactly kidding when I said I wanted to go to South America… though maybe, if we can rig it, we could go to like Hawaii or something. Remote islands, not too many people on them in the first place, it would be something to look into, don't you think?" she turned to face Conner, who was walking behind her, a thoughtful look to his face. "Hell, they might not have zombies on that island at all… though that's doubtful." Sonora frowned.
Conner shook his head. "What's so bad about staying here with your dad and his group?" he asked quietly, looking up into the corner where Daryl could be seen looking through a bag.
"Shit goes down a lot around this group, it's like they're cursed." Sonora whispered, also looking up to where her father was. "I was talking to Glenn when I was last with them; they've been attacked by hordes of walkers wherever they go. Atlanta, Hershel's farm, I can only think that this place is next. Anyway, I don't want to be around when that happens." She finished, stopping in front of a cell and looking into it.
"Well would you look at that, someone took the remaining bunks out of the cell for us. Hold on let me check the other one." She stated, letting go of Famine's halter and walking to the next cell, nodding brightly as she turned back to Conner. "Yea, whoever did this is alright, both cells have been divested of the bunks. Put moon in that one, I'll have Famine in this one." She instructed, pointing to the cell she had just checked and then grabbing Famine's halter and leading him to it.
Conner rolled his eyes and led Moon to the cell, turning him around and backing him into it. The stallion snorted nervously and flung his head up a couple of times but Conner held him steady and talked to him softly as he coaxed the big animal into the cell. Clanging to his right alerted him to Sonora shutting her horse in its cell, he frowned, geldings were always easier than stallions.
Sonora stepped up beside him and helped him push Moon back into the stall; Conner reached over and grabbed the door, pulling it shut with a slight rattle. "Hey maybe we should grab one of the cars and go check out the nearest town for horse feed, we only have a couple of pounds on each of us, and that's not going to last long at all." She stated, resting her right side on the bars of the cell slash stall and staring up at Conner.
Conner shrugged. "You sure they'll let us use one of their vehicles? Besides, you know that Woodbury is off limits, remember what Anne told you that second night you were at the farm? The closest town is Zebulon, and that's probably ten minutes… maybe." he stated, reaching up and scratching his neck.
Sonora shrugged. "As long as it has the supplies we need then I'm cool with it. Come on; let's go talk to Rick about it." She turned and walked off, Conner following her, and Daryl looking up to watch them leave.
He scoffed at the way the Conner boy followed his daughter, married, he thought, where in the seven hells did they find a preacher to get them married? He shook his head and then climbed down from his perch, following them. If he'd heard them right then they were going to try and go to town, he'd go with them. Just to see what he could pick up.
…
Sonora slid into the driver's seat, clicking her seatbelt into place and then shutting the door. Conner hopped into the back and Daryl sat in the front passenger seat. Sonora started the engine and then shifted the silver Chevy truck into gear. Conner leaned forward a little and reached under his seat, fingers searching for anything useful he might find. Daryl glanced back at him and frowned. "What are you looking for?" he asked.
Conner spared a glance towards him. "CDs, I'm seeing if whoever owned this truck had any music in here. If I were to put anything in mine it would either be in the visor, or under one of the seats. Seeing as the visor has nothing to hold CDs with, I'm guessing, if there are CDs, then they'll be under a seat somewhere." He explained.
Daryl just looked back to the front of the truck.
Sonora lifted her eyes to the rearview mirror and watched Conner for a little while. "I don't think whoever had the truck had CDs, we'll see about finding a music store here in town, maybe we could find some decent music." She stated, looking towards the road and watching a walker walk around in circles. "Plus, if we find something big to drive we can find a converter and a small TV and DVD player… movies. Now there is something to look forward to." She smiled a little.
Daryl looked a little concerned. "The only thing big enough to power a converter plus what you're talking about is an eighteen wheeler, do you know how to drive one of those?" he asked, looking towards her and narrowing his eyes. "What did you do for a living anyway? You never told us, all we got out of you was that you took lessons from some guy on how to use those weapons you have." He stated.
Sonora smiled, the first smile he'd seen her wear since she'd rejoined the group. "I was a trucker, local only, but a trucker all the same. I had a CDL since I first turned eighteen. Only thing I wanted to do since I was a little girl riding in the back of my mom's car and seeing those big monsters come roaring by us." She explained.
Daryl made a noise in the back of his throat and Conner stared at her. "What makes you think that we'll find a truck you could drive, hell, the only trucks I've seen are usually turned over or something." He stated.
Daryl nodded, agreeing with Conner for once.
"Well, if I do remember, there is a trucking company somewhere around this town we're going to, and if I remember correctly, they had some pretty nice trucks…" Sonora trailed off as she turned a corner and then looked over at Daryl and then back at Conner. "I do have a very good memory, and I know where this company is, I ran right by it more than once." She told them. "After we gather our stuff we can run past it and see if they still have a truck or two in the yard. Maybe a trailer, if we need it." She stated, turning another corner and then driving a few more miles.
"Here we are." Conner said, looking through the windshield into town. A couple of walkers were dragging themselves around but other than that it was fairly empty.
"Looks like everyone is either gone or walkers." Conner muttered.
Daryl sighed. "There's probably more in the stores and alleyways, we'll just have to be careful." He stated.
Sonora pulled into a parking lot that boasted burnt, turned over, and wrecked cars. It also held a wal-mart. Sonora pulled right up to the front of the building, in front of a pair of automated doors. She stopped the truck and turned it off, pulling the keys from the ignition. "Okay, so the plan is to get as much as you can carry, once we grab what we need then we can carry it all back out here to the truck and load it into the back. We stay together and take out any walkers we see. There are probably quite a few since this is wal-mart we're talking about. Ya'll ready?" she asked, unbuckling her seatbelt.
"Yea, let's go already." Daryl opened his door and then shut it, Conner climbed out after Sonora and then Sonora locked the doors. They traveled into the shopping center and all three grabbed two buggies each.
"If we can fit all of what we grab into the bed of the truck then I think we'll be okay." Sonora whispered, looking around while wheeling her buggies behind her with both hands. Her sword felt heavy on her back, and it gave her a little comfort, but the two men on her sides made her feel even better.
"Canned foods first. We'll have to travel to the back of the store later, see if there's anything worth getting in there." Conner said, turning to the right and leading the other two towards the food area.
…
"This can't be right." Sonora furrowed her brow and picked at the glass from the ruined display case in front of her.
"Seems right to me, what you expected this place not to be raided?" Daryl asked from behind the counter where he was bent over trying to get into the locked drawers.
"What? No, not that. This price tag says that they had been selling a nine millimeter Glock for sixty dollars. I wonder if it was defective…" she pointed to the tag she had been reading, Conner leaned over and chuckled. "Shut up." Sonora said, smacking the back of his head.
"Finally." Daryl said, the sound of the drawers opening came after his words and he reached into it, pulling a few cases of shells out from where he had been trying to get at.
Sonora piled the cases into her buggy and then, when they were done with that, turned and looked at the six buggies they had stacked high with stuff. Only one and a half filled with canned food those were the two Conner had. Hers had been filled with all the clothes they could find. Daryl's had one filled up with camping supplies and deer feed, and the other was empty. They'd killed the walkers they'd run into silently, so far their luck was good. Sonora's mind was viewing things to go bad soon. Probably not too soon, but soon enough.
"Okay, back to the electronics. I still want to check out the CD collection this store has." Conner stated.
Sonora nodded, watching as Daryl picked up a couple of boxes of knives from the floor underneath a shelf. He dumped them into the buggy and then all three wheeled to the back of the store and began picking through the aisles. "Looks like no one bothered with this area… at all." She observed.
"Well when you're running for your life it doesn't really seem important to grab a few luxury items." Conner stated, entering the CD aisle and grabbing all the CDs he could pick up, tossing them into his buggy haphazardly and then moving on to the next stack.
"Oh look, they sold Bob Marley here." Sonora pointed to a couple of CDs in front of her and then watched as Conner practically flew in front of her to pick them up.
"Kids." Daryl grumbled, keeping a lookout from the end of the aisle, his crossbow held aloft.
Sonora helped Conner with the rest of the CDs and then they all wheeled towards the TVs. She was beginning to draw some conclusions. It seemed as if Rick was all the bad luck, she felt sure on it this time. It wasn't his group or anyone else, it was Rick. Sonora nodded to herself as she picked up a large thirty five inch TV and then dumped it into Daryl's empty cart. He glanced at it and then rolled his eyes, turning back around and walking a few steps away. Sonora kept looking through the shelf below the TVs and picked up a few more items before they all went to the DVD and DVD player aisle.
…
Sonora jumped into the truck and then grinned at the two beside her. "Now wasn't that fun? Full tank of gas and only ten walkers to fight for it." She stated. Daryl shrugged; he seemed to be drawing more into himself with every passing moment of this trip. Sonora wondered if it was because of Conner, she still hadn't told him that the whole marriage thing had been a joke. She sighed a kept driving, taking the turns where she was supposed to before coming up to a large building with a chain link fence running across the front.
Okay, we're here." Sonora stopped the truck in front of the chain link fence and then gestured for Conner to get out and cut it. He grumbled and then jumped out of the truck, running around the front to get to the fence and cut the chain holding it together. He then rolled open one side and held it until Sonora had driven through, he then shut the fence once more and ran to catch up to the idling truck.
Sonora smiled at him as he got into the cramped truck. "Sorry about making you sit with that stuff Conner, but I am not having you two up here and fighting about who's touching who." She said, pushing in the accelerator and navigating around the back of the building. "Ah… here we are, and… of course, there they are." She frowned as she saw walkers ambling through the truck yard, their growls unheard through the windshield.
"Don't you think this is a little dangerous? There has to be thirty to forty walkers out there." Conner said, looking around the lot with wide eyes. Daryl chewed on his left thumbnail, his own eyes traveling to each of the walkers.
Sonora frowned. "Maybe we can lead them off to one side and then race back here to get some keys to a truck before they come back…" she trailed off and then suddenly jumped as a walker came out of nowhere and pounded on the glass of the winder on her door. She growled lowly and sped up, her eyes searching between all of the trucks before nodded slightly. "Okay, here's what we'll do, Dad, you'll drive while I ride shotgun and roll the window down a little bit. I'll stick my sword out and cut these mutherfuckers to ribbons. That should take care of a good half of them." She stated, her eyes on a big black, flat nosed, freightliner in between two white, slope nosed, peterbilts with red lettering on them. "When we get enough of them down you'll drive me back over here and drop me off between these three trucks, I'll take that hose pipe beside you, Conner, and siphon as much gas as I can while ya'll draw the walkers away again. Then, if all goes well, we'll be heading off with my own damn truck. I just hope I can get the keys…" she stopped suddenly as they rounded a corner and saw a fat walker with a black leather jacket and jeans on. "That poor fat bastard… I think he has my keys." She zeroed her gaze in on the walker, noticing the keys hanging from a holder on one of the belt loops on his pants.
"Alright, let's get moving then." She stated, turning the wheel and running over the fat walker, backing up and then doing it again, this time making sure one of the wheels popped its head like a melon. She put the truck back in reverse and then backed up, stopping and jumping out to run to the walker and trying to grab the keys from the belt loop. A cry made her look around.
"Sonora! To your right!" Conner called out through the open door. She looked up and to the right, a female walker in what looked like mechanics gear was stumbling towards her. Sonora looked back down and grappled with the ring that the keys were on, finally just placing her foot on the walker's hip and tearing at them, ripping the belt loop off and then rushing back towards the truck. Daryl had already slid into the driver's side, so Sonora just opened the door to her own side and jumped in, a second before the walkers fingers scrabbled onto the silver paint of the door.
"Fuck." She exclaimed, leaning her head back and taking deep breaths, the keys in her hand jingling slightly. She opened her eyes and looked down at them, sorting through them before finding the one that she needed.
"How did you know it was the fat walker that had them?" Conner asked, rummaging through the shit beside him to draw out Sonora's sword and the loop of garden hose.
"Did you not see that freightliner? Of course it was the fat walker that had them. I knew that guy." She stated, looking back towards him and taking her things when he handed them to her.
"Oh." Conner leaned back and watched as she rolled down the window and unsheathed the sword. "Want me to hold on to your waist so you don't fall out?" he asked, leaning forward and unbuckling her seatbelt.
Sonora nodded, sliding her upper body out of the Silverado and sitting on the window. "When you're ready dad." She said, swinging her sword and getting the feel of it again.
Daryl grumbled and then shifted the truck into gear, Conner crawled forward out of the back and sat in the passenger seat and wrapped his arms around Sonora's waist, holding her as Daryl raced around the yard, Sonora let out a high pitched yell, drawing the walkers towards them as she swung, and swung, and swung. The walkers were going down, sometimes two at a time.
Soon though Sonora slipped back inside, sitting down roughly on Conner, put the sword point down between her legs and started rubbing her right arm. "My arms are getting tired." She stated, rolling the window back up.
Daryl nodded, driving the truck around and bringing it to a quick stop in front of the three eighteen wheelers. "Hurry the fuck up." He said as Sonora grabbed her sword and the hose before jumping out of the truck.
"Just keep the walkers busy." She stated, slamming the door shut and running between the trucks. She tried the key in the door and popped it open, checking the inside quickly before shutting it again and uncoiling the hose. She was glad they got the long one, because she had to now get it across the back of the truck and into the tank of the one beside the one she was trying to fuel up now.
Once the end of the hose was inside the tank of the white truck to her right she ran back around and picked the end up from the ground, bringing it to her mouth and sucking as she loosened the gas cap from her new prize. After a minute or two she felt the gasoline coming through the line and hurriedly pushed it into the tank, the sound of diesel fuel hitting the fuel already inside of the tank never sounded so good to her ears.
A walker's growling had her looking up; one was stumbling around the corner, obviously having given up the chase of the silver truck. It saw her and rushed towards her, arms outstretched and teeth gnashing. Sonora grabbed her sword from the ground and raced towards the walker, swinging it in an arc and slicing the top half of its head clean off.
She poked her head out from between the two trucks and looked around, the first thing she saw was Daryl tearing through the gravel in the Silverado, the shit in the back swaying but not falling out thanks to the tarp they had tied on top of it. The walkers were still running after the truck so the one she had taken down just seemed to be the odd one out. Sonora retreated back between the eighteen wheelers and then climbed up onto the passenger side of the white one. She glanced around in it and then lifted her eyes, sighting the CB radio right where it should be.
Sonora jumped down and took the sword sheathe from her back, placing it on the ground before removing her shirt and wrapping it around her hand and arm. She climbed back on the rig and then gripped the bar to her left tightly; she looked around once more and then steeled herself, giving her right arm a few shakes before leaning back and ramming her fist into the glass pane of the window. Glass flew everywhere, shards of it hitting her hair and more than that falling into the seat. Sonora took her hand out and unwrapped the shirt, her hand already feeling a little numb.
She pulled the shirt back on and then popped the door open from the inside, leaning back as it swung towards her and then climbing inside. She looked around carefully but the day cab was clean. She reached up and pulled on the CB, it came cleanly from its mount in the roof and Sonora unhooked it from its cables, snapping the line that hooked the mouthpiece to the ceiling. She climbed back out of the cab and shut the door, she then turned and opened the door to the truck she was taking, hopping in and slipping the extra CB onto the side seat. She then turned the key in the ignition, not enough to start it, but enough to see how much fuel she had.
When the gauge came to rest just below the full line she gaped at it for a moment. Then she hurried out and pulled the hose, wrapping it up tightly and then storing it behind the driver's seat. She then picked up the sword and it's sheathe before climbing back into the truck and finally turning it on. 'No time for pre-trips now, nor do I want to stand out there and wait for those damn walkers to come and gobble me up like a hot meal on a cold day. Time to get out of here.' She shifted into gear and then pressed on the gas a little, the truck rolling forward before lurching. The trailer attached had jerked it, but Sonora had dealt with that for about three years now, she simply pressed a little harder on the gas to get rolling, when she did she saw Daryl and Conner come flying up beside her, checking the convex mirror she noticed one of the walkers stumble and fall underneath a dual tire. It was soon nothing to worry about.
They rolled out of the yard, Daryl stopping his truck long enough to let Conner shut the gate after Sonora drove through, and then they were on the road. Sonora glanced up at her CB and then reached over and grabbed the one she had taken from the other big truck. She slowed down to about twenty five and rolled down the window, watching as Daryl drove up so he was riding alongside her. Conner leaned out his window and Sonora carefully, oh so carefully, handed him the radio, shouting at him above the roar of her truck's engine. "Channel nineteen!"
Conner nodded as he grabbed the radio and then hunched back inside the Chevy, Sonora turned her CB on and tuned it to the channel she needed before waiting on Daryl and Conner. She noticed that Daryl had started pulling in front of her, so she let off the gas a little, giving him the chance to slide in front of her.
After a little while a voice came over the radio. "Hello? Can you hear me… over…?" Sonora chuckled, and then reached over and up for her own mike.
"Ten four Conner, now are there any more stops along this way or are we headed back to our base?" she replied, falling slightly back into the CB lingo she had talked for a long time. She saw the truck in front of her swerve a little before it regained its previous mobility and then Daryl's voice cut in.
"When the hell were you going to tell us the story of how you got into trucking?" he asked, the radio making his voice scratchy.
Sonora quirked her lips into a slight smile, she moved her thumb back over the button of the mic. "Well, I was seventeen with no money, and I had my license, so I decided to do what anyone would do who didn't want to work in a damned fast food place, I got myself a real job. Mom wasn't too happy about it, but I was making weekly paychecks so she couldn't really complain too much, especially after I started helping with the bills." She explained, finishing her speech and releasing the mic so it hung freely on the wire beside her head.
…
"What the hell…?" Glenn lowered his binoculars and then looked down at Rick. "Rick!" he called, watching as the other man jerked his head up. "You might want to open the gates, Sonora, Daryl, and Conner's back!" he paused, looking back at the dust cloud the large eighteen wheeler was kicking up. "They brought something huge!" he added, knowing that Rick couldn't see it yet.
Rick, Carl, and T-Dog ran to the gates and looked out, eyes widening as the big truck turned the corner and headed straight for them. They noticed their old truck next, riding in front of the black truck, Rick motioned for Carl to move and he stuck the key into the lock of the gate, unlatching the chain and then helping T-Dog push it out of the way as Carl stood to the side and watched as Daryl tore through the opened gate first, shortly after followed by Sonora and her semi. The boy then ran and helped his father close the gate, all three slamming it back shut before Rick locked it and then all of them turned and watched Sonora expertly backed the semi truck up and turn it off.
She jumped out and slammed the door shut, locking it and then walking forward to stand in front of it. "Ta-da!" she exclaimed, imitating a star and smiling at the shocked faces around her.
…..
~Yes, I do know T-Dog, and Lori (thank god) are dead now, but that will be next chapter.
For those of you wondering, yes there are female truck drivers out there, and yes it is legal for anyone to drive a truck as long as they're eighteen. They have to stay in their own state, however, so only those who are twenty one and older can drive all over.
I am in training to become a truck driver myself, this explains, hopefully, my lack of frequent updating. Please do forgive me for not updating weekly, for I have a lot on my hands at the moment.
Thank you for reading, I will not, under any circumstances, update again until I have two reviews by two different people.
Have a nice day!