Chapter VI: Miles behind Us (Part 1)
The last I was this happy, I was eight. It was Christmas morning and I came downstairs to see one present unwrapped under the tree.
It was the first time in my whole life that I'd ever been given a Christmas present. The thing under the tree was a small bear.
My mother had given it to me, not that she would remember. That bear went with me everywhere and I passed it down to Jacob.
As I laid next to him on the camper floor a watched as he held it close, protecting him from the nightmares. I slowly slipped out of his grip and followed the rest of the adults out of the camper. We were leaving, where to we were unsure.
Rick had voted for the CDC but we had all agreed that if there was a cure we surely would have heard of it by now. I walked over to Daryl's tent.
"Rise and shine," I whispered in. When he didn't reply I said it again louder. When he still didn't reply I moved inside. "Daryl wakes up," I said pushing him off his cot. "WHAT," he yelled back covering his head with a pillow.
"We're leaving," I said quietly. I pulled him up by the back of the shirt and he pushed me over. Then he was on top of me. He stared down at me his eyes full of lust, and he smirked at my scared expression. "I don't like mornings," he said helping me up. "
Neither does," I replied before exiting the tent quickly. I was embarrassed how vulnerable I had been, how weak I was. "Lillie," Daryl replied pulling me back into the tent. "What," I spit back at him.
"I'm sorry," he said taking my chin in his hand and lifting my face to his. I nodded and left the tent again this time for good.
Several hours later we had packed everything in the RV and the gas from the other vehicles had been removed and put in the camper. We all piled into the cramped space and went on our way.
The Morales family had decided to go along their own way and we waved goodbye to them as we headed off in the other direction. Jacob sat in my lap as we say at the table playing cards with Carl and Sofia.
"Where are we going," Andrea finally asked directed towards no one in particular.
"I don't know," Rick replied.
He had taken the lead of are small group of wearily travelers and was surprisingly well at it.
I was glad someone had the balls to take over, we needed it desperately. The everyone for themselves attitude had only brought us death and pain.
"You don't know," Andrea asked shocked!
"We need to trust Rick," Lori replied with such a stern voice no one replied to it. We sat in awkward silence, with the only sounds of the kids playing go fish, for what seemed like days till Dale stopped the camper when our path was blocked.
We excited the RV, and I stretched my arms. Daryl had been following behind on his motorcycle a parked it next to the camper. I didn't look at him. I was far to embarrassed about this morning and what he had said last night.
"Me and Lori are going to check through the cars and see if there is anything worth using," Carol said to me timidly.
"Alright I'll help," I replied to her. "Jacob doesn't wander out of Andrea's sight alright," I said to him nodding to Andrea on the top of the camper.
"You to Sophia and Carl," Carol said.
We walked around the camper towards the cars that the men where pushing off the road. I picked a small red van, and opened the trunk. A suitcase fell out and I was suddenly meet with the horrible smell of decay. There were three bodies in the car, a woman and two boys, around Jacob and Carl's age. This made me sad. I wanted to curl up into a ball but I couldn't. I pulled out the three suitcases, and looked through there contents. There were some usable clothes, for Carl and Jacob, and allot of clothes for me and the other girls.
My hope was lifted at such a good find. And I zipped them back up, and then I walked back around to the otherwise of the car, ignoring the two boys. They were long dead, probably from impact with the other cars. They wouldn't be a problem, so I opened the door and pulled out the woman she fell on the ground.
I peeked around in the front of the car and found nothing of interest but a pack of gum which I pocketed. I was addicted to gum and it was my favorite find so far.
I then opened the back seat and pulled one of the boys out laying him down next to his mother.
The back seat also failed to provide anything besides a picture album of happier days. I pulled the other boy out and laid him other the other side of his mom then put the picture album in her hands. It wasn't the funeral they deserved but it was something.
I walked back around to the suitcases and carried them to the RV. Carol smiled at my findings and instantly began to sort them out so we'd all receive something.
I walked back towards the cars, this time towards a white van, the kind that you'd see on the streets and think child molesters. When I got to the back doors I could hear the groans coming from the inside and pulled out my axe.
When I opened the door a fat walker dressed in overalls emerged. There was only one, this made me sigh with happiness. I plunged my hatchet into his face and it dropped with a hiss. I then opened the other door and almost screamed with happiness.
Inside was an arsenal of different weapons, and I jumped up and down with glee.
"Rick, come here," I called over to him. He walked over to the van followed by Shane and Daryl.
Daryl looked into my eyes and looked me over. He nodded when he realized that I wasn't hurt and walked around me to look into the van.
"This is really good," Rick said to me, "Good job Lillie."
Daryl put his hand on my shoulder and I looked up to him. He flashed me a smile like the one he'd given me in the woods almost a month ago. That giddy feeling interred my stomach again and I knew I was lost
We stayed there for the night getting the gas from the abandoned cars, and going through them for things we needed.
Another van like my first had yielded more cloths for the women and some for Sofia, but non for the men. The cloths we had found in that car for them were dress suites and a couple fancy shoes.
"Who pack a tuxedo for the end of the world," I asked Lori looking it over.
"Maybe he was hoping he could invite the geeks for dinner," she replied sarcastically.
I laughed at her comment and threw in back into the car. We had so far been able to fill up the RV tank and had some leftover. We hadn't found any food, but it was still a successful day.
When the sun finally went down and Jacob fell asleep in my arms I thought of the next day and where we would go.
"Do you think this is then end," Carol asked as I laid Jacob on his make shift cot on the floor.
She was sowing a patch in one of Sophia's shirts and Lori sat on the other side of her reading a book. Lori lifted her head and stared at her confused.
"What do you mean," she asked.
"We have no place else to go, nowhere is safe, we could all die at any moment," she replied some tears falling down her cheeks.
I got up from the floor and sat down next to her. I hugged her and patted her back as she cried into my shirt.
"No, this is not the end; it's just a new beginning."
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