Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with The Walking Dead… that belongs to Robert Kirkman.
Chapter 28:
You Always So Funny?
The road up towards the quarry wasn't as large as Daryl and Merle had made it seem, for that reason Shane had taken the wheel of the larger RV and the kids had been split between the other vehicles, Carl and Sophia were in the back of the cruiser and Jamie was in the van with Hannah. Only Leon and Morgan were with Shane in the RV as everyone else took whatever seats they could.
Rick was still nervous about what this group would be like… whether they would accept or reject them or even consider them an immediate threat.
Surely people can't have changed that much?
Rick, Lori, Carol, Carl and Sophia were riding in the cruiser, they followed the RV closely as Daryl and Merle were ahead of them, they said that after they rounded on of the cliff-faces they would find they would come into sight of the camp.
"Do you think they will be friendly?" Carol asked aloud, the RV was fitting well in the road but they needed someone experienced at the wheel, since Shane was a steady hand they chose him.
"Maybe, maybe not. But once they see us as an asset and not a threat they should soften up." Rick said keeping a fair pace behind the lumbering RV.
"What about Daryl and Merle? They don't sound like they left the group on the best of terms." Lori replied to her husband.
"Will they let us stay?" Sophia asked in a worried voice but her mother answered fast.
"We'll just have to see, sweetie." She said whilst placing a hand on her daughter's Sophia whom she and Carl were sitting either side of. The RV was beginning to round the cliff face and should come into sight of the camp, however Daryl came onto the walkie at that exact moment.
"There's somethin' up." his voice announced, Rick felt his heart clench as he feared the worst.
"What is it?" Paula asked over the walkie she, Hannah and Jamie had in the van.
"This isn't looking so good guys." Shane's voice came over from the RV.
"Will someone let us know what's going on?" Rick asked irritably into the walkie, his mind concocting worse possibilities as the seconds ticked by, the RV was blocking their view of the possible campsite.
"There's no-one there." Shane's voice replied, as the terrain dipped slightly Rick caught sight of the campsite they were entering.
The terrain widened as the sloped gravel hill backed onto woodland, abandoned tents littered the quarry, some almost pristine but some almost turned inside out, there was a family saloon with all the doors open and the inside containing nothing but the seats.
It didn't just look abandoned.
It looked desolate.
"What…" Lori mumbled as the RV stopped behind the Dixon's truck, Rick slowed the cruiser and applied the handbrake as he saw the van behind them do the same. Rick opened the door and exited as did everyone from every vehicle, Rick had his gun ready to draw as he saw Shane, Leon and Morgan exit the RV and start to secure the area, Rick joined Morgan in checking the tents by sight and saw them all abandoned.
"Funny lookin' group you got here, they on vacation?" Shane asked Daryl and Merle, both were armed with their crossbow and rifle respectively.
"They were here, obviously packed up and left." Daryl observed, Rick could have told Shane that but Shane seemed set on interrogating the Dixon's.
"No shit, why'd you think they'd leave?" Leon asked the pair, Merle looked completely out of it, the rifle slumping in his hand.
"Maybe… maybe they heard you… you fuckers were on the way and they high tailed it?!" he snorted loudly, he slipped and fell on his ass, his finger dangerously close to the trigger finger.
"Whoa, whoa, how much have you taken?" Rick asked moving forwards, to his left he saw Lori and Carol turn the kids away and start searching the tents, Merle just chuckled again, his foul breath almost making Rick recoil.
"None of your business." Daryl said cutting across Rick, nevertheless he took the rifle from Merle and tossed it through the open window of the truck, he then reached in and tossed Merle a packet of cigarettes.
"Have a smoke, brother." He said before turning back to Rick and a disgruntled Shane.
"He always such a charmer?" Shane asked but Daryl just death-stared him.
"You always so funny?" he remarked in return, Rick saw Shane take a deep breath but not brake eye contact.
"Hey, hey, hey. Let's focus on finding out what happened here." Rick said stepping between the men, on the ground Merle had lit up and seemed content with just lying there. Apparently Merle had a temper… seemed the drugs kept him calm.
"I think I found something." Hannah announced walking back from the looted saloon, she was holding a piece of paper. She read it aloud as Rick joined several others looking over her shoulders.
"Dear fellow survivors, I regret to tell you that if you are reading this you are too late for us to be formally acquainted. This location has admirable supplies for a group to survive, there is a source of fresh water nearby (boil before use) and a fishing boat with a fishing rod in it down at the quarry. Our group chose to evacuate once we let in a family with an infected son, we didn't know and he turned, he managed to bite both parents and two children, they all turned fast and we lost half our numbers.
Help yourself to the supplies we have left, we had a camp of 31 people but only 10 of us survived, we took what we needed but we didn't need everything. Help yourself.
This area isn't 'compromised', it was safe when we left it about 3 weeks after the initial outbreak, we left because we have too many memories of those we lost, we no longer felt comfortable here. If you wish to pay respects to some kind souls we have buried then they are in a clearing over the other side of the quarry.
Maybe one day we will encounter one another.
Never forget your humanity.
Yours sincerely,
Dale Horvath."
Below that there were scribbled names of others, however the cramped space made them difficult to read.
Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, Jim, Glenn, T-Dog, Jan, Mitch, Frances…
"Well this tells us that a few days ago it was safe." Rick says, the crowd that gathered included everyone excluding Merle. The note had a powerful effect… everyone stood mesmerised by the idea of other survivors, other survivors who had made a desperate attempt to find new shelter.
They missed them by that much.
"So what, we set up camp here?" Paula asked looking around them… there were enough tents to house them all.
"I don't know who I feel about this." Lori said quietly to Rick, Rick understood… the people who lay down in these tents could have very well been killed right outside them. There was no blood in the ones he saw so they were habitable.
"We may not have a choice… daylight will be fading soon and we can't sleep in our cars. We find the cleanest tents and decide who is going where, the kids can sleep in the RV." Rick said nodding looking at Carl, Carl smiled at his Dad proudly, he had seen that smile for nearly 12 years and it still made him feel like a great father.
"We should secure the area more, there could be a herd of walkers just down that hill." Morgan said morbidly, Rick looked at Shane and they both nodded.
"Me and Rick'll do a sweep, I want everyone else to go through the tents and find whatever you can, nobody goes anywhere alone, got it?" Shane addressed everyone, they all nodded and began to move off, the kids sticking close with the adults.
"I'll join you." Daryl said mutely whilst shouldering his crossbow, Rick looked at Shane who shrugged, although Rick would rather Daryl stay at the campsite to keep an eye on Merle the hunter would definitely help secure the area.
"Come on, man." Shane said and Rick drew his gun and followed Shane, still holding his shotgun which he seemed to be welded to the past few days. Rick and Daryl followed him, they walked down a small hill where there were more empty tents. It seems 'Dale' wasn't lying about not needing everything.
"I think we split off and cover a small section of the woods, by the looks of things they had some sort of security system." Shane said examining some rope tied between trees, they had linked the rope through cans that would obviously clang together if something came into contact with them.
"I'll go and check the water, don't wait up." Daryl said heading into the bushes, Rick was about to call him back but thought better of it, might as well leave him to his own devices.
"Right then, we'll sweep around behind the cans but not too far, far enough that we know it's safe enough for the night." Shane explained, Rick was tempted to remind him that he was Shane's superior as far as work-class went but that probably didn't count anymore.
"We'll do a bigger sweep tomorrow." Rick said as the two stepped under the cans and into the undergrowth.
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"Stay close, sweetie." Carol said to Sophia, Carl looked to his Mom and she nodded at him which he understood to mean 'you too'.
Carl fixed his focus to a small tent next to a tree, the branches and leaves provided extra shelter from rain. The flap was open so Carl could see inside completely, there was no-one inside which meant that the note they found on the car was telling the truth.
He stepped inside and saw that there wasn't much in the tent, a sleeping bad, some clothes that obviously belonged to a woman, everything was in a mess, Carl kicked aside a shirt and was taken aback by what he found.
A gun, it was a small revolver, Carl bent down and picked it up carefully, he knew by sight that the safety was on which meant it wouldn't go off.
"Cool…" Carl muttered as he admired the gun, he didn't know a lot about guns but this one looked like the one his mother had. He opened the chamber and saw that there were two bullets in it, he slid the chamber back in and thought about showing it to his Mom… maybe even Sophia.
"Carl?" his mother's voice rang out, before Carl could gather his wits and dump the gun his mother's head poked into the tent, she attempted a smile but it faltered once her eyes fell upon the gun in Carl's hands.
"What are you doing with that?!" his Mom scolded, she snatched the gun out of his with an angry look on her face.
"Mom…" Carl began to explain but she cut him off.
"Irresponsible to say the least, why did you even pick it up? You could have hurt yourself!" she scolded.
"The safety…" Carl began explaining but she cut him off again.
"Carl, this is dangerous!" she said whilst pocketing the gun, Carl felt himself getting angry. She, the woman who cheated on her husband was scolding him?
"Mom…"
"…not to mention that I told you to stay close…" she continued, Carl was getting sick of her treating him like a child.
"Mom…"
"…you wait until your father gets back to camp, I'll tell him…"
"Tell him what?!" Carl shouted, his mother stopped with a shocked expression on her face.
"What did you say to me?" she asked, her voice reaching danger levels of warning but Carl had started now… he couldn't stop.
"What are you gonna tell him?! That I found something useful?! Just leave me alone!" Carl shouted attempting to walk past her but she grabbed his arm.
"You wait here, young man!" she said but Carl twisted from her grasp.
"Let me go! Or I'll tell Dad about you and Shane!" Carl shouted out of desperation, time stood still for what felt like a few minutes as his mother stared at him not with anger… but fear. Carl felt his heart stop beating and his skin grow cold, he had taken a cheap shot.
He turned and pushed the tent flap aside only to be greeted by the faces of nearly the entire group, he saw Sophia and Jamie stood less than 5 meters away with concerned expressions, most of the adults were staring at his mother who hadn't moved from her spot.
They'd heard.
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Paula's hearing had been alerted when she heard Lori scold Carl for back-chatting, she would have left them to it as she moved to join Leon on top of the RV on lookout when she heard the young boy shout it out loud.
"Let me go! Or I'll Dad about you and Shane!"
The entire scouting operation stopped and Paula whipped around to face the tent where the shout had come from. Her heart had caved as Carl had emerged from the tent to see everyone staring at him, Paula's mind pieced together all the facts that she had observed and put it all together.
Carl caught Lori and Shane together.
Judging by the look on Lori's face as she still stood inside the tent she didn't know. Paula looked between the two as Carl's face started to twist into the face it made when he wanted to cry, he ran off past a concerned Sophia and Jamie and into the woods.
"Carl!" Hannah shouted but he ignored her, Paula immediately ran after him, if they had missed a walker nearby it could bite him.
"Stay here." Paula said to Hannah and Carol who both looked like they were going to take off after him, Paula didn't take out her weapon as to not alarm anyone, she held back as Carl ran into a tent and began to audibly cry, Paula looked around and saw that they were out of hearing range from the camp.
She breathed in and tentatively poked her head into the tent. Carl was curled up on a makeshift bed with his head in-between his legs, he tried to mute his cries but he was obviously failing.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Paula asked in a calm voice but Carl ignored her.
Paula sat next to him and put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it whilst trying to maintain a soothing voice.
"Did your Mom say something that upset you?" she asked, Carl raised his head from his hands and tried to speak normally.
"I…I…I found a g-g-gun in a-a tent. Mom caught me and…and…and wouldn't let me tell her that I-I-I wasn't playing with it…" he explained, Paula knew that it was a small incident that wasn't that major but the stresses and strains on everyone were at breaking point.
Looks like one or two broke.
"Aw… It'll be fine, don't worry… but… what did you say to your Mom?" Paula asked, she knew that Carl would seize up and not tell her anything but she at least had to try.
"I… just yelled at her."
"But what did you say?"
"It… it doesn't matter." He said whilst trying to hide his face but Paula pulled him to face her.
"You saw your Mom with Uncle Shane didn't you?" she asked, Carl started to cry again and nodded.
"Please, please, please don't tell anyone okay?"
"Shhh, it's okay, I won't." she said whilst hugging him tightly to her as he cried into her shoulder.
Paula's suspicions were confirmed, Lori and Shane had been having an affair. To what extent she didn't know… she didn't want to know. All she knew was that Carl had seen it and it had done some damage.
She needed to talk to Lori.
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Authors Note: Hope you liked the chapter, please review since your reviews are what gives my existence on FanFiction meaning :-P