Chapter 9: Wildfire
Everyone was still shaken up after the attack. They were all still huddled around Dale's RV, deciding what to do. Most of the group wanted to sleep around the fire, too scared to go to their tents. Too scared that the smell would attract more Walkers, and too scared that their fallen group members would come back to life during the night. They decided several people would always be on watch the rest of the night. Those that slept, could sleep in shifts. If they could even sleep, that was.
Morning
"Alright, everyone. Let's start cleanin this place up. We don't need all these bodies lyin around." Shane said. "Put the walkers in a pile over there so we can burn em. But make sure they're dead, dead before you touch em. We don't need anymore surprises, okay?
With a grunt, Daryl swung the pick axe and let the point slice into the head of another dead body while Glenn and T-Dog looked on. He was breathing heavy as he yanked the axe out of it's head and started towards the next body, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his arm. Glenn and T-Dog walked to the body, T-Dog pulling from the shoulder's while Glenn was at it's feet. They struggled to drag the dead weight over to the pile of burning bodies several feet away, coughing at the smell on the way there. They hauled it up and swung it into the fire. T-Dog grabbed at the collar of his t-shirt to bring it up over his nose to shield himself from the smell with another cough.
Rick was walking up to the pit Shane, Dale, Amy, Andrea, Michael, Carol and Lori were around. He had gone to sit at the hill Jim had dug the holes at, while he tried to reach Morgan, the man that saved his life in King County. He had tried every morning on the walkie talkie, but there was never anything more than static and the sound of his own voice.
"Wake up, Jimbo. We've got some work to do." Daryl said as he passed the man, who looked like he was staring off at the clouds. Daryl walked over to Morales, who was panting and struggling to pull one of their group member's bodies away by himself. Daryl looked at him and gave him a pat on the back as he let the pick axe fall to the ground. He came to Morales' side and grabbed the body's other arm. Merle came up and grabbed the body's legs.
"Thanks." Morales said to them as Daryl and Merle helped him bring it towards the fire before Glenn stopped the three of them. "Thanks."
"Whoa, hey, what are you guys doing?" Glenn asked as he took a few steps towards them, away from the fire. "This is for geeks. Our people go over there." He said and pointed to a row of bodies they had started for the group members. Daryl looked over his shoulder at the young man.
"What's the difference? They're all infected." He said. He, Merle and Morales set the body down and they turned to look at Glenn.
"Our people go in that row over there." He said, visibly upset. He had tears in his eyes. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand?" Daryl, Merle and Morales looked at the young man for a moment before Daryl leaned over and picked up the body's arm again, Morales following his example. And Merle grabs the legs. They bring the body over to the row Glenn had pointed to, Daryl's scowl coming to the surface once again.
"You reap what you sow." Daryl said in Glenn's direction as they got to the bodies, lined by the RV.
Morales looked at him. "You know what? Shut up, man."
With a grunt, Daryl let his side of the body fall. Merle dropped the legs. Letting Morales drag it the rest of the way. "Y'all nearly left me for dead!" Merle shouted so the whole group would hear him. He stopped and pointed to the pile of dead group members before walking away again. "You had this comin!"
Jim, who had finally stopped daydreaming, slowly walked over to Jacqui, who was bent over getting ready to move another body. She looked up to Jim as he came up to her, noticing blood on the middle section of his shirt.
"Are you bleedin?" She asked as he stood only a couple feet in front of her.
"I just got some on me from the bodies." He said as he bent down to help her.
"That blood's fresh. Were you bit?"
"No." He said as he put his hands on his knees and looked at her. "I just got scratched during the attack." He leaned down again, looking away from her as he grabbed the body's arm.
"You got bit." Jacqui said as she started to get up.
"I'm fine."
"Then show me." She said. Jim stopped and looked at her. He looked around before he stood up in front of her.
"Don't tell, please." He whispered as he stepped closer to her.
"A walker got him. A walker bit Jim." She said louder, walking away, so the camp could hear.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and came closer. Jim backed up as everyone started gathering around him.
"I'm okay." He said as people started closing in, making a circle around him. Everyone started talking in hushed voices.
"Show it to us." Daryl said as he came up, pointing his arm at Jim, pick axe resting on his shoulder again. He took it in both his hands as he got closer. "Show it to us."
As the men got closer to him, Jim leaned over and grabbed a nearby shovel that was on the ground.
"Easy, Jim!" Shane yelled.
"Grab him." Daryl said.
"Jim, put it down. Put it down." Shane said as he walked up with his shotgun at his side. Daryl yelled for someone to grab him again.
Jim was too focused on Daryl in front of him with a pickaxe in his hands and Shane with a shotgun, even if the Deputy wasn't pointing it at him yet. He was too distracted by the two to notice T-Dog behind him. The black man rushed him from behind, grabbing his upper arms and pulling them back, making him drop the shovel to the ground.
"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim said as T-Dog held him there. Daryl dropped the pick axe next to him and quickly came up to the man as he grabbed at the front of Jim's shirt, lifting it up. There, under his brown t-shirt, was a clear bite mark on his stomach. Daryl held Jim's shirt there for a few seconds before letting it fall over his stomach and backing away. T-Dog let the man go as he did the same.
"I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim kept repeating between heavy breaths, over and over, as he looked around at the people in front of him.
Rick had slowly come up to Jim with Shane and ushered him over to the back of the RV where they told him to sit while they convened near the fire pit.
"I say we put a pickaxe in his head. And be done with it." Daryl said as he stood with the pickaxe at his side.
"Is that what you'd want, if it were you?" Shane asked as he looked at him.
"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it."
"I hate to say it, I never thought I would, but maybe Daryl's right." Dale said, shaking his head.
"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick said, looking at the ground with his hands on his hips.
"I'm not suggesting-" Dale started, but Rick cut him off.
"He's sick" Rick said.
"Hey, hey." Shane said with his hand up as Rick got louder. "Shh."
"He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?" Rick said, looking up at them.
"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." Daryl said.
"What if we can get him help?" Rick said. "I heard the CDC was working on a cure."
"I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell." Shane said, looking at his friend.
"What if the CDC is still up and running?"
"Man, that is a stretch right there."
"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection-"
"Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay?" Shane said as he stopped him. "Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."
"That's 100 miles in the opposite direction." Lori said.
"That is right. But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there." Shane said.
"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that." Rick said, as Daryl looked over his shoulder at Jim. "The CDC's our best choice and Jim's only chance."
Daryl turned to his brother Merle and he nodded to his little brother. "You go lookin for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" He yelled as he turned and took a few running steps over to Jim with the pickaxe raised. The sound of the hammer of a gun next to his head stopped him from bringing the axe down into the man's skull as Rick came up behind him.
"Hey hey hey!" Shane shouted as some of the group ran up behind Daryl.
Merle was about to pull out his chrome Browning Hi-Power pistol but Michael had his Beretta 92FS handgun pulled out and pointed at Merle to stop him.
"Don't even think about it, Merle." Michael said as Merle looks at the gun pointed at him. Merle hand still on his gun.
"We don't kill the living." Rick said, as Shane made his way in front of Daryl, blocking him from Jim.
Daryl kept the axe raised but turned his head around to Rick. He finally let the pickaxe come back to his side. "That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."
"We may disagree on some things, not on this." Shane said, causing Daryl to turn and look at him. "You put it down. Go on." Daryl jammed the pickaxe into the dirt and walked off. Shane leaned over and grabbed the axe as Rick walked around him to Jim.
"Come with me." Rick said as he grabbed Jim by the arm.
"Where are you taking me?" He said as he looked up to Rick.
"Somewhere safe." He answered him.
Merle took his hand off his gun. Michael then holster his gun. They went about there business. Michael went to help Andrea move some of the bodies while Amy leans on a boulder looking scared to death. Shane approaches her.
"Hey Amy. You alright? You looking like you're scared. What's wrong?" Shane asked.
"Oh Shane. I almost died last night. If it wasn't for Mikey, I would had been...I would had been...Oh Shane!" Amy started crying while embracing Shane. "I feel like I can't go on anymore." She said.
"Hey. Look at me, Amy. Look at me." Shane said as Amy looks at him with tears falling from her eyes. "You can go on. You have be strong. I know you're scared. But I'm scared also. But I have be strong and so do you. I just want you to know that you're not alone. You have your sister, everybody else and you have me." He said as Amy smiles.
"Thanks Shane. You make me feel safe. Especially when I'm with you." Amy said.
"I care about you a lot Amy. And I won't let anything happen to you. I promise. If you need to talk about something or just want comfort don't be afraid to come to me or anyone else. I will try to always to be there for you. Okay?" Shane said.
"Okay." Amy said as she and Shane hug each other.
They hugged for a few moments. Then they went to join the others. Merle is walking by Carol's car when he saw movement inside the car. He bangs on the door.
"What the fuck?!"
"We got us a live one here!" Merle shouted as he opens the car door. He pulls the person out and it turns out to be Ed who somehow make through the attack last night. Merle looks at his face.
"Damn Ed! What the hell happen to you're face?" Merle asked.
"You brother is what happen." Ed said.
"My brother beat you're ass? Hey Daryl! Ed been alive and hiding in this car." Merle said.
"Ed? You mean to tell me that you let that person guarding get eaten while you hid in that car behind you all night? Leaving your family defenceless? You know what, Ed? You a real asshole." Daryl said.
"Fuck you, Dixon!" Ed said.
"What did you said say to my brother?" Merle asked.
"You heard me. Fuck you too." Ed said as Merle punch him in the face. Ed was about retaliate when Michael stood between them pulled his dagger out.
"Enough. Both of you go about you're business. Now." Michael said as both men went about there business. Michael put away his dagger and went back to do what he was doing.
Later
Shane, Michael and Rick were up on the hill overlooking Atlanta, where Jim had dug the holes yesterday. They were making them a little deeper.
"Say it." Rick said. He stopped digging and looked to his friend.
Shane stopped, resting his hands on the top of the shovel's shaft. He let out a sigh. "Okay...I'm thinking if you'd have stayed here, if you'd have looked after your own, instead you went off. You took half our manpower with ya. I'm thinking maybe our losses wouldn't have been so bad." He said as he picked his shovel up again.
"If we hadn't gone off and brought those guns back when we did, I think our losses would have been a lot worse. Maybe the entire camp." Rick said.
Michael sigh as he stops shovelling. "Look guys. Neither of you are right or wrong. Doesn't matter. What matters right now is we bury our dead." He said as he continue shovelling.
They heard a car approach. They looked up to see Daryl and Merle, backing there truck up the path, back end first so it would be easier to get the bodies out. Daryl stopped the truck a few feet from Rick, Michael and Shane, breaks squealing, as he put it in park. He and Merle opened there doors and stepped out. Daryl wiped his forehead off with his red handkerchief before stuffing the end of it into his back pocket as he and Merle made there way around the back of there truck.
"I still think it's a mistake not burnin these bodies. It's what we said we'd do, right?" Daryl said as he and Merle walked up to Rick, Michael and Shane. "Burn em all, wasn't that the idea?"
The rest of the group started walking up the path to the hill.
"At first." Shane said, as he finished working on the grave he was on.
"The Chinaman gets all emotional, says it's not the thing to do, we just follow him along? These people need to know who the hell's in charge here, what the rules are."
"There are no rules." Rick said as he looked at him.
"Well that's a problem." Lori said as she came closer. "We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do." She said as she turned around and walked over to Carl as the men started getting the bodies out of the car and setting them into the graves.
After they bury there dead, Rick, Shane and Michael are doing a sweep. They were going to walk the perimeter around camp, making sure there were no signs of nearby Walkers. All three men have there shotguns with them.
"Mikey. Can't we stop for a bit?" Shane asked.
"What's up?" Michael asked.
Shane sigh. "Rick." He said as Rick nodded.
"Mikey. Tell us the truth and be honset. Are you mad at us?" Rick asked.
"Just a little. But like I said, neither of you were right or wrong. Some of us are still alive. That's all that matters. If we are gonna survive, we need to work together and stop blaming each other for our mistakes. What happen last night happened. There's nothing we do to change that. All we can do is move forward." Michael said as Rick and Shane thought about what there brother said.
Rick sighed. "I can't believe I'm gonna said this but-"
"No Rick. Lets both said it." Shane said cutting off Rick from finishing what he was about to said.
"Mikey, you're right." Both Rick and Shane said.
Michael smile. "Guys. When is it that I'm ever wrong?" He asked.
Rick and Shane said "Not always."
They continue on with the sweep.
After they finished there sweep, they head back to the camp site to discuss there next move. There were looking at a map they have. Michael then decided where they should go to next.
"Shane you said that Fort Benning is 100 miles, right?" He asked.
"Yeah." Shane said.
"Well, I think we should head to the CDC first. Cause its 25 miles closer. We'll check it first and if there's nothing there, then we turn around and make our way to Fort Benning." Michael said.
"Okay." Rick said.
"Alright. Sounds like a plan." Shane said.
"Let's get moving everyone." Michael said.
Everyone packed everything they need and waited by the cars.
"All right, everybody listen up. Those of you with CB's, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?" Shane said as he looked around at everybody.
"We're, uh- We're not going." Morales said as he stood next to his wife and two children.
Everyone looked at them for a second before Morales' wife spoke up.
"We have family in Birmingham." Miranda said. "We wanna be with our people."
"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane said as he looked at the family.
"We'll take that chance. I gotta do what's best for my family." Morales said.
"You sure?" Rick asked.
"We talked about it. We're sure."
"All right. Shane." Rick said as he knelt down next to the bag of guns.
"Yeah, all right." Shane said. ".357?"
"Yeah." Rick answered him as he pulled out Smith & Wesson Model 586 - .357 Magnum gun. Shane grabbed a box of ammo. Daryl stopped chewing on his thumb as he looked at what the two men were doing. Rick walked up to Morales with his hand open, the gun laying on it. Shane walked up beside him with a box of bullets.
Morales took the gun from Rick as Shane held out the green box. "The box is half full." He said as he handed it over.
Lori hopped down from the hood of the car she was on and walked over to say her goodbyes.
"Thank you all...for everything." Miranda said.
"Come here." Lori brought her in for a hug as Miranda started to cry.
"Good luck, man." Shane said to Morales as he shook the man's hand. Lori kissed the heads of Morales' son and daughter before they went to say their goodbyes to the other children they had become fast friends with.
"Bye," Eliza said to Sophia giving her a hug. Sophia started crying as she put her arms around her little friend.
"Thank you." Miranda said as Jacqui hugged her.
Eliza pulled away from Sophia. She said bye to her again and held out her doll. Sophia took it and held it to her chest as the little girl walked to her father.
"Adiós Amigo." Michael said to Morales as they shook hands. Then Michael hugged Miranda and then her children.
"Channel 40 if you change your minds." Rick said, shaking Morales hand. "All right?"
"Yeah."
The four started walking to their car as Sophia came up to her mother's side. "I know." Carol said as she pulled her daughter in for a hug. Tears coming down her own face as well.
"What makes you guys think our odds are any better?" Shane said. "Come on. Let's go. Let's move out." He said louder, making everyone start for their vehicles.
They all drove down the gravel path that led to the main road, Morales in the lead. He waved his hand out the window as he turned to the right. The RV who was next in the caravan, turned to the left, leading the rest of the group away. Glenn was sitting in the passenger seat of the RV next to Dale, with a map in his hands. They decided to take back roads, around the city, to get near the CDC. It would take a good part of the day but they knew there would be no way they'd be able to fit all of their cars through the streets of Atlanta or the streets closer to the city. So they drove. For hours.
It was late in the afternoon when Dale hit his horn and pulled the RV off to the side of the road, causing all of the cars behind him to do the same. The engine was overheating again, as if the smoke billowing from the front of the RV wasn't proof enough.
"I told you we'd never get far on that hose." Dale said as he was standing in front of the hissing RV with Rick. "I said I needed the one from the cube van."
"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick asked him.
"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape than hose...And I'm out of duct tape." Dale said as everyone gathered towards the front of the RV.
"I see somethin up ahead." Shane said at the front of the group. He had his binoculars in his hand up to his eyes. "A gas station if we're lucky."
T-Dog walked up to him, holding his hands out for the binoculars.
"Y'all, Jim- it's bad." Jacqui said as she rushed out of the RV and over to Rick. "I don't think he can take anymore."
"Hey, Rick, Mikey, you guys wanna hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back." Shane looked over to him.
"Yeah, I"ll come along too and I'll back you up." T-Dog said as he looked through the binoculars.
Rick and Michael nodded at him once before Rick turned around towards the door of the RV. Daryl had leaned in through the door to look inside, making sure Jim wasn't clawing through the window trying to eat any of the group members yet. He stepped off the steps to let Rick inside as the man got closer. Rick took off his hat before he stepped up to the door.
"Y'all keep your eyes open now. We'll be right back." Shane said as he and T-Dog walked to his Jeep and got inside. They started down the road to the gas station. Daryl walked towards his truck to get out his crossbow until they were moving again. His brother Merle right behind him.
"It's what he says he wants." Rick said, standing in front of everyone. Shane and T-Dog hadn't found a hose for the RV, but they'd found Dale some more duct tape...
"And he's lucid?" Carol asked.
"He seems to be." Rick said as he messed with his hat that was still in his hands. "I would say yes."
"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer." Dale said, looking around at everyone.
"We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that." Shane said, looking to his friend.
"It's not your call, either one of you." Lori said to the two men in front of her. They stood in silence for a few seconds before Rick looked at Shane. He gave him a brief nod as the two walked into the RV.
"Yeah. That's it." Rick said as he and Shane gently helped Jim sit back under a tree a few yards away from the cars.
Jim was breathing heavy and groaning from the pain of being moved, but let out a relieved sigh as he leaned back against the tree. Shane stepped over him and came to kneel down at his side.
"Hey, another damn tree." Jim looked above him then smiled towards Shane, who let out a little laugh.
The smile fell from Shane's face as he leaned forward. "Hey, Jim- I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this." He said, putting his hand on Jim's knee.
"No. It's good. The breeze feels nice."
"Okay. All right." Shane stood up, wiping the sweat from his mouth with his arm as he backed away from the man.
Jacqui came up next and knelt down next to him. She gave him a sad smile. "Just close your eyes, sweetie. Don't fight." She said, Jim closed his eyes. She put her head on his neck and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek before she got up and walked back towards the RV.
Rick was next to walk up and kneel next to the dying man. "Jim, do you want this?" He asked as he held out a Smith & Wesson Model 10 snub nose revolver.
"No. You'll need it...I'm okay." He said. Rick stood up, putting a hand on the man's shoulder. "I'm okay."
Dale came up next and put his hand on the man's knee. "Hey." He smiled down at him. "Thanks for, uh- for fighting for us."
"Okay." Jim said as he struggled to keep his breathing normal.
Michael walks up to Jim and kneels. "Jim. You been a great friend to us all. And family too. We'll never forget you. Thank you for all you've done for us." He said.
"Mikey. Never give up on these people. There your family now. Never give up on them." Jim said.
"I won't. I promise." Michael said as he cross movement his body, kissed his fingers and touched Jim's forehead. "Rest in Peace, Jim. We love you." He said as he stands up and moves back towards the others.
Glenn nodded to the man as everyone started walking back to their vehicles. Leaving only Daryl, crossbow in hand and Merle. They looked up at Jim, who gave them a small closed mouth smile, and took a few steps forward. Daryl and Merle gave him a nod, and walked off towards there truck.
Jim smiled as he watched the group making their way to their cars. He looked up at the sky through the tree branches and stared at the sun. He closed his eyes as he heard car doors opening and closing and engines starting.
Everyone looked out the windows of the cars toward the mechanic that had once been a valued group member as they drove away.
It was late in the evening when the survivor's caravan pulled up outside the CDC. The sun was going down quickly and they wanted to get off the streets as soon as they could. They weren't able to drive all the way up to the building due to the road blocks that were set up, so they parked on the street that led up to the building. As they got out of their cars one by one, with most of them carrying their weapons, they looked towards the scene laid out in front of them.
The whole day. An entire day is what it had taken to get them to where they were. After they had left the back roads, they had to keep stopping and turning around to find alternate paths that would fit all of their cars through Atlanta as they drove into the city more. The cars people had abandoned were jam packed on every street, but they finally managed to pull through when they stopped at the street near the building they were on now. They thought the military would've protected this place with everything they had. But there were bodies all over. Flies buzzing around everywhere you stepped. The smell was almost unbearable. That scent of something rotting and decomposing. Death. That sickening smell that stayed in your nose for hours. Once you smelled it once, you never forgot it.
The military had been set up here at one time, but it didn't look like that helped much. There were 'Road Closed' signs and sand bags piled on the corners of the entry road to the building, where soldiers must've been stationed. Rick walked in front of the group with a shotgun to his shoulder. The people with weapons formed a perimeter around the people in the middle as they made their way closer to the building. Most of the group were coughing as they walked, putting their hands to their noses to try and mask the smell, as they stepped around and over all the dead bodies.
"All right, everybody. Keep moving. Go on." Shane whispered loud enough for the group to hear him. "Stay quiet. Let's go."
They all walked forward, around a large sign blocking the entry road that said "STOP; MILITARY CHECKPOINT."
They all continued down the street, groaning and mumbling at the smell as they walked further into it.
"Keep moving. Stay together. Keep moving. Come on." Rick said.
"Shh. Jeez." Shane quieted him as he looked around. The closer they got to the building, more into the military zone, the more bodies there were lying on the ground. There was an armored truck and a tank sitting in the road up to the CDC and two more up at the entrance.
"Carol." Lori said as she reached for the woman behind her when she stopped to look around.
"Shh." Rick said as he glanced over his shoulder.
"Oh, God." Glenn said as he looked around. They could see bodies all the way up to the closed, metal shutters of the CDC. The group made their way towards the main entrance.
"Keep it together. Come on." Rick said as they got closer to the doors.
"We're almost there, baby." Lori said to Carl, who had a hold of his mother's hand with one of his and the other over his mouth and nose. "Almost there."
Rick, Shane and Michael reached out and shook the shutters that were over the doors, causing them to rattle.
"Nothin?" Shane asked, putting his back against the shutter and bending down a bit, trying to push it up. It wouldn't budge. He turned around and pounded on the shutter.
"There's nobody here." T-Dog said.
"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick said, looking back at him.
"Walkers!" Daryl shouted, causing everyone to turn around.
"Baby, come on." Lori said as she pushed Carl behind her as the kids started whimpering.
Everyone with a weapon cocked their guns and moved a few steps forward but didn't dare fire a shot. They would be ringing a dinner bell.
Daryl took a few steps and aimed his crossbow at the one that was slowly coming towards them across the path to the CDC. He pulled the trigger, hitting it right in the forehead. "Both of you led us into a graveyard!" He yelled as he turned around and walked back over towards both men.
"Shhh!" Shane said as he walked back towards Rick and Michael as well.
"They made a call." Dale said, looking at Daryl.
"It was the wrong damn call!" He said, reaching Rick and Michael the same time Shane did.
"Just shut up. You hear me?" Shane said coming right up to Daryl, hitting him in the chest and pushing him back.. "Shut up. Shut up!" He pointed at him before turning around. "Rick, Mikey, this is a dead end."
"Where are we gonna go?" Carol said as she held onto Sophia.
"Do you hear me? No blame." Shane said, turning back to the group of people who were now panicking.
"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark." Lori said, looking around.
"Fort Benning, Rick- still an option." Shane said.
"On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles." Andrea said, stepping closer to the men.
"125. I checked the map." Glenn said.
"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now!" Lori said as Carl started sobbing.
"We'll think of something." Rick said as he raised his hand, trying to calm everyone down.
"Come on, let's go." Glenn said.
"Let's get out of here." T-Dog joined in as the people started turning around.
"Let's go. Please." Glenn looked at Rick, who didn't move from in front of the shutter.
"Let's move." Michael said.
"All right, everybody, back to the cars. Let's go. Move." Shane said as he and Michael started rounding people up. Rick looked to the camera above the door when it made a whirring sound.
"The camera- it moved!" Rick said, not looking away from it.
"You imagined it." Dale said, looking back to the man then towards the camera, making everyone's eyes follow.
"It moved." Rick said, almost to himself, as he stepped closer. "It moved." He repeated as Shane walked up to him.
"Rick, it's dead, man. It's an automated device, man. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on." Shane said as he grabbed Rick by his arm and started to drag him away.
"Man, just listen to me." Shane said as Rick started fighting to pull away. "Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick." Shane said as he pushed back against his friend. Rick pushed him back and made his way around him. He walked back to the shutter below the camera and started banging on it. Causing it to rattle loudly.
"Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori yelled.
"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me." Rick said as he looked up to the camera. Shane had come up to his side again, he grabbed Rick's arm, only to be shaken off.
"Get back to the cars now! Go!" Shane yelled to the others as he turned around to face them before turning to Rick again.
"Please, we're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left." He held his arm out towards the camera as Lori ran up to him and stood in front of him. She put her hand on his chest.
"Rick. There's nobody here." She said. He didn't look at her.
"We have nowhere else to go." He said as he pushed around Lori and started banging on the shutter again.
"Keep your eyes open." Shane said to everyone as he was greeted with a chorus of let's go's and come on's. He turned around and walked back over to Rick and Lori.
"If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please!" Rick yelled as he continued to bang on the shutter.
Shane grabbed Lori's arm and pushed her behind him in the direction the group was. "Come on, buddy, let's go." He said as he and Michael wrapped there free arms around Rick's chest in an attempt to drag him away again. "Let's go."
"Come on, Rick!" Michael said.
"Please help us." Rick said as everyone started shouting again as Shane and Michael pulled him away. "You're killing us! You're killing us!" He yelled at the camera as Shane and Michael dragged him back. "You're killing us!" He yelled one more time before Michael let go and Shane spun Rick around and let go, sending him in the direction of the cars. Rick stumbled trying to get his balance as he heard a noise behind him. He quickly turned around and looked at the shutter that was now being opened. Everyone lowered their weapons and stared at it as a blinding, white light lit up the area in front of them, now darkened by the night sky.
That's it for this chapter. Next chapter is the last chapter to end season 1. Next is season 2. As always Read and Review!
