Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Rick reviewed the plan with the teams one last time before they headed east. There were three teams. Team One: Rick, Andrea, Joaquin, and Jonathan. Team Two: Tyreese, Michonne, Maggie, and Glenn. Team Three: Carol, Daryl, Sam, and Dave. They were headed to a town about three hours away, Sam and Dave had lived there for several years. There had been a distributing center for a chain sporting and hunting store located on an access road out of town. Sam had worked there as a truck driver and knew different roads that led in and out of there. There was a chance that it might not be looted because it was fairly remote. Dave had worked as a chemical engineer in the town. They had made a list of possible scavenging sites and their locations marked on a hand drawn map.

Team Three would be on point; Sam would be taking them to the distribution center if the way was clear. Team Two would be directly behind them and would be prepared to assist if a herd blocked the road. Team Three would be last. All teams would maintain radio contact with each other.

Joaquin had provided the vehicles and the fuel needed for a round trip. He was aware that there were critical shortages in all sorts of areas. He was just hoping to bring back things that the community needed.

It was still dark as they headed down the mountain. Sam drove the first truck pulling a short trailer. Tyreese was driving a covered truck. Joaquin was driving a Humvee with a short trailer. Each team could work independently and the fall back plan was to go to the rendezvous point and wait for the others to come.

Carol watched the miles roll by; she checked and rechecked her weapons. Her job would be to stay with the truck and provide cover if needed. Daryl, Sam, and Dave were going to be looking for things they could use. She might have to move the truck closer to where they were. Sam had drawn a map of the distributing center and marked area with letters. They would radio back where they would be and she would have to find their location from the map and go to them. She studied her map again; she didn't want to be a weak link in this plan. She wasn't having any flashes of the sight today and she hoped that was a good sign.

Daryl turned back toward the back to see how Carol was doing; ever the good soldier she was studying the map. She looked up and smiled; he felt that enveloping rush of love that still surprised him. He has spent his life tamping down his emotions; he had kept everyone at arm's length. His only person that he was close to had been Merle. He maintained a perimeter around himself; no one was allowed past the fence. His mantra was "Better by myself". Then Merle got separated and he had stayed with the quarry group because he had told himself it would be safer to be in a group. It was months before he faced up to that lie; he had stayed because he knew that they were clueless and they needed him to stay alive.

He had stayed in the background of the group and watched them for a few days; he found himself watching the woman with the short hair that always had a little girl with her more than the others. He husband was an asshole who fortunately got killed by walkers early on. She seemed more vulnerable, she didn't have anyone to protect her, and he found himself keeping watch over her and the girl. Then, Sophia was lost and he forgot about staying in the background; no one else could track for shit and they needed to find her now. He and Rick had led the search, but Carl had been shot and Rick had to take care of Carl .Shane didn't give a rat's ass about anything but trying to get Lori back from Rick. The group had moved to the farm and he had continued to search for Sophia until she came out of the barn as a walker. He tried to pull away from the group after that but Carol had reeled him back like a fish with a hook in his mouth. She had shown up one night at his camp site and he had been mean and malicious to her. He attacked her because he didn't know how to handle failing at finding Sophia. He didn't know how to handle how Carol made him feel when he was around her. She had breached the perimeter, and he tried to pull himself back from her. He tried to be her protector but nothing more for a long time; but she had worn down every defense he had against her. She never made a move on him; she just was Carol until he couldn't stand not being with her. He had ventured out of his defenses and gained Carol in the process.

Sam got on the radio and pointed out the rendezvous point, a rest area off the highway. The street was clear of traffic and they could get on and off the highway easily. The other teams responded and they all knew it was about to come down.

Sam signaled for a left hand turn to get on the access road. The road was open, though you could see abandoned cars occasionally. It wasn't farmland but it wasn't subdivisions either. There was an occasional walker but no herds in sight. Sam radioed that that they were very close and as they rounded a curve they saw the fence was locked. Daryl jumped out with the bolt cutters and opened the gate. The parking lot was almost empty of cars; apparently the management had sent everyone home or not opened that day. There were semis backed up into docking areas and two sixteen wheelers parked in the lot.

The teams parked close together and decided on their strategy. Sam thought that they should enter through the doors beside the big bays. There were stairs there and the doors would be easy to open. The locked gate was a good sign that there might not be too many walkers inside. Rick decided to have Glenn down to lock the gate with a chain. He was afraid that leaving the gate unlocked might be close to ringing a dinner bell for area walkers. Glenn put their chain on; it would unlock easily if they needed to get out quick. Sam drove their truck around to another parking area and found that gate was locked as well. They moved the trucks closer to the bays and turned them around so that they could exit quickly. Everyone checked their radios and checked and rechecked weapons. Daryl reminded them not to use their rifles and pistols if they didn't to; that would ring the dinner bell.

Sam led the way in; Daryl carried a pry bar and easily forced the door open; then he used the bar to kill a walker who had come to investigate. The group took a minute to let their eyes adjust to the gloom of the building before venturing farther. There were three bays and three trucks were backed up in them so they decided to check those first. Each team had one person assigned to guard the area and two to search. Michonne guarded Tyreese and Glenn. Jonathan guarded Rick and Joaquin, and Dave guarded Daryl and Sam. They had brought flashlights and they used them to check out the trucks.

The truck that Sam and Daryl were scavenging was nearly full and filled with clothing, hunting equipment, and guns and ammo. Sam went outside to see if the truck would run. The battery was dead but he had brought a battery charger in his truck. He knew that truck drivers tried to keep their tanks with some fuel in them.

Daryl moved to see what the other teams had found. One was pretty empty but the dock was filled beside it. There was beef jerky and other nonperishable food. There were also boots of all sizes. He helped Tyreese and Glenn helped move it to the covered truck. Maggie came back in with them to help. Daryl decided to check out the cross bow supplies and moved around to do some checking. He found some boxes of bows and supplies and moved those with a dolly toward the door. Jonathan moved them from the door to the trucks. Carol was keeping an eye on the gate and the parking lot. Michonne had killed a walker so they knew that there a few in there, so they kept close watch. Rick and Joaquin had found fishing supplies, water purifying equipment, and winter coats. They had found a dolly and were moving things to the door.

Sam fired up the truck and there was fuel in it. He was willing to try to drive it home, it was risky but he knew they needed the stuff in the truck. They were just blindly tossing boxes in all the trucks and trailers, when Carol radioed that "Dinner guests are showing up, and I think we are on the menu". Everyone grabbed more boxes and loaded them quickly as Rick and Daryl assessed the situation. There were maybe seven or eighth at the gate which was doable, but there were more shuffling down the highway. Not a massive herd, still doable but maybe time to get a move on. Michonne and Tyreese found boxes of hard candy; Glenn grabbed all the thermal blankets he could find. No one wanted to leave anything behind, but Rick made the all call, "Everybody back in the trucks now".

Sam drove the big truck around the lot and it seemed to have enough brakes and fuel to get home. Dave grabbed his weapons and took the shotgun seat. The crowd at the gate was growing and Tyreese and his crew drove over to the other gate and radioed back that it was empty. Daryl drove and Carol took the passenger side. She got her pistol and rifle ready. The bell had already been rung, now it was about emptying space to drive through and that was where a good automatic rifle worked better than a sword.

Rick took lead with Sam's truck behind him. Daryl and Carol were next and Tyreese's crew would be in the rear. No one wanted to be the team that held up the ones behind them. Glenn opened the gates and Rick shot through the opening, Sam drove his truck through next, Daryl and Carol moved through quickly, and Tryreese went through just far enough for Glenn to lock the gate behind them and grab the front seat. Everyone was driving very slowly until they saw Glenn slide in that seat. Sam had radioed directions to Rick and they formed a tight convoy. Sam had routed them away from the other gate and they were able to avoid that crowd, but the other route would take longer and they ran into some problems on the way back to the highway. There were more abandoned vehicles and they had to stop and push a few out of the way which attracted walkers but nothing that got out of hand. Joaquin remembered the way they handled themselves in the battle; they did everything as a team. Michonne, Carol, Andrea, and Tryreese mowed down walkers while Glenn and Daryl pushed the vehicles. Maggie, Jonathan, and Rick guarded their trucks while he watched from the rear. Daryl gave a low whistle and everyone scrambled back to their places and they were back moving. They were able to keep on moving after that.

They stopped at the rendezvous point and the women headed for the rest room with their weapons. There were always walkers at rest areas and that always pissed Michonne off, she grumbled, "Just want to be able to go to the restroom without wading through walker goo". Carol got the first walker coming out of the door; Zak was easier to manage in a small space than Michonne's katana. Andrea got the second. There were only two, a man and a woman completely naked in a rest room with the ZA all around them. They laughed so hard just thinking about it that Andrea nearly peed her pants. They bolted into the area and checked for more walkers. Carol could hear Andrea and Michonne laughing over the tinkle. They were still giggling as they came out and joined the others.

The trip back was wonderful. Everyone was making jokes about the two naked walkers and sharing them on the radio. Carol was enjoying a libido rush which had not been dampened by all the sex she had been enjoying lately.

They drove the trucks to Joaquin's facility. They had agreed to share everything they found and Rick trusted Joaquin to keep his end of the bargain. Joaquin and Andrea got out together. She was going to stay and help organize the supplies. Joaquin posted guards on the supplies; they would finish it tomorrow. Dinner was at Ashton's tonight and they were all relieved that Jonathan had performed well and was back safe.

Rick and Jonathan got out at Ashton's gate. Judith and Carl were already there and he was going to shower and change for dinner there. Rick was hoping to find a chance to talk with Emily this evening. It was nice to think that she was waiting for him to come home tonight. Beth opened the gate for them, and she and Jonathan hugged and kissed. Emily was watching Judith today and Rick walked toward her house. Carl and Arya came bursting out to greet him with Canary running beside them, and Emily walked out on the porch with Judith in her arms. He hugged Carl and Arya, and walked over to Emily and took Judith from her, and then he kissed Emily hello. He had never even held her hand before but it was just so good to be back home.

Glenn and Maggie went to their house. They were sleeping and showering there. Most of their belongings were there. They still ate most of their meals with the group, but they enjoyed having a place of their own. Sam and Dave walked on home; it was their first run, and they were still psyched up.

Michonne and Tyreese got something to drink and went upstairs. Everyone wanted to clean the walker muck off. Carol ordered Daryl to the shower and gathered up their dirty clothes and put them in the laundry room. She took their clean clothes to the bathroom and joined Daryl in the shower. He had the shampoo ready and she smiled as he gathered her close, wet and ready was a good look for him. She wasn't wasting a libido rush this time.