Pushing On

Daryl woke up to a cold and foggy morning. Everyone was tired and disgruntled this morning. The new had worn off on the journey. The reality of being cold, wet, homesick, and afraid all time was taking a toll on their spirits. He brought out some MREs, they usually ate oatmeal for breakfast but he figured that they needed all the calories they could get today. The hot food was eaten so quickly that he knew that they hungry this morning. They gathered by the vehicles and Daryl spoke, "We need to be on the lookout for another vehicle today. We need to send a scouting team out before the group to look for trouble. We can use the radios to keep in contact."

Patrick said, "I should do it, I had lots of experience traveling in hostile territory in the army". The others winced, someone referring to some part of the United States as hostile still hurt.

Daryl knew that Patrick was the man for the job but hated to give him the most dangerous job, "Take someone with you, you can't shoot and drive."

Sam knew that he was a better driver than a marksman, "Let me drive and Pat can do the rest."

They took off in the Humvees and started toward down from the mountains. They should be going through a town in less than an hour. The road seemed to have less debris on it and they noticed that the mountains turned into hills as they went along. The town seemed deserted except for walkers. Daryl welcomed the sight of walkers because it meant that there probably weren't a whole lot of people around.

They found a row of car dealerships in that town and they pulled into the back of the lot. The place was swarming with walkers and it was an all hands on deck battle. Michonne used her katana to keep her area clear and Tyreese guarded her back with his hammer. Patrick and Rick fought as a team, Allen and Jamela, and he and Sam. The gaggle was cleared eventually and they rested and had some water.

Sam picked out the vehicle since he was doing the driving; he chose a mid-sized suv with good gas mileage that was inside the dealership. It was new but it looked as if it was being prepped for a new owner. Sam was able to get it running and he thought the battery would hold a charge now. The car had a full tank and they transferred Patrick's and Sam's belongings into the suv.

The Humvees used diesel and they were running low so they siphoned some fuel from vehicles they found along the street. One siphoned and the others fought; the walkers in this town didn't give up easily. Daryl knew that they needed to stock up on supplies and they drove on looking for an all purpose type store that hadn't been looted. Pat spotted one on the road leading out of town and they parked on a deserted lot. These stores never closed but it looked as if the manager of this one had closed the store, sent everyone home, and went home

There was an optometrist office located in the store with a separate entrance. Daryl pried that door open and they entered the store from the eye doctor's office. The place was quiet as a tomb and dusty. Daryl put Rick on watch and divided into food team and weapons team. Jamela, Allen, Tyreese, and Michonne took food and Patrick and Sam went after weapons and ammo. They would meet back at clothing so that they could change out of their walker crusted clothes. Daryl was going to check out camping equipment to get more fuel for their campstove.

Daryl found fuel and picked up another stove. It might be good to have the stove in different vehicles in case they got separated. He picked up a few things that might make their lives a little easier and went back to clothes. He found some clothes and changed there. His days of modesty long over and went to take point so that Rick could find some cleaner clothes.

Daryl watched the parking lot and knew that it wouldn't stay quiet long. He could see a few walkers starting toward them in the big parking lot and was ready to give the whistle signal when the others showed up with all sorts of goods. They hustled out to the vehicles before the walkers got there.

Sam and Patrick were first to pull out, then Tyreese, Jamela, Allen, and Michonne. He and Rick were last. It went without being said that Jamela must be safe at all cost. She was the one who knew what they needed. She was the reason they were here. In the event of attack, Rick would use their vehicle as a shield against the attackers.

Sam and Patrick found little to attract their interest for the next hour. It was mostly work; there must have been a severe store here a while ago because the trees were long dead. Patrick commented, "That is why the town wasn't looted, these trees went down and blocked the road from looters. They used chains on the Humvees to move trees far enough to maneuver through. The noise attracted walkers and they had to be put down. Jamela had gotten some boxes of diaper wipes and they used some water to wash their hands and faces from walker goop.

The pushed on from the downed trees to more populated areas. Daryl could see deer eating by the side of the road; they were fleet enough to get away from the walkers. They stopped to siphon fuel once and then ate lunch by the side of the road. The morning fog was giving way to a cool and bright day. Daryl checked on the food supplies and figured that they might stop for a snack again in a couple of hours. Today had been one fight after another and they were using a lot of calories. He urged them to drink water. He filled up all the water purification bottles at lunch. The already cleaned water was stored in each vehicle.

Patrick watched Daryl and was impressed that he made such a good leader. Daryl had the ability to make preparations for when the plan went wrong. Patrick had been on enough missions to know that plans go wrong often as not.

They were making slow but steady progress toward their goal and they started back on the road with renewed vigor. Pat saw smoke curling up toward the sky and motioned for Sam to stop the suv. He radioed the others to pull over while he checked it out. He and Sam went into the woods to use that cover to approach the area. There was a side road up ahead and they followed the road path still using trees as cover. There was a small community behind high fences. They could see several houses and barns. There were greenhouses and high tunnels. The brush was cleared away from the fences for at least a football field. Patrick and Sam eased back down the road to the others. They went on their way.

The next town had been looted and Rick said, "I hope that those people living back there got every bit of it". Daryl agreed, "I think they have enough people to make it. It feels good to know that we can come back from whatever caused this".

Rick seemed to be talking to himself when he said, "The next generation might not be exposed to the virus, Judith might not even have it. Viruses mutate and maybe the next version will be like a bad cold or something".

Daryl thought about that for a while, "Just having a next generation sounds good to me. Their lives will be tough enough without having to worry about walkers".

Rick said, "Andrea and I aren't using any protection. I am scared shitless after what happened to Lori but Andrea wants a bigger family. She wants Judith to have a sister and Carl to have a brother. She wants to name the girl "Amy" and the boy "Dale".

Daryl snorted, "Damn women, they won't give up on rebuilding the world one baby at a time. You know how stubborn Andrea is, she'll have those two babies, you wait and see."

Rick laughed, "I am doing everything I can to make it happen. I just hate to think that if something happens to me out here that she might have a baby, Judith, and Carl to worry about."

Daryl didn't say anything else; he had left Carol with a baby to worry about.

The day went better than they planned. They went around towns whenever possible and it seemed that while there were signs of human life everybody was keeping a low profile. No one wanted to confront anyone else.

Daryl debated stopping with Patrick. There were going to go under I-77 and travel a few more miles to the storage area. Jamela had never been there but thought that the storage facility would be located somewhere outside the town. Pat voted for pushing through to the town and trying to locate the parts the next day. Daryl agreed and they picked up more speed when they were on straight open stretches.

Sam stopped when he saw I-77; it was a long snake of stalled cars and trucks for as far as he could see in both directions. These travelers must have been headed for Virginia or West Virginia when they got stopped. They would have died of dehydration in the summer heat if they stayed but the chances of making it were not much better if they started walking. There would be walkers still hanging around he knew and the cars would be full of them.

Sam pushed on toward the town on high alert now. Patrick checked his weapons. They might need the automatic rifles. The underpass was clear and Patrick saw signs of the dead here and there, but they were too far gone to be a threat. The area seemed deserted but Patrick noted that there weren't any cars left abandoned on roadways like they had been seeing.

The town seemed to consist of a post office, a few stores and gas stations, fast food restaurants, and a couple of medium priced hotels. They used the last of their daylight to scout around for the storage areas. Patrick and Sam scouted while the others moved out of town into a more open area. There were walkers about and they put them down while they waited.

Less than ten minutes later, Pat radioed that he was there and gave directions. Daryl saw that it was there was a stout fence around the buildings and that the fences seemed secure. Pat had unlocked the fence and they all drove in and locked it behind them.

There were three huge building and a smaller one located close to the front. It must be the administrative building and they found that it was unlocked but seemed secure. They decided to stay here and go through the buildings tomorrow. Everyone grabbed their stuff and began hauling it into the building when a voice rang out "Hold it right there. We have you covered from all sides." They froze in place and heard the sound of safeties being released on automatic weapons all around them.