Georgette ate the last of her breakfast, the fact that she, Candice, Athena and Ares were cousins. She wished she had known on the road. Maybe she and Athena wouldn't have been so cold to each other. Despite the new information she still was being quiet and withdrawn, while Ares enthusiastically told Daryl, Michonne and Carl all about his life with his parents.
After breakfast everyone seemed to have their own job. Sarah, the elder woman who had healed her face, was sitting with Carlotta, the second nurse. She was showing her how to properly wrap a sprained ankle. Pedro and Talmidge had gone out hunting, Michonne went to patrol the fence, Carl and Judith had decided to show Athena and Ares around. They had offered the same to her, Candice and Odilia but they had politely declined, saying that they needed to speak with Daryl which had been the truth. Georgette had to keep her word with Odilia. But now that they were here and she'd found her father how would he react to it? If he didn't want to come he certainly wouldn't want her to leave. As they sat down to talk at the now empty table Georgette couldn't help but notice the pride and happiness still shining in her father's eyes. It would take them all a lot more than twenty-four hours for the full reality to sink in.
"We need to talk to you about something," said Georgette, "When Candice and I met Odilia on the road we made a deal." She hoped to God that his reaction would be a good one. "She said she would help us get here if we helped her rescue her mother afterwards." Odilia took over and said
"She lives down in a village in Louisiana. It's a really well stocked, successful community but it's run by a corrupt evil man named Vince. When I started to get suspicious he had his second in command try 'n torture 'n kill me. I escaped and ran up north. But my mother is still there. I need to save her and let everyone know that Vince 'n his friends are no good." Daryl's eye were narrowed and at first Georgette thought he would flat out say no.
"How big is this place?"
"Maybe 'bout around one hundred fifty people? It's not a city but 'cause of the resources we have it's really strong. If you come with us I can draw you a map 'n let you know the best ways in and out. We ain't gonna go in blind." Georgette saw the deep thought in her father's eyes and she said
"I'm not gonna break my deal dad. I promised her and she's become like a sister to us. Without her we might not even be here." It hurt her to say it but she couldn't abandon Odilia no matter how happy she was to have found him. He pushed his seat back and stood up.
"I gotta think about it for a bit." As he was walking back across the room towards the door he stopped and turned to look at her and Candice. "I ain't gonna loose you two again. You're still my little girls."
Daryl found Michonne standing at the top of the eighteen wheeler, looking out at the fields.
"Seen anythin'?"
"Nope," she said, "How's your girls?"
"They're already tryin' to run away from me." Michonne laughed, thinking he was joking.
"Get used to it, they're young adults." When she saw his serious face her smile fell and she said
"Daryl what's wrong?"
"They wanna go south."
"Why?! They just got here!"
"I know," he said, "But you know the blonde girl they have with them? Odilia? Georgette made a deal with her on the road." Daryl then explained what Odilia had told him about the village and how they wanted to rescue her mother. "She told me she can't break her promise. They want me to come with them."
"This place sounds pretty locked up tight," she said, "Gonna need more than just the four of you to overpower them." He looked up at her smiling face, unsure if he she was suggesting what he thought she was.
"No," he said, "We can't gonna all go 'n leave this place behind."
"Why not?"
"It's been our home for years."
"But think about it," she said, "If we could fight off that evil man and his men we could have that whole place for ourselves. Once the people there figure out how horrible he is they'll fight against him."
"But he could lie to them," said Daryl," Tell 'em that we're intruders and not to believe us."
"We'll just have to go to them before he does." They were silent for a moment and Michonne continued "Either way I think we should go. You don't wanna lose your girls and Louisiana would be full of resources like she said." Daryl nodded and said
"But what about everyone else?"
"Carl and Judith will want to come," she said, "So will Pedro, Talmidge, Carlotta and-" He cut her off and said
"What about Sarah? She's gettin' old, how will she be able to keep up with us on the road?"
"They have that ATV and trailer," she said, "We could fix it up a bit, make it so it's not so bumpy and rough, she can go in that."
"And what about the rest of us?"
"We'll walk beside it," she said, "They'll just have to keep it at our pace."
"So you're all for this?"
"If it means keeping you with your daughters than yes. And this place sounds promising. Sure we have a good set up here but things could be a lot better."
When the little meeting between she, Candice, Odilia and her father was over the three of them went outside into the backyard. Georgette understood why he needed to think about things. It was a lot to drop on him, especially when he had all these other people to consider. She tried to push it out of her head as Athena, Ares, Judith and Carl approached them.
"Oh hey," said Judith with a smile, "You guys wanna come out to the gardens with us?"
"Sure," under her breath she said "Not like we haven't already been there." She felt Candice elbow her in the ribs to keep her quiet. They followed them along a stone path towards a gate. When they walked out it was clear they were leaving the fenced in area. Her sister asked
"Are we safe out here?"
"Definitely," said Carl, "We haven't seen walkers in awhile. It's cause we're so far out from the towns. There used to be a lot more of 'em back when I was little but they've slowly started to rot away." She watched Candice move up to walk beside him to talk, leaving her with Judith. The cheerful red head turned to her and said
"You guys had a long journey here, must be a relief to finally be able to relax a bit." Georgette nodded and said
"Thanks for being so good to us."
"It was no problem," she said smiling, "Daryl talked about you two all the time and when he was talking he was thinking."
Candice was completely sucked into what Carl was telling her. He was talking about what it was like before the turn. Her father hadn't given them much of an insight into what it was like so Carl's story had her hooked. He talked about going to school as a kid and then losing his father and escaping with his mother. By the time they had reached the garden he'd gotten halfway through his story, just reaching the part about moving into the prison. Candice wanted him to continue but when she saw a tree thick with oranges. She picked one off for herself, sinking her teeth into it, not caring about the tough skin. The sweet citrus flavor instantly filled her mouth and made it water even more. Like some sort of savage she tore into it, peeling back the skin with her fingers and tearing out a piece of the soft inside. She had forgotten that Carl was there. He stood over her laughing. Her face got red and she said
"I haven't had one of these in years."
"Well have as many as you want." She saw her sister and the others getting their own fruit on the other side of the garden. She took the opportunity to try and get more out of him.
"So what happened when you reached the prison?" He pulled an orange off for himself and sat down next to her in the shade of the tree, continuing his story.
Daryl was waiting for them to get back from the garden to speak to everyone. It was around lunch time and he'd decided to hold a meeting about moving down south. When the group of kids (he liked to still think they were) walked in he said
"We're holdin' a meetin'." Carl asked
"What for?"
"You'll find out jus' take a seat." They did as they were told. Everyone looked a bit nervous. Daryl didn't usually call meetings unless there was an issue. He stood up at the end of the table and took a deep breath, hoping everyone would react positively. "You all know my daughters arrived a day ago 'n I thought they would be stayin' here with us but that's not the case." He went on to explain everything about Odilia, the village in Louisiana and traveling there. When he was finally finished the room was completely silent. The first to speak was Judith who said
"I'll come along!" Well that was one.
"So you want us all to come along with you on this trip?" Daryl nodded and said
"If you're willin' too."
"Well I'd rather stay here," he said, "I'm fine on my own." He knew he couldn't convince everyone.
"Are you sure?"
"Ya," he said, "I'll can keep it running, I'll take in anyone who passes through." Daryl had never gotten quite close to Talmidge or anyone of the Woodbury residents for that matter. He had been too lost in his own thoughts about his estranged family. If he wanted to stay here that was fine with Daryl, someone would be here to keep it running in case things went wrong in Louisiana. If not, saying goodbye was not going to cause him much grief.
"Anybody else want to stay behind?" Nobody raised their hands but just looked at each other in silence.
"I'll come," said Carl, "Can't stay here while you and Michonne leave." He looked at Carlotta and Sarah next. Both women would be useful with their medical training. Sarah cleared her throat and said
"If Carlotta comes I will too." Daryl smiled at the older lady. "And if I don't have to walk the whole way." He laughed and said
"Don't worry about it; we got somethin' you can ride in." Carlotta smiled and said
"I'll come with you." So it decided. He saw Georgette beaming with happiness from across the table.
"Start packin'," he said, "We'll get everythin' ready to leave tomorrow 'n go the day after." Ares stood up out his chair and said
"We're coming too, can't loose the only family we got left."
With everything settled, they all headed towards their bedrooms to start putting things in bags, something Daryl hadn't had to do in years. In forty-eight hours he'd be on the road again. But this time he'd have the whole group and his two daughters with him.
Thanks stateofgrace-xo, DarylDixon'sLover and K. Lynn Perks for commenting :) So that is the end of Into the Unknown! Next story will be up sometime between now and Friday hopefully. If not I apologize, life's just been really busy lately, but that should all end next Wednesday. I still have to come up with some superficial things like title, summary, etc. but pretty much everything's planned. Once it's posted I will create a chapter here to alert all of you.
Thanks for reading, you guys have been the best to me! I couldn't ask for better readers :)
Wanderlustt