And finally it's Friday! Hope you all have a great weekend and stay safe! Thanks for reading!
Chapter Four
Daryl hadn't expected this. He hadn't expected this at all. As soon as they neared Fort Benning he knew something was wrong. People were being turned away and although the place was huge and he could be mistaken, it didn't look like there were any buses anywhere.
"Something isn't right," Carol said as she watched the cars pull away.
"You're tellin' me. You see any buses?" He asked as another car pulled away and turned in the wide parking lot, heading back the way they had came.
"I don't. I'm not sure if this is such a good idea. I don't think the buses came here," she said.
He squinted up at the men that were approaching the cars. "Up ahead they pulled a few people out and have'em waitin' against that wall. Don't look like they're waitin' there cause they want to either. They ain't lettin' them leave."
"I don't want to turn around until we know they aren't here. I have to find her," Carol said, fear clear in her voice.
He glanced over at her and then nodded. "Okay. Let's just hope they don't pull us out and hold us here. I have my own family to find, remember?"
She nodded. "I know," she whispered in a shaky voice. "I know, and I can't thank you enough for this."
He understood her fear and almost wished that there was something he could say to make her feel better. But there was nothing. Even if he gave it a shot, he'd never been good at sugar coating anything.
Almost an hour later Daryl was finally pulling up to a uniformed man holding a rifle. He looked tired but still stern. He eyed Daryl and Daryl could feel the judgment in the stare. Finally the man nodded. "Either of you been attacked tonight?"
Daryl frowned. That was an odd question but he shook his head.
The man shined a light inside. "Why are you bleeding, ma'am?"
Daryl glanced at her and she met his eyes. Hers were filled with fear and uncertainty. She cleared her throat. "We got in an accident on the way out of the city. I hit my head on the window when we hit."
The man's lips pressed into a thin line and then he looked up, motioning for someone by the wall. "Ma'am we're going to need you to step out of the truck."
Daryl wasn't sure why hearing the man say those words had panic gripping him. He didn't know the woman well but he felt responsible for her in a way. The world had gotten a hell of a lot scarier in the last few hours and with her around, whether he wanted her around or not, he felt less alone in all of it. Whether he knew her or not, it felt kind of nice feeling like he had at least somebody to face this insanity with. And she was a kind woman and she was already afraid and this was just scaring her even more. Hell, the way the man was looking between them, he was feeling a little bit panicked himself. When he looked over and saw the stark horror on her face he shot the officer a look. "Why the hell does she need to get out?"
The man eyed him coldly. "Because she needs to be looked over. If she's been bitten and the two of you are lying about it, we can't let her leave. She'll have to be taken."
"Taken! What the fuck are you talkin' about, taken?" Daryl snapped, his hands gripping the wheel. They shouldn't have came here.
"She will have to be taken to quarantine, sir. No one that has been bitten is to leave."
Daryl scowled. "Bitten? What the hell are you talkin' about? Bitten by what?"
The passenger side door was opened and suddenly another man had Carol by the arm and was pulling her from the cab. She didn't resist but Daryl was half temped to pull her back in and then gun it. How in the hell had everything gotten so turned upside down? He'd woken up that morning, gone hunting, met his brother at a fast food joint and had some burgers. Then he'd gone to the garage where he worked. Now the whole fucking world seemed to have fallen on it's ass, he didn't know where his family was and he was watching some asshole drag some terrified woman, a woman that he was responsible for, out of his truck.
The first man was still standing in front of his door, blocking his path and Daryl was well aware that the man was armed, so he slid across the seat and exited the truck right after Carol.
"Hey, get back in your vehicle until we've had a medic check her over," the man with Carol said once he realized Daryl wasn't in the truck anymore.
"Fuck you, I'm goin' with her. We told your friend what happened. We only came here because we're lookin' for a couple of kids. The school said they were bringin' them here."
The man glanced between Daryl and Carol and then finally, to Daryl's relief, motioned for him to follow. Once Carol was standing against the wall like the other people had done the man turned back to him. "We accepted ten bus loads from various schools. All elementary aged. We're filled to capacity already. We aren't taking anymore civilians unless they are on the parent list for those specific children or if they're military themselves."
Daryl watched as Carol took in the news. She met his eyes and he had to look away. He was worried himself but this news seemed to take the life in her eyes and wring it dry. He looked at the man. "So you just turned away bus loads of kids? What the hell is happenin' out there anyway? Nobody is tellin' anyone anything."
The man shook his head. "I didn't turn away anyone. We're all out here following orders."
Just then someone in a white coat and a flashlight came towards them. He held a small case that looked like a first aid kit. Daryl was forgotten for a moment while the officer listened to Carol explain her injuries to the medic. The man looked her over carefully, examining the cut and then cleaned the wound. He checked over the rest of her body too, which Daryl found strange.
The medic gave the officer a nod and then walked away. Further along the wall another family was waiting to be examined.
"The two of you are cleared to go. You need to move along unless you have any military credentials you can show us. If so then we can let you and your wife inside."
He scowled. "She ain't my wife! And I ain't military. Can you at least explain what the fuck we're gonna be facing out there?"
The man glanced around but there was no one else there except Carol. "Look, all I can say is, if you see people that look off, if they don't respond to you and they seem to be coming at you no matter what you say or do, shoot them. Make sure it's a head shot. If they bite you you're dead. You'll either turn into one or they'll eat you alive."
"What?" Carol gasped.
Daryl didn't have time to ask anymore questions because the man was already walking away, heading towards the car that was waiting behind the truck. He scowled after the man and then took a few steps towards the truck. A small sound had him stopping and glancing over his shoulder. Carol had her back to him now, her arms wrapped around herself tightly and her head bowed. He wasn't sure what to do. He had just assumed that she was going to leave with him since it was clear that they weren't going to be able to get inside. And the kids weren't here anyway.
He wasn't sure what to say. He sure as hell didn't know what to do. He wasn't accustomed to crying females. The only females he ever spent any amount of time with were Piper and his aunt June. Neither one of them did any crying that he knew of. He knew that June was a compassionate woman and he wished she were here now because he had no idea what to do.
"Hey," he said, his voice low.
She stiffened but didn't turn around. "Thank you for the ride, Daryl. It was nice meeting you," she said, her own voice soft and shaky.
"You ain't got a car, woman. I sure as hell ain't leavin' you hear. We got a couple of kids to find, remember?"
She turned then, wiping her face, her large eyes regarding him with something that looked a lot like hope. He looked away. "You think we have a chance of finding them?"
He looked up again and then nodded. "Yeah, I do. So they weren't here. That don't mean they ain't somewhere." He wasn't really a praying man but at that moment he prayed that those kids were out there somewhere and he could figure out where the hell they were.
"I don't know how to thank you for this," she said again, shaking her head. "If it wasn't for you I would be completely alone. I have a feeling that this isn't the kind of world that anyone should be alone in anymore."
He felt his face flush and then all he could do was turn his back on her and head back to the truck. He slammed the door when he got in and she was quick to join him now. He was careful not to look at her. He didn't want to see her tears but he also didn't want to see her smile and he sure as hell didn't want to see that flicker of hope that put life back into her eyes.
"What should we do?" She asked.
He glanced at her then. He wasn't used to this. He usually hung back and let Merle make the decisions. All he had to do was tag along. This wasn't something he was used to. It wasn't something he wanted but he wasn't planning on giving up. He had a stake in this too. He had family out there. Maybe he didn't have any kids of his own but that didn't mean that the two that were missing weren't two that he would take a bullet for. They were still blood.
He took a deep breath and made a split second decision once they got to the intersection. If he turned left it would lead them to another back road, further away from the city. He turned right instead. "We're gonna pick our way back towards the city. Maybe the buses from that high school ain't made it to Benning yet. Hell the inbound lane was empty. Everybody was tryin' to get away from the city, not closer to it. We'll pick through every goddamn bus we see if we have to. They'll have to be on one of them."
"Surely we'll find them," she said, sounding stronger now.
"I ain't gonna stop lookin' till we do."
He happened to glance at her then and though her eyes were still glistening from tears her smile was probably the sweetest thing he had seen in a long time. He looked away quickly, wandering where the hell a dumb ass thought like that had come from.
Their windows were down to let in the cool night air so the sound reached their ears before they saw anything. Daryl slowed the truck down and before he could open his mouth to say anything they saw planes flying low, heading quickly towards the city. He stopped the truck and opened his door, his eyes never leaving the jets.
"Jesus Christ. What are they doing?" Carol asked, meeting him in front of the truck, her gaze trained on the sky.
He didn't answer her and he didn't object to her proximity. She was standing so close their arms were brushing. He wasn't sure if seconds or minutes passed after that but suddenly the city, that was clear against the dark backdrop, went up in flames. They could hear the sounds of explosions despite being miles away.
Neither one of them breathed as they watched and he didn't pull away when her hand was suddenly gripping his. The warm pressure couldn't chase away the chill that suddenly seemed to fill his veins, but knowing that he wasn't alone, that there was someone standing with him to share in this horror, made it at least bearable.
He had the strangest feeling that this very moment was the mark of a new beginning for them. For him. For her. For humanity as a whole. And from this moment on, this woman was going to remain a huge part of whatever he became. His hand tightened in hers as more buildings went up in flames.