A/N: A thank you to Hong En, specialsmiley1315, wumbo133, and mishka2184 for reviewing!
I do not own the Walking Dead.
Chapter Sixteen
They'd been driving for hours without stopping when, in the late afternoon, Marianne suddenly hit the brakes.
"I thought we weren't doin' bathroom breaks yet."
"That's not why I stopped. I saw somethin' I want to check out."
"Saw what? There's nothin' out here."
"You should pay more attention. Now follow me and watch out for walkers."
The two of them left the truck. Marianne took the keys with her, mostly out of habit and partially because she was paranoid that someone would steal it, but kept the truck unlocked.
Marianne led him down the road a few car lengths and then veered right. The stone ruins of a long gone building came into sight.
"They could've camped out here last night," she said as she climbed to stand on top of one the walls. A welcome sight greeted her. There was a huge mess of footprints surrounding a recent campfire. Jimmy stood next to her on the wall and she pointed it out.
"How do we know it's them?"
"We don't but I got a good feelin' about it."
As they walked back she took note of the several sets of tire tracks but it was hard to tell how many there had been.
"They'll be in the town comin' up but we'll be careful in case it ain't them," Marianne told Jimmy as they got back inside the truck after taking a five minute break.
With even more confidence that they would soon be reunited with their group they continued their journey. Marianne looked at the gas level estimating they'd have just enough to reach the town and hopefully find the supplies they desperately needed to siphon more fuel. If not, they'd have to find a new car.
After a long silence Jimmy spoke. "I hope Beth's okay. I mean, I hope everyone is okay."
"I get what you mean. But don't get too excited," she said, not able to follow her own advice even after trying but she kept her poker face on.
"Who do you think made it?" Jimmy asked. Marianne hadn't stopped thinking about it since she read Daryl's message.
"Daryl." The only person that mattered. "Lori, Carol, Patricia, Beth and Hershel were at the house and all the cars were gone except for this truck." She paused. "But Hershel said he'd die there so maybe he did."
A lone walker appeared in the road and Marianne drove around it. "Carl was missing," she said. "I think he left to find Rick and if he did, Rick would've gotten Carl out alive no matter what. Then there's Glenn, who'd get Maggie out somehow even if he died doin' it." Marianne sighed. It was worse speculating out loud than doing so in her head. "I just don't know."
A sign appeared that said the next town was coming up in five miles. The somber mood dissipated a little and Jimmy had a goofy smile on his face but Marianne was getting apprehensive.
They made it there and quickly found the main street where she parked in front of the small grocery store. Calling it a town was generous. She was surprised it was even on the map they had, which wasn't as detailed as she liked. She wanted to find a better one.
Both of them got out of the truck and looked around. The street was littered with about a dozen dead walkers. She didn't recognize any of the parked cars but it couldn't hurt to take a look around.
"We can each take a side. It's faster," Jimmy said.
"No, that's a good way to get you killed. You're comin' with me."
"I can handle myself." Jimmy stood up straighter, unconsciously trying to look more capable.
"Sure you can."
"You're not in charge of me."
Marianne raised her eyebrows at him. "Of course I am."
"But-"
"I said no." She stared him down and Jimmy relented.
Marianne decided to do the grocery store first. She knocked on the window and waited more patiently than Jimmy did. Nothing came. She opened the door and Jimmy followed her inside.
"Stay back." Marianne ignored his frown. She nocked an arrow and made a circuit around the store, peeking down all of the aisles and noticing the shelves were empty. Lack of food wasn't a problem yet but it was still a concern that gnawed at her in the back of her mind.
In the freezer section in the back of the store she found a dead walker wearing denim overalls. She stood next to it and bent down for closer inspection. Some of the blood was still wet.
She went back to the front of the store where Jimmy was looking out the window while waiting for her.
"Anything?" Marianne asked.
"No walkers. No people."
"Come on. We'll take a peek in the back."
Jimmy perked up a little and had an annoying pep in his step. They reached the back door but it was locked. Marianne, once again, told Jimmy to stay put while she looked behind the cash register counter for keys but came up empty.
"Can't find the keys. Let's go."
When they went outside Marianne walked over to the closest dead walker and inspected this one too. It came as no surprise when she found some wet blood. She decided to keep this bit of information from Jimmy, at least for the time being.
They searched the rest of the main street buildings faster than she expected. There were no walkers to kill since they were already dead but there was also hardly any in the first place. It seemed like most of the people that lived here had fled.
They moved on to the nearest houses.
The first one they tackled was a small whitewashed clapboard house with green trimming. It would be good practice for Jimmy. From how the day was going there was slim chance a living walker was inside and Jimmy needed to learn how to clear a building instead of just following Marianne's lead.
They stood on the front porch. "What's first?" She asked.
"Knock on the door." Jimmy looked like he was going to laugh, appreciating the irony of what they had to do. You used to knock on doors for a completely different reason.
Marianne gave him a shove. "Take this seriously or you're seriously dead."
"Sorry."
Marianne stared at Jimmy who was just standing there staring at a sunflower themed welcome sign hung up on the front door. "Well, are ya gonna do it? We don't got all day."
He knocked, his neck and face turning red and not from the sun. They waited but nothing came and Jimmy went to open the door.
"Get your knife ready," Marianne reminded him. She had warned them there would be grave consequences if he used his gun when he didn't have to.
Jimmy slowly opened the door and entered the house. His grip on his knife was so tight his knuckles were white.
Marianne figured out the layout of the place in no time at all. They had stepped into a living room and in the back was the kitchen and dining room combo. The hallway to the right led to a bedroom and bathroom.
He went through the house and Marianne gave him a pointer every now and then but all things considered he was doing well. Now she needed to see how he reacted when they found a walker.
Jimmy opened the bedroom closet and looked inside. "It's all clear."
"Good, now it's time for the fun part." They searched the house but it was obvious someone had already been there.
They found the rest of closest houses were also picked over. All of the cars they managed to find keys to and tried to start didn't have any gas. It almost didn't matter since the mechanic shop and the houses' garages were a bust but, even so, they still needed to find a working car. Nothing good was left so they cautiously moved farther into the neighborhood.
She stopped the truck in front a short street with a cul-de-sac at the end but didn't like the feel of it. There was only one road out and they could get trapped down there.
"We'll take the next one," she said more to herself than to Jimmy.
Marianne parked the car at the beginning of the next street and looked down it. There were no walkers and she didn't recognize any of the cars.
They were on the porch of their third house, which was small and two storied, when Marianne decided it was another good time to let Jimmy practice.
"You take the lead."
The teenager stared at her like she'd grown a second head. "Are you jokin'?"
"Nope. Now get to it."
Jimmy did fine clearing the first floor even though she had to remind him to check the coat closet. Now all that was left was the second floor. Marianne didn't know why, but clearing second floors in houses always put her more on edge than usual.
They crept up the stairs and a small hallway came into view with four closed doors. Marianne guessed they were two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a linen closet.
Jimmy chose the first door and looked to her for approval but Marianne didn't give away what she was thinking and stayed in the hallway, letting Jimmy go into the bedroom alone. All was clear and he moved to the door across the hall which turned out to be the bathroom. He opened the shower curtains without Marianne having to tell him to.
The third door was a closet and now they only had one left. Like all the rest Jimmy slowly opened the door and cautiously looked inside. He jerked back and almost slammed the door shut making Marianne frown. She didn't expect this reaction since he had handled plenty of walkers on the farm.
"Walker," he mouthed.
"Kill it." Jimmy nodded and Marianne got her bow ready just in case. He began opening the door again and suddenly an arm shot out of the room and a hand latched onto his shoulder. Jimmy yelped and fell forward to the floor, taking the walker with him.
Marianne kept her arrow aimed at the walker's head but didn't release it, letting Jimmy figure this one out.
He quickly recovered and rolled away from the walker as far as he could before rising to his knees. The walker reached for him but before it could take hold of him again, Jimmy jammed his knife into its head.
After that, in the rest of the houses, she kept back, always ready to step in if she needed to, and let Jimmy take the easy kills of the few walkers they came across. The duo had some luck. They found more supplies than they could carry and were able to start a couple of cars but each had less than a quarter of a tank left. She told Jimmy they'd come back for one of them if they didn't find a better car.
"It's getting dark. This'll be our last stop." Marianne had made a full circuit of the neighborhood constantly on the lookout for the group's cars. They had to stop once to dispatch five walkers and Jimmy proved that he was getting better at using his knife. She finally stopped in front of a promising looking house with a two door garage.
Marianne cleared the house herself since she was faster. She killed a walker that was hanging out in the master bathroom.
"All clear." Jimmy had waited by the open front door. She raised her hand and a key ring was hanging on her index finger. "There's a hatchback in the garage."
They went into the house and locked the door. Marianne led him to another one that opened to the garage. As she was walking around the car to the passenger side she threw him the keys which he deftly caught with his left hand.
The car beeped when Jimmy unlocked the doors. They opened them at the same time and slid into their seats. It was the moment of truth. He put the key in the ignition and turned.
The car came to life and Marianne only had eyes for the fuel gauge. The needle pointed at 'F' and she nearly wanted to high-five Jimmy, who looked at her with a huge smile on his face.
Their success didn't distract them for long and they got to work. Since there was only the white hatchback in it and room for another, Jimmy backed the truck inside and Marianne closed the garage door.
Marianne made sure the house was locked down. She closed the curtains for all of the windows and pushed a sofa in front of the back door but left the front door unblocked. While she was doing this Jimmy had begun transferring all of their supplies from the truck to their new car. Marianne soon joined him.
"If they were here, and I think they were, they made a quick and efficient search for supplies then left." She admired this efficiency but also found herself annoyed that they had moved on so soon. There was shelter here and barely any walkers; surely they could've stayed the night. Marianne guessed most of them would want to but someone was in a real hurry and she had a good idea of who it was.
"You really think they were?" Jimmy placed another bag in the back while Marianne grabbed two water containers from the truck bed.
"Yeah, if it was another group they would've stuck around. This place is nice enough."
"Why didn't ours stay?" He placed the last bag in the car and shut the back door.
"It's late. Let's eat and we'll push on first light tomorrow."
Rick was worried about Daryl. The man hadn't said more than ten words since they left the farm and wouldn't acknowledge anyone's existence unless he had to. He knew Daryl would take losing Marianne hard but it was worse seeing it play out in front of him. Maybe they should've gone back.
No. He squashed the idea. He had needed to get his wife and son somewhere safe but then, what about Marianne? She was Daryl's family. Guilt sucker punched him and he tried to reason his way out of it. He needed to keep all of them safe. They'd lost enough people already. Besides, T-Dog and Lori had seen Marianne and Jimmy disappear in a swarm of walkers nobody could survive.
He'd talk to Daryl when he returned from hunting. That's what he'd do. Feeling a little better Rick had a burst of energy and decided to walk the perimeter again even though T-Dog was already on watch. After ransacking the small town and refueling their cars they continued on, heading northeast, until they found a small, abandoned farmhouse to hole up in for the night. He was on his second round when Daryl appeared out of the trees with a string of squirrels.
Rick hurried over to him before Daryl could get within earshot of the house.
"Daryl, we need to talk." The disgruntled hunter turned around looking none too pleased that Rick had initiated a conversation but stopped walking anyways and glared at the grass in front of Rick's feet. "I know you're havin' a hard time and I'm grateful you've stayed." Daryl's expression didn't change but his eyes glanced up at Rick and then went right back down to the ground. "We all miss her."
Daryl scoffed."You barely even liked her."
"We had our differences but I cared about her and I care about you."
"Y'all only wanted us around 'cause we were useful to ya."
"That's not true."
"Don't tell me it ain't." Daryl finally looked Rick in the eye. "If it was Lori or Carl ya would've gone back."
Rick frowned, not at Daryl but at himself. Daryl was right. This time Rick was the one to look away, ashamed of the truth.
"People are waitin'." Daryl took off towards the house leaving him behind.
A/N: I know it's a slow one but next chapter something big happens so stay tune! It'll be posted in 2-3 days.
Also, I hope a smidgen of Jimmy's personality sort of made an appearance. He was hard to write since all Marianne wants to do is order him around.
In other news, my dream last night was interrupted by an appearance from Daryl who asked me for a piece of gum before promptly disappearing, leaving me a little confused. I think it's because this story's been on my mind more than usual lately.