Uhh... actually, this chapter was done like months ago. I got distracted... Just a moment please as I go to set up my distraction... By now, I'm sure everyone seems to think I am a huge Walking Dead fan. Turns out... I'm not. Not really. I'm actually writing most of this to encourage my artistic side to come back. I like the setting of the plot line, not so much for the actual plot of the TV show. Walking Dead is a challenge. One I fail to rise up to with my modern day thinking. I have actually done a lot more research of the 2000-2015's era, even though I lived through it (Im a home body). I'm, also, looking up a lot of science and mish-mashing it with Sci-fi ideas. Its a lot more difficalt then it sounds because I want it to be close enough to reality for it to be a thing but far fetched enough for people to subconsiously understand that it is a wild idea. (and no my reasent benge of Scorpion is NOT for research, though... ...)
I, also, would like to thank you guys for the comments and PMs. They suprised me. I don't know how to really respond to them but, please, know that they really lifted my spirits.
The first thing Rick noticed when the city came into view was the smoke. "What is that?" Rick asked as he pointed it out from his spot in the passenger seat.
Glenn cursed and hit the steering wheel. "Shit. Looks like we are going the long way in. Everyone hold on," he said as he turned the wheel sharply, stealing the van off the road into the grassy field that ran along the interstate road.
T-Dog fell to the floor board, unprepared for the sudden violent shaking associated with driving through the field. "What the hell!" the man cried out in shock, trying to find stable ground.
Daryl was unfazed by the sudden transfer, seeming to rock with the motions. The kid ducked his head to hide the grin on his face as T-Dog bounced around by his feet. Secretly, Daryl laughed at the man for being unprepared.
"How the hell are you still sitting there?" the black man asked the kid.
Daryl shrugged. "Prepared, I guess."
T-Dog just glared at Daryl, even as his body bounced around like popcorn popping in the microwave. Daryl thought the man looked quite ridiculous.
"What are you doing, Glenn?" Rick asked as he practically clang to the emergency 'OH SHIT' handle.
Glenn didn't answer the question, too focused on trying to get through the field to the rocky area on the other side. Smoke signals from the rooftops weren't exactly new, but it was rare. Glenn had at one point ran with a group in the city for a month before he joined up with the others. He knew the meaning and judging by the location of the fire, it was a warning against using the main roads into the city.
It took Glenn a few minutes to reach the rocky area leading to a chained fence that bordered a construction site on the outskirts of Atlanta City. When he did, Glenn let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't far from the interstate they were using to get to the city from the camps, but, with a little luck, it would be enough. He pulled the van up to the fence and parked. "We will have to walk from here," he said as he turned to look everyone over.
"Why?" Rick fought to keep the confusion off his face, his eyebrows though stubbornly refused and dipped low. What was going on?
Glenn sighed. "Because they lit the fires," he said like it was common knowledge, already turning to push open his door.
Daryl, not caring about why, had already pulled the van's side door open and hopped out. He stood in front of the van waiting for the others.
"The fires?" Rick hopped out of the van and slammed the door shut. "What fires?" he asked Glenn over the hood of the van.
T-Dog joined the small group of men with the bolt cutters they had brought along. The man's face was pale from the ride, but, otherwise, he was fine.
Daryl threw his crossbow on his back with practiced movement and took the bolt cutters from T-Dog. Then, the kid moved to the fence and began cutting the links. When he cut enough links, he pulled the fence back and slipped through to the other side.
Glenn followed behind Daryl even as he tried to explain the fires to Rick. "The fires are a sort of warning system put in place by the other residents of the city."
"There are other people in the city?" Rick asked as he slipped through the hole in the fence. He held the cut open for T-Dog, helping the thicker man through. "How come I never saw any last time we were here?"
Glenn gave Rick a deadpan look as the group moved forward through the construction site.
"Right. Never mind." Rick laughed nervously as if he just realized how stupid he sounded with that last question.
"So," T-Dog spoke up from the back, "Merle first or guns first?"
"We get my brother first," Daryl immediately snapped back at the man, sending T-Dog his darkest glare. What a stupid question. For good measure, Daryl added, "Obviously." There was no way he was going to leave his brother on that damn roof for any longer, even if he had to go by himself. Though, knowing Merle as well as he did, the man probably be long gone by the time they got there.
"Now, hold up a minute," Rick butted his way into the conversation before it turned into an argument, "we need to get the guns first before anyone else can get them."
Daryl turned his glare to Rick. "We get Merle first, then your stupid guns."
T-Dog stepped to the side, deciding to let the two men argue it out. Daryl had a mean right punch and a tendency to resort to violence when it came to his brother it seemed. T-Dog's eye still throbbed, even hours after the hit. He wasn't brave enough to get in front of Daryl's fist a second time. At least, not twice in one day. Maybe he will tomorrow, but not today.
"Didn't you hear Glenn," Rick asked Daryl, irritated they were even discussing this. "There are other groups in the city. We need to get those guns before someone else does and uses them against us."
Daryl sneered at the ex-cop. "Who the fuck cares about your guns?" he bellowed, taking a threatening step towards Rick. "If it wasn't for your ass droppin' in, we wouldn't be in this mess. We get Merle first."
"Hey," Glenn moved to get between Rick and Daryl before one could start swinging, "you're both forgetting one thing."
Both Rick and Daryl glared at each other over Glenn's shoulder. "What?" Daryl was the one who asked, eyes never leaving Rick.
Glenn pushed at both of the men, forcing them both to step off each other. "I'm the one who knows how to get to both the locations. If you want to get anywhere, you will need me to get you there." Glenn chose to ignore Daryl's rude snort and focused on Rick, who seem to be thinking his words over. "And I say, we get Merle first. We will need the extra set of hands when it comes to the resentences here, and Merle is closer. It's a win-win." Looking over at Daryl, Glenn said, "You get your brother back," then, Glenn looked at Rick, "and you get your guns."
Rick took a moment to mull over the idea. "And," Rick paused to let the question form, "if the guns are gone before we get there?"
Glenn sighed, bringing a hand up to rub the bridge of his nose. Seriously, this was bullshit. Why couldn't they have had this argument in the van on the way to the city, not in the city? "Look," Glenn let his hand fall back to his side, "you said you dropped them on the main street running through the city, right?" Glenn waited for Rick's confirmation before continuing. "No one in their right mind will be going down that way right now."
Rick tilted his head in confusion. "Why not?"
Glenn sighed, a piece of his soul escaping in the sigh. When Rick said he didn't know anything about the outbreak, Glenn hadn't realize just how ignorant the man was until it was slapping him in the face. It was like trying to explain Korean Pop Culture to an American. "Because," Glenn only thought the word 'stupid,' "they lit the fires. You would have to be desperate to go down that way." Which, they, apparently, were.
Rick threw his hands up in frustration. "What the hell does that even mean."
Daryl snickered at Rick's cluelessness. "Tha' means, Dumbass," Daryl sneered at the man, finding some sick enjoyment out of fucking with him, "tha' the road you road in on is a danger to human life."
"Isn't everywhere a danger?"
"Oh my god," Glenn groaned, head falling into his hand. They should have explained everything before they left the Camp. What we're they thinking, sending a newb out into the city? Glenn could cry at the stupidity of the group. "Look. Let's just go get Merle…." Glenn shook his head, turning away from Rick. He needed a minute before he tackled this issue… and a drink. He, most definitely, need a drink. Why did he always get stuck with the newbies? Maybe it was his personality? Maybe he should consider a change.
The call came in an hour after the sun came up. Aiden cursed his luck as he blindly reached over for the stupid phone. Jefferson was doing this to fuck with him, he just knew it. The fucker knew, he knew god damn it, that Aiden had just closed his eyes not even 30 minutes ago.
"What, god damn it?" Aiden growled into the bulky brick that called itself a phone when he finally got it to his ear.
"Good morning to you too, Gen," Terry's chipper voice chirped back at him.
"Ugh." Gross. Of course, it was him. Not only was Jefferson waking him up an ungodly hour, but the asshole was having Terry do it. Terry was too happy in the morning. "What time is it?" Aiden sat up on his cot, rubbing a hand down his face. He stopped, scratched at the five o'clock shadow that was quickly turning into a full blown beard with how little time he had to manage it.
"It's something o'clock," Terry helpfully answered Aiden's question. There was a pause, like the man was listening to something. "Oh, apparently, it's 6:30 am."
When did it stop becoming a five o'clock beard and become a beard? Was there an in-between? "Ugh." Thoughts. Aiden let his hand fall back to his side, only to pull it back up to his face to cover a yawn. "What do you want?" Aiden asked, too tired to think.
"Merle, remember? You said, call."
"Oh." Did he say that? He did didn't he? Why was that again? "Oh. Shit, yeah."
"Aiden."
There it was. That stupid ass worry like he was going to die today or something. "Shut up, stupid." Aiden scowled at the air as he moved to stand from his cot in the shared area acting as his room. The room use to be a manager's office at one point before the outbreak. Now, it had three cots stationed around the room: his, Max, and Jefferson's. Terry's was with his girlfriend turned wife in the med bay housing.
"I'm just saying."
Aiden forced his exhausted body up from his cot. Walking over to where Max slept, he picked up the man's shoe and threw it at him. "Get up." They had work to do. Then, he said to Terry, "Stop you're whining and tell me what's going on out there."
"Well, Merle is useless," Terry started in only to be interrupted by static that probably originated from a small scuffle. "Well, it's true, asshole. You were too fucking high to be of any use." Then, Terri was talking to him again. "Aside from telling us where his group is located, Merle can't really remember much of the Events. He doesn't even know if it was yesterday or two days ago, because he had at one point passed out."
Aiden sighed in frustration. "Fucking idiot." Then, Aiden turned his attention to Max. The man was moving like one of the undead outside as he laced up his shoes. "You look like shit, man."
Max flicked him off.
They were all exhausted. Every one of them, except Terry's ass who seemed to never be tired, had deep bags under their eyes. Everyone was fed well as long as they put in the work, but Aiden and his group of tightly knitted friends went days on one of those meals, usually because they didn't have time to actually eat more. Running a survivor group was in many ways worse than running a company. One mishap was all it took for the whole group to tumble down and everything they worked for gone with it.
"Wait. You said where his group was," Aiden reached over and grabbed a shirt. "They aren't with him?" He brought the shirt to his nose and sniffed it. Aiden's nose wrinkled at the smell of body odor. Nope. Not doing it today. He already needed a shower. Aiden tossed the shirt over his shoulder, and then picked up a different one. Giving it a sniff, Aiden shrugged and started to struggle into the shirt as he listened to Terry talk.
"No, apparently, they left him for dead. He thinks they were the ones who drove the dinner bell vehicle out of town like idiots." Terry sighed. "From what I am gathering from Merle, the whole group, minus a few, are unaware of the situation."
"Hm," Aiden hummed in acknowledgement to Terry's statement, as he stared at the jeans he was wearing. They looked clean enough. At least, they looked as clean as 3 day old jeans could get in an apocalypse. "So, our Darlina is still out with this group of dumbasses." He moved over to his dirty ass shoes. Seemed everything these days is dirty. You could never wash anything enough to get it actually clean.
"Seems so. However, Merle is thinks Daryl will come looking for him, despite what the group tries to say to sway his decision."
Aiden paused for just a moment in tying his shoes. "Perhaps, then, we should leave a little gift for the boy. He always did enjoy them." Once he had his shoes tied, Aiden stood up, tapping his toes on the floor a few times. Then, the two men made their way out of the makeshift room.
"What'd ya have in mind, Boss?" Terry asked skeptically. Team Alpha was sent out to destroy a base. They didn't have anything of real use for 'gifting a lover.' It wasn't like they could pull something fancy out of their asses either. "In case you haven't noticed the world has ended, Aid. We don't have huge bank accounts, money to blow, and places to blow it at around here."
"Of course, not, dumbass." Aiden scowled. "I was thinking of leaving him the phone. More precisely, your phone."
"What? Why? Where is the strategy in that?" Terry stopped for a few minutes. When he finally spoke up again it was in a wicked tone, "Are you thinking of having phone sex with our dear baby boy?"
Aiden choked on his spit. "What?!" his tone inadvertently rose a notch in pitch from his surprise. "What the fuck, Terry?!" Though, it really wasn't a bad idea. Wait. No. Aiden didn't do phone sex. That was for the deprived and desperate fucks who couldn't get laid in real life.
"What? It's a completely legit concern."
"No, Terry. Just no."
If Max could hear Terry's side of the conversation, he would surely be dying of laughter. As it was, the man was quietly snickering at Aiden's reactions. It was rare these days to get one over on the tiny man. Normally, Aiden was too winded up with stress and exhaustion to so much as smirk, let alone show his reactions to anything. The small man's face just seemed to be permanently stuck in this, as the females called it, 'bitch resting face.' His movements always seemed a bit like he was running on autopilot to Max, who knew the man well. Max thought it was nice to see Aiden loosen up some. It, also, made the red head wonder what they were talking about. Perhaps, Max should ask Terry or Jefferson when they got back.
"We are going to be taking his brother," Aiden said as he exited the warehouse and made his way towards the canteen with hopes of actually getting there for once. Sometimes, Aiden felt like everyone suddenly needed his help with a problem when he was going to scavenge for food in the kitchens. "The least we can do is trade him for the man." As always, Aiden's business mindset roared its head. "'Sides, Daryl will kill me if I don't give him a way to reach us and finds out later that we had the opportunity to reach out and didn't take it."
"Hm," Terry huffed back at him. "Whatever you say, pervert."
Aiden scowled at the man on the other side of the phone. "Asshole." Aiden's eyes caught a familiar face heading his way. "Aw, come on!" he complained, looking for an emergency escape route around the
tech dude that always seemed to have a complaint for Aiden. "I just wanted to eat, damn it! I got to go, Terry. Fucking Hitman is about to walk up on me." Aiden took a turn towards the medical zone, pretending he didn't hear the Tech calling his name. "And for fucks sakes, find out how Merle found the damn safe zone and fix the issue. This doesn't bode well for us if ever Dick, Tom, and Joe is just popping in and stealing our supplies." Then, Aiden hung up.
"General!" Hitman sounded too close to be ignored. Damn it.
Aiden forced his irritation out of his face, but inside he was raging as his stomach growled at him. When he felt he had a grip on his expressions, Aiden turned to Hitman. "Oh, Hitman. Good morning," he greeted the tech.
"I've been calling for you," the tech pushed out between pants. For a short man, Aiden sure did walk fast. The man covered more ground than most tall people he knew. "Didn't you hear me?"
Aiden foraged a look of confusion onto his face. "I apologize, Hitman. I must have been too focused with other things." He let his eyes shift over to the med bay zone then back to Hitman.
Hitman's eyes followed the direction Aiden was looking. "Oh," the tech's face lit up like he understood the issue, "Oh. I'm sorry. I completely understand the necessary precautions, but I'm sure the doctors have the situation under control."
What the hell was this man talking about? Aiden looked over at Max, who shrugged. Aiden's eyes shifted back to Hitman. "I'm sure they do," he smoothly continued, not once giving himself away, "however, I like to be thorough."
The tech nodded. "Of course, Sir. An early return of a team is never a good sign."
Aiden subconsciously tensed. There wasn't a team scheduled to come back today. No team came back early at all unless they said they were going to do so in their check in. Crap. Now he really did need to go to the med bay. Fuck today.
Glenn was amazing, Rick decided when they finally set foot into the shopping center around noon. Yeah, they ran into a decent amount of Walkers on the way here, but no where near as many as they would have traveling without Glenn. The younger man just knew the best routes to take.
Sometime during the walk through the valley of death, quite literally, Glenn had explain in a low tone what the fires they were seeing on every other building meant. The Korean had said they were a warning system set up by Ace, and didn't that name pull at his heart strings, Company. It was to warn travelers of the city of the 'impending doom,' his actual words, of a large herd of Walkers. He had told Rick, and to some extent to Daryl and T-Dog, about it being an uncommon sight. Usually, Ace Company didn't have time to warn people so controlled fires was the best they could come up with, and it just sort of stuck. There was always plenty to burn in the city, so it worked.
"My old group," Glenn said as they started their long trek up the stairs, "the one I ran with before I joined the camp site," he clarified before anyone asked, "use to carry around this walkie with them everywhere. I asked them once why, and they said it was for the updates."
Rick looked at Glenn as they climbed, brows pulled up in surprise. "Updates?"
Glenn shrugged. "Yeah. Apparently, this guy they called 'the General,'" Daryl shot Glenn an unreadable look at the man's words, "does these updates on Walker attacks. He calls them 'Dead,' though. The General even has a trade channel. We used it a few times when supply was low."
"Why would someone use a public form of communication for all of that? Wouldn't it be easy for others to come in and take their stuff?" T-Dog asked, mostly to give himself something to think about other than focus on his burning exhaustion. He wasn't exactly the most fit of them.
Glenn shrugged at the question. "I suppose its because that is the only surviving way of communication." Glenn paused for a second as he remembered a rumor he once heard. "I head once that the General was looking for people." The Korean wiped his sweaty forehead on his sleeve. "I don't know who or why, but they said that's why he uses radios instead of another form of communication."
Rick tilted his head. "What do you mean other forms of communication? I thought it was all dead."
Glenn gave Rick a strange look. How was he supposed to know? "Its just a rumor, but they say Ace Company has a lot of ways to communicate. Just not a lot of them are public enough for what he is doing."
"Have you ever been there?" T-Dog asked curiously, turning with the rest of the group in the stair well to go up another flight of stairs.
"Nah," Glenn denied off handedly, "I don't do big groups very well. Too many people gives me anxiety." He paused in speech as he walked up a few more steps "Especially these days," he continued, "and there is always a price with Ace. They trade anything of value from human life to the rock you killed the Walkers with."
Daryl lowered his crossbow a little bit as he looked back at Glenn from his spot on point. "Tha hell they need a rock for?"
Glenn laughed a little at Daryl's surprise. "It wasn't about the usefulness of the item traded. It was about the equivalent of exchange… and the General's mood."
"That makes no damn sense," Daryl muttered out turning away from the group of men.
Rick, reluctantly, agreed. Though, he did wonder if there was a story to that particular trade.
It seemed no matter where these ladies where officially assigned, they always found a way to meet up. Purely on accident, they would claim every time. However, as time grew on in the small community, their words seemed more like an over used excuse than actual truth.
Tammy, as a cook, was assigned to bringing lunch to the sick bay for that day. While running her normal routine of room to room door service for the patients, Tammy ran into Jenny, who just happened to be exiting one of the curtained off rooms. "Jeeennnny~" Tammy sang out in a happy tone, "Fancy seeing you here." The woman giggled as she pushed her empty cart right up next to Jenny in the makeshift hallway following her friend as they walked. If the exit to the sickbay warehouse just happened to be in the same direction… Well, that was her excuse for walking with Jenny if anyone dared to ask, Tammy thought with a mental smirk.
Jenny looked over at her friend as they made their way down the hallway and smiled a secretive grin. It just so happened, she was just on her way out of the building herself now that her shift hours were done. "Tammy," Jenny stated, fighting to keep her tone neutral and professional. "Lunch duty at the sickbay?" Jenny asked the cheerful woman next to her.
"You know it." Tammy laughed.
"You know," Jenny started, slipping her hands into her worn jeans front pockets, her thumbs resting against the hem of the pockets like some old fashioned cowgirl stereotype, "their gonna yell at us again if the superiors see us together again."
Tammy waved Jenny's words off. "It's not my fault they fuck up and gave me a shift that involves going back and forth from the sickbay." Tammy sighed, completely relaxed with the knowledge that she wasn't in the wrong. "If they really cared they wouldn't be so careless with our schedules."
Jenny nodded. "Point." Then she hummed in thought. "Though, I don't think they really get together to discuss our schedules." The woman gave a small airy giggle. "With how much they try to separate us all, you'd think they would. I'm not even sure why they want us to stay away from each other. It's not like we can do each other's job, so there's no harm in it."
Tammy nodded. "Right?" Then, she paused as a thought just seemed to hit her out of thin air, "but then, perhaps, that is the point?"
"What is?" Jenny asked idly as the rounded a corner, the exit to the building in clear sight now.
"Maybe they think that we will get in each other's way and hinder our response time to things?"
Jenny glanced at Tammy. "That's insane. Why would we get in the way of each other?" Jenny shook her head, hair fanning out briefly because of the sudden movement before falling just as quickly. "Seriously, we're adult, not children."
Just as Tammy was about to speak, the door to the warehouse opened. They both turn towards the door just as Lu-lu walked in holding the hand of a sniffling child.
"Ah," Lu-lu grinned seeing the two, Tammy and Jenny, in the open area that served as the sickbay's waiting room. Lu-lu turned her head to the child, a little boy with short brown hair and hazel green eyes. "See, I told you Ms. Jenny was here," Lu-lu told the child in a gentle voice. Then, she looked up and offered Jenny and apologetic smiled. "Sorry, Jenny. He just refuses to come to any other doctor."
Jenny sighed in distain. "Aw, man," she mumbled to herself with a groan, "so close to freedom." Jenny's eyes wondered over Lu-lu's shoulder, glazing forlornly at the door that was now closed and blocking Jenny's dreams of going home to her little corner of the housing area and curling up with a nice, albeit worn out, book on the bundle of cloth that served as her bed. Jenny groaned faintly, but, nevertheless, offered Lu-lu and the child with her a welcoming smile. "It's fine," she lied warmly, like she was really okay with the overtime, "I was just walking Tammy out and, then, I was going to go do some paperwork in the office." Jenny, now in her professional doctor mode, turned her gentle eyes to the child with a soft smile, "You are really my savior little man. If you hadn't walked in, I would be stuck with the never ending battle of paperwork." Jenny pulled up her left hand placing the back of her hand to her forehead acting like she would faint at the idea. "Oh, the paper cuts I would have afterwards." The child and
Tammy giggled at Jenny's antics. It looked so ridiculous for Jenny, who always had a childish demeanor but looked like she walked out of the science community catalog, sighed dramatically and pretend to swoon over the child Lu-lu brought in.
"Come, Come, my knight in shining armor. Let's go see what ills thee." Jenny held out her hand toward the child.
The child giggled adoringly up at Jenny as he took her hand. "Okay, Ms. Jenny."
"Oh, such a polite child," Jenny sighed, happily. "Please, just call me Jenny, Sir Knight."
The child giggled up at Jenny and nodded. "Okay, Ms. Jenny."
Lu-lu and Tammy laughed at Jenny's over exaggerated disappointment.
The door to the sickbay suddenly chose that moment to slam open. "Tammy, the cooks in the Kitchen said you would be here!" a voice yelled out almost immediately after the door hit the wall on the other side. In stepped Loran, who was, apparently, looking for Tammy. "Oh," Loran paused in surprise at the door way, staring blankly at the three sets of wide eyes on her. "You were right here." Loran laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Sorry." The three people, not Tammy as she was use to Loran popping out of nowhere to beg for food, blinked at the woman in the doorway speechlessly.
"Loran," Tammy scolded the loud woman, "this is the sickbay. People are resting and your disturbing it."
"Sorry," Loran whisper yelled. Even when whispering the woman was loud, the other three women mentally groaned.
Jenny just sighed and ignored the woman, choosing instead to look at the child now holding her hand. "Come on, Sir Knight. Let's leave this heathen," she sent a pointed look at Loran, "to dwell in the doorway, and get you checked out."
If possible, Loran's face turned redder in embarrassment at Jenny's jab. "Hey!" Loran yelled, offended.
"shhh," Tammy hissed at the woman, "Resting!"
"Oh. Right." Loran whispered loudly, "Sorry. Forgot."
"Again," Lu-lu groaned. "well, in any case. Now that I have safely delivered the Knight to Ms. Jenny, perhaps, we should just take the heathen and go."
Tammy nodded along with Lu-lu's statement. "Yes. Yes. I still have to go get the rest of the meals from the kitchen." Tammy turned to Jenny. "I'll be back."
Jenny nodded at Tammy. "Okay, then. See you later, I guess."
With that, the women split up; luckily, before the medical supervisor came around the corner to see what all the fuss was about in the front of the warehouse. The supervisor over the sickbay eyes were met with Jenny leading a snot face, literally, child down the hallway to the left. The supervisor blinked in confusion as her eyes shifted back and forth between Jenny and the reception area. Her eyes narrowed
in thought. She didn't have any proof, but the supervisor suspected Jenny and her little group of friends were here at one point causing a ruckus like they always did.
If I see them, the supervisor thought to her self as she watched Jenny and the child disappear into one of the sickbay's rooms, I'm gonna scold them so hard they will hate me. The supervisor turned on her pointed heel, heading back towards her office in the back of the warehouse. And, maybe, ban them all from the sickbay so people can actually sleep undisturbed.
Just as she was about to turn the corner, the supervisor paused, lifting a hand to cup her chin. "Come to think about it," the woman thought out loud, "isn't Jenny's shift over?" The woman shook her head, long red hair waving in the wind created by the action. "Such a hard worker." She continued her walk to her office. Would be a shame to ban her from the Sickbay. Maybe, just the others?
-Ch. Cut -
Everyone in the van making its way to Atlanta had their own agenda for taking the trip into the City.
Daryl, who sat on the hump of the tire frame in the back of the gutted van, fiddled with his cross bow, making sure everything was it working order. Despite his upkeep of the weapon, there were a few parts he was going to need to replace soon. For now, the crossbow would hold out until he could get his hands on the pieces. It wouldn't be hard, considering they were on their way into the city. A quick pull over stop was all he needed to get his parts. Cross bows where useful but now usually a survivors first pick.
During the ride into the city, Daryl tried not to think about his brother, keeping his focus on his crossbow.
Glenn, who knew the streets of Atlanta better than the advantage resident of the city, drove in silence. He hated going into the city and generally needed the time going in to sync himself up.