Chapter 12-Leaving for Georgia
Simon's P.O.V.
Simon stood up and looked at Jared. "Negan?"
"No," Jared answers after a moment. "A group of people living in a junkyard."
"How many?" Simon asks.
"I don't know, we saw a group of them head into there," Jared tells him as he follow Simon outside of the room. He walks down the halls and sees Saviors sitting and eating. Workers sat against the wall in a row, eating sandwiches with dog food in it. "Send a group out to watch them. Wait till a group comes out and have them take them and bring them here to me," Simon tells Jared, who nods as he walks away. Simon walks outside and sees workers on the fence trying to control the walkers, which have tripled since Simon took control. Simon sees one of the workers sitting down away from the walkers taking a break. "Hey, come here," Simon tells the worker, who looks at him and quickly stands up.
"I'm so sorry," He says quickly.
"Come here," Simon growls. The worker slowly walks up to him with fear evident on his face. "How would you like a better life?" The man looks at him, confused. "Temping, isn't it?"
"Yes, sir," He says.
"I need an inside man for something. You wanna help?" Simon asks.
"Of course, sir," The man says, lowering his guard.
"Good," Simon says with a grin before he withdraws his gun and shoots the man in the neck. The workers look at him as the man falls to the ground and dies. "Next person slacking on the job will become a meal!" Simon shouts. "Feed him to them," He says before he walks inside. "Who should I invite to my bed tonight?" He wonders as he walks through the Sanctuary.
Tara's P.O.V
Tara was packing a back when there was a knock at her door. "It's open!" She shouts. The door opens, and she hears footsteps as they walk upstairs and stop at her door. She stops and looks at Paula. "Hey, what's up?" Tara asks.
"Daryl has been assigning vehicles. We're taking five vehicles. His bike, three trucks with trailers, and an R.V. Him and Rosita are riding his bike. Sasha and Abraham are driving the first truck. Negan and Michonne will be in the second. Deanna, Noah, Merle, T-dog, Gabriel, and Laura are sharing the R.V. He wants you and me to take third truck," Paula tells her.
"Okay, is he sure that T-dog and Merle should be trapped in the same vehicles?" Tara asks.
"He said that they need to get along," Paula says with a smirk. "Put your stuff in the red truck," She tells her before she leaves.
Daryl's P.O.V.
Daryl puts his bag in the back of the truck and looks at Rick, Glenn, and Carol. "Be safe," Rick tells him. Daryl nods as he hugs him and then Carol. Rick and Carol walk away, and he looks at Glenn.
"Remember what I said," Glenn says.
"I will see you in a couple of weeks," Daryl tells him as he hugs him. Daryl waits by his bike as everybody says goodbye and then climbs on his bike after they load up. Rosita climbs on behind him, and they leave Alexandria heading for Georgia.
Merle's P.O.V
Merle sat in the back of the R.V by himself. Laura was driving in the front with Deanna beside her, and the two of them were talking quietly. Noah and T-dog sat at the table drawing up plans, and Gabriel sat on a couch on the side reading. "What are you reading?" Merle asks Gabriel, who looks at him.
"The Bible," Gabriel answers. "You ever read it?"
"Yes," Merle answers. "None of that shit matters anymore, though. God ain't saving us. He didn't save you. It's just a miracle that you are alive."
"The same for you. You would be dead if the man who left you on a roof didn't save you," Gabriel says. The R.V was silent as the two spoke.
Merle smirks. "You might just have a chance of surviving this, father," He says as he lays back on the bed. "Wake me up when we switch," He says as he closes his eyes.
Rick's P.O.V
Rick looked at his door when there was a knock. He opened the door and looked at Ron. "Come in," Rick says as he walks inside. Ron shuts the door and follows Rick into the kitchen. "Let me see your gun," Rick tells Ron, who pulls his gun out and hands it to Rick, who takes it. He motions for Ron to sit down and sits across from him. Rick unloads the gun and sets the gun and clip on the table. "Make sure there is nothing in the chamber."
Ron grabs the gun and checks the chamber. "Nothing is in there."
"Good," Rick says as he stands up and walks out of the room. He comes back a few minutes with a knife and sets it on the table. "We use our knives first. Try to save ammo and kill them quietly."
Ron nods as he takes the knife. "Guns are easier," Ron tells him.
"It is, but it will attract more," Rick says. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" Ron asks as he stands up and follows him.
"You'll see," Rick says as he leaves and heads for the gate.
Gavin's P.O.V
Gavin, Glenn, Maggie, Aaron, Alden, D.J. Heath, Tobin, Carl, Enid, Scott, Spencer, Eugene, Carol, Francine, Morgan, Benjamin, and Jessie stood inside of Gavin's house looking at a map of D.C. "The camp is right here," Gavin says as he marks the camp on the map.
"That's towards the center of the city," Tobin says as he looks at it.
"Yeah, that's part of the problem. Walkers own the streets in D.C. A lot of them end up outside of that camp. We'd have to kill the ones outside of the camp first and then the ones inside," Gavin explains.
"How many do you think are outside of it?" Heath asks.
"A dozen, maybe more. Clearing them will be the easy part. Clearing the ones in the camp will be the hard part. That fence is already in rough shape. It won't take much to knock that thing down," Gavin tells them.
"So we have to do this fast," Morgan says, making Gavin nod. "Spencer, how many guns do we have with silencers on them?"
"Five," Spencer answers.
"Okay," Morgan says.
"Okay, they have scopes on them?" Gavin asks Spencer, who nods. "This building right here," Gavin says as he marks a building across from the camp. "Has a staircase up to the roof, we can send a group of there. They'll start shooting the ones in the camp. The rest of us will have to kill the ones outside. Hand to hand," Gavin tells them.
"So, who will go on the roof?" Maggie asks.
"You," Gavin says as he looks at Carol. "I've heard good things about your shooting," He tells Carol, who nods. "D.J," He says to the man, who nods.
"I can do it," Tobin says.
"You sure? You can't make a mistake up there. Every round has to count," Morgan tells him.
"I can do it," Tobin says firmly.
"Okay," Gavin says. "We need two more."
Glenn looks at Alden, who nods. "Alden and I," Glenn tells Gavin, who nods.
"Jessie, Maggie, and Benjamin will stay back here and protect Alexandria. The rest of us, we leave tomorrow morning," Gavin says. Everybody nods as they leave the house.
Rick's P.O.V
Rick and Ron walk through the woods in silence. "What are we doing out here?" Ron asks.
"Have you killed a walker, Ron?" Rick asks Ron, who shakes his head. "You're gonna learn how," Rick says as they see a group of three walkers. Rick pulls out his hatchet. "Stay back," Rick tells him as he walks up to them. He slashes one across the face and then slams his hatchet into another one's head. He moves out of the way of the last one and kicks it in the back of the leg. It falls to the ground, and Rick kicks its arm and breaks it. He then kicks the walker's left arm, breaking it. He pulls his hatchet out of the walker's head and motions Ron over as the walker crawls towards him. Ron pulls out his knife and walks towards Rick. He looks at the walker and then brings his knife down to its head. The walker's body slump as he pulls his knife out. "Good job."
Ron nods as another walker comes out of the woods. "I got it," Ron tells him. Rick nods as Ron walks up to the walker. He moves out of the way of it and kicks it in the leg. After it falls to its knees, he stabs it in the back of its head. Ron pulls the knife out and smiles at Rick.
"Let's head back. We'll clear any we see along the way," Rick tells Ron, who nods as he follows him.
Jessie's P.O.V
Jessie looked at the door as it opened, and Rick and Ron went in. "Why don't you go clean yourself up while I talk to your Mom," Rick suggests to Ron, who nods as he walks upstairs.
"How'd it go?" Jessie asks as he walks into the kitchen.
"It went good, Jessie, your son, he can kill walkers. I know he can survive against them. But that's not what worries me. Walkers aren't the only threat anymore. Killing a person, you don't get time to think. You have to do it if you think you will die. I'm worried that when that time comes, he won't be able to. I wish it wouldn't come but with the fight against the saviors coming. It's gonna happen."
"He'll do it if he has to, you do, Carl does," Jessie says. "I did."
"I know," Rick says as he takes her hand. "I gotta get back and talk with Carl," He tells her. Jessie nods as Rick kisses her and leaves. A few minutes later, Ron walks back downstairs and into the kitchen.
"You feeling better?" Jessie asks her son, who nods.
"He's not a bad guy, Mom," Ron says. "I'm gonna go hang out with Mikey."
Jessie nods as Ron leaves, and she smiles.
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl stood on watch that night. He stood on top of the R.V as the group sat down by the fire. He looks at the ladder as Rosita climbs up the ladder. She holds out a bowl to him. "You need to eat."
"Thanks," Daryl says as he takes the bowl and sits down on R.V as he starts to eat. He looks at her. "You should probably get some sleep."
"You should be getting sleep. You have to drive tomorrow," Rosita tells him.
"Noah is taking over for me after he gets down eating," Daryl tells her as he looks down at the fire and looks at Abraham. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Rosita tells him as Noah comes up the ladder.
"Merle will relieve you at midnight," Daryl tells Noah as he goes towards the ladder. He walks over to his sleeping back and goes to sleep.
Thanks for reading. The run will be tomorrow, and the group will continue to head toward Georgia as Rick and Jessie try to get through to Sam. This will be the last chapter of the year. I'm going to take a break this week and enjoy time with Family. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, have fun and be safe and I'll see you in 2023. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.