That morning, we moved everything down to the cars. Rick said we should do one last sweep of the nursing home to ensure that we took everything of value. Few items left behind were useful, so we just grabbed what we could.
I helped the group, taking some of the boxes the adults seemed light enough for me to carry. If they only knew the kind of labour I experienced back at my dad's garage, I would have been so much more helpful to the group that way.
When most of the things were packed into the cars, Rick told everyone that they should wait by the caravan so he could bring down the rest of the items. I was going to stay with the group when I remembered that I had left my bag back in the building, so I followed Rick and a few others inside.
My backpack was on the first floor, in the room we slept in upstairs. Shane, Rick and Dale had entered the room behind me, throwing the last few items into some boxes. I kneeled down to pack away my hoodie into the bag before swinging the straps over my shoulders.
I felt safe enough to walk back down to the caravan by myself. Shane and Daryl killed all the stragglers around the nursing home before we walked back to the cars. Rick and the others wouldn't be too far behind, so they would be there to my rescue if anything happened.
"Ace?" T-Dog called as I reached the end of the hallway. "You mind getting Jacqui for me? I just need to take these last few things down."
The mention of her name reminded me that I had not seen Jacqui all night, not since she excused herself to sleep in her own room. I thought someone would have told her we were leaving by now, but that didn't happen.
I simply nodded. "Okay."
Jacqui spent the night in a room at the far end of the hallway, away from where the rest of the group had settled. After everything that had happened over the past few days, she probably just wanted to be alone.
Not that I blamed her.
It was hard for me to be around the group as much as I had, and sometimes I just wanted to disappear. Trying to sleep with everyone sitting around in the same room was one of the worst things I went through, and I only wished I had my own space too.
The first thing I noticed to be weird was that the cloudy windows to Jacqui's room should have been partly transparent. Still, these particular windows had been covered by some newspapers. I glanced around at some of the other doors. I thought Guillermo's people had done this to give everyone some privacy, but I didn't see anything like this throughout the nursing home.
It was only this door.
My hand balled into a fist, and I gently knocked on the door. "Jacqui, we're leaving soon?"
There was no answer.
I waited a moment in silence before calling out again. "Jacqui?"
Nothing.
I grabbed the door handle and twisted it downward, pushing on the door with my other hand, but it wouldn't budge. I knocked again, more frantically this time, but again, there was no reply. I knew Jacqui hadn't left the room, or T-Dog wouldn't have asked me to fetch her. She had to be there.
I kept trying, wondering if it was just stuck, but the door wouldn't open. When pushing turned out to be futile, I slammed my hand down on the glass, calling for Jacqui again and again, but she never came to open the door. There was no way she could still be asleep after all the noise I was making.
There were footsteps at my side, and I saw Shane exiting the room with a box in his arms. He stopped when I called his name. "Shane, Jacqui is in there, and the door won't open."
Shane's expression turned sour as he squatted down and placed the boxes on the ground. I moved to the side as he stepped in front of the door, giving him some room as he jiggled the handle and pushed on the door.
"Jacqui, why don't you come and open the door now?"
A new nondescript sound came from inside the room, like a croaking. Shane drew his brows together, a crease forming on his forehead. He cursed, twisting his body to the side and slamming his shoulder against the door.
The thud alerted Rick and Dale, who were in the next room.
"What's going on?" Rick questioned, standing at Shane's side.
T-Dog ran up from the stairwell. "I heard a bang; what happened?"
"It's Jacqui," Shane answered, shaking the handle again, hoping he'd loosened the door somehow. "Stand back, y'all."
Rick wasted no time pulling the gun from his holster.
Again, Shane shoved his body against the door, and it shook in the frame. It took a few more tries for the frame to break, and the door finally swung inwards, slamming back against the wall. The door hit the wall so hard that a dent showed through in the plasterboard next to me.
Shane, T-Dog and Rick rushed into the rooms with their guns raised. They all immediately lowered them at the sight of something out of my sight. Dale followed them inside, his head tilting backwards, and he fell silent.
Unable to see anything, I took a few steps into the room.
Jacqui was suspended from the ceiling with a rope around her neck, which should have been the most shocking sight. But instead of hanging there lifelessly, like she should have been, her arms and legs were moving, grasping at the air to try and reach us. A growl emanated from her throat, and she snapped her teeth, kicking her legs back and forth.
Jacqui was a walker.
How was that even possible?
Everyone was silent, trying desperately to understand what had happened. All of these questions were flying through my head so fast that I could barely grasp onto one, and anytime I tried, it was overshadowed by the fact that I couldn't see any bite marks. There was no way she could be a walker right now, and yet she was.
Tears welled in my eyes as I finally realized that Jacqui was dead.
Shane glanced back at everyone in the room, stopping when his eyes landed on me. "Get her out!"
Everyone glanced back, but nobody did anything about his order—they didn't need to. I stumbled back out of the room, not really in control of my feet like I was some kind of ragged doll. Shane closed the door, blocking my view into the room. The door wouldn't completely close due to the broken frame, so I could still see her hanging in the gap.
"Oh my God," my voice was barely above a whisper.
Silence settled around me like the first layers of snow on a Winter's day, and the tears began falling down my cheeks. I grasped at my shirt and pinched the skin on the back of my hand, anything that could get me to focus on something else. I had to move away from the door, the sound of the groaning and snapping becoming too much.
Sitting at the top of the stairwell, I leaned against the metal bannister, holding my head in my hands. My low shallow breaths had turned into complete hyperventilation. I breathed deeply through my nose, forcing myself out of the panic attack before it could even begin.
I didn't know what was affecting me the worst, that she was dead, or that I had no idea how she even turned into a walker. Whatever it was spread through bites, but at the very short sight I had, there were no bite marks on Jacqui. The unknown was more daunting to me.
I could hear the quiet talking from each of them in the room, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I'm not sure I wanted to know; it wasn't going to be about anything good. There wasn't much else I could listen to, so I had to part eavesdrop on what they were saying.
Shane's voice was the loudest. "I don't see any."
I knew they were talking about bites.
"What do we do?" T-Dog asked next.
"What we have to," Rick said.
A shot rang out from behind me, and only one thought crossed my mind: they put her down.
A few minutes passed before the door squeaked open. They all sauntered down the hallway, continuing the conversation amongst themselves, quietly whispering behind me.
"We have to tell the group," everyone seemed to agree because nothing was said after that. Their footsteps neared, and Rick tapped my shoulder as he walked down the first two steps. "Come on, Ace."
I could only nod and silently follow them down to the ground floor and out of the nursing home. No one spoke as they walked down; I kept my eyes on the ground, not bearing to look at anyone else.
The group was still waiting by the caravan, only their faces held more worry than when we left them there. Daryl paced around in front of the group, the crossbow securely wielded in his arms.
He was ready for a fight.
"What the hell happened?" He asked immediately, stopping in front of Rick.
"We heard a shot," Lori added quickly, the concern not hidden in her voice.
I kept my head low, knowing that if I looked any of them in the eyes, I would have probably started crying again. I waited behind Rick, waiting for him to tell the rest of the group what had happened.
"Kids, get in the RV," Rick nodded to Sophia and Carl, who was sitting next to Carol on the stairs of the motorhome. I was glad I was not included with the kids, but it wouldn't have mattered. I already knew what was going on; there was no point in hiding it from me, not after what I saw.
When neither of them moved, Lori looked over her shoulder at them. "Go on."
They both reluctantly turned and entered the caravan. Carol leaned back, peaking to see where they had gone before she walked to the group. We all moved further away in case the kids decided they wanted to listen in.
"So, what happened?" Lori asked again.
"It was Jacqui. She—" Rick stopped, his gaze lowering to the ground. I couldn't imagine how hard this was for him, and I did not envy what he had to do. "She hanged herself last night."
There was a moment of silence, everyone's faces filled with shock. Daryl straightened his back, one end of his crossbow falling from his arms. Lori's hand covered her mouth.
Nobody was able to speak up for a minute.
Then finally, Andrea asked the question everyone really wanted the answer to. "So, what was the shot?"
Rick looked back to Shane, silently asking for some kind of help. Shane gave a single nod and took a step forwards, placing his hands on his belt. "She turned."
Again, there was a long moment of silence. If I wasn't there, I never would have believed what happened, but it did, and now they had to try and explain the impossible to the rest of the group.
"Turned?" Carol finally asked. "What do you mean?"
"She was a walker," Rick clarified, turning his body away from the group.
The long string of questions came after.
"What?"
"How is that possible?"
"Was she bit?"
The questions came rocketing at them faster than anyone could bear to answer. Again, this was another moment where I did not envy what they had to do. How do you give people an answer you don't even know yourself?
"No," T-Dog shook his head, almost in denial. "She wasn't bit."
"How do you know?" Lori asked.
"We checked," Shane said.
Everyone glanced between one another, the confusion evident on their faces. Daryl was frowning but didn't say anything. It was like he was just focusing on taking everything in and not trying to find an answer.
"Then how did she turn?" Lori asked.
"We don't know," Rick shook his head.
It seemed impossible with everything I knew about the walkers. I was still trying to come up with a solution. I couldn't think of any explanation that made sense. Jacqui had killed herself, and . . . somehow turned. There was obviously a gap in the middle, something that happened to make her turn, but we had no way of finding that out.
It's not like we could test it.
"What do we do?" Carol finally asked.
"Well, we. . ." Lori trailed off, her eyes falling to the floor. "We have to bury her body, right?"
"We will," Rick nodded, arms wrapping around her for a hug.
"I'll wrap her up in some of the sheets in the nursing home rooms," Shane agreed, turning to walk back to the nursing home.
"Yeah, I'll help you," T-Dog followed him.
"I'll tell the kids," Lori said, turning to Rick, who followed her to the RV.
I sat outside the door of the RV. It was 10 minutes before Rick left the caravan. Around the same time that Shane and T-Dog came back outside. T-Dog entered the motorhome, returning with two shovels.
"Here," Daryl held a hand out. "Lemme help."
T-Dog didn't answer him but instead held out the shovel to give it to him before they started walking back to the nursing home. It was the nearest patch of grass around they could dig into.
Shane was standing in front of the caravan, pacing around with his shotgun to watch for any walkers. Rick had been doing the same thing, and they were clearly worried that there may be more and more walkers on the way after the shot.
But none came.
Shane turned and saw me sitting on the ground. I glanced at him and watched as he walked over and sat down on the ground next to me. He pulled his knees up, glancing over. It took him a minute before he could say anything.
"You alright, kid?"
A few answers came to mind, but I'm not sure he would have liked any of them. I decided it would be best to keep my mouth shut. I gave a quick shake of my head.
"I'm sorry," he started, pausing as he thought of what to say. "You shouldn't have had to see that."
Again, the only response I could muster was a quick shrug.
Shane released a quiet sigh, reaching an arm over my shoulder and rubbing my opposite arm soothingly. I hated it, but I leaned closer to Shane, resting my head against his shoulder and closing my eyes. It was the only form of comfort I had, and even though I still felt angry at Shane for making me leave the house, I needed a hug.
The group left Jacqui in the hallway until they were done digging a grave for her in front of the nursing home. When they were done, they brought her code out, wrapped in a white sheet they must have taken from one of the rooms in the nursing home.
Everyone stood around the hole for a while, nobody speaking to one another. After a moment, Rick and Shane grab a shovel to cover Jacqui's body. Carl and Sophia were crying behind me, each of them burying their faces in their mother's side.
While Rick and Shane worked, everyone went back to the caravan to wait for them. Most of them waited around outside, wondering whether we would still even be leaving that night.
I sat down at the table inside the caravan. My gaze didn't move from looking out of the window as the stairs squeaked, telling me someone had come in. T-Dog sat down in the booth opposite me, which I knew because I saw him out of the corner of my eye.
He was silent at first, which was strange but not unexpected. T-Dog had always seemed very close to Jacqui, and I could see that the death had affected him deeply. There was something else behind his eyes, though, an apologetic look.
T-Dog only spoke when I looked over. "I'm sorry, kid. I never would have asked you to get Jacqui if I had known."
This confused me. How could he have possibly known? He looked so apologetic, but there was no way he had anything to do with what happened to Jacqui.
"It's not your fault."
"It is," he shook his head, and his eyes fell to the table. "Jacqui gave me a note, asking if I could check on her alone. I didn't get the chance to look at it before I asked you to get her. It shouldn't have gone to do that, and I'm sorry."
"You couldn't have known what was in the note," I shook my head, "it's not your fault."
I truly believed that T-Dog had done nothing wrong, and I wasn't going to sit here and listen to him apologise over nothing. He spent all last night on watch and didn't get around to reading the note because he was busy. There is no way he could have known what happened to Jacqui.
He smiled. "Look at you, I'm here trying to apologise, and you're just the perfect role model."
"It's no problem, Theodore."
He scoffed, playfully shoving my arm.
We waited for a while, joining the rest of the group sitting outside the caravan. When Rick and Shane finished digging the grave, they came to join us, finally ready to discuss the plan for the next day.
"What are we doing?" Lori asked.
Still holding onto Lori's hand, Carl pushed closer to her side. "Are we going?"
It became clear that no one wanted to stay, not even the kids, not after what happened. While the plan had been to travel to Fort Benning, the journey would be hard and tiring. While I wanted to get some proper rest before moving on, I also just wanted to get out of here.
The decision wasn't up to me, though. Rick and Shane knew better of the dangers, they knew better of the safest option, or so it seemed. Because to me, it just seemed like they were guessing at this point. We had no idea how far the walkers had infected, whether it was isolated to America or worldwide. There was no way of knowing where it was safe, not anymore. Not until we found the military or some form of authority.
Just like Shane had been saying.
"Shane and I talked about it," Rick glanced over at his partner before his weary gaze came to rest across the group. "We're going to hunker down here again, just for the night."
The uncertainty fell among the crowd simultaneously, their eyes moving to the ground in thought.
"We'll head out tomorrow," Rick confirmed with a nod.
"Are we sure that's a good idea?" Andrea gripped the strap of her bag with one hand. "Any number of walkers could have heard the shot."
"They'd already be here," Shane seemed unconvinced. Still, he spoke with enough authority to stop anyone from bringing up the idea again. It was enough for Andrea, at least, as she took a step back, exhaling deeply as though some weight had been lifted from her chest. "We've only had a few stragglers."
"Nevermind the walkers," T-Dog argued with a shake of his head. "What if those people come back?"
Daryl took a step forward. "They got no reason to come back; they took everythin'. We'll be a'right for now."
That made more sense than what Shane said about the walkers. If the people who took this place wanted to stay here, they wouldn't have taken all the supplies away. They had another base somewhere. With everything gone from here, they had no reason to return, just like Daryl said.
"And food?" Carol asked, her eyes turning to look at the two leaders. "We barely had enough last night, and the nursing home is empty."
This clearly hadn't been in Shane or Rick's discussion, as they both glanced at one another. They were silent as they thought for a few seconds, each trying to devise a plan to get the group more food.
"There's gotta be a store or something," Shane suggested.
Rick shook his head. "It'd be a waste of gas looking for one. If those people took everything from here, it's safe to say they probably cleared out every landmark building around here."
"Could check those apartments," T-Dog was facing away from the group when he spoke, looking across the street at some buildings that towered above the dismantled walls of the construction site. "There's no guarantee, but we wouldn't have to take the cars."
"I could go," Daryl offered, but from the look on his face, he didn't believe there would even be anything inside the buildings. I also had little hope because there was a good chance that it had been raided just like the nursing home. They were so close that it would have been stupid not to take a look.
"You shouldn't go alone," Shane said. "I'll go with you."
Daryl seemed unhappy with the offer.
"Yeah, me too," T-Dog offered.
Shane turned to Rick. "Stay with the group, hol' down the fort. Keep everyone in that room from last night. We'll bring whatever we find up there."
Rick wanted to go with them; that was obvious. I could see his stance, how his shoulders hunched over when Shane addressed him. But he knew the importance of keeping the rest of the group safe, especially with the other three gone.
Unlike Rick, Glenn didn't want to go, but he still turned to Shane and offered. "Do you need me to come?"
"Should have enough people," Shane dismissively raised his hands. "We can make a few trips if we need to."
"Doubt it," I heard Daryl mutter.
"Oi," my warning was quiet. I was most unsure that the apartments would have any supplies left, but I knew he didn't have to be so pessimistic. There was no need to bring attention to how screwed we were right now.
Daryl only rolled his eyes.
"Let's get moving," Shane glanced at Daryl and T-Dog. "Sooner we check, sooner we can come back."
They grabbed their weapons, which were always close since finding out about Guillermo's people. They walked down the lane towards the apartment buildings that T-Dog spotted.
Rick looked back to the rest of the group. "We're going back to the room; everyone only brings their packs, only what you can carry because we aren't moving things back and forth all morning."
I already had my bag on me, but I waited for everyone else to gather their things before entering the building again. We returned to the same room, waiting silently for the others to return.
Shane, Daryl and T-Dog returned almost three hours later. They returned with some tins of food and a bottle or two of water, but they said every apartment was basically stripped clean like the nursing home.
After eating, we all sat in the ever-dimming room, and the topic quickly returned to the one thing I wanted to avoid.
"How could she have gotten infected?" Andrea asked. "Are you sure she wasn't bit?"
Since the funeral, the only thing the group talked about was what happened to Jacqui; nobody could give a clear answer. The same questions circled around, wondering how she could have gotten infected with no walkers around.
I was surprised they were still talking about it with the kids in the room, but Sophia was asleep, and Carl was quietly hugged into his mother's side. He was awake, but he was slowly drifting off. I could tell he wanted to hear what they were talking about, but every time he woke up, his eyes drifted closed again.
"We're sure," Rick answered for the hundredth time.
"Was she scratched?" Lori asked.
"Not as far as I could see."
Shane ran his hands over his face. "Maybe she got blood in her eyes or mouth? Hung herself because she knew she was going to turn."
None of these sounded right to me. She seemed fine before leaving the room, with no fever or anything. She would have at least shown symptoms if she had been infected.
"Maybe it's . . . when you die?"
Stupid, was the first thought that crossed my mind. My idea sounded more ridiculous after the words came out. I desperately hoped no one had heard me, so I wouldn't have to explain my thought process.
Of course, they all heard.
Rick leaned forwards, seemingly intrigued. "What?"
My eyes fell to the ground, and I tried avoiding all eye contact as I worked my way through my thoughts. "I was just thinking, if Jacqui wasn't bitten, then she must have turned after she died because Jacqui wouldn't be able to hang herself if she was a walker. Maybe, whatever turns people into walkers only works after you die."
"When you're bit, you only turn after you die from the bite," T-Dog agreed.
"Or she was infected," Andrea rolled her eyes. "She probably tried killing herself to stop herself from turning."
"Jus' an idea," Daryl argued, glaring at Andrea.
"None of them are exactly theories I'm willing to test," Shane said.
"Why don't we talk about something else?" Lori questioned, looking between the members of the group. "Like the plan to actually get to Fort Benning?"
I was glad that the topic had changed, taking the attention of me and my stupid idea. Finally, they were able to talk about something else.
"I've thought about this," Rick said, leaning back against the wall. "We should take less cars, siphon the ones we don't take. It'll save more fuel that way."
"Should keep the Winnebago, then," Shane added, biting his nails. "Carries more people; we'd have shelter, storage."
Lori frowned. "Sounds a little crowded, taking everyone in the RV."
"We could take the Cherokee too," Rick looked at Carol, who paid no mind to the conversation.
"I'm taking the bike," Daryl stated, not taking no for an answer.
"We'll siphon the rest of the vehicles tomorrow morning," Rick said.
T-Dog nodded. "I'll ride in the RV."
"Yeah, me too," Andrea said.
"Suppose I'll have to as well," Shane said. "Rick, you taking the Cherokee?"
Rick looked at Carol again, "If that's okay?"
"Of course it is," she answered in a quiet voice.
Taking fewer cars would help with the fuel problem, but it wouldn't last long. The caravan did 13 miles to the gallon at most, but it would be much less than that with all the things piles inside, let alone all the people. The Cherokee was barely any better than that. Fuel was going to be a massive problem with how inefficient the cars were.
The bike was a much better option, around 65 to 75 miles per gallon and a fuel tank of at least 3.5 gallons. The only problem was that it didn't give much protection, but I'm sure if Daryl needed to, he would ride in the caravan with everyone else.
Everyone spoke quietly amongst themselves for a little while, mainly still talking about the plans for tomorrow.
"The quickest way would be to take the 85, cut through Newnan," Rick suggested. "Turn south at the 185; it's a direct route."
"We should mark up a few routes," Shane suggested. "Don't know how many of the highways are blocked off. We'd be moving cars for hours if it's anything like the night of the bombing."
I had to zone them out.
Listening to them talk about how we would get to Fort Benning, saying every number between 16 to 185, was becoming mind-numbing. I didn't know where any of these motorways were, and there was no point worrying myself because they would drag me along the endless stretches of roads anyway.
My head cocked to the side when I heard a new sound. It was hushed, and I couldn't make it out above the quiet talking, but it didn't come from within the building. The long droning flooded in from outside, from the open window behind my head.
"Hold on a second," I spoke in a quiet voice, trying to hush the group, but they didn't listen. Instead, I loudly made the shhh noise, and they all stopped. "Wait!"
The sound grew louder and louder until I heard it clearly enough to make out what it was. I sat forwards onto my knees, my bare skin cold against the lino floor. I spun around and peeked out the window, lifting the blinds from the bottom and holding them slightly above the windowsill.
I couldn't make out the shape or see how many people it was carrying, but it was definitely a car. I could hear the gears shifting as it turned into a street perpendicular to the nursing home. The headlights cut through the night like it was butter, illuminating all the way down the street and towards me.
My eyes widened. I dropped the blinds and ducked down, looking back at the group who were all waiting anxiously for me to say something else.
"It's a car," I whispered.
Shane was at my side in less than a second, squatting next to me. He pulled a panel of the blinds down with two fingers, glancing through the small gap. His expression changed from worry to something I couldn't read.
His hand clapped down on my shoulder, pushing me below the windowsill. "Get down," he barked, his voice quiet as he looked back at the room. "Turn that light off!"
Dale reached forwards to the centre of the room, dimming the light until the room fell into darkness. I could barely see Rick kneeling next to Lori, his gun drawn but hanging at his side. Carl was awake now, quiet as he tightly gripped Lori's arm.
Daryl crept over, his crossbow resting in the joint of his elbow. He stood up, his back to the wall and tilted his head to the side. I stared at him as he peered out the gap down the side of the curtains, watching his expression in the beams of the headlights to see what was going on.
The shadows passed across his face, and a moment later, Daryl stood up straight. With his gaze still out the window, he quietly announced, "They're leavin'."
He moved away from the wall, and Shane stood. "You sure?"
Daryl nodded in response.
"Mom?" Carl questioned, his voice wavering.
"We're okay," she assured.
I shifted in my seat, lowering myself until I sat on the ground, pulling my knees to my chest. I did not want to move when I was completely hidden from the outside. The only thing I could think about was those people who came and killed Guillermo's men and whether that car belonged to them.
"They aren't coming back, my ass!" T-Dog remarked, lifting himself to kneel on one knee. His eyes were fixed on Daryl as he spoke.
"They ain't comin' 'ere!" Daryl remarked, waving a hand as he marched across the room towards T-Dog.
"Enough!" Lori snapped, her tone harsh.
"Keep it down," Rick intervened, standing. "We can't be sure they're the same people; there's no point arguing over it."
"He's right," Lori agreed. "They could be other survivors."
"They could be the military."
"They could be dangerous," Shane spoke in a low voice, ensuring no one got their hopes up about the car. "All we know is there are others. We're not taking any chances until we know who we're up against. For now, keep the light dimmed, stay away from the windows. Make sure the safeties are off on your guns, don't want to mess around if anyone else comes this way."
Shane managed to take control of the situation with ease, which reminded me of his job in law enforcement. The way he spoke made me think that he had a lot of authority when he worked in Kings County; he fits into the role like a glove.
Andrea obeyed and turned the lantern back on, but it was barely as bright as it had been. I could see that Sophia was up now, woken by Carol in case we needed to make any moves. She rubbed her eyes and cwtched into her mother's side. Her tiredness was not hiding how scared she was.
"We could move across the hall," Glenn suggested. "There's no windows in there."
"No," Shane shook his head. "Best stay; we can see and hear what's coming."
"We can't stay here any longer," Andrea stated.
"We're not leaving tonight. Those people could have been doing some kind of patrol," Shane explained, immediately shutting down Andrea's idea. "We'll be on the road tomorrow. Can't risk staying in the city any longer than that.
Rick nodded. "For now, everyone, just try and get some sleep."
Sleep? How could we sleep?
"I'll stay by the window," Daryl offered, and before anyone could agree, he grabbed his bag and dumped it in the corner near me. He crouched down, squatting with his back against the wall. "Listen out for any more cars."
"We'll be alright," Rick assured the room quietly.
I barely slept that night, waking up when I heard some movement in the room. I sat up, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand and looking around. T-Dog was sitting up against the wall, tying his shoes.
"Sorry," he whispered. "Didn't mean to wake you."
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Rick wants to siphon the gas, move the stuff from the cars we're not taking."
I nodded.
Everyone else was asleep. I saw Glenn lying on the ground near me, snoring lightly as he rolled over, his arm reaching up to cover his eyes. I then confirmed that I did not want to sit in a room with the whole group sleeping.
I reached for my shoes, quickly putting them on and tying the laces. I grabbed my bag and stood up. I tiptoed over everyone, trying my best not to step on anyone as I made my way to the door.
Rick was waiting at the top of the staircase, and he straightened up when he saw me.
"I'm going to help," my voice was still quiet, partly because I was trying not to wake anyone up in the next room and somewhat because I had just woken up.
Down at the cars, Rick made T-Dog siphon the gas as we moved the group's belongings from one car to the next. This was the one time I was happy they didn't know about me being a mechanic, so I didn't have to siphon the cars. It was awful; I always got the petrol in my mouth.
Shane woke everyone up soon after, bringing them down to the vehicles so we could leave. Except we couldn't go right then. We all patiently waited for Rick to return from wherever he had disappeared to. He said he wanted to try and contact Morgan one more time before we left. This would be his last chance before we were on the road to Fort Benning.
When he exited the nursing home, I entered the caravan and sat at the table. I pulled my iPod and headphones from the bag.
68%
This would be enough to occupy me for a little while and ignore everyone who was sitting around me. I plugged in the earphones, turning on Guns n' Roses to pass the time.
Shane entered the caravan, dropping his duffle bag on the ground next to the table. He sat down next to me, and Andrea sat down opposite us. When everyone was all in the motorhome, we set off. I used the window as a way of ignoring them as we started driving.
I am slowly tackling the problem I caused myself by taking out the C.D.C., I hope you all enjoyed it anyway. I spent ages today and yesterday editing this one and adding new scenes.
I'll try and keep the chapters coming quickly, but they are definitely getting longer after this point.
Let me know what you thought, and again, I hope you enjoyed!