A/N All characters belong to the writers and creators of The Walking Dead. Except those that arose from my own twisted imagination.

Chapter 58-On the Road Again

"Well, we're loaded up," JR closed the back storage on the bus and smacked the door. Daryl came out with Jesse in his new carrier.

"Eugene got that base setup?" JR nodded and squatted down to look at his cousin.

"Yup. This bus has got seatbelts so he got 'em all strapped in. Said you should just have to lock him in it." He reached into the carrier and Jesse grabbed his finger. JR chuckled.

"Strong little bugger. Just you wait Jesse. Your big cousin will teach you how to catch a catfish without a pole." Dani laughed as she walked out of the church.

"I still remember how to do that Jasper." JR winked at her and stood up.

"Figured you would. Good to know California didn't take all the redneck outta ya." He looked back at the church.

"C'mon now. We need to get goin' before it gets dark!" Rosita walked over to him and JR put his arm around her. "You ready to keep the adventure goin' woman?" She rolled her eyes and kissed him. They broke apart and she smacked his ass has she walked past.

"Life's an adventure old man!" JR smirked.

"With you it is anyway." He turned around, climbed on the bus and sat in the driver's seat. The rest of the group followed quickly behind. Carl strapped Judith into her new car seat and sat next to her. Rick sat behind his kids with Michonne in the seat across the aisle from Carl. Andrea and Dylan sat behind Michonne. Taylor, Tyreese, Alice, Glenn and Maggie spread out in the middle of the bus. Eugene sat near the back. Father Gabriel sat in the very back row and appeared to be praying. Rosita sat immediately behind the driver's seat. Dani sat behind Rosita with Jesse in his car seat. Daryl sat behind them. JR shut the doors and turned around.

"Everyone ready to go?" Alice whooped in answer which started Judith giggling. Jesse joined in and everyone laughed along with the babies. For the first time in weeks there was hope. JR started up the bus and pulled away from the church.

"We're stopping outside of Atlanta right?" Glenn said loudly to JR, reading the map.

"That's what I was thinkin'. I suspect most of the herds in that area will have moved out by now." JR deftly maneuvered the bus around the stalled cars on the highway. "You know, I think it'll be better to head up through Tennessee than through North Carolina. Those freeways are always jam packed. There's bound to be a ton of wrecks from the exodus." Glenn looked at the map.

"So long as we stay out of trouble, we should get to D.C. in a few days." JR laughed.

"Well then we just have to keep Rosita on the bus!" Rosita smacked him on the arm.

"Whatever asshole!" Dani laughed and checked on Jesse. He'd fallen asleep about thirty minutes into the drive. Daryl leaned over the seat.

"He ok?" Dani nodded.

"He's fine," she rested her hand on the back of the seat. Daryl took her hand and kissed it. "Are you doin' ok?" He nodded.

"Just tired. I'm alright." He sat back in the seat and Dani looked forward. JR was watching them in the rearview mirror with a grin on his face.

"Hey Jasper! Should I tell Rosita some of the stories from back home?" He immediately looked straight ahead at the road.

"No! I don't think that's necessary!" Dani smiled.

"Ok so she doesn't need to hear about the time you almost got your arm bit off by an alligator snapping turtle taking a dare from the Jeffer twins just to impress one Cindi Anne Shaeffer?" He glared at her over his shoulder.

"I was twelve years old!" Dani nodded.

"Well, you were fourteen when you and the Lester Bolton got busted doin' pressed hams on the school bus back window! Your daddy had to go down and practically bribe the principal to keep you from gettin' expelled the last week of school!" Dani looked at Rosita. "Mr. Murphy the bus driver was seventy-three and practically blind and deaf so they wouldn't have even gotten caught if they had paid attention. But no, they went and mooned the county sheriff and his wife right as the bus passed the church! That fat blowhard pulled over the school bus, like full on lights and sirens. Surprised he didn't order Jasper and Lester off the bus at gunpoint! That Sunday Pastor Raymond's sermon was about honorin' Jesus every day of the week through modesty in thought and action and the sheriff's wife sat there shootin' daggers at the whole family's pew!" Rosita laughed.

"I am learning so much!" JR sat up straight.

"If we're tellin' stories on one another then I can tell about the time you snuck out of your house to go skinny dippin' in the country club pool at midnight with Pastor Raymond's son!" Dani's face turned red.

"Oh it's on now Jasper Lahane!"

"Hey Daryl," Rick motioned for him to come back to his seat where he and Glenn were going over the map. Daryl squeezed Dani's hand.

"You'll have to tell me that story some time," Dani's eyes narrowed and she leaned over to Rosita to tell another story from when Jasper was younger. Daryl moved back with Rick, Glenn Michonne and Taylor. Glenn pointed to the map.

"If we're going up through Tennessee then we should stop on the west side of the city to do a supply run. We cleaned out what we could carry from Father Gabriel's cache but there's a lot we don't have and we don't know what we're gonna run into on the road. The west side is the way I used to go in back when we were at the quarry. We can easily get in and out of the city along the Perimeter. I just wasn't sure what the road looked like around Peachtree City and I know you all made that run to the vet school there." Michonne looked at Daryl.

"Haven't we already passed the spot where we encountered that herd?" Daryl shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Hey JR!" JR looked up in the mirror. "What highway we on?"

"Uh, we just turned off Highway 18, just past Zebulon headin' north. I was gonna stay on this road until we got to Highway 16 and go through Senoia." Daryl nodded, tracing the route on the map.

"Yeah that sounds good. Are you goin' east and cuttin' up by the airport or stayin' west?" JR thought for a moment.

"Which way is best you think?" Daryl looked at the map.

"Go by the airport, it's faster. We were further west and hit that herd on 85 by Alvaton. Unless it's moved east or there's another one we should be ok." Taylor pointed at the map.

"Yeah, we came back this way and it was clear so we should be fine." Glenn pointed closer to Atlanta.

"That's perfect. We can find a spot to secure between Peachtree City and Interstate 85 and then a group of us can get another car to drive into the city. That'll be easier to maneuver than this bus." Rick nodded.

"Whatever y'all think's best. Who are you goin' with?"

"Me and Maggie for sure. I don't think we need more than one or two more people. Most of you should stay with the bus." Rick looked at Taylor.

"Can you go?" Taylor nodded.

"Of course. I think we made a good team before." Daryl motioned over his shoulder.

"Maybe y'all should take Rosita. Gives you another one who's a good shot." Eugene spoke up.

"I should probably accompany Rosita on this trip." JR looked over his shoulder.

"Eugene, you should stay with us. I need to make sure you're safe. But since we're close to Atlanta, maybe you can get a signal on that radio." Eugene sat back.

"When we stop, I can absolutely try to reach someone." Daryl thought he caught a look of fear in the man's eyes but didn't say anything to the group. He had a suspicion that Eugene wasn't being honest about why he wanted to go to Washington DC but he was keeping those thoughts to himself, not even mentioning anything to Dani. He couldn't risk she'd share with her cousin. He got up and sat back in his seat behind her. Jesse was stretching in his sleep.

"Looks like we're probably a couple hours away. You think he'll be ok until then?" Dani nodded.

"Oh yeah, he's worn out. The past few days haven't exactly been easy on him." Daryl rubbed her shoulders. Dani turned and looked at him. "Daryl you haven't slept more than an hour in the past two days. Get some sleep while you can ok?" Daryl nodded.

"Ok but don't let me sleep too long."

There were a few walkers on the road and JR deftly avoided them. The bus had quieted down as several more people took advantage of the quiet to sleep. Dani got up and stood behind JR so she could ask him something quietly.

"When was the last time you talked to Garrett?" JR sighed.

"I wanna say about three weeks before evacuations started. That was when they put us on lockdown," he glanced over at her. "When was the last time you talked to him?" Dani blinked back tears.

"It was when we were still in California. He'd called to tell me he'd met someone and wanted to know if he came out again if he'd be able to see me. Greg was home and listening in and made me tell him no. Garrett told me he didn't want to hear from me again until I took Abbie and left Greg and then he hung up on me. I think he blocked my number because I tried to call him later when I was alone and it wouldn't go through. I called Aunt Bonnie and she told me that she'd pass the message on to Garrett but wouldn't really talk to me. I never knew if Uncle Jasper had a cell phone so I couldn't reach him, I didn't know how to get ahold of you and Sam wouldn't even take my calls. I tried calling Uncle Perry and Uncle Bert but they didn't return my calls either. Since most of y'all were still in high school when I left I didn't know how to reach any of the other cousins either." JR glanced over at her.

"Dani, I'm so sorry we did that to you. We shouldn't have blamed you. I understand now that you were not in control of the situation, and we should've done more to help you." She shrugged.

"I'm the one who took off though wasn't I? After we got to Atlanta and I finally left him, I was afraid to tell y'all, especially since I still couldn't leave the city. Y'all tried to get me to move back home before Greg was even in the picture and I didn't listen because I was too damn stubborn." JR smirked.

"Stubbornness is one hundred present a Lahane trait and we all suffer from it. I just wish you would've called after the divorce and let us know. We would've come help you. Hell, I would've gone AWOL to move you and Abbie both down by me in Texas, court order be damned." Dani shrugged.

"It doesn't matter anymore, does it? I was just wonderin' about Garrett. Was he ok? Did he get married? Did he have kids?" JR looked sideways at her.

"You never knew?" Dani frowned.

"Knew what?"

"That Garrett's gay." Dani shifted backwards and sighed.

"I suspected he was but he always had girlfriends all through high school." JR nodded.

"That was for Momma and Daddy. They cut him off when he came out to them six years ago. Sam too. Really pissed me off." Dani shook her head in disgust.

"So that's why Aunt Bonnie didn't want to talk about Garrett. I thought they'd be better than that. And I can't believe Sam reacted that way." JR shrugged.

"I told them as much and said I was gonna love my brother no matter what. That's probably why they weren't talkin' to me much either. Hang on," Dani grabbed the pole as JR wove around a small herd of walkers. "Damn. Hope that's not a sign of anything up ahead. Anyway, Garrett and his partner been livin' down in New Orleans. His name's Steve. He's from up North somewhere, either Boston or Baltimore I can't remember right now. Real nice guy. Garrett's still a CPA and Steve was a kindergarten teacher last I heard. He and Garrett were happy and that's all that mattered." Dani smiled.

"Good. I'm glad he was happy. I just wish I had either stood up to Greg or left him a long time ago. Then I could've been there for him." JR struggled to phrase his next question.

"That asshole wasn't beatin' on you was he? Momma thought he might be when y'all came out that Christmas" Dani looked down.

"Greg never had to use his hands. His words and the financial abuse were enough to keep me afraid of him. If he'd hit me, maybe I could've left sooner because the courts would've believed I was actually bein' abused." JR glanced at her.

"But he's dead now, right?" Dani nodded. "Ok. Then we'll never talk about him again. Now this one," he motioned over his shoulder towards a sleeping Daryl. "He good to you? He good to Jesse?" Dani smiled and nodded.

"Very much so. And I'm as happy as I can be right now." JR smiled.

"Good. That's what's important. Then I don't have to worry about you anymore." Jesse started crying. Dani leaned over and kissed JR's cheek.

"I should probably get him fed." JR smiled and went back to watching the road.

Taylor cut the lock on the storage unit facility gate and the bus drove in. Taylor closed the gate behind them as a small group of walkers quickly approached. Tyreese and Rosita dispatched them as Taylor secured the gate. Rick, Daryl, JR and Rosita started on one side of the yard while Tyreese, Michonne, Glenn and Maggie started on the other. After dispatching the few walkers inside the storage unit yard and confirming the fencing was secure, they returned to the bus. Glenn, Maggie, Taylor and Rosita packed up to head into Atlanta. JR pulled Rosita aside.

"You feel comfortable goin' darlin'?" She nodded and kissed him.

"We'll be fine. We need to make sure we have enough supplies. We don't know what's out there. We don't know what we'll find in D.C." JR pulled her into his arms.

"You're the best thing that's happened to me." Rosita smiled and hugged him tightly.

Dani helped Maggie pack up and wrote up a list of things they thought they could need.

"Maggie, do you remember that first run we did?" Maggie smiled.

"When Daryl yelled at you? Yeah, I remember," Maggie laughed. "I was thinkin' about that talk we had in guard tower. Either your second or third night at the prison I think." Dani laughed.

"How could I forget? You told me I'd have to jump in Daryl's lap naked to get him to realize I liked him." Maggie zipped up her backpack and took the list.

"I'm guessin' it worked. You're welcome for the idea." They both laughed and hugged.

"You stay safe out there." Taylor walked over and Dani quickly hugged him. "You stay safe too. I didn't save your ass on the side of the freeway for nothin'." Taylor kissed her cheek.

"Don't you worry about me." Dani stepped back and looked at him.

"We're the last ones. You, me and Dylan." He nodded.

"And to think I almost didn't get in your car because your crazy ass stuck a gun in my face." They both laughed. Maggie, Glenn, Taylor and Rosita said their goodbyes to the rest of the group and left through the front gate.

Glenn reviewed the map while Taylor drove. They'd found a white panel van that had plenty of space to load up.

"Take the next exit. That's right over by Atlanta Medical. There's enough ways to get in and out through there. And if we have to abandon the van, we can easily find something else." Taylor nodded.

"Awesome. Let's hope the walker situation isn't as bad." Glenn folded up the map and stuck it in his backpack.

"I'm pretty sure that the big herds we've encountered have all been Atlanta walkers. The city center shouldn't be as packed as it was." They drove the quiet streets, finally turning into a parking garage across from the hospital. There were a number of walkers that they quietly dispatched as they made their way to the ground floor. On the street, Maggie pointed at a drugstore.

"Rosita, let's check that out first," she pointed at park next to the hospital where a cluster of abandoned military vehicles still sat. "Y'all should be able to fill up on diesel over there." Glenn nodded.

"Be careful Maggie." She nodded and kissed him quickly and the group separated.

In the drugstore, they quickly killed the few walkers inside, making their way to the backroom. Rosita held up her Maglite and scanned the room.

"Looks clear." They went in and Maggie smiled when she saw the pallet of powdered formula and she sighed in relief.

"Dani will be glad to see this," she stuffed several cans into the larger backpack. "I wish we could take all of it." Rosita nodded.

"I know but this should hold us over until we get to DC. Then it'll be ok." They kept walking through the backroom, grabbing some of the items that were on the list.

"How sure are you that Eugene's right?" Rosita shrugged.

"JR believes him and I trust JR. And Eugene would have to be pretty stupid to be carrying on with a ruse that big for so long. I mean, JR sacrificed the remaining people of our old group just to save Eugene." Maggie looked at her.

"What?" Rosita nodded.

"I mean he didn't feed 'em to the dead or anything but me and JR met Eugene just outside Baton Rouge. He told us who he was and what he was doin'. On our way back to the camp, we encountered a good-sized herd. I wanted to go in and try to rescue everyone but JR said it was too late and we couldn't risk losing Eugene. We could hear the screams from behind us when we left. It's been eating at JR since he did it but I understand why. If Eugene is a liar, JR won't let him live for long and Eugene knows this." Maggie frowned.

"Why doesn't that make me feel better?" Rosita pulled some boxes down off a pallet and revealed a hidden flat of bottled water.

"Hot damn! How did anyone miss this?" They both turned towards a banging sound and saw a walker arm reaching through a barricaded door. They killed the walker, listened for any other sounds and cautiously opened the door. The room had probably once been a manger's office, based on the overturned desk and broken computer. Someone had written "We're all dead" on the wall in blood. Rosita shined her flashlight on the bloody blanket on the floor.

"Looks like they were tryin' to hide out in here and someone got bit. Locked him in here and the others took off." Maggie nodded in agreement.

"We've seen this so many times. It's sad. People didn't know what to do." They left the office and finished gathering what they could find in the store before returning to the street. As they stepped out of the store, a car slowly drove past. The driver stared at them and then drove quickly away. Both women drew their handguns.

"Keep your eyes open," Rosita said. "I didn't like how he looked at us." Maggie nodded.

"Let's hurry up so we can get back to Glenn and Taylor."

The storage yard's office was somewhat cooler than the bus. Andrea, Dani and Alice took the kids in there to get them out of the afternoon sun. Judith had been pulling herself up at the prison and now she was taking a few hesitant steps while holding on to a chair, saying "Mum mum mum mum" with each step. Dani had Jesse on the blanket for some much-needed tummy time and he pushed himself up on his arms, grunting in response to Judith's "mum" sounds. He was watching her intently and kicking his legs. Dani smiled.

"He wants to play," Andrea laughed and looked over at Dylan. He was sitting by himself looking at an old magazine.

"Honey are you ok?" Dylan shrugged.

"I'm bored. Can I go outside with Carl?" Andrea looked out the window and saw that the rest of the group were still by the bus. She opened the door and called to Carl.

"Is it ok if Dylan stays with you?" Carl smiled and nodded.

"Sure, so long as he listens. C'mon Dylan." The little boy excitedly ran out the door.

"Bye Mom!" Andrea smiled as she turned back to Alice and Dani.

"He's never called me 'Mom' before." Dani and Alice smiled. Judith let go of the chair and took a tentative step towards Alice. The women gasped and Andrea ran out to grab Rick. Rick ran into the office just in time to watch Judith take three steps before sitting down hard. He smiled, tears in his eyes. He sat down and held out his arms.

"C'mere baby girl." Alice helped Judith stand up and she took several steps towards Rick saying "Mum mum mum" with every step. When he picked her up, she looked at him and said clear as day "Da".

"Did you hear that?" his voice cracked. He looked back at Judith. She touched his face and grinned at him.

"Da da." Rick smiled and kissed her hand.

"That's right sweetheart. I'm your daddy."

Rosita and Maggie walked back to meet with Taylor and Glenn, their backpacks full.

"This ought to hold us over until DC," Rosita said confidently. Maggie nodded.

"We've just got to ration what we have and we'll be good." They paused and turned as the same car roared back down the street. They quickly jumped out of the way to avoid being hit. Rosita grabbed her gun and fired twice as the car screeched to a stop. Maggie dropped her backpack and pulled her gun. The man in the car got out and fired in their direction. They dropped behind a car for shelter.

"Is he wearing a uniform?" Maggie said as they ducked down. Rosita rose slightly.

"Yeah, he's wearing a cop uniform."

"Alright girls," he called to them. "You don't need to worry. Help is here." His tone was mocking.

"We're good thanks," Rosita stood slightly, her gun at the ready. "And you can stay right there." He fired again and Rosita dropped. She grabbed at her arm as blood flowed through her fingers. Maggie tried to help her and Rosita waved her off.

"Go get the guys. I'm ok." Maggie stood slightly but couldn't see the cop. She decided to chance it anyway. As she stood to run he stepped out from around the car and hit her in the face with his gun. She tried to fight him as he picked her up and slammed her first into the windshield and then into the hood of his car. Rosita saw her go limp and the cop put her in the backseat. Rosita fired twice at him and the cop quickly got into the car and drove away.

"Dammit!" She got to her feet and started to run after the car. Rosita watched as it turned toward the hospital. She paused and looked back at the backpacks. She'd be damned if they made it all this way to get those supplies only to leave them. She pulled her backpack on her and grabbed Maggie's and ran as quickly as she could down the street. She was sure the bullet had just grazed her arm and it hurt like hell but she could still use it. She turned the corner and dropped back seeing the walkers that were attracted to the noise and the car. She saw movement in the parking garage and ran towards it. Taylor and Glenn were hunched down with several gas cans. Glenn rose when he saw Maggie wasn't with her.

"A cop ambushed us and took Maggie." They ducked as they heard gunfire coming from the hospital. The stayed in the parking garage and ran to the other side. The car had pulled up in front of the hospital and Rosita saw snipers on the roof shooting at the walkers. When the walkers were cleared, the front door opened and a group of people ran out to meet the car with a backboard. Glenn stood quickly.

"That's Beth! That's Maggie's sister!" Taylor pulled him down.

"We can't help her or Maggie. Rosita's hurt and we're outnumbered. Let's go back and get help." They watched as they carried Maggie into the hospital. Glenn didn't appear to have heard Taylor.

"We've got to get her." He stood and started to draw his gun. Rosita grabbed his arm and pointed at the snipers on the roof.

"You go out there and you're dead. We need to go back and get help." Taylor nodded.

"Y'all stay here. I'll bring the van around." He ran to get the van. Glenn appeared to be in pain.

"I can't leave her." Rosita made him look at her.

"We won't. She's alive and if her sister is in there I'm sure Maggie will be ok. We have to go get backup and then we can save them both." Glenn nodded. Taylor pulled the van up next to them. He didn't leave the driver's seat as Rosita opened the side door.

"Snipers went back inside but I saw a group of cops heading out the side door. I think they heard the van so they could be comin' this way. We gotta go." They quickly loaded up the van just as they heard footsteps echoing through the garage.

"Hey! Stop!" Taylor didn't even turn in response to the order.

"Get in and hold on!" Glenn slid the door shut as Taylor sped away. Gunshots rang out and a bullet hit the side mirror on the driver's side. Taylor didn't look back as he left the parking garage and headed back towards the interstate.