CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"Why Bet Against Hope"

He couldn't believe it. Sage just couldn't believe it.

Mere hours ago the group had seemed like they were pinned with their backs against the wall, facing an unenviable task of escaping the overrun city of Atlanta from the hordes of the undead. Yet, against all odds, they had done it.

But at what cost, Sage thought in his mind. They had lost Brian; Alex's mettle had been tested; and the new group, in spite of what seemed to be an overwhelming sense of fellowship betwixt them and Sage's people, still seemed to be a little hot under the collar. Merle was put in line by Rick, though, and he was the biggest loose cannon within their number.

Hopefully things would cool down before they got heated back up again—be it from interference from the walking dead or from the living.

"They're stopping," Allie said, dropping her booted foot from the dash of the car. Earlier in the ride, she had instinctively propped her foot back up on the dashboard. Sage shot her a quick glance and she abashedly removed it before Sage had told her it was fine.

"We've deserved the chance to kick back and relax," he had said. And boy, did they ever.

The white-paneled van and the sedan following behind it came to a stop, and Sage put Raisin in park. The van's driver-side door popped open and Morales jumped down, jogging over towards the car as Sage rolled his window down. "Our camp is right down here, down this fork in the road," Morales said, pointing towards a split in the pathway. It went left and right—the left side looked a little more secluded, padded with pockets of tree-laden land, whereas the right side was more open and plain-like in its composure. "We're only about ten minutes away now," he added with a grin.

Sage nodded to him, a smile of his own on his lips. "Alright," he replied. "Lead the way."

Morales clapped a hand on the purple car's door as he turned and ran back to his van, climbing back inside before letting the engine rumble to life and continuing down the road. The sedan followed, and then Sage eased Raisin back into drive as he followed closely behind.

"I can't believe it," Alex said after a few moments of silence. "We actually made it out. We're actually somewhere secure." Sage glanced in the rearview mirror to look back at Alex, and one glance showed that he was likely contemplating adding "hopefully" in the sentence, but he held his tongue. Sage couldn't blame him—why bet against hope?

His eyes shifted over to Rick, who was silent, gazing out the window. "You good, Rick?" he asked, and the cop glanced up, nodding slowly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." After a brief pause, he glanced back out the window.

"Don't worry," Sage added. "We'll find your family. I'm sure of it."

Rick looked back to him, a faint smile traced across his lips. "Me too. You'd best believe that's what's keeping me going."

Sage nodded once more, returning his eyes to the road. Yeah, he thought to himself. Why bet against hope?

The caravan of vehicles eased down a bend in the road until they passed down a shaded road, driving over beds of leaves beneath the canopy of overhanging branches above, intertwined with one as if forming a cloud of leaves. From within the car the survivors examined the area before them—the road led down into a bit of a clearing, where a tent was pitched not too far from a tan-sided RV. Atop the RV was an older man, not quite as old as Nigel but definitely a few decades older than Sage, who was clutching a rifle in his hands. As the vehicles maneuvered down the path, he quickly made his way towards the ladder on the back of the RV and made his way down.

The vehicles all came to a grinding halt, and within moments their passengers were exiting them and stretching, letting out sighs of relief at the same time. Morales, Andrea, and Glenn made their way towards Sage, Rick, Allie, Alex, and Lee as they exited Raisin, glancing around. "Nice place you have here," Lee whispered, taking in the area. "It looks nice and quiet . . . pretty secure too."

"It's done wonders for us," Morales said, looking around proudly like a builder would his own house. "We've worked hard to make it last and, well, it has."

"Morales!" a voice called out. The group turned to see the older man making his way towards them, his rifle now slung over his shoulder. His white-bearded face bore a grin as his searching eyes examined the newcomers, his expression one a mixture of wariness and enthusiasm at seeing his friends return. He gave Morales a side-hug before embracing Andrea and clapping Glenn's shoulder before he shook his head, ruffling the bucket hat he wore. "I'm sure glad to see you made it. We were beginning to get worried." He glanced to the others and continued, "I see you found some new friends."

"Yeah, Dale," Morales continued, "Glenn found them and led them to us. We all worked together to get out of there and, well, here we are."

"They lost one of their group," Glenn added, his head down.

The man—Dale—sighed deeply, shaking his head. "I-I'm sorry to hear that. Truly. It's a messed-up world out there. We've all seen a great deal more of it than we'd like."

"Thank you," Sage said, nodding. "We appreciate it—and your group's hospitality to us. Without them, I don't know if we'd have made it out of there alive."

Dale smiled to him. "Well, I'm sure you'll want to have some time to unwind and make yourselves at home, so I'll leave you all to it. Just let us know if you need anything. We're only about an hour out or so until dinner—there, you can get to know everyone and get a bit of a rundown on how we do things around here."

Dale turned and walked away as Iago sidled up, pulling Rooster behind him and toting the bag of guns in his right arm. "Package secured," he said with a broad grin, holding the bag out to Rick.

Rick smiled as he took the bag. "Alright." He glanced up to Iago, patting his arm. "You did good, kid. A lot better than I thought."

Iago raised an eyebrow. "Um . . . thanks? I think?" The others all chuckled as Rick slung the bag over his shoulder when his eyes caught sight of something and raised up. Iago followed his gaze to the police hat atop his head. "Oh . . . right." He took it off and dusted the brim, holding it out to Rick. He took it in his hand and replaced it on his head as he shook his head with a laugh.

The group began making their way into the camp. "We have a good plot of land set out for tents and stuff, sort of the bedding area, if you will," Morales explained. "You can get your stuff set up there before it's time for dinner. Then I'm going to have to go find my family, my wife Miranda is probably looking for—"

"DAD!" a child's voice cut through the air. All heads snapped in the direction of the voice as a small boy—he looked a little older than the other kids in their group—began to speed walk towards them. At first, Sage's face took on a confused expression before his gaze settled on Rick, who had dropped the bag of guns and removed his hat. It didn't take long for him to realize who this boy was as Rick shook his head, running a hand over his face as he began to jog towards the boy.

"Is that—is that his kid?" Iago asked, a bit disbelieving.

"It must be," Sage replied.

Rick dropped to his knees as the boy threw his arms around his neck, burying his face in his chest and sobbing. Rick had begun to cry too, and now the others saw a woman had slowly begun to approach him, her face a mixture of disbelief and joy. Rick got his feet, holding the boy to his chest, as he opened his arms and welcomed the woman into the embrace.

"Thank God," Rick whispered through tears as he kissed his son's forehead and his wife's lips, his eyes completely glazed over as he swallowed hard. He couldn't believe what was happening. His wife, his son, they were here—they were alive.

As Rick held them both tightly, he glanced to his right to see another man approaching from a tree, a shotgun slung on his shoulders. The man let out a laugh—the kind you'd laugh whenever you couldn't believe what you were seeing. He ran a hand through his dark combed hair, a broad smile on his lips as he shook his head. "Rick, you son of a gun," the man said with a southern drawl.

"Shane," Rick muttered, his smile only growing. "I-I can't believe it."

Shane smiled back. "You'd best believe it, man." He stepped towards Rick and held out his left hand as Rick did the same, and they clapped them together. "It's good to see you, brother," Shane said, wiping his eyes.

From their viewpoint about a dozen feet away, Sage, Iago, and the rest of the group stood in awestruck wonder. "He found them. He actually found them," Alex said in almost a whisper.

"He did," Sage said as he felt a soft tug at his side. He glanced down to see Annie beside him, smiling softly. He bent down and picked her up, holding her tightly to his side. He imagined her parents now, as if they had been found and reunited with their loved ones. Knowing how good of a feeling that would be, he couldn't help but feel his heart warm at the sight of another reunited family.

In spite of all else that was going on, there was still some good out there. And where there was good, there was something else, something much greater.

There was still hope.

"Believe me, man, we thought you were gone," Shane Walsh was saying as the group had finally gotten a moment to relax. Everyone had been seen to since their arrival, and Sam, Lee, Iago, and Brennan were helping pitch some tents for the group with Glenn, T-Dog, and Morales. Most of the women were getting drinks of water and overseeing the children, as Nigel had decided to stay near the RV and talk with Dale. Sage, Alex, Allie, and Rick were with Rick's wife Lori and son Carl and Shane as they were catching up with Rick's once thought lost family.

"The military was in the hospital, shooting doctors, patients, everyone they saw. Then the dead busted in, started tearing people apart . . ." Shane huffed deeply, burying his face in his hands. "I saw those things eatin' people, and I-I panicked, man. I tried waking you up, and when you didn't move, I barricaded the door and—and I ran, to find Lori and Carl and get them out of there." He looked up, his eyes red as a tear ran down his cheek. "I'm sorry, man, but I left you."

"Hey," Rick said, clapping a hand on his best friend's arm, "you did what you had to." He nodded to Lori as he tightened his arm around his son. "You had to look after Lori and Carl, and—I appreciate that, man, I do. You know that."

Shane nodded, sniffing as he ran a hand over his face. "Yeah. Yeah, man, I do."

He glanced towards Sage, Alex, and Allie before letting out a dry laugh. "Look at me, blubbering tears an' all with you guys sitting around." His face took on a solemn expression as he continued, "I-I'm sorry about the man y'all lost." The others gave nods of appreciation. Shane ran his tongue over his dry lips, glancing up into the trees, before adding, "What's your plan from here?"

Sage felt the pit of his stomach drop as his eyes snapped to the twins, who both had slightly puzzled expressions. He—and the others, really—had all expected to be welcomed with open arms into the group, but now . . . they were being asked what their plans were? "We . . . erm . . . well, we had talked to Morales and gotten to hear about your group and, well, we were thinking we might could . . . join you guys."

Shane froze, his mouth slightly open, before he blinked quickly and glanced to Rick and Lori, who were holding his gaze. Shane sucked in a sharp breath before he got his feet, pacing back and forth. "I mean . . . it's not like I'm wanting to give you guys the boot and all, but things are tough as it is providing shelter and food and supplies for the group we have here now." He turned around, holding his hands up. "Now there's, what, about twenty new people coming in?" He shook his head, a smile on his lips—but it wasn't the most reassuring of smiles. "That's upping the mouths to feed by quite a bit."

"We'll help in supply runs," Allie said quickly, jumping up to her feet and matching her eyes with Shane's. "We can go out, help your people find supplies, food, whatever you need."

Shane chuckled. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, miss, but you know it's pretty crazy out there."

"I know it is," Allie said through bared teeth. "We lived in it. We lost people out there. That's why we want to be somewhere safe, where we don't have to worry about those things coming through the door at night or wandering into camp . . . we want somewhere we can live without keeping our heads on a constant swivel."

"You think we don't do that here?"

"I'm sure you do," Allie returned, her brow furrowing. "But with all of us joining, your people won't be worn so thin."

Alex got his feet beside his sister. "She's right. We'll all pitch in, do what we can to help you guys out. We've went on runs before, and we can do it again to help your people out."

Shane sighed and glanced to Rick, who nodded. "They're good people, Shane. They helped me get out of Atlanta, and they helped Glenn, Morales, and the others. They can pull their own weight." He glanced to Sage, Alex, and Allie and continued, "Whenever someone needs someone's help, we'll all be ready to step in. As a community of survivors." He got to his feet, stepping closer to Shane. "We're all in this together, Shane. We don't need to draw lines. We need each other in this world."

Shane swallowed hard as he looked into Rick's eyes before letting out a short laugh. "You're right, man." He turned and leveled his gaze at Allie, smirking. "Welcome to the camp, then. Tomorrow we'll get into exact definitions of what you guys will need to do to help out, but that's another day." Shane planted his hands on hips. "Tonight, though, you guys get to rest. Dinner should be ready soon." He gestured with his head towards the area where the others were all gathered together, where their tents had been pitched. "Go tell your people the news. We'll send for you when the food's ready."

With grins on all three of their faces, Sage, Allie, and Alex walked away from Shane, Rick, and his family.

They finally had found a home.

"Hey, guys!" Alex called as he, Sage, and Allie reentered the proximity of the other members of their group. Everyone glanced up as they stepped away from whatever actions had been occupying their time, with Glenn, Morales, and T-Dog following from the tents they were helping set up.

"We talked to Shane," Sage said, smiling, "and he's given us the okay to join the group." With a sigh of relief, he added, as if for clarification, "We're officially part of the camp."

The group let out "whoops" of excitement as they hugged one another. The idea and promise of a new home was . . . a miracle, honestly. So many of them had given up hope of finding a refuge in a world in which the dead rose again and walked, but it seemed as if their disbelief had given way to providence.

As the group chattered between one another for a few moments, Sahale spoke loudly and cut through the crowd. "Um," he started, "when are we going to get some food? I'm getting hungry."

The group all laughed as Sahale looked around abashedly, ducking his head as his cheeks reddened. "Don't worry, buddy," Sage said, chuckling. "We're about to eat. They'll come get us when it's done."

Brennan, Iago, and Glenn returned to the last tent they had to set up as Morales and T-Dog wandered back to their own tents. As Glenn and Brennan fiddled with the spikes to drive into the ground, Iago's eyes explored the woodland before he caught sight of Andrea speaking with another blonde woman, this one appearing a few years younger—still, though, the familial connection was fairly evident. "Hey, Glenn," Iago said, and the young Korean glanced up. "Is that Andrea's sister that she's talking to?" he asked, pointing.

Glenn followed his finger and nodded. "Oh yeah, that's her sister, Amy." With a smile, he added, "She's nice."

Iago chuckled and Brennan rolled his eyes. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing," Iago said with a grin. "Just thinking how lucky we are to be in a camp with some nice-looking girls like that."

Glenn snorted. "Don't get your hopes up. Amy may be nice, but she's also resilient."

"I didn't say I was talking about her."

Glenn's mouth dropped. "You mean Andrea?" He let out a loud laugh as he shook his head, glancing to Brennan as he pointed to Iago. "Is he always this stupid?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Glenn grinned. "You saw how Andrea was back in Atlanta. She's a firecracker if I've ever seen one. Good luck with that."

Iago shook his head as Brennan and Glenn both laughed. "Just keep laughing," Iago said, shaking a finger at the older guy. "We'll see who gets the last laugh."

Once the tent was finally set up, Shane's voice sounded. "Dinner's ready! Come on, let's go!" he called as he clapped his hands.

"Come on, guys," Glenn said, climbing to his feet as he dusted his hands off. "Let's go eat."

The group had split up into smaller pockets as they got their portions for the evening meal. Brennan sat down next to a tree as he looked down the plate in his hands. There were two cooked potatoes, a mixture of green beans and carrots, a couple slices of turkey, and a piece of bread. By no means was it a gourmet feast—but in this world, at this time, it was even better.

Brennan took a bite out of the piece of bread, staring off into the woods as the sun had slowly begun to set, cresting behind the canopies of the trees. He still couldn't believe it—that his father was gone. Brennan pictured his dad's bearded face, his ever-present grin as he offered wise words of advice.

He let out a sigh as he leaned his head back against the bark of the tree, closing his eyes. He thought back to the countless times his dad has sat him down in his bedroom or in the living room, either telling him about something he had done wrong in trying to teach him a lesson, or even the times he'd just wanted to talk about how the Atlanta Falcons were doing and Brennan had just brushed him off to go play video games or something else.

Oh, how he wished he could go back and change those days. To take in and absorb every moment of the day, relishing the fact that he still had his dad there with him.

The snapping of a twig to his right caused him to flinch, his bread flying from his hand and onto the ground. He glanced to see Elodie next to him, holding her own plate in her hand. She sucked her teeth as he reddened. "I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, no, you're good. Five second rule, right?" he said with a grin before retrieving the slice of bread, only to see it dripping mud from the puddle it had slipped into. Elodie stifled a laugh as Brennan shrugged, chucking the bread into some nearby bushes. "Well, so much for that."

Elodie sighed as she glanced to the ground, then back to Brennan. "Do you—do you mind if I sit with you?"

Brennan looked up to her, shaking his head quickly. "N-no. Of course not. If you want to, that is. I don't want you to feel like you have to, if you'd rather go somewhere else—"

"No," Elodie said, smiling to him. "I want to."

Brennan felt a goofy grin on his lips as he scratched his head. "Sure. Make yourself at home."

Elodie crossed her legs as she sat down next to Brennan and he fished a piece of turkey from his plate, taking a bite from it. As he chewed, Elodie grabbed her piece of bread and tore it in half, extending a piece of it to him. Brennan glanced to it before he lifted his eyes up at her, as if he didn't realize he still had a strip of the turkey dangling from his lip.

"Go on, take it," Elodie insisted as Brennan took the bread, and she added with a laugh, "and go ahead and just eat that piece of turkey before you lose it too."

Brennan laughed again as he sat the piece of bread down, finishing the turkey. He picked up the half-piece of bread and held it up, nodding. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Elodie said, scooping up a spoonful of vegetables as she looked to the grass. "It's the least I can do." As Brennan took a bite, Elodie bit her lip and glanced to him. "Is your mom doing okay? And your sister?"

Brennan froze, the bread a few centimeters from his lips. "I mean . . . I guess. As good as you can in this situation." He glanced to her and immediately felt bad. She's just trying to console, doofus. Don't be a jerk. "I-I'm sorry. That came out wrong."

"No, no, don't worry about it." Elodie sighed. "Are—are you doing okay?"

Brennan felt himself shake slightly as a tear rimmed in his eye. He sniffed and wiped it away, giving her a fake smile. "Y-yeah. I'm good," he lied.

Elodie smiled softly before reaching a hand out, placing it on his hand gingerly. "Just know I'm here for you if you need anything, okay?" she said. Brennan glanced to her hand before his eyes slowly rose up to her face, and he nodded, glancing back down to his plate.

"Thank you," he said.

Elodie nodded as she returned to her food. "Yeah. Of course."

Dayana and Elsa sat next to one another as they devoured their meals. It had been a good few days since they'd had food this good and this well-cooked. "This is delicious," Elsa said between bites, a broad smile on her innocent face. Dayana smiled as she looked at her girlfriend. "What?"

"It's just so adorable to see you when you're happy. You're so wholesome, and innocent . . . it makes you forget the world's gone to shit."

"Dayana!" Elsa said, her eyes widening as she glanced to Kai and the kids under his supervision. "The kids might hear you."

Dayana rolled her eyes. "Oh please, as if they haven't heard or seen worse?" As Elsa rolled her eyes, Dayana shrugged. "Fine, fine. It makes you forget the world's gone to crap." She smiled. "That better?"

"Much better."

Dayana chuckled as she saw a middle-aged woman—maybe about a ten years her senior—with short gray hair walk past. "Hey," Dayana said, smiling to her. "Did you help with the food?"

The woman nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Yes. We all take turns helping out with the cooking and stuff. Today, it was me, Miranda, and Amy who worked on it." As Dayana nodded, the woman held her hand out. "I'm Carol, by the way."

"Dayana," she offered, gesturing to Elsa. "This is my girlfriend, Elsa."

"Oh," Carol said, looking a bit surprised. Still, her reaction was just as kind. "Nice to meet you both. I-I hope you all like it here."

"Thank you," Elsa said. "This food is delicious, the best we've had . . . in a long time."

"Thank you," Carol returned. With that, she turned and walked towards a clearing by an unlit campfire, where a rather brusque looking middle-aged man was seated next to a small girl, who looked a little older than the children in their group, with dirty blonde hair reaching her chin. It didn't take a genius to realize that the girl looked fairly miserable, and when Carol reached them, her expression seemed to deaden and lose its warm friendliness.

"That must be her family," Elsa murmured, and Dayana shrugged.

"I'd wager that's a good guess." Dayana glanced up to see the man speaking to Carol, but his eyes were on her and Elsa. Dayana frowned at this, her brow furrowing. Once the man noticed that Dayana was eyeing him, though, he turned his eyes from her and onto Carol, and he continued speaking—although Dayana could faintly make out some of his words.

"We have enough people already," she made out, "without taking in more leeches."

Carol interjected softly, but Dayana couldn't hear what she had said. She did see the man snap at her, hearing the words "don't talk back" and "bitch" intermingled with other words she couldn't make out. Carol looked down at her feet as the girl stared off into her plate, just as miserable looking as ever. When Carol glanced up, her eyes met Dayana's.

Within an instant, she ducked her head back down, breaking eye contact. She didn't look back up.

Alex and Allie walked towards the tents with Sage, who was holding a sleeping Annie in his arms. "She went out quick," Alex said with a laugh, and Sage nodded.

"I think we all could use the rest," Sage said. "Thankfully we'll all get a good bit tonight. Or we should, at least."

"Yeah," Alex replied. "Shane said his people would take the guard duty for the night, since we're running on fumes. I think he said Morales would take the first shift, then he'd take the second."

"I still can't believe it," Allie said, shaking her head. "That we actually have this place now."

"Me either," Sage said. "I guess the saying isn't true: 'No rest for the weary.' Looks like we're in for some rest after all."

Allie yawned, throwing her shoulders back and her chest out. "You can say that again. And I, for one, am I gonna appreciate it." She playfully punched Sage's arm as she pulled open the flap to her and Alex's tent. "See you tomorrow, O' Mystical Sage."

Sage chuckled as she ducked inside, and Alex clapped his arm, nodding to him. "Get some rest, man. You definitely need it."

Sage grinned. "We all do, Alex." The two gave one another a nod as they parted ways, Alex ducking into his tent as Sage moved towards his. Undoing the flap, Sage crawled inside, carefully laying Annie down on the ground, her head resting on a Minnie Mouse pillow that matched the watch on his wrist. He grinned as he tucked her underneath her blanket, and she rolled over, smacking her lips softly in her sleep. Sage bent down, kissing her softly on the forehead. "Goodnight, Princess Annie. Sweet dreams."

Sage then rolled onto his back, laying his head down on his own pillow as he blinked once, then twice, and then his eyes closed fully and did not blink for hours.

They were all getting a good, full sleep for the first time in a very, very long time.

A/N: Well... here we are. The grand reunion and meeting between the two groups! With the next chapter - and a whole day ahead of us - we'll get to see more direct character interactions and introductions, so be ready for that! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and finally getting to this pretty monumental point for the rest of the story! As always, I look forward to hearing everyone's feedback, and if you haven't already, be sure to favorite, follow, and review, it means a ton! Until next time.