Carolina in my mind

Chapter 54

Carolina climbed down from the bus, trying her best not to laugh at the rather epic fit Abraham was throwing as he stood next to the open hood. Smoke was billowing out of the bus engine, nearly engulfing him and the other men that were gathered around the front end of the vehicle. Carolina didn't know anything about fixing bus engines. But even she knew you needed spare parts and tools to fix them. Two things that weren't readily available on a side road in backwoods Virginia.

"Naw," Daryl said, fanning the smoke away as he offered up his opinion on the engine's condition. "It's done." Rick and Abraham weren't quite ready to accept this. So Daryl shrugged and walked away. He leaned back against the side of the bus next to Carolina and lit a cigarette.

"Looks like we're gonna be hoofing it," she said, shaking her head at the billowing cloud of smoke. It was thick enough to be visible above the treeline. Which meant that anyone in the area who might be watching would know they were here. This included the wolves. And that was making Carolina slightly nervous. She reminded herself that her group was armed with loaded guns and they weren't, which made her feel marginally better.

"I'm gonna get my bag. The sooner they give up on this lost cause bus, the more time we'll have to find a place to sleep tonight that's not on the ground," Carolina said. She reached for Daryl's cigarette, taking a puff and blowing it out before she climbed onto the bus and started telling everyone to get their shit packed.

"Do we have to walk now?," Megan asked. Carolina nodded, smiling at Tara when she turned and started helping her niece pick up whatever had been unpacked from their bags.

"Can I bring Griselda Gunderson the second?," Lizzie asked, glancing with concern towards the toothless walker that she'd somehow managed to wrangle into a sitting position on the bus seat next to her.

"Of course," Carolina confirmed, "...we can't go anywhere without Griselda, she's part of the family." Lizzie's obsession with the walkers was a little creepy. But seemed to be keeping her happy and it wasn't hurting anything. Creepy or not, they'd take Lizzie's pet walker with them. And probably grab a few new ones on the way. It was easier on everyone since traveling with the walkers helped to camouflage them. And they could strap backpacks onto the dead and stick all the heavy shit in there, which meant less for everyone to carry.

Carolina gathered her own things together. Most of it was still in her pack, so there wasn't much to mess with. She did the same with Daryl's things next, zipping up his bag once she stuffed his junk inside. Once that was done, she skirted around Eugene and started helping Lori get Judith's things packed.

People slowly excited the bus, tightening the straps on their bags and gathering on the edge of the roadside in smaller groups. Abraham moved away from the bus and spoke quietly with Rosita. Carolina couldn't hear what they were saying but she saw a lot of head shaking so she figured Daryl's assessment of the bus engine was being confirmed. Rick was still fiddling with the engine when Lori approached and tugged on the back of his shirt. He turned around, looking oddly surprised to see everyone packed up and ready to start hiking.

"We can salvage the bus," Rick insisted. "We just need a few hoses and some radiator fluid." Lori didn't argue. She just shoved his packed bag at him and stepped back. Carol handed Judith over to her and Lori strapped the little girl into the sling they'd sewn together out of an old hammock Glenn found in the trunk of a car.

"That smoke's visible for miles," Carolina said, pointing towards the large dark cloud that was still rising from the bus engine. "The group that attacked Noah's community might still be around here." There was actually no question in her mind. The wolves were definitely still in the area. She wasn't sure if they were close enough to see the smoke. And she didn't want to stick around to find out. They needed to leave. Now. Carolina's words were met with nods and worried expressions from the rest of the group. Some of them hadn't considered that horrid possibility. And they were now looking even more eager to get moving.

"It's time ta go," Daryl added.

"You heard the man," Abraham hollered. "Let's haul ass and haul out." He winked at Rosita and the two of them started off down the road with Eugene trailing closely behind. They set a brisk pace. But since everyone was well rested after the few days they spent napping on the bus, they were able to keep up. At least for now.

They made it to the first crossroad before Carolina realized Rick was throwing irritated looks in her direction. She sighed. They were getting along for a minute there, she thought. It was nice while it lasted. Carolina slowed down, letting Rick move far enough ahead of her that she could escape his death stares. She shouldered up with Glenn and Tara. Abraham had assigned them to watch their six, which Carolina was pretty sure meant walk in the back of the group and keep an eye out for stragglers.

In true Glenn fashion, he remembered Carolina was from Virginia because she'd mentioned it once in casual conversation a year ago. And they chatted a little as she tried to figure out how far they were from DC and how long it might take them to walk there. Noah's home was somewhere near Richmond. And Richmond was about a hundred miles from DC. But they drove for an hour before the bus broke down. Which meant they were less than a hundred miles from their destination. If they averaged ten miles a day, they could make it there in about a week. This didn't sound so bad. But that was probably because they'd only been walking for about a half hour.

The first afternoon of traveling on foot went as well as it could. By the time the light started fading in the sky, they found an abandoned roadside motel to sleep in. Michonne added the former residents of the place to their growing collection of captive walkers. Carolina and Daryl ended up with Carol and the girls as their roommates for the night. Carolina and Carol ate and went straight to bed while Daryl sat up for a little while with Mika and Lizzie. They found a deck of cards in the dresser and he played a few rounds of go fish with them before he shooed them over into the bed Carol was passed out in so he could get some sleep.

By the second afternoon, people were already moving much slower than they had the day before. They were tired and their feet were sore. The group's meager stock of food and water was already starting to run low. And to add insult to injury, they weren't able to find anywhere to hole up for the night, which meant they had to make a fire and sleep on the ground.

Carolina wasn't trying to be a princess. But she personally detested sleeping on the ground. It was like torture. When she woke up, she wasn't just dirty, she had a dry mouth and a horrible twinge in her neck that was making her dizzy every time she turned her head too fast. She was still healing from her attack. And all the walking was making the already injured spots on her inner thighs burn. Any suggestion that they ought to focus the day on resting and replenishing supplies was being stonewalled by Rick. And Carolina was getting irritated with him to the point where she was starting to fantasize about punching him in the mouth.

Despite how exhausted everyone was, the low growl of an animal got them all on their feet and moving in a hurry. Carolina pushed Mika behind her and pulled out her knife. A small pack of feral dogs was moving forward towards the small pot of watered down soup they had cooling by the fire. And for a moment, everyone in the group stood frozen. It was one thing to shoot a deer or a squirrel. But killing a dog felt inherently wrong.

The largest of the pack looked to be some sort of doberman mix. Judith let out a scream and the animal took a step in Lori's direction, another low growl rumbling in its chest. That was all it took. Everyone that had a gun in their hands, fired. And after the small volley of gunfire, the dogs were either dead or running in the opposite direction.

"What does it taste like?," Carolina asked, giving the skewered chunk of meat in her hand a skeptical glance. She was hungry enough that the smell of the dog meat was making her stomach rumble.

"Needs salt," Michonne teased, stuffing a large hunk of meat into her mouth. From the way she was chewing, it couldn't be very tender. But as most of the group were already on their second helpings, Carolina figured that it couldn't be that bad either. She lifted her skewer and took a small bite first. Eating dog meat wasn't exactly on her list of things she wanted to try before she died. But it really wasn't terrible. It didn't taste much different from the venison or squirrel or any of the other gross ass shit that Daryl shot and skinned. Carolina ate the meat on her stick and another helping after.

While it seemed that mother nature had provided them with food, unfortunately they were still out of water. Daryl moved away from the group a few times, attempting to locate a small river or creek. But he kept coming up empty. And though their bellies were full, it wasn't long before they started feeling the effects of dehydration. Lori was feeling the worst. A few times she got so dizzy she stumbled and almost fell. And Judith kept fussing at the breast since the lack of water was making it hard for her mother's body to produce enough milk for her.

When a shady spot on the roadside presented itself, they sat down for a moment to rest. Carolina let her head loll to the side, then winced in pain as she remembered the crook she got in her neck from sleeping on the ground. She was so thirsty it was almost making her nauseous. But once they helped each other up onto their feet and headed around the curve in the road, Carolina would have started running if she had enough energy left. The most beautiful sight she'd ever seen was ahead of them in the middle of the road. There was an entire buffet of water bottles that were filled to the brim with clear clean water. The note on top said they were from a friend.

While everyone else seemed hesitant to accept this sudden gift, Carolina leaned down and grabbed a large gallon jug. Flipping the top off, she lifted it to her mouth. But before she could get the first gulp, Rick grabbed her by the arm.

"Stop," he ordered. "We don't know who left that here."

Carolina jerked her arm away from his grip, sloshing a little water out of the jug and onto the ground. "You might not know who left it here," she countered, "...but I do." Lifting the bottle to her lips, Carolina tilted it back and swallowed it in hard greedy gulps. This time Daryl stopped her. But at least she got a drink before he snatched the bottle from her hands.

"The hell shit are ya talkin'?," Daryl asked. Rick chimed in, demanding to know how she could possibly know who left the water in the road for them.

Carolina glanced around. Everyone was pretty much looking at her like she was crazy. Except Michonne, who seemed rather amused with this new development. "You've gone and done it now," Michonne said, shaking her head. "Now you're going to have to tell them."

"Tell us what?," Daryl asked, glancing at Michonne before he narrowed his eyes at Carolina.

"That she's psychic," Michonne announced, like she'd been waiting all this time to finally be allowed to spill the beans. "Carolina knows the future."

This time Daryl and Rick spoke in unison. "WHAT!?"

Carolina sighed. Michonne was right. She really had gone and done it now. It wasn't that she didn't intend to tell Daryl everything eventually. She just wasn't planning on doing it right now. Or tomorrow. Or anytime soon if she could help it. Mostly because she was worried that he'd look at her the way he was looking at her right now. Like she was beyond crazy. If she did tell him, she was planning to break it to him gently. Not like this.

"I'm psychic and I know the future. And I know a bunch of other shit too," Carolina admitted with a roll of her eyes, reaching for the jug of water that Daryl snatched away from her. "So gimme my water back."

Daryl held on a moment longer before he released his grip on the jug and let her take it back. Carolina swallowed down a few more gulps before she handed the bottle over to Michonne, who also drank with no hesitation. Tara was the first out of the rest of the group to step forward. "If you two are sure it's safe," she said, "...that's good enough for me." Lori was next. Carolina wasn't sure if the woman actually believed her psychic story. Or if Lori was just so thirsty she didn't care. But she drank her fill before handing the jug off to Carl. He tipped it up, letting the water drip down over his chin as he gulped. When he lowered the jug, he let out a loud burp that made people laugh and eased a bit of the tension. As he handed the water off to Tyreese, Carl gave Carolina a curious glance.

"What other shit do ya know?," he asked.