CHAPTER NINETEEN

"Gone Without a Trace"

Dale sighed as he sat down the last scrap of paper from the box. The older man looked to the faces all staring back at him as he placed both hands on the card table folded out before him. "Banished," he said shortly, and sharp exhales and bits of conversation escaped those all gathered around in a congregation to learn the product of their meeting. "The votes have determined we banish Ed."

Rick nodded as he turned to the others. "You all know that we did this the fair and right way. Everyone got to voice their opinion—and we differed on it in the long-run, but the majority still won in terms of the choice that was made."

"Just out of, uh, curiosity, Dale," Shane started, wiping a hand across his face before he planted both hands on his hips, "what was the exact tally of votes?"

Dale cleared his throat, eyes focused on Shane's, before he glanced down at the papers. "Twenty-six to fourteen."

"Twenty-six to fourteen," Shane repeated, glancing off into the woods. "Gotcha."

He turned to the others, raising his voice loud for everyone to hear. "So how exactly are we gonna do this then? Just tell him to go on his merry way and hope he doesn't come back?"

Rick shook his head. "No, we're not gonna do that. Tomorrow, while our supply runners are gone to Atlanta, another group of ours will take Ed a way's off and dump him. It'll be far enough away where we don't have to worry about him coming back to hurt anyone or cause any trouble."

Shane snorted, then muttered under his breath, "As if we can trust him."

"What was that?" Rick asked.

Shane's gaze snapped up to Rick. "Nothin'. Nothin' at all."

Rick nodded as he turned to the others. "I'll go let Ed know what we decided. Then, we'll have to leave a watch to make sure he doesn't try anything during the night."

Lee stepped forward. "I can take first watch."

"Alright," Rick replied before he turned and began walking towards the tent where Ed was residing.

Kai sat in silence as he scribbled away in the ruled journal that he had adopted as his "Zombie Survival Guide"—he'd update the book every now and again with tidbits he picked up over the course of his survival, and he had given each of the kids with him a copy of their own to study. Darrien would often grumble when Kai would remind them to read it, but Dahlia and Evelyn were stoic in their attempts to please Kai and knew how important his advice was to their survival.

As he finished a passage pertaining to the strength of the walkers' senses (having discovered their sense of smell was stronger than he had originally thought after the incident in Atlanta), his eyes slowly lifted up as Brennan walked up to him. "Hey," he said with a nod.

Kai sat awkwardly for a moment, staring at Brennan, before he simply replied, "Hey," back to him.

Brennan bit his lip as he dropped down to a crouch. "What, uh, what are you doing?" he asked, trying to peer over Kai's hands and at the journal.

Kai glanced to Brennan with one eye. "Writing."

"Ah. You don't say," Brennan replied, his sarcasm lost to Kai. "Well, um, what are you writing about?"

"It's a survival guide," Kai answered, not taking his eyes off the pages this time. "I update it every once in a while with new information to try and help the kids—and myself—adapt to the walkers. It's an adaptive book." Kai paused, then continued, "I learn new stuff every day almost, so I try to keep them updated."

"Them?" Brennan cut in. "You have more?"

Kai nodded, patting the stack of four notebooks beside him. "Each of the kids has one. I update them all at the same time—provided I have the time to do so."

Brennan glanced at the stack. "I see there's four there."

Kai froze, his mouth forming a thin line. "Yes. There was another boy with us named Victor." Another brief pause, then, "We lost him in the city."

Brennan cursed himself mentally. "Oh, I-I'm sorry."

"So am I."

Brennan waited a moment before asking, "Could I borrow one of them?" Kai glanced to him, and Brennan quickly raised his hands. "I'll give it back, I swear, I'd just like to check it out and see what you've learned, since, y'know, you've been out on your own and all."

Kai thought on it for a moment before nodding. "Sure. Here you go," he said, grabbing the top book and passing it to him.

Brennan flipped through the book, skimming over the pages and pages of notes. "Holy crap," he said, "you're like freakin' Max Brooks."

Kai arched an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Max Brooks," Brennan replied. When he saw Kai's quizzical expression, he elaborated, "He's an author. You know, World War Z? The Zombie Survival Guide?" Kai's blank expression never faded, and Brennan chuckled. "Sorry, you've probably never heard of him."

"I'm afraid not. My sister—Dahlia—she's tried keeping me up to date on pop culture icons since I moved to America." A faint grin came to Kai's lips. "I guess this 'Max Brooks' has eluded her."

Brennan chuckled. "Yeah, I'd say so."

A few footsteps sounded behind Brennan as the two boys glanced up to see Glenn. "Hey, guys," he said with a smile. "Sorry to bother you two, but I just wanted to ask Kai a question?"

"Sure, go ahead," Brennan replied.

Glenn started, "Would you want to come with us on our run to Atlanta tomorrow? You seem to be pretty quick on your feet, and with Raha, I think you'd be pretty helpful in moving through the city quickly and be able to help us find the supplies we need."

Kai flicked his eyes around. "I-I don't know… my sister…"

"She'll be fine here!" Glenn quickly cut in, holding his hand out in a calming fashion. "There's tons of people here who could look out for her and make sure she's safe, the other kids too. They'll probably just play anyways."

"I can keep an eye on them while you're gone," Brennan said, nodding to Kai to reassure him. "I promise."

Kai thought on the question for a moment. He hated leaving Dahlia, Evelyn, and Darrien alone, but—were they really alone? Truthfully, they were the furthest from alone they had been since this whole thing started, and Kai did want to get out and try to help the group as much as he could. He felt he needed to do his part. He glanced to Brennan—he did seem trustworthy, and like he was an honest guy.

Kai turned to Glenn and nodded. "I'll go."

Glenn grinned. "Great! I'll let Sam and Alex know. We just need one more. I'll ask around and see if I can find someone else."

As Glenn turned and strode off, Kai turned to Brennan and gave him a nod. "Thank you."

Brennan shot him a smile in return. "Don't mention it."

Rick stomped towards Ed's tent. When he was about a dozen feet away, he called out, "Ed, it's Rick. Come on out for a minute."

Silence was his greeting. Rick froze, his head cocked as he waited a moment more. "Ed. This is Rick. Come outside." Still no answer. "Wake up, Ed. I've gotta tell you something." Still nothing. Muttering a curse, Rick stomped towards Ed's tent. As he neared it, a thought passed through his head and he visualized Ed lying there, faking a deep sleep so he could get the upper hand on Rick if he stuck his head inside.

Rick dropped his hand to his holstered Colt, unstrapping it. "Ed," he said one last time, forcefully. When there was no answer, he reached for the tent's flap, undoing it. Yanking the tent open, Rick glanced inside…

…to see nothing.

Ed was gone.

Rick spat a curse as he dropped to his knees, feeling around the tent in the dark. He felt…stuff, which at least told him Ed hadn't taken everything, but he knew he had a good idea what had happened.

Rick reached to his belt and felt for his flashlight. Pulling it free, Rick clicked it on and shined it around the circumference of the tent. There were clothes strewn about, but not nearly enough as there had been earlier. Rick tossed a few items aside, looking for the concrete proof, the answer as to whether Ed was just gone to relieve himself, or if he was really gone.

Examining the surroundings and overturning nearly everything there was, Rick only found empty bottles of liquor—and he knew Ed hadn't drank it all.

Rick let out a groan as he got to his feet, returning his light to his belt as he stomped away from the tent and back towards the others.

"Ed's gone."

The words caused quite a bit of a stir within the number that was convened. Not everyone was there—many had gone to turn in for the night, but those who were awake and present were chattering amongst themselves. Shane ruffled his hair, shaking his head. "I knew it. He took off the first chance he got. Chances are he'll be back later."

"We don't know that," Alex said, trying to counter the hot-headed deputy. "He might have gotten scared, took off, and he won't be back."

"Maybe," Sam replied as he downed the rest of the water he was drinking. "But I'll be sleeping with one eye open."

As the group continued to discuss the disappearance of Ed, Amy was seated beside Andrea by a lit campfire. "That's just what we needed. A maniac on the loose, on top of the walking dead."

Iago sauntered over, finishing off his own drink. "No need to fear, ladies," he said, flashing them a charming grin.

Amy snorted as Andrea nearly choked on her water. "Who's afraid?" the older sister said, smirking at him. "I think I could handle him pretty myself."

"Oh?" A twinkle lit in Iago's eye as he dropped down on a log beside the sisters. "You're used to handling guys, huh?"

Amy's mouth formed a perfect "O" as her eyes swiveled from Iago to her sister, whose eyes were glued to Iago's. The younger sister was a bit surprised—she had to hand it to Iago, he wasn't afraid.

He is stupid, though, she thought to herself.

It only lasted for a moment, though, before Andrea recovered masterfully. "Oh yeah," she replied. "You just gotta learn to hit 'em where it hurts. Then they learn quick."

Amy chuckled at that, and Iago felt his cheeks flush. "Huh? Oh…um." He ran his tongue over his lips before looked down to his empty water cup. "I—I think I'm out of water." He let out a dry laugh before he got to his feet. "I'd better go refill it."

"Yeah, you'd better," Andrea replied.

As Iago turned and quickly got out of there, Amy finally let loose a hearty laugh. "Damn. I was a bit stunned there."

"What? At how forward he was or how I countered him?"

Amy thought for a moment before she shrugged. "Maybe both? Does that count?"

Andrea grinned at her younger sibling. "I'll accept that."

Back in the central discussion, Rick had been speaking to Lee. "I think it might be best if we still keep watch at night, since we don't know what Ed might be up to. Just in case he is still hanging around."

Lee nodded. "Agreed. I can still keep first watch."

Shane crossed his arms. "I'll stay up with you too. Two sets of eyes are better than one, especially out in the dark."

Glenn passed by, brushing his dark hair with his hand when Rick called his name. He turned around, eyes wide. "Yeah? What's up, Rick?"

"Did you put together your team? For the run tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Glenn answered. "Sam, Alex, Kai, and Daryl are all going."

"Daryl?" Rick chuckled. "I'm surprised he agreed."

Glenn shrugged. "He goes on runs occasionally. Him and Merle alternate, really." He let out a laugh of his own. "If I'm being honest, I prefer Daryl going. He's nowhere near as hot-headed as his brother. Or as…prejudiced."

"That's pretty unbelievable."

"Maybe so, but it's true. He's a good guy—he just is too quick to follow his brother rather than others. Blood is thicker than water, y'know?"

"Yeah." Rick turned and looked into the woods. "I know."

Glenn let out a yawn. "I'd better go ahead and start getting some rest. We're gonna try and leave early so we can be back sooner and get on the road."

Rick nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. The sooner we're out of here, the better."

Glenn turned and trekked off towards his tent as Rick turned to Shane and Lee. "You two are good to go then?"

Both men nodded. "Go ahead and get some sleep, Rick. If we need to trade off, we'll let you know," Shane said with one of his calming grins. Rick chuckled as he turned and walked towards the tent he shared with Lori and Carl. As he disappeared into the night, Shane's smile slowly faded as he sat down in his chair, leaning it back so it rested against a tree trunk and he propped his shotgun up in his lap, waiting for anything to happen.

Just in case.

A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a bit of a break, but I am back in writing mode for the story and am hoping to get back into a consistent rhythm when it comes to writing chapters for the story! I hope everyone's been doing well and I apologize for the extended delay in this newest update, but hopefully you all enjoyed it! And yes, this is a bit of a shorter chapter, but that mostly can be chalked up to me wanting to just get back into the motions of things, and that always begins with a shorter chapter I feel. Let me know what you guys all think, and as always, thank you for keeping up with this story! Until next time.