Well... we're here. Getting closer to the CDC.
Disclaimer I don't own The Walking Dead just my ocs and plotlines.
Group PoV
The whole group was standing around as Rick explained that they should give Andrea time.
"Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us. The dead girl's a time bomb." Daryl snaps.
"What do you suggest?" Rick asks him.
"Take the shot. Clean, in the brainfrom here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." Daryl tells him.
"No." Lori states and they all look at her. "For god's sake, let her be."
Daryl scoffs and walks away toward Jim. "Wake up, Jimbo. We've got some work to do."
Morales and Daryl drag a body of the dead camper toward the fire.
"Thanks." Morales mutters.
"What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there." Glenn tells them.
"What's the difference? They're all infected." Daryl reminds him.
"Our people go in the row over there. We don't burn them!" Glenn shouts. "We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there."
Daryl and Morales drag the body toward the burying pile. Including Elijah.
"You reap what you sow."
"You know what? Shut up, man!" Morales snaps.
"Y'all left my brother for dead. You had this coming." Daryl shouts and Callie nervously looks at Josie and her kids near the RV, with Carl and Sophia.
"I'll be back." Callie says and walks over to Daryl. "Do you mean that?"
"What?" He looks at her confused.
"Did ya mean it? That these people deserved to die because of a mistake." He shakes his head. "Good. Because three kids have lost at least one of their parents, last night. They're scared. I just had to put one down. We have another dead, just laying there. These people don't need to hear you yapping on about how they deserved this."
Callie storms off before he could say anything in return. She was fed up. They lost a lot. It's not helping that Daryl is telling them that they had it coming for leaving someone behind, yes, what they did was wrong, but no one deserved death.
"A walker got him. A walker bit Jim." Jacqui states loudly and they all look to Jim who looks like a deer caught in headlights. Everyone corners him, worried, panicked.
"I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim repeats.
"Show it to us. Show it to us." Daryl demands him.
Shane raises his hands. "Easy Jim."
"Grab him!"
Jim grabs a shovel.
"Jim, put it down. Put it down." Shane orders.
T-Dog and Jeremy grab him from behind which causes Jim to drop the shovel.
"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay."
Daryl lifts Jim's shirt. Revealing a bite mark.
"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim repeats.
Callie sighs. That's another one.
They all gather around again. Talking about Jim's condition.
"I say we put a pick axe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it." Daryl says and Callie sighs.
Shane narrows his eyes at him. "Is that what you'd want if it were you?"
"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it."
Dale nods. "I hate to say it... I never thought I would... but maybe Daryl's right."
Everyone raises an eyebrow at that, even Daryl.
"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick snaps.
"I'm not suggesting-
"He's sick. A sick man. We start down this road, where do we draw the line?" Rick asks. But it's true. If we kill people who are infected but not dead, then they're killing people.
"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." Daryl says, and a hidden message about Aubrey too.
"What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure." Rick says and Callie nods.
"I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell." Shane points out.
"What if the CDC is still up and running?" Rick asks.
Hang on. He's onto something.
"Man, that's a stretch right there."
Rick cocks his head. "Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the city at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter. Protection."
"Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."
"That's a 100 miles in the opposite direction." Lori points out to Shane.
Shane nods. "That is right. But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."
"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that. Th CDC is our best choice and Jim's only chance." Rick argues.
"But it won't be safe. Fort Benning. The army bombed a city to keep the illness contained. Obviously they failed, but imagine what it would be like if they saw us. They could kill us on sight." Callie tells Shane who sighs.
"You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" Daryl yells and goes to kill Jim with a pick axe but Rick cocks his gun.
"Hey hey hey!" Shane gets in between him and Jim.
"We don't kill the living."
Daryl turns to him. "That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."
"We may disagree on some things, not on this. You put it down. Go on." Shane urges.
Daryl puts the pickaxe down and walks away.
Rick goes to Jim. "Come with me."
"Where are you taking me?"
"Somewhere safe." Rick answers and takes him into the RV.
Amy notices Aubrey start to move and sits up.
"Aubrey. Aubrey. I'm sorry." Andrea apologises. "I should have been there for you."
Aubrey starts to moan and paw at the air.
"When you needed me the most, I wasn't there. You were depressed and I didn't talk to you. I just let you dealt with it. It was wrong. But I'm here." Andrea sobs and pulls the trigger.
They all hang their heads. Another one. Gone. All Callie could think about was people dying.
They all walk up to where the graves are ready. All the bodies to be buried. T-Dog was with Jim, just in case he turned in the RV.
"There are no rules." Rick points out to Daryl. They only just caught the end of the conversation.
"Well, that's the problem. We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do." Lori voices and everyone nods in agreement.
There needs to be a leader, someone who can run things. Have rules. Roles. Make it organised.
Andrea and Any carry Aubrey's body and put it into the grave. Andrea is sobbing while Amy's eyes are red.
"I can do it. I can do it. I can do it."
"Hey." Dale soothes and helps lower their friend down.
Amy gets up quickly and runs into Tabby, sobbing into her shoulder.
Shane and Jeremy carry Elijah's body and lower him down carefully. Callie watches as Josie holds tighter onto her children, who are crying quietly.
After the service they all walk back down to the Quarry. Rick and Lori stay behind to talk. Callie walks into the RV and relieves T-Dog, who nods solemnly.
Not much time.
Carol enters the RV.
"Anything that I can do?" Carol asks.
"Uh, no, thank you."
Callie puts a hand on Jim's head who flinched.
"You're so cold." Jim mumbles and Callie purses her lips.
"You're really hot, that's why I'm so cold." Callie retorts and he chuckles before groaning.
Callie and Carol walk away from Jim for a moment.
"It's getting worse, isn't it?" Carol asks the young girl and she nods.
"Yeah."
That's when Rick and Lori enter the RV.
"His fever is worse." Carol tells them and they look to Callie, she nods.
Lori looks at Jim. "You need anything?"
Jim blinks at her a few times and it seemed like he didn't hear her. "Uh... water. Could use more water."
Lori nods. "I'll get some."
"Okay." Jim smiles weakly at her.
"Carol, you help me?" Lori asks but it was more of an order. And the two women leave.
Rick sits next to Jim and Callie stands behind him.
"You save a grave for me?" Jim jokes.
"Nobody wants that." Rick denies.
Jim groans. "It's not about what you want. That, uh ... that sound you hear, that's God laughing while you make plans."
"What I want, Jim, if... if God allows, is to get you some help."
Jim groans again and spits in the empty bucket.
"Watch the mangroves. Their roots will gouge the whole boat. You know that, right? Amy is there swimming. You'll watch the boat, right. You said you would." Jim rambles.
Rick smiles gently. "I'll watch the boat. Don't worry."
"It's only gonna get worse from here." Callie tells Rick who nods grimly. "First time?" She asks and he nods.
"Yeah. Usually no one had time to see it at the beginning. But I bet we're gonna see it a lot."
"Probably." Rick agrees.
"I guess I'll just add it to the list of habits that I'm breaking whether I like it or not." They overhear Shane say.
They exit the RV.
"What habits?" Rick asks and Shane looks like a deer caught in headlights.
"Just talking about my need for a plan, man. So what is it? Are we leaving or not? Maybe y'all just want to stay here. We could hang some more tin cans."
Rick looks at him. "We can't stay here. We both know that."
"I was just telling Shane I think we should trust your gut." Lori points out to Rick.
"Let's go do our sweep." Shane tells Rick.
"Keep an eye on 'im?" Rick asks Callie who nods her head.
"Callie." Jim calls and Callie looks at the man. "I'm sorry you had to put him down."
Callie smiles. "I had to do it. It had to be me."
Jim just stared at her. "Why?"
Callie blinks. "Because Josie couldn't."
Jim smiles sadly at her. "You don't have to carry that burden. But I have a feeling that you will be building it up."
Callie just stares at him before Glenn enters the RV, and looks at Jim warily. "We're having a meeting." He tells Callie who gets up.
They walk out to everyone already gathered. Rick just looks at her and she nods. He's okay.For now.
"I've been, uh... I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Now look, there are no... there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that." Shane pauses and looks at Rick. "I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning, okay?"
I guess we're going to the CDC.
Who knows what is gonna happen? Will Jim be right aboutCallie making the tough decisions? Like putting down Elijah? Will she put down someone else?Let me know what you guys think.