Chapter 14- The Highway

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl sat by his tent as the sun started to rise in the sky. He looked at Merle who was sleeping. "You didn't sleep?" Daryl looks at Glenn as he walks down the hills.

"I got an hour or two," Daryl says. "We leaving today?"

"They've started packing up camp," Glenn says. "I came down here to talk to you about driving arrangements. The truck you have takes a lot of gas."

"It does," Daryl says. "But I can't move Merle on the bike."

"I talked with Dale and he was okay with putting Merle in the R.V. On one of the beds and you and Amy will ride on the bike," Glenn says. "I'll be in the R.V with Dale, Merle, Andrea, David and Mandy. Carl, Rick, Lori, Carol and Sophia will take Carol's car. Madison, Nick, Travis, Alicia, and Chris will take Madison's car. Shane, T-dog, Jim, Chase, and Jacqui will take T-dog van and Morales's family will go in their car."

"Works for me," Daryl says.

"Yeah, I figured it would, but I need you to talk to Merle."

"I'm fine with it," Merle says from the tent. "You two are loud."

"You aren't going to cause problems?" Glenn asks.

"I'll be sweet Mary sunshine," Merle says.

"Alright, get packed up, we'd like to be out of here within the next couple of hours."

Daryl nods as he stands up and walks into the tent.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick walks up to Glenn as he talked with Madison. "Get as much as you can in the R.V and truck before we start using the other vehicles. Make sure there is still room in R.V," Glenn tells Madison who nods as she walks away.

"Glenn," Rick says making the younger man look at him. "Atlanta, how bad is it?"

"Bad, thousands of walkers are in the city, Rick. The dead own the city, why?"

"You ever thought about going to the CDC?" Rick asks.

"No," Glenn says. "I'm new to this whole leading thing but I know taking my group into a city filled with walkers isn't the best plan, even if there was somebody at the CDC. They couldn't tell us anything we don't know, the world's over, Rick. This is the start of a new one. Even if they found a cure, the world we knew is gone. There has already been too much damage."

Rick slowly nods. "You don't seem to bad at the whole leading thing, the people here trust you."

"Thanks," Glenn says. "You packed?"

"Yeah," Rick says and Glenn nods as he walks away.

Amy's P.O.V

Amy put her bag in Cherokee and looks at Daryl as he walks up to her. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Daryl asks Amy who nods as she follows him away.

"So about a week ago I heard Andrea talking to Dale, and according to her calendar, today is your birthday," Daryl says as he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the necklace. Daryl holds it out to Amy who takes it.

"You found a mermaid necklace?" Amy asks with a smile. Daryl nods. She looks at him. "Thank you," Amy says. "Do you mind putting in on?"

Daryl shakes his head and grabs the necklace. He unclasp it and puts it around her neck. "Happy birthday,"

"Thank you," Amy says as she turns to look at him. Daryl kisses her cheek. "Daryl," Glenn says as he comes behind them. "Let's get Merle in the R.V," Glenn says and Daryl nods as he follows him.

"Did I interrupt something?" Glenn asks with a smirk.

"Shut up," Daryl says.

Shane's P.O.V

Shane looks at Travis as he walks up to him. "You find a route?" Travis asks Shane who nods. "Yeah, if we don't run into any problems we should be there by the end of the day," Shane tells Travis who nods.

"You okay?" Travis asks him.

"Of course man, why wouldn't I be?" Shane asks.

"Rick is back," Travis says.

"You don't think that makes me happy?" Shane asks him.

"I think it does, but I also think it you're angry, It's not secret what was going on between you and Lori," Travis says quietly.

Shane stays silent for a moment. "I'll be fine, Travis, don't worry about me,"

"Shane, we need to leave what has happened here when we leave, we're going on the road, we need to trust each other. Leave everything in the past," Travis says.

Shane stares at him for a moment before he nods. "You got it, man,"

Travis nods as he walks away.

Andrea's P.O.V

Andrea looked at Amy as she walked into the R.V. "Happy birthday," Andrea says to her sister.

"Thank you," Amy says. "Did you here something?"

"I did," Andrea says. "Nice necklace, where'd you get that?"

"Daryl, he heard you and Dale talking about my birthday," Amy says and Andrea nods as she goes into the R.V and grabs a small box. She sets it down in front of Amy who opens it and smile. In the box was a red leather jacket. Amy picks it up and puts it on. "Fits pretty well."

"You ready for this, we're going to be on the road, hopefully not for a long time."

"We'll be fine," Amy reassures her sister. "We'll be leaving soon, are you ready?" Amy asks Andrea who nods.

"Yeah," Andrea says. "Let's go."

Travis's P.O.V

Travis, Dale, Glenn, and Shane stood in front of the group. "Alright, we're going to be heading for Senoia," Glenn says. "Everybody knows there seating arrgaments. Daryl will lead the convoy on his bike with Amy. Behind him will be Travis, then Shane, the Rick, then Morales and finally the R.V," Glenn says.

"We're not going," Morales says making Glenn look at him. "We have family in Burmingham."

"We want to be with our people," Miranda says.

"You sure, you'll be on your own, nobody to watch your backs," Travis says.

"I have to do what is best for my family," Morales tells them and Travis nods as he walks into the R.V. He comes out with two guns and two boxes of ammo.

"Hopefully you won't need them," Travis says and Morales nods as he takes them. "Good luck," Travis says as he holds his hand out to Morales who shakes it.

"You too," Morales says as his family starts to say goodbye.

"Channel forty if you change your mind," Glenn says.

"You're a good man, Glenn," Morales says. "Don't lose that," Glenn nods as Morales walks over to Daryl who looks at him. "Thanks for keeping this camp fed," Morales says as he holds his hand out to the younger Dixon who shakes it. "They need you, don't forget that."

Daryl nods. "Be careful, stay away from herds," Daryl tells Morales who nods as he walks away.

"Alright, let's load up," Shane says.

Merle's P.O.V

Merle sat in the R.V. He looked at Glenn as he walked to the back. "Did you come to keep me company?" Merle asks with a smirk.

"Nobody else likes you very much," Glenn says as he sits down. "I also want to talk to you."

"Say your piece, Glenn," Merle says as he puts his back against the headboard.

"Your brother is my best friend, he's done everything he can to help this camp and a few of us trust him. You've caused a lot of problems; we're going to leave that shit behind us. At the quarry and the cabins. Regardless of if we're on the road or not, we have to work together, you think you can do that, Merle? It is us against the dead, I don't care if you grew up with a shitty Dad or in a house with a picket fence, if your skin is while or black, if you were a cop or a drug dealer, none of it matters, we work together, that is how we survive," Glenn says firmly.

"You know, it may not seem like it, but I do respect you, Glenn. Can't say I care about you as much as my baby brother, but I don't want you to die, I don't want Amy to die and I don't want my brother to die. I'll do my best but I ain't going to take shit from anyone," Merle tells him.

"Sounds fair," Glenn says as the R.V starts to slow down, :"Dale is there a problem?"

"Yeah," Dale says.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl stops his bike and looks around. The highway was filled with cars. He climbs off his bike as the others get out of their cars. "So what now?" Chase asks.

"We'll get the cars moved and keep going," Glenn says. "We won't be out of here until night."

"Then we'll set up camp," Daryl says. "We should search these cars too, plenty of supplies."

"This place is a graveyard," Lori says.

"These people ain't gonna need it," Daryl replies.

"Alright, let's start searching the cars, Dale you take watch."

"Let's try and make a barrier with some of these cars, if we're going to stay the night here, we might as well be safe," Shane says.

"Alright, let's get to work," Travis says as the group starts to split up.

Daryl opens the trunk of a car and looks as Amy walks up behind him. "You wanna go hunting?" Amy asks the redneck who looks at her.

"Leave the group to search these cars?" Daryl asks.

"There are plenty of people doing that. We should try to find some more food. We can conserve what we find here," Amy says.

"Alright," Daryl says as he walks towards the R.V. "Dale," Daryl says making the older man look at him. "We're gonna head into the woods, see what we can find."

"Alright, get back before nightfall," Dale tells Daryl who nods as they walk towards the guardrails and into the woods.

Alicia's P.O.V

Alicia and Nick walk through the cars. "We don't need to stay together," Nick says.

"I'm just making sure you're not going to go over the edge."

"I've been cleaned since the start and I haven't tried anything since, Travis broke Merle's leg. I won't try anything, Alicia. I need to be stronger now. I don't want to die," Nick says and Alicia nods as he opens the trunk to a car and starts to look through it. She stops when she hears a growl from the front. Alicia goes to the front door and opens it. A walker grabs at her but is stopped by a seat belt. Alicia pulls her knife out.

"Alicia, let me," Nick says. "I haven't been out much, I should get used to killing them," Nick tells Alicia who nods as Nick removes his knife and stabs the walker in the head. He pulls his knife out and shuts the door. "Let's keep going."

Rick's P.O.V

Rick and Glenn walked along side the cars. "You really don't think there is a chance of things returning to normal?" Rick asks.

"Probably half of the population is dead, whether they're walkers or not, the world has changed forever, even if somehow a cure. No, normal is gone, Rick," Glenn says. "The world we knew is gone, now we just have to make some kind of life in this new world."

Rick nods as they start to look through a car. "Have you ran into hostile groups?" Rick asks Glenn who shakes his head.

"No, Mandy and David just needed help and you and Daryl found Chase," Glenn tells him as they hear a gunshot. Glenn and Rick goes towards the guard rails.

"Daryl wouldn't shoot his gun, neither would Amy," Travis says.

"They could be hurt, come on," Glenn says as he jumps over the guard railing followed by Andrea, Rick, and T-dog. They go through the woods, Glenn leading the group until they come across a small clearing where Amy's bow laid on the ground, blood beside it.

"Where are they?" Andrea says.

"I don't...I don't know," Glenn says as he looks around.

Thanks for reading. Next chapter what happened to Daryl and Amy is revealed. The group tries to find their missing members. As always suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.