Chapter 5 - Degrees of Separation

Highway 85

The drive to Atlanta was quiet for the most part. Tess sat in the passenger seat, watching the world go by as Rick drove. They'd been trying the radio to see if they could reach anybody but so far they hadn't been so lucky.

"Broadcasting on the emergency band…traveling on highway eighty-five…anyone out there… anyone hear my voice, come back…" Rick had been becoming more and more desperate as the needle on the gas gauge dropped lower and lower. He was quickly running out of hope but tried not to show it. As he fiddled with the scanner, Tess spotted a sign for a gas station at the next exit.

"Rick, we should pull off here. There's a gas station ahead." Nodding in agreement, Rick took the off-ramp and drove them up as close to the gas station as he could get. Cars had been left abandoned in the forecourt, bumper to bumper as they queued up for the pumps. As the pair got out of the vehicle, what little hope they had burnt out at the sight of quickly-scrawled 'NO GAS'. Their efforts constantly seemed like a feckless endeavor and it was starting to be incredibly disheartening.

"Fuck's sake." Tess groaned and rubbed her head tiredly. Rick started to wander away aimlessly and Tess let him have his space, knowing he was probably feeling just as dejected as her. She sat down on the hood of a dark blue sedan and pondered her fate. She'd been in some pretty precarious situations in her time but never had she felt so hopeless and alone. Sure, she had Rick but she hardly knew the guy and they were both too distracted with the task at hand to get to know one another. At least he had something to hold on to, someone to be holding out for. If they found Rick's family at a refugee camp, she guessed she'd just go back to being a soldier, helping to keep the peace. There wasn't much else she thought she had to offer. Service was all she knew.

She thought of Rick's son, Carl. She hadn't even met him yet she felt sorry for him. The world was hard enough without all of this going on. It was at that moment that she realized that Rick's wife and son probably thought he was dead. She watched as Rick stood in the middle of the road and wondered what he was thinking. She refused to give up and let that probability become a certainty.

Getting up from the sedan, she walked back to the Explorer, grabbed her backpack, the second walkie and the duffel bag and made her way over to Rick.

"Guess we're on foot from here. Whaddya say?" She held the duffel bag out to him with a reassuring smile and Rick looked at her, gratefully.

"Thank you for helping me. I know this is asking a lot of you." In Tess' mind, it really wasn't.

"Well, I had the time." She replied with a shrug and a cheeky smirk.

"In that really busy schedule of yours?" Rick jibed back, enjoying the banter.

"Packed. You're really impeding on my wallowing time." The pair were starting to walk back to the highway now and they equally felt lighter than they had moments ago.

"You'll have to reschedule." Tess laughed for the first time in a very long time and felt like she could definitely grow to be friends with the sheriff's deputy.

—

A few hours later they came across an old farmhouse. Rick had tried to do the right thing and call in to check if anyone was there and if they were ok but by the looks of things, they were at least a week too late. The elderly couple that lived in the home had committed suicide, opting out. It was a somber moment for the both of them and it sent vivid images of Nate in the cafeteria hurtling back into the forefront of Tess' mind. She had turned away very quickly from the scene.

In a field behind the house was a tall, chestnut brown horse, grazing. It wasn't apparent whether the couple had owned the horse or if it had just wandered into the paddock, as Tess couldn't spot any gear. She crept up slowly in an attempt to not spook the horse and was pleasantly surprised when it stayed in place, allowing her to pat it. As she stroked it's mane, Rocked piped up from behind her,

"Ever ridden?" Tess quirked a brow.

"No, never had the chance."

"Well, I guess you better hold on tight then." He said as he walked around and climbed onto the horse.

"Uhh…"

"Come on, she won't bite."

"Literally, the last thing I was worried about." Tess responded as she grabbed Rick's hand and climbed on behind him.

"See, that wasn't so bad." Rick laughed and motioned for the horse to start moving. It slowly moved into a trot and then a canter and then a full blown gallop. Tess held on to Rick for dear life, terrified. I'm gonna die. The world ends with the dead rising from the grave and she was gonna die from her first horse riding lesson. Humiliating.

—

Thankfully they weren't able to get very far going at so fast a speed, having to make a couple detours. It was much easier to travel at a slower pace and Tess was much more comfortable now that she didn't feel like she was about to fall off. She was unhappy with Rick though, who had taken too much pleasure in her misery and she glared at the back of his head. I could kill him and nobody would know. Her overly dramatic inner dialogue pondered over the idea but it wasn't something she'd ever seriously consider.

As they steadily came to a stop, the sight before them was grim. Atlanta stood in the distance but was unlike Atlanta as either of them had ever seen before. Skyscrapers loomed like silent tombstones. Several were just charred husks, having caught fire and simply burned out of control until the fires died. Others were completely destroyed. They'd bombed Atlanta.

The road before them was empty, no one had been trying to get into the city. The road out of the city was a whole other story, however. The lanes of the highway were choked with thousands of abandoned cars and SUVs. It was evident that everyone had tried to leave all at one in mass panic. There were doors hanging open, fenders crumpled and windshields smashed. Those that hadn't run out of gas had either been involved in an accident or stuck in gridlock. The highway was just a sea of dead metal.

Rick spurred the horse on, keeping a steady pace until they entered the city. What normally would have been a busy area of downtown Atlanta, was now hauntingly quiet and still. It was spooky and it was clear the horse knew it too. Rubble lined the street's and more cars were left abandoned in the middle of the road.

"I don't like this, Rick." Whispered Tess as she moved to grip her rifle.

"I know."

Ahead of them, an Abrams Tank sat, blocking the road. The body of a soldier lay sprawled across the turret where he had been killed and by the looks of things, eaten. Crows picking at what was left. From the alleyways and side-streets, figures started to appear, lumbering towards them as if lured by the sound of the horses hooves on the concrete. They slowly start to follow them and Rick gets the horse to move faster, easily outdistancing them.

"It's alright, girl. Steady. There's just a few, nothing we can't outrun." Rick patted the horse on the neck comfortingly and continued on. Overhead, a distant rumble sounded and the low, whipping sound of helicopter rotors called down from above as a chopper flew past.

"Rick, look!" Tess called out over the sound and Rick spurred the horse into a gallop, following in its direction.

As they turned the corner, Rick quickly pulled back on the reins and they jerked back as the horse came to an abrupt halt. The street in front of them was full of walkers. Hundreds, if not thousands of the dead packed the street and they all now had their sights set on them. Dead, hungry, greedy eyes all focused in and like one big mass, surged forward on instinct.

Tess gripped onto Rick tightly with one arm and pulled out her sidearm with the other. Rick wheeled them around and tried to flee but the dead were starting to come at them from every direction. In its panic, the horse reared back and Tess fell, landing on her shoulder. She cried out in pain but knew she didn't have time to think about it.

"Rick!" She screamed as she got to her feet, firing her gun at any walkers that got too close. She couldn't see him. A swarm of walkers had come down on the horse and were now feasting on its flesh but there were still plenty more coming for her.

"Rick!" She shouted again, hoping he might still be alive. A decaying hand stretched out to grab her and she ducked out of the way, quickly maneuvering out of its path and toward safety. She didn't have time to worry about conserving ammo and took down as many walkers as she could with her handgun before switching over to her rifle. It wasn't made for close combat but she had no other choice and made do. She spied an empty alley and made for it, ducking and weaving her way through the crowd, sheer determination and grit keeping her alive. Sparing one last look to where the horse went down, she called out for Rick one last time. And like music to her ears, Rick called back to her.

"Go! Get out of here! I'll find you!" Rick was sitting in the tank and was slowly lowering the hatch down from above, making sure she got a glimpse of him before he hid himself away. Breathing a desperate sigh of relief, Tess turned and fled.

She had to run down a few streets before she found a building she could hold up in. She wound up in the lobby of a flash looking office building. It was a big open space with a front desk and turnstiles leading towards two pairs of elevators. Elevators that didn't work. There were a couple walkers in the lobby, thankfully she managed to shake most of them off, having always been a fast runner and made quick work of those that were there. It wasn't safe for her down here in such an exposed space, so she made for the stairwell and started her journey upstairs.

From the map in the stairwell, there were ten floors to this building. She figured she may as well go up as high as possible and try to get a good look of her surroundings. By the time she got to the tenth floor, she was exhausted. The straps of her backpack dug into her shoulders, now significantly heavier with the added weight of the sidearms and ammo. It was a welcome reprieve to be able to take it off once she settled into a large corner office.

After reloading her guns, she took a moment to rest, sitting down on the leather two-seater sofa and propping her feet up on the glass coffee table. It was crazy to her to think that this office was probably someone's entire life. The level of status and recognition this person had worked their whole life to achieve, now meant nothing. Perhaps they had been one of the walkers from the lobby? Maybe they'd made it out of the city alive? She'd never know.

She thought about Rick, trapped in the tank on the street and she hoped he'd be okay. They'd just have to wait them out. The walkers would lose interest in the soon, and then they would disperse. Surely. She had been so relieved when she spotted him peeking out of the tank and she realized that she didn't know if she could take losing someone else so soon; even if she did hardly know them. The guilt would probably eat her alive. She knew Rick was a clever man and would probably be fine but the worry didn't go away.

Looking around the room, Theresa took stock; examining the abstract artwork of what appeared to be a naked woman on canvas. Curious choice of art for an office, she thought. Behind the obnoxiously large mahogany desk was a pickaxe and a plaque underneath that read 'From the Ground Up. The first ax to break ground here on February 18th 1974'. Tess thought it strange, not recalling there being any underground schematics on the stairwell map but she also wasn't looking to go underground. Moving from the sofa to the desk chair, her nosiness got the better of her and she began to look through this person's stuff. Aaron Emerson.

Aaron Emerson liked to fish and had a wife and two young kids. He owned a sports car and boat and he was cheating on his wife. From what Tess discovered from his diary that he had kept not-so-hidden in his desk drawer, he had been cheating on his wife for quite some time. As Tess read through his diary and spun in circles on the chair, she grew more and more angry for his wife who was being played for a fool. Coming to a stop in her spinning she sat and stared at the pickaxe on the wall. She then proceeded to spend the rest of her afternoon destroying Mr Emerson's desk.

Splintered wood lay scattered over the floor as Tess overlooked the city. The sun had started to set and was casting an eerie glow over the now quiet city. As Tess had been taking out her anger and frustration on the desk, she could faintly hear a car alarm echoing through the streets. She figured a walker had bumped into one like they had when she was back with Morgan and Duane and paid it no mind. It never occurred to her that the sound was traveling, too caught up in enjoying the unorthodox stress relief. As she settled in for the night, she thought about Rick and decided that tomorrow, she'd try to look for him.

—

It was another restless night. As tired as she was, she couldn't quite allow herself to fall into too deep a sleep. Knowing she was alone and knowing what would await her in her dreams, kept her half awake. Feeling only marginally rested once the sun started to rise in the distance, the warm glow of the morning rays rousing her, she knew there was no point trying to sleep any longer. The corner office she occupied faced away from the direction she had run from yesterday and she knew her best tactical position would be the roof.

Gathering her things and swiping a few metal paper clips from the floor that had originally been in the desk, she tracked down the maintenance stairwell to the roof and made her way up. As she suspected, the door was locked but she made quick work of it, picking the lock and swinging the door open. The cool, morning air brushed her skin and she took a deep breath, savoring the peace and quiet. The air was so still and her mind so at ease for a brief moment and she treasured this feeling, knowing it wouldn't last. The sun's rays were warm and it felt like a promise of good things to come.

Setting up on the edge of the roof, facing the direction of the tank Rick and her had passed yesterday, she unstrapped her rifle. From her backpack, she pulled out a suppressor and screwed it onto the muzzle; just in case. Lying prone, she used the magnified scope to look out over the city. There were a few walkers ambling around but nothing like the numbers from yesterday. She was surprised to see that they had dispersed so quickly but figured they must've been distracted by something else.

Tess presumed she could probably make her way back to the tank relatively easily. Provided the blocks ahead that she couldn't see were equally as quiet. She knew Rick had told her that he'd find her but he didn't know where she was. She knew where he was stuck. At least, she thought she did. Besides, she wasn't the damsel in distress type. She also wasn't stupid either, she'd have to be careful. For all she knew, there were other survivors in the city. Some, not so friendly.

—

It was a painstaking trudge back down the 10 floors of the building to the ground floor. She'd stopped briefly in the women's bathroom around the 4th or 3rd floor, making use of the facilities even if they were functioning. It had been dark, generally well-lit with fluorescent lighting, but even still had tried to look at herself in the mirror. She had naturally striking features, with a well-defined bone structure and high cheekbones. An oval face with a gently rounded forehead and a slightly tapered chin. Large, expressive and soulful eyes were dull with lack of sleep. Her full and shapely lips were beginning to crack from dehydration. She had been savoring her water but quickly finished it off, knowing it was better off in her than in her canteen. Her copper hair had dried into haphazard curls and she pulled it out of her face and into a plait. It felt nice not having it pulled so tightly against her scalp.

Thankfully Tess only had to use her knife a couple times while making her way down the street. The sickening crunch of each blow was still repulsive but she didn't let it get to her. Her right pant leg had a thick coating of blood on it from where she'd been wiping the knife blade clean and she knew she'd have to find some more clothes soon if she kept this up. By her estimate, it was around 8am now, maybe a bit later. God, what she'd give for a coffee. At this point though, she actually didn't know if caffeine would cut it.

She was so close to the tank now and she could hear the shuffling of feet coming from the end of the alley. It made sense that there would be more of them out there. Slowly creeping up the path towards the main street, she crouched to hide whenever a walker would meander past. When the coast was clear, she made her way up to the corner.

There was the tank! However there were still too many walkers nearby for her to even attempt to get to it. As she thought about her next move, something caught her eye. The top hatch was open? A walker lay atop the tank with a shovel embedded into its skull. That definitely hadn't been there before. Had Rick escaped? Elation quickly came and went as a sinking feeling settled in. If he wasn't here, where was he?

Rick seemed like a man of his word and Tess tried not to think pessimistically but he didn't owe her anything. Certainly not his life. If he was able to escape the city without her, she wouldn't blame him for taking the opportunity. He had a family to find afterall. On the other hand, maybe he was still around, trying to find her. Surely he wouldn't have gone that far if that was the case then. Deciding to give herself the day to try to find him in the city, she thought to herself, if I were Rick Grimes, where would I go? Spying the duffel bag full of guns lying on the ground on the other side of the tank, she guessed he wouldn't be too far away. She definitely didn't want to leave those just sitting there and knew he wouldn't either. But she couldn't get to them now. There were too many walkers still. She'd have to wait.

—

Tess backtracked a bit from the tank and took her time checking any buildings that she could get into in case Rick was holding up in any of them. Yet, she wasn't proving so lucky. She came across a pet store, mostly with just pet supplies, but there was a cage in the back that housed a pair of blue budgies. They chirped at her, probably hungry and she grabbed the cage and took it outside. As she opened the cage door, the budgies took a moment to realize they were free but they very quickly took the opportunity to flee and flew out of the cage. Tess watched as they flit about for a moment before flying out of sight and that one good deed made her feel so much better.

Her next successful stop was a department store. The glass front door had been smashed in and the place looked like it had been turned over but more as if someone had decided to tear up the place as opposed to pick through it. Racks of women's clothes were left toppled over on the floor and she took the opportunity to find some more clothes for herself. Laying her bag at her feet and crouching down, a sturdy pair of dark blue jeans and a couple tank tops and henley tees made their way into her bag. She was quick to toss aside a bright blue graphic tee that declared its love for Atlanta, sneering at it as it landed in a rumpled heap. She certainly wasn't loving Atlanta right now.

As she gathered a few underclothes and stuffed them into her bag as well, she froze when she felt a small but sharp jab to the back of her head. A gruff voice instructed her from behind,

"Hands." Tess took a moment, not responding straight away. If it was just one person she'd probably be able to hold her own but she couldn't know for certain. She must've been taking too long to think because whatever was pressed against her head was now being pressed more firmly.

"Hands!"

"Okay, okay!" She slowly lifted her hands up to where he could see them. "I'm gonna stand and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't shoot." The man behind her only grunted in response and she took that as the all-clear. Coming up to her feet steadily, she felt the man step away but she was well aware that whatever weapon he had was still firmly trained on her.

"I don't want trouble-" Tess turned around to face the man and was met with a crossbow, aimed directly at her. She recoiled a bit, surprised by the weapon choice. He was taller than her and muscular, with tanned, sleeveless arms. He was angry and twitchy.

"I'm lookin' for my brother. Ya' seen him?" He had a southern lilt to his voice, one she guessed got worse when he was angry.

"I haven't seen anyone." Not that she'd even know what his brother looked like if she had. "No one living, anyway." He just grunted in response. She guessed she'd be getting a lot of that. "Maybe, if you tell me what he looks like, I can help you?" She prompted hesitantly, trying to gauge his response,

"I don't need yer' help, lady!" He snapped at her as if she'd just offered him something untoward.

"Okay, well fuck man, what the hell do you want?" She shouted back, and threw her hands to her sides. She felt pretty confident that he wouldn't be shooting her, given that he hadn't yet and her reaction seemed to have surprised him, as if he weren't used to people talking back to him. As she debated what to do next, three other men ran into the room and she went to grab her pistol when she realized one of them was Rick.

"Rick? Rick!"

"Tess?" He was just as shocked as she was and was quick to set the crossbow wielding man at ease, so that he could push past him. With a surprisingly firm grasp, Rick pulled her into a hug, which she gladly reciprocated. "Thank God you're okay." He sighed in relief and Tess felt touched that he had been so concerned.

"I went to find you at the tank-" she began, unsure where to end.

"I got out. Glenn here, helped me." He gestured to the young Korean man standing a few feet behind them.

"It's a long story. But I found them, Tess. Lori and Carl, I found them." The look on Rick's face was one of pure joy and Tess was elated for him. Astounded by the sheer coincidence of it all but happy for him nonetheless.

"That's wonderful, Rick. I'm happy for you."

"There's a camp, you'll come back with us. Carl really wants to meet you." It wasn't so much of a question but more of a statement and Tess just nodded.

"Are you forgetting something?!" Shouted the redneck, "My brother's still out there!" The three other men all appeared to be directing their attention towards Rick to gauge his reaction and it was clear to Tess that they all saw him as the leader. She smirked to herself a bit, knowing she'd been right about him.

"We're still looking for him Daryl, that hasn't changed. You knew I was also out here looking for someone." Rick's tone was firm and authoritative.

"Well ya' done that, now let's get." Daryl stormed away and they all took that as their queue to move on.

Gathering up all her belongings, Tess joined the group as they resumed their search for Daryl's brother.