Ain't a world for the living

2.1 - Three long days

72 hours of walking, killing, watching over the group while they were asleep under the stars and looking for eatable supplies have passed later I became a 'neutral' member of Rick's.

4320 minutes after leaving the house and the store behind to find our way to Washington. It was my duty to keep my eyes open. Right before I made it clear to watch over them for the first hours Rick gave me a stern instruction about the following time:

1. Don't wander off unless you have to kill a walker.
2. Always use your knife.
3. When you see a herd or a strange group - YELL.

The group was asleep for half an hour, roughly. The wind blew harshly in the near trees and bushes for the leaves to rustle and the branches to scrape the cold and hard ground. It was nearing winter and everyone knew what that meant. To find shelter and a lot of food and wood to survive ice and snow and storms.Even though Rick wouldn't admit it; they were in a desperate need of some peaceful time. Especially Rick and Daryl needed it.

With a stretched sigh I stood up from the stone I was sitting on and moved over to my bag, rustling in it do find something edible.

"Eat this. I'm not hungry." Carl suggested. He stood in front of me, hugging his long torso and looked at me with tired eyes. Shaking me head I closed my bag and heard a walker bumping into a tree. "No, you'll need it sooner or later. I'm not even looking for food."

"What for, then?" Holding a nearly empty bottle with water in the air he just nodded.

An awkward silence emerged around us, disrupted by the people moving or mumbling in their sleep. "How are you?" "Fine. I'm fine." I answered with a confused tone in my voice. "Dad's actually happy to have you with us. Said we needed more trustworthy people." Huffing out I stared blankly into the sky. That was new to me. "We hadn't had a good start, I think. Maybe because you lost good people." Carl glanced at me. His eyes were big and dull. He was thinking about his mom. "Sorry." I said quickly and turned my head, afraid of seeing him angry. "Don't be. In the end, we all have to face our demons."

I giggled. Carl laughed lightly, too, sitting closer to me. "That sounds so...mature and responsible." "Strange coming from my mouth, aye?" I laughed even more.

As our fits of laughter died down we sighed, gasping for the cool air. My skin heated up rapidly when Carl put his hand on my forearm, resting his body against mine. "Tell me about the first days of the apocalypse." I whispered, trying not to go louder.

"We were in a camp, outside of Atlanta. Mom, Shane, Dale, Daryl. Carol, Ed, Sofia, Andrea, Glenn. Me." "And then what?" "Glenn, Andrea and some others were in the city. They found Dad. He got shot in the shoulder and when he woke up…we thought he was dead." He paused, clutching my arm. I dared to answer. "And he came back. To you and your Mom." "We were united. I killed his best friend. They fought a lot and as he turned- we were at the farm of Maggie's father. Shot him."  Oh. That's rough. The boy shifted backwards causing his back to collide with the tree behind us. Minutes later he fell asleep, his hand still resting on my arm, caressing my skin in his sleepy state.

***

"Wake up, sleeping beauty. Come one, we'll  loose daylight." Daryl spoke as his feet nudged me. Stirring and finally getting on my feet I saw that Michonne, Sasha and Glenn were already ahead of us, struuting along the abandoned street. I silently grabbed my bag, pulled my- er, Carl's jacket - down to cover my back and behind and followed the group.

It was a warm and dry day. No wind to cool our skin and adding to our bad luck we had almost emptied our water. Rick kept one bottle for Carl and Judith as the rest of us searched for puddles and smaller creaks. Daryl walked next to me, looking for walkers or even deers as they were a sign for water like he just explained to me. Ordering me to follow him into the woods he found a deep line on the ground. He dragged his fingers through the earth, snipped a crump from his middlefinger and observed the surroundings. "This doesn't add up. There is a wet spot in this line but I canjt see or hear water." he said with despair in his voice. I stepped forward and put my hand on his unharmed shoulder, reassuring him that we'd find something, eventually.

We were gone for about six minutes as we hit concrete. Approaching the street with my shorty and Daryl's crossbow the street stopped at a little white bungalow. The redneck already wanted to search the house but something caught my interest.

"Trucks and vans from the government." "A place where they wanted to be safe?" "No" I shook my head to strees my opinion and showed him how the cars were arranged. "More like a research station with a little lab maybe." We stared at the weird place, thinking about it on our own.
"Rick we found a place. Might have been from the government. Should check it out." he spoke into his walkie talkie, waited for Rick to answer and put it back in his pocket.

***

Nearing midnight the bungalow was enlighted by candles. Rick sat in a chair with Judy on his lap. "It was a former holiday lodge. Saw pictures of a family in the two bedrooms. But the government - or the military, whatever - confisticated it. Is this even a word?" There were shrugs as an answer. "But there must be files or reports. I don't get it." Carol and Glenn nodded. Outside there was a loud noise and a groan in pure annoyance. Michonne and Daryl carried a big deer into the room. Without a word Daryl emptied a bag with potatoes and tomatoes. "Mind if we bring food?"

***

Standing in the door frame with a plate filled with roasted meat, potatoes and tomatoes applause welcomed me. The group couldn't stop blabbering about the meal and I felt pride redden my cheeks. Carl and I sat opposite of each other, glancing up every now and then. Rick raised a cup of water in the air and said "I want to make a toast. To Josie and her incredible cooking skills" Hear, hear! "And to this place that might give us some answers!" Cheers and other toasts echoed in the room and we ate in a joyful atmosphere.

Suddenly Glenn stood up, rubbing his behind confused. Tara and Maggie laughed. "Got a cramp sweety?" Maggie asked amused and ate a tomato. "No...there's something under the cushion." With that he lunged for the brown seat and reached for something under it. His face scrunched up in confusion again ere he pulled two files out for everyone to see. "Told you so." I mumbled knowingly causing Daryl to huff. "What is it?" Glenn turned both files around until he read out loud "CDC Atlanta and Washington Medical Treatment System - New virus found aaaaand Virus treatment program for Military and Marines" Silence occcured. It was uncomfortable and it got even more awkward as Abe and I jumped up and stretched our hands out in an impatient manner. 

"What?" "We can read it." Abe and I said in unison. Glenn hesitated, ganced over to Rick and sighed. "And what are you expecting to find?" "Military locations, camps. Other research labs or organisations. Could be everything we need, could be a dead track." Abe shurgged and crossed his arms over his bulky chest. 

Rick's P.O.V.

Tara, Carol, Glenn and me just came back from a supply run. Due to the hidden position in the woods we barely met walkers. The dead cars and backpacks on the streets were rarely filled with useful stuff like food, medicine or clothes but we eventually found enough medicine and milk powder for the next days. Tyreese, Sasha and Rositha were walking around the house, guns ready to shoot. 

Stepping into the house my first aim was to say 'hi' to Carl and Judy. I saw them in the smaller bedroom, sitting on the mattress next to Josie who avidly studied the file that was sprawled on her lap. A notebook full of words was thrown onto the floor and she gave me a sharp nod before returning to the file. Abe was busy too. But while Josie was quiet and in her own bubble the army dude was fighting with Rositha every now and then about the meaning behind codes or orders.

Glenn and Maggie rummaged through our supplies, sorting cans and bottles out, shaking tins and nodding satisfied when they were full. "So?" "Thanks to the supply run and the food Daryl and Michonne got yesterday we will be fed for the next days. Only problem is that we are running low on ammo. Strange that this location doesn't have an armory." That was true. The small hallway in the house led to a useless bathroom, the kitchen, a small office, the livingroom we were in and the two bedrooms. "She's right. Plus the part of the hallway leading to the bedrooms is really strange. Did you notice that the distance between the two doors is not proportional to the size of the rooms?" Glenn and Maggie stared at him in bewilderment. "It means that there might be a third room between those two. No one would build such a structure with a five feet thick wall, not even if the kids are really loud." I explained. Glenn scrambled to his feet, rolling the ends of his shirt up and said: "Let's kick the wall in, then." But Maggie disagreed with us. "No Glenn. What if they concreted this distance for a reason?" "Yeah, to keep their armory safe." "There might be walkers in it." I interrupted and saw how their faces went blank for a moment.