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DARYL

Daryl had strapped Merle's bike into the bed of the truck, and it had only served as another reminder of what this group had done to the only blood he had left. He had been glad he would have the drive to the CDC separate from these assholes, but then Rick had suggested the new girl ride with him and ruined that plan too.

She thanked him quietly, but his mood meant the only response he gave her was a brief grunt of acknowledgement as she climbed in. He was angry about everything right now, he was never meant to stay with this group, he should've been halfway to anywhere else with his bother by now, but instead he was stuck going along with whatever sheriff Rick said. He was angry that the damn sheriff kept giving away their guns to people who were probably never going to make it anyway. He was angry that they were risking everyone in that RV's life by risking Jim turning into a walker en route.

He was so lost in his own thoughts he'd almost forgotten about the girl sharing the cab with him until the RV broke down and the caravan had to stop. He looked across at her properly for the first time as he slowed down. She looked tiny in the large truck, she'd kicked her shoes off and pulled her knees up so her heels were resting on the edge of the seat. She had a small pile of black clothing tucked between her knees and her chest and her head was resting against the window. Her long dark hair blocked his view of her face, so he couldn't tell if she was awake or sleeping.

As he pulled to a stop, he watched out the corner of his eye as she stretched her legs out and in a single fluid motion reached down and pulled her shoes back on. Her clothes were loose, he guessed someone had given them to her as she'd had nothing when they found her and she'd been wearing all black before, but he could see her collarbones quite clearly as she pushed her hair back out of the way before pulling it back in front of her shoulders again like a shield from the world.

She would've been pretty once, for a second, he was glad Merle wasn't there, he'd have been looking for a way to take advantage of this girl the second he saw her. She looked so fragile, and he wondered how she'd survived in that city alone for so long. She stayed in the truck as he got out to see what was going on, it seemed he'd found someone who wanted to socialise even less than he did, and he pushed away any feelings of protectiveness he had towards the girl with every step he took away from her.

Jim made the decision to stay behind where they stopped. He knew he wouldn't make it to the CDC and was lucid enough to tell Rick what he wanted. Everyone took turns to say their goodbyes as they left Jim leaning up against a tree a little way from the road and Daryl scowled as Rick tried to give yet another gun away to the dead man.

Daryl was the last of the group to day goodbye. He didn't know Jim well, there was nothing he could say, he stood and looked at him, he knew Jim understood. With a small nod Daryl turned and walked back to the truck to carry on the journey.

Someone had managed to jerry-rig the RV so it could keep moving, they all just had to hope it would make it to the CDC. Soon enough they were on their way, but with one less person this time. Daryl thought about suggesting the girl take Jim's space in the RV, but it felt too soon, and it wasn't like she was any real trouble, she hadn't even said a word since they left the original camp.

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JINX

When they reached the CDC it was a graveyard. The smell of death was a thousand times worse than the walker that had attacked her in Atlanta, but then there were probably a thousand more decaying bodies here.

Everyone tried not to cough as they weaved their way through the bodies scattered all over the path to the main building. The army had obviously been here, the group passed two tanks and an army truck on their way to the entrance and Jinx was reminded of what she had seen from the tiny basement window. She wasn't sure what hope their small group had if the army hadn't been able to survive.

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