Highway To Hell

Chapter 16

"No one's here," I mutter to Rick. We're back on the highway where we left supplies for Sophia.

"Wait, where's mom?" Carl asks. "You said she'd be here." Rick doesn't say anything. "We gotta go back for her."

"Carl-" Rick starts.

"No," Carl interrupts. "Why are we running? What are we doing? It's - it's mom. We need to get her and not be safe a mile away."

"Shh. You need to be quiet, all right? Please," Rick says in a whisper. Carl looks at me.

"Ivy, tell him." I know he can read the thoughts on my face because he gets a helpless look. He looks back to Rick. "Please. It's mom."

"Look, Carl, listen-" Rick kneels to continue talking but Carl pulls away and storms away to sulk against one of the cars. I sigh.

"I'll go try to talk to him."

"Thanks," Rick says, running a hand down his face. I nod and follow Carl.

Carl's head tilts the slightest bit as I walk up, telling me he knows I'm there. "He's being a coward," Carl mumbles, glaring at the ground.

"I can see why you'd think that," I say. "It's not how I see it."

"What other way is there to see it? We're safe and she's not and he won't even try to look for her!" he growls. I shake my head and crouch in front of him.

"Carl, he wants to find her just as much as you do, but your safety is our priority right now. We know she got off the farm, but we don't know where she is. If we go searching for her, we could get killed or she could show up while we're gone and we'll have no idea. Your dad was right about coming here. Just because we were the first to show up doesn't mean we'll be the only ones to. He's doing the best he can with what he has."

"But it's mom, how can he just abandon her?" His lips were pursed stubbornly.

"Hey, he isn't abandoning her. How do you think she'd feel if he put you in danger to find her? I know it seems unfair, it is unfair, but there's nothing we can do."

"But-" he stops talking and his eyes lock in on something behind me. "Ivy," he whispers urgently. I turn and don't see anything at first, but then movement catches my eye and I see a walker head bobbing over the cars.

"Come on," I whisper, grabbing his arm. We keep low and quickly rush back to Rick and Hershel. "Walker!" They both get low.

"How many?" Rick asks.

"I only noticed one. I can take it down easily," I say.

"No. If it's just one, let it pass. Come here." He leads us so that we're in front of the suburban. The walker gets close, and we wait until it starts passing on the right side to move to the left and slowly make our way back until we're behind the vehicle and the walker has passed.

"I don't know how much longer we can stay here," Hershel whispers.

"I'm not leaving without Mom," Carl says quietly.

"So, we're just gonna walk away?" Rick asks Hershel. "Not knowing if my wife, your girls are still out there? How do we live with that?"

"You've only got one concern now - just one - keeping him alive. Nature may be throwing us a curveball, but that law is still true." Rick's face is a battle. His wife or his kid.

"I'll stay," I whisper. Carl's head whips toward me. "I can run if I need and fight if I need and I don't have someone depending on me. You two can't check all those marks. I'll wait the rest of the day and if no one shows up, I'll come find you."