RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

time will tell

THEY HAD BEEN DRIVING for hours until Rick's car was running low.

"You out?" Daryl said, sitting on is motorcycle ahead of them.

Willow hobbled out of Rick's car behind him. They were able to gather a few bandages from the wreckage off the highway, but she had already bled through most of them. She knew that it most likely would need stitches, but they hadn't come across anything that could help yet.

"Running on fumes." Rick approached Daryl as the rest of the group got out of the vehicles.

"We can't stay here." Maggie held her shotgun tightly.

"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn added.

"We'll have to run for some gas in the morning." Rick turned to the group.

"Stay the night here?" Willow questioned, her hot breath turning into a fog when it hit the colder air.

"I'm freezing." Carl shivered under Lori's arms.

"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori rubbed Carl's chest, trying to warm him up.

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close." Daryl instructed, getting off his bike. "Only got so many arrows. How you doin' on ammo?"

"Not enough." Rick paced along them.

"We can't just sit out here with our asses hanging out." Maggie interjected, earning a scowl from her dad.

"Watch your mouth. Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."

Rick gave a nod to Hershel before directing the group. "Alright, we set up a perimeter. In the morning we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on."

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas, more bandages for Willow." Maggie suggested, but Rick shot it down.

"No, we stay together. God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn stepped up. 

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other." Rick leaned forward, trying to encourage the group, but they remained unsure. "I wasn't sure... I really wasn't, but we did. We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."

Sienna began to cry lightly against Willow's chest, her little body shaking after a cool breeze ran along the group. Willow tried to bounce her slightly, still keeping her weight off her right leg.

"Rick, look around. Okay? There's walkers everywhere." Glenn pleaded to the man. "They're migrating or something."

"There's gotta be a place. Not just where we hole up, but that we fortify. Hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other. I know it's out there, we just have to find it." Rick's voice was full of anger and irritation.

"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure for how long." Willow said quietly, trying not to disturb Sienna who finally stopped crying. "Look what happened to the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe, no offense Hershel."

"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel responded.

"We'll make camp tonight, over there." He pointed to a lower part of the ground, tall stone walls surrounding a flatter spot with a small waterfall flowing off the stones. "Get on the road at the break of day."

"Does this feel right to you?" Carol approached Daryl, tugging her sweater tighter around herself.

"What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?" Beth also voiced her doubts.