The Middle of the End

Nine

Random Song: My World - Sick Puppies

The Middle Of The End

Chapter Nine: Not Like You

The trip to the CDC had been a complete waste of time. The only scientist there, Dr Edwin Jenner, was a bit of a nutcase. He'd fed us, gave us a place to sleep. There were hot showers. And then the next day he locked us in a control room with a clock counting down to zero; the place was going to explode. Somehow, though, Rick and Shane convinced him to let us out, give us a chance at survival. We barely got out in time, Jacqui chose to stay with Jenner. She'd felt that this world was not for her.

So now, we were slowly making our way towards Fort Benning. Daryl and I still thought it was a death trap, but I didn't want to separate from the group and Daryl wasn't willing to leave me.

"I just got ya back. No way in hell 'm I goin' anywhere without you." he'd said to me last night after we got out of Atlanta. We camped out on the side of the road, and headed for our destination at dawn. He left his truck there.

Dale stopped the caravan; something was wrong with the RV. AGAIN.

"Bet there's food in these cars." Shane smirked. The highway was lined with abandoned vehicles, and Daryl nodded. What we had to do was obvious.

"Are you suggesting we..." Lori couldn't even finish what she'd started to say.

"This is a graveyard... No. I can't. It doesn't feel right."

"If you'd rather starve, be my guest." Daryl rolled his eyes, and followed T-Dog.

"I know how you feel, Lori, but we need to stay alive. We have no other options." Carol patted her on the back, and I went with Carl and Sophia.

"Stay close to the group!" Lori called.

"Bite me." Carl muttered and I tried not to laugh. It seemed my new attitude was rubbing off on him. "What?"

"Nothin', Mr Grimes. Now pick a car!" I told them, "First one to find a chocolate bar wins!"

"What about candy?" Sophia asked as she opened the back door of an aquamarine Sunfire.

"Hm. Well, chocolate is first place. Candy is second." I popped the trunk to a minivan. Suitcases were stacked to the roof; I spotted a pink one one close to the bottom of the pile and tugged at it until it came out. Some of the shirts looked like they would fit Sophia so I called her over.

"I like this one!" she held up a blue shirt with a rainbow on the front. "Can I have it?"

"Sure, I don't see why not. Actually, hang on a second." I cleared a space in the minivan. "You can change into it now if you want."

"Yay!" she smiled and hurried in, closing the sliding door. While she changed, I checked on Carl.

"I found cool knives! I'm gonna go show Mom!" he smirked and ran to where Lori and Shane were talking. Sophia and I followed after him, and once they were safe with thier parents, I walked off to find Daryl and T-Dog.I stopped in front of a blue Honda Civic. I looked through the back window; a green carseat had been stained with blood. I took a deep breath and was about to check the trunk for food when something grabbed my arm. My mouth was covered by a giant hand before I could scream.

"Shush. It's me." Daryl mumbled. "There's a bunch of geeks headin' straight for us." he lowered his hand from my face and told me to get underneath the car.

"Stay here until I come back."

"Okay." I lay flat on the pavement for what seemed like hours, listening to walkers shuffling by. I didn't know where Daryl had went. What about Carl and Lori? And Sophia? Was everyone alright? Did they have enough time to hide? I shut my eyes and covered my ears before crippling anxiety took over and counted to ten. Then I heard a couple screams and started hyperventilating.