The Purification (From the Ashes We Will Rise: Book One)

Chapter 24

 "Hold on T-Dog!" I screamed as we took off. Lincoln was holding on for dear life as I began to drive. It was finally my turn to take some walkers down. Any of them that I could run over, I did. Once we were closer to the house, I laid the petal to the metal and mowed them down left and right. There was a disgusting amount of blood and guts flying everywhere. As soon as we pulled up around the back of the house, I could see the relief course over their faces as I pounded on the breaks. Andrea flew out of her seat and hopped into the back with T-Dog while Beth pulled Lincoln into her lap, and Lori closed the door. I was thankful to see the younger girl. She's Maggie's little sister, and my brother loved Maggie, even if he didn't want to say it out loud. That makes us family. You don't leave behind family.

"Get Carol," Lori panted. "She ran that way."

Andrea hopped out of the back and started clearing a path to Carol. She was getting closer with every walker she took down. Finally, just as she was about the reach Carol, she went down. Lori was screaming at me to go, and I knew she was right. I waited a minute to see if she would get up, but she didn't. T-Dog was slamming on the back, and I knew I had to go or he would die too. I shook the tears from my eyes and floored it. We had to get the hell out of here. I know my brother, and he's smart. He and Maggie will get out of here. All of us that are left will. We're too strong not to. I busted through a few fences before making it onto the road. I drove until it was daylight. Lincoln and Beth were sleeping, and T-Dog was still in the truck bed.

"We need to turn around," Lori spoke quietly.

"Straight back to that herd?" I asked flabbergasted. I wanted to go back to the farm too. To see if my brother was still alive. The others too. But what good is us dying when there's a chance they got out?

"No, the highways back there. That's where they'll be," Lori pushed. "That's where we first broke down. That's where Rick will be."

"Okay," I nodded, slowing to a stop. "I trust you, and I want to find my brother."

Honestly, I'm thankful Lori knew where she was going. When I saw that ugly ass Tucson pulled out in front of me, my heart skipped a beat. He's okay. Maggie's okay. We made it. He flashed his lights when he saw me, and there was that familiar goofy smile. My family made it. And there was Daryl, too. He had Carol on the back of his bike. He led the way, and relief washed over my body as soon as we reached the highway. Most of us made it. Rick, Carl, and Hershel were all there. As soon as I parked the truck, I was out and pulled my brother in for a hug. Seconds later, I felt one little arm wrapped around my leg and the other around Glenn.

"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asked once everyone pulled away from each other.

"We're the only ones who made it so far," Rick sighed regretfully.

"Shane?" Lori asked. Rick looked up and paused for a minute before shaking his head.

"Andrea?" Glenn asked from beside me.

"She saved me, and then I lost her," Carol sighed.

"We saw her go down," I admitted.

"Patrica?" Hershel asked hesitantly.

"They go her too," Beth spoke quietly beside him. "Took her right in front of me. I was—I was holding into her daddy, I just..." The girl trailed off crying. "What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"

"He was in the RV," Rick began. "It was overrun."

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asked.

"There were walkers everywhere," Lori confirmed.

"Did you see her?" Carol pushed.

"I'm gonna go back," Daryl asserted, already getting on his bike.

"No," Rick stated firmly.

"We can't just leave her," he argued.

"We don't even know if she's there," Lori argued back.

"She isn't there. She isn't," Rick spoke, but it seemed like he was trying to reassure himself more than the rest of us. "She's somewhere else, or she's dead. There's no way to find her."

"So we're not even gonna look for her?" I questioned.

"We gotta keep moving. There have been walkers crawling all over here," Rick sighed.

"I say head east. Stay off the main roads," T-Dog suggested.

"The bigger the road, the more walkers, more assholes like this one," Daryl agreed, lining up his shot. "I got him." With that, he fired the bolt and took the walker down.

The truck was no good. Running over those walkers really did a number on it. So Lincoln, Beth, and I got into the Tucson with Glenn and Maggie. Daryl was on his bike with Carol while Rick, Lori, Carl, T-Dog, and Hershel were in the SUV. We drove for hours with only trees and silence to keep us company. That was until Rick laid on his horn, causing the rest of us to slow down.

"You out?" Glenn asked as everyone piled out of the vehicles.

"Running on fumes," Rick confirmed.

"We can't stay out here in the open like this," I sighed.

"We can't all fit in one car," Glenn pointed out.

"We'll make a run for some gas in the morning," Rick decided.

"Spend the night here?" Carol asked skeptically.

"I'm freezing," Carl whined under his mother's arm.

"We'll build a fire," Lori cooed.

"If you go out looking for firewood, stay close," Daryl warned. "I've only got so many arrows. How you guys do on ammo?"

"Not enough," Rick muttered.

"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out," Maggie hissed.

"Watch your mouth," Hershel warned, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."

"We'll set up a perimeter," he began. "In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on."

"Glenn and I can go make a run now to try and scrounge up some gas," Maggie suggested.

"No," Rick answered a bit too quickly. "We stay together. God forbid something happens, and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now," Glenn stated, saying what no one else had the heart to.

"I know it looks bad. We've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other," Rick stressed. "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."

"Rick, look around. Okay?" Glenn began, gesturing all around himself. "There's walkers everywhere. 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 have to find it," Rick exploded.