At the end of the world- A walking dead fanfic, Book 1

8- Bad time

Come next morning the camp was packed up and everyone got themselves ready to leave. Morales and his family had left on their own already, they had decided to go to their family instead. Leland had thought they were stupid for leaving. Numbers meant safety and he'd rather sacrifice one of these people he barely knew than one of his own. Losing his son was enough.

The Russel family didn't have their own car to make the journey, they'd lost it back in Atlanta. There wasn't even a booster seat available for Ashlyn. It was quickly decided that Kyllian and Ashlyn would ride with Daryl in his truck. Leland and Theresa would go with Dale in his camper and a couple of others, including Jim. They wanted to keep Ash away from him, away from someone that was infected. Today they would start their journey to the CDC and if all went well they should reach the city well before dark

Going straight back into a place on a hunch didn't exactly make anyone feel comfortable. It could ensure their survival and thus was worth the risk. They all drove behind each other in one long line across the country roads. Jim didn't make it. He was too sick and asked to be abandoned by the side of the road. It had been a fever to dream to hope that they could save him. Theresa knew this better than anyone else.

Once they finally reached the CDC they were greeted by the smell. The vile odor of death, rot and decay singed their noses. Then looking ahead they saw what laid ahead was even worse than the smell. A field of dead, filled with motionless and rotted corpses.

Kyllian shifted in his seat. This wasn't something he wanted Ash to see. This wasn't something anyone should see, but especially not a child. He could at least try to make it a game and pray she didn't see right through it. "Hey, Ash, you wanna play a game?" He asked.

She pushed away from him, still on his lap, and frowned. "I know there's dead people outside. I've smelled them before, when they attacked the camp. "

He clenched his jaw shut. There truly was no hiding the horrors of the world anymore. "I don't want you to see it, Ash."

"I've seen them before." She reached out to the car door, but Kyllian was faster in blocking it with his hand.

"Kid's gonna see it anyway." Daryl huffed as he threw the car door open. He didn't have patience for this melo-drama.

"He's right." She insisted. She sounded so much older than she did just a day ago when her brother was still alive.

Kyllian relented and opened the door. "Hold my hand." He commanded, that was his compromise.

Daryl signals they should stick close to him as he loaded a bolt into his crossbow, but promptly ignored them once they stepped closer.

The group moved forward and now they could hear the swarms of flies buzzing around. They were the only thing that moved in the field of death. Across the horrors stood their sanctuary, the CDC building. They made it to the building without much trouble, only gagging on the rancid smell. The building's shutters were down and there was no way to open them, they tried.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog said.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick shot back. Of course he would still believe there were people inside, this was his plan after all.

"Walkers!" Daryl called out, stepping forwards whilst everyone stepped back. One crossbow bolt later he turned back to Rick. "You led us into a graveyard." He was angry, again.

"He made a call." Kyllian shot back. They had all agreed on it, so shoving the blame on Rick wasn't right, and it wasn't going to help anyone.

"It was the wrong damn call!"