SPINNIN | RICK GRIMES

EIGHT

THE GROUP BURIED THEIR DEAD ON THE RIDGE, Josie stood in between Glenn and Daryl as she watched Andrea struggle to lower Amy's body into the grave. Dale offered to help a couple of times, to which she refused before eventually letting him help out.

The atmosphere of the camp changed drastically in such a short amount of time. Parker, Carl, and Sophia weren't running around and playing with the other kids anymore. Everyone was terrified, fearing what could happen to them now. They were all grieving their losses, and most were worried about Jim.

Josie sat in front of the campfire in a lawn chair, Parker was sitting in between her mother's legs on the ground and Carl was sitting beside her. Shane and Rick, who had ventured into the woods, soon returned and Shane stood in front of them.

"I've been thinking about Rick's plan," Shane began. "Now, look, there are no, uh... there are no guarantees. Either way, I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time, I trust his instincts. I say the most thing here is that we need to stick together. So for those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning, okay?"

With that, the group spent the remainder of the day packing up the things that they would need. Glenn was currently helping Parker pack up her things, while Josie folded up their clothes.

The brunette felt eyes on her, so she looked up and saw Shane looking at her, but he looked away as soon as she looked at him. Josie furrowed her eyebrows, sighing as she continued folding her laundry.

"What's going on?" Glenn asked.

Josie looked at Glenn. "There's something going on with Shane."

"What is it?" Glenn asked.

"Every once and awhile, I'll catch him looking at me," Josie replied. "Every time I look at him, he looks away. I don't know, it's just... weird."

"I'm sure it's nothing," Glenn reassured her.

"I hope you're right," Josie said.

The next morning rolled around and Josie packed up her tent that she shared with Parker. Once all of their things were packed up in the cars, everyone gathered around for instructions.

"Listen up!" Shane called. "Those of you with CB's, we're gonna be on channel forty, but let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now, you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal, anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

"We're, uh... we're not going," Morales said.

"We have family in Birmingham," Miranda added. "We wanna be with our people."

"You're on your own," Shane replied. "You won't have anyone to watch your back."

"We'll take the chance," Morales said. "I gotta do what's best for my family."

"You sure?" Rick asked.

"We talked about it, we're sure," Morales replied.

"All right, Shane?" Rick looked at him.

Shane nodded as the two dug through Rick's bag, taking out a box of ammo and a gun before giving it to Morales.

"Box is half full," Shane informed.

"Thank you," Miranda smiled. "For everything."

They all said their goodbyes and then made their way towards their vehicles. Josie was making her eyes to the RV when she heard Shane talking to Rick.

"What makes you think our odds are any better? Come on, let's go. Let's move out!"

Josie arrived at the RV with Parker, then she stuck her head into the vehicle. "Any more room in here?"

Dale turned to her and smiled before waving her in. "Yeah, come on in."

Josie smiled, walking into the RV with Parker. She saw Jim and Jacqui in the back, Andrea was sitting at the table, Dale was driving, and Glenn was in the passenger's seat.

The brunette joined Andrea at the table while Parker went to the front and sat on Glenn's lap while he showed her the things on the map. Josie placed her bow and arrows on the wall next to the seat she was in, then she looked at Andrea.

"Hey, you doing okay?"

Andrea looked at her and nodded slightly. "I'll be fine."

"Okay," Josie sighed. "I'm here if you ever want to talk."

Andrea sent her a small smile. "Thank you."

After a few hours on the road, the RV suddenly stopped and got everyone's attention. Josie sat up into a sitting position, seeing the RV smoking out of the front. She left the vehicle behind Glenn, seeing Rick and Shane walking up.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose," Dale said. "Listen, I needed the one from the cube van."

"Can you jerry-rig it?" Rick asked.

"That's all it's been so far," Dale replied. "It's more duct tape than hose, and I'm out of duct tape."

"I see something up ahead," Shane announced, looking through his binoculars. "Gas station, if we're lucky."

"Y'all!" Jacqui exclaimed, stepping down from the RV. "Jim, it's bad. I don't think he can take any more."

"Hey, Rick, you wanna hold down the fort?" Shane asked. "I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back."

"Yeah, I'll come along too and I'll back you up," T-Dog offered.

"Y'all keep your eyes open now," Shane said. "We'll be right back."