Too Far Gone // D. Dixon

chapter eight

The weeks following that night in the church were difficult, to say the very least. The world felt a little colder, a little more dead...if that was even possible.

So much had happened in the four weeks since the church; Bob was bitten and had tragically died, and so the group had been wandering through the desolate streets of Atlanta, their hope dwindling after the devastating loss of Beth, Maggie's beloved sister. Eugene's promise of sanctuary in Washington D.C had turned out to be a lie, leaving them at a literal and proverbial crossroad.

Noah, who had joined the group after the events of the Atlanta hospital, broke the silence, "I've been thinking about finding my family now. They're in Virginia. I want to see if they're still out there, if they made it."

Maren's ears perked up at the mention of Virginia. It was where she had grown up, where her family still resided, at least she had hoped. The probably of her sick mother and her father being alive were slim at this point, but she couldn't have another thing keeping her from knowing the truth.

She felt a sudden and urgent flicker of hope ignite within her, "I have family in Virginia too," she chimed in, "It might be worth a shot. Two birds with one stone kinda shit."

The group exchanged glances, contemplating the idea of a fresh start in a new state. Rick's voice broke through their thoughts, "We've been all over Georgia since the start. From the quarry camp outside of Atlanta, to the farm, the prison, and now here. After what happened with the Claimers and Terminus...maybe Virginia is where we find somewhere safe."

As the group contemplated their next move, Maren's mind had drifted back to a haunting memory. Rick had mentioned the Claimers, a group they had encountered on their journey. The Claimers? That reminder her of her last group, how they'd had one real rule; you see something you want, you claim it. It made sense and it made her heart sunk into a pit in her stomach, she found herself utterly unable to resist the question that now plagued her.

Stepping closer to Rick, "What was his name?" Maren asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Rick furrowed his brow, looking at the girl confused, "Who?"

Maren continues, "The leader of that group, you called them the Claimers...what was his name?"

Rick's expression grew cold, a disturbing realization flashing across his features. Maren knew that he knew exactly who she was talking about. Before he could speak again, Maren asked another question.

"Was it..." Maren looked away, "Was his name Joe?" Rick's face grew noticably more pale as he dropped his head to the pavement in disbelief. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. This girl had been with those men? How in the hell was she still alive?

"You mean...the Claimers?" Rick glanced at Daryl, Michonne, and Carl, then turned back to Maren. The unwavering look on her face told him enough. She knew exactly who he had referred to. Holy shit, he thought, this explains a lot.

"You were with them? That was the group you were runnin' from?" Daryl spoke as his face contorted with bewilderment as he looked at Maren. He had been with that group for a little while, he remembered them talking in gruesome detail about looking for someone that had run off. He paled when he recalled that memory, realizing now that they had been talking about her. His face quickly turned into a scowl.

Maren took a deep breath as she spoke, "Yes."

WIth that disturbing confirmation, Rick and Daryl shifted in their stances and look visibly shocked. Daryl spoke this time, looking Maren in her eyes as he reassured her, "They're dead. One of them got taken out by the group, by Joe. We killed 'em, Maren. We killed the rest, all five of those pieces of shit."

Maren's complexion turned even paler, her voice barely a whisper as she mustered the strength to speak, "Five? Daryl...there were eleven of them."

Daryl's bewildered expression transformed into one of shock and terror. Rick's face grew stony, his voice laced with a dark realization, "I had to kill one of them...Lou. He would have killed me-"

Maren nodded, her voice filled with weariness, "Oh, I believe that. But that makes seven, not eleven."

The group sat in a heavy silence, the weight of their shared actions and encounters sinking in. Rick had mentioned what happened with the Claimers, but hadn't called them by that name or any other the members' names. This new information had shook Maren to her core, learning that both groups had ran into each other and that there was still one of them out there.

Rick's gaze shifted between Daryl, Michonne, and Carl before returning to Maren. His expression carried a mix of concern and a hint of accusation, "That day, when I asked you how many people you killed...you said two," Rick said, his voice low and probing, "You didn't kill the last one?"

Maren gritted her teeth, fighting back the tears that she felt building in her eyes, "No, I...I didn't. I knocked him unconscious so I could run, but I couldn't bring myself to kill him."

Rick's face contorted with conflicting emotions, his voice barely above a whisper, "Why?"

Maren took a deep breath, her voice laden with disturbed sorrow, "I didn't want to turn into them. Brutal, sick fucking monsters. I couldn't be like them."

The group sat in a heavy silence, the weight of Maren's confession hanging in the air. They still had questions, but this information had filled in a lot of pieces to the puzzle of Maren. They had all faced unimaginable horrors in this new world, and each had made choices that weighed heavily on their souls, but Maren's revelation brought their past actions into sharp focus.

Maren sighed, feeling the burden of her decision settle heavily upon her chest, "Ever since I got away from them, I just know he's still out there. I can feel it. I just wished I'd killed him when I had the chance."

The group remained silent, grappling with the implications of Maren's words. The boundaries between survival and morality had blurred in this post-apocalyptic reality, and they were all haunted by the choices they had made.

Rick finally broke the heavy silence, his voice filled with a mixture of determination and empathy, "I think a change in scenery would do us all some good. We've damn near been all over the state of Georgia since the start of all this—Maybe Virginia is where we go now, where we can finally start over."

Maren and Noah exchanged glances, a shared understanding passing between them. They had both lost so much, but the possibility of finding their families provided a glimmer of hope. This would give Maren a chance to finally get away from him. There's no possible way he could follow them through multiple states. 

With a collective decision, the group set their sights on Virginia, leaving behind the ghosts of Georgia and the shadows of their past. It was a journey into the unknown, but at least they'd have each other.