The Ones We Lose ⏐ The Walking Dead

10. Alex

Alex emerged from the RV. The sun was just rising as she wiped her hands off with a small towel. She spent the last evening and night regularly checking on Jim and had just finished changing the dressing on his wound. He was not getting better. He was vomiting blood and his fever was getting worse. Alex knew he didn't have much time left.

They agreed to leave at sunrise and head towards the CDC. She was surprised that Shane gave in and decided to follow Rick's plan instead of pushing for his own but it didn't matter much. She daunted they would be safe anywhere they went, she just knew they couldn't stay here.

Alex walked over to the group gathering nearby. Everyone waiting to hear the game plan for their journey. They gathered the most important things and packed them into as few cars as they could manage to preserve gas.

"All right, everybody listen up," Shane started as he and Rick stood in front of the group. They both have clearly divided the leadership responsibilities between the two of them. Alex couldn't help but wonder how long this agreement could last, "Those of you with CBs, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal or anything at all, you gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?" Alex looked around the group taking in their faces when she saw Morales step forward.

"We're not going," he spoke up. Alex furrowed her eyebrows as she looked between him and his family.

"We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people," Miranda said as she kept her arm around her two kids.

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back," Shane said.

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family," Morales looked at his wife before turning his gaze back to Rick and Shane.

"You sure?" Rick asked, he seemed like he wanted to convince them to stay but was also smart enough to realize that there was no changing their minds.

"We talked about it. We're sure," Rick nodded at his statement before he and Shane reached into a bag pulling out a gun and a box of ammunition.

"The box is half full," Shane said as they handed it to Morales. Alex looked at the small gun in Morales' hand as she realized how little protection it offered to him and his family. One gun to keep them safe, one gun against the whole world.

Lori, Jacqui and Moira approached Miranda and hugged her and her kids. Ruby and Sophia said their goodbyes to their friends, and even Mich made her way to Morales patting him on the back. Alex watched the whole scene unfold but hadn't moved herself, she didn't know them well and felt like it wasn't her place to intrude the heartfelt goodbyes. Still, she hoped that their decision would not get that family killed.

Alex watched as Morales and his family headed to their car. She heard Shane call everyone to get in their cars. She approached Joan grabbing her hand and kissing her quickly before she headed towards the RV. She got inside and made her way towards the back where she could watch over Jim as they finally headed out towards the CDC.

***

They drove for the next few hours. Alex spent that time carefully monitoring Jim checking his temperature and making sure he stayed hydrated. Jacqui was doing her best to help but both of them knew that Jim was only getting worse. The bumpy road was making him sick as the high temperature was slowly burning him from the inside out. Jacqui gently wiped the sweat off his forehead trying to keep him as comfortable as possible. The pain he felt was clearly visible on his face. He groaned with every harsh turn or pothole they passed.