The Ones We Lose ⏐ The Walking Dead

11. Zoe

The drive felt incredibly long, especially now. At first, Zoe tried to distract Ruby by showing her various card games but after what happened with Jim no one dared to even speak. The closer to the CDC they got the more she felt uneasy. her mind started to wander. What if they didn't let them in? What if there was no one there?

Zoe looked to her side seeing her mother looking out the window and her sister squeezed between the two of them. She felt the guilt wash over her once again. No matter how many times she apologised for the way she had been acting the last few weeks it never felt like enough. Her mother and sister seemed to forgive her but Zoe was not satisfied with that, she promised herself that she would make it up to them in any way that she could.

After what felt like hours T-Dog finally stopped the car. Zoe opened the door and was immediately hit with the overwhelming smell of decay. She pulled her shirt over her nose before slowly exiting the car. She walked onto the sidewalk as she took in the sight. The CDC was surrounded by makeshift barricades and military vehicles, the ground littered with hundreds of decaying bodies.

Zoe looked to her side as she felt Ruby reach out to her. She grabbed her sister's hand and squeezed it. She looked back at her mother before moving forward. The group slowly made their way towards the CDC. Zoe kept close to her mom as she held onto Ruby's hand trying to keep the girl from looking around too much. She felt her throat close up, she pressed her shirt harder against her mouth trying to keep the awful smell out with no success. There were just too many bodies.

The closer they got to the building the more bodies she could see. She felt her mother's hand on her shoulder as they tried to keep as close together as they could. She looked around as they continued pressing forward. She could see Michelle walking next to them her shotgun raised as she scanned their surroundings. Rick and Shane led the group looking back every once in a while checking if no one got left behind. Joan was walking behind them, her face much paler than usual.

The moment they finally reached the building Shane and Rick immediately moved to the metal shutters covering the closest entrance. Zoe watched as they tried to pry it open with no success. Shane raised his hand and pounded on the doors. Zoe flinched at the loud noise and looked behind them making sure it didn't attract any walkers.

"There is nobody here," T-Dog said.

"Then why are the shutters down?" Rick asked as he continued to look around for a way to open them. Zoe kept looking back trying to spot any movement.

"Walkers!" Daryl called out. Zoe wiped her head around just in time to see him shoot the walker down with his crossbow. The panic quickly spread through the group, "You led us to a graveyard!" Daryl moved towards Rick.

"Shut up," Mich called out, trying to keep her voice low. Zoe pulled Ruby closer to her, they were making too much noise.

"He made a call," Shane tried to reason with Daryl as he stepped between him and Rick but Daryl was clearly not having any of it.

"It was the wrong damn call!" he yelled. Zoe cringed at all the noise they were making she kept looking around them frantically, her grip on Ruby's hand tightening with every second.

"Just shut up. You hear me? Shut up," Shane shoved Daryl back before turning back to Rick, "Rick this is a dead end. You hear me? No blame."

"We can't be here, this close to the city after dark," Lori said. She held onto Carl as she tried to reason with her husband. Rick kept looking at the closed shutters trying to find a way in.

"Fort Benning, Rick, still an option," Shane sounded almost as if he was pleading.

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles," Andrea stepped forward looking between the group.