Solitary: The Walking Dead

Chapter Ninety-two.

We'll clear it.

The RV stops, causing Maggie to wake up, "it's okay. I'll go check it out" Iris says carefully standing and laying Maggie back down, "again?" Iris asks "again" Abraham says "We making our stand?" Sasha asks, "Yeah, we end it." Carl says "No, not now. They've been waiting. They're ready. With one of us behind the wheel, that's five on 16. We're gonna play it our way, how we want it. Right?" Rick explains "All right, go slow." Rick says to Abrahm. The man slowly backs the RV up and turns around as one of the saviours shoots his gun in the air.

Iris thinks about the others, wondering if they've made it back to Alexandria, she wonders if they're making their way to Hilltop after learning about Maggie. "How are we on gas?" Rick asks, "Half a tank. I pulled some more cans before we left." Abraham says "Those weren't the same men who blocked the road the first time." Sasha says "Same outfit, different soldiers." Abraham says "They got numbers." Iris says "Yeah, we keep driving, we get her there." Rick says "We will." sasha agrees, "If we have to shove each and every one of them up their own asses." Abraham says hitting the breaks again.

Iris looks out the window to see a line of walkers chained in the road "We can't go through it. Can't risk the RV. You stay behind the wheel, just in case." Rick says, Iris pulls out her gun and they step out of the RV "We'll clear it." Rick says. The group raise their weapons and scan around as they get closer to the walkers "Putting together a red rover like that takes people. A lot of them." Eugene says, Iris looks at the walkers "Come on, let's do this." Rick says "Dad." Carl says stopping the man.

"That's Michonne's." Aaron says, Iris looks to see Michonnes hair stuck to one of the walkers, "That's Daryl's." she says looking at an arrow sticking out of one of the other walkers, suddenly gunfire starts flying around them, Iris grabs Carl and tries to cover him as best she can "Get back to the RV! Go!" Rick shouts as Iris drags the boy back into the van. When the boy is safe Iris turns and starts shooting at the men from the door, covering the others as they make their way inside, when everyone is in she closes the door and they speed off.

"What's that sound?" Sasha asks as the RV makes noises while driving down the road "Undercarriage could've caught a bullet. Or could be transmission. It could be nothing." Eugene explains "They were firing at our feet. They blocked the road, but they weren't trying to stop us. They want us in this direction." Rick says "Barton Road takes us north, but they gotta know we wanna go north." Sasha says "Meadows. Could take us east a piece, but we can get back on track on Mayhew." Eugene says

"We're down to a third of a tank. We could top off at the next stop, but no refills after that." Sasha says, "All right." Rick says Iris looks up from the map when she notices Aaron, "She's burning up." he says. "Rick!" Abraham calls from the driver's seat, Iris follows him to the front and they look out the window, a larger group of saviours block off the road making a wall with their cars and bodies, "Go back." Rick says "Where?" Abraham asks.

..........

"These tracks... they would indicate they not only have people, but some big-ass toys and capabilities." Eugene says as they stand in front of a large pile of trees blocking the road, "What it indicates is we are neck-deep up shit creek with our mouths wide open." Abraham says, Iris turns to the bridge when she hears a man scream as he hangs from the bridge road from a chain.

"Don't." Abraham says, stopping Aaron from shooting "I can try and break the chain." Aaron says "It won't work." Iris says "I can try." he argues "It won't work." Rick says "And we need the bullets." He adds and they watch the man slowly die. They turn back to the logs as flames start to engulf them "You're treating your people good, right? Like it was your last day on Earth? Or maybe one of theirs? You better go. It's gonna get hot. You go get where you're going." the leader from earlier says "Go, go. Get on." Rick says and they all run back to the RV.

"So, what's the play?" Abraham asks, when they park up somewhere hidden, "She needs a doctor." Rick says "There are two more routes north from here." Sasha says "They're probably waiting for us right now." Aaron adds "So, they're ahead of us, probably behind us. But they're not waiting on us, per se, they're waiting on this rust bucket. And they don't know the moment-to-moment occupancy of said rust-bucket. And the sun sets soon." Eugene explains.

As the sun goes down they start to get ready to move, "That's the last of it. If you see a car, try to syphon the gas. Other than that, you keep moving." Rick explains to Eugene as Iris checks over the engine one last time, "I'll have them thinking we're playing their game. All phases of the turn, level after level, move after move, I'll keep them spun. I assure you, I will." Eugene says.

"I got something for you. It's a recipe, and it ain't gazpacho. How to Build bullets 101. Abraham can show you where, just in case." he adds, Iris shuts the hood and wipes her hands on her bandana and walks over to them "Thank you for this. For all of it. We're lucky you're here." Rick says "I won't argue with that." Eugene says, "you're a good man Eugene" Iris says before going back into the RV and grabbing her backpack, leaving her police cap on the table.