Safe haven | Rick Grimes

028. A TRIP TO OUR HOMETOWN

Chapter twenty eight

"A trip to our hometown."

The next morning, Scarlett was driving down the road with Rick in the passenger seat, while Carl and Michonne sat in the back. As they drove, they came across a hitchhiker stranded on the shoulder.

"Hey! Hey! Slow down! Slow..." the man begged, waving his arms frantically.

They drove right past him.

"I'm begging you!" the man screamed, trying to run after the car.

They continued down the road until they hit a massive car wreck blocking the path. Scarlett turned the wheel to the left to navigate through the debris, but the tires caught a walker pinned underneath an overturned vehicle, bringing their car to a sudden halt.

Scarlett huffed, pressing her foot down on the gas pedal. The wheels just spun in place. Taking her foot off the accelerator, she turned to Rick. "Getting stuck in the mud is not my fault," she told him.

Almost immediately, walkers swarmed the vehicle, banging loudly on the windows on both sides."Cover your ears," Rick ordered.

Scarlett, Carl, and Michonne quickly clamped their hands over their ears. Rick rolled down his window just enough to stick his gun through, keeping his other hand pressed against his ear, and shot the nearest walker through the head.

They killed the rest of the walkers and stepped out of the vehicle. While the four of them stood in the road, Rick searched a nearby abandoned vehicle and pulled out a blanket.

"This'll work," he told them.

Scarlett walked back to their car and slid into the driver's seat. Through the windshield, she watched Rick and Carl walk to the front of the vehicle. Michonne stood nearby, keeping watch.

"Put something under the tire like this, with a little gravel and sticks," Rick explained to Carl as the two crouched down by the mud. "It gives you traction."

"She always told me she was a bad driver, both in real life and in Mario Kart," Carl joked.

Rick chuckled, standing up and walking over to the right front wheel. Carl followed him and crouched down again. He glanced back at Michonne before looking up at his father.

"Why'd you let her come?" Carl asked quietly. "She took you to Woodbury and you said she just split on you. And Oscar died, and you..."

"It wasn't that simple," Rick interrupted gently. "I asked her to come today. I didn't want to leave her at the prison if I wasn't there, especially not with Merle. Besides, we have common interests. For right now, we have the same problems. So maybe we can work on them together."

"Just for right now?" Carl asked.

"Yeah, just for right now," Rick confirmed.

Suddenly, a voice echoed down the highway. "Hey!"

They all spun around. The hitchhiker from earlier was running toward them again, waving his arms desperately. "I'm begging you! Don't leave! Please!"

Rick slapped the back of the car as a signal. Scarlett turned the key, started the engine, and safely drove the car out of the mud. Rick, Carl, and Michonne quickly scrambled back inside, and they sped off down the road, leaving the shouting man behind.

They finally made it back to Rick and Carl's old hometown. Scarlett parked the car, and the four of them got out and began walking down the quiet streets. They headed straight into the police station and made their way to the back where the gun locker was kept.