Daryl's Angel (10th Anniversary Edition)

Chapter 28: On the Road Again

We've been driving for a while when Rick honks his horn. We pull to the side of the road and park. Daryl and I look back at everyone, waiting for a second, and once people start climbing out of the cars, Daryl shuts off the bike. I climb off.

"You out?" Daryl asks.

"Running on fumes," Rick confirms.

"We can't stay here," Maggie says. She, Hershel, and Glenn grip their shotguns tightly.

"We can't all fit in one car," Glenn retorts.

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning," Rick says.

"Spend the night here?" Carol asks, wrapping herself in a hug.

"I'm freezing," Carl says as Lori huddles him close to her.

Lori looks around a bit. "We'll build a fire, yeah?"

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close," Daryl warns. "Only got so many arrows. How you doing on ammo?"

"Not enough," Rick says.

"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out," Maggie says.

"Watch your mouth," Hershel warns. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."

We all look at him. Rick paces a bit. "Alright, we'll set up a perimeter," he starts. "In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on."

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try to scrounge up some gas," Maggie offers.

"No, we stay together," Rick insists, his tone getting angrier, fiercer. "God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now," Glenn says.

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure—I really wasn't—but we did. We're together. We keep it that way." He turns away from us, scratching his stubble in thought. "We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."

"Rick, look around. Okay?" Glenn says. "There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something."

"There's gotta be a place," Rick insists. "Not just where we hole up but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other." I glance at Daryl, just for a second. "I know it's out there. We just have to find it."

"Even if we do find a place," Maggie says, "and we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that was safe."

"We won't make that mistake again," Hershel assures her.

Rick glances around, then points off the side of the road. "We'll make camp tonight over there, get on the road at the break of day."

There's a small section of stone walls by a dam. A tiny waterfall trickles off the edges. The walls could have been a house once.

Carol moves closer to Daryl and I. "Does this feel right to you?" she whispers.

We don't get the chance to answer, as Beth speaks. "What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?" she asks, moving right up to Rick.

"You know I found Randall, right?" Daryl pipes up. All eyes fall on him. "He had turned, but he wasn't bit."

Rick's expression doesn't change. He nods a bit.

"How's that possible?" Beth asks.

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori adds.