Protection (Rick Grimes)

Chapter Thirty One

---before y'all start reading, I want to say thanks so much to AndrewLincolnsWife for the amazing cover. I really love it. What do y'all think?

Danielle's POV

I grab my backpack and throw it onto my shoulders before putting my knife in it's holster. I gave Violet my gun, so I don't have one anymore. I grab my crossbow and load it before waking everyone up. Carl picks Judith up and grabs his things together.

I walk outside, my crossbow raised just in case there are walkers on this floor. Rick, Carl and Violet are close behind me. Rick goes to everyone's door and knocks, telling them to get up.

Everyone eventually gathers in the hallway and follows Rick and I to the staircase. I open the door and walk down first. I quiet my footsteps and walk down to the door. Rick opens the door and walks out, checking one side while I checked the other.

We all begin jogging towards the exit, careful to stay quiet and not be seen. Violet stays beside me as we run. When we exit the building, we stop in the circle drive.

"Let's just walk and see if we can find anything." Rick says and starts walking, everyone following behind.

~●~

We're now on a highway and there are deserted cares everywhere and a deserted construction sight. I want to search these cars. We might find somethimg useful.

I slow down and look in the front seat of a car. A walker is slumped down in the passenger seat with the seat belt on. I guess it sees me considering it looks up and over at me. It begins trying to get to me, but they can't get very far. I check the backseat and see that there isn't any walkers in the back. I try to open the back door, but it's locked. Sighing, I turn to Chelsea. She's already looking at me, so she knows what I need. She pulls out a bobby pin and hands it to me. I give her a nod and bend down. I unlock the door and open it, handing the bobby bin back to her. I stab the walker in the back of its head before searching the car. I don't find anything so I move on.

"Dani, we need to keep moving." Rick tells me and tries to grab my hand.

"I'm searching these cars." I say sternly. He just looks at me, knowing I'm not changing my mind. I look away from him and move to the next car. I look in the front and back seat and see that the car is completely abandoned. I pull on the handle and luckily, it's unlocked. I search the car and only find a few pictures of I guess the family that owned the car. I see an 18 wheeler a few vehicles up and instantly think of Mark's Uncle. He was a truck driver and always kept a gun with him while he was driving. Maybe whoever drove this one was like his Uncle.

I climb up to the door and look inside. Not seeing any walkers, I open the door and search through the cab. I reach underneath the seat and I find the familiar feel of a gun barrel. I pull it out and it's a pistol. Smiling, I check and see that the clip is full. I put the gun in my holster and search the rest of the cab. Not finding anything, I hop down and move on.

Chelsea's POV

We all stand back as we watch Dani busy herself with checking cars. It's not like we'll find anything useful. People probably took everything out of the cars when they abandoned them.

"Maybe she's trying to keep her mind off of something." Rosita says, trying to find a reason for Danielle's sudden urge to search every car.

"Might as well help." Glenn says and joins Danielle in the search. One by one, everyone eventually begins searching the cars.

I hold Autumn close to me and open the door of one of the cars. I look through the glove box and under the seats but find nothing. I move to the backseat and search the pockets on the back of the seats. My hand touches a piece of cold metal. I grab it and see that it's a pocket knife. I put the knife in my pocket and pop the trunk.