Until the End

Chapter Fifteen: On the waterfront.

In the past hour of driving towards Savannah, Dale had to stop the RV to cool off the radiator three times. The third time, they made it into Macon, GA. With every bump on the road, every crack the tires rolled over, Jim would groan in pain.

"K-Kirby, please. I can't....so much pain."

Jim's voice broke from the pain he was in when Dale swerved to avoid a walker that stumbled out into the highway.

"Jim, just hold on a little longer. I'll give you some Percodan and it'll knock you right out so you can rest." Kirby said, getting up to grab the single pain pill she had in the bag.

She had morphine, but she didn't want to take any chances in wasting it if it didn't do the job. Jim's fingers wrapped weakly around Kirby's wrist, stopping her.

"No, just tell Dale to pull over." Jim mumbled, sweat trailing down his face.

Kirby glanced back at Jacqui who was in the back with her to watch Jim.

"Are you sure that's what you want, Jim?" Jacqui asked, her bottom lip trembling with sadness.

Jim nodded and groaned from the simple movement.

"I'll go tell Dale to pull over." Kirby said, leaving Jacqui to wipe Jim's forehead with the damp cloth they had.

-

They left Jim in the shade underneath a tall oak tree. He was pale as a sheet of paper and his skin looked clammy from all the sweat. Dark rings dug heavy underneath his eyes as his breathing became more shallow then before. That's how Kirby would remember Jim's last moments as a human as they drove away.

Another three hours passed, before they finally made it into Savannah, GA. A few walkers wondered around, but none too great a mass to keep the caravan of vehicles from moving forward.

"There's a strip mall over to the left. Should we stop for supplies there? Over." Shane's voice broke the silence, coming from the radio speaker.

"Yeah. Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn, Shane and I will go inside and check things out. Kill all the walkers if there are any. When everything is clear, we'll radio the rest of you to come inside. Let's go around and park near the back entrance. Over." Rick's voice boomed soon after Shane's.

"Looks like we're finally stopping to stretch our legs." Jacqui said, still upset by the loss of Jim.

"Oh god that means we can get razors to shave. I was beginning to feel like Sasquatch's sister." Amy sighed with happiness.

Everyone in the RV chuckled. Mallorie giggled, even when she didn't know what a sasquatch was.

"Daryl, how's Merle doing? Over." Kirby spoke into the radio.

"He's sleepin' right now, but he looks okay. Over." Daryl answered after a few minutes.

"Okay guys, take silent weapons. We don't want to attracted any unwanted attention." Rick said and the five of them left the safety of their vehicles and headed on into the back entrance.

"Do you think their okay?" Amy asked, trying to hide her worry for Glenn, but failing miserably at it.

Andrea raised a brow at her sister.

"Them or Glenn?" Andrea asked, causing Amy's mouth to gap open and Dale to busy himself with something else.

"I- I don't know what you're talking about." Amy stuttered, moving to the RV door and looking out the screened window.

"Uh huh, sure." Andrea said under her breath.

"There's T-Dog and Shane." Dale said, spotting them peeking through the steel door.

"That's the sign." Kirby said, picking Mallorie up.

"Stay close." Andrea said to Amy, before they exited the RV.

Kirby immediately went over to Daryl's truck and opened the passenger door. Merle stirred in his sleep, before opening his eyes to the hand Kirby placed on his shoulder.

"We're going into a small strip mall for supplies." Kirby stated, moving out of the way so that Merle could get out of the truck.

"Is Daryle inside?" Merle asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"Yes. He's waiting for us." Kirby said, switching hips with Mallorie.

They were the last to get inside the steel door, before Shane closed it. Shane sent Merle a sneer, which was returned to him by Merle and Kirby. Mallorie looked around, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Daryl as he shoved past Shane to take Mallorie. Daryl pecked Kirby's lips, before taking her hand in his. His crossbow as strapped to his back as he lead them into the main area.

"Everyone decided to split up, gettin' excited and all." Daryl said, grinning down at Kirby.

"I can see why. There is practically a store for everything." Kirby said, looking around.

"I don't know about ya'll, but I'm gettin' some clothes that ain't ripped and bloodied." Merle said, before going into a men's department store.

A few female laughs echoed from a store across from the one Merle just entered and Kirby saw that it held women's clothing among other things.

"And there's my calling. See you in a bit." Kirby said, smirking up at Daryl.

He rolled his eyes, smirking back at her. Setting Mallorie's feet to the ground, Daryl tugged Kirby up against him by her belt loops. They shared a kiss, before separating. Taking Mallorie's hand in hers, Kirby went to join Andrea, Amy, Lori, Carol, Sophia, and Jacqui in the women's clothing store.

"I'm in clothes heaven." Jacqui said, running her fingers down a silk gown.

Carol sighed as she held a lace trimmed shirt up against her chest. Swiping some baby wipes from the store next to the one that held the clothes, the ladies grabbed an outfit and changed in the dressing rooms. It seemed like hours passed by while everyone was horsing around and having fun. Taking a moment in their lives to not feel the need to look over their shoulder every five seconds.

Leaving Mallorie with Daryl, Kirby found a small pharmacy inside the strip mall and proceeded in bagging as much as she could of all the stuff that was stocked. It ranged from gauze to syringes and pills to scalpels. She had three full boxes by the time she was finished.

"Maybe I went a little overboard." Kirby murmured, placing her hands on her hips as she stared at the large boxes she had sealed shut with masking tape and labeled.

A low whistle came from behind her. Kirby turned around a little to see Glenn and Amy looking at the boxes with wide eyes.

"All three of those are filled with medicine?" Amy wondered, walking over to judge the height of one of the boxes.

"Yes. I figured we couldn't be any less prepared. Any one of us could get sick and I want to make sure to have the right medicine to fight it." Kirby stated and hauled up one of the boxes with a little bit of a struggle.

"Grab the other two and take them out to the vehicles." Kirby ordered lightly, leaving Amy and Glenn to fight over the lightest of the two boxes.

Seeing as Kirby took the heaviest, she struggled all the way to the back entrance until the box was lifted from her arms. She let out an aggravated sigh at Shane.

"Give me the box back. I didn't need nor want your help with it." Kirby said, grabbing hold of the other side of the box.

Shane easily tugged it away from her grip and lifted it up to rest on his right shoulder.

"Just let me help this one time. I'm not going to try anything, I swear." Shane stated, looking sincere.

Kirby didn't look at all convinced, but walked away nonetheless. Watching Kirby as she left, Shane took better hold of the box, before taking it out to his Jeep. The vehicles were packed with supplies, leaving only enough room for everyone to get inside and on the move towards the marina.

"There it is!" Kirby shouted happily as the white houseboat came into view as they drove passed the many docks that lined the waterfront.