My Secrets In The Apocalypse

Chapter 24

A couple of months had passed since they had lost the farm. It was the dead of winter and the group was desperately searching for somewhere to sleep for the night. They were pulled off on the side of a back road, huddled around a map.
"Here," Riley pointed to a small dot indicating a town not far from them.
"But this one is closer," Glenn said pointing out another spot on the map.
"I know this town though, I used to live there. It'll be easier knowing where we're going rather that searching around blindly."
"I gotta go with Riley on this one," T-dog said.
"Me too," Rick said. "It'll be easier knowing where to look."

They quickly loaded back into their vehicles and hit the road. After driving for a while, they pulled over on the outskirts of the town and gathered in the middle of the road.

"Alright, Riley and Daryl, y'all go scout ahead," Rick said. "Glenn, T-dog and I will stand watch here."
"Alright," she said, her and Daryl each grabbing their weapons and heading into the town.
Riley lead the way through the deserted streets with Daryl watching her back. She headed to the closest place she knew, a small convince store that she used to work at, feeling hopeful when she realized that it was almost completely untouched.
"Think this will do?" she asked glancing back at Daryl.
"As good a place as any," he said nodding.
Daryl and Riley easily cleared the store, killing just one walker in the storage room. They each grabbed a leg and drug it outside through the front door, since the back door was stuck shut, and pulled it around the side of the building and left it there. When they were finished they headed back to get the rest of the group from the highway.

They drove to the store, parking their vehicles near the front doors in case they would need to make a quick escape. Everyone hastily unloaded the things they would need for the night, then huddled inside and locked the doors.
"We need to cover these windows, the whole front of this store is solid glass," Riley sighed.
"She's right. Any walkers catch sight of us, we've got serious trouble," T-dog said. Riley looked over at T-dog and smiled slightly.

Riley had gotten much closer with the whole group over the last few months, with the exception of Lori. They had gotten into it more than once about Lori's failure to keep track of her son. Riley had really come to like Glenn and T-dog, they were like brothers to her. Maggie had even joked about them being the three musketeers. Everyone knew about her and Daryl also, with all of them always stuck together, the cat had come out of the bag pretty quickly.

"What about these," Glenn asked, holding up a large stack of old newspapers.
"That'll work," Rick said. "Everyone, grab some paper. Let's get these windows covered."
Riley found a roll of tape behind the counter and they all quickly got to work covering the windows. Once the windows were blocked off they went their separate ways, claiming places to sleep and gathering food and water from the shelves.

Riley and Daryl sat together against the back wall, quietly eating stale chips and old candy bars.
"You know, this place has a good bit of food left," she said. "We could stay here for a few days, rest up a bit before moving on again."
"I'll talk ta Rick, see what he thinks," Daryl said.
"Ok," she said.

The sun had gone down and everyone was settling down, trying to get some sleep. Riley laid next to Daryl, snuggling into his side and pulling their thin blanket over them so they could try to stay warm.

Just as she was starting to drift off, the familiar sounds of gunshots rang through the air.
She and Daryl bolted up along with the rest of the group. They all readied their weapons, being careful to be as silent as possible. Daryl and Riley walked over where Rick was standing by the front doors, Glenn and T-dog quickly joining them. They waited quietly, visibly tensing as the sounds got closer.
"What're we gonna do?" Glenn asked.
"They'll lead every walker in the area right to us!" T-dog said angrily.
"We might need to go out there and take care of the problem," Daryl said.
Riley pulled back the corner of a newspaper from the window and peeked out. She noticed the silhouettes of two men rounding the corner of the building across from them, desperately running away from a group of walkers.
"Guys, look!" Riley said stepping back from the window so the four men could look outside.
"They're in trouble!" Glenn said. "Should we help them?" he asked uncertainly.
"I don't know, they could be trouble!" T-dog said.
"We don't have time for this!" Riley hissed. "Rick?" she asked turning to him.
"We need to help them" he said quickly unlocking the doors.