An Arrow Dipped in Ink

Chapter 9

Everyone gathered in the middle of camp to talk about their plan to head to the CDC. Shane explained that they were going to be on channel 40 for the people that had CB radios. He told everyone that if they needed to stop then they were to hit the horn one time and it would stop the caravan. Morales and his family were not coming along. They wanted to be with their family in Birmingham. Rayne walked over to her car and threw a few things in the back seat.

Daryl asked her,“I was gonna ask if ya wanted to ride with me but I know your not gonna leave that car behind.”

She smiled at him, “Your damn right about that Dixon.”

“You ride in front of me at all times ya hear me”

“Hmm, yes sir”, she said in a sultry voice and gave him a wink.

The two of them loaded Merle's chopper into the back of Daryl’s truck. The caravan of cars took off out of the quarry and onto the road leading them to Atlanta. Rayne drove with her arm out of the window and all the windows down. In that moment she was at peace. She loved the wind in her hair, the only thing that would make her ride better would be good music. She knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea since she had a system hooked up in her trunk. It would be too loud and attract walkers in a heart beat. She saw that everyone was starting to pull off to the side of the road. Rayne could see the smoke coming from the RV.

She met up with Dale and the others and took a look at the engine, “Dale this thing is fucked!”

“Yeah, I know there is only so much duct tape can do. I needed that hose from the box truck.”

Shane and T-Dog said that they would drive and ahead to see if there was something they could take off another car. Jacqui came out of the RV saying that Jim wasn’t doing so good. Daryl and Rayne stood guard while Rick went in to talk to Jim. When Shane came back with a new hose for Dale him and Rick moved Jim to the edge of the woods under a tree. Rick asked him if he wanted his gun but Jim said no. Everyone said their goodbyes to Jim and headed back to their cars. Daryl nodded his head to Jim and then walked away. Rayne stood in the background not saying anything to him. She didn’t handle goodbyes very well so she avoided them all together. The group drove off and headed for the CDC.

When we pulled up to the CDC it was nothing but a barren wasteland of dead bodies. Rayne took her back pack with her and had her bow at the ready. Daryl placed his hand on her shoulder and nodded for her to go ahead of him. They passed army trucks and barricades. There were dead soldiers all around. Rayne bent down near one checking to see if he was dead. She looked up at Daryl and then pulled his side arm from the dead mans belt. She released the magazine to check the amount of ammo he had. There was another full magazine in his pocket so she took that too. She stuck the other 9mm in the front of her pants. When they approached the doors there were heavy metal shutters pulled down in front of the doors.

Daryl called out, “Walkers”

Rayne and Daryl stood in front of the group trying to protect them. It was complete chaos, everyone was screaming about how they needed to get out of the city before nightfall, which was fast approaching. Then Rick saw the camera outside the door move. He pleaded for them to help and let them inside. There was nothing for awhile. Lori was pulling him away and just as they were going to head back to the cars the metal shutters opened up with a blinding light. The group stood there in a daze but only for a second before they all scrambled inside. When they all got inside they were greeted by a tall man with a gun. The man asked if any of the group were infected. Rick explained that they did but they left him behind. The man wanted to know what they wanted.

Rick said to him, “A chance”

“That's asking an awful lot these days.” He said to Rick, to which Rick replied, “I know”