Impregnable {A Walking Dead Fanfiction}

Twenty-Eight

    The first thing I could hear through the ringing in my ears was Mable screaming. Shane struggled to his feet, coughing and reaching to help me up. "Is everyone okay?" Rick shouted. "Jacqui didn't make it," Dale said, limping toward us. "What happened?" Rick asked. "She wouldn't leave the main room. I did everything I could, but if I had stayed with her for a second longer I wouldn't have made it out." The walkers were beginning to stumble closer to us, we couldn't stay here any longer. "Let's go, we'll regroup once it's safe!" Rick yelled, running towards his car. I reached the Wrangler and scrambled inside, placing Mable on my lap and wrapping the seat belt around both of us. "It's alright, Mable, we're safe now," I said, trying to sound calm as Shane shifted into drive and sped onto the road, leaving the CDC behind.

    "We need a plan before we burn more gas," Dale said through the walkie-talkie. "Just a few more miles, there's too many walkers back there for us to stop," Rick replied through the static. "10-4," Dale replied. Mable's cries had finally faded, she laid back against me and slept, holding my fingers tight. I picked at a hole in my jeans, listening to Shane hum a song as we sped down the road. "Fort Benning," Rick said. "What about it?" Shane asked into the walkie-talkie. "It's our next best bet. We have information, now we need protection." "Rick that's a two-hour dive, I'm not sure the Winnebago can make it," Dale said through thick static. The line stayed clear, but the Winnebago made a right turn onto the interstate, heading towards Columbus. I turned around and looked out the back windows, seeing the large cloud of smoke where the CDC had been. I leaned my seat back and buckled Mable into her car seat. "My ears hurt." She said, covering them with her hands. "I know, Mabes, mine do too. It's from the loud sound we heard a while ago." I said, reaching to the floor and handing her cup of water that she'd dropped to her. "Why?" She asked, bringing the sippy cup to her mouth. "Our ears aren't used to loud sounds, so when we hear them it can make our ears hurt," Shane said. "I don't like it." She grumbled. "You'll feel better soon, princess, I promise. Nothing keeps hurting forever, it has to stop hurting at some point." Shane said, squeezing my hand. I reached my other hand back and grabbed Mable's before slowly drifting to sleep. 

    "Hollie!" Shane yelled, I jerked awake. "What's wrong?" I asked. He didn't need to answer, I had already seen. There was a sea of walkers stumbling toward us, I could hear their growls and moans even with the windows raised. "Put it in reverse, come on!" I said, looking over at Shane who was staring forward in shock. "Shane!" I yelled, shaking him. He reached down, shaking violently as he turned the key. The engine revved, but the Wrangler wouldn't start. The walkers were too close. "RUN," I screamed, opening the door and sprinting away from the horde advancing on us. One of them yanked my hair and pulled me backward. I desperately grasped at the air in an attempt to pull myself away. I only had a second to scream before the first bite came on my shoulder blade. Before I could react, the walker wrapped his arms around me, clawing into my skin and sinking his teeth deep into my neck. My blood turned to fire. I screamed out, falling to the ground. 

    I was suddenly alone in the middle of the highway, bleeding and writhing, the virus spreading through me rapidly. I heard someone walking towards me, each of their footsteps echoing loudly. "Poor, poor Hollie." I recognized the voice. "You knew we'd end up like this." Cameron. "You should've taken the easy way out," He said bending down to me. "Please help me," I whimpered. He scoffed, caressing my face, "There's no help for you anymore."

    I jerked awake for a second time, except now the road was clear. "Hollie, what's wrong?" Shane asked, looking over at me. "Just a nightmare," I breathed, rubbing my head. He squeezed my hand again, giving me a concerned look before returning his attention back to the road. Dale's voice came over the radio, "There are some cars parked up here, let's stop long enough to siphon some fuel and stretch our legs." I sat my seat up, stretching out my arms. After traveling a bit further, we finally pulled onto the side of the road. Shane hopped out, opened the back seat, and started to unbuckle Mable. I climbed out groggily, the belt loop of my jeans catching the door handle and jerking me backward. I laughed, releasing myself from the binds of the evil Jeep Wrangler. Shane snickered in front of me. "You didn't see anything," I smirked, walking with him to where the rest of the group was. 

    There had been a huge car crash, at least ten cars piled in the middle of the road. "Is anyone there?" Rick called out, the only response was the moaning of walkers in the distance. I looked around, reaching down for my gun, but then realized the sound was coming from inside the cars. "Theo and I have it covered," Glenn said, taking a pair of siphoning tubes and gas cans from a storage compartment on the side of the Winnebago before heading towards the car pileup. "Hollie, how'd you get that scratch?" Shane asked, pulling my arm towards him. "I got hit with debris when the window exploded. I'm okay, I promise." I said as he took a closer look before letting me go. "That looks deep, you need to get it cleaned up soon." He said, stepping into the Winnebago and reappearing with a first aid kit, handing it to me. I walked back to the Wrangler, using the side view mirror to see the cut. Shane was right, it was deep. I put the first aid kit on the hood of the Wrangler and took out a piece of gauze, poured water from my water bottle over it, and began to clean the dried blood from my arm. I picked up another piece of gauze and one of the bottles of rubbing alcohol we'd taken from the CDC. I winced as the alcohol made contact with the wound. Finally, I took out a roll of medical tape, wrapped it around my arm twice, and fastened it into place. 

    I watched as the men loaded the gas cans back into the side compartment of the Winnebago before we began to maneuver around the wreck. "Hold on, Mable!" I said as Shane drove off the side of the road, the Wrangler shaking. Mable squealed and giggled. We heard a loud pop behind us, turning to see the Winnebago limping to a stop in the middle of the road. "Shit!" Shane cursed under his breath, stepping out of the Jeep and running towards the Winnebago. "What happen?" Mable asked, looking over at me. "I don't know, let's go find out." 

    Big plumes of smoke billowed from the Winnebago's hood as Shane, Rick, Daryl, and Dale stood nearby. "There's no fixing this soon, even if we had a fully stocked garage," Rick said, sounding annoyed. "We could all try and squeeze in the Jeep and the SUV," Lori said, joining us. "The supplies would never fit in two cars that are almost full as it is. We can't really afford to leave any of this behind." Dale said. "Would it hurt for us to just stay here? Just for tonight, sleep in the cars. We survived on a highway right outside of Atlanta." I said. "It's not a bad idea, we'd probably end up sleeping on the road later today anyway," Rick said. Dale sighed, "I guess we don't have a choice."

    I walked into the Winnebago, finding Andrea sitting at the table cleaning her gun. "How are you?" I asked, closing the door, putting Mable down, and sitting across from Andrea. "Fine, you?" She said, not taking her attention away from her gun, "No, really, how are you?" I asked. She froze, her lip beginning to quiver. "How did you do it?" She asked, tears welling in her eyes. "Do what?" I asked. Andrea paused before responding, "The day after...you lost Cameron, you were up washing dishes and cracking jokes. I feel like a ghost. The only reason I'm here is that I was too much of a coward to stop moving." She said, dropping her head and letting out a sob before taking in a deep breath. I reached out, taking her hand. "That's the only reason I'm still here too," I said, feeling myself start to break. I reached over the table, hugging her as we cried. "It's not even that it hurts anymore, everything just feels so numb. I thought I'd gotten used to people dying." She said, wiping tears from her face. "I don't think that's something we'll ever get used to," I said, picking up Mable and trying to put on a happy face. "It's..." "Hollie." Andrea cut me off in an urgent whisper. I startled, looking out the window in the direction she was staring.