After driving for a while, Rick honks his horn, making us stop. People climb out of the other vehicles, and Daryl puts his kickstand down.
"You out?" Daryl asks.
"Running on fumes," Rick replies.
"We can't stay here," Maggie says, looking around.
"And we can't all fit in one car," Glenn adds.
"We'll have to go for a gas run tomorrow morning," Rick says.
"So we stay here for the night?" Carol asks.
"I'm freezing..." Carl mumbles.
"We'll build a fire. Someone should go get firewood," Lori says.
"When you go out, stay close. I only got so many arrows. How you doin' on ammo?" Daryl asks Rick.
"Not enough." He sighs.
"We can't just sit here," Maggie says.
"Everyone calm down and listen to Rick," Hershel orders.
"We'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll go get gas and supplies," Rick says. "We'll keep pushing on."
"Glenn and I can go for a run now, try to scrounge up some gas," Maggie suggests.
"No, we stay together. God forbid something happens and people are left stranded without a car."
"We're stranded now, man," T-dog says.
"I know it looks bad. We've been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure if that would happen, but it did. We're together, and we're gonna keep it that way." Rick stares at us. "We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."
"Rick, look around," Glenn says. "There's walkers everywhere! They're migrating or something!"
"I don't mean a place where we hole up. I mean a place where we fortify, hunker down, build a life for each other," Rick says, his voice angry. "We just have to find it!"
"Even if we find a place like that, we don't know how long it'll stay that way," Maggie mentions. "Look what happened to the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that was safe."
"And we won't make that mistake again," Hershel assures her.
"We'll make camp tonight. Over there. Get on the road at the break of day." Rick points to a some broken down stone walls. Maybe it was a house once.
"What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?" Beth asks, her eyes still wide with fear.
"You know I found Randall, right?" Daryl asks. "He wasn't bit, but he had turned."
"How is that possible?" Beth asks.
"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori adds.
"Shane killed Randall. Just like he always wanted to," Daryl answers.
"And then the herd got Shane?" Lori asks.
I look at Rick, and he makes eye contact with me. I drop my head down, the truth weighing heavily on my chest. Rick says nothing.
After a long pause, he speaks. "We're all infected."
We stare at him, silent.
"Infected, like, we're all walkers? What do you mean?" I ask.
"At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."
"And you never said anything?" Carol asks, appalled.
YOU ARE READING
Daryl's Angel (Book One in the Apocalypse Angel Trilogy)
Fanfiction"Why're you bein' so nice to me?" "I would want the same if I were you." Hope Starling was alone when the dead started rising. She had always been alone, with parents that had disowned her and no friends to help her. Inside the department store in...
