3rd POV
"Everybody takes a weapon." Rick says as he lays out the weapons Carl found the day before.
"These aren't the kind of weapons we need." Andrea says. "What about the guns?"
"We've been over that." Shane says. Yeah...Andrea isn't allowed a gun for a while because she tried to stay when the CDC blew up. Dale managed to get her to leave but he doesn't trust her with her own life just yet. "Daryl, Rick, and I are carrying. We can't have people popping rounds every time a tree rustles."
"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea says.
"Say somebody fire at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it." Shane says.
"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back around on the other side." Daryl begins as Glenn smiles as he holds a hooked ax. "Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."
"Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other." Rick says as he walks over to the RV.
"Everybody assemble your packs." Shane says.
"Dale, keep on those repairs. We've got to get this RV ready to move." Rick says.
"We won't stay a minute longer than we have to. Good luck out there. Bring Sophia back." Dale says as he stands.
"Keep an eye on Carl while we're gone." Rick says.
"I'm going with you." Carl says with a determined look. Rick shakes his head but Carl isn't done. "You need people, right? To cover as much ground as possible."
Rick groan and looks to Lori. "Your call. I can't always be the bad guy." She says.
"Well, he has all of you to look after him. I'd say he's in good hands." Dale says.
Rick sighs. "Okay. Okay. But always within our sight, no exceptions." Rick says and Dale winks at Carl who smiles.
"Oh, and Dale." Rick says as Lori and Carl go gather with the rest.
"Yeah?" Dale asks.
"Keep an eye on Ash. She hasn't had any signs turning but if she does..." Rick sighs.
"I'll do it softly." Dale promises.
Rick looks at him with a pained expression. "Thanks. I tied her to the bed just in case but..."
"I'll look after her Rick. I promise." Dale says and Rick nods and walks to the others.
Andrea walks up to Dale and he sighs. "Andrea, I'm begging you. Don't put me in this position."
"I'm not going out there without my gun. I'll even say please." She says.
"I'm doing this for you." He says as he's about to walk into the RV.
"No, Dale, you're doing it for you. You need to stop. What do you think's gonna happen? I'm gonna stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger the moment you hand it to me?" She asks.
"I know your angry at me. That much is clear. But if I hadn't done what I did, you'd be dead now." Dale says.
"Jenner gave us an option. I chose to stay." She says.
"You chose suicide."
"So what's that to you? You barely know me."
"I know Amy's death devastated you."
"Keep her out of this. This is not about her. This is about us. And if I decided I had nothing left to live for, who the hell are you to tell me otherwise? To force my hand like that?" Andrea asks angrily.
"I saved your life."
"No, Dale. I saved yours. You forced that on me. I didn't want your blood on my hands and that is the only reason I left that building. What did you expect? What, I'd have some kind of epiphany? Some life-affirming catharsis?"
"Maybe a little gratitude?" Dale says.
"Gratitude? I wanted to die my way, not torn apart by drooling freaks. That was my choice. You took that away from me, Dale."
"But--"
"But you know better? All I wanted after my sister died was to get out of this endless horrific nightmare we live everyday. I wasn't hurting anyone else. And now Ash is in there, dying, because she saved me. You took my choice away, Dale. And you expect gratitude?"
"I don't know what to say."
"I'm not your little girl. I'm not your wife. And I'm sure as hell not your problem. That's all there is to say." She says and walks away, everyone following her into the trees. T-Dog looks at him from his spot against the RV and then looks away.
Dale walked into the RV to check on Ash. He walked into the back and saw her sleeping peacefully. He placed the back of his hand on her forehead to feel her temperature. She wasn't burning up but she wasn't cold either. She was a normal temperature.
His eyebrows scrunch together as he walks walks back outside. He climbs the ladder up to the roof of the RV and uses his binoculars to look around. After a while, T-Dog comes back from looking around.
"Ain't you supposed to be fixing that radiator? What if they come back with Sophia and Rick wants to move on right away?" He asks as he takes a drink from a soda he found.
"I had it fixed yesterday." Dale says.
"What? What was all that rubbing and sawing for then? That's just bull****?" T-Dog asks.
"Yeah, that's one word." Dale says as he continues looking off into the distance. "Another word would be pantomime--just for show. No one else needs to know that."
"Pantomime." T-Dog says as he looks away.
"If the others know we're mobile, they'll want to mobilize and move on." Dale says.
"So you don't think they're gonna find Sophia, that it?"
"I'm just guarding against the worst. Sooner or later, if she's not found, people will start doing math. I want to hold off the needs-of-the-many-versus-the-needs-of-the-few arguments as long as I can." Dale says.
"That is one tricky hose, huh?" T-Dog asks.
Dale says as he looks at him and smiles. "Very."
YOU ARE READING
Into The Dark
Fanfiction[Currently Under Rewrite] She was lost. She was alone. She was scared. She was surrounded by the dead. Ashley Grant was thrown into the terrifying world of the dead walking the streets. All she wanted was to go to the grocery store but she ran into...
