A War On Her World | TWD: D. Dixon

Ch. 18

A car horn rang out from behind the group consisting of Benjamin, Elizabeth, Glenn and the surviving Greene family. The loud sound came from the red car, signalling everyone to stop.

All vehicles slowed to a stop in their place on the road and the occupants climbed out one by one to find out the reason they had to pull over. The family seated in the same car as Elizabeth climbed out like everyone else once Glenn pulled over behind Daryl and Carol. 
With the car emptied, the woman in her early thirties was left to wake up her sleeping son.

Little Benjamin was rested, drowning in the three-sizes-to-big jacket in Elizabeth's lap for comfort and capacity reasons. There was not enough room in the five seater car for the two extra people that was the mother and son. However, they refused to be separated from each other. Times were too bad for the brunette woman to take her eyes off of her son, one second she could be protecting him and the next -and it would only take a second- Benji would be gone. Lost. Forever.

"C'mon baby, wrap your arms around me," Elizabeth whispered trying not to disturb or catch the young child off guard. He mumbled something incoherent in his sleepy state, lifting his tiny arms up sluggishly. It was his way of telling his mum that he heard what she said but was too tired and wanted her to place him in the required position.

Elizabeth leant forward and wrapped her son's arms around her neck. It had been difficult but she managed to lift him up, shuffling around the small bag of her possessions sat at her feet before exiting the car, having to bump the door closed with her hip in the process.

The thirty-year-old mother walked to gather with everyone in the middle of the road further up where Daryl sat on his stationary motorbike. She walked past the passenger side of each vehicle up to stand at the tail end of the man's bike with her sleeping toddler safely set on her hip.

"You out?" Daryl asked, looking back to Rick as the man marched closer.

"Runnin' on fumes," Rick confirmed.

"We can't stay here," Maggie spoke up, walking around the left side of the vehicle that she was riding in, her gun placed defensively in her hands. Elizabeth stood quietly listening to every argument closely. There was no way that she wanted to stay the night but there was also no way that she, or anyone, would be able to do anything about the situation they found themselves in.

"We can't all fit in that car," Glenn stated to the side of his girlfriend.

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the mornin',"  Rick said as he turned to face the entirety of the group. He had come up with the best solution for their problems that he could, but it seemed it wasn't enough.

Elizabeth didn't know why everyone felt the need to look to the man for help and then fight him tooth and nail on every single thing that he says. What the woman didn't know, was that from day one, almost everybody fought against Rick's better judgement and it hadn't seemed to change. Not even after the farm fell, not even after everyone realised exactly what they couldn't afford to lose. Not even now when no one could come up with a better idea than to argue with their leader.

"Spend the night here?" Carol asked in disbelief as if Rick had to be kidding for stating such a dumb idea.

"I'm freezing," Carl whined. The boy stood close to his mother to keep warm, she was rubbing his clothed chest with her hand to create warmth through friction. It didn't seem to work as the woman had wanted it to as Carl still had his hands buried deep into his jacket pockets, shoulders hunched up closer towards his neck to warm himself up. They must've forgotten about the jackets that were found on the highway months back when Sophia had gone missing.