Found Book One

Route 23

"It's gonna be a long night. Eat and get some rest. We leave when night falls," Rick says before walking out the door. Carl nods and sits down on the floor, I sit beside him, "I was really hoping he'd say yes," Carl mumbles. "He did we have a chance," I say, "We're going to get there," I say. 

"We are, but what if he decides that it's dangerous," Carl asks me, "Then I guess we keep going," I say with a frown. "That is what's gonna kill us," he says, "I know." 

Everyone eats what they can we've been hungry since we ate the dog meat. Tara sits beside me when Carl goes to get something else to eat, "I think I'm going to do it," she says. "Tell her?" I ask. Tara nods, "Yeah, it seems like a good time, I think." she mumbles. 

"Yeah. I think you should," I tell her. Tara nods, "I was a bad guy," she says. "What?" I ask her, "I was with the governor when he rolled up on the prison," she says. 

"I just don't want that to happen again with this place," she mumbles. "We'll make sure it won't. I don't want it to happen either," I tell her. Tara smiles and holds out her fist, I bump my knuckles against hers, "Then it won't," she says.

Soon the light disappears from the sky. I've eaten four cans of food. I barely even looked to see what it was.

"Y'all ready?" Rick asks everyone nods. He hands me Judith as he leads us to the RV, I go into the RV. Rick makes Carl stay behind so he can talk to his son, Noah sits in the booth and places his hands on the table. 

I slide into the seat across from him, "I wonder what it's like," he mutters, "I'm hoping it's big, maybe something like the prison or a neighborhood that they walled in," I say. 

Noah furrows his eyebrows, "You lived in a prison?" he asks, "I only lived there for about a week, Rick, Carl, Michonne and some others lived there for about a year and a half," I say.

"Wow, I bet it was safe," he says. I shrug, "Not safe from a tank," I tell him. Noah nods, "I don't think most things are safe from something like that."

We all sit in the RV as Abraham starts it and drives down the road, the drive is silent. We pass the sign for Route 23, Abraham and Rosita are talking quietly in the front seat. 

"Holy tits!" Abraham yells as he slams on the brakes, Rosita yells. I lurch forward and throw my arm across Mika's chest to stop her small body from hitting the table.

I question the safety of the RV before looking up through the windshield. Route 23 is nothing but a sea of walkers.

I stare through the front window as Glenn keeps going down the highway, hitting walker after walker. If he would've stopped we would've hit them. Abraham backs up and whips around. 

"We gotta get outta here! They'll find us if we to the gas station a few miles back," Abraham says driving in the other direction down the road.

I see a trail of smoke following a red streak of light, "Abraham stop! Go to the flare that was them! We have to go," I yell pointing toward the red light coming from the direction of Route 16, he nods and slams on the gas.

We get onto route 16 and drive to the water tower the flare came from, "Carl, 'Laine, stay here, we'll investigate," Rosita says climbing out of the vehicle.

I nod and lock the door after they leave, they take a group into the warehouse. A few minutes later Maggie and Carol come out of the building and back into the RV. "We found Aaron's partner, come on get in here," Maggie says grabbing the first aid kit from the RV's bathroom.

I hold Judith tightly as I follow Maggie into the building, Tara and Rosita are lighting lanterns so that we can see where we're going. A man is sitting on the ground, Maggie kneels in front of him and starts bandaging his ankle, "It's broken," she says. "I know that much." 

"Were you a nurse?" he asks, "No but my Daddy was a vet. I picked some things up along the way," she says.

Carl takes Judith, I move over to Tara and Rosita, the shorter pigtailed woman leaves, to stand by Maggie. "What was that about?" I ask, standing in front of her, she shrugs her shoulders, "I tried to tell Ro, but I-I couldn't," she says.

I stand on my toes and snake my arms around her neck, she hesitates before hugging me back. I pull away from the woman and take the ring off the chain, I grab her hand and slide the metal band onto the finger from her hand that it used to reside on.

"Thanks," she says wiping her cheek with her hoodie sleeve, "You don't have to thank me," I say my smile growing as I hear the signature whistle. "That's the signal!" Daryl yells rushing down the stairs, "Oh thank god," Maggie mumbles, Carol follows the younger woman. Carl runs down the stairs behind them,

I take Judith into the man's separate room, "How are you doing?" I ask sitting down on a cinderblock. He smiles, "Well I have a broken foot so I'm not too sure if that qualifies as good," he laughs.

I smile and bounce the baby in my lap, "I'm Elaine," I say letting Judith chew on my fingers. "I'm Eric," he says, "Do you know if Aaron's okay?" he asks, I can hear the missing group members in the hallway. I glance to the left, Aaron standing in the doorway. "Well it seems to me that he is perfectly fine," I say standing up and walking out of the room.

Rick engulfs me in a hug, he pulls Judith from my arms and kisses her, Michonne takes her and hugs her close. "Thank you for taking care of her. Rick should be telling you this but he thinks he doesn't do enough for her," she says placing her hand on my cheek.

"We should stay here for the night, get some rest and drive there in the morning," Rick says everyone agrees and finds places to rest. Carl sits on the floor and pulls me down beside him, I slowly close my eyes and drift into the darkness of sleep.