Silent Warrior

Atlanta

It had been about a week since they had moved on from Terminus. Ashley was incredibly quiet. She had lost hope of meeting other people again. To be in a community again. It was also hard for Jodie to continue to hope that she would ever find her old group again, but still the thought wouldn't let her go, what it would be like to see Daryl and the others again. She would give anything for that.

Ashley's leg had healed nicely by now. She still couldn't manage the usual distance they usually managed in one day, but it was getting better and better. By now they had gone a good distance toward Atlanta. Ashley was hoping to find another community there. Jodie, on the other hand, preferred to stay away from the city. Big city with lots of people, meant more walkers. Still, she was willing to at least go to the outskirts of town to at least get an overview. On a bridge, Ashley had found a car with a cross painted on it.

Completely excited, she had run to Jodie.

"I've seen a car like that before when I was in my old group. But it wasn't exactly the same car. Maybe there's a group in town!" she said excitedly.

Jodie frowned.

In a big city full of walkers, could there be a community? She considered this thesis very bold. However, there were certainly enough buildings in the city that could be secured against the undead.

"We have to go to the city. We have to check it out!" insisted Ashley.

Jodie took a piece of paper and her pen, then wrote down her opinion.

"And where the hell are we going to look? The town is filled with walkers and we certainly wouldn't be able to get through there on our own. Besides, there are a lot of buildings in this city. How are we supposed to find the right one?"

Ashley rubbed her hand over her face. Damn, she hadn't thought of that. But then a thought occurred to her.

"Look, they have that white cross painted on the windows. Maybe that means something, so you know where to go," she then said euphorically.

Jodie raised her eyebrows. There were days when she seriously wondered which of the two was the child. Ashley was actually always optimistic and sometimes downright childlike. She almost always found something good about a situation. On the one hand, Jodie appreciated that, as she was often cheered up by Ashley. But sometimes Jodie also believed Ashley was making light of everything.

"A white cross. Maybe a cemetery or...a hospital."

Ashley's eyes lit up as she spoke the last word.

"Yeah, probably a hospital! That's got to be it! That's where we need to go!"

Jodie made a hand gesture to signal Ashley to calm down. Then she wrote on her pad.

"First of all, there will probably be more than one hospital in this city, so how are we supposed to know which hospital to go to? Secondly, how exactly are we going to get there? I hardly think we can take a relaxed walk around the city!"

"If we had a city map, maybe we could find a way to avoid the walkers. Often there are city maps at the city borders, after all," Ashley opined.

Jodie was not convinced. And Ashley could clearly see that in her eyes, too. She took Jodie's hand and looked at her encouragingly.

"I understand your concerns, but there might actually be a group there. And we might be able to stock up or even stay there if we like it."

Jodie sighed. She knew full well that Ashley would bug her about this idea until she said yes. So she sighed heavily and wrote something on her pad.