We're Not Dead Yet (RickGrimesXreader)

Chapter 3: Road To Atlanta

A/N: This one's a long one, so enjoy!

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On the road to Atlanta we had to stop a couple times for fuel as we were running low, however, no matter where we stopped, we couldn't find any. I wasn't too suprised, one of the first places that were looted in a panic were all the gas stations, the only thing topping them would be the grocery and gun stores.

At least I made use of the stops to stretch Cerberus' legs and let him go to the toilet...

I watched Rick as he searched around the area for any gas. This was our third stop today and the fourth gas station we've been to that has no gas. We had tried his hometowns station before leaving, but, whaddya know? No gas there either. No that I was expecting any...

I suppose Cerberus could sniff some out, but the chances of finding any would still be low, besides, there was also a chance he could follow a trail to some spilt gas, or something completely useless...

I crossed my arms and hung my head back as I leaned against the car and watched Rick search about cautiously, before taking a deep sigh and groaning.
"Your not going to find any here."
He turned to me and gave me a stern look.
"How do you know without trying?"
I gave him a blank look and nodded to all the abandoned cars.
"You could check 'em all if you want to, but there's a reason they only got this far."
He turned away and tried to syphon some gas from the closest vehicle.
"They could've just broke down."
I tilted my head as I watched him.
"Do they look broken to you?"
He ignored me and continued to try his luck, but ultimately, the car was empty.
I groaned and nodded to Cerberus.
"Cowboy-"
He grumbled and gave me a stern look as he corrected me.
"Rick. And I'm a sheriff."
My lips curled slightly in amusement.
"Cowboy. If there was something here, Cerberus would have sniffed it out by now. We're wasting time."

We were currently stopped by some long abandoned gas station with a huge cardboard sign hanging out front saying, "no gas". Not far from the gas station was a small camp of vehicles on the side of the road. An abandoned one, and for a long time too by the looks of things. Unless you counted the corpses as occupants.

The corpses were rotting and everything was just thrown about the place, though considering Cerberus wasn't interested in anything, there was a high chance nothing useful was left behind here.

I was willing to bet whoever these cars belonged to ran out of gas on the way to Atlanta, considering they're just an hour or two out. They probably thought rescue would come if they waited here, considering it's not too far...

I sighed and pushed myself off the car, my arms still crossed and let out a short whistle as I signalled Cerberus to look around. I doubt he'd find anything, but I doubted Rick was going to listen to me anytime soon.

Cerberus barked and ran off to sniff out the cars, and whilst he did that, I made my way over to Rick, who was still trying to syphon nonexistent gas...

I stood behind him as I scanned the area over, keeping a close eye on Cerberus to make sure he was safe.
"Look, any gas that was here has probably been taken already by others heading to Atlanta, and any gas that's left is most likely useless."
He stood and turned to me, tilting his head slightly.
"How're you so sure?"
He gestured around.
"Even the most useless gas is better than nothing. And even if it's just a couple drops, that's a couple drops we didn't have."
I pointed to the cars.
"These cars have been here a while. Without people driving 'em the gas has probably gone stale."
"It's not been long enough for that to happen."
I hummed and shrugged.
"Depends on the gas. Depends on how long its sat here, in the summer heat, doing nothing."
I tapped the hood and leaned next to him.
"Any gas you do get from here won't be too useful. No better than water."
"It's still better than nothing. We're almost running on fumes."
I let out an annoyed sigh as I hung my head back.
"You're very stubborn.."
I turned to him with a stern look.
"You wanna reach your family, right?"
He nodded.
"Course, that's why we need the gas. We won't get anywhere without any."
I shook my head.
"We won't get anywhere staying here, wasting time either."
I gave him a stern look.
"We're wasting daylight."
He gave me a harsh look.
"The gas will give us a couple more miles. It will make up for the lost time."
"Trust me, it won't."
I pointed to the cars.
"Like I said, any gas left will hardly be of good quality. On its own, maybe it could run a couple miles, sure. But if you add it to ours, it'll just dilute our gas and lose us miles instead of giving us any."