The Sharpest Lives

Chapter 66

Ace did sleep. A lot.

For almost two days she was just in and out, barely aware of her surroundings. Besides getting up to pee, or being stirred by Maggie or Hershel to take antibiotics, Ace stayed laying down in the back seat of Shane's old SUV.

She slept most of the time, her body fried from the last few days on the road and fighting off the infection. She vaguely noticed when they were driving, just listening to the tires whizz down the road. Occasionally she would stir when more people were in the car, or when they pulled off to check the map. Mostly, she figured it all was a part of her dreams.

When they stopped to make camp for the night, Ace still remained in the car. Either she slept through it entirely or still felt sick enough with exhaustion that she simply could not find a reason to care if someone was on watch.

Time just melted. For all Ace knew, it could have been a week she laid in the back of that car, dosing in and out of sleep.

It was two nights later that Ace's mind started to come back to her. On the third morning, her fever finally, finally broke.

It started as Ace just feeling uncomfortable. Like she had overslept and her muscles were aching from being scrunched in one position. She started trying to stretch her legs out, struggling to get into a comfortable position. And then slowly, she felt warm. Like, really warm. Hot, even.

She had no idea when she acquired so many blankets and layers. But it was too much. She was nearly radiating heat underneath them.

She started pulling them off, one by one, until she just gave up and shoved them all onto the floor of the car. She laid there for a second, trying to see if that felt better. She felt some cooler air, but God, she had about four layers of sweatshirts and jackets on.

Unzipping those didn't help, Ace was still just sweating.

She needed fresh air. She needed to get out of this car.

Ace rolled off the backseat, grabbing onto the headrest of the seat in front of her to help her duck out of the van. No one else was in here so she didn't have to worry about waking anyone as she shoved open the side door.

Ace nearly fell out. It was extremely ungraceful, her back still raw and legs numb from lack of use. As her boots hit the hard ground, she realized she had forgotten about the wound on her back. Or more-so, she forgot how difficult it was for her to walk still. She had been lying down for so long she hadn't had to think about it.

Her knees instantly snapped outward, Ace gripping onto the car door to keep herself up right. She slowly straightened, flexing her toes to see if she was still even able to do so.

Luckily, she was. But the first step forward she took was definitely a heavy limp. Nonetheless, the fresh morning air was absolute relief on her damp skin. She felt gross, maybe even borderline disgusting. But still, she sucked in a breath, looking around at the empty road in front of her.

The sky was pink, just after dawn as the sun began to rise. Ace had no clue what day it was. No clue where she was. Or where everyone else was. She half expected Daryl to be on the other side of the car, sitting at a fire he built, cooking a can of beans.

Ace had to hold onto the car as she limped around it, it settling in that she needed to be more careful and alert of her surroundings. And she did not see Daryl. Almost right away, she was looking for him. Expecting him. Not sure what to think that he wasn't there.

Instead, she saw Rick and Hershel speaking quietly while leaning against another car. Ace kind of just stood there, a little taken aback that she was actually looking at other members of the group. She knew they had found them, she remembered that much. But it hadn't actually felt real yet.