Skeletons - 𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 20 - 𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒕

It was a few hours down the road before Rick honked the horn and Daryl, now at the head of their frighteningly smaller caravan, pulled to a stop. Everyone got out of the cars and Rick jogged up ahead.

"You out?" Daryl asked, holding the bike steady.

"Running on fumes." Rick replied.

"We can't stay here." Maggie stated.

"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn replied.

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning." Rick replied, surveying their surroundings.

"Spend the night here?" Carol asked.

"I'm freezing." Carl shuddered, only in a hoodie. Rick started to take off his jacket, handing it to his son.

"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori asked, rubbing Carl's arms.

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close." Daryl instructed. "Only got so many arrows. How you doing on ammo?"

"Not enough." Rick grumbled.

"We can't just sit here with our assess hanging out." Maggie complained, huffing.

"Watch your mouth." Hershel warned. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."

"Alright, we'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on." Rick decided.

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." Maggie offered.

"No, we stay together." Rick declined. "God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn protested.

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure— I really wasn't— but we did. We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."

"Rick, look around. There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something." Glenn murmured.

"There's gotta be a place, not where we can just hole up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together. Build a life for each other. I know it's out there, we just have to find it." Rick said, pacing. They were almost like the words of an inspirational speech, except he was speaking as if the words were the one thing keeping him from happiness.

"Even if we do find a place, we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long?" Maggie asked. "Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe."

"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel said lowly.

"Can we think a little more short-term, please?" Iris asked, looting through her backpack. She pulled out a sweater, handing it to Carol, who was shivering in just a cardigan.

"Thank you." She breathed, pulling it on.

"Let's organize some now plans." Iris suggested, trying to reign in the panic that Rick was evidently facing. Rick nodded, rubbing a hand over his face.

"We'll make camp tonight, over there, get on the road at the break of day." He decided, gesturing to the stone ruins of an old water mill. The only parts that remained were a few walls.

"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asked Iris. She paused, pursing her lips.

"What if walkers come through? Or another group like Randalls?" Beth asked.