𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍, rick grimes (ON HOLD)

THIRTY-ONE

THEY WERE ON THE ROAD FOR EIGHT MONTHS.

They were in and out of places constantly, never staying in one place for more than a day or two. Winter wasn't very pleasant with them, but they got through it.

The group had recently raided a gun store, finding silencers for their guns and letting them take out walkers without attracting more. Josie had also collected many arrows for both her and Daryl for their bows.

Lori's pregnancy was going well, except for the fact that they had no safe place for her to give birth. With them constantly moving, there was no guarantee of her having a safe place to have the baby.

Being on the road brought the group closer together, they acted more like a team than strangers.

Josie was currently preparing to clear out a house with Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn, and Carl. Rick pushed the door open as he and T-Dog killed two walkers that were in there.

Josie held her bow up, aiming it around as made her way upstairs with Daryl. The brunette entered a room and she looked around, noticing it was a child's room and there was blood all over the floor and walls.

She ignored that and quickly looked through the cabinets for any baby formula or clothes, but she wasn't too lucky with that.

Josie left the room, seeing Daryl holding a dead owl in his hands. She smiled slightly as they made their way downstairs, seeing everyone else entering the house.

Everyone gathered in the living room and sat down, trying to get at least a little bit of rest. Parker sat next to her mother, holstering her gun as she handed her a small water bottle. Josie took it with a smile and took a small sip before she handed it over to Lori.

Carl then entered the room with two cans of dog food, he set them down and then pulled out a can opener. The group just sat and watched as he did.

Rick turned to see his son about to stick a spoon into the food, so he walked over and picked the can up before throwing it across the room. Josie, who was sitting with Parker and Lori, saw Daryl flinch, but no one else moved or said anything.

"Pst," T-Dog hissed, gesturing towards the walkers making their way to the house.

Without a word, everyone packed their things up and escaped out of the back of the house. Josie quickly put her bow and arrows in the trunk of the green Hyundai and then climbed in the back before they set off.

The group stopped after a while, pulling to the side of the road to see where they would be able to go. Maggie then spread a map out on the hood of the car.

"We've got no place else to go," T-Dog said.

"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off," Maggie said. "We'll never make it south."

"What'd you say?" Daryl asked Glenn. "It's about a hundred and fifty ahead?"

"That was last week," Glenn replied. "It could be twice that by now."

"This river could have delayed them," Hershel pointed out. "If we move fast, we might be able to tear right through here."

"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way," T-Dog warned.

"So we're blocked?" Josie asked.

"Only thing we can do is double back at 27, swing towards Greenville," Rick said.

"Yeah, we picked through that already," T-Dog replied. "It's like we spent winter going in circles."

"Yeah, I know," Rick nodded. "I know. At Newnan, we'll push west. Haven't been there yet. We can't keep going house to house, we need to find some place to hole up for a few weeks."

"All right," T-Dog replied. "Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out? Won't take long, we gotta fill up. We can boil it later."

Rick nodded. "Knock yourself out."

"Hey, while the others wash their panties, let's go hunt," Daryl said. "That owl didn't exactly hit the spot."

"I'll join you guys," Josie said.

Rick, Daryl, and Josie headed into the woods, finding an old railroad track and followed that for a while. Coming into a clearing, Josie turned to see a prison, but the yard was filled with walkers.

"That's a shame," Daryl said, noticing the walkers as well but Rick, however, looked hopeful.