Thick Skinned | Rick Grimes

I - The Begining

"Jo! Grab your shit, time to go!" Daryl shouted as he slammed the front door open, Merle following close behind.

Jo didn't argue, she never argued, she never even talled, nobody even knew if she could talk.

She used to, before her mother died she talked all the time, but after the fire. Nothing.

Josephine stood up and walked to her room, putting her clothes in a black duffel bag and going to the door where Merle was waiting, "That's all that you're takin', we ain't comin' back".

She gave a simple nod.

"You good?" Daryl whispered to her as he slung his crossbow over his shoulder.

Jo followed her brothers out of the house to see the two men's motorbikes in the back of Merle's pickup truck, this is when she knew they definitely weren't coming back.

Daryl helped his sister into the trailor before getting into the cab, turning around and opening the small window to make sure he could talk to her.

****

"Merle, you've been drivin for an hour. Where'd you plan to take us?" Daryl bit his nails, out the window.

"The big city baby brother, now get your dirty ass feet off my dashboard" Merle swore as he swatted at the younger mans boots.

Daryl moved, "Jeez sorry".

They stopped talking when they heard a tap on the glass behind them, "You ok, sis?" Merle glanced over his shoulder, "Somthin' wrong?"

The girl simply pointed at the road ahead of them, miles and miles of cars leading into Atlanta.

"Ball suckin' shit face" Merle slapped his hands down on the steering wheel, causing the girl to flinch, "I guess we gon' be having that camping trip afterall".

****

Hours had passed and the night-time darkness had set in, and yet the pebble had stayed in the same spot, meaning the car hadn't moved. And all Jo could do, was stare at the pebble.

But all of a sudden, there was a different kind of movement. The tree's had started to sway abd the wind had become intense, Jo looked above her to see three helicopters flying straight into the city, and only seconds after the towering building went up in smoke.

The biggest problem was, Atlanta was they're plan B and C, aswell as plan A.

"Screw this shit, we're goin', c'mon Daryl!" Merle yelled as he got back in the truck, daryl following close behind, "Hold on tight lil' sis." Merle shouted to Jo before doing a 90° turn and off-roading up a hill into the woods.

Published Sunday 14th April 2024.