Just Gone

39: Fool's Gold

Tyreese walked out of the house with his sister and Rick. Across the street, Lori and the kids were leaving their assigned house. The two groups walked toward each other, meeting in the middle of the street.

"So far so good," Tyreese commented.

"And they've got such big yards." Lori was smiling, a hand on her swollen belly.

"This place looks pretty deserted," Sasha said.

"This house is empty," Carl said, motioning to the house they'd just left, Toby trailing behind him. "I can't believe how big these places are!"

After checking in with Carl, Rick noticed T-Dog and Daryl were on their way over.

"What about you guys, all clear?" Rick asked them.

"As far as we can tell. I don't see anything near this area." T-Dog answered.

"Good," Rick looked relieved. "I don't know about you guys, but I really don't want to spend another night packed in that RV. What do you guys say to grabbing all our blankets and crashing in one of these houses tonight?"

Tyreese pointed to a house next to the one they'd just searched, "The windows on the second floor of this one seemed to be fine, we should be pretty warm up there."

"Perfect. Tomorrow we can start clearing out houses and giving people their own living space."

"Sounds like a plan to me," T-Dog was smiling, he was excited to get out of the RV.

"All right then," Rick started. "Tyreese and I are going to check out this house. Everyone stay here or get your stuff from the RV until we get back."

Tyreese and Rick walked toward the house together. They walked in silence, not looking at each other, but they were both thinking the same thing. If the group stayed, Tyreese and Sasha would surely still continue their journey to Carnesville. But they would wait to discuss it. They'd both gotten close since meeting each other, becoming fast friends and enjoying the others company.

"I'll look around upstairs," Tyreese volunteered when they walked in, he held his hammer at the ready, while Rick held his hatchet.

"Yell if you see anything."

"Depending on what I see. . . I might not have much of a choice."

Rick scouted the ground floor, not looking through cupboards, only the rooms and closets to make sure it was safe. He slowly opened a door to find a dark staircase going down. He could barely see past the first few steps.

"Looks like there's a basement, these houses are bigger than they look!" Rick called out. And just as he did, he heard very rush thumping, and before he knew it, two Walkers had emerged from the darkness.

"Oh, shit!" Rick tried to shut the door on them but it was too late, one stood in the doorway blocking it. Rick fell as he stumbled backward, "Tyreese!"

Before Rick could get up or try to roll away, one had thrown themselves on top of him. The weight of the Walker kept him from being able to swing his axe freely. All he could do was push the side of the metal into the Walkers teeth, trying to keep it back. The second Walker landed on top of both of them, adding to the weight.

"Tyreese! A little help here!" Rick struggled to get out. Rick could just barely hear Tyreese's thumbing over the snarling of the Walkers.

Suddenly, a large force knocked both corpses off of Rick. Rick sat up, spinning around to see what was happening. He saw Tyreese on the floor, next to the Walkers. They all started getting up simultaneously. Rick pushed himself up, backing up just as Tyreese did the same.