the end is here // the walking dead

chapter 8: down the hill

It's been only a day since the explosion at the CDC. All they had was the clothes on their backs, a bag or two, and whatever was left in the RV. They were tired, angry, and disappointed. Vid changed into some clothes she'd taken from the CDC, a black tank top and jean shorts. She pulled her hair tie tighter and shook her bangs from her eyes.

"You doin' okay Vid?" T tapped the girl's shoulder as she stared out the RV window, the caravan rolling down the highway. She nodded, not looking up at him.

Why didn't she come with us? Could I have saved her?

A realization hit her at that moment.

People would rather die than live in this world, I mean yes that happened in the old world too but, Jesus. I watched Jacqui and Jenner just give up on their lives completely. This world is cruel for making them think they can't keep living.

"Aww no." Dale's tone was tense, causing Vid to stand up, gripping the back of his seat.

"What's going on?" Her eyes landed on the tight path they had to squeeze through, the RV continued rolling through, cars and bags sat open, bodies still in cars became visible. "Oh my God-'' A clang rang out as the engine sputtered, smoking. "Fucking hell." The group climbed out of the RV as Dale spoke.

"I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water." He examined the front of the RV as Vid went back to meet Lori as she got out of the truck.
I guess now's the time to ask her about what happened.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-" Dale stopped. "Okay, that was dumb." The sea of abandoned cars was some hope, maybe over 1,000 sat in front of them. Daryl immediately popped open the back of a car and began searching.

"Can't find a radiator hose here." Shane mumbled as Vitia was scanning the highway for any walkers. Nothing.

"There's a buncha stuff we could find." Daryl held up a bag he found.

Huh, I've stolen before but this is like, perfect. I can't really feel bad about it.

"Siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T spoke up.

Good point. We should carry as much as we can. We don't know how long it could be till we find something like this again.

"Maybe some water." Carol chimed in. Oh god what I wouldn't give for a bottle of water right now, if I find a fuckin case of water I might start crying.

"Food." Glenn added from next to Dale. I, once again will cry.

"This is a graveyard." Lori looked pale. "I don't know how I feel about this."

Lori definitely hasn't been so hungry she's had to steal before, that's obvious. We all come from such different backgrounds, I mean she had a great life before this, husband, kid, the whole shabang. She was so lucky. But as of now, and from now on, we're all the same. Trying to make it through the day.

"Alright people, grab what you can." Shane called out as the group dispersed. Vid sighed before walking to a silver car a couple 100 feet in front of the RV. Lucky for her the trunk was already popped, she swung it open pulling a suitcase closer to her. Children's clothes.

"Carl, Sophia," She called out. "C'mere." The children appeared at her side. "Look at these." She held up a black shirt with the batman logo on the pocket. "For you Carl." He took it from her hands quickly.

"Awesome! I love Batman." Vid fluffed his hair before reaching back into the suitcase as he ran off. As she rifled around Sophia was looking into another case next to her.

"Vitia, look at this." Sophia held up a brown bomber jacket.

"Damn Soph, good eyes." Vid took it from her hands and examined it. Really good condition, this is a good find. Plus it was warm too.

"You should keep it." The girl replied before Carol called her name, making the girl return to her mother. The jacket remained in her hands, it was 100% too big for her but it didn't matter, it was perfect. She threw it over her shoulder as she continued to search the trunk. Her fingers hit a picture frame and she pulled it out. It was a family of four, husband, wife and two kids. They were all smiling in the picture, looking happy, as if they didn't have a care in the world.

It made her mad. Seeing people have happy childhoods, something she wanted so desperately but never got. She huffed before chucking the frame off the highway as hard as she could.

It don't matter anymore, they're probably dead anyway now.

Damn. Am I a bad person?

Shaking the thought out of her head she began riffeling around the trunk again. She found a wooden baseball back tucked in the back of the trunk. As she spun it around in her hands feeling all the grooves in the wood she was met with a hushed demand.

"Get down, herd." Daryl ran past her as she peered over the top of the car where he was coming from. As he said, an entire herd of walkers was on the highway, headed straight for them. Without hesitation she dove into the trunk, keeping it open just a bit to see out of. Walkers started to pass by. She covered her mouth to control her shaky breathing.

Fuck. Fucking fuck shit.

The trunk was a tight fit but she managed. The only thing that could be heard was her racing heartbeat and the growling of the undead outside. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry. From the crack, she spotted T-Dog running past her car as an open spot in the herd appeared. He was bleeding, bad. She thought the worst.

No, no, no, not T-Dog. Please God.

She clamped her other hand over her mouth, her eyes burning.

As soon as the growls faded from her ears she peeked out the trunk a bit more, attempting to check if the coast was clear. As she did, 3 figures in the distance caught her eye. A small one running down the bank and 2 taller figures following it, with a final fourth trailing behind.

She leaned up, Sophia.

Without a second thought, she threw the trunk open and ran out, hopping the guard rail and following the girl down the hill.