chapter four: made it bearable
5946 words

Lin wiped the sweat off her forehead. Anything she could do to keep busy right now. She'd thrown back some leftover fish and water, hugging Lori and heading for the hills to check the graves Jim had dug. Andrea hadn't spoken or moved since the attack. The guys gathered all the walker bodies and burned them. She huffed, counting the holes one more time. There were enough. All they needed were the bodies.

She trekked back to the camp, keeping completely silent because the moment Shane knew she left on her own he'd chew her head off. She flinched in time with Daryl dropping the end of a pickaxe through a walker skull. The smell of the burning bodies was enough to make her eyes water.

How had something so good turned to shit so quickly? They had a happy camp, happy families and somewhat okay lived here. Now? She wasn't so sure.

"You alright?" It was Dale, the kind soul he was. Lin nodded, trying to smile at least for him.

"I don't think I'm ever going on a run ever again." She said it as a joke but the longer she spoke the more Dale believed it to be truth. She reached up and rubbed her hand across the back of her neck. Whether she did it on purpose or not it drew his attention to the purple and blue bruises on her neck, very obvious handprints.

Rick walked to Lin's side, wishing he hadn't let her come with them. Lori had given him a hard enough time the moment she got him alone. Lin was her baby sister and he'd let her get hurt.

"She still won't move?" He asked, head tilting towards Andrea. Dale shook his head.

"She won't even talk to us." Lori reached out and clasped her hand around Lin's, pulling her down to sit next to her. "She's been there all night. What do we do?"

"Can't just leave Amy like that," Shane pointed out. "We need to deal with it. Same as the others." Lin looked away, her eyes shutting and Lori brought her sister's face into her shoulder. Behind her Rick nodded, setting off in Andrea's direction.

"I'll tell her how it is." Rick crossed the camp, crouching slowly beside the grieving woman. Andrea whipped around, her gun cocking right in his face. Lin's face jerked up at the sound.

"I know how the safety works."

Rick nodded slow, cautious and began to rise back up to full height. He backed away slowly, the camp all standing behind him. Lin couldn't imagine if it had been Lori, how she would have reacted. She didn't even want to think about it. She stayed sitting on the cushion, her hand on her neck.

"Ya'll can't be serious." Lin looked up at Daryl. "Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb." He spoke as if he wasn't preaching to the choir.

"What do you suggest?" Rick asked him. Daryl stepped up to the sheriff.

"Take the shot," he stated like it was obvious. "Clean, in the brain from here." He put his fingers up against his left temple. "Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

"No," Lori stopped him. "For god's sakes, let her be." She sat back down, her hand going right for her sister's. Lin thought that they should just let Andrea do it. Daryl backed off, scoffing as he walked away.

Lin looked between Rick and Shane, waiting for a decision to be made. But they stayed silent, just sharing dumb expression between them.

"What are you guys doing?" Glenn watched Morales and Daryl drag one of the group member's bodies to the pile of walkers. "This is for geeks. Our people go over there."

"What's the difference? They're all infected." Lin felt her nerves go up in flames. Daryl Dixon needed to shut his mouth.

"Our people go in that row over there." Glenn pointed to the neatly lined bodies. "We don't burn them!" His voice took an edge Lin had never expected. "We bury them. " He said this a lot gentler. "Understand?" Daryl didn't have a response. He shifted his feet to lift the body again and with Morales's help he brought it over to the line of other bodies. Too many bodies in Lin's opinion.

"You reap what you sow," Daryl finally shot back.

Morales had enough of Daryl's attitude and smart ass comments. "You know what? Shut up, man."

"Y'all left my brother for dead," Daryl shouted. He pointed to the pile of bodies. "You had this coming." Lin wanted to get up in his face, tell him that they'd gone back for Merle but he wasn't there. It wasn't their fault Merle was an impatient asshole who cut his own hand off and stole their van. He could have come right back to the camp but he didn't.

Lin stood from the seat, intending on walking over to the rv. She was willing to take look out, do something that distracted her from the pile of bodies she'd once called her friends. She got to the door, not even in it when things just kept going wrong.

"A walker got him. A walker bit Jim." Jacqui called out, stumbling back away from the man as if he were already one of those things. Rick and Shane jerked up, hands on their guns. Everyone in the camp turned to Jim and he panicked. Lin pushed away from the rv. Daryl passed her, the pickaxe back up on his shoulder.

"I'm okay," Jim tried to assure them. "I'm okay." The fresh blood on his shirt said otherwise.

"Show it to us," Daryl told him. Lin stared at the back of his head, wishing he would just keep his temper. He reached up for the pickaxe, scaring Jim into grabbing a shovel.

"Easy, Jim."

"Grab him," Daryl urged. T-Dog lunged, trying to pull Jim's arms back. Lin didn't understand it. If Jim was even bit in the first place he hadn't turned yet. Lin walked into the commotion. She reached for Jim's shirt, getting to him before Daryl could. She could see him twitch in Jim's direction out of the corner of her eye.

Jim didn't fight it, just kept repeating that he was okay. T-Dog let go of Jim and they all backed away, everybody except Lin. She held his shirt up and set her hand on his chest to make him turn into the light. His skin felt hot, feverish even in the Georgia sun. Someone behind her grabbed her around the middle, yanking her away from the bitten man.

"Stop!" She tried to keep her hold on Jim but his shirt slipped from his grasp. "Let me go!" The person did but in the opposite direction, away from Jim. She shoved the person's hands away, coming face to face with Daryl. She frowned, not able to believe that their group was doing this. "Guys, it's still Jim!" She tried to go back to him, to do anything she could think of to help but Daryl sidestepped and blocked her.

"Lin he's bit." Shane tried to reason to which she spun around on her heel to face him.

"So what?" She shouted at him. "He hasn't turned! He's still human right now and you're just going to treat him like an animal?"

Shane turned his head to the side. "Dale, get her in the rv."

Lin scoffed. "So now you're going to put me in the corner like I'm a little kid, huh?" Dale was apprehensive about the command but stepped in Lin's direction anyway. Lin stepped back. "I can walk myself." She turned her back on the group, striding to the rv door and climbing into the vehicle, not shutting it behind her.

She sat in the passenger seat of the motorhome, kicking her foot up on the dash. She set her hand over her mouth, breathing in and out to calm herself down. She didn't know how much time passed until someone knocked on the door. She'd tuned out the yelling and the cocking of a gun. But not the knock. She turned to see it was Dale. He'd taken his hat off, nearly crushing it in his fist.

"Have they finished passing around the ruler yet?" She bit out, dragging her thumb nail over her lip. Dale nodded, not saying anything at first. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a gunshot. Lin flinched at it, shifting her crossed legs to stand. "Who was-"

"Andrea." And that was all Dale had to say.

"What about Jim?"

Dale looked back behind him and then Jim was shuffling into the rv. "We're going to get him to the CDC," Rick told her as she leaned out of the doorway to ask just what the hell was happening. "You're the doctor here, we need you to look after him until we get there. Can you do that?" Lin stole a quick glance back at Jim who had collapsed onto the couch.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Just pack up my tent if we're moving and I'll do it."

"Done." Rick disappeared out of the doorway, leaving Lin alone with Jim. She wasn't nervous about it just worried.

"Alright, Jim," she sighed. "If you're gonna sit down, which is totally fine, take that dirty shirt off. Dale doesn't want any blood on these couches."

Jim reached for the back of his shirt, wincing as it pulled the bite in his chest.

"Here," Lin offered. She reached behind him for the nape of his shirt, helping him pull it off. She searched cabinets for any first aid supplies, locating gauze and wrap bandages. "Lean forward for me and lemme show you what med school taught me."

She pressed the gauze to the bite. Instructing him to hold it there, she wrapped the bandage around his torso. She went around him three times and then ripped it off, securing the end underneath the tight wrap.

"I'm starting to get cold," he told her, sitting back against the wall. Lin didn't think that sounded right in the Georgia heat but she nodded.

"We've got some spare blankets." She located those as well and tossed it to him and he covered his lower body with it. She sat back down in the passenger seat, bringing her foot back up onto the dash. The camp was empty, everybody being up on the hill burying the dead. Lin, for just one moment, wished she were up there too.

Jim began to mumble to himself, shaking his head and flexing his fingers. He must have thought Lin wasn't listening. She didn't like what he was wearing, didn't like that a good man was sick, bitten and who knows how long away from being turned. She hated that he was sweating yet underneath blankets. She stood, kneeled in front of the couch and reached to press the back of her hand against his forehead. He was running a fever, probably a high one.

"I'll see if Carol can get you some water. We'll try to bring that fever down." She walked to the front of the rv, ducking out of the open door and calling for Carol. The woman looked her way and walked over when Lin waved. "Jim is running a fever, do we have any water left?"

"We do. I'll bring you some in a pot. Do you have a washcloth?"

Lin nodded. "Do you need any help getting it?"

Carol seemed to deliberate on this. "No. I've got it. Just keep him company." Lin could do that.

Carol returned with the water in a white pot, bringing it to the back of the rv for Jim. Lin thanked her, sitting on the edge of the couch and dipping the rag into the cool water to dab away the sweat on his brow. He looked worse and worse by the minute and blood was already soaking through the gauze. The rv door opened, Lin hadn't known it was shut, and Rick and Lori walked through to the back to check on Jim.

Lin relayed to them that his fever was worse. He'd begun to cough up blood into the empty pail Lin had rushed in.

"You need anything?" Lori asked, setting her hand on her sister's shoulder. Jim stuttered for a second.

"Water. Could use more water."

"I'll get some," Lori squeezed Lin's shoulder and took her leave of the rv with Carol following. It left just Lin and Rick together with Jim.

"Anything you say to my patient you can say to me too," Lin said to somehow lighten the mood. It didn't really work but it made the other two in the rv smile. Jim sat up a little further, dodging the rag Lin brought in to wipe at his forehead.

"You save a grave for me?" Jim asked. Rick looked at Lin then away from the both of them, conveying the unwillingness he had to accept the inevitable.

"Nobody wants that."

"It's not about what you want," Jim countered. He swallowed to try to wet his dry throat. "That, uh- that sound you hear, that's god laughing while you make plans."

Lin didn't know what to say. She set the rag back into the cool water and watched it float. Rick was at a loss as well, gathering his thoughts into the right words.

"What I want, Jim, if god allows, is to get you some help." Jim groaned. He coughed once, twice and then he couldn't stop. Lin brought the blood-speckled pail under his chin and he took it, coughing and spitting into it.

"Watch the mangroves," he said. "Their roots will gouge the whole boat. You know that, right?" Rick brought his closed fist up to his chin, leaning against it while covering his mouth. "Amy is there swimming," Jim continued. He looked over at Rick with wide, afraid eyes. "You'll watch the boat, right? You said you would."

Jim wasn't making any sense but Rick agreed anyways. "I'll watch the boat. Don't worry."

Lindsey knew that leaving the camp was dangerous, a huge risk, but she knew that if there was a chance to help Jim, to find something to combat this, she was going to take it. She wiped more sweat off his brow, leaving the cool rag to sit there. She kept the pail in his reach, willing to just sit and be the audience for this nonsense whispers. Carol and Lori had brought the water so she kept reminding him to drink it.

She looked out the front windshield. The group was gathered around in a circle, most likely starting to discuss the plan of action. Lin figured that Rick, who had just returned from his sweep of the woods. must have told her what he wanted them to do, not the official plan. Regardless, she was willing to look after Jim as long as she could.

Tucking the blankets a little tighter around him and replacing the rag, Lin set her wrist on his forehead. Still running a high fever.

"Alright, Jim. I'm gonna go out and talk with them. Keep drinking that water and holler if you need anything, alright?" She tapped his chin to which he nodded. She sent him one back, trying to make herself believe that he was going to be okay. He had to be. They couldn't lose another person, not this soon.

Lin stepped down out of the rv, walking to the circle with her hands in her back pockets. She caught Rick's eye, nodding to him with no real intent in mind besides letting him know she was okay.

She stood just beside Glenn, leaning her weight to one side.

"I've been thinking about Rick's plan," Shane started. "Now look, there are no- there are no guarantees either way, I'll be the first one to admit that." Lin looked to her left as Daryl approached the group, meeting his eyes for only a second then looking away. "I've known this man a long time." Shane looked up right at Rick. "I trust his instinct. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together." The group didn't have a unanimous response to his opinion. Many of the members looked down at their own hands. The others, their loved ones. "So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?"

Lin nodded. There was a chance they could help Jim and Lin was willing to take it.

Dinner that night was quiet, just people around a very small campfire, eating the very last of Daryl's hunt. It had been quite the argument to get him to cough up the meat but in the end he'd gone out for the group and everyone went to bed with mostly full bellies, at least most of them. Lin was still up. Dale was still up and she was pretty sure Daryl was still up too. He hadn't come to dinner, he'd barely even stepped into the light of the fire. He was near the woods, keeping watch. Lin reached for one of the plates, one that still had some meat on it.

"You going back for seconds?" Dale asked her from his perch. Lin shook her head, pulling herself up so she was standing.

"I'm pretty sure our hothead hasn't eaten yet." Lin stood next to the rv, nodding her head out to the woods. The form of the archer was just barely visible along the trees. He had his crossbow in his hand, elbows bent with the butt of it up against his shoulder. How he wasn't tired, Lin had no idea. She exhaled, tilting her eyes back up to the perch. "Wish me luck."

She held the plate with one hand, the other shoved in her back pocket. It was an easy place for her to put her hand when she had no idea what to do with it. This was probably going to be the most difficult thing she'd done since shooting a walker the day before.

She walked a little heavier than normal, making sure she crushed at least one leaf on her way over because she last thing she wanted was a crossbow bolt between the eyes. She was maybe a stone's throw away from Daryl when he turned to see who was walking towards him. He turned back out to the woods but made no motion to tell her to go away. She stopped next to him, offering him the plate.

"There were leftovers from dinner and I know you haven't eaten." She held the plate out a little further to him. He turned, looking between her and the plate, the plate and her.

"I ain't hungry," he turned it down. Lin felt her shoulders drop a little bit but she squared them before he noticed.

"Well I wasn't asking." She paused, waiting for him to take the plate but he didn't. So she took a slightly different approach. "Look, you caught the squirrels and kept us fed for tonight. You deserve to enjoy some of your own kill so I saved some for you."

Daryl turned his head, frown deep in his face. "Well I didn't ask you to," his voice raised in volume. "I don't need nobody taking care of me!" His face was set in a frown, essentially glaring at her. She brought the plate back to her chest.

"Fine."

She turned over her shoulder, plate in hand to head back to camp. But Lin wasn't heartless. She dropped the plate down on the first tree stump she passed, leaving the food for Daryl to take if he wanted it.

She tapped the side of the rv, wishing Dale a goodnight as she walked off to the tents. Daryl waited until she was gone, until he heard her tent zip closed, to even look at the food. It looked good. His catches always did. He walked back to the stump, grabbed a hunk of the meat and stuffed it in his mouth. He looked up from the plate to the perch. Dale's back was to him. Good, he thought, looking back out into the darkness.

Dale looked back, spotting the almost empty plate. It made him smile. How the end of the world brings people together, he thought again.

Dale was the one to wake Lin in the morning. He needed her help packing the rv, aka strapping the canoe up to the top. It was a two person job and Andrea was in no place to help out at the moment. She climbed up to the top, guiding the canoe as he lifted it up from the ground. A few orange straps later and the canoe was strapped down. Lin set her hands on it and pushed, satisfied that it was going nowhere.

The rest of the cars were packed up, the tents collapsed and loaded, the fire put out. Daryl's bike had only left the bed of his truck maybe twice so he hadn't needed any help putting it back up, not like she'd offer her help anyway.

"Everybody listen up," Shane held his shotgun, speaking the plan for the group to hear. "Those of you with C.B's we're gonna be on Channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan."

Lin leaned back against the station wagon, Carl's elbow up on her shoulder. From where she was sitting she could see the whole group. She looked over at the flurry of movement that was Daryl rubbing his eyes. Was he crying?

"Any questions?"

Morales stepped forward a little bit. "We're not going." Line felt her heart sink. With a family like his, a beautiful wife and two wonderful children, she hoped and she prayed that they would make it through. "We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people."

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back," Shane reasoned as if it would change their mind.

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family." The way he said it felt like a jab, a dig at Rick.

"You sure?" The sheriff asked him.

"We talked about it. We're sure."

"Alright." Rick sunk down onto his heels, pulling a weapon and ammunition from the gun bag to give to the family for defense. They handed him a pistol and half a carton of ammo. Daryl huffed to himself, spinning to look away from the scene.

Lori hopped down from where she was sitting on the hood, pulling Morales's wife into a hug. Lin tugged on his children's shirts, bending down to speak to them on their level.

"Now you two monkeys behave for your mom, alright?" She bopped their chins with her hands, making them both grin at least a little bit.

"Thank you all, for everything."

Lin straightened up, setting her hand on her nephew's knee. He was beginning to cry, seeing two of his friends leave. She reached up to put her hand on the back of his head, pulling it down so he could set it on her shoulder. She kissed the crown of his head, rubbing circles on his back.

"Channel 40 if you change your minds," Rick reminded them. This wasn't like a friend leaving a sleepover. This was life or death.

Morales and his family walked away from the group, heading for their car.

"What makes you think our odds are any better?" Shane asked to the silence after such an event. "Come on. Let's go."

Lin kissed Carl's head one more time. "Alright little man. I'm going to ride in the rv, keep looking after Jim. Just one radio away." He nodded and hugged her tight. She let go and let him hop down, joining Glenn, Dale and Jacqui as they headed for the rv. She moved for the back, grabbing the cool rag to press to Jim's forehead. He'd gotten some rest but not nearly enough and every moment he twitched in his sleep Lin would shamefully reach for her gun, only to calm as he settled back into sleep.

She tried not to think too much as they pulled away from the camp. She wanted to believe that this was the right thing to do, that this was going to work. But blind faith like that was hard to come by, especially in days like these.

Her thought scattered like dust in wind as Jim gripped her hand hard, pressing it down on his chest. Every bump they went over made him groan, his veins throbbing in his neck. He was pale, too pale and his temperature was sky high.

A muttered half-curse word drifted through the vehicle as Dale pulled it over, honking once to stop all the cars behind him. Lin shut her eyes, realizing the problem.

"The radiator hose is busted," Jim gasped out. The stolen van meant no new hose. No new hose meant no movement. Everyone field out of their vehicles but Jacqui stayed with Lin, keeping her eye on Jim. He'd gotten even worse if that was possible. Lin reached to layer more water on his face but he gripped her wrist, startling her as he did. "Stop. Just stop."

"Jacqui get the others," Lin said, her eyes not leaving Jim's sallow face. Jacqui hurried to the door, Rick taking her place inside. Lin couldn't stand to listen to Jim give up so she let the two men have their space. She stepped down onto the side of the street, leaning back against the rv and shutting her eyes to the sun. The rv rocked from side to side as Rick walked back out.

"We're leaving Jim."

A chorus of gasps and unbelieving whispers worked its way around the group.

"It's what he says he wants," Rick backed himself up.

"And he's lucid?" Carol asked. Lin was the one to nod.

"He was for a while. Yes."

Rick rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down," Dale shook his head. "You misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

Lin wanted to ask him but there was no way in hell it was going to be her that did it. She couldn't just go in there and ask him if he wanted to kill himself. She wasn't like that.

"We just leave him here?" Shane questioned. "We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that."

Lori spoke before her husband could. "It's not your call, either one of you."

In the end, it was Lin that asked. She had to take a breath before she did it, making the archer standing behind her furrow his brows. She returned to the door of the rv and nodded. Rick and Shane both filed into the mobile home and carried the weak man out, setting him against a tree of the side of the road.

"Hey," he spoke through labored, heavy breaths. "Another damn tree." Lin had no clue what he meant but it made him sorta smile, whatever it was.

"Hey, Jim. I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this." Shane had his hand on Jim's knee.

"No. It's good. The breeze feels nice." Lin shuffled a little to the side so she wasn't blocking it. Jim's hand inched her way over the grass, his bones feeble and withering away but just enough to get the point across. She reached for him, holding his hand delicately between hers.

Shane stepped back and Jacqui took his place. She touched her hand to the side of his sweating face.

"Just close your eyes, sweetie," she spoke softly, quietly. "Don't fight." Jim shut his eyes, his mouth falling open in relief. Jacqui leaned in and kissed his cheek, pulling away and moving back before she could start crying.

"Jim, do you want this?" Rick wanted him to be absolutely sure. He held out a gun for the man but Jim turned it down.

"No, you'll need it. I'm okay."

Each member of the group took their turns saying their goodbyes. Lin couldn't leave his side. He turned just his eyes to her, a smile working on his lips.

"Thank you Lin."

She shook her head.

"Don't thank me, Jim. I didn't do anything to help." She pulled one hand away from his to wipe her own tears. Jim blinked slow and she knew if he could have smiled a little wider or even laughed he would have just for her.

"You made it bearable."

She squeezed his hand a fraction and then let go. She kissed his forehead, unable to control her own tears. She turned away from the man, walking straight for the rv. If she looked back, she knew that she wouldn't be able to leave. She set one foot on the door and stopped. Lin didn't want to be in the rv where Jim had been. She couldn't handle the fact that he'd been right there one minute and not the next. She stepped back as Dale turned the key, the rv cranking to life.

"Hey Daryl," Lin called out, making the man stop his walk back to his truck. He squinted to look at her through the sunlight. She sniffed and rubbed under her eye with the pads of her fingers. "You got room in that truck for one more?" Daryl stood stock still and Lin worried that he'd said no. "I know it's Merle's seat-"

"Get in." She shut the rv door and listened for Jacqui to lock it. When she did, Lin hurried to Daryl's truck, opening the passenger door and climbing in. It smelled like cigarettes but Lin didn't care. She wiped away her tears, pulling her hair back off her neck. Daryl jumped in, tossing his crossbow down onto the floorboard at Lin's feet. She let him. It was his vehicle.

"Do we have eyes on Lindsey?" Dale asked through the C.B. Lin looked toward the radio as Daryl did. She didn't reach for it, waiting for Daryl to do it. It was his car. He took the receiver in his hand, answering that he had her and that the caravan should start moving.

She leaned against the door, sending her eyes and prayers to Jim. His head was tilted back against the tree, his eyes closed and mouth slack. She waited to see his chest rise and fall but as the truck started moving she couldn't be sure if she saw it or not. So she shut her eyes, set her elbow up on the door and leaned against it.

The ride was silent the rest of the way. Lin kept inside her own head and Daryl kept to the road. They kept going most of the day, the hours bleeding together. Daryl was sure that Lin had fallen asleep. He waited until the rv stopped at a roadblock to try to wake her up. She looked up from the floor, spotting his hand stopped between them. She didn't ask but he told anyway.

"Thought ya were sleepin'," he grumbled, opening the driver door, grabbing his crossbow and climbing out.

Lin had her handgun on her side but her rifle was in the rv still. She jumped out too, meeting Dale halfway and taking the gun he offered out to her.

Rick let the way to the building, through the piles and maze of rotting corpses. The stench was horrendous, enough to make Carol pull her daughter into her side and Lin pull her shirt up over her nose. He walked them right up to the front door, passing Humvees and tanks parked on the sidewalks. The military had been here but it hadn't done jack. They reached the door, both officers trying to lift the shutters. It made too much noise because the moment they tried to open the door it sent out what was quintessentially a beacon for all the nearby walkers. One stumbled their way, a former military solider.

Daryl held his crossbow up with one arm, balancing it on the forearm of his other, and took the shot, sending it down.

"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl accused. Lin cocked her rifle, keeping her eyes peeled for any movement.

"He made a call."

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl tried to get at Rick to which Shane put a stop to.

"Just shut up. You hear me? Shut up. Shut up!" He turned to Rick. "Rick, this is a dead end."

"Where are we going to go?" Carol asked, holding her daughter to her chest.

"Do you hear me?" Shane kept going. "No blame."

Lori was panicking, keeping her son behind her. "She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark."

Rick looked at the closed building, weighing his outcomes as quick as he could. The sun was setting fast, painting darkness on the high rise buildings.

"Fort Benning, Rick. Still an option."

"On what?" Andrea said quick. "No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles."

Groaned filled the air. Lin aimed her rifle, peering over the scope. Daryl and T-Dog took to her sides.

"125. I checked the map." Glenn had indeed checked the map in the rv.

"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now," Lori pressed. Lin shook her head. The more noise they made, the easier it was to make them sitting ducks.

"We'll think of something."

Shane began to urge everyone back to the cars, the moms holding their children. Lori took Lin's hand and pulled her.

"The camera," Rick pointed to it above the shuttered doors. "It moved."

Dale looked back, both hands on his rifle. "You imagined it."

But Rick was sure of what he had seen. "It moved." Shane tried to talk Rick out of it, convince him it was just gears and automated power.

Lin placed herself in front of Carol and Sophia.

"It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick."

Rick banged his hand against the shutter, only making more noise. "I know you're in there. I know you can hear me," he spoke right into the camera, staring down the man that was hiding inside. "Please, we're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left."

Lori ripped away from the group to get Rick, leaving Carl with Lin. "There's nobody here."

The walkers had heard the dinner bell and had come running. Lin lifted up her rifle, ready to take the shot but not ready to make the noise. Carl had his arm around her hips, holding tight onto her. And the moment he saw a dead one heading towards them it only tightened.

"If you don't let us in, you're killing us!" Shane wrapped an arm around Rick's chest, dragging him away from the doors. The sun had set and any chance they had of finding shelter was obliterated with the dark night sky bearing down on them.

Lin stabilized her rifle, and set her finger over the trigger. She lined up the crosshairs and just as she moved to pull the trigger, the courtyard filled with white light, the sound of the shuttered door rising open.

an: dO yOU rEmEMbEr?!? happy 21st night of september my lovely readers! please forgive any typos because these super long chapters are totally not edited at all. i'm also almost done with only season 2 of the show and i'm basically at 90,000 words so this book is about to be massive (for example the first harry potter book is 76,944 words long so yeah) i hope you guys enjoyed this part, go check out the preview parts of my new detroit become human book, and i'll see you in the next part!! :))

(14 days until the new season)