"What do you mean we are going to Fort Benning?"

It was the first thing Megan heard when she stepped out of the RV, having unintentionally fallen asleep inside. She initially felt bad for leaving her friends to deal with the aftermath of the massacre the night before, but when she stepped out of the RV, she realised that everyone was too busy bickering to realise she had skimped on the chores.

She groaned and stretched her aching limbs as she looked around at the rest of the camp. There was so much going on. People were arguing, and Rick and Shane appeared to be trying to calm down Daryl, who was pacing around the camp with his crossbow in one hand and his knife in the other.

"What's going on?" Megan asked curiously; her question wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, and for the most part, she was ignored.

"Apparently, we are going to Fort Benning," Daryl muttered as his pacing directed him toward her.

Megan sighed to herself; only hours ago, they had agreed that the CDC was the best option, at least for answers, not so much for shelter and supplies.

"I thought the CDC was the best option?" Megan questioned Rick. He stood leaning against a car with his arms crossing his chest.

"It is, but maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea. Shane is sure it'll be safe. I need to think about protecting my family from the dangers around them, not searching for answers that could lead us nowhere," Rick replied with a sigh.

He did have hope that going to the CDC may give Jim a chance of survival after finding out he had been bit during the attack, but Shane had given some good points, stating that they couldn't go back to the city without proper planning, there was too much danger there.

Megan opened her mouth to reply, but Jacqui spoke first, "what about Jim? If the CDC have a cure, shouldn't we get Jim there as soon as possible?" Jacqui questioned in concern as she held a damp cloth to Jim's head.

Megan hadn't been aware of Jim's predicament, so her concern about where they were heading turned to concern for Jim and his potential to die and turn without anyone noticing.

"We've already spoken to Jim; he wants to be left behind," Shane replied matter of factly with little emotion.

While not many of the people within the camp completely agreed with going to Fort Benning, eventually, it was agreed upon to make the journey and scavenge for gasoline during their journey; with some convincing, even Daryl agreed to go, but he made it known that he wasn't happy and thoroughly believed that both ideas were a waste of time.

They had predicted another seven hours of daylight left, and with most not wanting to stay at the quarry any longer, everyone rallied around to pack up as quickly as possible.

Megan had spent her time packing the RV and cars with any supplies she could gather while trying to give Andrea words of comfort and reassurance, but she remained in a daze.

"Everyone set?" Shane called out, standing by his vehicle, having been ready to leave for almost an hour.

Eventually, the group gathered to the vehicles to leave, not before saying their goodbyes to Jim, who remained sat against a tree with a content look on his face, finally feeling free of the pain that came with the losses of his family weeks prior.

Not only were they saying goodbye to Jim, but also the Morales family who were leaving to head to Birmingham, Alabama.

It was a bittersweet moment for everyone involved as they left behind what had been their home for the last few weeks in the hope of finding something better.

Megan had intended to travel with Rick, Lori and Carl, but young Sophia wanted to stay with her newfound friend, and Carol naturally wanted to keep her daughter close. While she could've travelled in the RV, Megan wasn't sure how much comfort she could offer Andrea after the death of her sister.

So, instead, she was travelling with Daryl in his beaten-up, blue truck. "This is stupid," she mumbled to herself as she watched the scenery flicker by.

"You talking to yourself again, girl?" Daryl asked from the driver's seat, somewhat amused by her mutterings.

Megan scowled and looked towards him, "you think this is a good idea now? We should have tried to confirm at least if there's a cure or some way of stopping this," she sighed and instinctively placed her hand on her stomach. "I don't want to be on the road forever; I want this madness to end so I can raise my baby in a safe environment."

Daryl shrugged, "there's no cure, no point deluding yourself, just gotta make the best of what's thrown at you."

Megan crossed her arms and huffed, "not all of us have just ourselves to think about."

Daryl scoffed and gripped the steering wheel tighter, "were you this much of a bitch before the pregnancy?"

Megan glared over at him but didn't respond, and Daryl left their conversation there with a shake of his head as he left her to mutter to herself while staring out of the window of the truck.

She didn't mean to be a 'bitch', but she was scared, and she hoped any answers they might find at the CDC would settle her mind when it came to her baby's future. She didn't want her baby to grow up in fear and constantly running. If it even survived long enough to run from the dead's clutches.

With less than five miles to go before they arrived at Fort Benning, the area that the thick black smoke was coming from became visible. Daryl and Megan looked at each other as the convoy began to slow down. They both knew that something wasn't right and despite the distance they still had to go before they reached Fort Benning, everyone knew it was a lost cause.

The vehicles eventually rolled to a stop, and one by one, everyone began to exit their cars to look at the scene ahead.

Megan stepped out of the truck and approached her brother with her hands on her hips.

"What now?" she questioned him expectantly. Rick looked defeated and appeared regretful that he had agreed upon leading them to a dead end.

Lori stood beside Rick with her arms wrapped around Carl, "he's trying to figure it out, Megan. Just give him a minute," Lori said gently.

Megan sighed, "we're over a hundred miles away from the CDC; the sun will set soon. I'm worried."

Rick put his hand on her shoulder, "I know. It was a risk, but a risk I thought we needed to take. We need to work together and syphon some gas from these cars, gather supplies and set off to the CDC like originally planned."

He looked at Megan as he spoke, but his words were directed at everyone around him.

Carol and Lori held their children close as they looked around the area worriedly. Shane was pacing back and forth in frustration while Dale took watch on the top of the RV.

Glenn had already begun to follow Rick's idea and was rummaging through nearby cars for anything worth taking.

Daryl and T-Dog stood by the edge of the road looking towards the wooded area nearby, and Jacqui crouched down in defeat by the side of the road with her head in her hands.

Megan looked around curiously, "come on, Meg, let's see what we can find. Food and water would be a start, yeah?" Lori said gently, rubbing her sister-in-law's back.

Megan nodded, "yeah, you're right."

Before she could even take a step, Andrea had called out to Jacqui before the sound of a walker's growls echoed around them. Within seconds, Shane was by her side and with a loud bang, the walker fell to the floor with a thud, but it was too late for Jacqui, who stood in shock with her hand hovering over the bite the walker had forced upon her shoulder.

Jacqui let out an ear-piercing cry and dropped to her knees as blood began to spray from her wound.

Carl and Sophia cried and hid their faces in their Mom's bodies as Rick began to scream orders to the rest of the group.

"Megan, get in the truck," Rick ordered loudly, but she couldn't remove her eyes from Jacqui as Shane tried to calm the woman, begging her to tell him what to do.

As a hand took her arm and began to pull her across the road, she watched as Shane dropped his head before standing back up straight and pointing his gun towards Jacqui.

Megan finally turned away from the scene and climbed inside Daryl's truck. She covered her ears in an effort to drown out the gunshot.

She barely knew Jacqui, but it was a devastating and emotional turn of events. All she could think about was that her body would remain there forever, rotting away and soon be used as a meal for the dead.

The area around them began to flood with walkers that had been attracted by Jacqui's screams and the two gunshots.

The driver's side door slammed shut, and Daryl quickly started the engine before reversing down the road, hitting a walker with the back truck.

As he turned around, he made sure the rest of the group were following along before speeding back down the road they had just come down.

"This isn't fair," Megan whispered, "no one's body should be left to rot on the side of the road."

"Nothing's fair anymore," Daryl muttered in response, his eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead.

The group travelled through the night, running on fumes as they got closer to the city in the hopes of getting to the CDC to get answers about what was happening with the country, but as the sun began to rise, they knew they wouldn't be able to travel any further. The further they went, the more cars blocked their way, and Daryl's truck was staggering to a halt as they hit their next obstacle.

The group gathered by the RV and listened to Rick as he spoke. "Let's start syphoning gas from the cars, T-Dog and Daryl; you get started on that. The rest of you search the cars for food, water, clothes, even medication."

Everyone quickly followed his orders and got to work.

Megan headed towards a red car and unwrapped the rope, holding the trunk closed; as she opened it up, she laid eyes on two suitcases. She began to search through the first case, removing anything that may be useful to the group while also feeling uneasy about rummaging through other people's belongings.

As she reached the bottom of the last case, she noticed the clothes were smaller and more colourful. She tugged at the baby blue sleepsuit in front of her and held it up slowly.

"That's tiny," a young voice said from behind her, "are you going to keep it for your baby?"

It was Sophia; she looked at Megan sweetly as she clutched her doll in her hands.

Megan forced a smile, "yeah, I think I will."

Sophia smiled again before walking away towards her mother. Megan looked at the item of clothing one more time before folding it up small and putting it inside her jacket pocket.

As she walked around the car to the front, she noticed a car seat in the back of the vehicle. A blue blanket covered it, and she fought against her curiosity, but it got the better of her quickly.

Megan looked around the area, noticing everyone working hard to look through cars. She took a deep breath before opening the door of the vehicle.

She took hold of the corners of the blanket and began to pull it down, but when she felt movement underneath, she stepped back quickly, screaming as the blanket fell, and she came face to face with the baby. It reached its arms out towards her, snapping its mouth but not really making a sound.

Megan fell backwards to the ground in horror as she heard footsteps approaching her quickly, but she couldn't remove her eyes off the baby - Walker, whatever it was.

"What happened?" Daryl asked, crouching beside her as he inspected her arms, "you bit?"

Megan said nothing and just pointed towards the open car door. Daryl's eyes followed her arm until he reached the car. "Man, that's fucked up," he hissed and slammed the car door shut.

Megan hurried to her feet, "you can't just leave it like that!"

Daryl sighed and stood up straight. He was about to tell her he couldn't bring himself to do it, no matter how ruthless he was, but Rick appeared, interrupting the interaction.

"What happened? I heard someone scream?" he said breathlessly as he stopped before them. Rick put his hands on Megan's shoulders, forcing her to look at him. 

"Some assholes left their baby to get bit," Daryl mumbled as he tapped on the window of the car and watched as the baby raised its hands towards him.

"You don't know that. They could have died before they got to it," Rick debated absentmindedly as he, too, took a peek into the car.

Megan rubbed her hands across her face, "will you both just stop talking about it. Stop looking at it," she hissed.

Both men snapped their eyes away from the baby. "Sorry," Rick spoke up, "are you going to be okay? You can wait in the RV if you don't feel up to carrying on."

Megan let out a heavy sigh, "yes, it's fine. I'll be fine," she insisted, running her hand across her stomach, suddenly feeling nauseous.

"You look like shit," Daryl said brutally as he shielded the sun from his eyes.

Megan glared at him, "asshole," she mumbled as she turned on her heel to walk away.

"Still a bitch, though," he scoffed.

Megan didn't turn back but shouted back, "screw you, Dixon."

Daryl shook his head. Despite their interaction not exactly being friendly, he almost laughed at her words, but as he was about to make his way back to the car he had previously been syphoning gas from, he saw Rick glaring at him with his hands on his hips.

"What?" Daryl grunted while repositioning his crossbow on his shoulder.

"Keep your distance," Rick began, "she doesn't need the added stress."

"Keep my distance?" he spat before he began to storm away, "not easy, all things considered," he shouted back.

Rick rolled his eyes and made his way to the RV. Megan was sat on the step, staring blankly ahead. She jumped when he touched her shoulder, "are you sure you're okay?" Rick asked cautiously.

He crouched down in front of her as she began to speak, "there was no blood, he-it was decaying, but it didn't have bites or scratches," she mumbled more to herself than in reply to Rick.

Rick frowned, "what are you talking about?"

Megan met his gaze, "the baby, it wasn't bit, it wasn't scratched. How did it turn?"

"I-I don't know. It must have been bit somewhere; maybe you just couldn't see it," he replied reassuringly, although, he wasn't quite sure he believed his own words.

"What if we all have this virus thing? If that baby turned without being bit or scratched, maybe it died some other way and still turned?"

Rick sighed and tried to comfort his frantic sister, "we will get answers when we get to the CDC. Try not to think about it for now. You might be working yourself up for no reason," he tried to be gentle with his approach, knowing she was clearly upset and had hundreds of thoughts and scenarios plaguing her mind.

Megan eventually settled but remained firmly in one spot until the group was ready to leave again. They had found some supplies, and most of the vehicles had been refilled with what little fuel they could gather.

Within the hour, they were driving through the city, taking in the sight of the bombed building and the many bodies that were spread across the floor.

Megan gagged as the smell of the rotting bodies seeped into the truck, "that's disgusting," she choked.

Daryl grumbled, "don't you dare vomit all over my truck."

Megan's eyes followed the bodies across the floor, most covered in flies and maggots, "this place stinks so bad," she whined before slapping her hand over her mouth as she tried to hold back the little food she had in her stomach.

Daryl stopped his truck behind the RV and waited for Rick to step out before following suit and exiting his vehicle. Megan followed closely behind, with her hand still covering her mouth and nose in an attempt to not have to inhale the rancid smell.

Everyone stayed vigilant as they approached the doors of the CDC, but soon, many became frustrated that, once again, they appeared to have reached another dead end.

Shane put his hand on Megan's back as he tried to encourage Rick to move on and get out of the city as walkers began to approach. Megan recoiled from his touch and stepped away, but also tried to convince her brother to leave, "Rick, we need to go! Stop making so much noise; walkers are coming," she said in a harsh whisper.

Rick began to bang on the shutters harder, begging and pleading for someone to open the doors.

"There's no one there, Rick. Let's leave," Shane shouted before taking a shot at a walker that had got too close for comfort. "Rick, we have to go," he shouted in a harsher tone.

"The camera moved; they're in there. I know it. Let us in; we have children. We haven't enough gas to move on. Help us, please, we're desperate," he pleaded to the camera.

Everyone looked around at the scene frantically as Daryl took two more walkers down with his crossbow.

The stench of the dead and the fear of the approaching walkers had Megan swaying as her heartbeat quickened.

Rick kicked the shutter one last time before turning back around to help his friends face the oncoming danger. As he held his gun up to shoot a nearby walker, the shutter behind him began to rattle as it opened.

Everyone began to rush inside the building, and as the last person stepped inside, the shutters started to lower.

"Anyone bit?" they heard a voice call out.

"No," Rick called out in reply.

A man appeared and stepped forward, "you got everything you need? Once the doors are locked, they stay locked," the man said adamantly.

"Yes, we've got everything. Thank you-" Rick began, but he was cut off by the man who had saved them.

"Doctor Edwin Jenner," he introduced himself, "follow me."

The group followed the man cautiously, checking out their surroundings as they approached a lift.

Everyone gathered inside the lift, looking at each other awkwardly as they wondered what they would be greeted with when they reached the bottom.

"You alright, Megan?" Daryl whispered, appearing concerned when she accidentally leant into him during her dizzy spell.

"Not really," she sighed and closed her eyes, trying to get rid of the dizziness.

Not only was she exhausted and now felt sick to her stomach after seeing so many bodies strewn around the area, but she was also filled with dread as she thought back to the baby in the care, unable to rid her mind of the thought that her baby could end up the same way.

_____

Not sure why I bothered with the whole Fort Benning thing in the original, but I kept it anyway. Hey Ho.