Chapter 9 - Wildfire

Pulling it tightly, I quickly tuck the loose end of the bandage inside of it before putting my sock on and slipping my boot back on. Sweat drips from of the tip of my nose as the sun glares down over our ravaged campsite. I look up from my chair and see Daryl swing the pick axe, it landing in the head of a walker. Glenn and T-Dog walk forward and pick it up, leading it over towards the fire to burn with the other walkers.

I hear footsteps and turn to see Rick come up beside us, "She still won't move?" He asks.

I look up and over to Andrea, who sits completely still as she watches over Amy's body, "She won't even talk to us." Lori says, having just gone over to try.

"She's been there all night." I state, wiping at my forehead.

"What do we do?" Lori asks, looking up at her husband.

"We can't just leave Amy like that, we need to deal with it. The same as the others." Shane says quietly.

Rick nods his head, "I'll go tell her how it is." He says, turning and making his way over to the grieving woman.

I stare on as he kneels down beside her when she pulls a gun out on him before saying something. Lori and Shane stand up and tense as they watch her. Rick steps back slowly, holding his hand up in defence. She puts the gun down and turns back to her sister once more, keeping her eyes on her. He walks back over towards us, his eyes conflicted. Daryl walks over and stands beside me as I get to my feet.

"What do we do?" Dale asks.

"We just leave her. Let her grieve." Rick says.

"You all can't be serious? Let that girl hamstering us? That dead girls a time bomb." Daryl states.

"Then what do you suggest?" Rick asks, turning to look at him angrily.

"Take the shot, clean in the brain from here. Hell I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." He says confidently and I know he can but I shake my head, "No, for God sakes just let her be." I say, shaking my head and sitting back down.

They all exchange a look before Daryl huffs and storms away to take out more walkers. I look and see Daryl begin to help Morales drag one of our own over towards the fire when Glenn pipes up.

"Woah, what are you guys doing?!" Glenn asks, standing behind them and pointing to the fire, "This is for geeks. Our people go over there." He states, pointing to the pile of bodies.

They ignore him and he walks forward, "Our people go in that row over there." He repeats as they stand up and look at him, "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand?" He says sadly.

They look at him for a moment before they bend down to pick him up, "Our people go in that row over there." He repeats.

They begin to drag him away and Daryl looks back at Glenn, "You reap what you sow." He mutters.

"You know, shut up man!" Morales says angrily towards Daryl.

Daryl begins to walk away, "Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this coming!" He yells, walking away.

I look after him and let out a sigh, running my fingers through my hair. I hear a commotion coming from not to far away and I turn to see Jacqui confronting Jim. He whispers to her and she stumbles back, "A walker got him. A walker bit Jim!" She cries out, stepping away from him. We all stand up and walk towards him and he eyes us all like we're his predators.

"Show it to us." Daryl says, his pick axe tightly in his hand.

Jim bends down and grabs the shovel, ready to fight us off as everyone tells him to calm down and back off. T-Dog rushes forward behind him and grabs his arms as Jim cries out, "No, no, no! I'm okay, I'm okay!"

Daryl runs forward and lifts up his shirt, revealing a bite mark over his ribcage. He steps back as Jim looks around desperately, "I'm okay. I'm okay." He repeats over and over.

We all stare at him in horror as we realise he won't last long. Rick walks towards him, "Why don't you go sit down Jim? Sit down and rest." He suggests gently, not wanting to frighten him again.

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim whispers as he walks over and takes a seat on a box beside the RV.

Everyone comes and stands in a circle as we try to think of what to do, "We should put a pick axe in his head and the dead girls and be done with it." Daryl states.

"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane asks through clenched teeth, his eyes locked on Daryl's.

"Yeah and I'd thank you while you did it." He says, not missing a beat.

"I'd hate to say it and I never thought I would but maybe Daryl's right." Dale says, speaking up from his spot.

"Jim's not a monster Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick mutters.

"I'm not suggesting-" Dale begins but Rick cuts him off, "He's a sick man."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Shane says, holding out his hands between the two men.

"We start down that road, where do we draw the line?" Rick asks, looking at Dale.

"The lines pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or the to be." Daryl states.

"What if we could get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure." Rick suggests.

"Heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell." Shane argues.

"What if the CDC's still up and running?" Rick counters.

"Man that is a stretch right there." Shane says, sounding unconvinced.

"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all they'd protect the CDC at all costs wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection, rescue-" He lists before Shane cuts him off, "I want those things too, I do too okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."

"That's a hundred miles in the opposite direction." Lori points out.

"That is right. But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me, if that place is operational it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there." He reasons.

"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun, we've all seen that. The CDC's our best choice of a chance." Rick argues his case.

Daryl pipes up from beside me, "You go looking for aspirin. Do what you need to do." He says, walking backwards, "Someone's gotta have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" He yells, going to swing his axe at Jim.

"Daryl!" I yell as Rick pulls a gun out on him, "Hey!" Shane yells.

"We don't kill the living." Rick says as Shane steps in front of Daryl, protecting Jim.

Daryl lowers his axe and glares at Rick, "Thats funny, coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."

"We may disagree on some things, but not on this. You put it down, now go on." Shane says, nodding towards the pick axe.

Daryl stabs it into the ground and Rick lowers his gun before he walks over and grabs Jim, "You're coming with me."

"We're we going?" Jim asks.

"Some where safe." Rick says, eyeing Daryl as he leads him into the RV.

I rub my hands over my face, letting out and exhausted sigh. I glance over towards Andrea and see that Dale has gone to sit with her for a moment. I'm worried for her, she is in so much pain and everyone just wants her to hurry up with her grieving. If it were me... I'd want every minute I could have to grieve. A tear falls from the corner of my eye and I wipe it away. My ankle throbs and I sit down, resting it up on the other side of the car seat.

I stare off into the distance and think of Merle. Daryl told me that they made it to the rooftop yesterday, but he was gone. The only thing that was left behind besides Dale's tools was his right hand. He cut it off in order to get out of the handcuffs and off the roof. It didn't surprise me when he told me that, Merle would do anything he could to survive. It's just now the thought of never seeing him again makes my heart ache. Though he was a jackass, I really did love him. He was always there for me, they both were.

I sit there for a long while, resting up my ankle and let my mind run amuck when something draws my attention. I look over towards Andrea and see her talking to Amy's corpse and I see that she's turned. I sit up and pull my gun out of the back of my pants line. She pulls her up into a sitting position as Amy grabs at her, beginning to get aggressive. Andrea brings her gun to her temple and pulls the trigger, the body falling to the ground.

And then just like that it's over. Andrea leans over her sister and places a kiss on her head, whispering something as everyone watches. We all feel the pain and tragedy of her loss as she holds her sister. Life goes quickly, especially in this world now. I let out a shaky breath and get to my feet, not wanting to sit around and watch the people I care about die or disappear. It's time to do something.

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I stand beside Daryl with one arm across my torso holding the elbow of my arm that lays down my body. I try to contain myself, only a few tears falling down my face as I look on. Andrea drags Amy's wrapped up body over towards the grave, Dale trying to give her assistance.

"I can do it!" She says breathlessly through the tears.

She steps down into the grave and Dale tries to help her again, "I can do it!" She repeats brokenly.

She pulls back as Dale helps lower Amy into the grave easier. Andrea gently lowers her down before Dale offers her a hand up out of the grave. I wipe at my eyes as the guys walk forward and begin to bury them. Andrea walks over dazedly and I put my hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze before I let my arm fall down. Soon enough the people are buried and we make our way back towards camp.

"How're you doing?" The deep voice asks.

I look up and see him looking down at me in concern, "I'm okay. Exhausted, tired of losing people." I say as we walk down the hill.

He offers me his arm to lean on and I take it, putting pressure off of my ankle, "What about you?" I ask.

He nods, "Same." He whispers.

"I miss him." I say quietly, looking down at the ground.

Daryl remains quiet as we walk, "I honestly believed that out of the three of us, I'd be the first to go." I admit.

He stops and I look up at him and see his angry glare and I scoff, "Come on, you know that it's true. You and Merle have so much knowledge, you know how to survive this world. Me? I can't even go on a simple supply run without getting injured. I'm weak Daryl, I always have been."

He glares down at me, "Thats bullshit. You're a lot stronger then you think, you've been through a hell of a lot already. Now I don't want to hear you coming out with anymore of that shit alright? We're here, they aren't. That's just the way the world is now."

"You really believe that?" I ask, looking up into his blue orbs.

He nods his head, "It's what I know."

I look at him for a moment and nod, "Okay." I whisper.

"Let's get back." He says, his tone firm.

I nod and turn, my arm still in his as we make our way back to the camp. The morale of everyone is extremely low, understandable after last nights events. Andrea sits in a camping chair with her eyes closed, probably getting some much needed rest after what happened last night. Daryl leads me over to a turned over crate and I sit down, wincing as I stretch my leg out in front of of me.

Rick emerges from the RV and looks over to Shane, "Wanna head out?"

Shane nods and grabs his rifle, "Yeah."

They get up and make their way out of camp, Rick giving Lori a kiss before he goes. The rest of us all sit around in camp, waiting for the two men to return. Dale wanders off after them after awhile, wanting to see if they're okay. I place my head in my hands and close my eyes, wanting to get even a few minutes of rest. I feel myself begin to drift off when I hear the three men coming back to camp. I open my eyes and look at Shane and Rick as they walk towards our little huddle, Dale not too far behind.

"I've uh... I've been thinking about Rick's plan." Shane begins, "Now look, there have been no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that."

He looks up at Rick from across the circle, "I've known this man a long time, I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?" We all nod and everyone begins to seperate, going off and doing their own thing.

Daryl looks down at me and I stand up, leading him away from everyone to speak with him. I turn and glance over his shoulder to see if anyone is close enough to hear us before I look up at him once more, "Are we going with them, or are we leaving?" I ask, wanting to know the plan.

I glance down at the ground for a moment before I speak, "I know that our plan before was to leave... But now that things have changed, I think we should stay with the group. I've gotten to know some of these people quite well and I don't know... Maybe we'd be safer in a big group?" I say, folding my arms over my chest.

"Whatever you decide, staying or leaving? I'm with you. It's you and me Daryl, like it always has been." I say, looking into his dark blue eyes.

"The way it always will be." He states.

I nod my head, a small smile on my lips, "Always."

He nods and looks back at everyone for a short time before turning back to me, "We stay."

I smile and nod my head, "Okay."

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"Alright everybody listen up. Those of you with CV's, we're gonna be on channel forty. But let's keep the chatter down okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a CV or can't get anything at all you hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?" Shane asks, looking around our small group.

I stand by Daryl beside my truck, Merle's bike loaded into the back. We're about to head off towards the CDC, to see if we can find a way to help Jim. He's been in a significant amount of pain and I just don't think he will make it there. But we have to try, it's the least we can do for him.

"We're uh... We're not going." Morales speaks up and I turn and look at him, my eyes widened in shock.

"We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people." Miranda says.

"You're on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane says, trying to sway them into staying with us.

"We'll take the chance. I gotta do what's best for my family." Morales argues.

"You sure?" Rick asks and he nods, "We talked about it, we're sure."

"Alright," Rick nods, turning to Shane, "Shane?" He asks and he nods before kneeling down to the gun bag and they discuss which guns to give to them.

They walk over and hand him a gun, along with the bullets to go with it, "Box is half full." Shane says.

Daryl scoffs from beside me as Miranda speaks, "Thank you all. For everything."

I hobble over towards Morales as he shakes Shane and Rick's hand. I quickly hug Miranda as well as Eliza and Louis before I turn to Morales. He looks at me sadly before pulling me into a hug, "Thank you." I say as a tear slides down my cheek, the words not enough to convey how much I am thankful for everything he's done.

He pulls back and smiles at me, "Thank you."

I step back as they go and get into their car and I turn to Daryl as Shane addresses us all, "Come on! Let's move out."

Daryl and I walk over to the truck and he helps me in before he walks over to the driver's seat. He starts the car and looks over towards Morale's vehicle, "I can't believe they gave away one of our guns." He mutters, pulling out after everyone.

I sigh, "He brought us here, I mean who knows where we'd be if it weren't for him." I say, thinking of our first encounter with Morales.

"Better off." Daryl says and I know that he's thinking of Merle.

Morales' car turns the opposite of us as we make our way towards the highway to head back to Atlanta. I stretch my leg out on the seat and settle back in the seat. I hold my hand out the window and let it move with the force of the wind, watching the subtle, graceful movements. I used to do this all the time when we went on a family vacation to see Grandma and Grandpa before they died.

My hair whisks around my face at the force of the wind as we drive in silence, both of us off in our own little world. After a decent amount of driving, we begin to slow down and I look over at him, "What's going on?" I ask, looking towards the others who begin to pull up.

"I don't know." He says, parking behind them and switching the car off.

He grabs his crossbow as we get out of the car and make our way towards where everyone is gathering. I see steam rising up into the air and as we get closer I see that it's coming from the RV's engine.

"I told you we'd never get far enough on that hose. I needed the one from the cube van." Dale mutters to Rick.

"Can you jerry rig it?" Rick asks and Dale shrugs, "That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape then hose. And I'm out of duct tape."

"I see something up ahead. Gas station if we're lucky." Shane says, looking through his binoculars.

"Guys, it's Jim. It's bad! I don't think he can take anymore." Jacqui says, rushing out of the van.

"Hey Rick, you wanna hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back?" Shane asks, looking to his best friend.

"Yeah, I'll come along too. I'll back you up." T-Dog says, looking through the binoculars.

"Y'all keep your eyes open now. We'll be right back." Shane says, him and T-Dog getting into the car and heading off.

I rub my hand over my face and let out an exhausted yawn, "Come sit while we wait." Lori says, leading me over to the grass.

I nod and she helps me down, "How's it doing?" She asks, looking down at my ankle.

I wince as I move it, "It's better, probably another day or two of rest should do the trick." I say.

She nods and looks up at me, "Look, I wanted to say... I'm sorry about Merle."

I am taken aback by her words as she looks down at the ground, "To most of us, he was just some loud mouthed jerk. But to you and Daryl, he was family. What you're going through is hard and I just wanted to say, that I understand what you're going through."

I look at her and see her genuineness in her eyes and I nod, "Thanks Lori."

She takes a seat next to me and we wait for Rick to be finished and for the guys to come back. They come back not too long later and they give Dale something to fix the hose while handing out some bottles of water. I take a long sip and hand it to Lori, who takes a long gulp before handing it Carl.

We turn and look towards the RV at the sound of someone walking out. Rick steps down as the others walk forward to see what he has to say, "He says this ride is killing him, that his bones feel like glass. He wants to be left behind. It's what he says he wants."

I look down at the ground at the news, feeling sad at his words, "And he's lucid?" Carol asks.

"He seems to be, I would say yes." Rick says dishearteningly.

"Back at the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, 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." Dale says.

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

"It's not your call, either one of you." Lori says, looking between Shane and Rick.

They look at the woman for a split second before looking at each other's and nodding. They both turn and walk into the RV to get Jim. Daryl walks over to me and offers me a hand, helping me to my feet. After a moment or two, the two men come out supporting Jim. They walk up the hill and gently place him under a tree. He is sweaty and pale, looking worse for wear as we all approach him.

"Hey, another damn tree." He chuckles, looking up above him.

"Hey Jim, I mean you know it doesn't need to be this." Shane states, making a last minute attempt to change his mind.

"No, it's good. The breeze feels nice." He replies breathlessly.

"Okay." Shane says, stepping back.

Jacqui walks forward and leans down in front of him, "Just close your eyes sweetie, don't hurt." She whispers before leaning forward and placing a kiss on his cheek.

She walks back with tears down her eyes and I feel myself tear up before I take a deep breath, calming myself down. Rick walks forward and offers Jim a gun, "Jim, do you want this?"

Jim shakes his head, "No, you'll need it. I'm okay, I'm all good."

Rick nods and walks away as Dale steps forward to say goodbye, "Thanks for uh, for fighting for us." He says with a grim smile and Jim nods, "Okay."

Glenn gives a nod before turning away with the others and I walk forward towards Jim and kneel down in front of him. He looks me in the eye and I give him a weak smile as a tear falls down the side of my face, "Thank you, for saving my life that night." I whisper.

He nods as his lips twitch into a smile, "You're welcome."

I give his leg a gentle squeeze before I get to my feet and walk back to Daryl. He offers me his arm and I take it. He gives Jim a nod before we turn and make our way back to the truck. I suppress the tears, not wanting to go on a crying jag as we get back into the truck and start it up. The RV pulls out and we follow after it, leaving Jim behind to die in peace.

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We pull up out front of the CDC and witness the horror before us. The places smells disgusting, due to the hundreds of bodies littering the lawn before us. Flies are the only noise we hear as we approach the front doors. I breath through my mouth as Rick and Shane lead us forward, the sun slowly setting around us. I grip my gun in my hand and use the other to block my nose, breathing through my mouth.

"Oh god." I whisper as I hobble along.

"Come on." Daryl says, placing his hand on the small of my back and leading me through the bodies.

There are tanks out the front, presumably left over from the military. The place looks dead and I wonder if it was a mistake to come here. Soon enough, we reach the front doors. Shutters are down and it seems as if they haven't been opened in months.

"Keep it together!" Shane whispers, urging us all forward.

Shane and Rick walk forward, testing the shutters but the don't move. Shane turns and bangs on the door, "There's nobody here." T-Dog says.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick asks, looking back at him.

"Walkers!" Daryl yells from beside me.

I turn and see them stumbling our way and panic consumes me. Daryl takes one down as we keep our eyes out for more. I hear the kids begin to panic as the guys begin to argue.

"He made a call!" Dale says and Daryl argues, "It was the wrong damn call!" He yells.

"Shut up! You hear me shut up!" Shane says, pushing him back before walking back to Rick, "Rick, this is a dead end!"

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol cries out and Lori nods, "She's right. We can't be this close to the city after dark."

"Fort Benning Rick, it's still an option." Shane says and Andrea argues, "On what? No food, no fuel. It's a hundred miles."

"Forget Fort Benning, we need answers tonight now!" Lori yells.

"We'll think of something." Rick says.

Everyone begins to panic, wanting to leave when Rick calls out, "The camera, it moved."

"You imagined it." Dale argues but Rick walks forward, "It moved." He presses.

Rick and Shane begin to argue amongst themselves as I look around for walkers. They really begin to argue when Rick bangs on the door, "I know you're in there!"

"Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori screams as Shane yells at us to get to the cars and Rick yells at the camera.

Walkers begin to come towards us and my heart pounds in chest in as I look at Daryl, "What do we do?"

"You stay by me, don't leave my side." He says, stepping beside me with his crossbow aimed.

"You're killing us! You're killing us!" Rick yells as we begin to go back to the cars.

Suddenly there's a sound and a white light illuminates from behind us. I turn and look to the see that the door is opened. We all stare at it in total shock and I can't help but think, our salvation is here.