Chapter 4
|ELIA|
|October 24th, 2010|
THEY WANDERED OVER to the small and barely lit fire in the main firepit. Night wall falling sat and it was never worth the risk of walkers stumbling upon them because they had the fire any brighter than it already was.
Sighing softly, she took a seat between her husband and his brother. The children didn't leave the Haven after dark, so their dinner was brought to them with the expectation that they would wash, dry, and put away their own dishes before they went to bed.
"Thank you, Carol." Elia said adding a few pieces of fish to her plate before passing the pan on. They listened to the conversations, but they didn't have any interest in small talk, so they rarely spoke up.
"Do you think this will ever be over?" Amy asked everyone, gazing off into the distance.
"No," Elia stated, speaking for the first time as she stared at the fire. "Not in our lifetime. The world will never be the same."
"That's a depressing thought." Rick stated with a thoughtful look.
"I think it's time for the kids to go to bed," Carol said, holding out her hand for her daughter to take.
"Five more minutes please!" Sophia begged. "It's warmer over here."
Winter was looming closer, but the days were hot enough to forget the chill that came with the nights. The nights are getting progressively colder and that was more obvious tonight than it had been the night before.
"Five more minutes," Carol agreed, feeling the chill in the slight breeze.
"Where are you going?" Andrea asked as Amy stood up, concern written across her features.
"I need to pee." Amy grumbled as she turned. "Geeze, try to be discrete around here."
Elia felt a shiver down her spine as the temporary wards alerted her to the alive yet dead that crossed them.
She glanced at her husband and then at her brother, pulling her bow off her back and notching an arrow. While others were surprised, Daryl and Merle followed suit with their weapons of choice.
The three stood together and surveyed the darkness around them. "Get the kids into the RV, now." Elia whispered sharply towards the women who didn't know how to defend themselves.
Carol moved immediately with Miranda a second behind her and Lori a few moments before them both. The children were herded into the old RV with their mothers and the other woman.
They got inside just as the first walker burst through the tree line with dozens swarming with it. As soon as the horde was in sight, the others jumped into action.
Elia and Daryl fired a dozen arrows in quick succession, Merle fired an entire clip, and the rest of the group gathered their weapons or makeshift weapons.
When they ran out of arrows, they slung their bows over their shoulders and pulled out their guns. Merle has changed his magazine three times already.
While each of the brothers and Elia has taken out at least a dozen on their own, quite a few people were dead, and more were dying. Some were making their way up to a few kills even with makeshift weapons. Those with guns were quickly approaching ten to twelve kills.
Merle snatched Jim to the side as a walker descended on him and the man slammed the shovel into its head with the strength from fear and anger.
Everyone stood warily in silence after there were no new walkers approaching the circle they made around the fire. It was tense, no one letting their guard down in fear of more striking when they did.
"How long until another horde passed by?" Rick asked as everyone slowly made their way towards the old RV. The door swung open, and everyone was allowed in to comfort the scared women and children.
"Not long," Shane answered with a heaving breath. "It's not safe here anymore."
"Out group is down to half its original numbers." Dale said as he climbed in from the roof where he'd been taking shots at any walker that got too close.
"We obviously can't stay here," Rick said with his arms wrapped around his wife, son, and brother in all but blood.
"Obviously," Elia stated wryly, gazing into the darkness out the window. She could make out the dozens of bodies spread out, some of whom she had seen around camp, some of whom were just starting to decay, and some of whom had weeks maybe more to decay.
"We should go to the CDC." Rick declared firmly.
Elia raised an eyebrow at him before her eyes met those of her husband.
"Let's start smaller." Elia told him seeing the nervous expressions that crossed everyone's faces at the sudden declaration. No one was ready to leave, not right now, and not tomorrow.
"What do you suggest?" Rick asked looking at the woman who obviously knew what she was doing. She had saved more than a few lives tonight and obvious had her shit together.
"We rest tonight, as much as we can. We prepare to leave tomorrow and actually leave the day after." Elia stated softly looking over the group. "We need to check everyone for bites and wounds tonight. We need to make sure no one rises as walkers tomorrow and have some semblance of a funeral."
Rick could see that everyone was liking that idea as much as he was. This is smaller, he realized. Doing everything step by step so everyone knew the plan and its details. "What else?" He asked her and she sighed.
"We also need to inventory what we have and figure out what we need. We need to figure out which vehicles we can and are taking as well as pack with some organization."
"We could try for Fort Benning." Shane offered. "Maybe it's still running."
"It's against protocol to let civilians in during crisis." Merle grunted and rolled his eyes when everyone looked at him. "I was a Marine."
"We make a play for the CDC, if that doesn't work, we can follow the highway until we find somewhere worth fortifying." Elia stated before looking at her family. "We've gotta get to the girls before they get any more worried."
"Alright, it's gonna be a tight squeeze, but everyone should try to get some rest." Rick said tiredly.
"The kids can take my room." Dale offered sadly as he gazed out the window.
"We've got a spare bed and a couch." Elia said softly getting everyone's attention once more. "Miranda, Diago, you and your kids are welcome to stay with us for the night."
"Thank you." Miranda said, not loosening her hold on her children. "That's very kind of you."
Merle grumbled and pulled out his keys. "There's eight bunks in the trailer." He said holding out the key to the new trailer.
No one was in the mood to question what else they'd gotten during that time. "The bunks are full-sized. Rick and Lori. Carl and Louis. Miranda and Diago. Eliza and Sophia. Carol and Jacqui. Amy and Andrea." Elia said getting nods from the group. "Shane and T-Dog can each take a bunk. Jim can stay in the RV with Dale and Glenn can take the spare bed in ours."
The group was silently grateful for her caring nature and her skill. Everyone went to their assigned sleeping arrangements. Everyone slept in a bed that night, but no one slept well or for long.