Later that night, as the camp quieted, I sat by the edge of the quarry sharpening my knife under the moonlight. When Daryl came to me.
"You meant what you said," he murmured.
"I don't waste words," I said without looking back.
Daryl nodded, then looked back toward the fire where his brother was laughing crudely with Ed. "Merle's gonna be a problem."
"I know," I said simply. "But I've dealt with worse."
"You ain't seen Merle pissed yet."
I turned to him. "Then he hasn't seen me serious."
Sometime past midnight, the wind shifted, bringing with it a foul stench: rot, blood, a smell I was oh so familiar with. I was on my feet before the first scream. Two figures lurched from the dark—walkers, skin rotting, eyes clouded and hungry. One had already torn into Ed's tent. Carol's muffled sobs cut through the chaos as the dead thing's snarls grew wet and loud.
I moved first, my machete in hand. The first walker's head rolled. The second turned toward me, mouth gaping. I buried my machete in its temple and kicked it free. Rick was up next, grabbing his revolver.
"Everyone up, now!"
Shane and Daryl joined them, flashlights slicing the dark. By the time the camp was awake, the bodies lay still, blood pooled beneath Ed's shredded tent. Carol knelt beside what was left of her husband, face blank, no tears, no words, only release.
Shane turned to me, breathing hard. "How the hell did they get past the lookout?"
"There was no lookout," I said coldly. "You left yourself blind."
Silence fell. Merle exhaled slowly, tension hiding behind his smirk. "Guess soldier boy called it." No one replied.
I wiped my blade on a rag and glanced at the paling horizon. "Sun's coming. We leave at first light." No one argued.
Morning came, gray and cold. Rick helped Glenn's van while Morales secured his family's few belongings. Carol and Sophia packed lightly under Lori's supervision. Even T-Dog, silent and resolute, helped fortify the convoy's line up. Shane stood apart, rifle slung, watching Lori hug Rick. Every motion twisted the knife deeper. Merle grumbled the entire time, but when Daryl started his bike, he climbed behind him without another word.
"Never thought I'd follow orders from a damn boy scout," Merle muttered.
Daryl snorted. "Ain't orders if you agree they make sense."
Merle smirks. "That's the first time I heard you agree with sense."
I climbed into the truck, Rick sat beside me. I keyed my radio. "Stay close. No detours. If you fall behind, you're on your own."
Engines rumbled to life as we rolled out. The quarry faded behind us—the smoke, the fire light, and the ghosts we left behind. Rick looked over once more, then looked forward again.
"You think they'll all make it?"
My gaze stayed on the road. "If they listen."
The convoy rolled out under the pale dawn, engines growling on the cracked highway. Up front is the box truck where I sat at the wheels, Ghost curled up by my boots and Rick in the passenger seat. Behind us was the Morales family SUV, trailing closely, followed by Glenn's van carrying Carol, Sophia, T-Dog, and Jacqui. Then Shane's car carrying Lori and Carl. Finally came the Dixon brothers on Merle's bike on the rear.
For the first hour, no one spoke. The only sounds were the tires on cracked asphalt and the occasional bark from Ghost. I drove with both hands steady on the wheel, eyes constantly flicking between side mirrors as I did countless times with other convoys. The old soldier in me never rested, not even when the road seemed clear.
Beside me, Rick watched the horizon, silent, reflective. The shock of reuniting with Lori and Carl still clung to him like fog, but beneath that was something else: gratitude.
He finally broke the silence. "If you hadn't pulled me from that hospital, I wouldn't have made it. Guess I owe you more than I can repay."
I didn't look away from the road. "You don't owe me anything, Grimes. Just keep your head clear and your trigger finger ready. That'll do."
Rick huffed a quiet laugh. "You really don't like thanks, do you?"
"Thanks don't stop walkers."
That earned a faint smile. "Fair enough."
The air settled into a quiet understanding. Not friendship yet, but the solid kind of respect that forms between men who both seen hell and decided to walk back out.
Glenn's POV
Glenn kept his eyes on Zephyr's truck taillights, hands tight on the steering wheel. Carol sat at the passenger seat, arms around Sophia, both staring out the window. Nobody said Ed's name since they left. Sophia slept with her head in her mother's lap, her small hands clutching the sleeve of Carol's shirt.
Glenn glanced at her. "Doing okay back there?"
Carol gave a faint nod, her voice barely above a whisper. "I will be."
He hesitated. "I'm… sorry about what happened."
She looked at him, eyes dry and unreadable. "Don't be. Ed made his choices a long time ago. I just never thought the world would make me free by taking him away." There was no bitterness in her tone, only quiet disbelief. Jacqui and T-Dog looked at her worryingly. Glenn didn't know what to say to that. He focused on the road again, realizing for the first time how small this convoy was and how much weight every soul in it carried.
Shane's POV
Shane's jaw was tight, hands gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles went white. Lori sat silently beside him, Carl in the back. Every mile, he watched Rick's truck ahead of him, a storm brewing behind his eyes. Rick's alive. Rick's leading again. Lori won't even look at him now. The thoughts looped endlessly, his breathing growing shallow.
Lori's voice broke the silence, soft, cautious. "You don't have to come with us, you know."
Shane's eyes flickered to her. "You want me gone that bad?"
"No," she said quickly. "I just—I don't want you to feel trapped."
"Trapped?" Shane gave a low, bitter laugh. "That's all this world is now. Traps and dead ends."
Carl stirred in the back, half asleep. Lori dropped her voice. "You told me he was dead."
Shane didn't answer.
"You knew what that meant when you told me that," she continued, her voice trembling but firm. "And I let myself believe it. That's on me. But this—" She gestured to the convoy ahead. "This can't happen again."
Shane swallowed hard, jaw tightening. "Yeah, I know." He didn't look at her again for the rest of the drive.
(To be continued...)