THE WALKING DEAD: Further Down The Highway (Final)

by Liam Fernandez.

Rick was woken by the call of a crow. A call that rattled his weary bones. His first thoughts were of those who had become his friends. Good friends. Friends who hadn't made it off the farm. Jimmy. Patricia. Both gone. Andrea too. After refocusing to where he and the rest of the group were, he lifted his heavy head to see Daryl patrolling the area. Checking the surroundings. Rick headed over to him.

'You should have woken me.' said Rick, rubbing the back of his neck.
'Looked like'ya needed the rest'. Daryl responded with his eyes still fixed on the narrow highway, then the dense forest that surrounded their makeshift camp. 'Yesterday was a long day for all of us. Even you Rick'.
Rick changed the conversation. 'Well, we're low on fuel. Food and ammo too'.
'You wanna make a run?'
'That's what I'm thinkin'.
The two of them started back to the group.

Rick saw the rest of the survivors, now awake, were dusting the forest floor off themselves. He told them of the plan he had just mentioned to Daryl, and Glen kindly offered to join their search for supplies. Without further delay, the three of them jumped in one of the cars and headed off. After half an hour of so of driving, the highway they were on ended where another crossed it, forming a capital T. At the top of that T was a long-abandoned truck-stop gas station.

Once Rick and Glen had checked their pistols and Daryl - loaded his crossbow, they tactically and methodically checked the inside of the dirt washed concrete station, like they had done on so many supply runs before. All clear. After a thorough search they were only able to scavenge three small bags of Jolly Rancher hard candy, two cans of coke and one packet of Ritz crackers. No ammo. No fuel. Rick concluded this place must have been raided previously. Maybe a few times. Daryl and Glen agreed.

It was as Rick was heading back out front to their vehicle, when he heard a the distant rumbling of metal. He halted to listen closely. As the curious noise grew louder, and drew closer, Rick realised what was approaching. Sharply turning, he scurried back inside the gas station. Bursting through the door, he saw Daryl and Glen then barked somewhat under his breath: 'GET DOWN NOW'! They both did without hesitation. 'Someone's coming?' enquired Glen. Rick and Daryl both shushed him. The noise had now reached the gas station and stopped. Peering out from behind the counter, Rick, Daryl and Glen could now see two of three men stepping out of a van which had stopped in the middle of the highway. These intimidating two, both around six and a half feet tall, were built like professional athletes. Wearing identical overcast blue jumpsuits and each had automatic rifles slung over their shoulders, and were the kind of guys you wouldn't want to look directly in the eye. Rick couldn't quite make out what they were arguing over, until one blocking the open door to the back-seat stepped away to show the third person. Everything in Rick's chest sunk.

He could now see the third person was not a comrade of the two armed men, but a prisoner of theirs. It was a young girl in fact, sitting with her knees up to her chest and her back against the far side door. Her hands, behind her back, were tied together. Her feet, shoeless and bloody, were also bound. Her long blonde hair, which once shone so brightly, was now drenched in sweat and blood, dirt and fear. The very same kind that drenched the blindfold which covered her eyes.

Seeing them arrive had made Rick uneasy, and seeing their cargo had confirmed Rick's fears, while sending an sickening ache through his veins.
'We have to help her!...Don't we?' said Glen.
Rick, Daryl and Glen all peaked over the counter again.
Now one of the man-mountains was heading towards the gas station. Rick checked his weapon, to count how many rounds he had left.
3.
He could sense Daryl's anxiety to “do something about these guys” was starting to get the better of him, so he quickly darted his eyes towards Daryl's. Rick slowly shook his head, while gesturing with his hand to his two allies as if to say: “Wait, just let them pass”.
Rick searched Daryl's face for a look of consent but found none.
Glen stole one more glance over the top of the counter, and whispered the others an update.

'He's just checking the pumps... I don't think they're gonna come inside...' whispered Glen.
Daryl broke his silence. 'We have to take them out Rick!'
'They're not gonna find us here...' Rick sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Daryl. '...and we can't afford to use up the last of our ammo if we don't have to! Besides, the sound of the shots'll draw a hoard down on us!'
'Its not about the ammo any more! Or Walkers!' Daryl exclaimed. 'These guys came from the opposite direction to us, right?'
'...What if they continue on?!'
'... Down the way WE came from?!...'

'...You know what they'll find further down that highway!'

Rick thought of his son Carl, his wife Lori, and their little one growing inside her. For a moment he pictured the events that would unfold if he wasn't there to protect them. He pictured what would happen when the two evil monsters, that were currently lurking on the highway and forecourt, came across his loved ones. He had, for a moment, let his fear get the better of him.
Rick looked down and finally noticed he was gripping his gun so tightly, that his hand was not just trembling, but shaking.

'These are all fucking drained!'

One of the behemoths had called out to the other from the forecourt.
It was now Rick's turn to glance over the counter. The brute had been rattling around in the forecourt, checking the pumps for fuel, had found none and was now heading back to the van. Rick, Daryl and Glen were all watching the giant fiend stomping back to his vehicle, and could just make out the words printed on the back of his jumpsuit.

WEST GEORGIA 
CORRECTIONAL FACILITY

Daryl and Glen both looked to Rick.
'Its now or never!' claimed Daryl. Glen said nothing.
The two convicts were now both in the van.
'RICK!' Daryl was trying not shout.
The engine started.
A moment of silence followed, which was only for a second but seemed like a lifetime.

'They're not going to find them!' Rick finally said, sweating hard and fidgeting with his weapon profusely. He couldn't stay still.
The vans engine revved. Began edging forward.

'I HAVE TO BELIEVE THEY'RE NOT GOING TO FIND THEM!'

What then materialised on Rick's face could only be described as a look of pure relief. Unbridled. Intense. The van and its two demons within, had not continued on towards the rest of the group. They had turned around, and were heading back towards the hell from where they had come. The Hell which had shaped them so horribly. Rick felt like someone had just turned his air back on, and it had never felt so good to breath.

No one said a word on the way back to the rest of the group. Rick thought of the blonde girl, bound in the back of that van. That poor girl had come to know all too well the human horrors of this world. Then he thought of Carl, Lori and their baby. Rick hoped he would never again be forced to make the kind of decision he did today. He hoped none of his friends would either. He Hoped.

But he also knew there's no telling what lengths people will go to to protect the ones they love.

There's no telling what lies further down the highway.

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References:

• Kirkman, R., Moore, T., Adlard, C. (2003-2013) The Walking Dead  [Ongoing Comic Series](multiple editions).  Berkley, USA: Image Comics.

• Kirkman, R. (writer, executive producer), Darabont, F. (writer, developer, executive producer), Dickerson, E.R. (director). (2010-2013). The Walking Dead [Serial Television Drama]. USA: AMC Studios