"How far are we? My soles hurt so bad."
Crista complained. She limped as she walked while Omid looked after her at the side.
"Hang in there. We're almost there. We just need to go over that hill and we'll see the town." Lee said while panting slightly.
Lee and his group resumed walking, and they only advanced a couple of steps forward when they suddenly heard the soft rumbling sound of a car engine heading into their direction and it was coming from a small side road just ahead of them.
"Survivors. Go hide, quick!"
They quickly bolted towards the woods and hid behind the thick brushes. A short while later, a familiar vehicle emerged from the side road and slowly rode past them.
When Lee saw the vehicle, his eyes widened in surprise, especially when he saw the face behind the wheel!
Swoost! Rustle!
"What are you doing?!" Omid and Christa were surprised by Lee's sudden action while Carley yelled when she saw what he was trying to do and tried to stop him.
"Hey! Stop! We're over here!"
Lee had suddenly bolted out of hiding and started shouting while waving his hands in the air. His friends on the other hand, were shocked and could only watch him in disbelief.
The motorhome continued advancing ahead and just when Lee thought they didn't notice him. The car suddenly came to a quick halt before it slowly started backing up a short while later.
"Yes!" Lee's expression brightened up with relief and turned to his friends. "Come on, it's them!"
Carley and the other two exchanged glances before slowly walking out of hiding with an unsure gait in their steps.
"Is it really them? You're not mistaken, right?" Carley asked Lee with doubt. It's not like she does not believe him, but she suddenly just feels that these people that Lee met seem unreliable.
'Who even in their right mind would drive such a large vehicle that requires a lot of maintenance? Is it also custom made? It's my first time seeing this kind of RV.' She was confused and slightly annoyed, but at the same time, also curious about these new friends of Lee.
Screech!
The vehicle stopped before them and the door at the side quickly opened up. The small steps didn't even finish deploying when a small figure suddenly jumped out of the door while shouting excitedly.
"Lee!"
Lee quickly stepped forward and caught Clementine into his arms.
"Careful now."
"I'm glad that all of you are fine! I thought I lost you guys too when you were running late." Clementine beamed at them, her voice slowly growing softer at the end of her words.
"It wasn't like that, the truck just broke down on us." Omid laughed and explained.
Rosita came down shortly after the little girl and Andrea soon followed, while Michael came down from the driver's side.
"It's good to see that you're fine. Is this all of you?" Michael asked while walking over.
Lee approached him still carrying Clementine and offered his hand for a handshake. "Thank you."
It was just two simple words, but Michael saw more than that while looking at the man's eyes and it made him chuckle.
"It wasn't me. You should be thanking Andrea instead since she's the one who insisted in looking for you and your friends"
Lee smiled and turned around to look at Andrea. He gave her a nod with a small smile on his face.
"Leave the introductions for later. Get in since we still have to stop by at the warehouse to pick up the trucks we left behind." Michael immediately commanded and headed back inside.
"Come on, everyone head in. We can continue the chat inside." Andrea gestured for everyone to board the vehicle and when everyone got in, she followed behind them. Rosita was left alone outside. She didn't immediately get in and instead looked around her before getting inside a short moment later.
Bam!
As the door closed behind her, the motorhome started backing up towards the verge before it returned to whence it came from.
Carley and the Omid-Christa couple quietly sat on the small sofa while looking around in curiosity.
"This car is nice, but wouldn't driving this thing burn through all of your fuel reserves?" Omid turned to look at Rosita and asked.
"It's fine. This thing won't be running again once we're back to base. Michael wants to use this motorhome as his own room." While cleaning her gun, Rosita slightly turned her head up to look at him and explained.
"That's very luxurious of him." Carley couldn't help but comment, then she continued. "Wouldn't the others complain if they see him living in such a comfortable place such as this?"
Knowing human nature, she thought their people would certainly complain about the vast difference of how they are living. She had seen it first hand after all, and multiple times at that.
Rosita just chuckled. "The question you should be asking is, who'd dare complain to him? That man is pretty much the de facto leader of our group. He had done a lot for the community. I doubt there would be anyone who'd have the courage to go and complain to him. Well, people talking behind his back is inevitable though."
"But what are you guys doing out here? You're a long way from home." Carley heard from Lee that these people are from Atlanta.
Rosita just shrugged her shoulders and continued to clean her gun. "It was a rescue mission at first, and then a lot of things happened along the way that eventually led us towards this direction. On that note, did you guys see that large herd of walkers heading west from this direction?"
"We did. It was what forced us to flee south." Lee had just been quietly listening when he suddenly jumped into the conversation.
"We've encountered a lot of herds, but we've never seen anything like that. It was like death itself had come to Earth. I doubt anyone would survive encountering something like that." Omid said. He grabbed his other hand that was trembling and caressed it. It still shakes him whenever he remembers that day where they barely managed to escape from it.
"You should see Florida. I think that place has become a death trap. We never found any road into Florida for miles. It was so big that you couldn't even see the end of it. I estimated that it'd be at least around 30 to 50 thousand walkers since it even stretched for miles. So unless the people over there travel by boat, they wouldn't be able to leave the state."
Christa raised an eyebrow. "Its that dangerous? I wonder if we can still return to California. Our families are still there."
"I would have suggested taking a large boat or yacht, but I doubt the Panama Canal is still operational and there's also the elements you need to worry about. You could also take a jet if you know how to fly one, the problem would be fuel and a safe place to land. So the only plausible option you have right now is taking the long road back to California. Which is also dangerous, but on the bright side, you can easily siphon fuel from the abandoned vehicles along the way and also gather food." Rosita suggested a list of options they can take, but every single option posed serious dangers and difficulties they can't possibly imagine.
"Haha, I think we're gonna stick with staying in Georgia for now." Omid tried to laugh it off and mask the obvious sadness in his eyes. The same goes for Christa, she already knew that it was hopeless going back, but she thought that meeting this group was their chance, only to once again hear the chilling truth that they can never go back. Though Rosita never specifically said that they can't go back.
Christa gritted her teeth in frustration while Omid softly caressed her back with a look of resignation on his face.
Looking at the two, Rosita really wanted to tell them that they should try asking Michael for help. She lightly shook her head and immediately distinguished that thought.
'He has no obligation to help them. Michael has no reason to lend them any help. Besides, their family is either gone or living worse than us. It's better to keep on living for the sake of those who left us than cling onto a hopeless endeavor.'
"Look! It's snowing." Clementine said and pointed at the window. Everyone turned to look and witnessed the first fall of the snow this winter season.
At the driver's cabin.
Michael and Andrea were the first to witness the snow drifting down from the skies.
"I heard it rarely snows around these parts of Atlanta. I think this is going to be a problem." Andrea said in a grim tone.
Michael was silent. He wasn't happy with the appearance of the snow. Instead, it brought a killing chill inside him while looking outside.
'For a couple of months. Earth would no longer be our friend, but another thing trying to swallow us whole.'
He had immediately realized that a lot of survivors would have a hard time during these winter months because not only would they have to deal with walkers, they also need to worry about the cold and the strain it would put on their resources.