Chapter 9: The Long Awaited Reunion

I open the back door to the Sheriff's Office and it's dark. I was expecting a messy building with trash and dirt everywhere but I get surprised. The floor is clean and it looked like house had done some housekeeping. All the doors, except one, were open but there is no clutter anywhere to be seen.

"I don't know you had such high cleaning standards, even during an outbreak" Morgan comments

I look around and everything is in it's proper place and nothing looks out of place. I think back to the hospital and remember seeing my IV bag half full and my room also being clean although the rest of the hospital went to shit. The town's population estimate is around 2000 people but last night and on the way here, we barely saw any Walkers and I doubt that they got out safe if even the military took a beating and had to run outta town with their tails between their legs, leaving behind all their equipment.

I walk into the showers to test the water temp and confirm that the hot water is still running which brings our smile to all our faces. It was enough to make me forget about my suspicions immediately because we were too happy and could all use a hot shower.

After we get out of the shower, I hand Duane some of Carl's clothes I packed to give to him and pointed him towards the dressing room. Morgan and I are drying ourselves in the locker room when I ask Morgan about Atlanta

"Atlanta sounds like a good deal. Safer anyways...people"

"That's where we were headed but thing's got crazy. Man, you wouldn't believe the panic. Streets weren't fit to be on and then my w...my wife couldn't travel with her hurt so we had to find a place to lay low. After she died, we just stayed hunkered down. I guess we just stayed in place" He says

"Plans to move on?" I ask

"Hadn't worked up to it yet" he replies

We finish dressing up and I got over to the armory to look for weapons and everything is gone. Every single gun, round and dust was cleaned out of it and there was nothing there.

"All the guns are missing. Is that normal?" Duane asks

"No, Duane. Either an officer cleared it out or someone out there has a lot of firepower" I answer, frowning

This was the main reason why I came here and it looked like someone thought the same thing and beat me to it. We do have spare weapons stashed in the patrol cars for emergencies and I can only hope that they're still there. I lead them to the back and open the car and found two handguns and a shotgun. I hand Morgan one of the handgun and keep the shotgun and the colt python, my favourite weapon.

He lets Duane pack up their car and I put my shotgun back in the car and holster my piece.

"You sure you won't come along?" I ask again

"A few more days. By then Duane will know how to shoot and I won't be so rusty" he says

I reach back inside my car and pull out a walkie talkie and test it to see if it will turn on. After I hear it working, I hand it to Morgan

"You got one battery. I'll turn mine on a few minutes every day at dawn. You get up there, that's how you'll find me" I explain

"You think ahead" He comments

"Can't afford not to, not anymore"

"Listen, they might not seem like much by themselves but in a group, riled up and hungry. Man, you watch your ass" Morgan warns

"You too" I reply

He extends his hand and reaches for a handshake. I take his hand and give it a firm grasp

"You're a good man, Rick. I hope you find your wife and son" Morgan says before turning and walking away.

I look down and see Duane standing there, looking down at the gun his father gave him and was inspecting it. I put my hand on his head and ruffle his hair

"Be seeing you Duane. Take care of your old man, alright?"

"Yes Sir" He answers

While he said our goodbye, we hear a Walker's growl get louder and louder as it moves closer to us from behind. We all turn around and the Walker had a sheriff's uniform and he looked familiar

"Leon Basset?" Morgan and Duane look at me "Didn't think much of him tbh. Careless and dumb but I can't leave him like this" I explain

"You know they'll hear the shot, right?" Morgan asks

"Well, let's not be here when they show up" I reply, pulling out my gun

"Let's go, son. Come on, get in the car" Morgan tells Duane

I walk towards him and stand in front of him. The only thing separating us is a wire fence. I wait for Morgan and Duane to get inside their cars. After I hear their doors close, I lift the gun and just barely put the barrel through the fence, right where his head was and cock back the hammer.

*BOOM*

His brain matter splatters out the new hole I made in the back of his head and he falls to the ground and stops moving. I put my gun back and run to my car before I get in, start it up and follow Morgan out of the car park. Once out, we hit the main road and go our separate ways. Morgan turns right to head back to the neighborhood and honks his horn while I turn left, going towards the highway, and start making my way to Atlanta with a siren blare to send them off.

I remember the bike keeping Walker from earlier and so first, I drive back there to put it to rest. Remembering what it looked like now, with a clear mind, It must've been the little girl that owned the bike but she met a tragic end. I arrive and she's missing from where I found her so I walk to where she might've gone which couldn't be too far considering her leg situation.

I find her two minutes later and she's crawling very slowly while her breathing is strained. I couldn't imagine what she must've looked like because her skin had decayed but she turned towards me and looked at me and I could swear she was asking me to end her misery.

"I'm sorry this happened to you" I say, with tears in my eyes.

I pull out my gun and quickly shoot a round through her head, ending her suffering but a piece of me died when I did that. If the life of a random little girl affected me this much, I couldn't imagine how Morgan must been feeling, knowing that he had to put down the love of his life. I don't even want to think about me in the same situation with either Lori or Carl.

I wouldn't know what to do and I'd be a nervous wreck. They were the only things keeping me going right now. Morgan Jones was a very strong man. Despite what he was going through, he still kept himself together for Duane's sake which was incredibly admirable.

I hit the road again and I start broadcasting my message over the emergency channels, trying to get find anyone out there who might've survived like Morgan and Duane.

"Broadcasting on emergency channel. Will be approaching Atlanta on Highway 85. Anybody reads, please respond. Hello. Hello. Can anybody hear my voice? Anybody out there? If anybody hears me, please respond"

I repeat the same message every 20 mins while driving. I hope someone picks up. I needed to find Lori and Carl but I wanted to help anyone if they needed any. After a few minutes, I get no response so I turn it off and continue driving.

A few miles down and the car grinds to a halt. I look around the wheel and the gas meter is 3 inches under empty. I turn it off and pull down the sun visor and there's a bunch of papers with the Christmas picture of Me, Carl and Lori. I grab it and put it in my pocket before I pop the trunk and grab the gas cannister and my duffel bag out the car and start walking down the road to find some gas

The Hardy house should be just a few miles down the road. I hope Grandma and Grandpa Hardy are alright. They were decent folk and a pillar of the community. I remember the young boy they adopted asking me to look after them while he went to school. Good kid.

I reach their house and it's quiet. I walk up the steps and look through the window and there's two distinct blood splatters on the wall above the couch that looked like it was made by a shotgun.

This sinking feeling comes over me and I start to feel faint. I walk slowly down the steps and walk around the building and see two makeshift crosses stuck in the ground under a tree close to each other. Knowing what they represented, I just start crying.

They always treated me like family and I had worked here a few times as a teen to get some money and they were always so nice and comforting. I sat down on the back porch and looked at the crosses, remembering the promise I made to their son and how I was going to tell them that I couldn't keep it.

I pick myself up and walk back to the front to inspect the their car and see if it was still good. I look around and find no keys. On my way inside to look for them, I hear a horse neigh from the side. I look over and see the Hardy horse, Mary, still in her pen.

She was technically a farm horse but grandma hardy treated her like family so the only time she was ridden was when Matt wanted to learn how to ride horses. They gave him responsibility for Mary and he looked after her. She looked pretty good and I was surprised she was still here.

I consider my options and realize that she would be the best option right now. I grab her reins and slowly approach. She starts panicking so I start talking to her softly.

"Easy now, easy. I'm not gonna hurt you, nothing like that. More like a proposal. Atlanta's just down the road ways, it's safe there. Food, shelter, people and other horses too, i bet. How's that sound?" I ask, gently putting the reins on her head

I get her to trust me and I start leading her back slowly towards the pen door so I can put the saddle on her but I didn't notice a figure, standing there

"You know, Sheriff. I know the world's gone to shit but to see you stealing? I never thought that day would come. We must be in the end times now, huh?"

I quickly turn around and I see a handsome, silver haired man standing there, playing with my Sheriffs Hat I left on the hitching post. He looked very familiar like a friend you hadn't seen in a while. I only knew one silver haired person and that was the owner of this horse but he would be 18 this year and there was no way on God's green earth was this man was 18 years of age

"If you take her out, Remember that Mary doesn't eat anything but carrots so don't forget" He says with a grin

I didn't want to believe it but only three people were allowed to look after Mary and knew her feeding habits and apart from me, it was grandma hardy and Matt and the man couldn't be grandma so there was only one possibility

"Matty? Is that you?" I ask, voice shaking

"The one and only. You've been asleep for a long time, my friend." He says smiling "I think it's time we catch up"