In search of Bellwood Quarry, Carol on a Walkabout Pt1

Chapter 4: In search of Bellwood Quarry, Carol on a Walkabout Pt1

(Previously...)

After removing the vending machine out of the way, I knocked on the door to let Olivia know that I was back, and I complete my promise to her. "Olivia!! I'm back." When she opened the floor, she looked like she was crying, I hugged her and said, "what's the matter sweety? Are you okay?" She was sniffling while a small nick up came out of her. 

"I thought I would never see you again. Like my mommy and daddy, they said they wouldn't leave me alone. And they never came back." I rubbed her back in small circles, then said, "I'm here, I'm never gonna do that again. I promise, where I go, you go as well, from now on, okay?" She nodded and I hugged her again. Then a few minutes later, we packed her small things in her backpack, and we left the hospital...

Well, Olivia and I have just about rounded the corner of a gas station a few blocks away from the hospital. After raiding that place to its bare bones, we made our way to see how it would look if I met the cast at the quarry. Should I change the plot? Should I off that ass, the one called Ed, or Shane for that matter? Maybe I should if they get on my nerves when I get there.

I know it shouldn't be long since Rick has woke up. Should have I just killed the guy? Yes!! But would it change anything, I don't think it would. Now I know I said I should kill the guy if I ever met him, but just listen. Would Shane do a better job than Rick? I believe not. Shane was already starting to show that he was unstable, from the get-go. 

And his obsession with Rick's wife, Lori since before the outbreak. So, I think I'll leave things as they are, but I will change a few things from the start, like Carol losing Ed a little sooner and maybe hooking Daryl with her from the start. Maybe that will change the attitude of his brother Merle toward her and Sophia her daughter, hey I can hope too, you know.

Anyways, back to the gas station, as Olivia and I silently moved toward the gas station, we saw several walkers lurking around the windows of the station. And that only meant living beings are in there. I am not risking Olivia for no one; she has become my main priority since she chose me as her father, and I mean to keep her safe at all times, first.

So, what I did, we backtracked a few meters where we passed what looked to was an old glass cased telephone booth. I put her on top of the booth and told her to lay down on the top and to not make any noise as I checked the gas station for people or walkers. She nodded in response and told me to be careful, again the warm caring heart heated up, I love the way she cared for my well-being.

After making sure she was safe, I brought out my two .45's (favorite guns...) and readied them for action. Aiming forwards as I slowly approached the station, watching for any signs of life from the inside as I peered through the side windows of the store. Not able to see anything, I then killed the walkers that stalked the outside. 

As I approached the front glass doors, I was still unable to see anything, so I slowly tried to push them open, to no avail. So, I did the next best thing, I moved to the back and checked the back door. What? You thought I was going to kick the doors in, you did didn't you? Yes, I bet you all did. Anyways, I went to the back door and to my surprise, it was already wide open. 

Looked like whoever was in there, left in quite a hurry. The door was still swinging from side to side as I made my way inside. Didn't even stop, I walked in slowly still with my guns at the ready just in case some ass tried to jumped me. I checked the whole place and found no one, s**t, they even took the cat that was here, smart f**ker's. 

And how do I know there was a cat, the litter box in the corner by the register was full, you could smell the s**t and piss in the air. So, I went back to get Olivia from the top of the phone booth, "was anyone in there, daddy?" She asked as I pulled her off the booth. "No sweety, it was empty. Let's see what we could find in there, maybe a chocolate bar or something. What do you think?"

She looked anxious at the prospect of finding a candy bar in that place. "Yeah, let's go find me a candy bar." I shook my head at her anxiousness as she led the way. Making our way back to the station, after entering, I closed the back door as we entered. I let Olivia look around for her candy, as I pulled in all the fuel from the underground tanks, minus the dirt at the bottom of the tanks. 

When that was done, I started searching the store with Olivia. "Did you find anything, sweety?" I looked at her as she brought me a bunch of different candies in her hands. Some of them were falling through her arms as she made her way to me. "Yeah, daddy look, I found all these; can you help me? They keep falling through my hands." She looked so cute as she trying to avoid the candies from falling and losing more as she tried. 

"Sweety, you have a backpack. Why don't you put them in your pack for safe keeping. That way you don't need to keep them in your hands." Her eyes almost popped out from her head, and I shook my head as she realized I was right. As she dropped the candies and pulled off her pack and started to dump all of them in. "Thanks dad, I didn't remember you gave me one before."

After a few minutes of collecting what we found, candy bars of all sorts, 2 loafs of bread, 6 bottles of water, 6 soda pop cans, 3 beers, and a few other things that went straight to my inventory. A few gas canister containers, a large toolbox full of mechanic's tools, all types of miscellaneous things that might come in handy in the future, hey never know. 

I could use the electrical tape I found to cover spliced wired, I don't know. Anyways, after Olivia and I cleared the store, we left and searched for a car or something, so we could ride in. My daughter was looking tired, and she needed to rest, but I wasn't, so I could still drive us to the quarry. It's a good thing that I was carrying her, as she fell asleep a few minutes later. 

I thought eating all that candy would give her more energy, but I was wrong, it only made her sleepier. Well, after she fell asleep, I pulled out a small dark green Winnebago from my inventory, but I made sure I did it in an area where I couldn't be seen. It was good enough for the two of us, for now anyways. I placed her in the queen-sized bed at the back, removed her small boots, and covered her up. 

--October 2, 2010--

Afterwards, I got in the driver's seat and drove as close as I possible could to the quarry without being seen by them up there. Didn't take us that long to get to the dirt road leading to the quarry, maybe 3 or 4 hours. I stopped a mile or two away from sight and woke Olivia up from her sleep, so she could get something to eat as I laid some sandwiches on the table. 

She looked like an angel sleeping I might add, but she needed to eat. "Sweety, sweety... Time to wake up, can't sleep all day you know. Come on I have sandwiches for a late lunch is already set. Now go wash you face and hands before you eat, okay Olly?" I shook her several times to awaken her further. "Dad... daddy, it's too early to get up. Just a few more minutes... please."

How could I say no to that, "Okay, sweety. We can rest here for the night." Good thing I parked the camper in between two large trees. I made sure that everything was locked up tight, as well as covering the two windows on the side of the camper. Didn't want people peeking in or walkers snooping their noses into the camper. After everything was safe, I lay down beside Olivia and had a good night's sleep without worry.

--October 3, 2010--

I don't think I slept well; you know why? All I know is that I fell asleep and then it was daylight again. I just didn't want to walk in their camp, no... not at all. I want to keep an eye on them for now and see if they act like the people on the show or if it was something different. So, me and Olivia stayed in our camper for two more days. We had fun together, we played board games, I taught her how to read. 

I even let her drive a small car that I told her that I found deeper in the woods when I went out hunting for food. I actually did go hunting, I wanted to see if what I read in the book really worked, and the results were... some of it worked but not all of it. Like one piece said, "if you lay a thin line, be it fishing line or paracord and cover it with leaves, leaving a berry or something sweet will attract wildlife. With that you could catch anything in this manner."

I call, bulls**t, how do you spring the trap, hmm? Is there some secret way to do it? Well, I didn't know, so, I shot a few rabbits and squirrels for food. When I returned, I had a little chevrette, a 4-seater parked by the Winnebago. After walking in the camper, Olivia was surprised I went out hunting. After skinning the catch, I cooked it in a slow cooker pot and while that was cooking on its own, I took Olivia driving. She had a blast.

That's right, I taught Olivia how to drive the chevrette. It took a while but at the end of two hours of driving, she could almost drive it on her own. Her small feet barely reaching the pedals, her small hands on the steering wheel, and how her small head barely reached over the dashboard to look where she was driving, it was cute to see, and I will always remember it.

I should have took pictures, damn it. Anyways, after all that driving and learning to steer, she was hungry and tired, and so was I. Before getting Olivia out the small car, I killed a bunch of walkers that managed to approach our camp with my two favorite guns. After getting rid of the bodies, Olivia and I ate the stew that I had left cooking in the camper. It was delicious because Olivia asked for a second helping. 

Is it hard to take care of a child? I don't think so, but hey, I've only been at it for a couple of days, so I might be wrong. After Olivia took a cool shower I put her to sleep. I got rid of the car and the collected the gas from it. Before going back in, I pulled out a pair of high-powered binoculars that I found in a helicopter that was back at the hospital. I might have forgotten to mention that I stored the two helicopters that were there. 

I mean, I didn't know how to fly one, but it's great to have it down the line later. Well, anyways, back to spying on the quarry campsite. I wanted to know who was there and who was in charge of the place. If it was Shane, I would get rid of him if he wandered off on his own, maybe I should meet up with Daryl when he goes out hinting, things to consider later, I guess.

We stayed like this for another night, that was our third night, it felt relaxing, and Olivia loved the attention I gave her. She looked happier than before I met her, and I was glad. The next day, I checked on the people at the quarry and saw 6 people get in a van and were head out, maybe to get some supplies. Might be the day that they meet Rick in that tank, but it feels like it's a few days to early.

I mean that idiot still has a gunshot wound, how the hell will he travel all the way over to Atlanta with a wound like that. Anyways, not my business, I didn't see any females in that group that just left, so it might not be the day. Well, let's try to meet them out there. And so, we drove off to Atlanta, to be absolutely clear, I'm not going out there to just meet them. 

I'm going out there to collect and maybe help others with the stuff I've already collected so far. Anyways, I took the longer way around to where the tank was, maybe collect the thing while I was at it and have the walkers kill his ass if the tank wasn't there in the first place. I know there are a few military outposts in the city, I should hit them up before unsavory types help themselves to them and hurt others with the guns there. 

Well, we're back in the city, and since have looted the bases we ran into, and kept traveling through the streets, I've secretly collected 2 more helicopters, 4 M1115 Humvees' and 2 M1079 Cargo duces and a halves military vehicle, of course for later use or tear down for parts. As I made Olivia stay in the Winnebago, I made a few collections stops along the way at a few food and weapons stores. 

Of course I brought back a small bag of things for Olivia to not look to suspicious but mostly everything went into my inventory. I've collected a lot, such as clothes, food, camping equipment, like tents, pots, fire starter flints, and other things for the outdoors. But we haven't seen anyone yet, from the quarry or otherwise, maybe they went somewhere else, who knows. So, we went back to the same spot as before, we ate lunch and then took a nap.

--Back at the Quarry--

--Carol POV...--

You could hear a distant blare of a car alarm, already a startling reminder of the things that used to be, a gunshot broke the quiet peace of the camp as a few people looked toward where the sound came from. Carol wasn't sad or scared about it, but she was worried what would become of her and her daughter as the days went by. 

Since they arrived here, she'd been helping Sophia wash up and trying not to overhear the casual conversation that Shane and Lori were spilling from their mouths when things got heated in camp. Nothing much really, just a man and a woman and a child enjoying the moment together, and she was extremely jealous, it was more than she had ever had, or maybe ever would.

She had always prided herself as a good fearing woman, one of God's children, a big believer in the Lord. And it bothered her so much that she envied the way Lori and Shane acted with each other and was also angry at the infidelity that the two portrayed. Before the world ended at it was sane, Carol would never have wished for a better life and would never have prayed for the death of Ed, her husband. 

But now, death was all around them, like the cycle of life, now why was Ed still alive? Now she sees that there are better people than he, by far, she has lost to much time to acquire a better life. Carol has never asked Lori about her husband or her past, but she had the impression as her old husband was a cold man, the way she acts around Shane, she looked hopeful, just like her. 

As she compared herself to Lori, they both hadn't cared for their child. Now, Shane cared for her child, and she wondered if she could ever find a man like that, a man to care for Sophia as much as she did. Sometimes she had to look away them because she got jealous about how much Shane cared for Carl, it felt too intimate to witness the look on his face.

The people that went out today have already come back and brought a few supplies with them. Shane, who had put himself in charge walked up to them and try to intimidate them by sharing their supplies with the others. I always knew he was the leader type, but sometimes I saw once before that I hate seeing, the same thing I see in Ed's eyes before he would beat on me or yelled at Sophia.

I left the area so as to not get myself involved in their dispute. And the day went by just like that, but suddenly I noticed a glimmer, a shine from a window or something a few miles away from the camp. I wanted to tell someone, but I knew that no one would believe me. So, I did the next best thing, I sneaked away from camp with my daughter in hand to see what was there. And maybe on this walk, we would lose ourselves in the process. 

It felt deep in my gut, like I'm supposed to go, I knew it wasn't a good idea taking Sophia with me, but I wasn't going to leave her with Ed, hell no. Who cared anyway, I might just keep going after this and leave that ass to his own devices. While me and Sophia would be far away from that man. We continued our way down the dirt road, I watched my steps as I didn't want to trip on anything. 

And I made sure Sophia did the same but more quietly, she looked excited as we moved further away from Ed and the rest of the campers. We slowly navigated through the dirt and debris, and broken glass on the ground, at one point. We even had to cross a small bridge to get to where I last saw the glimmer. I was very surprised that I had this kind of motivation in me, I've never done this before, I mean the adventuring type.  

As we neared the bridge, I could see it had partially collapsed, so we had to be very careful where we stepped as we crossed it. When we finally had made it across, it took us another 10 minutes to arrive at the area where I last saw the glimmer. And to our surprise, there was a small Winnebago camper looking truck that was parked in between two large trees here.

"Wow!! Look at that mama, a camper. Do you think anyone's in there? Do you want to knock? Let me do it." I wanted to stop Sophia from knocking but I was curious as well, like who would camp out here in the middle of the forest and not be close to water or other people at least. *KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK. * Sophia stepped back into my arms and we both heard footsteps coming to the door.

We watched nervously as the door swung open, it was a little girl that opened the door, and we were somewhat glad it wasn't anyone dangerous that answered. "Yes? Can I help you?" The girl said while looking at her and Sophia. "I'm sorry to disturb you, are your parents around?" I asked as I got closer to the girl, trying not to be nervous. 

While Sophia looked happy to see another girl that was nice and not mean to her, when they saw her yell out. "DADDY!! Someone's at the door for you. My daddy's coming please wait. Excuse me, I was watching cartoons." Then she turned around to sit on the couch and watch her cartoons on the TV. Then I heard louder, deeper footsteps come to the door, and I saw the most gorgeous looking man I had ever seen.

--Jack's POV--

I had just woken from a well-needed nap, and Olivia was watching TV as I went to the bathroom to wash my face, when I heard knocking coming from the front door. *KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK. * A few seconds later, I hear Olivia call for me. "DADDY!! Someone's at the door for you. My daddy's coming please wait. Excuse me, I was watching cartoons." So, I stepped out from the bathroom with a towel still in my hands to see who was there.

It's the first time we ever had a visitor, especially one's that actually knocked. When I got to the door, I was surprised to see that it was Carol Peletier and her daughter Sophia. So, I controlled myself and asked, "Yes... How can I help you? What do you want?" I asked to see what they wanted and why they were here and not at the quarry with that bastard Ed.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but can we share your campsite. We just left a larger group and we wanted to rest. I'm sorry, where are my manners. My name is Carol Peletier, and this is my daughter Sophia." She raised her hand for me to shake, and I shook it, "My name is Jack Keller, and this is my daughter Olivia. Please to meet you. Would you too like to come in?"

I stepped back to let them in and she looked nervous to come in. "I don't mean you any harm; I know how it is out there. Olivia and I have been traveling for a few days and we've seen some very bad things. If you don't trust us to come in, you could stay outside, it's fine with me." It looked like she grabbed up all her courage and entered the camper slowly grabbing on to Sophia just in case something might happen.

"Olivia, sweety. Could you take Sophia with you to watch some TV, please. I'll stay here with her mother to talk and make dinner while I'm at it." Olivia came to the kitchen and grabbed Sophia's hand and dragged her to the couch. "Got it daddy!!" Is all I heard as she walked away. "No more candy for you little munchkin, don't be cheeky with you father, you hear me?" 

I was playing with her, but it sometimes works wonders. "NOOO, no, no. Please I won't do it again, I promise." She said, begging not to take her candies from her. I shook my head at her antics and asked Carol if she wanted to follow me and watch me cook dinner. "It's okay. You don't have to do anything here. Just sit, have a cup of coffee, and talk if you want."

She looked surprised at what I told her, "So, what brings you to our neck of the woods? Tired of being with that big group, over yonder." As I pointed at the quarry. "No... Well, something like that. I felt like I was being pulled to come if you can believe that? I just wanted so much to leave that group so badly. Away from Ed, I... I just needed to leave. It just felt like the right thing to do."

She looked like she strained to say all that. "Ohhh, your one of those. Destiny calling types, don't worry Carol. I've seen many types. I've seen the 'I'm in charge types', which end up being killed by the same group that he's trying to lead. And those, 'I deserve better types', thinking they should have everything that in under the sun and stuff. I even saw an 'God told me type', saying God commanded them to do stuff kind of thing."

As I looked at her, she didn't talk much but it looked like she enjoyed just listening to someone else talk for a change about stuff. "Are you okay, Carol? Why are you out here alone with your daughter, no less. You could have been hurt; you know. It's not safe out here, especially with all those walkers roaming around the campgrounds at night."

She shook her head and responded, "I don't even know myself. Like I said earlier, it felt right for me to leave that place and I wasn't going to leave Sophia with that man." She did a heavy sigh afterwards. "Well, you are welcome to stay as long as you like. Olivia looks happy to find a new friend. And so am I, she'd been looking lonely since I found her alone in a hospital, I was looking for supplies in, not too long ago." 

Her eyebrows almost disappeared from her forehead when I told her that. "She's not your daughter? Alone? Where?" She asked random questions about how I met Olivia. "I think it had been a week now since I rescued her. I was at the Macon Harrison memorial hospital looking for medicine to trade others for. And I found her on the fourth floor in a locked room. Her parents left her there, while they tried to kill some walkers that were chasing them." 

Carol looked at Olivia and had a sad face as I told her. "And you just decided to take her with you?" She looked upset for some reason. "Yup. I wasn't going to leave a little girl of 8 all alone and starve to death. I might have been looting the place but I'm not an animal. Now look at her." She turned to look at Olivia who was laughing and then her daughter who was as well, and back to me.

"She looks happy that I took her. And I swore to whoever's up there that I would never leave her. That I would be the best father she would ask for." She looked into my eyes and felt like I meant it. "So, what are you and Sophia gonna do now. I mean after here?" She looked confused at that. She didn't know what to do after this. Will she keep walking away or will she return to him.

--Carol POV--

"We're leaving tomorrow morning at daybreak. You're welcome to come if you'd like. I'm sure Olivia would be glad to have a friend as we travel on the road."  Jack said, but I was confused at what he asked her. Why was he asking her to go with them? Should we go with them? "Well, dinner's ready!! Just think it over, you have all night. And if you want to stay, the sofa pulls out into a bed, you're welcome to stay for the night."

I nodded my head as Sophia and Olivia came over to sit by the table. "What are we having today, daddy? I hope it's rabbit, they taste really good." I looked at the girl and saw no regret in her eyes as stared at her as she grabbed the bowl from Jack's hands. Then I saw my daughters' eyes light up as she grabbed the next bowl that was offered. I smiled at her happiness, and from that I thought, 'maybe I should accept.'

Snapping me out of my thoughts, Jack put a bowl of rabbit stew and some rice in front of me, and it smelled wonderful, and then it hit me, I was hungry as well. After taking a spoon full into my mouth, "mmhhh, this tastes sooo good. I haven't had a good stew in forever." I said as I swallowed another spoon full. "It tastes so good, daddy. You out did yourself again. That deer stew was good to, but rabbit is my favorite." 

Olivia said as I saw Jack reach over and hug her. I saw her smile a mile wide as she loved his hugs. Well, it couldn't be any worse than being with Ed, at least he cares enough about others in his group. "Are you sure that it's fine, for us to stay the night, Jack? We don't want to impose." She asked just to be sure. "It's fine Carol. There's a shower through those doors if you or Sophia want to shower." 

I looked as he pointed to a faraway door behind the couch. And then to another place, "if you want a change of clothes for Sophia, there might be some in Olivia's drawers there. Just make sure that you throw away the old clothes outside. And if you don't mind wearing men clothes, there are some of my clothes there as well. Again, throw your old clothes outside if you change."

"Olivia come on; we're going to bed." Then he started to walk to his room with Olivia, then turned before he stepped in, "if you need anything just call out, and I'll come help if I can. Goodnight Sophia... goodnight, Carol, have a good rest." He stepped into his room and closed the door as I slumped down on the sofa and looked at the door he had just closed.

I didn't know what to do. I was pretty sure that I would find nothing here. Now I have a choice to decide, shall I return to Ed or shall I go with Jack and Olivia. Whatever it's gonna be, I'll decide after a good shower. Haven't had one of those in weeks, and Sophia was happy to take one as well. She looked excited to go take a shower and happy she has a new friend.

After she took a shower and changed into some of Jack's clothes, she wasn't worried about wearing those clothes. She felt clean for the first time in a long time, and after she laid down, she and Sophia were out a few minutes later. She didn't even notice that the night passed quickly on them, but she felt rested and happy not to hear Ed's voice when she awoke well rested.

(To be Continued...)