Chapter 50

- Xenon -

It was sunset by the time we arrived to our destination. We only made a single stop apart from when the RV malfunctioned, the rest of the time was spent driving. We had to take quite a few detours, but we eventually got here.

The place was full of dead bodies, the sickening stench and the buzzing of flies assaulted our senses, making quite a few of us cover their noses. Part of the ground were charred, obvious signs of explosions that happened in the area. I guess they did use the tank's weapons against walkers, since there was one stationed here. Maybe some hand-grenades as well.

I had been monitoring my map the whole time, and my attention was glued to it now. I could only see a handful of walkers, that meant almost all the "dead bodies" were truly "dead". The scene of Hershel passing by such thing just when it came back to life was still fresh in my mind, I had no intention of letting that happen to me.

It was as clear as day that this place got overrun, no matter the measures the military took as their last line of defense. But this situation also worked to my advantage, as my mind had just started making a plan that had only been an idea at first. But now, I could see it happening and paying off.

We slowly walked towards our destination, paranoid and tense around the disgusting scene all around us.

"Mom..." Carl was going to whine about one thing or another, but Lori told him "It's gonna be alright, we're almost there.". I could tell Sophia too had plenty to say, but she was too shocked to utter a single word. Having kids in this kind of setting without any form of stability is the worst.

I paid the rest no mind, as I looked around me, admiring what this place truly represented. While yes, this is basically a graveyard, it wasn't any old graveyard... No, it had the dead bodies of soldiers that defended the CDC against the walkers. Why is that relevant? Because soldiers had all kinds of weapons with them, weapons that were now up for the taking. All I had to do was grab them, and they would be ours.

Obviously, they wouldn't even consider it, and by the time they come out, the CDC will have a few minutes left before it blows to high heaven. And that's where my plan comes to play. I had no intention of going to the CDC, I will be staying here outside, where I had enough food, weapons and my vehicle to get away when things go sideways.

We arrived right in front of the building, but it had metal curtains covering the whole floor, with no way to get in. Shane tried to forcefully open them, but had no luck in doing so.

"There's nobody here." Theodore announced.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick said anxiously.

"Walkers!" Sophia started crying as soon as she heard the word.

"I got it." I said, taking out one of my knives to do the job.

"You've led us to a graveyard!" Daryl said angrily, ready to fight if they dared waste any more of his time, as he charged towards Rick.

"Shut up!" Shane retorted equally angry. "You just shut up, you hear me? Shut up! he made a call, it was the wrong call! Rick, this is a dead. Do you hear me? No blame."

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol asked fearfully, the surroundings were not exactly a friendly environment.

"She's right, we can't be here this close to the city after dark." Lori said nervously.

"Rick, Fort Benning is still an option, we gotta go."

"Let's move out, I ain't waiting another goddamn second in here!" Daryl announced as he started going back towards our cars, and the rest followed.

"The camera!" Rick exclaimed. "It moved!"

"You imagined it." Dale shook his head.

"It moved!" Rick insisted.

"Rick, it's an automated device. It's gears, okay, they're just winding down, now come on! Man listen to me, look around this place, it's dead! You need to let it go, Rick!" Rick paid him no mind, and started hitting the door.

"I know you're in there! I know you can hear me. Please, we're desperate." He pleaded. "We have nowhere else to go, please! If you don't let us in, you're killing us!" I just watched the drama unfold, as Shane got enough of it and started dragging him away.

"You're killing us! You're killing us!" Rick was hysterical by now.

That's when it happened. The door suddenly opened, the light in contrast to the dark and gloomy world around it promised salvation, inviting us enticingly in. That was my cue to act.

"Dale." I shook his shoulder, bringing him out of his shock. "Give me the keys to the RV please."

"Let's go!"

"Dale!"

"What?" He finally answered. He probably didn't hear what I said before.

"Can you lend me the keys to the RV, please? I won't go in, I'll be staying there for the next couple of days."

"ARE YOU MAD? WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY!" Dale cried out.

"I am not. I'm staying either way, just do me this favor."

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR SHIT! Get in, now!" Shane snarled, but I ignored him.

"Dale?" I reminded him calmly. "I promise I won't drive it or anything." He was hesitant at first, but eventually relented.

"You're mad..." Dale gave me the keys, shaking his head as he followed the rest in. I watched as they got in. Amy looking at me hesitantly. In fact, when our eyes met, she stopped, seemingly resolving herself to something, but was dragged away by her sister Andrea, who clearly disapproved of my decision.

'Don't worry, you'll be thanking me tomorrow...' I shook my head, and went back to my van. I had no time to lose, the noise may attract a big horde of walkers for all I knew, I need somewhere to stay. I wanted to stay in this area, because it had everything I wanted in it.

I took all the food I would consume for the next twenty-four hours, and put it in my inventory and dropped it in the RV. I made sure it was secured, the doors could be locked, windows covered, and everything. With my map, I could make sure I made no noise if walkers were nearby.

Now that I had a place to sleep, it was time to get to work. I could see a few walkers coming this way, but they were only around five of them. Negligible, really. Albeit my visibility was severely hindered because it was nighttime, I had my flashlight to spot things I would need, especially since I memorized a lot of them on the map as we were walking earlier. The walkers only become a problem when they're too close.

If my estimations are correct, and the show is to be trusted, the CDC runs out of power tomorrow before sunset, so it didn't give me enough time to do everything I truly wanted, which means I had to work overnight.