Atlanta

The fact that i'd had a lousy night didn't seem to show that following morning.

I had offered to make a large pot of porridge to give everyone a breakfast to boost their energy. Not to mention, it gave some of them the chance to relax as they were relieved of their duties. I cheerily greeted everyone as they came out of their tents to find out the latest on what was going on. Some of them asked things like "heard anything yet?" or "are they still alive?", but I wasn't sure if it was my business exactly, so I kept my nose out of it. Danielle was one of the last ones up, and she greeted me with a yawn.

"Sleep well?" I asked her, as she planked her ass on a rock near the 'stove'.

"I've slept better. But hey, can't expect five stars when it comes to the apocalypse." I chuckled lightly, wondering what it would be like an Alaska. Not like this, I bet.

"Porridge for breakfast. That okay?" Dani nodded, yawning again.

"You got syrup?" I laughed aloud, expecting that response.

"That was the exact reason I lifted it from the flat." She gave me a toothy grin, before getting up and going for a walk. I noticed Dale wondering around, so I shouted him over.

"Michelle! How are you? You sleep alright?" I shrugged, continuing to stir the massive pot of porridge.

"I've been camping once or twice, so it really just felt like that. Albeit, a lot warmer." His eyes sparked some sort of interest, and he took a seat where Dani sat previously.

"So it's a lot warmer here than in Scotland?" I nodded.

"Considerably. Well, right now it's probably about 8 or 9- hold on, what's the comparison between degrees celsius and farenheit?" I asked Dale unsurely. He thought about it for a moment.

"Well, i'm guessing 100 farenheit is about 35 celsius? Maybe a little more." I nodded, and looked around the air.

"Well, let's just say it's probably about 40 degrees right now where I used to live." His eyes widened, and his mouth formed an 'o'.

"Even for May?"

"Mhm. A few years back we even got snow around this time." Dale laughed out a "wow" and glanced
over to his RV.

"Must be exciting, huh?" I immediately felt mixed reactions. Sure, I was excited - I was in America! And it was warm! But at the same time, it was kind of the end of the world.

"Has it's ups and downs." I admitted, and he nodded. "You okay with porridge for breakfast?" He nodded enthusiastically.

"Not had that stuff in years. You'll make it differently though, right?"

"Yup. We add salt to ours, but I didn't think that would be too much to the taste of everyone else, so I added some syrup instead." He grinned, and opened his mouth to respond, before there was a sort of crackling, almost like a radio.

"Hello base camp?"
"Can anybody out there hear me?"

Dale shot off like a gun, and began scaling the ladder to the top of the RV immediately, Shane not far behind. Everyone had flocked to the RV once more, to see what news this person would bring.

"Hello? Hello? Reception's bad on this thing. Repeat, repeat!" Dale called into the walkie talkie, and turned the volume up so everyone could hear.

"Shane? Is that you?"

I stopped, my mind swirled with confusion. Who were they talking to? How did they know Shane?

"Is that them?" Lori asked and I stared at her, dumbfounded. Was that who? Dale shh'd everyone, and turned it up to try and make something of the scrambling.

"We're- deep shit- trapped in the department store."

Everyone started to panick slightly, and Shane ran his fingers through his hair.

"He say they were trapped?" He asked, but no one replied, they were listening for the man on the radio.

"Geeks everywhere- hundreds of them- surrounded." Everyone was silent, listening in horror to the broadcast.

"T-Dog, repeat that last part. Repeat," Dale spoke into the walkie talkie, but there was no reply. Only more scrambling, and a much more tense atmosphere. Above our heads, the rainclouds crackled with quiet thunder.

"He said the department store," Lori repeated.

"I heard it too," Jim added, and the group began to murmur nervously to each other. Lori advanced toward Shane, but he shook his head.

"No way. We do not go after them, we are not going to risk the rest of the group, y'all know that."

"So we're just going to leave her there?" Amy butted in. She looked even bolder than she had when I first met her with her gun pointed at my face.

"Amy, I know that this is not easy..." His voice was quiet, and he slowly walked toward her, but Amy stood her ground.

"She volunteered to go! To help the rest of us!" She looked near tears. That, or she was ready to slap Shane.

"She knew the risks, right? She's trapped. She's gone. We just have to deal with that. There's nothing we can do." His voice lowered, but it was still loud enough for us to hear. I felt slightly taken aback by his attitude. If there were members of his group out there surrounded by...walkers, then he was just going to abandon them?

"She's my sister, you son of a bitch!" She spat in his face, and stormed off, defeated. Shane glanced at Lori and she nodded, before jogging in the direction Amy went, calling out to her. That seemed to be the end of it, as everyone disappeared away to their previous duties. I managed to catch Carol's attention before she disappeared down to the quarry.

"Carol!" She sat next to me.

"Everything alright?" I nodded, putting out the fire beneath the pot, before gesturing over in the direction of the RV.

"What was all that about?" She continued to look at me, puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"Who was that man? Who's T-Dog?" She was still confused, until it suddenly clicked. She opened her mouth to respond when Dani came bouncing over.

"Breakfast ready yet?" I gave her a soft glare and nodded toward Carol.

"Carol was just teling me something important." I turned to her again, and she continued.

"You don't know about the others, do you?" Both Dani and I felt ourselves grow uneasy.

"There are others?" Dani asked unsurely, and Carol nodded with a smile.

"Don't feel intimidated, they're no less friendly than us." She looked around the camp, before gesturing toward Miranda hanging washing on a line. "Miranda's husband, Morales." She then looked around for someone else, but couldn't find them. "Amy's sister Andrea." Amy's breakdown from earlier suddenly made much more sense, and I nodded in understanding.

"What about that T-Dog person?" Dani asked, and Carol smiled slightly.

"Not everyone here has someone. Like Jim and Dale. T-Dog, Jacqui, Glenn are away with no one awaiting them." I breathed a shaky breath, imagining what that must be like. "Then there are the Dixons." I looked up, curious.

"The Dixons?" She rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Merle is away with the group. I don't know why they let him to be perfectly honest - he's nothing but trouble. A sexist, racist, offensive, ratbag." I winced slightly, not liking the sound of this guy at all.

"Who's the other one?" I asked, and she gestured over into the woods.`

"Merle's little brother, Daryl. He's out on a hunt right now." The word hunt made me feel uneasy somehow. "Don't worry, just looking for animals for food." She explained, obviously seeing the look on my face. I nodded, still uneasy at the sound of this guy Merle.

"What about Daryl? Is he anything like Merle?" She thought about it for a minute, prepared to nod, and then to shake her head, but eventually just shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't know for sure. Daryl kind of keeps to himself." I understood, and thanked her with a warm smile.

"Well, that's breakfast ready if you want some?" She grinned, and stood up to help herself to a bowl. I walked out to the RV and called out as loud as I could that breakfast was ready. The survivors flocked from everywhere, and I once again felt that satisfaction of helping the needy. Shane gave me a thankful nod before digging into his own.