I'm with You

Voices coming from the room woke me up. It was too early for me to be up, especially since I didn't go to sleep until two or three in the morning. I knew most of the group was like me and only had a few hours of sleep. Laying on my stomach with my head buried into the crook of my right arm, I let out a quiet groan of frustration. Apparently it wasn't quiet enough since I heard a quiet chuckle from behind me. Turning my head the other way, I saw Daryl smirking at me. I glared at him before pulling my blanket over my head. Moments passed and the ones who were talking left the living room. I was about asleep when I heard arguing coming from the kitchen. I knew it was Rick and Lori since Rick's voice was the loudest and I could clearly make it out. Giving up on sleep, I sat up.

After standing up and stretching, I realized that almost everyone else was asleep, or at least was trying to. Hershel, Carol, Lori, and Rick were the only others actually up and moving. Daryl was closest to me. He was laying on his back with his arms behind his head. I knew he was awake since moments ago he laughing at me. Carl was sound asleep on the couch. Laying near the couch was Beth, who was also asleep. Glenn and Maggie were cuddled together in the middle of the room. T-Dog was sitting against the wall watching me.

I carefully stepped over Daryl before walking around Glenn and Maggie. I whispered 'good morning.' to T-Dog as I grabbed my bag from the floor. I shoved my blanket inside before placing the bag back down. I grabbed a bag of chips before leaving the living room and going to sit on the stairs. I wasn't all that hungry, but knew I needed to eat.

Rick marched right past me and went outside. I knew it would be best to stay away from as much as I could today since he was pissed off. I had a feeling that the argument he had with Lori was about them being gone so long. I didn't really blame her for being mad. They were suppose to be back before dark, instead they came back way after dark.

Beth noticed me and walked over. I had my back against the wall and feet on the stair I was sitting on, so I moved so Beth could sit next to me. I gave her the bag of chips since I didn't want anymore.

"Did you hear their arguing?" Beth asked quietly after a few minutes of silence. I nodded my head yes. "Rick worries about her and wants us all to be somewhere safe, especially since Lori is pregnant." Well, there was something I didn't know. I just nodded my head instead of commenting on the pregnant part.

"Do you know where they went yesterday?" I asked Beth, curious to know if she had been told.

"Maggie said they went to the next town since the houses didn't have much. Rick's idea of course, but everyone went along with it." Beth was speaking quietly so nobody else could hear.

We sat in silence as she ate the bag of chips. Rick soon came back in with Hershel and Carol. He nodded his head to acknowledge us before going towards the kitchen with Carol and Hershel following. Rick came back by us moments later getting T-Dog, Daryl, Maggie and Glenn from the living room. They all went into the kitchen. I was curious to know what was going on, but knew that if Rick wanted me to know he would have told me. I guess I was also considered one of the youngest of the group.

Beth and I talked and got to know each other. Carl joined us since when he went into the kitchen, he was told to leave. Carl mostly listened to us since he was upset that he couldn't be in the kitchen.

The three of us turned our attention to everyone else as they all piled out of the kitchen and into the hallway. None of them seemed very happy.

"We're leaving." Rick told us before walking out the door. Carl followed after him.

Glenn, Maggie, Hershel, and Carol walked by us with boxes from the kitchen. The others headed into the living room. Beth and I got up to help move the stuff into the cars. I grabbed a bucket and my bag. I followed Beth since I didn't know what car I should be putting stuff in. We were told to place the buckets inside the truck, so we did.

We then had to figure out who was going with who. The back of one car had been filled just from stuff they found in the town. The other car was filled with stuff we had and everything we just took from this house. The truck had the containers of gasoline as well as the buckets and a couple of boxes. The inside had a box and my bag. It still had room for two people though.

Maggie, Glenn, Hershel and Beth were still staying together in one car. Carol would be going with T-Dog in the truck. That left me with Rick, Lori, and Carl, but they had no room. Carl was going to be sitting on Lori's lap. That left me with...

"Yer with me." Daryl motioned me to follow him. I let out a quiet sigh before following.

I got onto the back of the motorcycle and was unaware to where I should put my hands.

"Ya gonna hold on?" Daryl asked impatiently.

I wrapped my arms around his torso and we began moving. I had never been on a motorcycle and it somewhat frightened me. What bothered me the most was walkers surrounding us, because then I would be screwed.

It wasn't the warmest day, but the cool breeze felt nice against my skin. I knew that I needed to find a jacket soon. I had the side of my head resting against Daryl's back since the wind was making my eyes water. I hoped Daryl didn't mind.

We began to slow down as we headed into a town. It must have been the one they went to, since this was the first town we passed since leaving the house. We kept going until we got to a small motel on the outskirts of the town. Daryl pulled into the vacant parking lot and parked. I quickly let go of him and got off the bike. My butt was somewhat numb from sitting, but I ignored it.

"This is where we are staying?" I heard Lori ask Rick from behind me.

"We would all have our own rooms with our own bed. We haven't even seen any walkers around here." Rick told her.

"But how long will it stay like this?" Hershel joined their conversation.

"As long as we can." Rick responded before going to the motel's office.

I glanced around at the small motel. There were at least fifty rooms. I knew this was going to be one of those crappy, cheap motels. I would be amazed if the room I got had clean sheets on the bed.

Rick came back and began handing a key card to everyone who wanted a room to themselves. My room was number ten. I quickly found the door that had 10 on it before using the key to open it. I shoved the door open and nearly puked from the smell that came out. I quickly closed the door and walked away from the room. Whatever had died in there could have the room. I didn't even want to find out what it was.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked. I explained to her about the room I had.

I went back to Rick and explained the situation. He gave me another key card. This time I had room twenty-three which was away from everyone else. I found the door and unlocked it. I slowly opened the door to find it empty with no horrible smell coming from it. I smiled as I entered the room. I went to the window and pulled back the curtains before opening the shades. I could now see much better into the room. The dust that was throughout the room let me know that it hadn't been used in a long time. There were no walkers, no rotting corpse smell, and a lot of dust, I kind of liked it.

I left my room to get my bag out of the truck. Glenn and Maggie were going through boxes. They noticed me and handed me a flashlight. I thanked them before heading back to my room. I closed the door and put my bag in the chair that was in the corner of the room. I laid on top of the bed. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was much better than the floor. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.