Less than an hour later.
Lee and the rest still had not left and remained stuck in the middle of the road.
"You still haven't found what's wrong with it? I don't think we'd make it before 2pm if we remain stuck here." Carley got down from the truck and went to check on Lee. She saw him still fiddling around the engine with a frustrated look on his face.
"I've already tried and checked everything, but none's working. Should we just abandon this truck and resume on foot instead?" Lee sighed with frustration and offered a suggestion that he had been thinking for a while now.
Christa was listening to them and popped her head out the window. "We're not that far from Townsend now. Let's just walk. It's not like walking is anything new to us. Let's just hope we don't encounter any trouble along the way."
"What do you think?" Lee turned to look at Omid who just came over.
"I don't mind walking as long as we can get Crista into that safe place that you told us about. I don't want her to give birth out here you know." Omid lost his humorous tone and became serious for a moment.
Lee smiled slightly at his words. "I hope so too. Now, just take anything necessary like food or for your monthly needs and leave the rest here. Let's not carry anything heavy, alright?"
It didn't take long for the group since most of the important things they need are all in the backpacks that they each carry.
"This reminds me of the time we were escaping Savannah." Omid said with a chuckle, he had one hand on a bow and an arrow on the other.
Crista glared at her boyfriend. "Yeah, but we were running for our lives back, didn't we?"
Snap!
Just when they were peacefully trekking down the road, the loud sound of something snapping reached their ears and everyone immediately stopped in their tracks. All of them turned towards the woods to their right.
Carley quickly raised her handgun and aimed it towards the direction of where the sound came from. Omid knocked an arrow on his bow and aimed the same while Lee gripped the bat tightly with his two hands as Christa hid behind him with a small hammer in her hand.
"Is it those things again?" Carley asked in a grim tone.
Omid's eyes scanned the area where the sound came from. "I doubt it. Those things never stop moving when they see prey. It's either another survivor or a predator behind it, or maybe just a branch falling."
"Come on, let's keep going. It's probably just a branch." Knowing they were already running late, Lee urged them. Even though Carley wanted to check it out to make sure, she still listened and followed after them. Though her gaze remained towards that direction for a while before turning her attention ahead of her.
A pair of eyes watched them as they went before whoever was behind those eyes followed after them. What's weird is that this person is barely making a sound even when it was stepping foot on a ground full of dead leaves and branches. This person maintained a safe distance behind Lee's group. It placed one of its hands on a tree while passing by, and the first thing anyone would immediately notice would be its hand that curled at the knuckles and those inch long nails that's grotesquely sharp.
Whatever this thing is, it is certainly dangerous and not human. Now, it's just waiting for an opportunity to strike them.
The group continued on foot, but it seems Carley is still spooked from what happened earlier as she keeps looking behind them. "Tell me you guys feel that, too. I keep having this feeling that something or someone is following us through the woods."
Omid, who was walking beside her, turned his head towards her and lightly asked. "Really? I can't feel anything. Don't tell me those bastards have followed us all the way here?"
"They would have already appeared if it were them, but I'm sure there's something out there following us. My guts are rarely wrong, it's what kept me alive when I was a war correspondent during the Iraq War." Carley felt uncomfortable while rubbing the back of her neck.
Lee, who has been quietly listening to the two, lightly told them. "I also felt that there's something wrong shortly after the truck broke down. Just don't make it obvious that we've already noticed it. I think whoever it is still has considerations if it wants to attack us. Let's speed up instead since we're already running late. I just hope they're still there."
Christa looked at her watch and turned towards him. "Then what do we do if they've already left? We only have less than 15 mins. before 2pm. I don't think that's enough time to reach Townsend."
"I talked to Andrea, his girlfriend, before I left. I asked for her help in case we don't turn up before the promised time. She did not make any promises though, but that she'd at least try to convince Michael to push it to 3 in case we can't make it before 2. We can only hope he'll listen." Lee's trying not to show it, but he's feeling anxious inside and still feels annoyed that the truck just had to break down on them.
"We can only hope then. I'm just tired of running and going from place to place with danger constantly hovering above our heads." Carley said while gripping her handgun tightly.
Back at the warehouse.
"I still think that we should look for them. Their place is not that far from here."
The two were on the bed of the motorhome, when Andrea suddenly said those words to Michael.
He just chuckled and responded. "You never get tired, do you? Just what kind of deal did Lee make with you before he left that you've been pestering me to go after him?"
Andrea smiled lightly and softly chuckled. "I just think it'd be a shame to lose someone like Lee. In case you've never noticed, aside from our original group. Lee, Rosita and that couple we rescued from their foster home are the only ones who had kids with them. Most of the survivors who were rescued so far never had any children accompanying them. I'm not saying they're bad, but compassion and care is rare these days. I heard they even have a pregnant woman with them and I think that's a really good thing. We can't only have cold and hardened survivors in the community, Michael. We need people like Lee to stabilize the interpersonal dynamics within the community. I don't want the community to self-destruct just because everyone has become too pragmatic."
Michael raised an eyebrow while listening to her. "Huh, I never thought about that. It seems we have indeed ignored that problem."
He slowly got convinced since he also realized the impact it will have on the community in the future.
'We can't afford an Alexandria Safe Zone scenario that would disrupt things.'
Michael remembered that episode where Rick and his group joined the Alexandria Safe Zone and broke the social dynamics of that place with their appearance. Their group, especially Rick, slowly brought disorder within because he wanted the people there to take on things more realistically.
"Alright, you've convinced me. Let's set out then before we're too late"
"Great! Awesome! Thank you for listening babe."
Andrea smiled softly at Michael, who said nothing and just kissed her. They quickly got off the bed and informed Rosita on the change of plans.