Walking Dead-The Road Less Travelled.

It's been a while, but I finally found a piece of time to myself to do some writing! If you are new to this, I've written two Stories before this-These Bonds that bind us and Dead Winter. Check them out!

Side note-although a lot of the places and situations are my own ideas, some of the events in these stories are lifted from the comics, so be warned some spoilers may occur!

Rick

Rick adjusted the rear view mirror of the car. There was nothing but empty road reflected in it, and he felt a tinge of sadness. This wasn't like leaving the prison, or when they had left the CDC. The hotel had been like home. They'd foreseen themselves living there perhaps permanently. They'd started to build lives there. Relationships had blossomed there, the children had felt safe. They'd all felt safe. And then the feeling of security had been shattered.

They'd had a memorial service for Carol before they left. With no body to bury, they'd simply made a crude cross out of branches and left a marker. Georgie had buried the ring she had retrieved from the leader of the hunters, and Sophie had wordlessly laid down a small bunch of flowers. She had hung onto Georgie's' hand throughout the short ceremony and was now in the back of the car, curled up with Carl, sleeping under a blanket. Georgie was in the passenger's seat her head leaned against the window, finally giving into her need to sleep. She had driven almost none stop for two days, arguing that until they found a good stretch of road, Rick shouldn't start experimenting with driving one handed. Now she was out for the count, her knife and gun on the dashboard, should Rick need to use them.

Rick rubbed his stump across his face. The spring sun was bright, and although it wasn't hot, the sun was shining almost directly into his eyes, making him squint. He'd only been driving for half a day, but he was already shattered. Coupled with his anxiety about where they were-and where they were going-and he was about ready to poke Georgie awake, if only for someone to talk to. Instead, he flipped down the shade, shielding his face from the glare. A photo was tucked into the strap, of a young couple. They were pretty average looking: the woman was too thin and angular, the man unshaven with wild messy hair. The man's arm was wrapped tightly around the woman's shoulder and he was kissing the top of her head. The woman leaned into the man, her hand on his chest, showcasing a simple engagement ring on her ring finger. The photo radiated life and love and happiness. One of them must have owned the car he was driving, a car that Glenn had brought back to life just outside of the hotel. Rick felt a lump come into his throat and pulled the picture off the shade. At first he had been going to screw it up, but instead, he simply threw it into the back.

Lori. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind almost as soon as it surfaced. Ever since he'd made a full recovery from losing his hand, he'd forced himself not to think about her. He needed to move on, to focus on keeping himself and Carl alive, on moving the band of survivors across the country, on stopping their numbers from falling any further. He hadn't had to talk about her with anyone, had found ways to not think about her. But he couldn't prevent what he dreamed about. For the last two nights he'd had the same dream that he was back in Atlanta looking for Morgan and Duane. He walked down the road calling for them, and then heard a door open. He'd turn, expecting to see Morgan, and there was Lori, alive, healthy, beckoning him to come to her. That was the point where he'd jerk awake, covered in a cold sweat.

The flashing of the RV's brake lights shook Rick out of his musings. He slowed to a stop, wondering what was happening.

"Dad?" Carl sat up rubbing his eyes blearily. "Dad, where are we?" Rick placed his hand on Carls shoulder.

"I don't know. I think we're perhaps having a bathroom break. Stay here until I tell you it's safe ok." Rick climbed out of the car, scanning for walkers. When he didn't see any, he stretched up and walked towards the front of the convoy, where T-Dog was. It soon became obvious why they had stopped.

"Gas!" T-Dog grinned, waving his hand at the station. Glenn, Maggie and Miao were already filling plastic containers from the pumps, whilst Andrea and Daryl tended to the vehicles. "Don't know how much will be in there, but this will keep us going for a bit." Rick nodded.

"We need all the power we can get. What's the situation inside?" he jerked his head to the shop. T-Dog shrugged.

"Not sure. We could check it out, but chances are anything useful is long gone."

"The gas is still here," Rick reasoned. "No reason that the food can't still be there too."

"I don't mean from looters. Rick, it's been around a year since the outbreak. Anything that was edible will be growing a new coat of fur by now."

"Not if it's in cans." Adele joined the conversation, her shotgun slung over her shoulder. "Remember all that soup that...that we found in the hotel?" Rick noted how she avoided saying Carols name, showing that the memory was still raw for her. "We need to stock up at every opportunity." Rick sighed.

"Ok. But we're going in without guns. With all this gas around, I really don't want to risk the station going up in flames."

"Fair enough. Where's Georgie?" Rick held his hand up to stop Adele from going any further.

"She's getting some rest. Go in with Daryl, get him to take his crossbow, and you take your sword. Just load up on what you can." Adele nodded and strode purposefully over to Daryl. Remembering his son, Rick walked back to the car. Rapping on the window, he smiled at his son and started to speak, but Carl put his fingers to his lips, and pointed at the front seat. Sophie had clambered over the car seats and was now curled up in Georgie's lap. Georgie must have woken up momentarily, as her arms were wrapped around the young girl. Rick smiled and as quietly as he could, opened the car door to allow his son to move out.

"You ok?" Carl nodded, stretching his arms up to the air.

"Where are we? Are we going to live in the gas station?" Rick shook his head.

"We're just getting some supplies. Gas and maybe some canned food. I don't know if we'll stay here." Carl nodded, biting his lip. Rick felt a flash of concern. "Everything ok son?" Carl looked down at his feet.

"Sophie spoke." Rick started. Sophie hadn't said a single word since the conformation of her mother's death at the hands of the hunters. She'd remained in a comatose state, moving, eating and drinking, but interacting very little with anyone other than Georgie.

"That's a good thing though. What did she say?" Carl looked at his father, seemingly trying to collect his thoughts.

"I think...I think she's sick dad. She said her mama's not dead." The disbelief must have shown on Ricks face as Carl rushed to explain. "I wanted her to talk to me, so I said I knew why she was so sad, because we both have dead mums and then she started to cry and she said 'My mama's not dead, she's sleeping.' And then she pointed at Georgie and said 'see she's right there, she's not dead,' and she woke her up. Georgie gave her a hug and then they went to sleep again. But Georgie's not her mama. Carol is, and Carol's dead." Carl looked at Rick in confusion. "Why did Sophie say Georgie's her mum? Why doesn't she remember Carol?"

Rick was too stunned to answer, for a moment, he couldn't even think. Collecting himself, he tried to find the words to rationally explain the turn of events to his son, but before he could, Ben's voice cut across the air.

"Rick, can you give us some help with these gas cans? We could do with loading some into your car." Rick looked up.

"Just, just a minute Ben." He looked at Carl, who had bewilderment written across his face. "I don't know. I don't know what Sophie's feeling or thinking now. I can ask Ben, he'll know better than me. Look, why don't we leave them to sleep for a while. You go play with Harry and I'll ask Ben what he thinks." Carl looked unconvinced, but walked to Daryl's truck, where Harry and Matthew were sat in the back, chatting amongst themselves. Rick looked into the front seat where the two girls were sleeping. Both looked peaceful and he hadn't the heart to wake either one of them. He made his way over to Ben.

"If you can just grab a couple and load them in your trunk Rick, we'll be made." Ben looked up and saw Ricks face clearly. "Wow...what's up?"

Rick sighed, looked back at the car and then back to Ben. "We need to talk about Sophie."

Quick note.

I read the Walking Dead comics, so a lot of the things that happen are linked to events in the comics-so Rick DOES lose his hand (but not to the hunters) and Sophie DOES repress her memories of Carol, but takes Maggie and Glenn on her parental figures. So, as previously stated, this could present spoilers.