The Convoy's First Night

New chapter is live.

Settle in, take your time, and let's see what waits in the dark 🖤

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After finishing with the second-floor treasure room, Evan did not bother exploring the remaining old rooms.

"Time should be about up."

He found a worn cloth bag in one of the rooms and took some food and medical supplies out of his system inventory. When he passed the stair landing, he emptied the vending machine into the bag as well.

By the time Evan walked out of the motel carrying the heavy bag, Daryl had already been waiting in the courtyard for a while.

"You weren't worried about dropping the whole second floor on yourself?"

Daryl looked amused. A mink pelt hung around his neck, and he carried an old-fashioned lantern, several packs of cigarettes, half a bottle of strong liquor, and two complete sets of clothes.

"Don't make me sound so savage. I've always been a civilized man." Evan raised one middle finger and waved it side to side. "I just really, really like making my point."

"You'd have an easier time convincing me this whole damn apocalypse is a reality show."

Daryl did not believe a word. He glanced at Evan and turned back toward the convoy.

When the two of them returned, the others had almost finished resting. They were gathered near Rick and Shane.

"Rick was about to look for you," Lori said.

She was holding Carl's hand, and there was cautious warmth in her voice now.

'Well. Lori finally figured a few things out.'

Evan was a little surprised by the change in her attitude, but his expression did not shift. He only nodded to her.

He pulled a bar of chocolate from his pocket and handed it to Carl. The rest of the supplies he tossed to Merle.

"Found painkillers and some other medical supplies. Everything else is high-calorie food. Divide it up however makes sense."

"Everyone here?"

Evan stepped into the middle of the group and checked the others.

Once everyone answered, he clapped once.

"Good. Time's about up. We'll drive until dark before resting, so each vehicle needs a driver rotation. Make sure your rest periods don't overlap too much."

"Once it starts getting dark, Daryl and Merle fall back behind the convoy and stay close."

"We're not outside the farm anymore. Everything needs to be done carefully."

Evan repeated the point several times.

That afternoon, they set out again. Evan moved from the driver's seat to the passenger seat, and Rick took the wheel.

Their vehicle was not like the smaller cars. Aside from Evan and Rick, the others in the fire truck were Carol, Lori, and the two children. None of them were realistic driver options.

So Rick drove through the afternoon, while Evan handled the handheld radio. Once an hour, he contacted the other vehicles to confirm nothing had happened.

By the time the sky darkened, the excitement of the convoy's first day on the road began to fade.

Darkness gathered around them until visibility dropped to almost nothing.

They were in unfamiliar country now, and more than a few people stared uneasily out the windows.

Every patch of black beyond the glass seemed as if it could hide walkers. One careless moment, and something could rush from the dark, bite, and cost them dearly.

"This is Evan. Respond if you hear me. Over... static..."

His voice carried through the radios in the other vehicles.

About five seconds passed before the first reply came.

"Shane copies. Over."

"Glenn copies. Over."

"T-Dog copies. Over."

"Andrea copies. Over."

"We hear you too. Over."

The last deep voice was Daryl.

Evan had given Daryl the radio at first because he did not want Merle's rusty mouth polluting the convoy channel.

"Okay."

After the final response, Evan activated the red brute's camera system.

The screen flickered on.

Four exterior views appeared around the vehicle, each tinted green and showing the angles from the four corners. Nearly every blind spot outside was covered.

Evan studied the feed closely. After finding nothing abnormal, he told everyone they could get out.

Doors opened. The dark forest road slowly brightened under flashlights and lamps.

As the beams gathered and overlapped, they lit a wide patch around the convoy.

"No fires tonight if we can avoid it. We have plenty of ready-to-eat food. Eating and moving around should not take more than one hour. After that, everyone stays in the vehicles unless there is a reason."

"You know how I do things."

Evan repeated the rule.

Then he saw the fear and unease in several faces as they looked at the unfamiliar dark, and he added one more sentence.

"These few days will be rough. Once we reach the Prison, life gets a lot easier."

Only then did some of them look a little better.

They took the children back to their vehicles, pulled out cans and water, and sat close enough to Evan to feel safer while they ate.

Evan stood on the fire truck's step with a box of cereal in hand, eating quietly.

"You tired?"

He turned toward the voice and saw Rick approaching with Daryl, Shane, and the others behind him.

"Just thinking."

Evan shook his head.

Rick spread a map on the ground in front of him and shone a flashlight over it.

The camp's strongest fighters gathered around.

"We found this regional map while fueling up at the motel," Rick said. His eyes moved over the group, then settled on Evan. He pointed to several spots. "It's not as large as the Atlanta map, but it's more detailed."

"The motel we reached at lunch was here, about fifty-five miles from where we started."

"This afternoon, we've driven at least another seventy-five miles, so we should be somewhere around here."

Rick pointed to the lower-left portion of the map and kept his voice low.

"How far do you think we are from the Prison?"

The question was for Evan.

As soon as Rick asked it, everyone instinctively looked at him and waited.

Evan set the cereal box inside the truck, braced his hands, and jumped down. He gave the map a quick study.

"A county map," he said after a moment. "With some road planning marked on it."

The divisions were county lines and local administrative boundaries inside Georgia. That was why the map looked more detailed than the old Atlanta map.

"First, we can rule out every city and the population-heavy areas nearby."

Keeping a prison away from dense population was basic logic.

That alone removed a third of the map.

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