45. search party

MILO

     HIS EYES WERE FOCUSED ON THE FOREST surrounding them. The scraping sound of Maggie's knife against the rock they were sitting on was hurting his ears but he didn't say a word about it.

He felt scared like he had never felt scared before in his life. And not just because this was the first time he saw the world in her new state. Being inside the prison while it all went down and staying there after it happened had almost turned out to be some sort of blessing. He had yet to see the ghost towns, the piles of bodies or whatever was left of the world. But that wasn't what scared him.

What scared him was that for the first time in his life, Quinn wasn't the only person he was worried about. His sister was on his mind every second of the day. Every time he turned around he half expected her to be there, but she never was. It wasn't just her he thought about though. Was Rick still alive? Where were Carl, Judith and all the other kids? Had Michonne been able to get away? Where were Daryl, Beth, Glenn, Tyreese, Carol?

Never before in his life had he been worried about so many people and it scared him to death. He couldn't bear to lose anyone. The imagine of the Governor chopping Hershel's head off was still fresh in his mind. It kept on replaying itself, like a never ending cruel joke. The pained screams of the Greene sisters were still fresh in his mind too but everything after that was a blur.

He could vaguely recall the tank rolling in, him, Sasha and Bob running for cover behind a car, his eyes worriedly searching for his sister but never able to find her. Their home, so carefully built, had crumbled within seconds.

'Got the water to our backs,' Sasha spoke up, breaking him out of his thoughts and making him turn around to look at her. 'Decent vantage points from the bank. I'm thinking we camp here for the night.'

'That's good,' Maggie replied before standing up. 'You three should be safe here.'

'What do you mean the three of us?' Milo spoke up, crossing his arms over his chest.

'The bus got out,' Maggie said, 'Glenn got out. I'm gonna find him.'

'Maggie,' Sasha sighed. 'With any luck, the bus is gone.'

'It was heading east down the main road. If I follow that direction, I might be able to pick up its tracks.'

'Alone?' Milo asked her, then nodded at her knife. 'With just that? No way.'

'I'm outta ammo, so yeah,' Maggie told him, her face determined. 'I couldn't find Beth but I know Glenn got out and I know which way he went. I'm gonna go get him and I'm gonna come back for you. We both are.' Then she turned to walk away.

'Maggie,' Sasha called after her.

'I'm going,' she replied sharply.

'We cannot split up. Not now,' Sasha said.

'I'm going,' Maggie repeated before walking away.

Sasha turned to look at Bob and Milo for support. 'You said it,' Bob started, already beginning to walk after Maggie. 'We can't split up.'

A small smile appeared on Milo's lips as he nodded for Sasha to come along. Soon they had caught up to Maggie, who had walked out of the forest and onto the main road. His feet were already aching and he desperatly wanted some sleep but seeing Maggie's determination was, for now, good enough to keep him going.

'You should've helped me stop her,' Sasha mumbled.

'Why?' Milo asked. 'This way we got something to do.'

Sasha gave a slight shake of her head before turning to look at Bob. The man had been shot in the shoulder at the prison. Lucky for him the bullet had gone clear through, meaning they just needed to keep it clean for it to heal.

'If you're trying to make me feel sorry for you, it's not working,' Sasha said, focusing her eyes back on the road.

'Damm,' Bob said, 'means I let myself get shot up for nothing.'

'The odds of us finding him,' Sasha sighed, not even bothering to finish that sentence. 'We should be out looking for food, shelter.'

'Yeah, why's that?' Milo asked her.

'So we can live,' the woman replied.

'Then what?' Milo continued.

'What?'

Milo sighed. 'Bob, back me up here.'

The brown man grinned before adding. 'Maybe we didn't survive just to keep surviving.'

'Shit happens,' Sasha shot back. 'Not everything has to mean something.'

'No, it doesn't have to,' Bob said. 'But it can. If you make it that way and that's what it seems like we're doing. I'm down with that.'

Milo smiled when Sasha didn't seem to have an answer ready for that and he was about to tease her with it when Maggie suddenly stopped walking. He frowned at her but when he walked around the corner his eyes fell on a familiar looking bus, standing parked on the middle of the road just a few feet away.

Maggie took a shaky breath before starting to walk towards it in a fast pace. Bob called out her name but she didn't stop, making the man sigh and run after her, followed by Milo and Sasha.

The bus seemed to be completely abandoned but as they got closer Milo could hear the snarls of walkers coming from inside. The corpses threw themselves at the windows, biting into the air at the sight of fresh human meat. If Glenn had been in there, he was long gone now...

'You should go,' Maggie said before walking towards the back of the bus. She reached out and started to open the back door but Sasha took a hold of her arm.

'Maggie!' She called out, pushing her away.

'I have to know if he's in there,' Maggie replied, tears on the edge of her voice.

'Fine,' Bob said, 'but we do it together. Smart. We let 'em out one at the time.'

Sasha sighed before taking her rifle off her shoulder and putting it on the ground. 'Two of us should be at the door. In case they stack up against it.'

'I have to be here,' Maggie said, taking her knife in her hand and taking a few steps back. 'I need to see their faces.'

'I'll help you,' Milo replied, taking out his own knife and standing next to her.

Maggie offered him a grateful smile, which he returned before turning to look at the bus, trying to focus on the task at hand. Sasha reached out towards the handle making him take a deep breath and then she pulled the door open.

One walker stumbled outside, falling on the ground and as soon as it was outside, Sasha closed the door again.

Maggie plunged her knife into the walker's skull, quickly pulling it out again before turning back to nod at Sasha. This walker clearly wasn't Glenn. Milo could see that even from this distance.

Opening the door once again a woman stumbled out this time, falling flat on her face. This time Milo stepped forwards to force his knife through her eye. Pulling it back out he took a deep breath, nodding at Sasha and Bob.

Another female walker stumbled out, and Maggie was quick to put it down, breathing heavily while she did.

Sasha went to open the door again but too many walkers were piled up against it. 'I can't hold it!' She screamed, letting go of the door and taking her knife as the walkers streamed out of the bus.

Gritting his teeth he ran forwards, kicking a walker away from Bob before driving his knife through the corpse its skull. Quickly he ran up to another one that lay squirming on the ground. Raising his knife he drove it through the corpse its brain. With a grunt of effort he pulled it back out, blood painting the asphalt red.

Turning to look around he saw the others had managed to take the rest of the walkers out. Quickly scanning them he could see none of them were Glenn but he couldn't say if that made the situation worse or better.

'They got away,' Sasha said and for the first time a little shimmer of hope sounded through her voice.

'They were good people,' Bob mumbled, clearly not sharing her hope as he stared at the their former friends on the ground. 'All of them.'

Suddenly Maggie walked forwards, climbing into the bus before any of them could stop her.

'You should let me,' Sasha yelled after her but she got no response.

Milo watched as she walked passed the seats, all the way to the front of the bus where she fell back in one of the seats. He frowned when he thought she crying but upon listening to the sound it turned out to be laughing, a light laugh of pure relief. He let out a shaky breath. Glenn wasn't here, meaning he could still be alive and that thought gave him the hope he needed to get through another day.