Chapter 46 The Convoy’s First Night

After clearing the treasure room on the motel’s second floor, Magnus Vane decided there was no reason to waste more time checking every remaining room. The system-generated loot had already made the stop far more profitable than expected, and the convoy’s thirty-minute break was almost over.

He found a battered duffel bag in one of the rooms, transferred several ordinary medical supplies and snacks from his system inventory into it, then stopped at the vending machine on his way downstairs and emptied everything still inside. By the time he stepped out into the motel courtyard, the bag was heavy enough to pull against one shoulder.

Daryl was already waiting near the parking lot, looking almost absurdly successful in his own way. A strip of small-game fur hung over one shoulder, while he carried an old kerosene lantern, several packs of cigarettes, half a bottle of strong liquor, and two complete changes of clothes.

His eyes moved from Magnus’s loaded bag to the damaged motel behind him, and a faint smirk appeared. “You sure that second floor’s still gonna be standing when we leave?”

Magnus gave him the middle finger. “I’m a civilized man. I just happen to believe every problem deserves a very thorough discussion.” Daryl looked back at the cracked walls and damaged rooms upstairs, then gave Magnus a flat stare.

“Yeah, and if you told me the whole damn apocalypse was a TV show, that’d probably sound more believable.” He didn’t bother waiting for a response before turning toward the convoy.

When they returned, everyone else had already finished eating and resting and was gathered near Rick and Shane. Lori approached with Carl beside her, her attitude toward Magnus noticeably warmer than it had been before the seven-day training trip. Magnus noticed the change but didn’t comment on it;

he simply pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket, handed it to Carl, then tossed the rest of the snacks toward Merle. “There are painkillers and a few other medical supplies in the bag. Everything else is mostly high-calorie food, so divide it however you think makes sense.”

Magnus counted heads before clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention. “All right, break’s over. From this afternoon until dark, every vehicle needs a driving rotation, and try not to schedule the same people at the same time in case something goes wrong.”

He looked toward the Dixon brothers before continuing. “Once it gets dark, Daryl and Merle drop back behind the convoy instead of scouting ahead. Out here isn’t Hershel’s farm, so nobody gets careless just because the road looks empty.”

They set out again that afternoon, but Magnus gave up the driver’s seat and moved to the passenger side while Rick took over the fire engine. Their vehicle had fewer possible drivers than the others because Lori, Carol, Carl, and Sophia were all riding with them, leaving Magnus and Rick as the only practical choices.

Magnus kept the handheld radio and checked in with every vehicle roughly once an hour, making sure nobody had mechanical trouble, lost sight of the convoy, or noticed movement along the roadside. The routine continued until the sky slowly darkened and the easy confidence of daytime travel began fading with the light.

Night outside the windows was almost absolute. Trees crowded both sides of the unfamiliar road, and beyond the headlights there was nothing but blackness, leaving several people visibly tense inside their vehicles.

Every shadow looked like it might conceal a walker, and every movement outside could have been something approaching from the woods. Magnus picked up the radio and pressed the transmit button. “Magnus here. Sound off if you copy. Over.”

Static crackled for several seconds before the responses came one after another. “Shane copies. Over.” Glenn followed, then T-Dog, then Andrea, each confirming their vehicle was still in formation. Finally Daryl’s deeper voice came through from the rear. Magnus had deliberately given the Dixon brothers’ radio to Daryl because letting Merle dominate the convoy channel for hours sounded like a punishment nobody deserved.

“Copy all,” Magnus replied before setting the handheld aside. He then activated the fire engine’s external camera system, and the dashboard display flickered to life with four green-tinted feeds covering the vehicle’s corners and blind spots.

Magnus leaned closer and carefully checked the road shoulder, tree line, undercarriage area, and darkness behind them before deciding the immediate area was clear. Only then did he radio the others and tell them they could step outside.

Doors opened throughout the convoy, and the darkness gradually broke apart under flashlights, lanterns, and vehicle lights. As the beams overlapped, a broad patch of roadside became visible, giving everyone enough space to stretch, eat, and inspect the vehicles without wandering blindly into the woods. Magnus climbed onto the fire engine’s running board and spoke loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear. “No campfires tonight. We have plenty of ready-to-eat food, and I don’t want smoke or light carrying farther than necessary.”

He pointed toward the vehicles. “One hour maximum for eating, checking gear, or stretching your legs. The rest of the time, stay inside unless you’re on watch or handling something important.” Seeing the uneasiness on several faces,

Magnus softened his tone slightly. “It’ll be rough for a few days, but once we reach the prison, we’ll have walls, fences, and an actual place to sleep without staring into the woods every five minutes.”

That last sentence helped more than anything else. Parents gathered their children and began pulling canned food, water, and packaged snacks from the vehicles, while several people deliberately sat near the fire engine rather than spreading out along the road. Magnus noticed the pattern immediately; without anyone saying it aloud, people simply felt safer closer to him. He stood on the running board with a box of cereal in one hand, eating quietly while watching the darkness beyond the lights.

“You tired?”

Magnus turned at Rick’s voice and saw him approaching with Daryl, Shane, and several of the group’s more experienced fighters. “Just thinking,” Magnus replied, shaking his head. Rick crouched near the roadside and spread a folded map across the pavement, while Daryl held a flashlight over it. Within moments, the main combat members of the convoy had gathered around.

“We found this when we stopped for fuel at the motel earlier,” Rick explained. “It covers less area than the Atlanta map, but it’s a lot more detailed.” He tapped one point on the paper. “The motel was around here, roughly fifty-five miles from where we started, and after that we drove another seventy or seventy-five miles this afternoon.” His finger moved farther southwest. “So I figure we’re somewhere around here now.”

Rick looked up at Magnus. “How much farther do you think the prison is?”

Everyone else followed his gaze.

Magnus set the cereal box inside the fire engine, jumped down, and crouched beside the map. After studying it for several seconds, he recognized it for what it was: a detailed Georgia regional road map showing counties, local highways, smaller roads, and population centers rather than a simple Atlanta city map. “This helps,” he said, tracing several areas with one finger. “First thing we do is eliminate major cities and densely populated zones.”

The prison they were searching for had been isolated enough in the original timeline that Rick’s group could approach it through heavy woodland rather than driving through a developed urban area.

That meant looking near Atlanta, Macon, or any other heavily populated section made little sense. Magnus began crossing entire sections of the map off mentally, using population density, major road access, surrounding forest, and distance from towns as basic filters. With that single rule, nearly a third of the possible search area disappeared immediately.

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