Entombed
Confrontation
My heart was overtaken with grief as I heard Carol's cries for her daughter. Hershel should have told them from the beginning if he had known that poor little girl had come to such a fate, rather than letting us all go on searching.
I let the gun Glenn had handed to me fall to the ground, and I sunk down to my knees after it. I stared ahead at the clumps of dead bodies on the ground of people I used to know. I didn't realize I had begun to cry until I felt the burning tears fall down my cheeks. How did it come to this?
Lori was also on the ground with Carl wrapped up in her arms as he cried for his fallen friend. The poor kid didn't have anyone else close to his age, and he just had to watch his only friend fall at the hand of his father.
Daryl was trying to pull Carol to her feet, telling her not to look. But she ripped from his arms, shoved him away and took off for their makeshift camp.
Hershel was on his knees and Maggie was trying to soothe him. Shane looked at Rick, and I could see the sick look in his eyes that showed he was proud of what he had done, as if he had really protected us from something we had been living with just fine sine day one. That sick bastard.
I stood up, seeing red, and took off after Shane. The second I got within touching distance of him, I threw out my fists, nailing him first in the cheek, then in the chest twice and the stomach once.
"You asshole!" I screamed as I laid punches. "You bastard!" I didn't even know why I was so upset. I had no blood connections, or emotional connections to the people he had just slaughtered for the second time. But he had just ruined everything. He destroyed Hershel's hope. He betrayed our selfless welcome to our home.
Glenn's arms wrapped around my waist, or maybe they were Rick's, as I tried to add another blow. I didn't stop to see who grabbed me and I raked my nails across their forearms to get loose, and took off for the woods. I heard shouting after me, but I just kept going.
----
Hours had passed and when I returned, camp seemed eerily normal. Rick's camp was still set up in the trees in front of the house, their tents and vehicles still standing where they were. It was almost like I had been sleep walking. That I walked out into the woods, dreamt about the days events and then woke up, stumbling back to the farm. I don't remember much about what I did in the woods, it's all a blacked out blur. As I emerged, I saw that part of Rick's group standing in front of the barn, covering the dead and pacing around. Their actions confirmed what I had so badly hoped was just a dream.
Rick saw me come in and walked away from Lori to me. I kept walking as he called my name, but he caught up and grabbed my arm.
"Shannon, Shannon are you alright?"
"I'm fine." I yanked my arm away from him and looked at him dead in the eye.
"Look I'm sorry." He put his hands up and rubbed his cheeks of sweat. It was then that I saw the bloody scratches on his arms. It dawned on me that I had done that, though I had no idea at the time that I had dug so deep that I could have drawn blood. But I did.
I gently grabbed one of his arms and looked at it, gently rubbing the places on his arms that were free of the marks I had left. "I didn't mean to..."
"No, I know you didn't." He said, a frown on his face.
I stared up at him and then looked at the ground for a minute before I dropped his arm and started walking to the house. "Come on."
He stood there for a few seconds before I heard his footsteps following me. I led him to the back of the house and in through the back door. My bedroom door was right next to it, so it was easy to sneak him in without Hershel knowing. I hadn't seen him yet, but I knew that he would want them off the property. Especially if he had stayed firm behind them leaving, whether Lori was pregnant or not.
"Stay here." I murmured as I shut the door to my bedroom. No one could be seen on the first floor of the house. Primarily because everyone's rooms besides mine were upstairs. I could hear Hershel mumbling quietly, and cries from one of the girls could faintly be heard, and I assumed that it was Beth.
In the kitchen I gathered two bowls. One with hot, soapy water, the other with just hot water for rinsing. I grabbed two clean washcloths from the drawer and slid them into my back pocket, taking them and the bowls back with me to the room. I set the bowls on my dresser and shut my door. Rick was looking at pictures I had laid out on my dresser of my life before the apocalypse. Pictures of my family, and of my friends, a dog that I loved. They were all that I had left.
Rick looked at me and sat down in a chair beside the dresser as we shared a mutual silence. I didn't have much to say, and I don't think he knew what would be right to say. I cleaned one arm with the soapy water, cleaning off the dirt and the dried blood. After I rinsed that arm, I switched to the other one. He winced at the contact of the soap and the scratches. But it wasn't hardly that bad.
"I guess I don't know my own strength." I said as I opened my bedroom window and poured out the bowls of now dirty water.
"Yeah, you should see Shane." He sort of smiled.
"You're not mad about that?" I questioned as I fetched my First Aid kit from my book bag.
"You had every right to do what you did. Maggie also laid into him after he tried to grab Hershel."
I took an irritated breath and took out some gauze and medical tape. "I'm just going to wrap these up so you don't get infected."
He nodded slightly and watched as I wrapped one forearm after the other.
"You should probably go." I said when I was finished.
He nodded again and stood to leave the room. As he turned the knob and opened the door, he turned back to me.
"Shannon?"
I looked up into the vanity mirror above my dresser at his reflection. "Yes?"
"Thank you."
I nodded at him and watched as he nodded back and shut he door behind him. Oh, those beautiful eyes.
----
I woke to a knock on the door. I hadn't even realized I fell asleep until Glenn walked in and looked at me on the bed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He murmured, his baseball cap in his hands in front of him.
"That's okay." I said as I sat up and rubbed my eyes, my back now to him.
He walked over to the side of the bed I was on and sat beside me, resting a hand on my thigh lovingly. "Shannon, I am so sorry."
"Glenn, it wasn't your fault. You just did what you had to do."
"I just thought about what you said, yesterday, about not letting anyone tell me what to do. Maggie told me not to tell. But my brain, my heart, my gut... They all told me it was what I had to do."
"Because it was." I said as I laid my hand on top of his. I looked at him and he looked at me, and I could see the pain in his eyes too. It was the same look that had become all too familiar to me.
"We're having a service, outside. Burying loved ones and...well, taking care of the rest. I just wanted to let you know."
"I'll be right out."
He nodded and before leaving, gave me a kiss goodbye. I changed into a pair of clean shorts since my others were dirty from my march through the woods. My shirt was fine, besides being a little sweaty.
As I walked outside, I noticed that Hershel had put on a suit to say goodbye to his family. Everyone stood in a line, and I stood beside Glenn. When nothing was said, I cleared my throat and took a step forward. Someone had to say something, and I chose to say the only goodbye prayer I knew.
"We little knew that morning
God was to call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
You did not go alone.
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
You left us beautiful memories,
Your love is still our guide,
And though we cannot see you,
You are always at our side.
Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same,
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again."
After I was done, I heard Beth crying. Hershel said a quiet thank you, and walked with her back to the house. Carol was crying too, as she placed a flower on her little girl's grave.
Rick's group silently volunteered to clean up the rest of the bodies, since it was Shane's decision to do what he had done. As I watched them from a distance, I was disgusted with the fact that Shane wasn't doing a damn thing to help. But somehow that didn't surprise me.
When I walked into the house, I overheard Maggie's voice I the kitchen, and assume she was speaking to Glenn.
"So if your group left, you wouldn't stay?"
"I, I haven't really thought about it. I mean, I didn't know that you..." He didn't know what to say. "Do you think this is really the time? To discuss this I mean?"
"Well, I don't really feel like there's a lot of time, for this."
"Well I think there is." Glenn answered back. "There is."
All of a sudden there was a load crashing of plates in the kitchen and I heard Maggie yell Beth's name. I walked into the kitchen, past Glenn and found Beth on the floor.
Glenn helped the two of us carry Beth to the spare bedroom, where we laid her down. Her face was pale, and her eyes were dull. Almost as if she herself were turning. But her heart was still beating, faintly, and there was no sign of a fever.
"What's wrong with her?" Maggie asked Lori as she walked into the bedroom. Glenn and I were leaning against the wall, giving Maggie and her sister space.
"I don't know, she may be in shock." Lori said. "Where's Hershel?"
"We can't find him anywhere." Glenn answered.
To that, Lori left the room, probably to find Rick.
Maggie looked through her dad's room with Glenn, Rick, Lori and shockingly enough, Shane, for evidence of where Hershel had gone. I stayed quietly in the bedroom with Beth, sitting beside her and stroking her hair. I faintly heard Lori picking a fight with Rick in the hallway outside the bedroom. She was trying to guilt trip him out of staying by using Carl against him, but Rick was persistent.
Rick was outside by the truck with Glenn when Maggie reemerged to the bedroom to be with her sister. I walked out to find the two of them, and reached behind me to double check that my pistol was still neatly tucked away, which it was.
"You ready?" Rick asked.
"Yeah." Glenn said anxiously.
"I'm going too." I spoke up.
Rick looked over at me and was about to say no when I talked over him.
"I'm going whether you like it or not. Besides, I can probably do a better job at talking Hershel down than either of you. I'm going."
Both of them looked at me and Rick hesitantly nodded. "Let's go then."
Rick sat in the driver's seat, starting up the truck. Glenn climbed in the passenger, and was about to move to the middle before I climbed into the bed of the truck and sat down against one of the sides. I was in no mood to sit in a truck between the two of them.
I could tell as we made our way into town that the two of them were having a conversation. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I assumed that it was either about Maggie or Lori. I knew that Glenn and Maggie were growing closer, and I knew that sooner or later I would have to confront Glenn again.
I stood in the bed of the truck and hit the top when we pulled up just past the bar. "This is it." I called and Rick pulled to a stop. I swung one leg over the side of the truck to climb out, but Rick grabbed him hips and helped me over the rest of the way and I tried my hardest to avoid blushing, especially in front of Glenn.
I thanked him and walked past the two of them to the door of the bar, pulling it open and looking around. I breathed a sigh of relief at the sigh of Hershel sitting at the bar on the other side of the room, but my heart sank as I saw the bottle of Whiskey and a glass full in his hand.
"Hershel." I called out, but he didn't so much as look over his shoulder.
Rick walked over to him and leaned on the counter beside him. "How many have you had?"
"Not enough." Hershel murmured.
Rick looked back at Glenn and I and then placed a hand on Hershel's shoulder. "Let's finish this up back at home."
"Beth collapsed." I spoke up, noticing that he turned his head in my direction. "She's in some sort of state, okay? And she needs you, she needs her father."
"She's in shock. I think you are too." Rick said after waiting for a reply that didn't come.
"Maggie's with her?" He asked.
"Yes, but Beth needs you."
"What could I do?"
"Help your daughter. Be there for her." I spoke up again.
"She needs her mother."
"Well, you and Maggie is all she's got now."
"You thought there was a cure" Rick said. "No sense in blaming yourself for holding out hope."
I was beginning to get frustrated at the fact that Hershel wasn't budging, even with the life of his own daughter at stake.
I sat down at an empty table, moving my gun to my lap. Glenn was sitting on a stool and Rick was still talking to Hershel about hope and other petty things.
I heard the door swing open and gripped hard and fast on my gun. Glenn did the same, standing, and facing the door with his gun ready. Hershel and Rick both turned and I sat frozen in my seat.
"Son of a bitch." One of the two men in the door way said "They're alive."
The two men poured themselves drinks and I stayed where I was, Glenn had moved to stand over by me protectively when he noticed that both of the men were staring at me in a way that sent shivers down my spine.
"I'm Dave." The younger of the two spoke up. "The scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony."
"Eat me Dave." The fat man responded.
"Hey, maybe someday I will." The man joked. "We met on the I-95 coming out of Philly.
"I'm Glenn." He said nervously. "It's nice to meet some new people."
"Rick Grimes." Rick said as he handed a drink to Glenn. He looked over at me with a look like he wanted my to play along. "This is my wife Shannon."
I glanced between Rick and the two men. As Rick leaned to one side, I got a good look at the skinny man who identified himself as Dave. I froze, and felt my breath catch in my throat.
----
“Put all that food back into that bag and give it to me,” he demanded. He moved his arm and revealed the axe that he’d been hiding behind his back. “Now.”
I stared up at him in shock and felt like pissing myself. I clenched my jaw and shook my head. “No.”
“Now!” he screamed.
I looked down at the patch on the left breast of his button-up shirt. “Dave,” it read. He must have been at work when the outbreak happened and hadn’t changed his clothes ever since.
----
I stared at him and he stared at me. I knew exactly where I'd seen him before, but he was still trying to remember.
"How about you Bill, have one?" Dave asked Hershel, his eyes still clearly on me.
"I just quit." He answered.
I stood up and walked behind the bar where Glenn was leaning, beginning to get uncomfortable with how the fat one looked at me like I was some piece of meat.
"You have a good sense of timing my friend." Dave smiled.
"His name is Hershel." Rick spoke up. "We lost people today, a lot of them."
"I'm truly sorry to hear that." Dave said after a minute, raising his glass to the air. "To better days and new friends. And to our dead. Let them be in a better place."
Everyone raised their glasses, including me who had been passed one. But I didn't drink it as the rest of them had.
I felt my heart skip a beat as I watched Dave reach for his gun and hold it out for Rick to see. "Not bad, huh? I got it off a cop."
Rick stared at him, unphased. But I could see the gears turning in his head. "I'm a cop."
"This one was already dead." Dave reiterated. Tony smirked and looked over at Rick, then behind him at me.
"You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia."
"It seems like we're a long way from anywhere." Dave almost spoke over him.
"What drove you south?"
"Well I can tell you something, the weather. I must've dropped thirty pounds in sweat alone down here."
"I wish." Tony said.
"First it was D.C. There was some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed we never even got close. Decided to get off the highways, get into the sticks and keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about how to come out of this thing."
They went on about the different rumors they heard and I felt Glenn's hand grab mine behind the privacy of the counter and I was thankful for his reassurance. The squeeze didn't last long though, for neither of us wanted to blow the cover that Rick had provided for me. As I listened to Dave speak, I knew he was full of shit. He hadn't come from Philly at all. He'd been here the whole time.
"You ever been to Nebraska, kid?" Dave asked Glenn. "There's a reason they call it the flower state."
Dave chuckled an Rick looked back at me, as he realized the lie we had just been told. Rick must have known that Nebraska was not the flower state, and I just knew from the past that Dave was being dishonest, trying to slide past Rick. I gave Rick a cautious look and looked into his eyes, hoping he would notice that something was in fact, very wrong here.
"How about you guys?" Dave asked.
Rick thought for a minute, turning back to him. "Fort Benning, eventually."
"I'd hate to piss in your corn flakes officer, but um, we ran across a group that was stationed at Benning, said the place was overrun."
"Wait, Fort Benning is gone?" Glenn spoke up. "Are you for real?"
"Sadly, I am. The truth is, there is no way out of this mess." Dave sighed. "We just keep going from one pipe drain to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks don't grab ahold of you in your sleep. Hey, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You holdin' up somewhere else?"
"Not really." Rick answered.
"Those your cars out front?" Dave asked, pointing back to the door with his thumb.
"Yeah, why?" I spoke up finally.
"Well they don't look like ours. They look kind of empty, clean. Where's all your gear?"
"We're with a larger group, out scouting." Hershel took his turn to answer. "Thought we could use a drink."
"A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit?" Dave laughed. "Well, we were thinking about setting up around here. Is it safe?"
"Safe enough." I answered.
"Is that so, pretty little lady?" Dave smirked.
"If you don't mind your camp being overrun by walkers."
"So, so what? Are you guys set up on the outskirts or somethin'? That new development?"
"Trailer park or something?" Tony asked. "Farm?"
"Old Mc. Donald had a farm." Dave sang creepily. Tony stood and walked over to the wall adjacent to where he was sitting and unzipped his pants, taking a piss against the wall. I made a noticeable disgusted look and Dave smiled again. The way Dave looked between all of us made me feel as though he knew all along where we were camping out. If you drove down the main road out of town and turned off to the dirt road, you'd come across it easily. We'd all been too concerned lately about Rick's group to scout out the area and watch for people watching us.
"You on a farm?"
"I don't very well see how that's any of your business." I answered.
Rick looked over to stare at the fat man too then back at Dave as he spoke. Dave stared at me, taking a sip from his glass. I could see the look in his eyes I'd already witnessed from him before. "Is it safe? It's gotta be safe. You have food? Water?"
"You got booze?" Tony asked.
"Listen, Glenn-"
"We've said enough." Rick interrupted.
"Hang on a second, this farm sounds pretty sweet. Doesn't it Tony?"
"Yeah, real sweet."
"You gonna show us some Southern hospitality?" Dave asked Rick, who didn't answer. "What bout you sweetheart, you gonna treat us right?" He said to me.
"Look, you leave her alone."
Dave put his hands up defensively and continued to plead his case to Rick. Rick shook his head and apologized, he had heard enough.
I began to feel anxious as Dave's tone changed and Tony shifted against a support beam. I wondered if Rick would be able to talk himself out of this situation.
"It's not going to happen." Rick said blatantly.
"God, this is bullshit." Tony said.
"Calm down." Rick said.
"Don't tell me to calm down. Don't ever tell me to calm down!"
"Woah, woah." Dave said. Tony started yelling and Glenn grabbed my arm, defensively pushing me behind him as the large man got closer to all of us.
"Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anyone, right Rick?" Dave laughed as he climbed over the bar.
Rick turned to face Dave, who pulled his gun back out of his pocket and set it on the counter. I looked to Tony and saw his hand anchored on a gun of his own and touched Glenn's back, trying to make him aware.
"We're just friends having a drink, that's all." Dave smiled and reached below the counter.
Behind Glenn, I slowly slid my pistol out of my front pocket and held it in both hands. Hershel noticed this, but turned back to see what the two men were going to do.
"Now, where's the good stuff?" Dave asked and ducked below the counter.
This action led Rick to place a hand quickly on his gun in it's holster. Dave looked at him, but re-emerged with a bottle in his hand. "Hey, look at that!" He smiled and held it up.
My gun burned hot in my hands, my knuckles were clenched so tight that they were turning white.
"You gotta understand. We can't stay out there." Dave pushed again. "You know what it's like."
"Yeah, I do." Rick answered. "But the farm is too crowded as is, I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking."
"Keep looking." Dave repeated and looked down. "Where do you suggest we do that?"
"I don't know." Rick shrugged. "I hear Nebraska's nice."
Dave laughed and looked up. "Nebraska? This guy." Dave went to grab his gun to shoot at Rick, but my gun was up and over the counter, aimed at Dave. I shot his hand which sent him reeling backward. Rick reached forward and yanked his gun off the counter, turning to shoot Tony.
Rick shot Tony in the shoulder, then through the chest. Tony fell to the floor, but that wasn't enough for Rick. He approached him and held up the gun to Tony's head, shooting him through the skull.
"You bitch!" Dave yelled from behind the counter.
Glenn shoved me out from where we stood and held his gun to Tony incase he started kicking again, as Hershel too emerged from his seat. Dave stood up, a bottle in his unwounded hand. As he launched the bottle across the room at me, I saw Rick shoot, twice, and then everything went black.
I let the gun Glenn had handed to me fall to the ground, and I sunk down to my knees after it. I stared ahead at the clumps of dead bodies on the ground of people I used to know. I didn't realize I had begun to cry until I felt the burning tears fall down my cheeks. How did it come to this?
Lori was also on the ground with Carl wrapped up in her arms as he cried for his fallen friend. The poor kid didn't have anyone else close to his age, and he just had to watch his only friend fall at the hand of his father.
Daryl was trying to pull Carol to her feet, telling her not to look. But she ripped from his arms, shoved him away and took off for their makeshift camp.
Hershel was on his knees and Maggie was trying to soothe him. Shane looked at Rick, and I could see the sick look in his eyes that showed he was proud of what he had done, as if he had really protected us from something we had been living with just fine sine day one. That sick bastard.
I stood up, seeing red, and took off after Shane. The second I got within touching distance of him, I threw out my fists, nailing him first in the cheek, then in the chest twice and the stomach once.
"You asshole!" I screamed as I laid punches. "You bastard!" I didn't even know why I was so upset. I had no blood connections, or emotional connections to the people he had just slaughtered for the second time. But he had just ruined everything. He destroyed Hershel's hope. He betrayed our selfless welcome to our home.
Glenn's arms wrapped around my waist, or maybe they were Rick's, as I tried to add another blow. I didn't stop to see who grabbed me and I raked my nails across their forearms to get loose, and took off for the woods. I heard shouting after me, but I just kept going.
----
Hours had passed and when I returned, camp seemed eerily normal. Rick's camp was still set up in the trees in front of the house, their tents and vehicles still standing where they were. It was almost like I had been sleep walking. That I walked out into the woods, dreamt about the days events and then woke up, stumbling back to the farm. I don't remember much about what I did in the woods, it's all a blacked out blur. As I emerged, I saw that part of Rick's group standing in front of the barn, covering the dead and pacing around. Their actions confirmed what I had so badly hoped was just a dream.
Rick saw me come in and walked away from Lori to me. I kept walking as he called my name, but he caught up and grabbed my arm.
"Shannon, Shannon are you alright?"
"I'm fine." I yanked my arm away from him and looked at him dead in the eye.
"Look I'm sorry." He put his hands up and rubbed his cheeks of sweat. It was then that I saw the bloody scratches on his arms. It dawned on me that I had done that, though I had no idea at the time that I had dug so deep that I could have drawn blood. But I did.
I gently grabbed one of his arms and looked at it, gently rubbing the places on his arms that were free of the marks I had left. "I didn't mean to..."
"No, I know you didn't." He said, a frown on his face.
I stared up at him and then looked at the ground for a minute before I dropped his arm and started walking to the house. "Come on."
He stood there for a few seconds before I heard his footsteps following me. I led him to the back of the house and in through the back door. My bedroom door was right next to it, so it was easy to sneak him in without Hershel knowing. I hadn't seen him yet, but I knew that he would want them off the property. Especially if he had stayed firm behind them leaving, whether Lori was pregnant or not.
"Stay here." I murmured as I shut the door to my bedroom. No one could be seen on the first floor of the house. Primarily because everyone's rooms besides mine were upstairs. I could hear Hershel mumbling quietly, and cries from one of the girls could faintly be heard, and I assumed that it was Beth.
In the kitchen I gathered two bowls. One with hot, soapy water, the other with just hot water for rinsing. I grabbed two clean washcloths from the drawer and slid them into my back pocket, taking them and the bowls back with me to the room. I set the bowls on my dresser and shut my door. Rick was looking at pictures I had laid out on my dresser of my life before the apocalypse. Pictures of my family, and of my friends, a dog that I loved. They were all that I had left.
Rick looked at me and sat down in a chair beside the dresser as we shared a mutual silence. I didn't have much to say, and I don't think he knew what would be right to say. I cleaned one arm with the soapy water, cleaning off the dirt and the dried blood. After I rinsed that arm, I switched to the other one. He winced at the contact of the soap and the scratches. But it wasn't hardly that bad.
"I guess I don't know my own strength." I said as I opened my bedroom window and poured out the bowls of now dirty water.
"Yeah, you should see Shane." He sort of smiled.
"You're not mad about that?" I questioned as I fetched my First Aid kit from my book bag.
"You had every right to do what you did. Maggie also laid into him after he tried to grab Hershel."
I took an irritated breath and took out some gauze and medical tape. "I'm just going to wrap these up so you don't get infected."
He nodded slightly and watched as I wrapped one forearm after the other.
"You should probably go." I said when I was finished.
He nodded again and stood to leave the room. As he turned the knob and opened the door, he turned back to me.
"Shannon?"
I looked up into the vanity mirror above my dresser at his reflection. "Yes?"
"Thank you."
I nodded at him and watched as he nodded back and shut he door behind him. Oh, those beautiful eyes.
----
I woke to a knock on the door. I hadn't even realized I fell asleep until Glenn walked in and looked at me on the bed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He murmured, his baseball cap in his hands in front of him.
"That's okay." I said as I sat up and rubbed my eyes, my back now to him.
He walked over to the side of the bed I was on and sat beside me, resting a hand on my thigh lovingly. "Shannon, I am so sorry."
"Glenn, it wasn't your fault. You just did what you had to do."
"I just thought about what you said, yesterday, about not letting anyone tell me what to do. Maggie told me not to tell. But my brain, my heart, my gut... They all told me it was what I had to do."
"Because it was." I said as I laid my hand on top of his. I looked at him and he looked at me, and I could see the pain in his eyes too. It was the same look that had become all too familiar to me.
"We're having a service, outside. Burying loved ones and...well, taking care of the rest. I just wanted to let you know."
"I'll be right out."
He nodded and before leaving, gave me a kiss goodbye. I changed into a pair of clean shorts since my others were dirty from my march through the woods. My shirt was fine, besides being a little sweaty.
As I walked outside, I noticed that Hershel had put on a suit to say goodbye to his family. Everyone stood in a line, and I stood beside Glenn. When nothing was said, I cleared my throat and took a step forward. Someone had to say something, and I chose to say the only goodbye prayer I knew.
"We little knew that morning
God was to call your name.
In life we loved you dearly,
in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
You did not go alone.
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
You left us beautiful memories,
Your love is still our guide,
And though we cannot see you,
You are always at our side.
Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same,
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again."
After I was done, I heard Beth crying. Hershel said a quiet thank you, and walked with her back to the house. Carol was crying too, as she placed a flower on her little girl's grave.
Rick's group silently volunteered to clean up the rest of the bodies, since it was Shane's decision to do what he had done. As I watched them from a distance, I was disgusted with the fact that Shane wasn't doing a damn thing to help. But somehow that didn't surprise me.
When I walked into the house, I overheard Maggie's voice I the kitchen, and assume she was speaking to Glenn.
"So if your group left, you wouldn't stay?"
"I, I haven't really thought about it. I mean, I didn't know that you..." He didn't know what to say. "Do you think this is really the time? To discuss this I mean?"
"Well, I don't really feel like there's a lot of time, for this."
"Well I think there is." Glenn answered back. "There is."
All of a sudden there was a load crashing of plates in the kitchen and I heard Maggie yell Beth's name. I walked into the kitchen, past Glenn and found Beth on the floor.
Glenn helped the two of us carry Beth to the spare bedroom, where we laid her down. Her face was pale, and her eyes were dull. Almost as if she herself were turning. But her heart was still beating, faintly, and there was no sign of a fever.
"What's wrong with her?" Maggie asked Lori as she walked into the bedroom. Glenn and I were leaning against the wall, giving Maggie and her sister space.
"I don't know, she may be in shock." Lori said. "Where's Hershel?"
"We can't find him anywhere." Glenn answered.
To that, Lori left the room, probably to find Rick.
Maggie looked through her dad's room with Glenn, Rick, Lori and shockingly enough, Shane, for evidence of where Hershel had gone. I stayed quietly in the bedroom with Beth, sitting beside her and stroking her hair. I faintly heard Lori picking a fight with Rick in the hallway outside the bedroom. She was trying to guilt trip him out of staying by using Carl against him, but Rick was persistent.
Rick was outside by the truck with Glenn when Maggie reemerged to the bedroom to be with her sister. I walked out to find the two of them, and reached behind me to double check that my pistol was still neatly tucked away, which it was.
"You ready?" Rick asked.
"Yeah." Glenn said anxiously.
"I'm going too." I spoke up.
Rick looked over at me and was about to say no when I talked over him.
"I'm going whether you like it or not. Besides, I can probably do a better job at talking Hershel down than either of you. I'm going."
Both of them looked at me and Rick hesitantly nodded. "Let's go then."
Rick sat in the driver's seat, starting up the truck. Glenn climbed in the passenger, and was about to move to the middle before I climbed into the bed of the truck and sat down against one of the sides. I was in no mood to sit in a truck between the two of them.
I could tell as we made our way into town that the two of them were having a conversation. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I assumed that it was either about Maggie or Lori. I knew that Glenn and Maggie were growing closer, and I knew that sooner or later I would have to confront Glenn again.
I stood in the bed of the truck and hit the top when we pulled up just past the bar. "This is it." I called and Rick pulled to a stop. I swung one leg over the side of the truck to climb out, but Rick grabbed him hips and helped me over the rest of the way and I tried my hardest to avoid blushing, especially in front of Glenn.
I thanked him and walked past the two of them to the door of the bar, pulling it open and looking around. I breathed a sigh of relief at the sigh of Hershel sitting at the bar on the other side of the room, but my heart sank as I saw the bottle of Whiskey and a glass full in his hand.
"Hershel." I called out, but he didn't so much as look over his shoulder.
Rick walked over to him and leaned on the counter beside him. "How many have you had?"
"Not enough." Hershel murmured.
Rick looked back at Glenn and I and then placed a hand on Hershel's shoulder. "Let's finish this up back at home."
"Beth collapsed." I spoke up, noticing that he turned his head in my direction. "She's in some sort of state, okay? And she needs you, she needs her father."
"She's in shock. I think you are too." Rick said after waiting for a reply that didn't come.
"Maggie's with her?" He asked.
"Yes, but Beth needs you."
"What could I do?"
"Help your daughter. Be there for her." I spoke up again.
"She needs her mother."
"Well, you and Maggie is all she's got now."
"You thought there was a cure" Rick said. "No sense in blaming yourself for holding out hope."
I was beginning to get frustrated at the fact that Hershel wasn't budging, even with the life of his own daughter at stake.
I sat down at an empty table, moving my gun to my lap. Glenn was sitting on a stool and Rick was still talking to Hershel about hope and other petty things.
I heard the door swing open and gripped hard and fast on my gun. Glenn did the same, standing, and facing the door with his gun ready. Hershel and Rick both turned and I sat frozen in my seat.
"Son of a bitch." One of the two men in the door way said "They're alive."
The two men poured themselves drinks and I stayed where I was, Glenn had moved to stand over by me protectively when he noticed that both of the men were staring at me in a way that sent shivers down my spine.
"I'm Dave." The younger of the two spoke up. "The scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony."
"Eat me Dave." The fat man responded.
"Hey, maybe someday I will." The man joked. "We met on the I-95 coming out of Philly.
"I'm Glenn." He said nervously. "It's nice to meet some new people."
"Rick Grimes." Rick said as he handed a drink to Glenn. He looked over at me with a look like he wanted my to play along. "This is my wife Shannon."
I glanced between Rick and the two men. As Rick leaned to one side, I got a good look at the skinny man who identified himself as Dave. I froze, and felt my breath catch in my throat.
----
“Put all that food back into that bag and give it to me,” he demanded. He moved his arm and revealed the axe that he’d been hiding behind his back. “Now.”
I stared up at him in shock and felt like pissing myself. I clenched my jaw and shook my head. “No.”
“Now!” he screamed.
I looked down at the patch on the left breast of his button-up shirt. “Dave,” it read. He must have been at work when the outbreak happened and hadn’t changed his clothes ever since.
----
I stared at him and he stared at me. I knew exactly where I'd seen him before, but he was still trying to remember.
"How about you Bill, have one?" Dave asked Hershel, his eyes still clearly on me.
"I just quit." He answered.
I stood up and walked behind the bar where Glenn was leaning, beginning to get uncomfortable with how the fat one looked at me like I was some piece of meat.
"You have a good sense of timing my friend." Dave smiled.
"His name is Hershel." Rick spoke up. "We lost people today, a lot of them."
"I'm truly sorry to hear that." Dave said after a minute, raising his glass to the air. "To better days and new friends. And to our dead. Let them be in a better place."
Everyone raised their glasses, including me who had been passed one. But I didn't drink it as the rest of them had.
I felt my heart skip a beat as I watched Dave reach for his gun and hold it out for Rick to see. "Not bad, huh? I got it off a cop."
Rick stared at him, unphased. But I could see the gears turning in his head. "I'm a cop."
"This one was already dead." Dave reiterated. Tony smirked and looked over at Rick, then behind him at me.
"You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia."
"It seems like we're a long way from anywhere." Dave almost spoke over him.
"What drove you south?"
"Well I can tell you something, the weather. I must've dropped thirty pounds in sweat alone down here."
"I wish." Tony said.
"First it was D.C. There was some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed we never even got close. Decided to get off the highways, get into the sticks and keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about how to come out of this thing."
They went on about the different rumors they heard and I felt Glenn's hand grab mine behind the privacy of the counter and I was thankful for his reassurance. The squeeze didn't last long though, for neither of us wanted to blow the cover that Rick had provided for me. As I listened to Dave speak, I knew he was full of shit. He hadn't come from Philly at all. He'd been here the whole time.
"You ever been to Nebraska, kid?" Dave asked Glenn. "There's a reason they call it the flower state."
Dave chuckled an Rick looked back at me, as he realized the lie we had just been told. Rick must have known that Nebraska was not the flower state, and I just knew from the past that Dave was being dishonest, trying to slide past Rick. I gave Rick a cautious look and looked into his eyes, hoping he would notice that something was in fact, very wrong here.
"How about you guys?" Dave asked.
Rick thought for a minute, turning back to him. "Fort Benning, eventually."
"I'd hate to piss in your corn flakes officer, but um, we ran across a group that was stationed at Benning, said the place was overrun."
"Wait, Fort Benning is gone?" Glenn spoke up. "Are you for real?"
"Sadly, I am. The truth is, there is no way out of this mess." Dave sighed. "We just keep going from one pipe drain to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks don't grab ahold of you in your sleep. Hey, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You holdin' up somewhere else?"
"Not really." Rick answered.
"Those your cars out front?" Dave asked, pointing back to the door with his thumb.
"Yeah, why?" I spoke up finally.
"Well they don't look like ours. They look kind of empty, clean. Where's all your gear?"
"We're with a larger group, out scouting." Hershel took his turn to answer. "Thought we could use a drink."
"A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit?" Dave laughed. "Well, we were thinking about setting up around here. Is it safe?"
"Safe enough." I answered.
"Is that so, pretty little lady?" Dave smirked.
"If you don't mind your camp being overrun by walkers."
"So, so what? Are you guys set up on the outskirts or somethin'? That new development?"
"Trailer park or something?" Tony asked. "Farm?"
"Old Mc. Donald had a farm." Dave sang creepily. Tony stood and walked over to the wall adjacent to where he was sitting and unzipped his pants, taking a piss against the wall. I made a noticeable disgusted look and Dave smiled again. The way Dave looked between all of us made me feel as though he knew all along where we were camping out. If you drove down the main road out of town and turned off to the dirt road, you'd come across it easily. We'd all been too concerned lately about Rick's group to scout out the area and watch for people watching us.
"You on a farm?"
"I don't very well see how that's any of your business." I answered.
Rick looked over to stare at the fat man too then back at Dave as he spoke. Dave stared at me, taking a sip from his glass. I could see the look in his eyes I'd already witnessed from him before. "Is it safe? It's gotta be safe. You have food? Water?"
"You got booze?" Tony asked.
"Listen, Glenn-"
"We've said enough." Rick interrupted.
"Hang on a second, this farm sounds pretty sweet. Doesn't it Tony?"
"Yeah, real sweet."
"You gonna show us some Southern hospitality?" Dave asked Rick, who didn't answer. "What bout you sweetheart, you gonna treat us right?" He said to me.
"Look, you leave her alone."
Dave put his hands up defensively and continued to plead his case to Rick. Rick shook his head and apologized, he had heard enough.
I began to feel anxious as Dave's tone changed and Tony shifted against a support beam. I wondered if Rick would be able to talk himself out of this situation.
"It's not going to happen." Rick said blatantly.
"God, this is bullshit." Tony said.
"Calm down." Rick said.
"Don't tell me to calm down. Don't ever tell me to calm down!"
"Woah, woah." Dave said. Tony started yelling and Glenn grabbed my arm, defensively pushing me behind him as the large man got closer to all of us.
"Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anyone, right Rick?" Dave laughed as he climbed over the bar.
Rick turned to face Dave, who pulled his gun back out of his pocket and set it on the counter. I looked to Tony and saw his hand anchored on a gun of his own and touched Glenn's back, trying to make him aware.
"We're just friends having a drink, that's all." Dave smiled and reached below the counter.
Behind Glenn, I slowly slid my pistol out of my front pocket and held it in both hands. Hershel noticed this, but turned back to see what the two men were going to do.
"Now, where's the good stuff?" Dave asked and ducked below the counter.
This action led Rick to place a hand quickly on his gun in it's holster. Dave looked at him, but re-emerged with a bottle in his hand. "Hey, look at that!" He smiled and held it up.
My gun burned hot in my hands, my knuckles were clenched so tight that they were turning white.
"You gotta understand. We can't stay out there." Dave pushed again. "You know what it's like."
"Yeah, I do." Rick answered. "But the farm is too crowded as is, I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking."
"Keep looking." Dave repeated and looked down. "Where do you suggest we do that?"
"I don't know." Rick shrugged. "I hear Nebraska's nice."
Dave laughed and looked up. "Nebraska? This guy." Dave went to grab his gun to shoot at Rick, but my gun was up and over the counter, aimed at Dave. I shot his hand which sent him reeling backward. Rick reached forward and yanked his gun off the counter, turning to shoot Tony.
Rick shot Tony in the shoulder, then through the chest. Tony fell to the floor, but that wasn't enough for Rick. He approached him and held up the gun to Tony's head, shooting him through the skull.
"You bitch!" Dave yelled from behind the counter.
Glenn shoved me out from where we stood and held his gun to Tony incase he started kicking again, as Hershel too emerged from his seat. Dave stood up, a bottle in his unwounded hand. As he launched the bottle across the room at me, I saw Rick shoot, twice, and then everything went black.
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Hey guys! Here is the new chapter, it's pretty long! Let us know what you think!