Hung Out To Dry

by Althea M

There's a new guy and he's got his eye on Maggie. Does Maggie have her eye on him? Set early on Hershel's farm. AU, don't think about Sophia.

Hung Out to Dry

by Althea M.

His breathing was ragged, he had a stitch in his side and he had the shakes. He'd been moving as fast and quiet as he could for the last mile. The good news was, there were no walkers in sight.

'I shouldn't have gone on that run.'

But he'd felt desperate to have Maggie, all to himself. He wanted to get her alone again. But that hadn't happened for a while, not since Brad had shown up at the farm.

He'd seen him come loping up the drive from the county road like a young man accustomed to long distance running. He carried a tan day pack, a compound bow and a quiver. Daryl and Rick met him at the gate and held him there, interrogating. Dale had watched with binoculars from the top of his RV. Andrea had swaggered up, following behind Shane.

Dale prompted Glenn to get Hershel who went down to the gate to meet the stranger. Maggie came to the porch and Glenn was torn between going down to the gate, doing the 'man stuff' and hanging back with her. Maggie had her arms crossed over her chest, looking more interested in what was going on at the gate than him, so, he finally headed toward the gate.

"What do you want here?"

"Where are you coming in from?"

"What brought you here?"

The man was being hammered by Rick with Shane joining in with his own questions, tag-teaming him. They were both sheriff's deputies, partners, and hadn't yet forgotten their routines. Although, truth be told, Glenn felt that Shane was becoming more than a bit edgy, short-tempered one moment, and companionable the next. Most of the changes occurred after his contact with Lori was blocked, or so Dale intimated. What did he know? Right now he had his own interests and she was acting disinterested, again. Ten condoms left. He would love to reduce that by at least one sometime soon.

Hershel had reached the group and gotten the others to back off on their posturing. A few minutes later, all were heading to the house, Hershel in the lead, followed by the stranger who was flanked by Rick and Shane and followed by Daryl and Andrea. Glenn stopped walking and let the procession join and pass him leaving him to trail behind, again. T-Dog stepped out onto the porch in time to step aside to allow everyone else to enter the parlor. Maggie glanced at Glenn then moved into the house.

Down home Southern courtesy kicked in and the young man was offered tea and a sandwich, which he gratefully accepted.

"Yes, sir, I've been moving carefully, trying to get to the coast."

"Why the coast?", Shane asked.

"Well, I know the city, Atlanta, is a no-man's land. The smell and decay alone can make you sick. I figured, on the coast there will be cleaner air". He took another bite of his sandwich and washed the bite down. "I figured I'd either crew with somebody in exchange for getting food, or, I'd commandeer an abandoned boat and make that my home. I don't think these things can swim."

The young man's name was Brad Thorn. He was built rather like Rick, lean but well-muscled, with lightly sun-bronzed skin, light brown hair and medium brown eyes.

"Where are you from, Brad Thorn", Shane asked. Glenn's stomach clenched and he was glad not to be in the spotlight on this. Shane didn't warm up to people too easily.

"I'm originally from Minnesota. I was attending classes when this hit."

"Why aren't you trying to get to your folks?", Maggie asked. Brad looked at her and it was apparent that he was totally focused on the young woman. Glenn truly understood; she was an amazing woman and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had expended two of twelve condoms finding that out. But she still tended to give him mixed signals; that frustrated him. The first time they'd been together she indicated she was 'lonely', but that neither of them had a lot of options.

'Now, I guess she has options.' This guy would be competition, Glenn just knew it.

Glenn didn't exude confidence. He was smart, geeky, but tended to hang back; not an Alpha in this group. But, he was the 'go to town guy' and knew that he performed a valuable service when they were camped on the close outskirts of Atlanta. He was quiet and quick and to date, very lucky. Now, he was teamed, as it were, with Maggie who knew the small town outside her father's farm far better than he did, but he was a quick study.

When Maggie had first offered to have sex with him, on that first supply run after getting to the farm, he could not believe it. But, after his initial shock, he was all over it and her. He hadn't been a hot item before the end came. Certainly no girls had made a first move on him and 'home base' was a distant clumsy memory. In any case, if Glenn were completely honest with himself, this Brad fellow looked like he could be just the kind of guy Maggie would have fallen for, if the world had not come to an end.

'They'd look good together. Dammit.' Glenn thought dejectedly.

"My folks were 'snow birds'. When things started going bad, the last time I spoke with them, they were planning to go to our place on the coast."

Now Daryl spoke up. "Ya' know how to use that thang?" Daryl nodded to the compound bow Brad had strapped across his back. Brad glanced back as though just realizing the bow was still there. He unslung it and laid it across his knees. "I haven't starved. I was training for a slot on the Olympic archery team while in college. I had a good shot at it, according to my coach."

"What were you studying?" Maggie asked, showing a bit of interest in the young man.

"Well, I was pre-med, just finishing up my third year."

'Great', thought Glenn, 'pre-med, not bad looking, and makes a clean looking Daryl.'

Maggie glanced at Glenn and he tried to smile at her but he felt like his face was frozen in neutral. Once again, Maggie dismissed him, turning, instead back to the newcomer. "Can you hunt with that?"

"Yeah", he relaxed, "the hard part was getting used to eating squirrel." He said with a charming smile.

"Ain't nothing wrong with squirrel", said Daryl, who then turned out of the parlor and went outside.

"Well, young man", Hershel said in that quiet, pastoral voice, "if you're not bringing any trouble, you can stay for a few days, then, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The young man gave Hershel an earnest look,"Sir, this is the most peaceful place I've been in a long time. I hope you'll understand if I'm a bit reluctant to just hit the road."

Shane and Rick looked at the man. Rick had been courting Hershel on the idea of his group staying on the farm, helping to fortify and protect the idyllic setting. This youngster with a bow on his back appeared to have far less to offer. Glenn only half listened to the conversation. Looking without appearing to be looking, he furtively watched Maggie watch the new guy who also couldn't seem to focus on any of the men for more time than absolutely necessary to be polite, for looking at Maggie.

'She's my girl'. , Glenn thought, feeling a surge of possessiveness course through him. 'At least, I think she is.', as his confidence flagged.

Night came. No notes from Maggie. And she had spent far too much time, in Glenn's opinion, chatting with Brad.

The next day nothing much was said about the young man's presence. He serviced his bow, but Glenn noted, from his guard post on top of the RV, that whenever Maggie stepped out of the house, Brad was on his feet, all courtesies and offering assistance. He was glad that by the time his shift on the RV was over, Brad and Daryl had appeared to have bonded over their bows and had set up a target range over at the fence using a hay bale as a backstop.

He tried to get Maggie's attention, but she seemed too busy, too distracted, too…not interested. Dejected, Glenn was tagged to go on a perimeter check with Shane. Andrea came along and, once again, he felt like a third wheel. When they returned to camp it was early dusk, Glenn, again, tried to get some alone time with Maggie, but found her in what appeared to be comfortable conversation with Brad under the brightening porch light. Keeping to the shadows, Glenn went to his tent and turned in for the night.

At the morning campfire, Brad indicated, as he looked over the map he had, that he would be leaving the next morning. He said he found no reason to drag things out and the sooner he got on the road, the better his chances of getting to his family's place.

'Yes!' Glenn thought, as he put a spoon full of scrambled eggs into his mouth.

Brad informed Hershel of his plan and Hershel nodded his agreement and everything seemed settled.

Glenn felt good about that, sort of. Maggie had been on again/off again before the guy showed up. She'd definitely been in off mode since the 'clean Daryl' had arrived.

Brad had mentioned that he could use some supplies before he got on his way. Looking at Glenn, "I hear you know your way around town."

"Uh, I know what Maggie has shown me."

Brad nodded thoughtfully. "Maggie suggested the you could do a run into town with me."

'Glenn knows how to get there and where places like the pharmacy are', she had volunteered.

Brad looked Glenn over, "So, can you?"

Glenn, helpful to a fault, stammered, "I, uh, no, I, I don't mind."

'The sooner you can be out of here, the better for me,…I guess.' He wasn't feeling like a winner.

Glenn had asked Maggie to come along, but she had declined, saying she needed to help her dad. It was just as well, since he wasn't likely to 'get lucky' with Brad within earshot.

It was a simple run. Just before they left, as Glenn saddled Nellie and the horse Maggie usually rode, Brad knew how to saddle a horse, 'it figures', Brad had looked over his map and had considered, out loud, that he might just continue on through the town and down the road. That suited Glenn just fine. Hershel made it clearly understood that the horse was coming back to the farm with Glenn. Glenn almost didn't care as long as Brad hit the road.

The town appeared typically quiet. They stopped at the pharmacy and tied the horses to the upright. Glenn pointed out the little general store across the street. Brad opted to check out the pharmacy first. Glenn led the way in. Although well pick over, there were still some items on the shelves. Glenn involuntarily glanced at the place where he and Maggie had had their first coupling. He felt heat rise in his cheeks. There was nothing to give the place away, but it always brought a flush to him when he even thought about 'It'. He doubted Brad would notice in the dim interior.

Brad poked around a bit in the back of the pharmacy, picking up odds and ends that Glenn noted didn't really amount to much. But, he focused on getting things in his own bag so that it wouldn't be a wasted trip for him.

Brad looked around, apparently disinterested. "I'm going to step outside and check on the horses."

"Sure." Glenn glanced at him, and continued to quietly poke about picking up items that the group could use. Peeking out from under the edge of a bottom shelf, Glenn spotted another box of a dozen condoms. His stomach clenched. He had doubts he'd be using them with Maggie any time soon. But then, the idea of Brad coming back to find them for himself,

'I'm not going to make it THAT easy', even if he says he's leaving.

Glenn snagged the box and shoved it into his back pack. He then picked up a couple of other undamaged items; antibiotic cream, a roll of gauze, tampons.

'Always remembering to get tampons, that's me. My sisters would be so proud', he sarcastically thought.

Then, he heard the horses stamping their hooves. Suddenly, one of the horses made a noise as though in distress. Glenn rushed to the glass front and saw Brad on Maggie's horse working to get it under control. Nellie, however, was over on her side kicking and whinnying in distress. Glenn could not believe his eyes.

'What the…?!'

An arrow was imbedded in the joint of her shoulder. Glenn opened the door and dashed out onto the porch in time to see Brad wheel away in the direction of the farm.

"Hey! Hey!", yelled Glenn. Then, he got his wits about him, quick, fast, and in a hurry-up. All the noise, the horse whinnying, his yelling; this place wasn't walker-free. There just didn't seem to be a lot during daylight hours. But,…

'I've got to get out of here, back to the farm.' , he thought. 'On foot!'

There was nothing he could do for Nellie. She wasn't going to be able to stand and she certainly wasn't going to be carrying him either. Glenn dashed back into the pharmacy, grabbed his bag and the hand hatchet, he'd foolishly laid on a nearby shelf, and went back out the door. Nellie was still making an awful racket. Glenn considered just putting her out of her misery. It would have been humane. But, if walkers were on their way, she would be a distraction, and just might give him half a chance. It was about five miles 'as the crow flies' Maggie had told him, on his first trip to the pharmacy. He wasn't a crow, he wasn't going to be flying, and he wasn't keen on going through the woods, on the leading edge of sunset, to get back to the farm. But did he really have a choice?

Glenn stepped off the porch, his heart going out to the horse, "I'm sorry, Nellie." He whispered. He looked around cautiously before edging away from the horse and to the corner of the building. Peeking around the corner, he saw the path was still clear. Looking back once again at the horse, the decision to put her out of her misery was made for him when he saw the first pair of walkers coming from between the buildings at the far corner of the building across the street. Glenn moved out on as close to little cat's feet as he possibly could.

He wasn't sure how he'd done it, but Glenn had only come into contact with two separate walkers as he'd dashed as quietly as possible through the woods. He'd dispatched them with extreme prejudice and kept moving. He'd seen a few others, but he had not appeared to draw their attention and he'd kept moving. Now, he was on the dirt road leading to the drive that would take him to the farm house.

'When I get there I'm going to beat the crap out of that bastard.'

He had built up quite a head of steam on his way back to the farm. He was ready to chew off pretty boy Brad's nose. Although in good shape, his breathing had become ragged and he knew he would be hard pressed if he had to defend himself.

As he crested the drive his mouth fell open for more than just to gulp air. The RV was gone. So were the other vehicles they had acquired. Even the tents and shelters they'd set up were gone.

'They broke camp?!'

Glenn slowed to a confused walk as he approached the house. There was no sign of life. He wanted to shout for Rick. Dale. Shane. Maggie. But, he resisted the urge. Then he heard a noise coming from the stable. A horse whinnied. He began to jog in that direction and came around the corner in time to see all of the vehicles caravanning away down a back road located behind the house.

"Hey! Hey!" he yelled.

But the vehicles didn't stop, they probably didn't even hear him, and they were moving out too fast for him to even have a change of catching up. Then, out from the stable came Maggie's horse being ridden by Brad. And Maggie.

"Maggie!", Glenn yelled.

Maggie waved her arm as Brad goaded the horse into a quick trot following the direction of the line of vehicles.

"Maggie!" Glenn yelled, again.

Maggie spoke to him as though she were standing on the porch with him, "Don't yell so loud; you'll draw attention."

Glenn's next yell froze in his throat and he looked back down the drive. There were dozens of walkers lumbering up the drive. Glenn sprinted back to the house looking for his personal items.

'Gone!.

On the dining room table were two bottles of water. Glenn glanced out of the window to the drive, took only a moment, and guzzled down half of one bottle. He put it down and grabbed the other one and headed through the house and out the back door. A walker careened around the corner of the house. Glenn sprinted for the woods, hoping against hope to intersect with the road before his energy was exhausted.

Somehow, Brad and Maggie came into sight again. But just as he thought he might reach them, he felt something tug at his shirt. A walker had caught up with him and it wasn't alone. Glenn hacked at one, then another, and they kept coming. It was a nightmare he'd had since that event in Atlanta when he'd first worked with Rick. But this wasn't a dream. He was dragged down and still he fought. But he wasn't winning. His head began to swim. He knew if he passed out it would be all over. And then he heard Brad, laughing. A walker bit him on his head, the pain was sharp. 'It's all over. I'm a dead man.'

But Glenn had heard, growing up, about the power of the last emotions of life. And with that thought, he shouted, "I'll see you in Hell, Brad! Do you hear me, Brad? I'll see you in Hell!" And then, things went dark.

'It's dark.' Glenn thought. Hands touched him. 'I'm in Hell; walker Hell. I don't deserve this.'

Someone was saying his name. "Glenn."

'Of course they call you by name in zombie Hell. I'm being punished for what we did to Wayne Dunlap, I just know it.' Glenn whimpered in his soul.

"Glenn." Rick's voice?

"Glenn." Shane's voice?

"Give him some air. He's coming around." Hershel's voice?

Again, "Glenn!" Maggie's voice.

'Maggie's voice?'

Glenn's eyes fluttered open. Faces swam over him and slowly came into focus. Hershel, hand resting gently on Glenn's forehead, applying just enough pressure to keep him from springing up, knowing it would hurt him more to do so. Then there was Maggie. Smiling Maggie. Tearful Maggie.

"Wha.., uh, what happened?" he stammered. He looked around; he was lying on the sofa in the parlor. Glenn looked about with a fierce expression, "Where is he?!", but this made his head throb and he was forced to squeeze his eyes closed to the pain.

"Now just lie easy, young man", Hershel intoned, "You took quite a knock to the head."

Glenn forced his eyes open, confusion evident on his face. "Wha-what happened?"

"Nellie happened", Maggie said. Glenn frowned. Maggie continued, "She shied and knocked you into the tack rack; you hit your head."

"She really rang your bell", Rick added, "but Hershel doesn't think you have a concussion, but he wants you to stay close and awake for the next few hours, can you do that, Glenn?"

Glenn weakly nodded then relaxed back on the sofa he'd been laid out on.

Folks drifted away to do other things, assured that one of their group was no longer in harm's way. Maggie started to get up to freshen the cool towel for his head when his hand snaked out and caught her wrist, not without causing him to wince in pain.

"Don't leave me, Maggie." He suddenly felt like he was losing points in the 'man' department.

Maggie gave him a mildly troubled look. "I'm just going to cool off your towel", she chided.

"It can wait. Please."

"Alright", seeing the troubled look in his eyes, she waved the towel briefly, refolded it, and put it back on his forehead. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Like I've been kicked in the head by a horse?"

"Not quite. You probably wouldn't be coming around in about five minutes if you had been."

"Five minutes? That's it?"

"Give or take. How long do you think you were out?"

Glenn's eyes tracked back and forth, as though looking over a mental calendar, "Three days?"

Maggie's eyes climbed up into her rakish bangs, "You lived a small lifetime in those five minutes. What did you do?"

Glenn grew quiet. Maggie reached out and brushed his hair off of his forehead. Without looking at her, "A new guy made it to the farm, I didn't like him, he set me up to be killed by walkers…", and then looking at Maggie, "and he took you from me".

Maggie gave Glenn a speculative appraisal, "Do you think I'm that easy? That some guy could come here and sweep me off my feet…"

Glenn's mouth gaped like a fish out of water, 'How the hell do I answer that and not muck up?!'

"…when I've clearly made my choice?" She was smiling at him.

Glenn marveled at the woman sitting above him. Then, Maggie smiled gently.

"Tell me about this guy, Brad, was it?"

Glenn's brow furrowed again, making him wince again, "Brad?"

"Yes, 'Brad', 'I'll see you in Hell', Brad".

"Oh…"

"Oh? C'mon, get it off your chest."

Glenn sighed and closed his eyes. He really didn't want to tell this story to anyone, especially Maggie. "There was a guy, Brad, who was in a couple of my classes my junior and senior year of high school. He was a smart guy, didn't have to study, played baseball."

"Not bad so far."

Glenn cocked an eyebrow at her, but continued. "Yeah, but most of us knew he was a suck up and a back-stabber. He would cheat on a test, and because he was pulling down good grade anyway, it would look like you were cheating off of him. Teachers thought he was a shining star and his parents thought he was a mini-god. And he selected one guy in each of his classes to just torment."

"He hurt you?" Maggie asked, concerned.

"Physically, no, no, he was just a jerk who liked to make people look, feel stupid." Glenn became quiet.

Maggie thought for a moment. "I met a Brad when I was in college." Glenn looked at her quizzically.

"Not bad looking, good build, smart, but…"

"But, what?"

"But he had a sleaze factor."

"How so?"

"He had no sense of personal space. When you called him on it, he acted like you were kidding, like your space didn't matter. Then, if you complained, he'd make it seem like you were upset because he broke up with you."

"Did he do that with you?"

"No, but, he drove my roommate out. She said it wasn't worth the hassle and she was homesick anyway. After that, he tried to give me the eye. He approached me outside my room one evening."

Glenn looked at her as intensely as his headache would allow. "He…"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I'd just come in from having pizza and beers. I wasn't drunk, but I was full."

Glenn's brow furrowed in puzzlement, which also made his head hurt. "Wha-what?"

Maggie chuckled at his quizzical expression. "I puked on him."

"You…?"

"I put my finger down my throat and puked on him, from mid-chest to his shoes. He howled and that brought other people out of their rooms to witness me telling him I didn't really think he was my type."

Glenn gave a pain-laced chuckle. "Wow." Then, "Do you remember his name?"

Maggie thought about it for a moment. "I knew it, but I can't recall…"

"The guy I had to deal with was 'Thorn' as in, a thorn in my side."

Maggie jabbed her finger in Glenn's face. "That's it! His name was 'Thorn', Brad Thorn!"

Glenn's face brightened. "No way, 'Brad Thorn'? What are the odds we'd both know the same jerk?"

"Six degrees of separation" Maggie said brightly.

They spent the next few minutes comparing notes on the appearance of this person and finally, settled into a brief, comfortable quiet.

Then, "So, we've had a connection, all this time." She smiled. "You hurry up and get better. You need to make a pharmacy run." She said, still smiling.

Glenn's smile faltered. 'I've been down this road before; didn't like the trip.' He watched her closely, "Why?"

Maggie looked at him coyly and whispered, "We need more supplies."

Glenn's heart began to pound in his chest, "You come with?"

Maggie appeared to consider the request.

"What supplies do I need to pick up?" wanting to delay her rejection.

"Well," she drawled, "there are several things we might look for, but," she leaned in and whispered, "we're down to one condom."

Glenn looked into Maggie's sparkling eyes and repeated his question, "Come with?"

Maggie's smile widened further.

"Oh, yes."

Now, it was Glenn's turn to smile broadly.

~fin~

A/N: Wayne Dunlap was the name given to the walker, killed in the alley behind the department store and used to make their escape in the episode, 'Guts'.