Chapter 1 / Light and Dark
(Kinzley Greene's POV)
"Kinzy it's only for a few days, just until the boy is better." My dad reassured me after revealing we would be letting the boy's group onto our fenced in, almost completely untouched, beautiful farm. The boy, whose name was Carl, was shot by Otis and was now in a coma like state. His parents, Rick and Lori, were here too but they told a story of their group on the highway which Maggie had confirmed when she went to get Lori. "Please just be nice." Rolling my eyes I stood and walked to my room leaving my father behind in the kitchen.
My father believed and trusted Maggie more than me. When I told him of the dangers he was putting our family into he scolded me and told me to stop trying to make drama. This had put the family in a fight. Beth and I had agreed that bringing strange people we didn't know or trust into our farm was a bad idea while Maggie and my father said the group need to be safe. Patricia and Jimmy just stayed out saying it was a 'Greene Family Dilemma'.
As I reached my room I locked the door behind me making sure no one could get in. Let's just say Maggie likes to barge in unannounced. Sighing I slipped my boots off before crawling into bed and tugging my covers up to my chin. My eyes met the picture of my older brother before I turned over and closed my eyes. I wouldn't think of what happened to him, my father wouldn't tell my anyways. Wiping a single tear away I snuggled into my bed and decided a nap would be best.
"Kinzy!" Maggie's voice yelled through the door as the sound of my doorknob jiggling woke me. Groggily I sat up and rubbed my head as I looked around.
"What?" I called sounding just a bit sleep drunk. I heard Maggie sigh and the doorknob stopped jiggling.
"We need to get rocks for Otis' funeral." Maggie called back softly reminding me of what one of the group had done. Otis and a man named Shane had gone to get something for Carl but only Shane had returned. Sighing I got out of bed and unlocked the door allowing Maggie to enter as I found my boots and pulled them on. Maggie didn't say anything knowing Otis was a sore subject to me. Otis had been like my second dad seeing as mine kicked me out often.
Once I had my boots on I followed Maggie out to where Beth, Jimmy, Patricia, Shane, Glenn, T-Dog, and my father were. Glenn and T-Dog were also part of the group but Glenn was too innocent and shy to hurt people and T-Dog had a severe blood infection that rendered him weaker than normal. Sighing I started gathering rocks and tossing them into the wheelbarrow, making sure they were big so Otis' shrine could be big.
My head snapped up as I heard the roar of a motorcycle. Over the fields were a motorcycle, a RV and a car heading towards us. The group had arrived. Pissed I threw the large rock I was holding into the wheelbarrow before storming back to the house. I didn't even have a chance on keeping them out.
Eventually the rest of the family, and the other three, came inside. My anger radiated from me as I sat at the dining table. Glenn had tried to apologize but my glare sent him running for the hills. "Kinzley." My father's voice rang out behind me. "Let's go." His hand met my shoulder but I shrugged him off and waited for him to leave before leaving myself.
"How is he?" An older man, maybe a few years younger than my father, asked as they all stared at us. Calmly I jumped onto the railing and leaned against a pillar.
"He'll pull through," Lori responded as she nodded. "Thanks to Hershel and his people." She looked at my father as she mentioned us.
"And Shane." Rick cut in making me glare at the man. Shane had done nothing but bring back a tool needed for surgery and leave my family to die. "We'd have lost Carl if it wasn't for him." Scoffing I covered my mouth so no-one would hear. A silence was held for a second before the group started to hug and I rolled my eyes.
"How'd it happen?" The older man asked.
"Hunting accident." Rick responded. "That's all - just a stupid accident." Pissed off at this situation I jumped from the railing onto the stairs and walked down them. Rick's eyes caught mine and he could see I was angry.
"Let's go, before it's dark." I growled out as I walked away. When I heard no steps behind me I stopped. "I'd advise you to follow me or I will memorialize the man killed for your son by myself." With that I returned to walking and to no surprise there was many pairs of footsteps behind me. As we reached the spot that was for Otis I pulled the wheelbarrow out. Looking around I quickly turned as I felt my tears burning my eyes. Beth's fingers entangled with mine as she realized what was happening. Picking up a rock I kissed it softly before laying it down. A silent goodbye.
My hand stayed clasped with Beth's as all the people on the farm, excluding Carl, placed a rock on the growing pile. The only time I let go was when Beth had to place her rock down but immediately after our hands connected once again. I was very protective of Beth.
"Blessed be God, father of our lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in grace." My heart pounded as my father spoke, my eyes burning as I held back tears. "Shane, will you speak for Otis?" At this I looked to Shane who looked utterly confused.
"I'm not good at it." Shane grumbled. "I'm sorry." His voice was barely loud enough to be heard.
"You were the last one with him." Patricia, who was married to Otis, sobbed. "You shared his final moments." Her tear stricken face could bring anyone to their knees. "Please." She begged "I need to hear." Another sob was rising in her throat, it was evident in her voice. "I need to know his death had meaning." Tears poured from her eyes.
"Okay." Shane's barely audible voice agreed. As he started his story I pulled Beth into my arms and rocked her softly, her tears soaking into my shirt. Shane didn't cry, his speech wasn't long but at the end he limped to the memorial and placed his rock on it.
"How long has this girl been missing?" My father asked as we surrounded one of the trucks. By we I meant Maggie, my father, Shane, some blonde girl, and a very dirty man with a crossbow.
"This'll be day three." Rick responded as Maggie came up with the map and spread it out on the truck's hood.
"County survey map." She stated proudly, a smile on her face. "Shows terrain and elevations." She placed two stones at the top to keep it in place.
"This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams." Rick planned as he looked at the map.
"Not you, not today." My father stated. "You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." He explained as everyone looked at him. "And your ankle-" The attention was now pointed at Shane. "Push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody."
"Guess it's just me." The dirty man stated. His voice shocked me. He was country like us. "I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there." He leaned over and pointed to a creek.
"I can still be useful." Shane stated. "I'll drive up the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back." Rick nodded along.
"Alright, tomorrow than." Rick responded. "We'll start doing this right."
"That means we can't have people out there with just knives." Shane pushed. "They need the gun training we've been promising them."
"I'd prefer you not carry guns on my property." My father said tiredly. "We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp." This was an armed camp, he just didn't know what his daughter carried.
"All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here…" Shane trailed off as he took off his police hat.
"Look, we're guests here. This is your property and we will respect that." Rick pointed his gaze at Shane as if he knew he would do something stupid. Then he pulled his revolver from the holster and laid it on the hood. Sighing Shane pulled out his pistol and dropped it on the hood too. "First things first: set camp, find Sophia."
"Hate to be the one to ask, but someone's got to." Shane hissed slightly as he released his lip from the bite he had going. "What happens if we find her and she's bit?" He asked. "I think we should all be clear on how to handle that."
"You do what has to be done." Rick sighed, it was obviously hard giving permission to do this.
"And her mother? What do you tell her?" Maggie asked making me jump slightly. I had honestly forgotten she was here.
"The truth." The blonde sighed as Shane took his gun off the hood.
"I'll gather and secure all the weapons." Shane said. "Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off site. I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience." I'll just go and assume that would be the older gentleman who drove the RV. They all turned to face my father.
"Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." Rick tried to reason with my father as he weighed the option in his head. A few seconds passed and my father nodded his head. "Thank you."
"That stuff you brought, got more antibiotics, bandages, anything like that?" Maggie asked Rick as Shane, the dirty man, and I all walked away. I needed to brush the horses anyways. "Hey!" I stopped and turned slightly to look at Maggie. "Two." She stated softly and I nodded before continuing on to the barn.
First think I did was clean up the two horses Maggie would need to do a run, checking to make sure they were ready to go and saddled up when they came around. Maggie thanked me with a hug before leaving with Glenn. Then I returned to the other horses.
"Hey, you." The gruff voice of the man from before made me jump slightly and drop my brush before turning to him. "Does daddy know you're packing?" Smirking I shook my head and pushed my hands into my back pockets. "Good. Let's go." He came across the stable and grabbed my elbow, pulling me towards the exit.