Caravan

This chapter is set the day after Merle and Beth's fight at the prison, which is the day before the Greene's leave the prison.

"Car!" yelled Carl from the tower. Rick quickly turned from his garden bed to see a plume of dust in the distance. "Get down Carl!" he yelled, gesturing for Tyreese to replace Carl in the tower. Damn it, he thought. The Governor's knocking on our door and we're missing Daryl and Merle. His blood chilled at the thought of Daryl and Merle being captured. "Get everyone inside! Defense positions!," he yelled to Carl.

Thirty minutes later Rick ran up to the tower. The dust was much closer but the car hadn't showed up yet. They must be going 10 miles an hour. He frowned as he looked through his binoculars. Horses and wagons? Am I hallucinating again? He handed the binoculars to Tyreese who looked for a long minute then glanced at Rick in surprise.
"You see it too," said Rick and Tyreese nodded in surprise. Tyreese grinned. "Feel like I'm in Bonanza" he quipped. "Good ole Lorne Green gonna come 'round the corner!"

Slowly the caravan wound its way to the prison gate. It was led by a gore-splattered Humvee and tailed by a dusty and dented Cadillac Escalade. In between were several vehicles including farm tractors and two horse-drawn wagons with makeshift tarp covers. Duct tape applied to the tarps of the biggest one spelled out 'FAITH' on the sides. Horses, cows and even a donkey were tied to some of the vehicles and a group of mixed breed dogs followed faithfully, dropping to their bellies with sighs of relief under the wagons when the caravan stopped. Curious chickens poked their heads out from under the tarps and women in old fashioned long sleeved dresses soothed curious children in the vehicles. The verse "Proverbs 3:6" was spray painted on the sides of the Humvee.

Rick and Tyreese stood fast in the tower, their guns trained on the lead vehicle. Slowly the grizzled man who drove the largest horse-drawn wagon climbed down, his hands in the air to signal peace. "DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND STATE YOUR BUSINESS!" shouted Rick, training his gun on the man. "AND WE'RE PATROLLED ALL ROUND SO DON'T TRY TO SEND ANYONE THROUGH THE BACK!" The grizzled man yelled something to the other wagon driver and motioned for the people in vehicles to stay put. The other wagon driver slowly dropped the reins and joined his companion and both of them laid their weapons on the ground. Their hands were in the air as they stepped back from their weapons. Rick noticed that the men were also dressed in dated clothes similar to the Mennonite style.

"WE MEAN NO HARM GOOD NEIGHBOR," replied the older man. "WE ARE SPREADING GOD'S WORD AND GATHERING HIS FOLLOWERS ON A JOURNEY TO ZION." Rick and Tyreese looked at each other in disbelief. Jehovah's Witnesses in the apocalypse? Rick caught the twinkle in Tyreese's eye and both of them turned momentarily from the overlook, spluttering in laughter at the absurdity of the situation. Most of the time they'd be skeptical of visitors, but neither of them doubted that this group was the real deal. Rick eventually pulled himself together and nodded to the stairwell.

Carl joined them at the gate and Rick motioned for him to give the all's well message to the rest of the group then he turned to question the group about their intentions. By the time he had ascertained that they were acting as a travelling Christian mission on their way to a religious compound a small crowd of the prison group had gathered at the gate. Hershel was the last to arrive. As the religious group discussed their philosophies on God's reasons for the apocalypse Rick noticed a small herd of walkers coming out of the woods. "Walkers," he warned the men. The men smiled. "We are under God's protection brother. We walk with the animals."

Rick frowned, clearly thinking that the men were crazy. The men turned to their caravan and motioned for attention. "Brother Peter!" shouted the grizzled man and a man in his thirties emerged from one of the wagons. Rick couldn't hear what the man said to the dogs but was surprised to see them leap to attention at his feet. With another command they raced to the herd of walkers, barking and yipping. They quickly herded and surrounded the walkers then systematically pulled them down, ripping at their legs. The man calmly approached the downed walkers and with assistance from the dogs easily dispatched them with a knife. Another command had the dogs jumping gleefully around his legs then racing back for the coolness of the shade.

Beth had accompanied Hershel to the gate and watched with her mouth open. Her father crept closer to the gate and she was surprised when he called to the man. "Peter!" called Hershel. "Peter Claassen?" The man turned around in surprise and squinted in the sun, then approached the gate. "Hershel Greene?" he asked in a soft voice. "Peter!" replied Hershel with a wide smile. "I thank God for your safety." Hershel looked at Rick and said, "These people pose no threat Rick. Peter is a Mennonite from my area, I treated his animals and shared many interesting discussions about the Bible. His family is one of the best I've known. I'd stake my life on his word."

Rick nodded and allowed the group to enter and spend the night behind the fence. Conversations lasted through dinner and into the night. Rick's group told the caravan about Woodbury and the threat of the Governor while the caravan leaders told them of the compound named Zion. "Hundreds of acres of lush farmland Hershel, in the state of Tennessee not long from the Georgia border. Sweet clean water from the hills and like-minded people who have established order from chaos. The Jerusalem of the New World, Hershel, governed under God's law of love." They explained that three of the elders of their group had visited Zion to evaluate its safety months ago and had excitedly returned for their families, forming the caravan that now snaked its way slowly north.

Hershel spent the early morning hours soberly contemplating their situation and approached his daughters in the early morning hours. At breakfast they informed Rick of their painful decision. Hershel, Beth, Maggie and Glenn were leaving immediately for Zion.

TWDTWDTWD TWDTWDTWD TWDTWDTWD TWDTWDTWD TWDTWDT

The dented pickup truck that Daryl had used for the hunt pulled up to the gate at sundown. Once in the inner compound Daryl swung angrily out of the truck. "Get anything?" asked Rick uneasily. "Yeah," spat Daryl. "A drunk asshole." Daryl jerked the passenger seat open and Merle fell out onto the asphalt swearing. "The fuck lil' brother?" he slurred. Both men had split knuckles and bruised faces, evidence of a Dixon disagreement. "Hey Friendly," said Merle brightly. "Ain't got no deer but we brought us back a metric shitload a moonshine." He laughed and laid back comfortably on the asphalt. "Send that lil' church girl out here, we got some makin' up to do," he rasped as he thrust his hips in the air to simulate sex. "She ain't gotta apologize, I can think of other things she can do with her mouth."

Merle grunted loudly as Daryl's boot connected with his rib. "Oops," growled Daryl as he walked by to retrieve some rabbit carcasses out of the truck bed. He turned to find Carol standing next to Rick and walked towards her to hand her the rabbits. He stopped when he saw the grim set of her mouth and the tears in her eyes. She was hugging her middle. " 'S wrong?," he asked, worried. "Somethin' wrong with the baby?" Carol shook her head and sobbed, walking into his arms. He looked at Rick, who combed his hand through his hair in defeat. "Glenn. The Greenes," he said tiredly. "They're gone."

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