Sobs tore from Beth's chest as she stood in Jimmy's embrace, her eyes trained on the dead laying unmoving on the ground. Amity knew that her step-mother and step-brother had been a part of the walkers in the barn and she couldn't even fathom how devastating the massacre had to be for the young girl.
Amity felt a presence next to her and looked to see that Daryl had knelt down beside of her, his eyes searching her face before one of his hands rose and hovered over her cheek that was still bleeding something fierce.
"Yer gonna need stitches." He told her, his voice softer than she expected as she just looked at him, words not coming to her mind.
"We need to stop the bleeding, girl." He added, carefully reaching out to grab her arms and pull her to her feet with him just as Beth broke away from her boyfriend and stumbled towards the fallen undead.
"Wait." Rick told the girl, reaching out for her but Beth pushed past him, grief overcoming her as she fell to her knees beside the body of a female walker that Amity assumed was once her step-mother. The girl shoved the body of another walker off of the female one, rolling her over as she sobbed.
"Momma-" She sobbed, but all at once the walker reanimated, its disgusting hands grasping at the girl just as everyone converged to get her to safety, her screams echoing across the farm.
"Pull her away!" Rick yelled, finally getting the blonde free just as Andrea came up and skewered the walker's skull with a scythe, ending the terror but not the Greene family's pain.
A touch on her cheek had a hiss of pain escaping Amity, her eyes turning to see that it was Daryl wiping away some of the blood with the rag he always kept in his back pocket before pressing it firmly against her wound.
"Don't be a pussy about it." He told her and Amity let out a laugh that was a mixture of a chuckle and a sob.
The pair followed the Greene family back towards their house, Amity wanted to wait and give the group time to grieve before bothering them but the man at her side wouldn't hear it. Rationally, she knew that she had to get the cut stitched and disinfected before she got an infection like T-Dog had, but her compassionate side wanted her to do otherwise.
She let Daryl keep her moving along, her mind still in a bit of shock with everything that had happened, grief weighing heavy in her chest. It seemed that everything couldn't just be left alone though as footsteps came up from behind them and Shane and Rick joined their little posse.
"We've been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along?" Shane growled at the farmer. "You knew."
"Leave us alone!" Maggie snapped at him.
"Hey, Shane, just stop, man." Rick implored the man, moving to guide him away from the family.
"Get your hands off me." Shane snapped in response, carrying on in a way that had Amity stepping closer to Daryl, her hand hovering protectively over her cheek as she kept pressure on it.
Hershel went to speak, perhaps to defend himself, but Shane was having none of it.
"You knew and you kept it from us." He declared.
"I didn't know." Hershel told him.
"That's bullshit! I think y'all knew."
"We didn't know!" Maggie snapped back at him.
"Why was she there?!" Shane asked in response.
"Otis put those people in the barn. Maybe he found her and- and put her in there before he was killed." Hershel tried to reason, coming to a stop just in front of the porch of his house.
"You expect me to believe that?" Shane asked, stepping into the man's space. "Do I look like an idiot to you?"
"Shane, hey hey hey." Rick tried to intervene.
"I don't care what you believe!" Hershel yelled and Amity was glad to see the older man wasn't letting Shane run him over.
"Everybody just calm down." Rick insisted.
"Get him off my land!" Hershel told him.
"Please. No." Rick pleaded, trying his best to keep the already out of hand situation from exploding further.
"Let me tell you something." Shane began, stepping up into Hershel's space and pressing a hand to his chest.
"Hey!" Maggie snapped, lunging forward and pushing the man back before her hand made sharp contact with his face. "Don't touch him!" She yelled.
Amity moved closer to the pair then as Glenn and Daryl did, ready to intervene if the man went after the farmer's daughter but it seemed that he at least had more sense than that.
"Haven't you done enough?" Maggie asked him, storming into the house.
"I mean it- off my land." Hershel restated before following his daughters.
Patricia hesitated on the porch, sad eyes landing on Amity and she beckoned the woman forward and up the steps, Daryl following as a constant protective presence just behind her.
"I think it's best that the least amount of you are near this house as possible right now." Patricia told the man, stopping at the front door as she looked back at him.
"I ain't leaving her to have y'all pour your anger out on-" Daryl began hotly, but Amity stopped him by placing a slender hand on his shoulder.
"I'll be fine, Dixon. Go find Carol for me... for you- she doesn't need to be alone." Amity told him, holding his gaze for a long moment before he finally nodded, taking a step back with his eyes still on her before turning and heading across the yard towards the RV.
"Come on into the kitchen with me, hun." Patricia said, breaking Amity out of her small daze so that she could follow the woman along and take a seat in one of the chairs.
"Move the rag." Patricia insisted and Amity did so, watching the woman's eyes to see how bad it was, but Patricia wasn't the type to sugarcoat things for her anyways.
"It's a nasty gash- not clean cut at all." She told her, grabbing a wet cloth and began to wipe away the excess blood the best she could. "It's going to need a few stitches... and it's most likely gonna scar."
At that revelation Amity sighed but held her tongue, it wasn't the time or place to hold vanity to any kind of standard. She just hated that every time she or someone else looked at her face, they would be reminded of all that had happened that day.
"Stitch me up then, doc- I want to get out to help with everything." Amity told her, using a bit of humor to hide what she was feeling, and the woman nodded, her lips pressing together tightly before she began.
Twenty minutes later, Amity was heading back down to the barn, her blue eyes guarded as she took in the bodies all over the ground and the people who stood around. She went to T-Dog's side, the large man placing a comforting hand on her shoulder before he spoke.
"You want us to start burying?" He asked Rick.
"We need a service." Andrea cut in. "Carol would want that."
"Yeah, we all want that." T-Dog agreed.
"Let's- let's dig a grave for Sophia, and Annette and Shawn, uh, over by those trees." Lori said after a moment's pause. "And we'll need a truck to move the bodies."
"I'll get the keys." Jimmy said, moving forward to do so but Shane stopped him.
"No no." He said, before heading off. "I got the truck."
"And the others?" Jimmy asked. "That's a lot of digging."
"We bury the ones we love and burn the rest." Amity said, all eyes turning to her for a long moment and she knew they were looking at the large bandage that covered her cheek.
"Let's get to work." Lori said then, breaking the silence as everyone began moving.
Amity immediately went over to Sophia's side, seeing that someone had taken the time to cover the little girl's body with a blanket- an action that Amity appreciated more than anything in that moment.
She didn't know if she could handle seeing the bullet hole in her head or the bite on her shoulder. She didn't know if she could keep it together if she had to see her like that again.
"It's not your fault... you know that right?" Andrea said, coming up beside of her and resting a hand on her back.
Amity looked at the small body under the blankets before turning cold blue eyes to the blonde woman, shaking her head in response.
"I promised Carol I'd find her- that I wouldn't stop until I did." She whispered, her voice breaking a bit.
"You did find her... we all did." Andrea told her. "It might not have been how we wanted, but at least now we know. You can stop now- you need to stop."
At that, Amity was torn between falling into the other woman's arms and sobbing against her or standing and getting back to work. After a moment of steeling herself against the pain that lingered in her chest, Amity chose the latter and stood, moving away from Sophia's body to grab one of the other dead walkers and begin piling them up where they could put them in the truck.
Only once the holes were dug and the bodies of their loved ones were moved did Amity head off to find Carol. She went to the RV first, assuming she was in there and met a familiar pair of Georgia blues as she entered the vehicle.
"They're ready." Amity told the pair, her voice gentle. She watched as Carol lightly shook her head at her, barely glancing her way.
"Come on." She said again, trying to get the woman up and moving.
"Why?" Carol asked suddenly, catching Amity off guard and she found that she didn't have the words to respond.
"'Cause that's yer little girl." Daryl said, cutting in.
"That's not my little girl." Carol told him, shaking her head as she looked out the window of the RV. "That's some other thing. My Sophia was alone in the woods." She continued, her words having Amity's eyes being drawn to her feet out of guilt. "All this time I thought... but she didn't cry herself to sleep. She didn't go hungry. She didn't try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago."
Amity looked to Daryl, watching the man's jaw jump as he looked at Carol, the pain and anger on his face evident as he let out a small scoff and pushed himself to his feet, moving past Amity and out of the RV then.
"We'll be over by the grove... if you want to join." Amity told the woman and when she received no response she backed down the steps, wanting to give the woman some space to grieve.
Once out of the RV, Amity turned and picked up her pace so that she could catch up with Daryl.
"What'd they say about yer face?" He asked, his voice a low grumble.
"I just had to get a couple of stitches like you said... Patricia said it's going to scar though." She revealed, shaking her head a bit.
Daryl's shoulders seemed to tense at that, anger clear in the lines of his body.
"Hey, it's alright, Dixon. Don't get your panties in a twist over the loss of my pretty face." Amity told him, trying to keep her voice light to diffuse the situation.
The man rounded on her, surprising Amity as they both came to a stop.
"It ain't alright!" He snapped at her. "Is that all ya know how to say? This is okay, that's okay- it's all bullshit! Ya got yerself knocked around and scarred up by a psycho, the little girl is dead, and yer getting on my damned nerves!" He yelled.
Amity looked at him with a bit of shock and bit back her temper that threatened to flare up and consume her. He was hurting. She knew he was hurting. She wasn't going to let him make her snap back, but she also wasn't going to let him take his anger and pain out on her.
No, Shane had already done that.
The redhead pushed past her tent mate without a second glance, heading up towards the grave sites to join the rest of their group for the quick service for Sophia, Anette, and Shawn. Amity was a bit disappointed that Carol never joined them, but she knew the woman had her reasons.
After the ceremony, blue eyes followed Daryl as he stormed off into the woods, his crossbow over his shoulder. She debated with herself for a moment on whether to go after him or not, but she knew that she would be wanting her space if she took the time to go off and so she would give him his.
Instead she returned to the house with Beth, Maggie, and Glenn, her arm resting lightly across the shoulders of the young blonde as they climbed the steps to the house. She followed her into the kitchen and once she began to wash up dishes, Amity moved to join her- taking the rinsed plates and drying them off before setting them aside on a drying rack to finish the process.
The redhead was trying her best not to listen in on Glenn and Maggie's conversation in the next room when suddenly Beth collapsed next to her.
"Maggie!" She yelled out, falling to her knees next to the blonde girl and trying her best to steady the washing tub that the girl threatened to pull down on top of her.
Maggie immediately sprinted into the room, panic clear on her face.
"What happened?" Maggie asked her and Amity shook her head.
"I don't know! She just collapsed!" She explained and together Maggie and Glenn got Beth up and into her room, laying her on the bed.
Glenn and Amity both stood to the side while Maggie hovered over her sister, only looking up from her once Lori entered the room.
"What's wrong with her?" Lori asked them.
"She might be in shock." Amity said softly, looking between the two women.
"Where's Hershel?" Lori questioned and the trio shrugged.
"We can't find him anywhere." Glenn told her.
Lori left the room and returned with Rick and Shane a few moments later, the men leading the way to Hershel's room before they began to dig through his things, trying to find a hint about where he went.
"Your stepmother's things?" Rick wondered, looking at the more feminine things in the room.
"He was so sure she'd recover." Maggie explained. "That they'd just pick up where they left off."
Amity's heart went out to the older man, even if he was misled, it was out of love.
"Looks like he found an old friend." Shane piped up, tossing a metal flask to Rick.
"That belonged to my grandfather, gave it to dad when he died." Maggie told them.
"I didn't take Hershel for a drinker." Rick said, looking the flask over.
"No, he gave it up on the day I was born. He didn't even allow liquor in the house." Maggie revealed.
"What's the bar in town?" Amity wondered, picking up the obvious hesitance of a previous addict.
"Hatlin's. He practically lived there in his drinking days." Maggie told her.
"Betting that's where I'll find him." Rick said.
"Yeah, I've seen the place." Glenn cut in. "I'll take you."
"I'll come too." Amity added and the men in the room all exchanged looks.
"I'm barely injured, not useless." She snapped, cutting eyes at Shane specifically as if daring him to tell her she should stay back due to the injury he gave her.
"Alright, I'll get the truck." Rick said finally, conceding to letting her tag along.
"Okay." Glenn agreed but Maggie cut in front of him.
"N-no." She protested.
"It's an easy run." Glenn insisted.
"Like the pharmacy?" Maggie retorted, and Amity really wanted to leave the room in that moment but Rick was standing in her way.
"Hey, Maggie?" He said, gaining the woman's attention. "I'll bring him back." He promised.
"Yeah, Mags. I won't let anything happen to Glenny." Amity added with a smile before following Rick out of the room as Glenn tried to convince Maggie that he would be fine.
"Rick?" Lori's voice sounded from behind the pair, making them both stop. "You want to have a conversation about this before you leave?"
"So you're seriously gonna go after this guy with everything that's going on, huh? " Shane added, joining the conversation, making Amity tense considerably.
"He's right." Lori agreed with the man and Amity couldn't help but shake her head, leaning back against the wall of the hallway.
"This is not the time to head off, not today. You don't always have to-" She began, but Rick cut her off.
"I'm not arguing." He said firmly. "It's the least I can do for Hershel after we-"
"What?" Shane interjected. "After we what?"
"After we slaughtered what were people to him in front of his entire family." Amity said, cutting in. "After we disobeyed and disrespected him on his own land. After you went off the deep end!" She snapped, but Rick was already turning her away and pushing her gently down the hall.
"Leave it, Amity. Go get the truck." He told her and the redhead hesitated only a moment before listening to him and heading outside.
It wasn't long before Rick joined her as she was adjusting her bow on her shoulder, giving her weapons a quick rundown to make sure they were still in good working order.
"You ready?" She asked the man as he approached.
"Just waiting on Glenn." He told her, giving a pointed glance back to the house where Glenn and Maggie were saying a rather intimate good-bye.
"Gotcha." Amity said with an amused shake of her head, climbing into the back of the vehicle and stretching out across the seat while Glenn climbed in the passenger side door.
"Y'all are just precious." Amity said from the backseat as Rick started the car and pulled out of the driveway. She had been waiting for the chance to tease Glenn about Maggie and here it was. "The cupcake phase is always obnoxiously adorable in a way."
"Maggie said she loves me." Glenn said suddenly, cutting across Amity's attempts of teasing him.
The redhead fell silent, not expecting that, but Rick just nodded his head.
"Mm-hmm."
"She doesn't mean it." Glenn said simply. "I mean, she can't. I mean- well... s-she's upset or confused." He tried to reason. "She's probably feeling, like-"
"I think she's smart enough to know what she's feeling." Rick cut in and Amity nodded.
"No. No." Glenn disagreed, pulling a chuckle from Rick as Amity just moved forward to lean her elbows on the back of Rick's seat so she could better look at Glenn.
"No, you know what? She wants to be in love, so she's- she needs something to- to, like- to hold onto." Glenn went on.
"Glenn, it's pretty obvious to everyone Maggie loves you, and not just because you're one of the last men standing." Rick told the younger man.
"So what's the problem?" Amity asked and Glenn hesitated a moment.
"I didn't say it back." He admitted.
"Oh goodness." Amity said quietly and Glenn shot her a panicked look.
"I've just never had a woman say that to me before- except my mom, of course, and my sisters." He defended. "B-but with Maggie, it's different. We barely know each other. What- what does she really know about me?" He asked before answering his own question, trying to make a point. "Nothing. We're practically strangers. But I- I didn't know what to do with it. I just stood there like a jerk."
"Hey." Rick said, getting the man's attention. "Hey, this is a good thing, something we don't get enough of these days. Enjoy it and when we get back, return the favor. It's not like she's going anywhere."
"It's okay to not know what to do in that situation, Glenn- it's a big thing. At least you didn't respond with 'I love cake' or something." Amity told him, not being able to resist the reference that seemed to fall flat with the other two in the car, leaving her frowning at the back of their heads.
"Rick?" Glenn said as they came to a stop in the town. "I know about Lori- her being pregnant."
"What?" Amity said, her voice a squeak and Glenn turned around to look at her with wide eyes as if he had forgotten that she was there before looking back to Rick.
"It's fine." Rick reassured him, glancing back at Amity as well.
"Why didn't y'all say anything?" She asked them both but Rick just shook his head.
"We wanted to wait." He told her and the woman paused before nodding. It was their news so she figured that was fair enough.
"I'd appreciate it if you kept it to yourself as well." Rick added and Amity nodded once more before climbing out of the car.
"Hey, I'm sorry I kept it from you." Glenn was saying to Rick as he got out of the car as well a moment later, Amity apparently having had missed a bit of the conversation.
"Don't be." Rick told him. "You did what you thought was right. It just so happens it wasn't."
Amity left the men to their devices as she walked ahead of them, her bow up and ready to be drawn back at the first sign of any danger.
Lori strode across the field from the house, her sights set on the figure in the distance that was sat beside the ruins of an old stone house.
"Moving to the suburbs?" The woman called out as she approached, squatting down to be eye-level with the man she had been looking for.
"Listen, Beth's in some kind of catatonic shock." She explained. "We need Hershel."
"Yeah." The man replied, his voice a low mutter. "So what?"
"So I need you to run into town real quick and bring him and Rick back." Lori told him, waiting a moment for a response but being met with nothing but silence.
"Daryl?" She insisted.
"Your bitch went window-shopping. You want him? Fetch him yourself." He told her, his knife scraping against the wood of the stick in his hand. "I got better things to do."
"What's the matter with you?" Lori asked him "Why would you be so selfish?"
"Selfish?" Daryl echoed, anger flaring as he stood to face the woman. "Listen to me, Olive Oyl. I's out there looking for that little girl every single day. I took a bullet and an arrow in the process." He reminded her. "Don't you tell me about me getting my hands dirty! You want those two idiots? Have a nice ride. I'm done lookin' for people."
"Amity went with him." Lori said only a second after his outburst, giving it one last try.
"What?" Daryl asked, moving a step closer to her.
"Amity- she went with Rick and Glenn into town to find Hershel." Lori clarified.
Daryl stood still a moment, his mind racing before he stalked back and forth just in front of the brunette woman.
"So what? If the damned woman wants to get herself killed then let her! Damned girl's got herself a death wish anyway." He spat, moving back to where he had been sitting before, the knife in his hand trembling a bit as he rested it against the stick, not bringing himself to continue working on the arrow he was crafting.
"I'm done lookin' for people." He muttered to himself as Lori stalked away from him and back towards the house.
"Hershel." Rick called out as they entered the bar, closing the doors behind them after they spotted the old man sat at the bar.
"Who's with you?" Hershel asked, not even bothering to look back at them.
"Glenn and Amity." Rick told him.
"Maggie sent them?"
"No, they volunteered. They're good like that." Rick explained. "How many have you had?"
"Not enough."
"Let's finish this up back at home. Beth collapsed and is in some sort of state. Must be in shock. I think you are too." Rick told the older man, leaning against the bar next to him.
"Maggie's with her?"
"Yeah, but Beth needs you."
"What could I do? She needs her mother- or rather to mourn like she should've done weeks ago. I robbed her of that. I see that now." Hershel told him, sounding broken in a way that had Amity shifting uncomfortably.
"You thought there was a cure." Rick insisted. "Can't blame yourself for holding out for hope."
"Hope?" Hershel echoed, scoffing. "When I first saw you running across my field with your boy in your arms, I had little hope he would survive."
"But he did." Rick insisted.
"He did." Hershel agreed. "Even though we lost Otis. Your man Shane made it back and we saved your boy. That was the miracle that proved to me miracles do exist." He said, his voice raising a bit, causing Amity to look back at the doors and windows warily. "Only it was a sham, a bait and switch. I was a fool, Rick, and you people saw that."
Silence hung in the air for a long moment and Amity exchanged a look with Glenn.
"My daughters deserve better than that." Hershel said finally before finishing off his drink and pouring him another. Amity moved forward, rounding the bar so that she could peruse the selection the place had to offer.
Her fingertips danced across dusty glass bottles, her eyes scanning the labels as she looked over what she thought would be good to take back, maybe as a gift but maybe just for her to hold on to.
Rick and Glenn both moved back to the door, having a whispered conversation while Amity chose a bottle of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey Whiskey and leaned against the counter.
"So what do we do? Just wait for him to pass out?" Glenn asked Rick.
"Just go!" Hershel yelled over his shoulder at them.
"I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe." Rick told him.
"Like you promised that little girl?" Hershel asked him, a bitter chuckle leaving him and Amity twisted the cap off the bottle in her hands at that, bringing it to her lips.
"So what's your plan? Finish that bottle? Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?" Rick asked the older man, crossing the bar towards him.
"Stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm." Hershel snapped, rising to his feet. "You people are like a plague! I do the Christian thing, give you shelter, and you destroy it all!
"The world was already in bad shape when we met." Rick argued.
"And you take no responsibility! You're supposed to be their leader!" Hershel yelled.
Amity rested her bow on the bar top, putting it in easy reach if she needed it as there was no telling what the men's yelling would attract. She wasn't wanting to be an active participant in this conversation until she absolutely had to be. She didn't think highly of the man drinking away his sorrows while his family needed him, but she knew people handled things differently.
She would help if she had to, but until then she would just let Rick take the reins.
"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" Rick shot back.
"Yes. Yes, you are." Hershel said, his voice tight as he moved back to the bar and sat back down.
"Now come on." Rick told him, tugging on his arm. "Your girls need you now more than ever."
"I didn't want to believe you!" Hershel said loudly, pulling his arm from Rick's grasp. "You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe that, but when Shane shot Lou in the chest and she just kept coming- that's when I knew what an ass I'd been. That Annette had been dead long ago and I was feeding a rotten corpse! That's when I knew there was no hope. And when that little girl came out of the barn, the look on your face- I knew you knew it too. Right? There is no hope. And you know it now, like I do. Don't you?"
Rick looked between Glenn and Amity, seeing their eyes on him as they waited for his response.
"There is no hope for any of us." Hershel said again.
"I'm not doing this anymore- cleaning up after you." Rick told the man after a moment. "You know what the truth is? Nothing has changed. Death is death. It's always been there, whether it's from a heart attack, cancer, or a walker. What's the difference? You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you?" Rick asked. "Now there are people back at home trying to hang on. They need us, even if it's just to give them a reason to go on, even if we don't believe it ourselves."
"You know what?" Rick said, taking a moment. "This- this isn't about what we believe anymore. It's about them."
Hershel stared down at the bar for a moment, before nodding his head and throwing back the last bit of his drink. He sat the glass down on the bar topside down and moved to stand, making Amity smile as she snatched her bow off the counter, leaving behind the whiskey she found, ready to get out of this town and back to the farm.
The sound of the front doors opening had her looking to Glenn, spotting him a ways away from the door so her bow raised automatically as two men wandered inside, looking at them with surprise.
"Son of a bitch." One of them cursed. "They're alive."
Amity watched the men with cautious eyes as they made their way further into the bar, immediately making themselves comfortable around one of the tables. Rick had put a hand on Amity's wrist as they approached, causing her to lower her bow which she thought was a stupid choice- but she trusted Rick.
"I'm Dave." The skinner man announced. "That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony." He added, gesturing to his larger companion.
"Eat me, Dave." Tony said in response.
"Hey, maybe someday I will." Dave quipped back. "We met on I-95 coming out of Philly. Damn shit-show that was." He explained.
"I'm Glenn." Glenn chimed in from his place next to Amity, a smile on his face. "It's nice to meet some new people."
Amity wasn't sure she agreed with that.
"Rick Grimes." Rick introduced himself.
"How about you, pal? Have one?" Dave asked Hershel before offering the man a shot of the liquor he had just poured.
"I just quit." The farmer responded to the gesture.
"You've got a unique sense of timing, my friend." The man said back, trying to keep the mood light apparently.
Amity felt eyes on her and turned to see the larger man eyeing her up in a way that made her skin crawl. She looked between him and his friend, shifting a step closer to Glenn as she white-knuckled her bow.
"What's your name, sweetheart?" Tony asked then, his eyes still on Amity who just looked back at him without a word.
"What happened to your face?" Dave added, looking at the bandage that covered her cheek.
"Her name is Amity and he's Hershel. He lost people today, a lot of them." Rick answered at one of the men's questions, trying to keep the peace between them though Amity wasn't sure that was going to happen. Both of the men in front of them had bad vibes rolling off them in waves.
There was a moment of silence before Dave spoke again, seeming to be the mouthpiece of the pair.
"I'm truly sorry to hear that." He offered, before raising a shot up in toast. "To better days and new friends and to our dead- may they be in a better place."
With that the majority of the group took a shot save for Hershel and herself.
"Don't drink, little red?" Tony asked her and Amity raised a brow at the nickname.
"You know in some of the earlier versions of Little Red Riding hood, the girl kills the wolf." Amity told him with a sharp smile, causing the man to shift uncomfortably, his eyes looking to his companion.
Dave, however, seemed to be focused on Rick, who had spotted the gun he was carrying.
"Not bad, huh?" Dave said, pulling out the gun to show it to them. "I got it off a cop."
"I'm a cop." Rick told him.
"This one was already dead." Dave said with a small smile that wasn't really appropriate.
"You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia." Rick said, trying to break the tension.
"It feels like we're a long way from anywhere." Dave told him.
"Well, what drove you south?" Rick asked.
"Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather. I must've dropped thirty pounds in sweat alone down here." The man complained.
"I wish." Tony quipped, giving a small chuckle.
"No, first it was D.C.. We heard there might be some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close. We decided to get off the highways and into the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing." Dave told them.
"One guy told us there was the coast guard sitting in the gulf, sending ferries to the islands." Tony added.
"The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country- Kansas, Nebraska." Dave said with a nod.
"Nebraska?" Glenn asked, sounding confused.
"Low population, lots of guns." Tony explained.
"Kinda makes sense." Glenn agreed then.
"Ever been to Nebraska, kid? A reason they call 'em Flyover States." Dave told him, pulling a wheezing laugh out of Tony which had Amity nearly rolling her eyes.
"How about you guys?" Dave wondered, his eyes flickering to his companion's for a moment.
"Fort Benning, eventually." Rick replied.
"I hate to piss in your cornflakes, officer, but we ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains." Dave said, his voice low.
"Wait, Fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?" Glenn asked.
"Sadly, I am." Dave told him with a nod of his head. "Oddly, the truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab a hold of you when you sleep."
"If you sleep." Tony interjected.
"Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here." Dave said suddenly, sounding like he had been waiting for the moment to say something about it. "You holed up somewhere else?"
"Not really." Rick told him slowly.
"Those your cars out front?" Dave asked.
"Yeah, why?" Glenn replied, too at ease with the men which had Amity nudging his foot lightly with her own, giving him a pointed look when he met her gaze.
"We're living in ours. Those look kinda empty, clean. Where's all your gear?" Dave asked, his eyes jumping between the four of them.
"We're with a larger group out scouting, thought we could use a drink." Hershel covered.
"A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit." Dave said, not sounding convinced. "Well, we're thinking of setting up around here. Is it safe?"
"It can be, although I have killed a couple of walkers around here." Glenn answered, pulling his eyes from Amity who was still trying to get her message across to him that it wouldn't hurt him to be a little less friendly.
"Walkers? That what you call them?" Dave asked, sounding amused.
"Yeah." Glenn confirmed, letting out a small laugh.
"That's good. I like that. I like that better than lamebrains." Dave told them.
"More succinct." Tony added.
"Okay, Tony went to college." Dave said, taunting the man.
"Two years." Tony defended, like it was something to be ashamed of, but with how the conversation was going, maybe it was to them. Intelligence didn't seem to be the large man's strong point or he would have stopped leering at the redhead from the moment she wouldn't tell him her name.
An awkward silence settled over the bar, Amity shifting a bit on the balls of her feet. She wanted nothing more to be out of this situation and back in her tent, sleeping and hopefully getting another dose of painkillers since her cheek was killing her.
"So what- you guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development?" Dave wondered.
"Trailer park or something? A farm?" Tony asked, crossing the room for some reason.
"Old McDonald had a farm." Dave sang and Tony laughed. "You got a farm? E-i-e-i-o."
It was then that the sound of running water hit Amity's ears and she realized that Tony had went to the corner to relieve himself inside of the building like a poorly trained animal.
She let out a scoff of disgust, shaking her head and noticed Dave looking at her with an amused smile.
"Is it safe?" Tony asked from where he stood.
"It's gotta be." Dave reasoned. "You got food, water?"
"You got any more cooze?" Tony asked as he zipped up his pants, turning around to look at them, his eyes resting on Amity. "Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks."
Amity all but bared her teeth at him then, itching to send an arrow flying into his ass, but she wouldn't move and start a fight that her friends would get caught up in as well. She noticed Rick tensing though, moving to block the redhead from Tony's sight. It was something that Dave spotted as well.
"Listen, pardon my friend." He began, trying to soothe the situation. "City kids- they got no tact. No disrespect." He insisted before turning to look at Glenn.
"So listen, Glenn-"
"We've said enough." Rick cut him off.
"Well, hang on a second. This farm, it sounds pretty sweet- don't it sound sweet, Tony?" Dave continued.
"Yeah, real sweet." Tony confirmed, wandering closer.
"How about a little southern hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time. I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We can pool our resources, our manpower." Dave said, his voice smooth as he tried to convince them.
"Look, I'm sorry. That's not an option." Rick told him and Dave paused, laughing lightly to himself.
"Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem." He told them all.
"I'm sorry. We can't." Hershel said.
"We can't take in any more." Rick confirmed.
"You guys are something else. I thought we were friends." Dave began.
"We don't know you." Amity cut in.
"We got people we gotta look out for too." Dave told her.
"We don't know anything about you." Rick said, echoing Amity to make a point.
"No, that's true. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out there, the things we've had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those same things yourself. Am I right?" Tony asked Rick, trying to appeal to their compassion, to put them on the same level so they saw them as someone to take in, someone like themselves.
Amity knew the trick, she saw it clearly. It's what you did when you wanted someone to relate with you, you offered up similar stories, you spoke at the same pace they did and used the same slang. It built a connection.
"Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same. So come on, let's- let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other." Dave finished.
"That's not gonna happen." Rick said again.
"This is bullshit!" Tony snapped.
"Calm down." Rick told the man.
"Don't tell me to calm down." Tony spat back, immediately on the defensive. "Don't ever tell me to calm down."
"I'll shoot you three assholes in the head and take your damn farm, take this ginger bitch too!" Tony yelled and Rick stepped forward, going for the man as Amity raised her bow, Glenn moving back towards her protectively.
They would take the farm over her dead body.
"Whoa whoa whoa." Dave called out, rushing to his feet as well to try to diffuse the situation.
"Relax. Take it easy. Nobody's taking anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody." He told everyone before heading to the bar and climbing over the counter. "Right, Rick? Look." He said, taking his gun and laying it on the bar top as a show of good faith, but Amity didn't buy it.
It was just lucky for them, unlucky for the two other men, that they didn't take an arrow pointed at them as the same level of threat as a gun. Stupid mistake really, a death blow is a death blow.
"We're just friends having a drink. That's all." Dave insisted before he ducked down below the bar. "Now where's the good stuff, huh? Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff. Let's see."
The man froze as Rick's hand went to his gun, resting on the holster as Dave's hand had landed near his gun on the counter as he squatted down. Rick was on edge and Amity shared the feeling- she had since the moment the guys walked in the door.
"Hey, look at that." Dave said, pulling out a bottle after deciding Rick wasn't going to blow his head off. "That'll work."
"You gotta understand-" The man was saying as he poured some of whatever he found into a glass. "We can't stay out there. You know what it's like."
"Yeah, I do, but the farm is too crowded as is." Rick said in response. "You'll have to keep looking."
"Keep looking." Dave echoed with a shake of his head. "And where do you suggest we do that?"
"I don't know. I hear Nebraska's nice." Rick said, seeming to not want to play peacekeeper anymore.
"Nebraska." Dave repeated, laughing lightly. "This guy."
The man leapt for his gun but Rick was faster. A shot rang out through the bar just as Amity let her arrow fly, skewering Tony, who had been fumbling with his gun, straight through the heart.
Rick whipped around, pulling the trigger of his gun once more and sending a shot through the large man's head, apparently wanting to make sure that he'd stay down though Amity had gotten him through the heart.
"You alright?" Rick asked them once the four had converged around the body of Tony, looking down at him.
"Yeah." Glenn said and Amity nodded once their leader's eyes turned to her.
"Hershel?" He asked the older man and there was a long beat of silence before he finally gave a small nod.
"Let's head back." Hershel suggested.
Amity stepped forward then, leaning down to reach under the fallen man to grab her arrow that had come through the other side, she braced a foot on the large man's side before she pulled it through, wiping the blood off with a bar rag as Rick searched the body.
The woman was focusing hard on not thinking about the man that she had just murdered- skewered through the heart like a kabob. She knew she had to do it, she knew what he would have tried to do to her and to the rest of the people on the farm if she hadn't, but that didn't make her feel any less sick to her stomach.
She was almost at the front doors when the sound of a car approaching had them all freezing.
"Car." Rick hissed, rushing across the bar to them. "Get down!" He ordered and Amity did so, pressing herself along the wall between a couple of covered windows.
"Dave? Tony?" A man's voice called out. "They said over here?"
"Yeah." Another man confirmed.
"I'm telling you, man, I heard shots." A third said and Amity noticed her hands were shaking.
"I saw roamers two streets over, might be more around here." One of them reasoned.
"It's hot. We gotta get out of here." Another said, his voice low.
"Dave! Tony!" One yelled out before hushed by his companion.
"Shut up, you idiot! You wanna attract 'em? Just stick close. We're gonna find 'em."
One of them lingered around the bar as the other two started to head away, Amity saw the shadow he cast across the window and she silently shifted her bow over her shoulder, pulling her gun from its place on her belt.
"Dude, he said to stay close." One of the men reprimanded the one that lingered before they both began to move away.
The men didn't go far though, they continued making laps around the town while the four people stuck in the bar periodically peered out the window at them, checking their location. Amity moved silently over to Glenn and Hershel as Rick did, all of them holding a mini campfire session.
"Why won't they leave?" Glenn asked, his voice a panicked whisper.
"Would you?" Hershel countered just as quietly.
"We can't sit here any longer." Amity told them, pushing a hand through her wild hair.
"Let's head out the back and make a run to the car." Rick suggested and the group nodded, standing to move but dropping back down below the windows at the sound of a gun being shot.
"What happened?" One of the voices from outside asked.
"Roamers, I nailed 'em." The other explained.
"They disappeared but their car's still there." One said.
"I cleared those buildings." The other explained.
"You guys get this one?" The apparent leader asked.
"No."
"Me neither."
"We're looking for Dave and Tony and no one checks the damn bar?" The leader said, sounding exasperated as they approached, their footsteps echoing off the wood porch. Amity tensed and cocked her gun back as Rick did, ready to fire as the men entered the bar, but as soon as the door was pushed open Glenn dove for it and shoved it closed, leaning heavily against it.
"What?" One of the men asked, sounding confused.
"Someone pushed it shut. There's someone in there." The other reasoned.
"Yo, is someone in there?" The leader called out. "Yo, if someone's in there, we don't want no trouble. We're just looking for our friends."
"What do we do?" One of the men whispered.
"Bum rush the door?" The other suggested.
"No, we don't know how many are there." The leader insisted. "Just relax."
"We don't want any trouble. We're just looking for our friends. If something happened, tell us." The leader said loudly, obviously talking to them now. "This place is crawling with corpses. If you can help us not get killed, I'd appreciate it."
"Dude, you're bugging. I'm telling you nobody's in there."
"Someone grabbed the door."
"If they're in there, they might know where Dave and Tony are."
It sounded like the men were walking away, perhaps trying to get at the bar from another angle but Rick called out then, halting their departure.
"They drew on us!" He called out, Amity giving him a look that clearly let him know she thought he was insane.
"Dave and Tony in there?" One of the men asked. "They alive?"
"No." Rick admitted.
"They killed Dave and Tony!"
"Come on, man, let's go."
"No, I'm not leaving, I'm not telling Jane. I'm not gonna go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar."
"Your friends drew on us!" Rick called out, interrupting the arguing group. "They gave us no choice! I'm sure we've all lost enough people, done things we wish we didn't have to, but it's like that now. You know that! So let's just chalk this up to what it was wrong place, wrong-"
He was cut off by a shotgun firing, blasting out one of the windows as more gunshots followed after.
"Shit!" Amity cursed, ducking down low and crawling across the floor away from the windows.
"Get outta here!" Rick yelled at them as he stood, returning fire out the window. "Go!"
Glenna and Hershel ran for the bar, Amity already being halfway there but at the sight of Rick taking a stand alone, the woman returned to the windows, firing a couple times outside.
Another figure was making the trek from the house across the field to the ruins of an old stone building in search of Daryl.
"We can't find Lori." Carol called over to the man, stopping a few steps away from the man who was sat by a fire he had made. "And the others aren't back yet either."
Daryl stayed quite for a moment, holding on tight to the bravado that he didn't care what was going on with everyone else. "Yeah, that dumb bitch must've gone off looking for 'em." He said finally.
"What?" Carol asked.
"Yeah, she asked me to go. I told her I was done being an errand boy." Daryl explained, poking at the fire in front of him with a large stick.
"And you didn't say anything?" She questioned, waiting for a response but not getting one from the man. She went to walk away, only getting a couple of steps before she stopped and turned back to look at him.
"Don't do this." She said, coming back over to the fire. "Please. I've already lost my girl."
At that Daryl stood, looking at the woman with narrowed eyes before he brushed past her.
"That wasn't my problem neither."
"Hey!" Rick called out as he quietly reloaded his gun, Amity doing the same from her place braced against the wall on the other side of the door. "We all know this is not gonna end well! There's nothing in it for any of us! You guys just just back off, no one else gets hurt!"
He finished loading his gun, shutting it with a click just before the sound of bottles rattling in the backroom was heard. Rick and Amity exchanged a look before Rick caught Glenn's gaze, nodding towards the backroom. Glenn hesitated, taking a deep breath before quickly and quietly running across the bar and down to the backroom from which the noises came.
Amity watched the door he disappeared through with worry in her gaze, her body tense as she readied herself to spring to action and run into the room if needed.
There was a long moment of silence before a shot ran out and Amity was halfway up onto her feet before Rick held out a hand her way, stilling her.
"Glenn! Glenn!" He called towards the room.
"I'm alright!" Glenn called back, the sound of his voice relieving Amity. "I'm alright."
Amity and Rick moved then, making their way over to Hershel and pausing behind one of the walls.
"I'll hold 'em here." Rick told the pair. "You both cover Glenn. See if you can make it to your car, Hershel. Tell him to pull up back. We'll run for it, get the hell out of here."
Amity nodded immediately, moving to join Glenn in the backroom and assuming that Hershel would follow.
She came down the steps, wincing at the loud creaking they made until Glenn whipped around and pointed his shotgun at her chest, her hands raising above her head immediately.
"Sorry." Glenn apologized, letting out a heavy sigh. "Sorry."
"Rick wants you to try for the car." Hershel told the young man as he came down the stairs to join them as well.
"Try?" Glenn reiterated.
"You'll try and succeed." Hershel told him firmly. "We'll cover you."
"That's a great plan."
With that, the trio moved to the door, Hershel and Amity were both only a step behind Glenn so once the boy took off running, Amity jumped out to cover him. A shot rang out and then another, the second from Hershel's gun as he dropped the man who had shot at Glenn.
Amity saw the young man fall behind the dumpster, but since then there had been no sign of him moving.
"What happened?" Rick asked, coming up behind them.
"He fired." Amity explained, gesturing at the man writhing in pain on the ground nearby.
"He must've hit Glenn. He's behind the dumpster. Doesn't look like he's moving." Hershel told him.
Rick immediately moved out into the alleyway, a gun trained at either direction as he stalked his way towards Glenn.
"You hit?" He asked, whispering loudly.
"Are you hit?" He repeated upon receiving no response.
"No." Glenn finally answered and Amity moved upon hearing his voice, creeping along the alleyway to join the pair. "No."
"It's all right. The car's right there." Rick told both of them. "We're almost home. You good?" He asked, eyes on Glenn who seemed to have panicked.
"I'm good." Glenn confirmed.
"Let's go." Rick told them and they shot out of their hiding place, guns drawn, but were immediately sent back behind the dumpster as someone started shooting at them.
From their cover they watched as the boy on the roof, the one who had been shooting looked down at a large truck that pulled up alongside the building he was standing on.
"Let's get out of here! Roamers all over the place! Hurry up!" The man in the truck yelled to him. "We gotta get out of here!"
"What about Sean?" The boy asked.
"They shot him. We gotta go! Roamers are everywhere."
"We're leaving?"
"Jump!" The man in the truck insisted and the boy went to the edge of the building, hesitating. "Hurry up, jump already!"
The boy paused only a moment longer before leaping from the roof he was on to the slanted metal roof on the building next to it. He hit hard as he landed and slid down the steep angle of the roof and out of sight. His screams echoed through the town only a moment later.
"Dude didn't make it." Glenn said quietly.
"Help me! Help- help me!" The boy screamed from where he had fallen but his group member didn't get out of the truck.
"I've gotta go. I've gotta go." The man in the truck yelled to him. "I'm sorry!"
With a squeal of his tires, the man in the truck was gone, leaving his apparently injured group member behind.
"Get Hershel." Rick told Glenn, gesturing for Amity to follow him along and she did so, jogging to keep pace with the former sheriff as they made their way to where the boy had fallen.
The pair came across the boy fairly quickly having followed his screams and Amity felt her stomach lurch at the sight of his leg that was impaled on an ornate metal fence.
"Rick!" Hershel called over the sobs of the boy. "We have to go now."
"No!" The boy pleaded.
"Shh!" Rick hushed the injured boy as Amity moved closer to him, resting a hand on his thigh as she looked at the wound.
"Fuck." She cursed, taking in the sight of the wound.
"I'm sorry, son. We have to go." Hershel told the boy, as if that would make the situation less terrible.
"No no, don't leave me- please." The kid begged, reaching out and grabbing Amity's hand that was on his leg, clinging on to it for dear life.
"We have to go." Glenn insisted.
"We can't." Amity said, looking at the boy who was still pleading with them to save him.
"He was just shooting at us!" Glenn reminded them heatedly.
"He's a kid." Rick shot back.
"This place is crawling with walkers!" Glenn said sharply.
"We can't leave him!" Amity insisted.
"The fence went clean through." Hershel told the trio, looking at the boy's leg now. "There's no way we can get the leg off in one piece."
The boy let out another pained screamed as Rick shook the fence to see if it would budge, his hand tightening around Amity's and making the woman let out a hiss as she tried to tug her hand away but to no avail.
"Shut up!" Rick told the boy. "Shut up or I will shoot you!"
"That may be the answer." Hershel said, stepping away with Rick- Amity unable to follow due to the vice grip that she couldn't seem to get out of. She wondered if this is what men felt like when holding their wives' hands as they gave birth. "We're not gonna get that leg off without tearing the muscle to shreds. He certainly can't run. He may bleed out." She heard Hershel say.
"Shut up." Glenn told the boy, grabbing his leg and making him scream. Glenn flinched at that, guilt showing automatically on his face as he began to shush the boy. "I'm sorry. Sh-shut up."
"Maybe we should put him down." Hershel suggested. "I don't wanna see any more killing, but this is cruel."
"Can't we just take the leg off?" Amity asked, the three men looking at her with varying levels of shock and revelation.
"That hatchet still in the car?" Rick asked and Glenn shook his head.
"No no, don't! Don't cut my leg off, please." The boy begged them, sitting up and reaching for Amity's shoulder but the woman ducked out of his reach before he could get a better hold on her than he already had.
"Will this cut through the bone?" Rick asked Hershel, flicking open the knife he carried.
"I'll have to sever the ligaments below the kneecap, cut above the tibia he's going to lose his lower leg." Hershel explained, taking off his over shirt. "When we get clear of here, we're gonna have to find some tinder, cauterize the wound so he doesn't bleed out."
"Alright, no choice." Rick said, telling him to go ahead and do it.
"Oh God, oh God." The boy groaned.
"Guys, walkers!" Glenn yelled from down the alley and Amity finally wrenched her hand free of the boy's death grip, running to join Glenn at the entrance of the alleyway, shooting the walkers leading the pack.
"They're everywhere." Amity called back where Hershel and Rick were.
"Hershel, how we doing over there?" Rick yelled in return while the boy's pleads and sobs still echoed through the space, accented by the growling of the walker horde heading their way.
"Come on, we gotta go!" Glenn yelled, grabbing Amity's arm as he ran back into the alley.
"I'm almost out of ammo!" Amity said, shooting once more as she was dragged away.
"We don't have much time! Come on, we've gotta go! Can't hold 'em off!" Glenn yelled.
"Hershel, do it now!" Rick urged the older man.
"There is no time!" Hershel told them.
"Hershel, come on!" Glenn said then, getting the older man to move away from the skewered boy and towards the car.
"Please don't leave me! Please! No! Please don't leave me! Please! Please don't leave me!" The boy begged, his pleading keeping Amity at his side with her gun pointed down the alley, it was useless but she couldn't just leave him.
Rick was at her side as well and with a glance towards Amity, he gripped the boy's leg on either side of the fence and ripped it upwards causing a terrible scream to leave the boy's throat.
Carol returned to the campsite out by the stone ruins once darkness completely fell. Wandering into the silent camp, eyeing the dead animals that were hanging from a line before spotting a string of walker ears hanging there as well. Her brows furrowed as she looked at them.
"What are ya doing?" A deep voice asked from behind her and the woman jumped.
"God." She gasped, surprised by the man's silent appearence. "Keeping an eye on you." She told him once she had recovered.
"Ain't ya a peach?" Daryl sneered.
"I'm not gonna let you pull away." Carol told him flatly. "You've earned your place."
"If ya spent half yer time minding yer daughter's business instead of sticking yer nose in everybody else's, she'd still be alive!" Daryl snapped at her, throwing harsh words in hopes of getting her to leave him alone.
"Go ahead." Carol said, her voice quiet as she nodded once at him.
"Go ahead and what?" Daryl asked, his voice hard. "Just go! I don't want ya here!" He yelled at her, trying to scare her off but Carol didn't move.
"You're a real piece of work, lady." Daryl huffed, stalking around her. "What, are ya gonna make this about my daddy or some crap like that?" He asked, revealing his demons even while trying to keep people from getting close.
"Pfft! Man, ya know Jack." He scoffed. "You're afraid. You're afraid 'cause you're all alone." He yelled, trying to hit her soft spots. "Ya got no husband, no daughter. Ya don't know what to do with yerself."
"Ya ain't my problem! Sophia wasn't mine! She wasn't Amity's! She was yers! All ya had to do was keep an eye on her!" He yelled, stepping quickly her way and the woman flinched back.
He fell quiet, looking at her with a blank expression though his eyes held so much more. Daryl saw a bit of himself in Carol as she saw a bit of herself in him.
"Don't push everyone away, Daryl. Not when you're so close to gaining so much more." Carol told him, her eyes shooting pointedly to the backpack that lay just inside his tent, one that was obviously not his own, before she turned to head back to the house.
Morning came and the group was preparing to make a run into town to find the small group that had went out.
Daryl was standing behind the Cherokee, his crossbow slung over his shoulder, when Andrea let out a sigh and pointed towards the driveway.
"Guys." She said, pulling their attention to the familiar vehicle that was roaring down the dirt path. Daryl let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, linking his fingers behind his head as the car came to a stop and the group rushed over.
The car ride from town to the farm with the injured boy had been a fairly quiet affair after the kid passed out, but not before they got his name out of him.
Randall- the kid whose leg they almost chopped off in a hurry. The kid who was going to cause them even more problems- that Amity was sure of.
The vehicle stopped quickly, the engine cutting off as everyone save for Amity and Randall climbed out.
"Dad!" Amity heard Carl yell as she stayed in the back seat, keeping pressure on Randall's leg wound like Hershel had requested.
"Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery." Hershel called out as he headed towards the house and there was a beat of silence while everyone exchanged looks, trying to determine who hadn't gotten out of the car and showed that they were okay.
It seemed Daryl figured it out first as he shot off towards the red truck before being stopped by Rick's arm on his chest.
"She's fine." Rick told the man who looked at him like he was lying, moving to try to get past him.
"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog asked, making Daryl look back towards him before following his eyes to see an unfamiliar boy leaning back against the seat, a blindfold over his eyes. He spotted a familiar mess of red hair just next to him which had his heartbeat slowing a bit.
"That's Randall." Glenn said simply.
Everyone moved forward at that, wanting to get a glimpse of the kid that the group had brought back with them. Amity offered anyone who met her eyes an exhausted smile before she found her favorite pair of Georgia blues.
Daryl raised a brow at her and she just shook her head at him, not knowing what to say, but he seemed to pick up on that and offered her a curt reassuring nod.
Once Randall was put in the shed and Hershel got to work on his leg, Amity returned to the house with the rest of the group.
She was engulfed in a hug by Maggie as soon as she climbed out of the vehicle followed closely by Carol and T-Dog.
"You look like you had an adventure." Carol told her as they walked together towards the large white house and Amity let out a breathy laugh.
"You could call it that. You have a good time back here?" Amity asked her and Carol shook her head lightly, seeming more exasperated than anything else.
"I've been trying to keep some of us around." The older woman explained, giving a pointed glance Daryl's way who was heading off in another direction when Amity looked at her with confusion.
"He'll be better now that you're back, I think." Carol said and Amity shook her head.
"I think our friendship might have timed out. I'm not going to force my presence on him." Amity said and it was Carol's turn to shake her head as they climbed the steps of the house.
"Daryl moved his camp out over there-" Carol told her, pointing to the stone ruins where a tent sat. "I think he's trying to keep himself from the group- not finding Sophia took a toll on him..." She trailed off then and Amity reached out to take her hand, giving it a small squeeze. "My point is that he moved your things too. Your bag and stuff was still in his tent."
Amity looked at Carol with a bit of shock before quickly composing her expression, wanting to keep her thoughts on that matter to herself in that moment. Some things only needed to be known by her.
She settled down at the dining room table between Carol and Andrea once they made it inside, her eyes trained on Rick.
"We couldn't just leave him behind." Rick told the group.
"He would've bled out... if he lived that long." Amity added, backing the man up.
"It's gotten bad in town." Glenn admitted, exchanging a look with Maggie.
"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked as Hershel entered the room.
"I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage. Won't be on his feet for at least a week." The veterinarian told them all.
"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way." Rick said, making that decision then and there apparently.
"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea pointed out.
The sound of a door opening had Amity looking over and catching a familiar blue eyed gaze. Daryl nodded at her as he entered, receiving a small smile from Carol as he leaned against the wall in the dining room.
"He'll have a fighting chance." Rick replied.
"We're just gonna let him go?" Shane asked harshly. "He knows where we are."
"He was blindfolded the whole way here." Amity told the group, meeting Shane's gaze.
"He's not a threat." Rick added.
"Not a threat?" Shane echoed, obviously not agreeing. "How many of them were there?" He asked. "You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gonna come looking?"
"They left him for dead. No one is looking." Rick insisted.
"We should still post a guard." T-Dog spoke up.
"He's out cold right now, will be for hours." Hershel let everyone know.
"You know what? I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." Shane scoffed. "Look at this, folks- we're back in fantasy land." He announced loudly, moving to head for the door until Hershel stopped him.
"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet. Let me make this perfectly clear- once and for all. This is my farm, now I wanted you gone- Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor keep your mouth shut." Hershel told him, standing firm in front of the unstable man in a way that made Amity want to give him a round of applause.
Shane looked around the room, a small sigh leaving his lips as he seemed to decide that it wasn't a battle he wanted to fight right then and left the house.
"Look- we're not gonna do anything about it today. Let's just cool off." Rick said to Hershel, being the mediator as usual.
With that, the group began to disperse. Amity followed Daryl out the front door, speeding up a bit to walk by his side.
"So I've heard we've moved camp." She said, looking over at him with a slightly raised brow.
The man glanced her way before turning his eyes back to the land in front of them, his hand going to his mouth briefly as he chewed on his thumbnail. Amity waited for him to gather his thoughts, not wanting to rush the usually quiet man.
"I didn't know what to do with yer things... or if ya'd want to stay with me instead of Glenn or somethin' since I moved away from the rest." He said and Amity watched him for a moment.
"I'll stay with you." She said simply. "I told you I've been getting used to your snoring, Dixon."
"I don't snore." Daryl protested immediately, bringing a smile to the redhead's lips before he was turning, standing in front of her.
"I shoulda came after ya." He said, his eyes holding her's.
"What?" Amity asked, confused.
"Lori- she came out and told me that ya'll had gone off and I told her to get ya herself. I was through bein' an errand boy, but I shoulda went and got ya." He explained and Amity shook her head, raising her hand to cup his cheek but he flinched away. Instead of dropping her hand in response she simply paused, letting him realize what was happening before she gently and slowly rested her palm against his skin, feeling the scruff of his facial hair under her touch and giving him a moment to pull away if he would like.
"You don't always have to rescue everyone, Daryl." She told the man, her thumb ghosting over his cheekbone as she held his gaze. He stepped closer to her, his chest brushing hers as he looked down at her. A warm silence stretched between them as they stood, not needing words in that moment until the sound of the screen door creaking open had Daryl backing away and Amity smiling in spite of it.
"Come on, Dixon. Show me where our new home is." She implored the man, walking at his side once again.