'That foolish old Terran bastard!' Grendel screamed in his head as he glared nukes at the Greene's house, 'That floozy house wife! And those two damned idiot lawmen!' Everything, just everything that has happened the past week was catching up to him, all of the secrets and annoyances that he'd endured. It's just too fraking much, he's had it, these people were going to answer for it or there was going to be some trouble.
Rick was further up ahead and was mentally prepping his discussion with Herschel, he knew that the old man was going to be stubborn and that he already wants them gone; but he stopped and turned to see Grendel dressed up with his gas mask on heading the same way.
Mentally he face palmed knowing that the Grenadier might make things worse, luckily he was a quick thinker. He saw that Sophia, Carol, and Daryl were close by and if memory served him right these three were the only ones that Grendel opened up to and could possibly save the situation, "Guys," they all turned and looked at Rick, noticing his urgent look, "I need y'all to distract or cool down Grendel, it looks like he's gonna tear Herschel in half."
Carol and Sophia looked at each other with concern while Daryl looked around the corner and saw that the soldier wasn't far behind, "What do you have in mind Rick?" Daryl asked looking back for answers because honestly he had no idea what the guy liked in the world.
Rick looked like he had a thousand thoughts running through his head, but luckily Sophia piped up before the Grenadier crossed by a tree, "We could take him out on walk through the forest!" The adults looked at the girl as if comprehending her words, "Yeah we could say we're checking the perimeter and we need his help."
Before anyone else could make an idea he walked by and was nearing the porch, "Good nuff." Daryl said jogging towards Grendel.
His fists were curled into balls, every pent up hateful desire creeping through his veins. Herschel would be lucky if it was just going to be harsh words and nothing else.
"Hey, Grendel!" The Korpsman stopped and turned to face Daryl, the Jaeger for the group. Although he hadn't much to say about the man the stories Sophia told him did shed some light on his personality.
"What do you want?" That may have come out a bit harshly but then again Death Korpsmen aren't exactly concerned for niceties.
Daryl grunted holding in a snide comment, "Carol and Sophia want to check the perimeter with me and they want you to come." He could see plainly even with the mask on that Grendel wasn't buying it, Sophia was still weak from her time in the forest, and Carol wasn't exactly the gun type. So he decided to tell the truth as it was, "Look I ain't gonna lie to ya, we're doing this so that you don't go in there and get us kicked out, so suck it up and come along."
Grendel had to admit, this guy had balls, because he wasn't going with them at first because he knew they were lying.
But then even he realized that going in there and pulling a Shane wasn't going to work out in his favor, if anything he was just pissed that people were lying to him. Instead of continuing to lie to him Daryl told the truth, that takes courage.
It was tempting to go in the Greene's house hold, but then again what sort of example does this show? That Death Korpsmen are guardsmen guide by blind frustration? That they can't be reasoned with? That they are so easily manipulated by anger? No, Grendel will not be a horrible example of guardsman discipline.
With an unheard sigh Grendel crossed his arms, "Fine then, where will we be patrolling?" He looked behind Daryl and could see Rick, crafty bastard, going pass Daryl giving him a look of appreciation while going a bit colder with Grendel if not fearful; Grendel and Rick had a mutual belief that if he wanted to, he'd kill everyone there without much trouble.
But what Rick didn't know is that Grendel wasn't a machine, he was disciplined but could still see if a situation calls for restraint and could hold off, and apparently Rick forgot that Grendel was part of the group.
Sophia came running up to them, "Grendel please don't kill Mr. Herschel, let's just go and pick some flowers!" She held her hand out expectantly for Grendel to grab it.
Daryl had to admit, that was kind of cute the way she asked the Grenadier but didn't think it'd work, surprisingly Grendel did grab her had, "Alright then, where to?" The tone surprised Daryl because the harsh and angry voice he heard before had changed to something softer.
Daryl grunted, "This way." Curiously he looked back to see Sophia gently walking with Grendel side by side to Carol, his initial thought of Grendel being nothing but a glorified jackass with a bleeding heart was disappearing, it had disappeared significantly when he was listening to Grendel the other night, in his view they were similar.
He would've crept back into his shell if he revealed anything like that, while this guy could manage his intimidating look and softer side, it was impressive.
The area Daryl led them to was a little dock by a body of water, Grendel could obviously see how peaceful this area was, it was unlike anything he's ever seen. He looked down to see Sophia's face light up to the Cherokee Roses that dotted a bush, "See I told ya." Daryl said motioning to the roses.
Carol had a happy yet sad smile on her face, Sophia was back and safe. She believed that Rick could work something out with Herschel and that they'd be able to stay; having Grendel around was scary at first, but he proved real quickly to actually care about Sophia.
She nodded her head feeling a tear fall down her face, Daryl and Grendel seemed to care for Sophia more than her husband ever did; one part of her wished that he was still alive so that Grendel would beat him into the ground for even looking at them wrong. It was easy to see that Sophia saw him as a big brother; she had explained it when she woke up crying. Even she could get used to the mask.
Grendel's glove hand lightly cuffed one of the roses, while most would never understand why flowers are sacred to Krieg he'd always remember. His parents had taught him that before the purging that Colonel Jurten had unleashed that Krieg was once prosperous like old Terra, that they had miles of flowers and open blue skies.
Then the heretics took power, and the good Colonel had to sacrifice what was held dear for the good of Krieg. He understood, even though he didn't like it he knew it was necessary… often times his mother would say that one day when the war was over that Krieg could possibly try rebuilding its broken ecosystem and once again they could have flowers.
It was a lovely thought and a hopeful wish.
He plucked the flower gently and examined its natural colors; it very much reminded him of his family, of his home. Except this was attainable, he was lost from his world and he knew it, but that still is not an excuse to break down and cry; he was Imperial Guard for life and he accepted the responsibility that came with it, he will eventually die in the name of The Emperor. But for now he was contempt with picking a flower.
It didn't take long for them to return, the pier wasn't far away from the farm; most of the people were sitting around, 'Isn't someone supposed to be on a supply run today?' Grendel wondered as he saw that Andrea was still there when she and Rick should be out scavenging.
Daryl turned around and saw Shane coming up with the guns, "What's all this?"
"You with me?" Shane asks giving Daryl a shotgun and Grendel his bag of Imperial weaponry.
"Yeah." Daryl replied pumping the weapon.
Grendel unzipped the bag quickly and equipped his lasrifle first; he wasn't going to answer Shane even though just this once he agreed with him.
"Time to grow up, you already got yours?" He asked Andrea.
"Yeah where's Dale?" She looked concerned, as if the old man's safety was in question, all of this was suspicious.
"He's on his way." Shane replied begrudgingly.
Grendel turned towards Carol; she already had Sophia in a protective grip like she knew something bad was going to happen.
"Now look it was one thing sitting around picking daisies," The fraker motioned towards Sophia and Grendel, "but that's when we thought this place was supposed to be safe but now we know it ain't. How bout chu man, you gonna protect what's yours?"
Glen had a torn look on his face, but he took the shot gun even with Maggie's look of disbelief.
"That's it, can you shoot?" He asked Maggie.
"Can you stop?" She asked looking directly into the man's eyes with disgust written over her face, "You do this you hand out these gun's my Dad's going to make you leave tonight."
"Shane don't do this, please!" Sophia cried out breaking from her mother's arms, Grendel quickly caught her with one hand and held her back.
"We have to stay Shane." Carl said coming down the steps, hoping to convince the man.
"What is this?" Lori asked with a concern and obvious anger.
"We ain't going anywhere okay. Now look, Herschel, he's just gotta understand."
The rest for Grendel was just a haze as Shane tried giving a pathetic looking side arm to Carl; he was conflicted, killing the walkers or the tainted Chaos creatures was a priority but Rick told them that he would work something out with Herschel.
"Oh shit." T-Dog announces drawing the group's attention.
However seeing Rick and Herschel come out from the tree line with walkers on polls did not help their case; at least in Grendel's opinion because now his choice was clear, Rick wasn't going to work this out the way he had planned, the walkers must die.
Holy shit ten chapters! It feels so good every day to see the number of viewers I have rise, I'll post something special during the break time between season two and three that'll get a good chuckle from y'all.
Anyways from this point forward the brutal darkness of the 41s millennium will take its stake in the Walking Dead universe. There will be some additional characters to the cast by the way *giggles* so that Grendel is so alone and singled out. Now I know what you are thinking, "Oh Grendel's acting like a pussy" or "Who's he going to add next a Space Marine?" well let me remind you, Grendel's half Cadian and I will not add a super smurf... maybe... Next chapter may reveal quite a bit so stay patient.