Chapter 13: Infected

Authors Note: Hey it's Shadow Knight1121…I got nothing. Nah, as always thank you all for your reviews and feedback and I can't wait to see what you think of this next chapter. Sorry for the long wait I went on a cruise for vacation, got sunburned and when I came back work was just kicking my ass. So, hopefully this chapter will make up for it and more to come. Enjoy!

Authors Note: I do not own The Walking Dead.

Crow and his men had left, not taking anyone or anything with him. Everyone was still in shock after what had happened with Mary. Everyone waited to see what would happen after they had eaten the meat that had killed Mary. No one had turned so far, but everyone had been worried sick after what they had just witnessed.

Trippy had locked his infected wife in the freezer with the meat he fed everyone at camp. He never once considered what would happen by doing this and now it has happened. A little girl was now amongst the undead and had killed her father and injured her mother.

Paul was pissed as was everyone else, but he was beyond rage. He didn't know what he was feeling, but every fiber of his being wanted Trippy dead.

"Why?" He snarled as Trippy held his undead wife in his arms.

He had gagged her with a bandanna to keep her from biting him, but she still tried to bite him as she struggled in his arms. He held her tight as he kept her head nestled in his shoulder while stroking her messy hair, not paying any attention to Paul.

Enraged, Paul stomped over towards the older man, shoving Jessie aside when he tried to stop him, grabbing his undead wife and violently throwing her to the ground as he grabbed Trippy by the collar of his shirt and lifting him up so the two were at eye level.

"Why, why would you keep her locked up with the damn food!" Paul shouted as Lester and Gregory went to aid their father, but Paul pulled out his .45 and pressed the barrel of his gun under the old man's chin. The two backed away, but they stayed close enough, just in case.

"I'm not gonna ask twice." Paul growled.

"S-She was infected…she got bit when we were helping some kids get away from those things at the local grocery store. It wasn't anywhere fatal, but the sickness was setting in. I didn't know what to do, there was no cure. I was listening to the radio on the way home and they said they were working on a cure in Washington."

"So, you locked mom in the freezer?" Lester snapped. "Why did you tell us that she had died in town?"

"I knew you boys would try to convince me that she was gone, and you'd want to…kill her. I heard the way you talked about those things out there. How you ran them over like they were nothing or shot them like sick dogs."

"Dad, they aren't sick they are dead." Gregory said. He pointed down at his mother who was still on the ground snapping her jaw at Paul, who was seven feet away and with those restraints she wasn't getting any closer. "Mom is dead, she wouldn't act like that if she was sick and if that bite didn't kill her then sticking her in the meat locker would, seriously what the hell were you thinking?"

"Dad, that isn't one of those freeze chambers we've seen in those sci-fi movies, you stick her in there she freezes to death, she doesn't go into a timeless sleep and wake up like nothing happened. I mean look at her, her skin is blue and chapped from frostbite. Even if she was cured, she would be dead." Trippy was on the verge of tears, holding his trembling hands up to his sons.

"When a cure is made-"

"THERE. IS NO. FUCKING. CURE!" Paul shouted so loud that it echoed throughout the hills.

Everyone was shocked when he had said that. Aside from the crickets and bugs in the forest and the walker growls on the ground there was dead silence. Before anyone could get a word out, Paul went off again.

"Have you ever seen anyone cure death?" He said. "A person get's his jugular ripped out, but he gets right up to his feet and starts walking around, or how about the people who died in a car crash, they weren't bitten, but they're another mindless husk amongst the walking dead."

"Paul." Jessie called out, but the young man ignored him.

"My mother, she was hit by a car, her neck was broken, and I had to listen to her dying breath as everyone around me ignored us. Imagine my surprise when my mother, with a broken neck, shot up from the ground and tackled me to the dirt her jaw was snapping and her nails clawing at my eyes. How can a pill or a shot going to cure a broken neck?" He was growing more hysterical by the second. "It can't because there is no cure for when you're dead."

"I don't understand."

"We're born, we live, we die and then we are undead, because we are all infected!"

It was like a knife through everyone's heart. No one could believe what they had just heard or maybe they didn't want to believe it.

Ezra thought back to when he killed those bikers back at the diner. He thought that they were groveling in pain, but he knew those shots he fired were fatal. They weren't groveling, they were turning. Then Jessie thought back to Paul and how he always took a knife to the corpses that were gunned down. Then there was the rise of the dead to begin with.

'How did it spread from America, Canada, Russia, Europe and some mountain towns, why didn't it just take everyone down instead of a handful of people here and there?' He had asked these questions thousands of times in the past and now he had his answers. 'Because the average person is likely to die in a car crash, construction accident and suicide all of which are not caused by head trauma and then there is dying of a heart attack or just old age. We die and then come back as a mindless husk and like death itself there is nothing, we can do about it.'

He jumped when someone fired off a gunshot a few feet away from him. Then another and a third as everyone screamed or scurried away from the gunfire.

Ezra stood over the little family that had succumbed to the tainted meat, his magnum in hand as smoke flowed out from the barrel. Everyone looked at him in shock and horror, no one knew what to do or say.

"What the fuck, Ezra!?" Jessie shouted.

"Hey, don't give me any of your shit. The girl was undead, her father was dead and her mom was begging me to do it. I wouldn't have done it otherwise." Ezra grunted as he aimed his gun at Trippy.

"Whoa," Eli tackled Ezra to the ground as Trippy's boys went to stand in front of their father to protect him. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Are you kidding me, he fucking left a walker in the freezer with our food and thanks to him a little girl is dead, hell the whole fucking family is dead!"

"Because you killed them!" Angela Mac'Carthy snapped as her sister Ann held her close.

"They were on an inevitable course of becoming walkers and it's because this asshole left a rotting, infected corpse with our food. What if this was your sister or Marty what if this was your wife and son, who you fought like hell to get to?!"

Marty shuddered at the thought as he held his wife Donna and son Drew close.

"I didn't know!" Trippy sobbed. "I didn't know there wasn't a cure." He fell to his knees as his boys stood by him. Lester kneeled down next to him.

"What happened to mom, you said she was bitten and turned at the market." Lester asked.

"She did get bitten, but I didn't leave her there. I brought her back and locked her in the freezer. I don't know why!" He wailed. "I just…I was a damn fool. She was bitten, she died and she came back as a monster and I ended up killing that poor family and endangering that family. I am sorry, but I will not let that happen again. These bikers have been causing you folks trouble and they killed your friend. I am not gonna let that happen again. Those assholes are not gonna take anyone else."

"Pa, we can't risk the lives of everyone else for a handful of people we just met." Gregory protested. Trippy grabbed his son by the collar of his shirt. The two were now face two face, Trippy's face was enraged as he started talking through his gritted teeth.

"Boy, this ranch goes back over a hundred years, my grandfather fought off crooks no different than the bikers and helped people no different than the people they are after. If you even think about screwing them over to those animals, I will beat you black and green, you understand me?"

"Yes, sir." Gregory grunted.

"To be fair, even if you did give the diner folk up to the bikers, they would probably just come back and finish off the rest of us. It's not like they have anything to lose." Jason explained as he readied his rifle. Jessie nodded and grabbed his own rifle as he looked to the rest of the community.

"Okay, if we are going to do this then we need to plan this all out. First thing is first, anyone who doesn't want to fight, start packing. If we fail to stop them you people need to get ready to run and don't look back."

"Mr. Chang, you should stay with your family." Johnny said to his former teacher. Marty looked hesitant at first, but then he felt a small hand in his. He looked down to see his son, Drew looking up at him with fear in his eyes. Marty nodded and gripped his son's hand tight.

"Okay, I'll stick with the families who don't want to fight and help them pack." He stated.

"I'll stay behind too." Ivory said with her dog Apollo close by. She pulled back the bolt on her Colt Law Enforcement Carbine and holstered her Walther P99. "Anyone of those motorbike dickheads come near this place will be leaving with holes in their asses."

"Damn, remind me not to piss you off." Eli chuckled as he cocked his shotgun. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

(The following afternoon)

The bikers were rallying around an abandoned truck stop forty miles away from the ranch. A lot of them were tuning up their bikes while the rest were cleaning and loading their guns. Crow was sitting on top of the building looking down at his crew.

"Twenty men." He grunted "That's how many I have left and no women, this is bullshit." He snapped as he grabbed his new rifle. He checked the clip, before running his fingers over the golden cross that he still had chained through the handle on top.

"Leila…I bet you never thought that you were gonna help me massacre that whole fucking camp. First those farmers and the families, they're weak and I have no time for that. The women, well I don't need to tell you what will happen with them. The kids will grow up to be our future soldiers and then of course there is Paul. I will skin that fucker alive and screaming for bringing this hall upon us. I promise you that." He whispered, bringing the cross to his lips.

"Crow, we got someone here that wants to talk to you!" One of his boys called out from the parking lot. Crow looked down at the main gate and he was surprised to see not only Gregory, Trippy's son, but Ezra was standing next to him as well.

Crow quickly made his way down to the parking lot. He aimed his rifle at the two as did his men as the two slowly raised their hands. Crow let out a small chuckle.

"You have got balls for coming here, boy." Crow boasted, pressing the barrel of the rifle directly in the center of Ezra's forehead. "Especially since you killed my boys at that diner and stole their guns."

"Yeah, well maybe you should have told them not to try and fucking rape my woman!" Ezra snapped as he advanced on Crow, not once acknowledging the rifle barrel digging into his chest. Gregory quickly stood between the two.

"Whoa, we did not come here to start trouble, we came here to end it." He explained. "My Pa wouldn't listen to me about those diner folks, but I want to get them off our property and Ezra wants to keep his woman safe, so that's why we are here."

"They're planning something aren't they?" Crow chuckled.

"Yeah, they're setting up a road block with some old cars and farm supplies." Ezra explained. "They are planning on setting it on fire and gunning you down when you roll out there in a few days."

"Hmm, you guys are a violent bunch of assholes, aren't you?" Crow chuckled. "So, let me get this straight, you guys are telling us your plan in an effort to what, get us to spare you?"

"We would appreciate it." Gregory said, as he shifted his feet uncomfortably as he gazed around at the rest of the bikers who were starting to grab their guns, knives and other weapons. He was starting to feel his legs tremble and his breathing speed up with each passing second.

"I'll tell you what, you take my boys to this road block, they'll be a little way away, but you make it to your group and draw them out and allow my boys to swoop in and take them all out. Then we'll leave you and your family alone and even dipshit and his girlfriend."

"Fuck you." Ezra snapped.

"Alrighty boys," Crow shouted. "Let's get this party going. Drew, I want you to take twelve of our boys and go to the road block. Go on foot, we can't risk them following us."

"You got it, Crow." Drew said as he grabbed his Desert Eagle.

He stomped over to the two boys and he grabbed Ezra by the collar of his hoodie as another biker grabbed Gregory. The two shared a look as they were dragged out of the truck stop and down the lonely road.

After almost an hour of walking the two were told to go on ahead alone, so that Drew and his men get the jump on the group as they lingered behind to apprehend them.

"Hey, Marty!" Ezra called out. "We did what you asked."

Marty poked his head up from behind a broken-down car with a Remington 700 VLS slung over his shoulder. He smiled when the two, but that quickly changed when a small group of bikers appeared out from the brush all armed to the teeth.

"Drop the guns, Jap." Drew ordered; Marty just rolled his eyes as he slowly removed his rifle.

"I'm Chinese American you, racist hick!"

"Oh, well excuse me to hell." Drew retorted. "What were these two really up too?"

"They said they knew where they could get a stash of guns, but I guess you caught them before they could get them, or was it a coincidence like the grocery store?" Marty explained as he was held back by one of Drew's bikers.

"Nah, hate to break it to you my half-n-half friend, but your boys here were selling you and your family out to us in exchange for their own asses."

"I fucking knew we couldn't trust you!" Marty snapped as he went to charge at the two, but he was quickly stopped and tackled to the ground by Drew.

"Settle down, bub." He chuckled. "Now, where are the rest of your boys. I know you aren't the only one working on this blockade here, where is the rest of your group?"

"Probably at the trailer, getting those guns he told you about." Gregory stated. "There was this weird old hermit living in the woods, before all this happened. I don't know what happened to him, but he had a little arsenal at his disposal. I high powered rifle, a couple of shotguns, a cross bow and a few handguns. I didn't have enough time to grab them, on a count of the biters, so I left them there."

"Well, then let's go and get them, shall we?" Drew chuckled. His men grabbed the hostages and practically dragged them through the woods, following the directions Gregory was giving them. They hiked through the woods for a good ten minutes, before Drew got the feeling something was wrong.

"Ok, where the hell is this fucking stash?" Drew asked aiming his gun at the trio. Gregory said nothing, merely pointing at the abandoned airstream. In the middle of the woods.

"Wow, nice find." Drew chuckled. "Even the airstream looks like it's still intact." He chuckled. He walked up to the door and reached out to open the door, but he was quickly knocked on his ass by the door suddenly kicking open.

Jessie quickly stepped out of the airstream and gun down three of the bikers with his GSG 522.

Before everyone else could react, Marty pulled out his switchblade and stabbed one of the bikers in his jugular. Eli popped off a few rounds from his Five-Seven clipping a few more as Paul gun down the last two with his shotgun.

"Clear!" Paul shouted.

"God damn, I didn't think that would work." Ezra sighed heavily as he retrieved his guns.

"Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence, Ezra." Eli grunted as he aimed his pistol at Drew.

"Okay, we counted twenty at the station and we just clipped twelve of these assholes. So, that means there are eight left at the truck stop, right?" He asked, Drew, but he just remained silent. Eli gave him a kick in the stomach, hoping to get some answers.

"Fuck, yes, alright there's eight left you fucking assholes!" He snapped in between coughs.

"Thank you," Jessie snickered. He reached for his walkie and radioed Ann Nixon.

"Ann, we're all set down here. You guys can move in and finish off Crow and his gang."

Ann Nixon led a small team of Evangeline, Ann Mac'Carty, Victoria Kallen and Aaron Hannay. The plan was to use Ezra and Gregory to distract a portion of the bikers away from the garage, where they would lead them to the abandoned airstream into the woods. Once they were dealt with, Ann would take her team and finish off the rest of the bikers.

There was only one problem when Ann responded to Jessie's call.

"Jessie, the bikers…they're all gone."