Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter, hope you've all had a good week.
Early the next morning, they all gathered around the newly dug grave as they paid their respects. As tragic as it was, the sudden and violent passing of one of their own, had brought them all together. Rick made a heart wrenching but inspiring speech that only solidified their new-found unity.
After Abby, Daryl and T-Dog had gathered Dale up and put him into the back of the truck bed, they took a break while Shane and Rick dug the new grave. Abby tried to console Daryl but he wanted nothing more than to be left a lone for a while. So, instead, she spent her time with Lori and a very upset Carl. Carl clung to his mother until Lori decided it was time to make breakfast and passed him off to Abby.
Abby was very worried about the boy as he clung to her neck, he'd stopped crying but something seemed wrong with him beyond Dale's death. Once breakfast was made, everyone including Daryl joined around the communal fire to eat breakfast together in silence. Even the Greene's had come out from their house, plates in hand and sat with them. For the first time since they'd met, it seemed like they were all a group.
After the service, Shane, Daryl, T-Dog and Andrea grabbed melee style weapons and headed out to check the fence to take out any walkers that were within sight. Abby had intended on going with them but Lori begged her to stay, so she did. When they came back, Andrea pulled her to the side while Hershel and Rick came from the house.
"I just want to apologize to you." Andrea said when they were out of earshot of the others. "I've very unkind to you, judging you. I have no right. I've never lost a husband and I've never been through what you have."
"Too be fair, I did punch you in the face." Abby said with a slight smirk.
Andrea chuckled. "Well I did shoot Daryl, so I did slightly deserve it. I just wanted to prove to everyone that I'm just as tough as you are. Both Shane and Rick think so highly of you! Hell, all the guys do!" Andrea laughed again. "I think T-Dog and Glenn are a little scared of you."
"Well I'm a little short tempered, the one thing Rick and I couldn't be more different in." Abby said still smirking.
"That's the other thing, you're protecting your family. I'd do anything to protect Amy but I haven't had to really. If anything, you've protected my sister more than I have. Family is the most reliable thing we have, out of anyone, they are the ones we know will never betray us." She put out her hand. "Truce?"
"Truce." Abby said easily, then shook her hand.
"I have to admit, I thought you'd be a little…disgruntled." She said with a wince.
"I'm usually easy to get a long with, forgive easily but I guess my personality rubs people the wrong way." Abby shrugged. "Story of my life."
Rick suddenly called out for everyone to gather, so the two women smiled at each other and gather with the others. "Alright, y'all. Hershel has graciously invited us to all move into the house. So, pack up your things and we'll pack it into the back of the truck, then come talk to me and I'll hand out specific assignments."
Everyone nodded and went to their tents and started packing up. Abby hadn't really done any amount of packing. She had a few clothes strewn on the floor but otherwise she shoved everything back into her bag. So, it didn't take long before she was punting her bag, sleeping bag and cot out of the door and moved on to disassembling her tent. When done, she carried her stuff to the truck and threw it in the back.
Rick waved her over to join him, Daryl, Hershel, Andrea and Shane in their conversation.
"We'll build a look out in the windmill, another in the barn loft. That should give us sight lines, both sides of the property." Rick was saying then looked over at her. "Abby, you know that sort of thing best, take a look around find us the best vantage points." Rick walked over to T-Dog. "T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house. Keep track of everyone coming and going."
"What about standing guard?" T-Dog asked.
"I need you, Abby and Daryl on double duty." Rick answered.
"Gotcha." T-Dog answered, while Daryl turned and left. Abby looked back at him and trotted after Daryl.
Abby caught up with as he walked towards his bike. "You wanna talk about last night?" She asked him.
He gave her an annoyed sideways glance. "You know how you didn't wanna talk to people after Martin's death? Well I don't wanna talk about this, if I do I'll come to you." He snapped at her angrily as he stopped to bent over and was about to throw her other backpack they'd found at Ricks house, at her but stopped as he realized what he was about to do.
Abby tried to not take insult to his words or actions but it was hard. After a pause, he handed her the bag. "Sorry." He mumbled. Then sat on his bike and paused once more. "Don't worry 'bout me, I'm fine."
"That's like asking me to stop breathing. I'm always gonna worry about you, that's apart of caring for someone." She said softly.
Daryl looked like he was about to say something then looked away, then started the bike and sped off towards the house. Once again it was hard to not take insult to Daryl's actions but she realized that he had little to no experience with expressing himself and the odd time he had, people had judged him so now he had an ingrained fear of rejection and ridicule.
Abby walked over to the windmill and climbed to the top to survey the scenery with a pair of binoculars. It provided a decent view of the one side of the property but the buildings on the property almost complete blocked the other. So, Abby climbed down and walked to the barn and climbed up into the loft. Once again, it was a decent view but they hardly had a view of the whole property but considering half of it was forest, that wasn't surprising.
When she returned back to the house, they were still unpacking so Abby took a bag from the back of the truck and started assisting. After ten minutes Abby walked down the steps to grab the last bag but Rick pulled her to the side.
"So, what do you think?" He asked.
"The vantage points are good but the back side of the house is blind. Its also close to the woods, so even with a scope or binoculars, we won't have much of an advance warning. Maybe we could set up a few traps out there, give us some advance warning." She speculated.
"That's a good idea but it'll have to wait until we have our immediate surroundings secured. Daryl and I will be takin' Randall out in a few hours, gonna drive extra far this time." Rick said then frowned when she made a face. "You don't agree?"
Abby sighed. "I'm going to support you no matter what, Rick but…I'm not sure it's a good idea."
"It might bite us in the ass, I know but after Carl…" Rick sighed and rubbed his face. "I don't want my boy growin' up in a world where killin' someone is okay. If we start killin' this kid now, where do we draw the line? Where will we say 'that's enough' or 'that's wrong'?"
Abby put her hands on his arms. "I told you, I support you. You don't need to justify your decision with me, I get it. You have more than yourself to think about. Do what you need to do."
Rick put a hand on her cheek. "Thank you." He said sincerely. He started to move away then looked back. "One more thing. I asked Andrea to keep an eye on Shane, make sure he stays in line and doesn't cause problems for Hershel but if he does, if he really starts gettin' out of line then I expect you to manage the situation."
"But not shoot him." She said with a smirk, invoking a half-hearted glare from Rick.
As she watched Rick walk off, she noticed Carl watching her from behind one of the tall Oaks where they had been camping. When he saw her look at him, he waved her over. When Abby walked up to him, he looked down and kicked the dirty with a look that told Abby he'd done something.
"Can I tell you something, without you tellin' my parents?" Carl asked.
Abby crossed her arms and watched her nephew suspiciously. "Depends on what it is." She replied.
Carl thought about it then turned to leave. "Never mind." He said as he walked away.
"Carl! Wait." Abby called. "Whatever it is kiddo, you need to tell us. You probably won't get in as much trouble as you think, maybe not at all."
Carl stopped and looked at her, then walked back and pulled up the back of his jacket, pulled out a pistol and handed it to her. "Found this in one of the bags on Daryl's motorcycle. He'd kill me if he found out I took."
Abby grimaced as she looked at it, it was loaded with one in the chamber, ready to fire. "He'd definitely be unhappy 'bout you goin' through his stuff and 'bout a kid packin' heat but he wouldn't kill you. What're you doing with this? You know your mom doesn't want you carryin'!"
"It's my fault…" He said sadly. "Dale. Its my fault he died."
"Oh honey, that ain't your fault! Why'd you say that?!" Abby crouched down and looked him in the eye.
"I saw that walker." He said as he looked her in the eye. "I was gonna shoot it…. It was stuck in the mud. I was—I was throwin' rocks at it and stuff." He continued, as he looked down at his boots and started kicking rocks. "But I was gonna do it, shoot it right in the head. And it—it got free…and came after me, so I ran away. If I had killed it, Dale would still be a live."
"No, Carl!" Abby said firmly. "Don't do those 'what if' scenarios, that sort of thing can drive a person crazy. You coulda killed that walker and another one might've replaced it. Dale's death ain't your fault! He shouldn't have been out there on his own to begin with! None of us should be, especially at night."
After a long pause, he looked up at her again. "Can you give it back to Daryl?"
"Sure, how'd you get it anyways? We were gone almost all day yesterday!"
"When everyone was gathered to talk about that Randall guy. Jimmy was readin' some stupid magazine and Sophia was playing with some dolls Beth had brought out. So, I snuck out." He said with a shrug.
Abby finally stood up. "You know you can come to me with any thing, right?" Carl nodded. "Especially the stuff you don't wanna talk to you parents about…like girls and stuff." Abby grinned at him and Carl scoffed but smirked also.
"Girls are weird and gross." Carl said like a typical preteen.
"Oh, trust me kiddo, you'll be changin' your tune real soon, and you know where to find me. Now scram, stay close to the house!" She called as he trotted off.
Abby shook her head, Rick wasn't going to like this. She looked around to see if she could see Daryl, so she could give him his gun back but hesitated. He'd been irritated with her a lot over the last day, maybe she should give him his space…maybe she should show it to Rick first? Abby groaned at her own lack of ability to make a decision.
She had never had a problem telling Martin what was on her mind, even when he was mad with her; which was often. She could tell Rick too, but she knew no matter how angry he was at her, Rick would always love her but Daryl? She was scared of scaring him off. Even when it became evident that Martin was working his way up to divorcing her, she hadn't really been bothered; which told her she wasn't in love with him.
Suddenly it hit her, she was in love with Daryl. She didn't just like him, find him to be a pleasant and satisfying screw but she also found him interesting as a person and it mattered to her what he thought. She was almost as willing to do what he asked of her and support his decision as she did for her brother. Although, to fair, she rarely did what her brother asked. In that, Daryl one upped Rick.
She nearly jumped when Daryl's voice called "hey" from behind her. She turned and looked at him. He looked awkward but a little amused, probably because he'd just startled her.
"Hey." She lamely replied.
"Can we talk somewhere, where we won't have an audience?" He asked nodding towards the house. "I need to say this before Rick and I leave."
"Sure." She said and followed him to the barn.
Once in side, he closed the door and started pacing the floor, clearly nervous. She waited for several long minutes for him to say whatever it was that was on his mind but he didn't seem to know where to start. So, she finally held out the pistol and offered it to him.
"Here this is yours, I hear." She said and he stopped, frowned and walked over to her.
"Who had it?" He asked annoyed now.
"Carl." She said with a sigh.
"What? How'd he get it? Why'd he take it?" Daryl asked trying to keep calm.
"Got this crazy idea in his head that he wanted to kill this walker he found, stuck in the mud. Why he went through your stuff, I don't know. Asked me to give it back to you 'cause he thought you'd kill him." She replied.
Daryl scoffed. "I'd certainly give him a piece of my mind."
"Don't light into him, I'm gonna tell Rick and they'll deal with it but he already feels bad. The walker that killed Dale was the one he'd found in the woods, so now he feels its his fault that Dale died." Abby shook her head.
"Why'd you never have kids of yer own? You're certainly good with yer nephew." He finally looked her in the face as he stuffed pistol into his belt.
Abby shrugged. "I wanted 'em and probably wouldn't have gone on so many tours if Martin did too but he didn't, or at least not with me."
"You still do?" He asked starting to look awkward again.
"I'd like to say 'some day' but my 'some day' is quickly runnin' out." She said trying to sound lighthearted instead of the deep sadness she felt at the thought of dying childless.
"Maybe you…will…one day." Daryl said now looking immensely uncomfortable.
"What is it you wanted to say to me, Daryl?" She asked him softly.
He started paced again. "Yesterday. I didn't finish how I wanted to…or say all I wanted to say. And then this mornin' I was such an asshole to you, you didn't deserve that…or yesterday either. I just get so frustrated with myself…and I take it out on other people…I need to work on that, especially with you."
"It's okay, Daryl. Try to relax don't think about it too much, I won't judge you." She said trying to soothe him.
"I ain't never done somethin' half assed. I'm either in or I'm out and I know we've only doing...this, for a couple weeks and I know you said you weren't really ready for a relationship but…I don't just wanna be your 'more than a friend but not yer boyfriend' thing, I want all in…I want you!" He marched straight to her and put her hands on her arms gently. "I-I love you."
Abby smiled brightly at him and pulled his head down to hers and rested her forehead against his. "I love you too, you big jerk." She gushed.
He smiled then kissed her passionately, which quickly turned into grinding and groping, despite a pistol digging into both of their stomachs. Abby abruptly pushed him away. "Not right now." She panted. "When you get back." She continued as she pulled out the large roll of condoms that'd she'd found and showed them to him. He smiled at her wickedly then turned and marched out of the barn.
Abby sat on the porch with her rifle partially disassembled sitting on a sheet on the floor and three bottles of paint opened beside her. Rick and Daryl had slowly walked onto the porch as she sat there, discussing their plans, oblivious of her sitting on the ground just a few feet away. They went several minutes without noticing her as she worked but suddenly they both stopped and looked at what she was doing, shocked by her sudden presence. They looked at each other, then back at her.
"What are you doing, Abigail?" Rick asked in confusion.
"What does it look like? The old camo is for desert, we live in a rather green country…mostly, so I'm changing the configuration." Abby didn't bother looking up at them.
"With yer fingers?" Daryl asked, obviously amused.
"Well Hershel doesn't have a paint brush small enough, so yes, my fingers." She replied as she continued.
"You know that stuff doesn't come of easily?" Rick asked.
"I know, that's what the paint thinner is for." She said indicating to the bottle on her other side with a clear liquid.
"Your fingers are likely to still be colorful." Rick said with a slight chuckle.
"Hey Daryl, can I talk with Rick for a minute?" Abby asked him.
"Gotta take a piss anyways." He said as turned and walked off.
"What is it, sis." Rick said as he leaned against the rail.
"'bout Carl." She started.
Rick sighed. "What'd he do now?"
"Which you wanna hear first. The part where he wandered off into the woods by himself and ran into a walker or the part where he stole a pistol from Daryl and tried to use it on said walker? Or the part where that same walker killed Dale and now he feels responsible?" Abby finally looked up from what she was doing.
Rick sputtered for a moment. "He did what?"
"Yeah, I know, I was shocked too. He came to me, told me what he did, gave me the gun back but he didn't want me to tell you or Lori." Abby said as she stuck her hands into the paint thinner. "I ain't gonna tell you how to raise yer son, Rick but he needs his daddy right now. He's lost and confused, and he won't listen to Lori or me, he needs you!"
"I'll talk to him when I get back, I need to get this Randall thing done with." Rick said as he rubbed his face.
Shane suddenly appeared from around the corner. "Your baby sister tells you, your son needs you and that's all you can say? Tomorrow?" He asked in disgust.
Rick turned and glared at him. "Its my call." He said coolly but anger was evident in his voice.
"How about I ride out with Daryl?" Shane suggested. "Be good for us to spend a little time together."
Abby tensed, that was the last thing she wanted. It was as bad as Shane going out with Rick. She was pretty sure he suspected what was going on between them, he'd been eyeing them suspiciously for the last three days. But thankfully Rick didn't like that idea either.
"Nah, I need you here." He said but the distrust was obvious in his voice but for a different reason. He thought that Shane would kill Randall and he very might. Abby was afraid he might kill them both then claim the kid killed either Rick or Daryl then he killed the kid.
"Don't think I'll handle it right, huh?" He asked.
"Didn't say that." Rick replied coolly.
"Freeing that prisoner." Shane chuckled mirthlessly. "Is more important than Carl."
As Shane walked off, Abby stood up as she wiped the paint and paint thinner from her hands with an oil cloth. "Ignore that asshole Rick, you're a good father!" But he turned and marched off angrily.
Abby pulled her stuff to the side where her rifle could dry and not get kicked when they started boarding up the windows, then trotted off in the direction Shane had gone. When she found him, he was collecting more wood for them to use. When he saw her coming he shook his head and hollered at her.
"I ain't in the mood!"
"Well get in the mood!" She called back. When she got closer she stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. "You have no right to judge Rick for the decisions he makes. I know you think you know what its like to be a father, just 'cause you looked after Carl and Lori for a few weeks but you don't. You know nothin'! Rick loves that boy like you never could! The only thing you want, is to screw his mother!"
"Lori and I have nothing to do with Carl." Shane growled.
"'Lori and I'? Don't you get it? There is no 'Lori and I'! It was just you takin' advantage a scared and lonely widow and her son!" She said furiously.
"Oh, you mean like Daryl's doin' with you!? I know you two are goin' at it like two animals in heat. Saw you sneak off to his tent a couple times and I'm pretty you never came back the other night because you were screwin' in the barn. Saw him go off to there just before dark. Tell me, does Rick know you're screwin' his new best friend?"
"That ain't none of your concern!" She said her voice becoming very dangerous.
"You know, I think I should go tell him! Maybe he'll actually stay back and deal with his family instead of some stupid prisoner." Shane said as he turned and started off.
"You tell him about Daryl and I, and I tell him you tried to rape his wife!" She rebuked and Shane stopped dead. "That's right, don't think I forgot. Or how about you were pointin' a gun at his head? I ain't forgot that either. Just keep your damned opinions to yer self." Abby shoved passed him and walked back to the house.
An hour later, Abby sat on the porch once more putting her rifle back together when Daryl back the truck up to the house. T-Dog came from the house and started putting supplies in the back next to Daryl's crossbow, then handed Daryl a pistol as he got out.
"What happened to yours?" Abby asked and they both looked up at her.
"Rick got it back, said he wanted to give it to Carl." Daryl said with shrug.
Rick came with some more supplies. "It's a more reliable type of gun, requires less maintenance. It's a bit big but it won't jam up on him." He said as he put the supplies in the back.
"I'll go get the package." T-Dog offered.
Rick nodded. "Thanks."
"I thought you didn't want him carryin'?" Abby asked as T-Dog walked off.
"Lori didn't but after last night, I think it'd be wise if he did. He's old enough, he understands." Rick watched her, waiting for her to challenge his decision.
"Guess you an I were huntin' with rifles when we were younger." Abby said with a shrug. "He's your son, you know best."
"Hey! Hey!" T-Dog yelled as he came running back. "The kids gone! He ain't there!"
Rick, Abby and Daryl all took off running to the shed. Daryl slammed to door open and Rick went in side and just as T-Dog had said, the kid was gone. The group must have heard T-Dog shouting because they all swarmed in on it. Rick did his policeman work and started investigating while everyone started speculating.
Suddenly Shane appeared from the woods shouting. "Rick! Rick!"
"What happened?" Lori shouted as Shane came towards them.
"He armed!" Shane replied, his face all bloody. "He's got my gun!"
"You okay?" Carl asked worriedly.
"I'm fine! Little bastard snuck up on me! He clocked me in the face!" He shouted angrily.
Rick turned around. "Alright, Hershel, T-Dog, get everyone back in the house. Abigail, you and that rifle get up in a watch tower. If you find him, shoot him."
"Roger that." Abby said as she hoisted her rifle onto her shoulder.
"Glenn, Daryl, come with us. Everyone else, in side. Lock all the doors, stay put!" Rick ordered as they walked off.
Abby ran back to the house, grabbed her military backpack which still had all her bullets still inside, shoved a pair of binoculars into it then ran back outside and headed for the windmill. As she climbed up she sigh as she looked at the platform, it wasn't big but she'd have to make it work. She stuffed herself to one side then laid on her belly and popped out the stand for her rifle and started scanning the woods.
So, Abby laid their, for hours, scanning the woods and continued even after the sun had set. Blessedly though, there was a full moon out that night, so she could still see across the fields. So, she saw the moment Shane and Rick broke from the trees and started in the direction of the house. They were a good mile off, and she doubted that Shane realized that she was still watching. He'd only ever used a hunting rifle, he had no idea how clearly, she could see what he was doing in that moment.
She watched as he pulled a gun on her brother and it was all she could do in that moment to not put a bullet in his head immediately but Rick was slightly in her line of sight, enough that she couldn't bring herself to risk it. She saw Rick start talking to Shane and Shane making his angry replies. Rick slowly circled to one side, putting him out of her line of sight. At one-point Shane put his pistol back into his belt then proceed to try and ag Rick into shooting him but he failed he pulled his pistol once more.
They continued to yell and Shane's head was bobbing around too much as he screamed at Rick so she aimed for his heart and after letting out a slow breath to settle her self, she pulled the trigger. She watched as the power of the impact knocked Shane off of his feet then saw Rick looked back in her direction then back at Shane and approached him carefully but she knew she'd hit her intended mark. He wasn't getting back up again. Then Rick collapsed beside Shane as grief over took him. Abby sighed as she looked away from the scene, she hoped Rick wouldn't hate her for what she did but she had too.
Abby was just about to climb down when another shot went off, she snapped back around and looked down her scope to see Carl and Rick carefully walking towards Shane's corpse. After a moment, they got up and started back to the house. Abby frowned, what was that boy doing out there? How had she not seen him? Then she saw the walkers, she was tempted to start shooting but she knew if she did, they'd come all the more quickly.
Cursing to herself she quickly climbed down the tower and ran as hard as she could towards the house. Off to the other side the walkers were much closer, already starting to pass the barn. By the time she reached the porch, several people were standing on it, watching the approaching herd. Daryl looked immensely relieved to see her, as she was to see him, and waved at her to hurry.
As she reached the porch Daryl hauled her up and Lori suddenly appeared in the door. "Carl's gone." She said worriedly.
"He's with Rick." Abby said grimly as she tried to slow her breathing and pointed towards the herd.
"What?" She said in horror.
"They weren't far off from the barn, Rick'll get them there. He'll keep him safe, okay?" Abby replied confidently, even though she was just as worried for both of them."
T-Dog fetched the bag of guns for in side the house and set it on the porch. Daryl handed her a shotgun and pulled the rifle from her hands and propped it up against the rail. "That ain't no good right now." He said to her.
She took the shotgun and listened to their plan, and it was stupid but she couldn't leave without Rick and Carl, so she'd fight like hell until they arrived. Abby turned to Hershel.
"It's all well and good for the rest of us to fight here but just in case we fail, you need to get Beth and Patricia and they are gonna go with Amy, Lori, Carol and Sophia and they are gonna get off of this farm!" She said firmly.
"I agree." He said then turned to Patricia. "You heard the lady."
"I'll get Beth but I'm staying until you leave." Patricia said stubbornly.
"I ain't leavin' without my boy!" Lori shouted.
Abby grabbed her by the shoulders. "You need to trust that Rick will take care of him, okay? You need to leave, now, while you still can. You have a baby to think about!" Lori nodded sadly, picked up Abby's rifle and turned to followed after the other four ladies.
"Abby come on! Ride with me!" Daryl hollered as he pulled up with his bike.
Abby lunged over the rail like Daryl had only a few minutes earlier and ran up to him and climbed behind him. Once on, Daryl took off for the fence and pulled to a stop when he reached the fence then started firing into the crowd of walkers. Abby scooted back a little so she could turn her torso better and also started firing.
"Hey look!" Daryl called back to her she turned to look where he was pointing at and saw what he was looking at, the barn was on fire. "Hang on!" He said as started rolling forward. He sped up as she wrapped an arm around his waist and drove up to where Jimmy drove the RV.
"Yo!" He called to Jimmy. "Must've been Rick or Shane who started that fire. Maybe they're trying to get out back! Why don't you circle 'round!"
"Got it!" Jimmy called and took off with the RV.
Abby stuffed the shotgun in between them and pulled out her pistol and started firing into the crowd as Daryl drove off and stopped little way down the driveway. They couldn't see much passed the smoke, but it was obvious, the farm was lost.
"I shot him." Abby said softly as she wrapped her arms around Daryl's waist. "He was going to kill Rick, so I shot him."
Daryl didn't reply but put his hand over hers, then started the motorcycle back up and turned and drove off. The morning fog settled on to the road as Daryl rumbled down the road and when they broke through a patch, Daryl had to quickly veer to one side to dodge around a scattered herd that ambled along the road. Thankfully Daryl was adept at controlling his bike and was by default a calm person under pressure. After a bit of weaving and couple sharp turns, they made it out of the smaller group with out any real trouble.
After a while she shouted into his ear. "We need to go to the highway, that's where everyone will go."
Daryl nodded that he heard and turned down the next dirt road they came across. After a while, they saw the tail lights of a vehicle zigzagging down the dirt road. Daryl sped up even more and easily caught up to the vehicle pulling up to the driver side window where they looked inside and saw Glenn and Maggie looking back at them.
Daryl nodded then pulled a head to lead them to the highway. Just as they hit pavement, a familiar blue truck screeched to a stop with T-Dog behind the wheel with Carol, Lori and Sophia, crammed tightly in the front and Beth and Amy in the back, clinging to the sides of the truck bed. Glenn poked his head out of the window.
"Come on, we got room!" He yelled at the poor girls in the back. They hopped out of the truck and climbed into the back of his SUV.
Once they were inside, Daryl took off once more and headed for the highway. They drove for well over half an hour before Abby spotted Carol's suburban down the road, parked by the Mustang they'd parked beside the RV that first day. Daryl nodded then cut across the ditch and drove up to the vehicle. Abby dropped her head onto Daryl's shoulder when she saw Rick, Hershel and Carl and sighed in relief.
"Auntie!" "Abigail!" Rick and Carl called at the same time.
Abby jumped off the bike then ran and hugged her brother.
"Mom!" Carl called suddenly and Rick let go of Abby as they watched Lori run over and hug her son. Rick gave Abby a quick kiss on the cheek and went to hug his family.
After a bunch of hugs and greetings were exchanged. People started asking about those who were missing. Shane, Andrea, Patricia and Jimmy. T-Dog had seen Andrea go down while Hershel had seen Patricia get taken down by walkers. Jimmy had been overrun at the RV after he'd rescued Rick and Carl. Daryl wanted to go back and check for Andrea since no one had actually seen her die but Rick refused to let him go despite Amy's begging.
Rick, Lori, Carl, Amy, Sophia and Carol crammed into the suburban, with Sophia in her mother's lap while Glenn, Maggie, Beth Hershel and T-Dog crammed into the SUV and Daryl and Abby rode together on the back of Daryl's bike. Abby was happy that she was the lucky one to ride with Daryl, not just because he was her boyfriend but because she didn't have to cram into one of those vehicles, despite the fact that they had climate control while she had bitter cold air nipping at her face. Burying her face into Daryl's back was good enough for her.
She was also happy that Lori had enough presence of mind to rescue her rifle, which now was strapped to the side of her pack that she'd never taken off after she'd climbed down from the windmill, not to mention the food that was still crammed in side. Rick had left a sign on the windshield of a car hoping that if Andrea was a live and if Morgan and his son passed this way, they'd see it, avoid the farm and seek them out. It was a fool's dream but it gave people hope.
They drove until well pass midday when Rick honked his horn, the signal for everyone to stop. Daryl pulled to the side as did the rest of them and the two of them got off of the bike.
"You out?" Daryl asked as Rick trotted to the front of their caravan.
"Running on fumes." He replied as he looked around.
"We can't stay here." Maggie pointed out.
"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn added.
"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning." Rick stated.
"Spending the night here?" Lori asked as she looked around.
"I'm freezing!" Carl complained.
"So am I!" Sophia added.
Rick took off his coat and wrapped it around Carl's shoulders while Abby dug into her backpack and pulled out a thick flannel shirt and handed it to Sophia. "We'll build a fire, right?" Lori said.
"If you go out to collect firewood, don't go too far. Only got so many arrows. How you doing on ammo?" Daryl asked.
"Not enough." Rick said.
"But not as bad as you think though." Abby said as she dug into her bag and produced the two boxes of bullets. "Got a bit of food in here too but it'll only last a couple of day with all of us."
"Count on a Marine to be prepared." T-Dog said smirking.
"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out." Maggie said uncomfortably.
"Watch your mouth." Hershel scolded Maggie then added to the rest of the group. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."
"All right. We'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll find gas and supplies, we'll keep pushing on." Rick said confidently.
"Glenn and I can do a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." Maggie said desperately.
"No, we stay together." Rick said curtly.
"He's right splitting up is a bad idea. Too many things can go wrong. Look, I know you're all tired and scared and cold but this is what's best." Abby said pointing to Rick.
"Look I know we've all been through hell and worse but at least we're together." Rick said passionately. "We need to keep it that way. We'll find a place somewhere. There's gotta be a place, a place we can fortify. I have to believe that."
"Even if we did find a place." Maggie started. "and we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long? Look at what happened to the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that it was safe."
"Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there." Abby said putting up her hands. "We are never safe, even before the dead rose. We might've looked safe on the surface but we weren't. I mean between terrorism, natural disasters and diseases, something bad has always been just around the corner. We just gotta plan a little more now and keep calm! And above all we gotta keep faith that something better will come."
"I have to say Abigail, after talking to Rick I didn't figure you to be spiritual." Hershel said in surprise.
"Don't know if its really spiritual but it don't mean I don't have belief. I've seen some pretty crazy shit, its gotta be for something, right? Karma and all that." Abby said with a shrug.
Rick gave her a bit of weird look and she shrugged at him. Looked off to the side then back at the group. "We'll set up camp over there. Get back on the road at the break of day."
"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asked Daryl, which Abby thought a little weird but they did have a bit of a weird relationship.
"What if walkers come through? Or another group like Randall's?" Beth asked Rick.
"You know I found Randall, right?" Daryl said looking between Rick and Abby. "He had turned but wasn't bit."
Rick suddenly looked a little nauseous. "How's that possible?" Beth asked.
"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori asked him.
"Shane killed Randall, just like he always wanted too." Daryl concluded.
"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked.
Rick looked like he was going to hurl but after taking several deep breathes, he finally said. "We're all infected."
Everyone stared at him in silent horror. "What?" Daryl finally asked.
"At the CDC," Rick explained. "Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."
Daryl walked little ways away, also now looking sick as Carol stepped forward. "And you never told us?" She asked him in disbelief.
"Would it have made a difference?" Rick asked.
"You've known this whole time?" Daryl asked finally sounding irritated.
"How could I have known for sure?" Rick asked angrily. "You saw how crazy that mo…"
"That wasn't your call!" Glenn exclaimed.
"Hey! Knock it off!" Abby yelled. "This ain't helpin' nothing! Questioning Rick's decisions, don't help nothing and him telling us wouldn't have changed anything!"
"Of course, you'd take his side." Amy groused.
"I ain't takin' sides, I'm being reasonable." Abby growled. "The more we doubt and infight each other, the more of us are going to die. You just have to accept that what was done, was done for the better of the group and move on!"
"We aren't soldiers, Abby." Amy continued. "We can't just follow orders, and not question them."
"Well you might just have to learn too." Abby growled.
Rick put a hand on her shoulder. "I thought it was for the best, that you shouldn't know." Rick said then turned and stalked off to the ruins on the side of the road and Lori followed after him.
Daryl, T-Dog and Abby started talking about setting up camp when suddenly Lori screamed. "You bitch! You killed him!"
Abby turned shocked by the outburst, and saw Rick holding Lori back only a few feet away, clawing towards Abby like a feral cat. Everyone but Daryl looked at Lori then Abby in shock.
"You killed him!" She screamed, again.
"I had to." Abby said softly and Daryl put himself between the two women.
"What's she talkin' about?" T-Dog asked.
"She killed Shane!" Lori sobbed.
"He was going to kill Rick!" Abby suddenly shouted back, tears starting to form. "I waited! I could have shot him sooner but I waited, hoping Rick would talk him down but he wasn't backing down! He had a gun pointed at his head! It was either your husband or your boyfriend, you couldn't have both! If anyone killed him, it was you!" With every word, Abby's volume increased until she was screaming, venom dripping from ever word.
Rick looked torn between whom he should comfort, his sister whom was on the verge of tears or his wife who was already crying but Daryl turned to Abby then pulled her into a hug which shocked everyone. They were even more shocked when she wrapped her arms around his waist and put her face into his shoulder.
"She's right. Shane was planning to kill me." Rick said after he'd recovered from his shock. "That's why he killed Randall. To lure me out into the woods but he failed to remember when he pointed his gun at me, that Abby's a crack shot with helluva scope. This is Shane's fault not Abby's and not Lori's."
Everyone stared at each other awkwardly for a moment as Abby straightened up and wiped her face, then slowly the drifted to the shoulder of the road and sat down. As Hershel walked by he put a hand on her shoulder.
"You did what was needed, he was getting increasingly unstable. You did nothing wrong." He said to her softly.
"I'm sure you did what you had to do." Beth agreed and even gave Abby a hug before following after her father.
When everyone but Rick, Abby and Daryl had drifted over to the ruins, Daryl picked up his crossbow and looked between the two siblings. "I'm gonna gather some firewood, the others might calm down after they've warmed up a little."
"Don't go out of shouting distance and keep your eyes open." Rick said to Daryl who nodded his acknowledgement and walked off.
"If it makes you feel any better, she's angry at me too." Rick said as he stepped forward and crouched down so he could look her in the eye.
"You don't hate me?" She asked him, her voice breaking at the end with the thought that he still might.
Rick pulled her into a tight hug. "No! I don't hate you!" He said fiercely. "I love you! Shane was going to kill me! I you hadn't shot him, it would have been me." He leaned back. "I know it hard, trust me I know. We've known him for a long time, its hard to lose anyone, let alone someone you've known practically your whole life."
"He was your friend, I should be comforting you." She leaned forward and hugged him again. "What was that shot? After I shot…him, there was a second shot."
Rick got up and turned away from her, rubbing his face. "It was Carl, Shane…turned. He put Shane down…"
Abby tried to say something but she was too shocked. Her young nephew had to shoot a man he's known his whole life like an uncle, in the head. She looked over to where Carl sat with Sophia playing with a deck of cards that someone must've had. He seemed fine but he was a Grimes, and the Grimes' excelled at hiding their problems until they cracked.
"I'm sorry, Rick." She said finally. "That must've been difficult to watch…"
"What kind of father, has his son shoot…anyone!" Rick said, the pain evident in his voice.
"I doubt you made him, Rick. He was just protecting his daddy, it might not be right but there was nothing that you could've done differently! He shouldn't have even been there!" Abby put a hand on his shoulder.
Later that evening Abby sat with her back to the wall, sitting in one of the three entrances, keeping herself away from the group, while they all warmed themselves by the fire. Daryl would come and sit by her, off and on, but eventually he'd go back to the fire and tend to it. T-Dog had offered to take the first watch and stood on a wall staring out into the darkness. Rick stood out in the darkness watching from the other side, while everyone else sat around the fire, wide awake.
Abby frowned as she looked over at Carol who was whispering to Daryl. Carol probably figured that she couldn't hear her from Abby's spot and mostly she couldn't but she could read lips. Carol wasn't happy with Rick's leadership and was questioning Abby's stability and her unwavering loyalty to her brother. Daryl's face didn't become hostile when she mentioned Rick but he spoke well of him. When she started talking about Abby, though Daryl got a little more defensive which caused Carol to inspect his face carefully, like she had a week previous.
Abby's frowned deepened when she looked over at Maggie who'd started saying something similar but was quickly cut off by Hershel. The camp was weak, but at least some of them were willing to stick together. It'd be stupid for anyone to leave but she was afraid that they might try and exile Rick or maybe even her, if they did that then Rick wouldn't leave without his wife and son and Daryl would probably go with her. That would leave them seriously weak, they'd die in matter of days.
Suddenly a twig snapped. "What was that?" Beth asked cautiously, looking around her fearfully.
"Could be anything. Could be a Racoon, could be a possum." Daryl replied not really sounding worried, just hungry which made Abby smile. Everyone but Daryl, Carl and Abby was immediately on there feet but Daryl did slowly rise and pull off his crossbow from his back.
"Walker." Glenn added.
"We need to leave!" Carol said panicked.
Abby scoffed. "Settle down y'all, I don't hear no shufflin' or groaning. We're loud enough they'd be excited."
"You don't know that!" Maggie said worriedly looking in the direction of the sound. "I don't want to be waitin' around for another herd to breeze through here!"
"Do something!" Carol said to Rick which made Abby scoff once more.
"I am doing something! I'm trying to keep y'all together! We can't just go running off into the woods!" Rick said irritated. "If y'all don't like what I'm doing? There's the door, see how long you survive out here on your own!" Rick paused and looked at everyone most whom looked awkwardly at the ground. "No takers? Well let me get one thing clear, if you're stayin', this isn't a democracy anymore!"
When no one spoke up, Abby added her own voice. "Fine by me, someone needs to take control." Abby said from where she still sat. Rick nodded at her then turned and walked off.
Thanks for your continued support! I feel very loved!
-Shockra