Here's chapter 20! I wanted it to be special, you know... 20 is such a nice, round number. But it just wouldn't write! I ended up having a really hard time writing this one and i'm still not sure if it's any good. Plus, we've had 4 consecutive night shoots so i haven't slept properly in days :P Anyhow, tell me what you think, if it's any good and if i should, perhaps, rewrite it. Review :D

writergrrrl, MAR76, Guest, thanks for the reviews :D And, Gues, whoever you might be, i swear i upload as fast as i can but this is solely for pleasure while my job is both pleasure and income - income i need for food, bills, clothes and such :D I've started working on the next chapter (it's my day off! :D) and hopefully i'll have it up soon.

Disclaimer:

I own only May and Kiba

Chapter 20: When Out Drinking...

Rick, May and Glenn exchanged glances, their weapons at the ready; they nodded to each other and barged in to the bar, ready to fight if necessary. The lowered the weapons as soon as they saw Hershel's figure at the bar. Glenn closed the door behind them. "Hershel?" Rick called out cautiously.

"Who's with you?" Hershel asked, not turning around. "May and Glenn." Rick replied, the three of them cautiously walking up to the man. "Heh… Maggie sent him?" he asked, taking a swing from his glass. "He volunteered, he's good like that." May replied, gaining her a grateful look from Glenn. Rick walked up to the bar while Glenn and May stayed a bit behind, giving them room to talk.

"How many have you had?" Rick asked worriedly. "Not enough…" Hershel replied and the pain in his voice made May's heart hurt. "Let's finish this up back at home." Rick offered, but got no reaction.

"Beth collapsed, Hershel. She's in catatonic shock." May said, hoping this would pull him from the trance he was in. "Is Maggie with her?" the old man asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, but Beth needs you." Rick said persuasively. "What can I do? She needs her mother… Or, rather, to mourn, like she should have done weeks ago. I robbed her of that, I see that now." Hershel took another swing from his glass, still not turning to face them. "You thought there was a cure – you can't blame yourself for holding out for hope." Rick said, trying to dissuade the man from drinking anymore.

"Hope?" Hershel asked, scoffing lightly. "When I first saw you running across the field with your boy in your arms, I had little hope he'll survive." he finished, giving Rick a drunken look. "But he did." Rick replied. "He did. Even though we lost Otis, your man Shane made it back and we saved your boy. That was the miracle that proved to me that miracles do exist. Only it was a sham, a bait and switch. I was a fool Rick and you people saw that. My daughters deserve better than that." Hershel sounded completely broken. He emptied out his glass and took the bottle to fill it up again.

Rick walked over to May and Glenn, giving them a look that asked 'What now?' but not really expecting an answer. "So what should we do? Just wait for him to pass out…?" Glenn asked, sporting the same expression as Rick. "Just go. Just go!" Hershel said, continuing his alcohol indulgence. "I promised Maggie I'll bring you home safe." Rick said in his good-cop voice. Hershel just chuckled. "Like you promised that little girl?"

"So what's your plan? Finish that bottle, drink yourself to death, leave your daughters alone?!" It was May that snapped at him. She didn't have the patience for this bran of weakness; none of them were spared by this shitty situation, they all lost people they loved. She lost people she loved even before the dead rose up. He deeded to man-up and soon. Hershel didn't take well to her tone; he got up and turned around, walking up to her and Rick unstably, while Glenn stayed at the door, keeping watch. "Stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm! You people are like a plague! I do the Christian thing, I give you shelter and you destroyed it all!" he shouted, his face getting red. "The world was already in bad shape when we met." Rick said, getting in to the farmers face. "And you take no responsibility? You're supposed to be their leader!"

"Well I'm here now, aren't i?!" Both men were furious, breathing heavily. Hershel blinked before his shoulders slumped down. "Yes…. Yes… yes you are…" he muttered out, defeated by his failure and sat back at the bar. "Your girl's need you now more than ever." May said, remembering how she felt losing her parents. "Come on." Rick said, trying to help him up. Hershel pushed him away. " didn't want to believe you; you told me there was no cure, that these people are 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've been. I knew Annette had been dead long ago and that I was feeding her rotting corpse. That's when knew there was no hope. And when that little girl came out of the barn, the look on your faces… I knew you knew it too, right? There is no hope and you know it now, like I do. Don't you?" They all exchanged glances, but none of them said anything. May saw in Rick's eyes that he lost hope as well. "There is no hope for any of us." Hershel added, gulping down his booze.

"Look, I'm done! I'm not doing this anymore, cleaning up after you… You know what the truth is?" Rick said, before May cut him off. "Nothing has changed! Death is death – it's always been there! Whether it's from disease, a car crash or walkers, it hurts just the same! You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you?" She was getting angry – they needed to go back to the farm as soon as possible, staying here was too dangerous. "There are people back at home who are trying to hang on and they need us, even if it's just to give them a reason to go on, eve- even if we don't believe it ourselves!" Rick said, getting a little mad himself. "You know what? This isn't about what we believe anymore. It's about them." He said that in a no-nonsense voice, looking away from Hershel like he didn't care anymore. The old farmer looked at the sheriff, then looked at the young ranger, gulped down the last of the murky liquid in his glass and put it away. As he did that, they heard the door open and grabbed their weapons, ready to attack if necessary. At the door, they saw two men, one of them short and chubby, looking at them with mild surprise and amusement. The taller one spoke.

"Son of a bitch! They're alive."

A moment later, he was sitting at one of the tables, pouring himself a drink, his friend, Glenn and Hershel stayed by the bar and Rick and May hovered around cautiously. "I'm Dave." the taller one said and May noticed a Philadelphia accent one of the interns at the national park had. "That scrawny looking douche back there is Tony."

"Eat me Dave."

"Hey, maybe someday I will! We met on I95, coming out of Philly. A damn shit-show that was." Dave seemed earnest but for some reason May just didn't like them and didn't trust them one bit. Glenn didn't seem to be having the same problem, though. "Hey, I'm Glenn. It's nice to meet some new people." he said in a cheerful voice. "Rick Grimes." Rick said, giving a shot of whiskey to Glenn, Tony and May and took one for himself. May took hers and drank most of it in one gulp – she didn't want to stay here longer than necessary. Dave checked her out, head to toe, and gave her a suggestive look. "A beautiful women and she can drink."

"Don't get any ideas." she replied, giving him a small smile and a slightly threatening look. He raised his hands as if in surrender, but kept his eyes on her ass a while longer. "How's about you, pal, have one?" he then asked Hershel, noticing Rick never gave him a drink. "I just quit." the drunk Hershel said simply. "You have a unique sense of timing, my friend." Dave said, snickering. "His name's Hershel; he lost people today… a lot of them."

Dave instantly got serious. "I'm truly sorry to hear that." he said, raising his glass. "For better days and new friends and for our dead, may they be in a better place." They all nodded and emptied out their glasses. When Dave leaned over Rick and May could clearly see ha had a gun. He looked over to them and, realizing what they were both looking at, took it out and sowed it to them. "Not bad, huh? I got it of a cop." he said, looking over his weapon. "I'm a cop." Rick said flatly. "This one was already dead."

This caused an awkward silence. May walked over to the bar's door and scoped out what was going on outside. She was ready to leave even before these guys came, she was simply overwhelmed with the feeling that something bad was coming. They heard the men talk but didn't pay much attention to what they said, figuring Rick can take care of whatever it is. Thinking about the events of the day, she felt her heart squeeze when she remembered what she had done – she shot Sophia. It was a walker, yes, but it was Sophia. Before she had a chance to think about it further, to let herself feel anything she sensed a change in atmosphere. She glanced through the window again, noting it was already dark, before she slowly turned around, rejoining the conversation.

"Hold on a second, this farm of yours sound pretty sweet. Don't it Tony?" Dave asked and she had no idea how they reached that topic. The other guy, Tony, was taking a piss right there, as if nobody was around and she felt her face scrunch in to a frown. "Yeah, real sweet." the fat man replied, zipping up his pants. "How about some southern hospitality? We got some guys back at the camp, we've been having a real hard time…" Dave asked and May gave Rick a sharp look, urging him to say 'no'. "Look, I'm sorry, that's not an option." he replied, giving her a short, affirmative look.

There was a long, awkward pause. "Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem." Dave said and May tightened the grip on her bow. "I'm sorry, we can't." Hershel said, still slightly drunk. "We simply can't take in anyone." Rick added and, when Dave tried arguing, he cut him off. "We don't know anything about you."

"That's right. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we had to go through, the things we had to do. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Dave asked, and no one said anything. "Ain't nobody's hands clean here. Let's take a nice hayride to that farm and get to know each other."

"That's just not gonna happen." May said, wanting to leave. Now. "That's bullshit!" Tony argued. "Woah, just calm down." Rick tried. "Don't you ever tell me to calm down!" As the fat man shouted, both Rick and May were ready to fight if necessary. Dave jumped over the bar and placed his gun on it. "Now, we're just having a friendly drink! Where's the good stuff?" He bent over and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. "Hey, look at that! That'll work." He opened it and started pouring them a glass each. "You gotta understand, we can't stay out there. You know what it's like."

"Yeah, we do. But the farm is too crowded as is, I'm sorry; you'll have to keep looking." Rick said firmly. Dave gave him an odd look and laughed before he reached for his gun. Before anyone knew what happened, Rick shot him in the head while May launched an arrow in Tony's heart. Rick walked over to him and shot him in the head as well.

Glenn and Hershel seemed flabbergasted. Slowly, Rick and May put away their weapon and exchanged looks and nodded at each other. "Holly shit…" Glenn uttered and May gave him a small pat on the back. "Are you okay?" Rick asked him. "Yeah…" the Asian whispered lightly. "Hershel?" May asked, giving the old man a soft look. After a few seconds, he slowly nodded. "Let's head back."

They looted the guns off the two men and ammo of the two men and headed for the door when a pair of headlights shone a ray of light through the bar. They quickly ducked, their weapons at the ready and waited. The car pared n front and May heard it's door open. They heard a pair of footsteps out front. "Dave? Tony?!" a male voice called out. A couple of other voices joined it, all of the contemplating whether they should come in or not. Their silhouettes passed by the front of the bar, but nobody entered. Rick snuck around, checking to see if the coast was clear through the windows before he crawled back over to them.

"Why won't they leave?" Glenn asked in frustration. "Would you?" Hershel asked and May had to agree with the man. "We can't stay here, we should go out the back door and run for the car." Rick said. They all nodded and, just as they were about to leave, they heard a couple of shots. The people outside realized something was wrong and decided to split up and look for their friends – the ones lying dead on the bar floor. "We're looking for Dave and Tony and nobody checks the bar?" one of the voices said and a pair of footsteps came closer and closer to the door. They all exchanged panicked looks and, as the door slightly opened, Glenn jumped in front of it and slammed it close again. The voices realized they weren't alone. "We don't want any trouble, we're just looking for our friends. If something happened, tell us."

May felt her heart beating in her throat, slightly choking her. She saw all three men were sweating nervously and she realized she'd been squeezing her left fist so tightly her fingernails broke the skin of her palms and her hand was dripping with blood. "They drew on us!" Rick finally shouted in response. Hershel gave him an angry look for saying anything. "Are they in there? Are they alive?" the rough voice asked. "No." Rick answered. They argued whether they should leave or not. Rick tried reasoning with them but they started shooting. "May, get them out of here!" Rick shouted as he drew his gun out, firing back. Suddenly, May was by the back door, Hershel was behind the bar and Glenn was behind the piano, while Rick stayed at the front door. They were separated and stuck.

*WDWDWDWD*

Daryl was roasting a squirrel over the camp fire he made and thinking. It was already night and May hasn't came to their tent. He wasn't surprised after what he said – he never apologized. Why would she come to him when he pushed her away? The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention.

"We can't find Lori." a voice said and he realized it was Carol. "Dumb bitch must have gone out lookin' for 'em." he replied, not wanting to deal with their drama. "What?" Carol asked, obviously confused. "Yeah, she asked me t' go. Told 'er I was done being an errant-boy."

"And you didn't say anything? None of them are back yet! Rick, Glenn, Hershel… May! They're all still gone." This got Daryl's attention. Suddenly, he was covered in cold sweat; he bolted to his feet and gave her a sharp look. "What d'ya mean 'still gone'?" he asked, hoping not to get the response he knew he was going to get. "They never came back."

"And y'all waited this long to tell me!" For the first time in his life, Daryl was terrified. The prospect of something happening to May left him almost paralyzed, but he shook it off and started gathering his weapons. "Daryl…?"

"I'm goin' to git 'em. And next time, don't wait so fuckin' long to tell me!" Daryl barked out, stil packing. Carol walked away, most likely offended, but he didn't want to deal with it. Moments later, as he was heading for his bike, he saw Shane's car drive off the farm and figured he must be going after them as well but he didn't care. There was no way he was going to leave May's safety in the hands of that idiot. Daryl, don't you fuck this up.

*WDWDWDWD*

"Hey! We all know this is not gonna end well! There's nothing in it for any of us! You guys just back off and nobody else gets hurt!" Rick was trying to negotiate with their opponents. May always admired him for trying to find a peaceful way out of every situation. A sound of a gunshot told her the men outside didn't share her admiration. Rick and Glenn exchanged looks and Glenn ran over to May. Slowly, they opened the back door and sneaked in.

The room turned out to be the bar's storage. They descended down the stairs as quietly as they could, but they were old and creaky and with every step they were certain someone will hear them and shoot them on the spot. Suddenly, they heard a sound of footsteps outside and the door handle on their intended exit started turning and they saw a silhouette at the murky door glass. Glenn panicked and fired a shot at the door, breaking the glass.

"May! Glenn?!" Rick's panicked voice reached them. "We're fine!" she replied, exchanging an expecting look with Glenn. They snuck up to the door and realized they weren't sure what to do now. A pair of footsteps came from behind them and Glenn turned around hastily, as did May, and they both saw Hershel standing behind them.

"Rick wants you to try for the car." he said. "Try?!" Glenn asked, panic rising in his voice. "Try and succeed. I'll cover you both." Hershel sounded assured, but Glenn gave May a nervous look. "Great plan…" he said slightly sarcastically. May gave him an encouraging smile and a nod before they opened the door and peered out. The coast seemed to be clear. They snuck out, Hershel staying at the door with a gun at the ready.

Suddenly, a couple of gunshots came their way making Glenn duck behind a dumpster and Hershel pull back. May felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder and realized one of the bullets hit her. She was about to curse the universe for creating bullets when she felt something that felt like a crowbar connect forcefully with the back of her head and everything went black.

I leave you with this little cliff hanger :) I really hope you'll like the chapter, but i'm just not sure, so please review and tell me what you thought of it :) Peace!