What's the End of the World Without Making New Enemies?

The skinny one had sat down as Rick poured him a drink, "I'm Dave. That skinny douchebag over there," he pointed to the man that could possibly miss a few meals and live, "is Tony." The fat man laughed, "Eat me Dave." Dave shrugged and picked up his glass, "Maybe someday I will." Glenn had pulled me behind the counter to stand with him as Dave continued his story. "We met on I-95 comin' out of Philly. Hell of a shit-show that was." Glenn smiled a little and introduced himself, "I'm Glenn. It's nice to meet new people." When he said that, I moved my foot and stepped on his toes causing him to let out a soft groan. He looked up at me and I gave him a look that said Don't be nice. We don't know who they are.

Rick passed a glass over to Tony as he gave the men his name. Dave looked over at Hershel and asked him if he was going to have a drink as well only to have him say that he just quit. Dave chuckled, "You've got a unique sense of timing, my friend." Then his gaze traveled over to me. If I felt comfortable when these two guys walked in, I could definitely say I wasn't comfortable now. The way his gaze traveled down my body instantly made goosebumps rise on my arms. He smirked as his eyes lingered a bit too long on my chest before moving up to my eyes, "What about you sweetheart? You ain't gonna have a drink?"

I uneasily shifted on my feet, picking at a spot on the counter with Daryl's knife before looking back at him "Nah, I've seen what alcohol does to a man who can't control his intake and I, for one, don't think that's attractive in the least bit." I met Dave's gaze and held it before he dropped it with a short laugh, "Don't worry darlin'," I mentally flinched when he used the word that I had so often heard come out of Daryl's mouth, "I know for a fact that I can hold my liquor." Rick cleared his throat, "His name's Hershel and that's his daughter, Ava. They lost people today, a lot of them." Dave's face fell as he heard this news, "I'm truly sorry to hear that." He raised his glass, indicating that he was about to toast, "To better days and new friends. And to our dead, may they be in a better place." Rick, Glenn, Tony, and Dave all threw back their shots after the toast was given.

Dave leaned forward, reaching for the bottle before the shine of metal caught my eyes. I looked towards the source of the light and saw a gun sticking out of the back of his jeans. A smile spread across his face as he saw my gaze, "Like what'cha see, sweetheart? I got it off a cop." I shrugged my shoulders, "Seen better," Nodding towards Rick, I said, "He's a cop. He's got a better one." Dave's eyes trailed over to Rick then back at me, "This one was already dead when I got it." Dave leaned back in his seat and there was silence for a minute. I looked over at Tony to see him eyeing me with his beady little eyes. I scoffed and asked, "Y'all are a long way from Philly." Dave answered, "Feels like we're a long way from anywhere."

Hershel shifted in his seat, "Well, what drove you two south?" Dave raised a hand to his forehead, wiping away some sweat, "Well, it wasn't the weather obviously. Nah, first it was D.C. Heard there was some sort of refugee camp there, but that fell through." He shook his head and continued, "Thought it best to head to the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across, there was always some sort of rumor about a way out of this hellhole." Tony spoke up in his Jersey accent, "One guy said that there was a coast guard on the shore sending ferries to the islands." His gaze never dropped off me as he smiled and asked, "Wanna go to the beach, babe?" I snickered, "Sorry, babe, but not even if you were the last guy on earth." Dave laughed, before continuing, "The latest story was a train yard in Montgomery runnin' trains through the middle of the country; Kansas, Nebraska." Glenn interrupted, "Nebraska?" Tony nodded, "Low population but loads of guns. 'Ya ever been to Nebraska, kid? There's a reason they call 'em flyover states." Glenn and I looked at each other, "Makes sense." Tony and Dave shared a look before Dave asked, "How about you guys? Where you headed?" I could see Rick's 'adam's apple' bob as he swallowed before answering, "Fort Benning, eventually."

"Hate to shit on your cornflakes officer, but I ran across a guy who was from Benning. Said it was overrun with lamebrains." Glenn looked over at Rick and Hershel, "What? Are you for real?" Dave nodded, "Truth is, there's no way out of this mess. Keep goin' from one pipe dream to the next. Hopin' and prayin' one of these freaks don't grab 'ya in 'ya sleep." He looked around, "Uh, don't look like 'ya guys are hangin' your hats around here. You holed up somewhere else?" I shook my head, "Not really, just been travelin' around here with my family." I nodded to Hershel, Rick, and Glenn, "Father, husband, and brother, just passin' through." Rick turned to look at me with a questioning glance and I just shrugged at him. If he's giving us titles that aren't really ours, might as well play along.

He turned back around, nodding as Dave asked, "Those your cars? Look kind of empty to be livin' in 'em. Clean even. Where's all your gear?" Hershel spoke up, "We're with a larger group. We were out scouting when we thought we could use a drink." Dave smiled, "Hershel, I thought you quit. Well, we're looking to set up around here. Is it safe?" Glenn hesitantly answered as Rick and I glanced at him, "Can be, though I've killed a couple of walkers around here." There was a silence, everyone looking at somebody else, though Mr. Tiny Tony over there can't seem to keep his nasty gaze to himself. I fingered the edge of my bow sitting behind the counter as I scooted a bit closer to Glenn. Dave broke the silence - of course, the weasel seems to want to know everything about us - by asking us if we were set up on the outskirts of town or something like that. Tony stood up from his seat, "Set up in a trailer park? A farm?" Walking over to the wall, I heard his pants unzip as he laughed at Dave singing 'Old MacDonald' as he pissed against the wall. I looked at Glenn and gave him a disgusted look.

"You live on a farm? Is it safe?" Dave asked. "It's gotta be" said Tony as he stood there, continuing to empty his bladder. He lifted his hand above his head as he looked over his shoulder at me, "'Ya got any cooze? Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks." I muttered under my breath so only Glenn could hear me as I tightened my hand around Daryl's knife, "I'll tell 'ya what's gonna go in your ass." Glenn gently nudged his hip against mine as if to remind me to stay calm. Dave groaned and rubbed his eye, "Listen, pardon my friend, he's got no tact." He pointed at Glenn, "So, Glenn-" Rick stopped him there, "We've said enough."

"Well, hang on. This farm sounds pretty sweet. Don't it sound sweet Tony?" Dave said, "How about a little southern hospitality here? We got some buddies back at camp, been havin' a real hard time. We can pool our resources and our manpower." Rick shook his head, "Look I'm sorry. But that's not an option." Hershel nodded, "I'm sorry, we can't take in any more." Dave chuckled, "You guys are somethin' else. You know, we got people we gotta look out for too." Rick shifted in his seat, "We don't know nothin' about you." Dave vigorously nodded, "No, that true. You don't know anything about us, what we've had to go through out there, the things we've had to do." He looked up at Rick, "I bet you've had to do some of that shit yourself, am I right? 'Cause ain't nobody's hands are clean in this world, we're all the same." His gaze shifted between Hershel and Rick, "So c'mon. Let's take a hayride up to this farm of yours and we'll get to know each other." Rick looked down at his hands and the glass between them. Holding his hand out to the side, he shook his head, "That's not going to happen."

"This is bullshit!" I turned to Tony as I stood up straight, "Dude, just calm down." He looked at me and pointed with that meaty finger of his, "Don't tell me to calm down. Don't you ever tell me to calm down, bitch!" Rick stood up suddenly as Glenn stood in front of me, his hand resting on my hip, holding me back as I threw back ,"Excuse me, dickhead!? What did you just say to me?!" Tony stepped forward as Rick stood between us ,"You heard what I said bitch! I'll shoot you four assholes in the head and take your fuckin' farm!" Dave stood up, "Whoa, whoa ,whoa, whoa! Relax, take it easy. Nobody's killin' anybody." He jumped over the counter and landed on the other side, "Nobody's shooting anybody. Right, Rick?" Rick's hand slowly went to the gun resting on his hip. Dave held his hands up and put his own gun on the counter, "We're just friends havin' a drink is all." He took a step back and looked behind the bar, clapping his hands together, "Now, where's the good stuff?" He bent down a bit and grabbed at something. My hand tightened around the knife as Rick's hand stayed on his gun. The motion did not go unnoticed by Dave because as soon as he saw Rick's stiffen, he stood back up with a bottle in his hand, "Hey, look at that. That'll work."

There was silence in the bar as we all watched Dave uncork the bottle and pour the liquid into a glass. I angled myself a bit towards Tony and readied the knife in my hand in case I needed to throw it. Dave sighed and set the bottle down, "You see, we can't stay out there. You know what it's like." Rick nodded, "Yeah, I do. But the farm is too crowded as it is. I'm sorry but you'll both have to keep looking." Dave looked down at his glass, "Keep looking. And where should we do that?" Rick shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I hear Nebraska's nice." Dave laughed and looked at Tony, "This guy." Then, time seemed to stand still as I saw both Rick and Dave reach for their guns, Rick getting to his first and shooting Dave clean through the head, his blood splattering against the mirror behind him. As fast as that happened, Rick turned around and shot Tony before he could even get his gun out. Two bullets to the chest, then one to the head.

Glenn, Hershel, and I looked at each other as Rick stood in front of Tony's body and holstered his gun. Glenn broke the silence, whispering, "Holy shit! What do we do now?" Rick knelt down and took Tony's gun, along with the bullets in his pocket. Stepping back from the bodies, Hershel made the decision to head back. I nodded and shouldered my bow as we made our way to the front door. Rick looked over his shoulder and asked, "What was all that with the husband and brother thing? I shrugged my shoulders, "I dunno. I figured since you had already said that I was Hershel's daughter, I might as well put in a whole family unit together." He let a soft laugh loose before lights lit up the front window and were gone as soon as they appeared. "Car, car," Rick whispered, "Get down."

OMGkat22: Awesome! I'm so glad that you're enjoying this. I've never watched Breaking Bad but I'll keep this going so you won't have any heartache. :)

daryl3oc123: Thanks! My plan is to keep this story going as long as the show goes. Whenever I'm watching the new episodes for season 5, my brain is mapping out all different kinds of possibilities that could happen. :)