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Redneck Takes a Wife 20 – Betrayal
As always, all recognized characters, scenes, and situations belong to AMC, the writers, creators, and actors of The Walking Dead.
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Winter finally seemed to fully surrender to spring in the following days. The snow completely melted away to reveal lush green grass. The farm's garden was beginning to sprout and would soon be productive, for which everyone would be grateful after months of canned food. The graves under the blooming fruit trees now had blooming daffodils appearing. The days were warm and sunny, the nights still cool but nowhere near the bitter cold of winter.
Outside at least. Inside the house was a different story. There had been a subtle shift in the atmosphere when Shane returned. Merle and Daryl didn't trust him, therefore neither did Beth and by some extension Carol and Sophia. The brothers kept an eye on him subtly while the women kept their distance. Lori seemed to be overcompensating with Rick, going out of her way to hug or kiss him. Rick allowed it, especially in front of Carl, but was obviously uncomfortable. As was Shane. Things settled into a truce. Shane was trying to be helpful around the farm, willing to do anything they asked, which tended to be whatever was on the opposite side of the property from Rick.
But as often happens with ceasefire, it ended. Violently.
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Merle lay on the bed with a book propped on his chest. Sophia was on the mattress drawing in a sketch book. Not even Carol knew that Sophia loved to draw but as soon as they found out, Glenn began searching the town for blank books and art supplies for her. She was very shy about her art, rarely showing anything, but they knew she'd filled her first book already.
Carol came in and shut the door. She hung her towel over the bar installed on the wall and stooped to kiss Sophia. "Good night, sweetheart."
"Good night, Mommy. Good night Merle." Sophia tucked her book under her pillow.
"G'night, Angel," Merle smiled. He'd worked his way through a dozen nicknames for them before settling on Angel or Angelface for Sophia, and Spitfire for Carol. He still called Beth Sunshine or sometimes Songbird. Carol stretched out next to him and he shut off the light, setting the book onto the nightstand. The room was still illuminated by a small nightlight and the moon pouring in the window. Merle shifted onto his side and draped his arm over Carol's waist.
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Daryl lay on the bed with Beth straddling him. He stroked her abdomen up to her breasts as she clenched down on him. Then with one final thrust, he spilled into her. She dropped down to sprawl across his chest and he reached down to snag the blanket to draw it up over their bodies before the air could cool them. "God I love you," he whispered.
"Mmm, love you too," she sighed.
He stroked her back as their heart rates slowed. He loved having the room to themselves as they'd had since Merle moved across with Carol and Sophia. On the nights Daryl had watch, Sophia sometimes kept Beth company overnight, giving Merle and Carol some privacy.
"Not that I'm complainin' but don't you have watch tonight?" Beth asked then yawned.
"Shane took it. Said he was wound up, too much coffee or somethin'. Said he'd wake me if he got tired." Daryl stroked her hair as she slipped to his side rather than lying on him. They fell asleep naked, skin to skin.
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Maggie nuzzled Glenn's neck as they settled into her bed for the night. "I told Daddy we'd take a run tomorrow if the weather holds," Maggie said softly.
Glenn nodded, "We might have to head pretty far, we've cleared out everything close by. Might need to stay overnight."
She smiled, "I think we can handle that."
"Sure," Glenn smiled back, "Take a weekend to ourselves. Be nice."
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Hershel was sitting in the dining room with a single lantern shining on his bible. Patricia was finishing up in the kitchen, prepping venison for the next day's dinner. She walked in and sat across from him.
"You and I have been friends for a long time," Hershel greeted.
"Twenty years," Patricia replied.
"So tell me what's goin' on. Besides the obvious."
Patricia sighed deeply, "I hate it, but I am so jealous of Carol. She's gotten so strong, made it through so much, and Beth… Beth looks to her. The way she used to look to Annette. And I hate it. And I hate that I hate it." She wiped her face. "Jealousy is a sin. So is hatred."
Hershel smiled encouragingly, "Well then I'm sinnin' right alongside of you. I always felt like Beth was more Annette's than mine. I had Maggie and Shawn who looked to me for everything but Beth never did. And now she's got Daryl and Merle." He took a deep breath. "I watch them. I see. Love, honor, cherish, and respect. He will do all those for her until he draws his last breath. So will Glenn to Maggie. I knew someday I'd have to give them away," he let out a short laugh, "Didn't expect it to be so soon, or for them to still be in their childhood bedrooms."
Lori came awkwardly down the stairs, "Hey."
"Hey," Patricia replied, wiping her face again, "Can I get you somethin'?"
"No, I'm fine. Have you seen Rick or Carl? When I got out of the shower, Carl wasn't in our room and Rick hasn't been up all night."
Hershel stood and urged Lori to sit down in his chair, "I'll take a look."
"Are you OK?" Lori asked Patricia.
Patricia smiled, "Case of the grumpies tonight. I'll be OK."
Rick walked in the back door, "Hey, why're you all up?"
"Where's Carl?"
Rick shook his head, "Not with me, isn't he upstairs?"
"Oh God," Lori cried.
T-dog walked out of the back room, "What's going on?"
"Have you seen Carl?"
"Not since the game after dinner," T shook his head. "Let me go check with Shane, he's on watch." He jogged up the stairs.
"We'll find him," Rick assured Lori as he went back outside to look around.
Merle opened his door as T-dog ran up to the attic calling for Shane. "What's goin' on?"
T came back down, "Carl isn't in the house and Shane's not on watch. You seen either of them?"
"No," Merle stepped back into the room and grabbed his jeans to yank them on. Carol stood and went to wake Sophia. "Angelface, you seen Carl since we came upstairs?" Sophia shook her head. Merle cursed and grabbed his shirt, walking across the hall to knock on Daryl and Beth's door. Daryl opened the door a crack, hiding behind it, "Get dressed. Carl and Shane are missin'."
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They were gathered on the porch when the first walkers appeared. Merle and Daryl instantly went into the yard to deal with them, only to realize there was a herd moving towards them. Suddenly the barn ignited. The walkers began to wander towards the fire.
Daryl started towards the barn, but Merle grabbed his arm, "No baby brother. This ain't good. You get Beth on the bike and get out of here. Now."
"But, you. Carol, Sophia and the others."
"I'll take care of it," Merle snapped, "Get Beth and go!"
They ran back to the house. Lori was hysterically screaming for Carl. Hershel was shooting walkers as they approached. Carol had Sophia in her arms as she wept. Beth wasn't in sight.
Daryl shoved by everyone to go into the house, "BETH!" Beth appeared and raced down the stairs holding his crossbow and their backpacks. "We gotta go Beth." He took the crossbow to his back and grabbed her hand, pulling her outside as Merle went by to take the steps two at a time.
Outside, Carol was putting Sophia into the Dixons' truck. Daryl tossed their packs into the bed. Lori was still screaming for her son. Suddenly Rick and Carl emerged from the night. "Where's Shane?" Lori asked.
Rick shook his head and grabbed Lori, "We have to get out of here. Now!"
"I am not leaving my home," Hershel yelled.
"Daddy, please," Maggie begged. Glenn dragged her away.
Daryl took Beth to the motorcycle, put her on, and climbed on in front of her. He cranked the engine and roared away. He paused at the edge of the yard and revved the engine a few times to distract the walkers not drawn to the fire. As they approached, he drove away.
Merle burst out of the house with three packs on his arm just as the flames spread across the yard to the edge of the porch. He tossed the packs into the truck bed as T-dog climbed in. Sophia was sobbing in the front seat. Carol and Patricia were coming across the yard having retrieved boxes from the kitchen. Suddenly a walker lunged around the edge of the house and grabbed Patricia, clamping his teeth onto her neck. Patricia dropped the box and screamed. Carol turned and her face crumbled.
"Please," Patricia begged as her blood began to flow. "Go. Take care of her. Of them. Please."
Carol nodded, pulled her gun, and shot Patricia in the forehead. Her head snapped back and she dropped to the ground. Hershel stood staring at his friend's body. Carol grabbed his arm and dragged him to the Dixons' truck. Merle got in the driver's seat as Hershel pushed Carol to climb in. Carol slid to the middle and pulled Sophia to her lap as Hershel climbed in and shut the door.
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Hershel stared out the window as Merle drove around the abandoned cars on the highway. "There's Glenn. Gotta be, he's all over the road. An Asian deliver driver. I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere," Merle said. Sophia had her face buried in Carol's neck. Merle reached over and patted her back gently.
"He's got Maggie," Hershel said. "Where's Bethy?"
"She's with Daryl," Sophia reported. "She's fine."
"So're we, baby," Carol soothed.
T-dog knocked on the back window, when Merle met his gaze, he pointed back to show another truck coming towards the meeting point. "Here comes the Grimeses."
Glenn stopped at the car that had once held a message to Sophia. The supplies had been retrieved and the message long since worn away by the weather. He and Maggie emerged as Merle pulled up. Hershel went to his daughter and hugged her firmly. Rick arrived quickly and he, Carl, and Lori climbed out of the truck.
"Where's Beth? And Patricia?" Maggie asked.
"We've lost Patricia," Hershel replied as he stroked Maggie's hair. Maggie burst into tears.
The motorcycle could be heard approaching loudly. Daryl wound through the traffic to them. Beth slipped off the bike to go to Hershel and Maggie. Merle caught his brother in a firm embrace. "Good job, little brother."
"Hardest thing I'd ever done," Daryl whispered. "Leavin' without you. And it was easiest… to get her to safety."
Merle cupped his face, pressing their foreheads together as Beth came back to them, slipping into their hug, fitting perfectly.
"Where's Shane?" Glenn asked.
Rick shook his head. Carl blinked rapidly, "He told me we needed to go someplace self. He said Mom was coming too. I said I didn't want to leave without Dad, but he said we had to. He said it wasn't safe anymore."
"I found them going across the field," Rick said. "Shane attacked me. I had no choice." He stared down at his hands. "I killed him."
"He came back so fast," Carl whispered. "I had to shoot him."
Lori hugged her son as close as she could. Carl stroked her belly. "I'm so sorry, baby," she said as she kissed his head.
Rick sniffed, "Then there were walkers everywhere. This large herd or flock or whatever. I don't know where they all came from."
"Fences are down," Daryl reported. "I rode back along the service road where we strung the barbwire. Wire was all cut away."
"Do you think Shane led the herd to us?" Glenn asked.
"Yeah, I do," Daryl replied. "Sounds like he took Carl so he could get Lori to go with him, leave the rest of us for walker bait." He wrapped both arms around Beth as his jaw clenched.
They stood together for a long moment, then got back into the vehicles and drove away, heading into the wind as the fire burned.
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For three weeks they wandered the area. Moving from house to house, scavenging what food they could. Wells were still providing water. They were weary. The fire had burned out of control for days. Spring that had been so welcome, brought in warmer drier air that quickly dried the remnants of the snow storm leaving the fresh growth to burn. Thick smoke choked the air. The fire jumped the creek and the highway, destroying miles and miles of woodlands and the farm houses surrounding the Greene homestead. Merle and Rick had gone back after the fire died, but there was nothing salvageable at the farm.
Lori was exhausted. It was a struggle for her to climb out of the car at each stop even with their help. She was also quietly terrified about giving birth on the side of the road.
They spread the map out on the hood of the car. "We're here," Daryl reported.
Merle's eyes were drawn immediately to a large unlabeled area close to where Daryl was pointing. "Well dip me in shit, I know where we are. I know where we can go."
Merle led Rick and Daryl through the woods to a bluff overlooking the wide open area. The fences and buildings were unmistakable. "Thirty some years ago this was the juvenile detention facility for Georgia's worst kiddy criminals including yours truly. About twenty years ago they converted it to a prison in the Georgia Adult Correctional system."
Rick smiled, "It's perfect."
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Earlier -
Andrea woke up slowly. She and Shane had taken refuge two nights before as a fierce snow storm moved in. It was a large mansion that had already been fortified before being abandoned. The water worked, so did the gas stove. They built a fire in the fireplace that sat between the master bedroom and bath, Shane had carried buckets of boiling water up for her to take a bath, and then after a mind blowing encounter in the cooling water, he'd taken her to bed for more.
Fort Benning had been a waste of time. Walkers roamed behind what fences remained and most of the buildings had been destroyed or burned. She and Shane had moved further west, ending up across the state line into Alabama as winter hit hard. They managed to survive in a gated community that offered them some level of protection. Still it had been difficult. They made the decision to move back East into Georgia with a vague idea of going south into Florida.
But now she thought they could just stay here. This place would serve them well for a while, plenty of supplies already stocked, water, some gas. Isolated on two sides by a meandering stream, with wide open views in all directions.
She stretched her hand across the bed but found only empty sheets that had gone cold. "Shane?"
Andrea searched the house twice but found no trace of Shane anywhere. She told herself that he'd just gone out to hunt or maybe fish. She stood on the roof balcony for an hour looking. That night she slept fitfully, waking with every creak of the house, every whisper of the wind.
A week later she finally admitted to herself that he was gone. Either he'd abandoned her or he'd gone out for some reason and something happened. Either way she was alone. It took her another ten days to find a running car. She stocked it up and headed out, only to have to ditch it and walk a few days later. She endlessly studied the map she'd found, terrified of getting lost. Going back to the farm seemed to be her only option, her only chance of surviving this. She'd beg if she had to. She hoped she wouldn't have to. That Dale and Rick and Hershel and Merle would allow her to come back.
She smelled the fire long before she saw the first burnt tree. Her breathing quickened as she took in the devastation spread out for miles and miles. She continued on, climbing over fallen trees and debris on the roadway. She passed the burnt out shell of an SUV. She began to run.
"No," she wept. It was the first word she'd spoken aloud since calling for Shane. "Please, God, no." The farm was gone. The house was nothing but a burnt frame and brick chimneys filled with debris. The horrific barn and other out buildings had burned to the ground. Dale's RV was just a skeleton of metal and melted plastic. Andrea dropped to her knees and wept.
She wandered for days, aimlessly. Her supplies dwindled to nothing and what few houses still stood had been picked clean. She was kneeling to look down into an old well, checking that there were no swimmers, when a familiar growl came up close behind her. She lurched and tripped, almost falling into the abyss. She managed to dodge the walker and keep from falling, but the walker then tumbled into the well. "Shit," she swore aloud as the walker snarled and thrashed in was evidently only a few feet of water. She wasn't even going to try to get water from this one. She started to walk away. The walker's calls from deep in the well, echoed and amplified, soon were answered by others nearby.
Andrea ran. Then she fell. Sprawling over a tree root, landing on her hands and knees with a walker right behind her. She rolled over to face him, pulling her knife, but with a part of her wondering if she should just let go.
Suddenly the walker's head was cleaved in two. A sword jerked it sideways off of her and Andrea stared up at the woman in the hooded coat with two armless walkers on chains. The woman pulled the hood back to stare at her with ebony eyes under a swath of dreadlocks.
"Hi. Thanks," Andrea said softly. The woman nodded. "I'm Andrea."
"Michonne."
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The winter here's cold and bitter,
It's chilled us to the bone.
We haven't seen the sun for weeks,
Too long, too far from home.
I feel just like I'm sinking,
And I claw for solid ground.
I'm pulled down by the undertow,
I never thought I could feel so low,
And, oh, darkness, I feel like letting go.
If all of the strength and all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place.
I know I can love you much better than this:
Full of grace, Full of grace, my love.
It's better this way,
I said,
Haven't seen this place before.
Where everything we say and do,
Hurts us all the more.
It's just that we stayed too long
In the same old sickly scheme,
And I'm pulled down by the undertow,
I never thought I could feel so low,
And, oh, darkness, I feel like letting go.
If all of the strength and all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place
I know I can love you much better than this:
Full of grace, full of grace.
I know I can love you much better than this.
It's better this way.
– Full of Grace by Sarah McLaughlin