CHAPTER 25

INTO THE FIRE

The Chapter In Which Things Get Worse

The group looked at each other nervously. A gun shot. That wasn't a good sound.

Lori let out a panicked breath, stepping towards Daryl "Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane, and find out what on Earth is going on?" She pleaded, a note of desperation in her voice.

"You got it." Daryl nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder before turning quickly towards the door.

Liv jumped, pushing herself away from Tony. "I'm coming with you." Daryl just grunted, not slowing his pace. Liv couldn't sit there any longer, she was too nervous.

"Liv, no. Wait!" Tony called, chasing her as she followed Daryl out of the house, nearly colliding into her back when she suddenly stopped. "What are you—holy shit." Off in the distance, beyond the barn was a herd of Walkers. No. Not herd, Tony thought to himself. Herd seemed like too small of word for the mass of Undead now shambling towards them. There were hundreds of them. A mob. A swarm. A hoard. "Fuckfuckfuck."

The three of stood there in terrified silence, staring unbelievingly at the Walkers. Liv reached up and rubbed her eyes, not trusting them. There was no way this was happening. She found herself leaning into Daryl when he shuffled closer to her, placing a needy hand on his arm. His gaze never left the hoard. "You guys are seeing this, right?" She hissed quietly. "Please tell me I'm just crazy."

Tony let out a shaky breath before silently turning and heading to the house, alerting the others. After a few minutes of confused movement, the group of them stood out there on the porch, watching in horror.

"Patricia." Hershel eventually said in a low whisper, a light tremor in his voice. "Kill the lights."

She nodded, turning to go back in the house. "I'll get the guns." Andrea said, and Liv brought hers out of her waistband.

"Maybe they'll just pass like the herd on the highway." Glenn suggested hopefully, letting Andrea and Patrica pass by him into the house. "Should we just go inside?"

Daryl shook his head. "Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size would rip the house down." He looked down at Liv who was staring unflinchingly at the hoard. She was shaking.

"What do we do? Run?" She suggested in a whisper. "Glenn, you said you and Rick coated yourself in Walker guts back in Atlanta and they ignored you? Maybe we should try that?"

Glenn tilted his head, thinking. "We could… It didn't work out too great last time because it started to—"

"Carl's gone!" Lori's terrified scream interrupted Glenn as she came flying frantically out of the house. "He-he was upstairs. I can't find him anymore!"

Liv finally tore her gaze away from the Walkers. The hoard had made it to the barn. They didn't have much time left "What?" She hissed as she moved towards Lori. "He told me he was going to keep watch!"

"H-he was! He's not up there anymore!"

Liv swore, feeling slightly responsible, and then swore again when a thought occurred to her. "He had been talking to me about wanting to be treated more like an adult." She shifted her weight, looking at the hoard again. "I'l bet he went after Rick."

Lori began shaking violently, shaking her head and waving her hands. "N-no. No! I need to find him. I'm not leaving my boy." She looked out at field, almost like she was ready to run out there herself. "I'm not leaving him!"

"We're not!" Carol said insistently, raising an arm and trying to calm the hysteric woman. "We're gonna look again! We're gonna find him!" Carol pulled her inside just as Andrea came out pulling the heavy bag of weapons.

She dropped them and everyone began scrummaging through them. Liv grabbed a rifle and tossed it to Tony before grabbing one for herself, tucking her own glock back into the waist of her jeans. Tony nodded at her, grabbing a couple of magazines and stuffing them into his pockets.

Daryl was the only who hadn't moved, keeping an eye out on the approaching Zombies. "I've got the number—it's no use."

Hershel stepped forward, shotgun in hand. "You can go if you want."

The others looked at him in surprise. "You gonna take 'em all on?" Daryl asked skeptically.

"Hershel, no." Liv protested. "There's too many! We won't stand a chance."

"We've got guns. We've got cars." He said simply, loading his gun.

Andrea nodded as she squat down by the gun bag, filling her pockets with magazines. "Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm."

"Are you serious?" Daryl asked, glancing between Andrea and Hershel.

Hershel's lips were in a thin line. "This is my farm. I'll die here." He walked off the porch bringing his gun up.

"All right," Daryl shrugged. "It's as good as night as any."

Liv looked between them all in horror. "You can't be serious." She protested again. "Am I the only one seeing how fucking many there are? We don't have enough bullets! It's a waste of time!"

Tony sighed, standing in front of Liv and grabbing her shoulders. "Lori's not gonna leave until she finds Carl, and Hershel ain't gonna leave at all. We'll do what we can, while we can." She frowned but nodded. "You stay here. I'll go around, help try to lead the hoard off. You watch for the Caprice, alright? If it gets too bad I'm coming back for you."

"No!" Liv squeezed the rifle in her hands, shaking her head. "No, I'm coming with you!"

"No, you ain't. You need to look after the others. Make sure Lori leaves if it comes to that." Tony told her, pinning her down by the shoulders, making sure she met his gaze. "Liv. She's pregnant."

Liv gaped, looking between Tony and the house. Finally, she nodded. "Okay. Fine." She set her gun down before reaching forward and pulling him into a hug. She held on tight, not wanting to let go. "Stay safe. Please. Don't be a hero."

Tony squeezed her tightly. "I should be saying that to you." He pulled away. "I'm coming back of you. Be ready." He pulled her towards him again, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Love you."

Ice coursed through her veins at his words. The Bridges weren't a family who openly confessed their feelings to one another. Tony was scared. Tony knew there was a chance this was their last time seeing each other. "T-Tony." She whispered in a broken whisper, not knowing if she could handle seeing him walk away. "I love you, too."

They met each others' gaze, unspoken emotion passing between them before Tony finally nodded and turned away. He made quick strides over to his car, not once looking back. He didn't know if he could.

"Oakley. Liv." Daryl called next to her, trying to catch her attention. Liv forced her teary gaze off of her brother. Daryl stepped forward, bringing his hands up cup her face, placing his crossbow on the ground next to them. "It's gonna be okay. I've got his back."

Liv nodded, bringing her hands up over his and squeezed them. "That goes for you too, Daryl. Be safe out there."

"Gonna tell me you love me, too?" Daryl tried joking but sighed when she said nothing. "I always am." He pulled her forward, bringing her lips to his for a quick peck. "Don't do anythin' stupid, y'here? Play it smart. We'll be okay."

Liv nodded, not feeling reassured, but let him take his hands back and retrieve his crossbow. They shared one last look before he quickly hopped over the porch railing. Liv watched him a moment before sighing. She had no time to mope.

Liv grabbed her rifle and walking into the house. Beth were the only ones in the living room—Carol and Lori off somewhere in the house looking for Carl. Liv took a deep breath. "Beth, Patricia. Grab any supplies you can—we may be leaving quickly." They nodded and scurried off. "And arm yourselves!" She called after them as an after thought. They were going to need to defend themselves.

Liv went back out. Hershel was out on the front lawn, methodically picking off Walker after Walker. Liv joined his side. There were less Walkers headed their way—many of them were distracted by the barn that was now in flames. Liv felt hopeful—maybe Rick or Shane had set it aflame. She raised her rifle and fired.

She had to force herself not to panic as the Walkers continued to approach. There was too many of them—no way they could kill all of them. And using the cars as a distraction wasn't helping much either. The Zombies just kept coming. Liv ignored that. Liv ignored everything but the next Walker in her sights.

Point. Aim. Shoot. Repeat.

God there was so many of them. Liv glanced at the vehicles swerving around the fence. Tony and Daryl were still moving. Good. She saw the RV driving towards the barn with the Caprice behind it. Perhaps they were circling around to look for Rick. Liv swore under her breath. Tony had best keep that vehicle moving.

"Come on!" Hershel screamed out in fury and Liv turned back.

She refocused. Point. Aim. Shoot. Repeat.

Point. Aim. Shoot—-

"Carl!" Lori screamed from behind Liv and Hershel but neither turned to look. The Walkers were too close. They couldn't afford to look away. There was the sound of a few shots behind them—Lori joining in on the attack.

"Hershel! Olivia!" Liv began backing up towards her name being called, never once looking away. Hershel didn't move. "Come on! We gotta go!" Liv agreed. They were out of time.

"Hershel!" Liv shouted over at him, shooting down Walker after Walker. It was no use—there was too many. They were too close. "Come on! It's time to go!"

"Come on! Now!"

Hershel didn't move—shooting in determination. Liv was torn between helping him out—forcing him to move, and going with the others. It was a suicide mission to stay. "Hershel! If you don't come now, I'm gonna have to leave you! This is suicide!"

"This is my farm." He said calmly, not moving an inch.

"What about Beth? And Maggie?" Liv screamed. "They need you, Hershel! Come on!"

The Walkers almost at them and Liv was beginning to panic. Tony and the Caprice were no where in sight. She looked desperately towards Hershel as they both continued to shoot. He didn't move.

"Damn you, Hershel. You bastard!" She swore, turning around to run towards the others who were screaming. She felt absolutely terrible fleeing. Like a coward—like she was betraying Hershel. But it was suicide to stay and she needed to help the others as much as she could. "I'm sorry!"

"Come on, let's go!" Carol screamed as soon as Liv was on the porch with them. Lori grabbed Liv's arm in appreciation and they took off. "We gotta go. We gotta get out of here."

"Through the house!" Liv ordered, pushing on Lori's back. "Take the back door out! Keep an eye out!"

"Stay behind me, girls!" Lori said once they made it out, ushering Beth and Patricia behind her. She lead the way, shooting. Carol took off as soon as she could.

Liv took the back, guarding the rear. Some of the hoard had already made it back here. She glanced back around the house, before looking forward—just in time to see a Walker lunging towards Beth and Patricia. "Patricia!" Liv screamed. "On your right!"

But it was too late, the Walker was able to tackler her and take a bite out of her neck as she screamed out in pain. Beth was hysterical beside her, refusing to let go of her hand. It only took a moment but soon the poor women was surrounded, blood spurting out of her jugular. Lori tried to pry Beth away.

Liv swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat. No time. She forced herself forward, shooting a few of stragglers, and helped Lori pry Beth free and away. "Come on! There's no hope for her! Keep moving!" A blue truck pulling to a stop in front of them and Andrea came out, helping take down some of the hoard that weren't distracted by Patricia's screaming. Liv forced herself to ignore the blood-curdling screams of pain. There was no time for emotion. "Into the truck, go!"

"Get Carol—she ran that way!" Lori shouted as she forced Beth into the truck.

Andrea nodded, heading off in that direction. Liv followed. "I'm with you!" She called over and Andrea spared her an appreciative nod.

Carol was not far—being cornered against a shed by a small hoard. Liv took out a couple before running over to Carol and grabbing her arm. "You okay?" Liv asked, turning around, not waiting for an answer. There was a small hoard between them and the truck—they were going to find a different route. "That way!" She pushed Carol. "To the road! Go!" Carol took off, too hysterical to be told twice.

Walkers were closing in on Liv, forcing her to begin sprinting away. She looked back to Andrea, in time to see a Walker getting too close. "Behind!" She shouted, raising her gun but she couldn't get a clear shot with Andrea in the way. Andrea spun around and fired—the Walker falling on top of her. Liv had no idea if Andrea made it. She wanted to go check but there were too many surrounding her to allow her to do so. She had no choice to keep on moving—praying that if Andrea was alive, the dead Walker on top of her would camouflage her for the others. "Get to the road!" She shouted, praying Andrea heard her.

Liv's breaths were painful to her chest and she could feel hot, panicky tears on her face but she forced herself on. She tried to assess the situation in her mind: Carol was nowhere in sight—Liv had lost her in the panic and T-Dog had driven away. The blue truck was making dust in the distance. Rick, Shane, and Carl were all M.I.A. And, she had no idea where Daryl was, where Tony was. The thought scared her—Tony had said he would come back, why had't he come back?

Liv shook her head. Snap out of it. She needed to think clearly—she needed to get back to the group—the highway. That was where they would go. She looked around—there were Walkers everywhere. Running in the direction of the road—where she had sent Carol moments before—would be suicide now. Liv couldn't make it through the throng. What next? She glanced behind—too many. Her options were limited.

Liv darted into the forest—the only safe option she had at the moment—there was a hoard behind her, but she was are she could lose them in the woods. Her legs felt like jelly as she pushed herself forward—she was sure she was in shock. So much shit had happened so fucking fast. But, she couldn't let it weaken her. She needed to push forward. She was going to survive out of spite alone. Fuck the Walkers.

Liv kept running, saving her bullets, not wanting to risk attracting more. She just had to lose them and them she could make a plan about getting back to the others. Her plan was to make a wide arc around the farm and to the highway that way. She glanced behind her—only ten were shuffling after her in the distance. At least, that's all that she could count.

Suddenly, her foot caught on a stray root, sending her sprawling into the ground and down a slight hill—hard. She came rolling to a halt, her gun jamming into her side painfully. Liv groaned, forcing herself to sit up. She blinked back tears as she brought her attention down to her now-throbbing ankle. She poked it out and exhaled sharply at the pain but forced herself to continue her examination. It wasn't broken—but still painful. This was going to slow her down.

Liv glanced up the small hill. The Walkers hadn't caught up—yet. But it was only a matter of time. She was fucked.

Tony let out an anguished cry, pushing himself out of the car before Rick had a chance to stop. Liv wasn't here. Nobody was here. He looked around frantically, praying that perhaps she was just hidden somewhere—that he just couldn't see her. She had to be there—he couldn't have lost her.

Everything had gone wrong last night. He was supposed to distract the Walkers with the Caprice and then swing back and pick up Olivia when things got too bad. But he made the stupid decision to follow Jimmy in the RV around the barn to look for Rick and Carl. Tony had run over a fencepost and it had gotten jammed, forcing him out of the car and leaving him no voice to abandon it. From there he had met up with Carl, Rick, and Hershel before making a break for it—praying that the others, the Liv, had done the same. He should have taken her with him like she asked. They should have run when she told them to. Tony had more regrets than he could count.

They—Rick, Hershel, and Tony—had made the decision to return to the highway—where they left the supplies for Sophia. It was the most logical thing to do—that's where everyone would go. But no one was here yet. Olivia wasn't here.

He kicked the tire of a decaying car in rage before slumping down, head in his hands. He had abandoned Liv. He had betrayed her. He could see Rick and Hershel talking but he could care less what they are saying. He felt like a monster.

"Tony." Rick was in front of him. Tony looked blindly up at him. "They'll be here." He said insistently. "Give them some time. They'll. Be. Here."

Tony nodded, not really believing but wanting Rick out of his face. He put in his hands letting the tears streak down his cheeks and sat there. He wanted to believe Rick but at the moment it felt like all hope was lost. He had let down Olivia.

He felt minute by minute go sluggishly by. It felt like it had been hours. Still no one came. He finally looked up and around, when his eyes were swollen and sore from crying. The others were walking around—looking out into the trees and down the highway. Tony felt a little bad—he wasn't the only one suffering at the moment. He needed to distract himself.

He pushed himself to his feet just as he heard Rick let out a hiss. "Walker! Come one, this way! Around the car, shhh!"

Tony quickly fell in behind them as they avoiding the Walker, staying crouched behind the car. It was completely oblivious. The males turned to each other—each looking more exhausted than the last.

"I don't know how much longer we can stay here." Hershel eventually whispered, avoiding Rick's gaze.

"I-I'm not leaving without Mom…" Carl said.

"Or Olivia."

Rick looked between the two. "So, we're just gonna walk away?" He asked Hershel. "Not knowing if my wife—your girls—are still out there? How do we live with that?"

"You've only got one concern now—just one," Hershel looked pointedly at Carl. "Keeping him alive. Nature may be throwing us a curveball, but that law is still true."

"Man, fuck that." Tony snarled. "I ain't leaving here if there is a chance Liv is still out there. I am not giving up on her!"

"But how can you know for certain?" Hershel protested "How can you know she would come here?"

Tony didn't respond, he was too angry. He didn't—couldn't abandon his sister a second time. He was appalled that the man could even suggest it. How can he not understand?

Rick was moved, however, stooping down to Carl's level. Tony scoffed and walked off in angry disbelief. "Carl. It's not safe here. I'm sorry. We'll—"

"Shh! Y'here that!" Tony walked back, waving at hand at the Rick until he fell silent. Off, in the distance was the sound of a motorcycle. Tony grew hopeful and started forward—praying that it was one of their own approaching. Maybe it was Daryl… and Liv could be with him—those two seemed to be getting pretty close.

After a couple of moments the motorcycle began waving in between the cars and into sight. And then, behind that, two more vehicles. Tony's breathing was coming hard into his chest as he waited with desperate anticipation.

The vehicles came to a stop and they got out and Tony felt his heart smash into pieces. He let out painful groan and fell to his knees, sobbing. He didn't hear anything but his own heartbeat in his ears. No. This wasn't happening. No, no, no, no, no. She had to be here. She couldn't be—

"Tony." A voice called gently and he looked up—Carol. "C'mere, sweetheart." She pulled him into her arms and he collapsed—too drained to fight. She rocked him slightly. He felt like a damn baby but he couldn't be bothered to care at the moment. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

"Where are the others?" He heard Daryl ask, as he finally tuned into the conversation.

"We're the only ones who made it so far." Rick shook his head.

"Shane?"

"Andrea?"

"—Olivia?" Daryl asked, an odd edge to his voice.

He felt Carol move beneath him. "They saved me—Olivia told me to run for the road. I lost her." Tony pushed himself away from her—feeling disgusted and irrational. How come Carol didn't stop for her? He stared at the ground, avoiding eye contact.

"We saw Andrea go down."

"Patricia?" Hershel asked.

"They got her too, took her right in front of me. I was—" Beth was sobbing, her voice cracking under the emotional strain. "I was holdin' onto her, Daddy. She just—" She couldn't finish. "What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"

"He was in the R.V. It got overrun."

"You definitely saw Andrea?"

"There were Walkers everywhere."

"But did you see her?"

"And Liv!" Daryl interjected, looking around. "Did anyone see Liv go down?" It was silent, nobody saying anything. He shook his head. There was still a chance. "I'm gonna go back."

Tony jumped to his feet, intending on going with Daryl.

"No." Rick stopped them.

"What?" Daryl snarled, taking a threatening step towards Rick. "We ain't just leaving her there!"

"Rick, we can't just leave them!"

"But, we don't even know if they're there."

"They aren't there. They aren't." Rick said, speaking over the other's panicked voices. "They're somewhere else or they're dead. There's no way to find them."

Tony let out a strangled groan, walking up and shoving Rick, hard. "Don't you fucking say that!" Dimly, he could hear the others yelling at him—pulling him back and away from Rick, but her just kept fighting. "She's not dead! She can't be! She's out there waiting for me! I told her I'd come back for her!" His voice cracked as he felt his despair rising. "I-I… I told her I'd be back." He whispered brokenly.

"I'm sorry, Tony." Rick was in front of him, looking sympathetic. He raised his hand put it hesitantly on Tony's shoulder. Tony was too broken up to care. "Look, I don't want to leave either. But it's not safe. And we can't go back—that'd be suicide. We can't stay here—there've been Walkers crawling all over here. We need to keep moving. I know it's hard, but we got to keep moving."

Tony looked up and glared. "Look, you sister is a smart—we'll leave signs showing where we're headin'. She'll catch up." Tony didn't like this plan any better. He desperately wanted to head back. He would scour the place, rip every Walker limb from limb. "And what about your brother? Wouldn't Liv want you to keep lookin' for him?"

Tony hated Rick for talking to him so personally. He hated Rick in that moment. He doubted Liv would want him to give up on her—even if it was to go look for their brother. Liv was selfish and would probably be expecting for them to pull out the stops to come looking for her. 'You had an idea where I was', she'd said, 'who knows where the fuck Jared is'. He almost smiled at the thought.

But, with everything he had in him, Tony forced his emotion away—trying to think logically. It was suicide to go back to the farm—at least now. Maybe in a couple of days it would be safe. It wasn't safe here—stragglers from the herd were going by pretty constant. They had no supplies—most of it had been abandoned back at the house. The barn was putting up a pretty good smoke signal—who know who had seen it and were on there way here now.

It was the logical thing to do in this hellish world.. but that would mean—

"No. I can't do it." Tony shook his head. "I have to go back. Y'all go ahead if you're so insistent. Leave me. I have to go back for Olivia."

"Tony—" Rick began, looking disappointed.

"I don't want to hear it!" Tony yelled, squirming in the hold somebody had him. "Lemme go! I need to go ba—"

It all went black as he lost consciousness.

T-Dog gave a light nod to Rick as he brought the bat back down to his side.

Each step forward was agony on her ankle. It had swollen to twice its size and jolted with a hot, searing pain each time she put her weight on it. She wanted to stop and take a break— she had been running all night. But she needed to keep going—to put distance between her and the farm, she wasn't taking any chances. She had started running in the direction of where she thought the road was but she couldn't be sure.

Liv didn't know how much longer she could keep it up.

Any hope of finding the others was gone now. Liv had been too focussed on the Walkers behind her to pay attention to where she was going. She was lost. She was sure she could gain her bearings, given the chance, but she figured the others would be long gone by the time she got back to the highway. Tony might still be there, if he wasn't looking for her already. If he was alive, even.

Liv frowned. No. He's alive. He had to be. She pushed forward. She had lost the Walkers a ways back—there had been a river with steep, sloping banks. It had worked—too challenging for them to cross. Liv was soaked to the bone now, but relatively safe for the moment.

She just needed to find shelter. Or maybe even a tree to climb. She just needed somewhere where she could hunker down and take a break—fix her ankle. Somewhere where she could think. Figure out how she was going to get back to the others—to Daryl and Tony. But, even then, Liv didn't have much hope—she didn't expect them to be there waiting for her when she eventually found her way back. Who knew when that would be? Besides, her own condition wasn't good. She was cold. She was injured. She was alone.

In other words, Liv was utterly fucked.

Well. There we go. Season 2. Kinda ends on a sad note, eh? Wasn't my best work but I was so freaking exited to the next chapter that it just happened. The next chapter is when I start writing about ideas that made me decide to start writing this bitch in the first place. Things gonna get crazy. Or not. Who know. (I do).

Anyways. There you have it.

- Delaney :)