Not so bad of an update time if I do say so myself. Here it is! Chapter 25, I think. Yes, I am quite proud of myself for updating quickly (for my standards). It's a rough chapter, I will admit, but it is done and I can move on! I can't wait until October! SEASON FOUR! I'm going to try and finish up till Season 2 in my story, because once school starts up again in August, I'll have no time. But until then, keep a weathered eye out for updates, maybe a week or so in between each update if I'm lucky. Toodles!
"Field Trip!" I said in excitement as I skipped beside Shane and Rick to the place where we were going to be practicing. Riddick was at the head of the group, his nose to the ground.
Carl walked quickly beside me with Lori right on his heels. Carol, Andrea, Jimmy, Beth, T-Dog, and Patricia all followed behind us at a quick pace. We went down a slope and ended up at the bottom of a small valley with a wooden fence set against the rising hill.
"It's nice out here." I heard Carol comment.
Shane turned into Officer/Instructor Walsh in about 0.23 seconds. He had us lined up and in stance as quick as a flash. Wine bottles and empty cans were lined up the length of the fence and everyone was handed their weapons.
Shane gave a few brief instructions and then let a rip. Gun fire echoed through the air in an almost constant pattern. I shot my three bottles off in quick succession and lowered my gun, flicking the safety on. Rick walked up behind me.
"Good job." He commented, patting my back.
"Thanks."" I grinned.
He gave me a smile before moving to Carl, kneeling beside him and getting him in position. I stood behind Carl and next to Lori, who was nearly shaking with anxiety as her kid pointed the firearm at the fence. We didn't spend too much time out at out makeshift shooting range, due to the extreme heat.
After about 20 more minutes we all piled back into the cars and drove back to camp, sweaty and smelly. It was nearly the afternoon when we arrived, and as I exited the vehicle I was immediately grabbed by the arm.
Glenn was strong for his size and I let him drag me a few feet before putting up resistance. I jerked my arm away from him and glared.
"What? What?" I demanded, rubbing my abused limb.
"Listen," Glenn said quietly, "I need to tell you something. But you can't tell anyone! Not Rick, not Shane, not Daryl, not-,"
"Jesus, Glenn, what did you do?" I asked in horror.
"I didn't do anything, but I know things I really wish I didn't know and I need someone to share my pain with."
"So you picked me?" I asked.
"Yeah." He responded.
I stood there for a few moments contemplating the situation before nodding
"Okay, spill it."
Glenn took a deep breath to settle him and glanced self-consciously over his shoulder to make sure no one else was around in hearing distance. He gulped and turned to face me again.
"The barn…it's full of walkers." He whispered.
My eyes went wide and I gaped at him in disbelief.
"The barn is-," Glenn clamped his hand over my mouth, "fuuhwahers?"
"Sh!" He snapped, looking around nervously. "Shut up!"
I smacked his hand away from me and glared.
"Are you kidding me?" I hissed. "You can't not tell anyone about this!"
"I have to!" Glenn snapped. "I promised!"
"But you told me!" I snapped back, slightly hysterical at the thought of having to keep that a secret.
"How the hell did you find out?" I questioned. "Nobody goes over there."
Glenn turned crimson and looked down. "Well, uh, you see-,"
"Don't bullshit me, Glenn." I deadpanned. "Remember poker night?"
Glenn shuddered at the memory. "Maggie and I were going to…" He trailed off.
"Oh." I said. "Oh."
"Yeah." Glenn admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, then." I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "Images."
I sat down on a tree stump and Glenn sat across from me in a lawn chair. I looked over at the barn, what had once been an old timey scene of serenity now a twisted picture of false security. I groaned and buried my face in my hands.
"Is there any other bombshells you would like to drop on me?" I said sarcastically.
"Well, Lori's pregnant." Glenn commented, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Dude, I was joking!" I snapped at him. "Are you serious?"
"Yep. Or, well, I'm assuming. When I went out for my last run, she asked me to pick up some pregnancy tests." Glenn replied.
"I knew today was going to be a bad day." I sighed.
As we were sitting there in silence, Dale showed up. He stopped in front of us and wiped his brow with his hand.
"You two look like you've been kicked by a mule." Dale commented.
"I'll let you take it from here, friend." I said to Glenn, standing up and walking away.
"Take what away?" I heard Dale ask as I sauntered over to where Rick and Lori were mumbling away.
Once Rick saw me, his expression froze and he looked down at Lori seriously. "We'll talk about this later."
It was getting later and as I walked to the fire with an armful of recently chopped wood, Glenn once again approached me. I struggled to not drop the timber as I stopped.
"I told Dale." He explained to me.
"Good," I commented, wincing as a splinter pierced my thumb.
"And I'm about to make another run into town. Lori wants me to get her something."
"Okay. Could you maybe grab me some Midol if they have any? Sophia was complaining earlier today." I asked, fumbling as the wood starting to slide loose.
"Uh, yeah sure. But I need to ask you about the thing Lori wanted me to get." Glenn said quickly.
"Can't it wait, Glenn." I gasped as I lunged forward to keep the firewood balanced.
"No, Maggie is waiting for me. Just look." Glenn pleaded.
I gave a grunt of aggravation and looked at the piece of paper he had held out to me. I gasped and my arms went limp, firewood spilling onto the ground. I grabbed the piece of paper and studied it again.
"She wants abortion pills?" I said in disbelief.
"She wants abortion pills?" Glenn echoed after me.
I bit my lip so hard that it bled. I handed him back the paper and shook my head quickly.
"It's none of my business." I managed out. "And it's none of yours. If she wants the pills, get her the damn things. I doubt they'll work, anyways."
I bent down to pick up the scattered wood and continued on my way to the fire, leaving a dumbstruck Glenn to make his own way towards where Maggie was waiting with his horse.
Carol and Sophia were already there, Carol pushing ham around in a skillet and Sophia combing her hands through her doll's matted yarn hair. Carol smiled up at me as I dropped the wood by the flames.
"Is everything alright?" She asked.
"Peachy." I responded, laying down on my blanket. "Riddick!" I called out.
The black canine darted out of seemingly nowhere and hopped onto the blanket, panting and slobbering on the already dirty material. He seemed content to fall against me and take a nap, which I didn't really mind.
I buried my face into his dirty fur and sighed out all my frustration. I was too annoyed for a nap of my own and I was to stressed to want to stay awake. I reached into my backpack and pulled out my headphones and my MP3 I used when I worked out.
The battery was almost completely full since I was using it for the first time in months. I put it on shuffle and sighed dreamily as Breaking Benjamin's 'Anthem of the Angel's" filtered through the earbuds. Song after song after song. After song. I few hundred songs later, a boot was nudging my side.
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me and as I cracked open an eye I could see Daryl outlined by the fire behind him.
"Come on, get up." He grunted.
I heard a car door slam and turned my head to see Andrea and Shane exiting a car and walking towards the fire.
"Is it dinner time?" I asked blearily, blinking up at him.
"Yeah." He grunted, sitting in a chair a few feet in front of me.
With a small sigh I slid out from underneath Riddick and into the chair next to him, where I was handed a plate of squirrel meat and ham, as well as a bag of baby carrots. I took both gratefully and popped open the carrots. Looking around, I noticed that Lori and Rick were missing.
"Where are-," I started, but a sharp kick to me leg cut me off.
I glared sharply to my right where Glenn was sitting. He shot me a look that promised he would tell me everything. That was the only thing that made me shut up and take an aggravated bite out of my carrot with a little more force than necessary.
Great, I thought sarcastically, now the two of them are going to kill each other.
Riddick yawned from behind me and walked forward to sit between me and Daryl. I grabbed a handful of squirrel and ham and held it down for him to eat out of my palm. Daryl made a disgusted noise which I promptly ignored.
As Riddick finished the last bit of food and licked my hand clean, I reached over and wiped my slobber covered hand down Daryl's sleeve. He drew away and threw a carrot at my face, hitting me in the cheek.
"You're nasty!" He snapped, lightly glaring at me.
A light laugh made its way around the group before falling back into silence. By the time everyone had finished their meals, Rick and Lori finally made their appearance. Lori's eyes were red from crying, but if anyone else noticed they didn't comment.
We are all so screwed up, I sighed mentally.
I stood up and placed my empty plate next to the fire and returned to my blanket where I was quickly joined by Riddick who once again lay down next to me to go to sleep.
"We're going jogging tomorrow." I said to him. "You're getting lazy, punk."
I woke up early the next morning and was nearly buzzing as Glenn, Dale and I stood in a circle. We spoke in hushed tones and kept our heads low as we discussed what we knew and what we were going to do.
"We have to tell them." I whispered. "About the barn, I mean."
"Obviously." Glenn snapped.
"Don't get sassy with me!" I growled at him. "It's all your fault anyways! You couldn't keep your damn hormones in check-,"
"Come on, you guys. This is serious." Dale said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Like I was saying," I continued after a deep breath, "We have to say something about the barn. That thing is old and rickety. How many Walkers did you see in there?" I asked Glenn.
"A lot."Glenn said vaguely. "Enough to overrun us."
"I spoke to Herschel the day you told me, Glenn." Dale said. "He won't budge. He thinks those things are people."
"Are you kidding me?" I snapped. "People don't go around devouring the living."
"Herschel thinks they're sick, that they can be cured." Dale countered. "His wife and stepson are in there, it's him trying to keep his hope alive."
"And Lori?" Glenn interjected. "What about her?"
"What about her? We keep our mouths shut, it's her decision." I replied.
"She didn't take the abortion pills." Glenn whispered. "I saw her taking the prenatal vitamins last night."
"Okay. So we tell the group about the barn." Dale sighed with finality. "Who wants to be the one to break the news?"
"I'll do it." Glenn volunteered.
"You don't have to do it alone." Dale said, placing a hand on the Asians shoulder. "Alice can help you."
"Gee, thanks Dale."
We all stopped speaking as the first of the tents unzipped, followed by another and another.
Group members piled out of their tents like bears from hibernation, stumbling creatures with yawns similar to roars.
Carol, or Chef as I had lovingly dubbed her, wasted no time cracking a few of the eggs I'd gathered the other day into the skillet as she added so more firewood to the still burning coals. Glenn and I fidgeted nervously by the small picnic table as we waited for everyone to be seated.
When the last camp inhabitant was seated, Glenn nudged me gently. I turned to him with a nervous smile and pranced over to the campfire with him right behind me. As Glenn cleared his throat, a dozen pairs of eyes swiveled to lock on us.
"Um, guys?" Glenn said nervously. "We have something we think you should know."
I waited for him to continue, but noticed he wasn't paying attention to us anymore, but was staring at Maggie. The woman was standing on the porch, glaring at the two of us as we prepared to reveal their secret.
"The barn is full of walkers." I finished for him.
Immediately, any movement that was left in the camp halted. It was as if the whole world ceased breathing. Glenn glanced at me nervously before giving a nervous laugh.
Shane was the first to react. He was standing in a matter of seconds and marching across the field that led to the barn in statement. Slowly, the rest of the camp got up and followed him. I gave Glenn a small push and we took off at a slight jog to catch up with Shane.
As we neared, Riddick started bristling and snarling. He pushed up against my leg and nipped harshly at my ankles, trying to herd me away from the Barn of Doom. Shane was looking through the small crack in the doors and withdrew sharply after a few seconds.
He cursed vulgarly and snatched the cap of his head. He stalked up to Rick in an agitated manner.
"You cannot tell me you are okay with this!" He demanded, smacking his hat against his leg.
"I'm not." Rick seethed, glaring at Shane. "But this isn't our land, Shane, we have no right. We're guests here."
"No right? Man, this is our lives at risk!" Shane argued back.
"Lower your voice!" Glenn hissed, casting an anxious look at the barn.
"This isn't something we can sweep under the rug." Andrea sided with Shane.
"We have to go in there, make things right, or we have to leave Rick. That's it." Shane reasoned. "Now, we've been talking about Fort Benning for a long time-,"
"We can't leave, Shane! Not when we've finally found sanctuary!" Lori protested.
"You call having a barn full of walkers in our backyard sanctuary?" I asked. "Where Carl and Sophia play, where we sleep!"
"The hell would we go?" T-Dog asked. "How are our chances any better out there?"
"Shane is right! Fort Benning! Why is it such a bad idea?" I snapped.
"You just want to go there so you can look for your brothers who are most likely dead." Lori spat.
I flinched back like I had been slapped. Shane and Daryl moved before I could. Daryl stepped in front of me and Shane took my arm as I lunged forward. Lori looked stunned for a second before regret washed over her face. Even Rick placed a hand out warningly in front of me, like he was warding off a rabid dog.
"Just…let me talk to Herschel!" Rick snapped. "Let me figure it out!"
"Man what the Hell are you going to figure out!" Shane shouted, taking a threatening step towards Rick.
"I we are going to stay, if we are going to clean out this barn, I have to talk him into it! This is his land!"
"Herschel sees those things as people. Sick people. His wife and stepson." Dale stepped in.
"You knew?" Rick asked in disbelief.
"Yesterday, I went and talked to Herschel."
"And you waited the night?" Shane put in angrily.
"I thought we could survive one more night. And guess what, we did." Dale seethed.
"Man, this is crazy. If Herschel thinks those things are alive-," Shane was cut off as the bang of the barn doors cut through the fury clouded minds of the campers.
It got quiet as everyone looked at the doors with a mixture of fear and disgust. Riddick crouched down beside me, ears flat and tail bristling. Nobody moved.