No one fell asleep after the events earlier that morning. Judith had taken a little nap, but was now awake and fussy. It felt like a dream; there was no way half their family was dead; Chloe could only hope that they were together. Garth distanced himself from everyone, not sure if he would be accepted into their group; he wasn't like the people he had been with, and he had proven that.
"He obviously wasn't treated kindly," Milton said "We should help him."
"He could use some food." Carol admitted. "We'll need to find a house or something. Judith is starting to run low on formula and baby food."
"Someone should go talk to him." Daryl suggested.
"What if he turns out to be like them?" Maggie asked. "He could turn on us at any moment."
"I'll go talk to him." Chloe replied, getting to her feet.
Chloe walked to Garth, who was standing in a field, looking in the distance, and stood beside him. He looked far away, and guilty about what he had done earlier that day. Chloe was trying to figure out how to talk to him, but he spoke first.
"I'm not like they were." he implied. "I never wanted to be with them. You weren't the first outsiders we had come to that town. All those meat bags you had fought. Those were people who had come to the town before."
"Meat bags?" Chloe asked, amused.
"That's what Adam called them." Garth replied, with a shrug. "What do you call them?"
"Walkers, biters, rotters." Chloe said.
"I like walkers better." Garth replied. "I don't feel guilty about killing him. And I know how to kill the walkers. They just never let me fight them. My father taught me, then he was killed by those things, and I needed a place to stay, so I met Adam, and he allowed me to stay with his group, but they turned out being the worst people in the world."
"When you kill someone, you don't come back from that." Chloe admitted. "I need to ask you something. How many walkers have you killed?"
"A few dozen." Garth acknowledged. "But that was when my father was still alive. Adam wouldn't let me do anything."
"How many people have you killed?" Chloe asked.
"Just one." Garth replied
"Why?" Chloe asked.
"He was a jerk." Garth replied, with a slight laugh. "What was with the questions?"
"It was our leader, Rick's idea." Chloe said. "You'll fit right in. Now, I have one more question. Where can we find some food and formula? Because we're all starving, and that baby needs to eat."
"There's a house not to far from here." Garth announced. "The family who used to live there lost their baby girl. They might have left some food there. I can take you there."
"We'd like that." Chloe said, with a smile. "Let's go tell them."
Chloe and Garth walked back to the others, and Garth told them about a house not to far away, to which everyone immediately agreed to go there. Garth led the way, through the woods, with his gun ready to shoot walkers.
"He knows how to use that, doesn't he?" Daryl asked.
"He shot a few dozen." Chloe replied. "I asked him the three questions."
"Good," Daryl remarked. "Hey, how much further?"
"We're almost there." Garth announced. "Actually, it's just over there.
Chloe couldn't believe what she was seeing; mainly because she was half asleep. It looked like the family who lived there had just stopped working and left. As they got closer, she pointed out the fruit trees.
"We got figs, plums, apples." Garth told her. "There's also a vegetable garden over there."
Once they got close to the house, Glenn and Daryl walked inside to check for walkers, while the others gathered fruit from the trees; after Glenn and Daryl inspected the house, they allowed everyone inside, and the cabinets were immediately raided. Carol got right to feeding Judith. Garth ran upstairs, and came back down minutes later with a box full of diapers and baby clothes.
"I think these clothes should fit her." he guessed, setting the box on the table. "I see you all have started stuffing yourselves."
"I haven't eaten like this since hell came to earth." Chloe replied.
"Maybe we could gather up some of the vegetables." Carol suggested. "We're only staying here for the night; maybe fix a soup for dinner, then take whatever we have left.
"Glenn and I will gather some after we're done eating." Maggie responded
"I'll help." Chloe offered. "Right after I finish eating this plum."
"Chloe, you're making a mess!" Milton exclaimed, trying to wipe his daughter's face with a rag.
"Dad!" Chloe protested. "Cut it out. Give me that!"
"The bad part about having kids, is they eventually grow up." Milton sighed. "Hey, you be careful out there!"
Chloe walked out to the vegetable garden, and got right to work. Glenn told her she didn't have to help, but Chloe had already offered to, and wasn't going to back down; she decided to pick some of the tomatoes.
"Pick the green ones, too." Maggie commanded, as she was close by, picking bell peppers.
"Hey, Maggie, there are white carrots." Glenn called out.
"They're parsnips, Glenn!" Maggie called back. "Don't eat them raw. And we only need enough to get us through a few days when we go back on the road. We aren't staying long. That's enough, Chloe. Gather up some of those beets, then you can take your basket inside.
Chloe picked several beets, before heading back inside, where she sat the basket by the sink and helped Carol rinse the vegetables off. Maggie and Glenn brought their basket in minutes later, and set them on the counter.
"Looks like you've hit the produce jackpot." Milton said as a joke.
"There's plenty more where this came from." Chloe replied. "Where's Garth?"
"He walked out the front door." Daryl said "He hasn't come back in."
Chloe walked through the living room, and opened the front door, but Garth wasn't anywhere to be seen. Chloe walked outside, and called for him. If he was dead, Chloe would feel guilty over it.
"Garth, where are you?" she asked, running across the field. "Please, don't be dead. I don't want to have to shoot your brain out."
Chloe looked to her right to see Garth leaning against a tree, and walked to him.
"Garth, you don't have to be afraid of us." she told him. "You're with us now. We're good people."
"Are you sure?" Garth asked. "Because the archer looks like he might shoot an arrow in my ass at any moment."
Chloe chuckled. "His name is Daryl, and he wouldn't do that. Not unless you pissed him off."
"You and your father are nice people." Garth mentioned. "Glenn and Maggie seem nice, too. Carol looks like she's the over protective type."
"She can be." Chloe laughed. "Why don't you come back inside? It's not safe out here. You can't do things alone."
Garth decided that Chloe was right, and they both walked back into the house, and into the kitchen, where Carol got them to work chopping up the vegetables.
"You keep those beets away from Chloe." Milton commanded. "She'll eat them all before you even have a chance to cook them."
"Whatever!" Chloe exclaimed.
"Keep it down, please," Carol demanded. "I just got Judith down for a nap. And we don't want Daryl waking up, either. Chloe, don't chop your fingers off."
"Sorry." Chloe said. "I'm just tired."
Milton demanded that Chloe give him the knife, and told her to go take a nap, he also told Garth to get some rest.
"We'll finish up." Milton said. "I don't need either of you losing any fingers."
Chloe and Garth walked into the living room. Daryl had already taken the couch, and Judith was sleeping in the crib nearby. Garth gave Chloe a blanket and pillow, before grabbing those items for himself and laying down on the floor. Chloe picked a spot not to far from him, and lied down on the floor. It wasn't long before the both of them had drifted off to sleep.
