The Walking Dead: A New Day Gone Bye

Chapter 34 – HUMBLE LIAR

Lee opened the door to the house, entering the main hallway. Despite him having spent a day and a night in that property, he'd only known Hershel's dining room and hadn't wandered a lot into the other rooms. He scratched his head with the sensation of feeling lost inside that household he barely knew. He looked to his left, to the open arc that led into the living room where he spotted Patricia sitting in the couch with Otis.

Lee poked his head inside the chamber. "Patricia, Otis, no mean to disturb, but do you know where Hershel is?"

Patricia darted her thumb towards the staircase. "In his room. Easy to find, last door to your right."

"Okay. Thanks." Lee smiled.

Lee was already walking towards the stairs at the end of his sentence, and as he turned his face, he bumped against an individual. A breath exited his mouth and he closed his eyes in a reflex as he backed away a few steps. Opening his eyes, he saw Glenn standing in front of him with eyelids pulled back, adjusting his hat.

"Glenn? What're you doing here?" Lee asked. "You didn't sleep in the RV!"

Glenn checked nobody was spying on them and made him a gesture to talk low. "Ssh! Look, I-I-I was with uh…"

"You were with Maggie, right?" Lee whispered.

Glenn lowered his head. "Yeah."

Lee pondered for a few seconds on what to say. "Look, Glenn, I don't want to tell you how to live your life, but I'm not sure how Hershel would react to this. We're guests and we don't want to shorten our stay here. I'm just asking you to think this through. And hell, if you're gonna do this, at least be more discreet!"

Glenn grinned. "Yeah, yeah, got it, pops. By the way, what was all with the yelling?"

Lee rolled his eyes. "Larry passed out and Lilly went on to find nitroglycerin pills for him. Daryl chased after her."

"Whoa, that's messed up!" Glenn said. "Shouldn't we send some people to go get them?"

"Maybe, but I think Daryl has the situation under control." Lee said. "Now please let me pass, I gotta go say a few things to Hershel."

Glenn nodded, passing right by him. "You're gonna keep this a secret, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

Lee sensed Glenn's joy as he skipped down the stairs. Lee shook his head as he advanced up the stairwell. When he reached the second floor, he directed himself to the door at the end, that was ajar, and knocked.

"Come in." Hershel said.

Lee swung the door open with a creak and stepped inside. The bedroom was mostly empty, except for a chest of drawers and in the middle, the broad bed in which Larry laid. He was stretched out in the bed, his eyes closed. Hershel was listening to his heart and lungs using a stethoscope. When he saw Lee enter through the corner of his eye, he straightened and removed the earplugs from his ears.

"Sorry. Just checking the heartbeat." Hershel said.

"It's okay." Lee said. "How is he?"

"Hard to tell. Fine. For now. But Lilly better hurry up with this man's pills. I can't quite do anything for him except to keep him in the best conditions possible."

"Well, you're doing your best. And I appreciate that."

"Excuse me for the question, but we lost television and radio a while back…how is the world out there nowadays? Is the government still up?"

Lee exhaled and folded his arms. "I don't think the government is still functional. It's anarchy in the streets. It's bad. I respect your way of dealing with the walkers, but here, the farm isn't dangerous. But out there, it's kill or be killed. People have gone mad. Tried to murder us. We lost a lot."

Hershel lowered his head. "Shouldn't've asked."

"Jesus…would you…keep it down, damn it?" Larry grunted, half-audible.

As he punctuated his sentence, the noise of an engine reached Lee's ears. He tuned his ears for the noise, trying to distinguish it, until he recognized it as being Daryl's bike. A sense of relief coursed through his body. "They're here!"

Hershel tossed two pills onto his hand and put them in Larry's mouth. He didn't do an effort to raise his head and swallowed them in an instant. Lilly sat beside him in the bed, with Daryl and Lee standing in the corner. Lee had a smile, something had finally gone good and he felt more cheerful with the glint of delight in her eyes. Hershel wiped his hands; another job well done.

"Well, he's fine for now." Hershel said. "I don't believe there's any reason to worry. Daryl and Lilly did a great job bringing back those pills for Larry."

"Are you sure you don't need water?" Lilly asked.

Larry shook his head. "Nah."

Lilly slid her hand past his hair. "Then try to get some sleep."

Lee looked at Daryl and his face froze. He had a tourniquet strapped around his waist, one of the sides drenched in blood and water while he reeked and was sprinkled with dust and dirt. It seemed like he had gone to Hell and come straight back. "What happened to you?"

"Drove off a cliff." Daryl explained. "Tell the Korean kid he ain't getting his car back."

"Are you sure you won't need any antibiotics?" Hershel inquired.

Daryl snorted. He was a fucking survivor, he didn't need no pansy-ass medicine. "That shit's for pansies. It'll heal."

"How many pills did you get at the pharmacy?" Lee enquired.

"A lot." Lilly smiled. "Seven pillboxes to be exact. We won't need to worry about getting more of them anytime soon."

Lee smirked, as he turned his head and looked out the window. The view extended as far as the eye can see, the green and endless fields of crops and animal life making the landscape look like a painted canvas. However, in this green painting, something was off. A dark, moving thing was shuffling towards the farm's fence.

A walker.

"Hey, Hershel, we got a walker approaching." Lee said.

Hershel removed his coat. "We'll go deal with it. Don't you guys worry."

Hershel and Lee strolled around the farm side by side, Lee trying to hurry their pace. It was unnerving how Hershel was so calm about having a walker making its way inside the farm, but back at the camp in Atlanta, it was panic as soon as a zombie reared its head. The duo rounded the corner, spotting up-closer the zombie. It was a bald male, bare feet, wearing shorts and a bright Hawaiian shirt.

Lee raised his gun and took aim towards the incoming walker. He shut an eye, getting a clear shot. "I think I can get it from here…"

"No!" Hershel interrupted, dashing towards Lee and gesturing him to hold fire. "I can't let you shoot him! There's only one. He'll be easy to get into the barn."

Lee holstered his gun and rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything. He had to respect these people and their beliefs. Even if he didn't fully agree with them, that farm was safer for Clementine and Carley compared to what was out there.

"Be careful, Hershel." Lee advised, preparing himself in a stance in case a fight happened. "I don't need to remind you how dangerous a bite from one of this suckers is."

"I've done this a few times before, you know." Hershel admonished, his arms wide open as he engaged into his tactic. "They're only really dangerous when there's more than one. Go over there and attract his attention."

Lee moved away from Hershel until the two were separated from a few meters. The lurker stopped, indecisive on who he should feast on. "Over here, ugly!"

The zombie lurched its head toward Lee, biting the air. Its jaws made an eerie clacking sound similar to castanets. Hershel snuck up to it from behind and gripped its forehead with one hand and his torso with the other. "Got you! Piece of cake."

Lee swallowed the saliva in his mouth. Was Hershel insane?! His hands were in full contact with the zombie. If one of his hands slipped, the walker could easily take a chew out of his hand or arm. Seeing he couldn't do anything else, he just mentally prayed nothing would go wrong.

Hershel looked around, and spotted Arnold, Lacey and Jimmy who had appeared, presumably noticing that they had a walker that needed to be secured. "Lacey, Arnold, Jimmy, I'm gonna need your help getting him in the barn."

Unluckily, most of the group also noticed the walker that was being transported to the barn. Kenny was the first to react. He was chatting with his family on the porch, when he jerked his head to the side and spotted the five individuals. Kenny stood in a harsh way, sprinting towards Lee with velocity. Lee already knew from the heavy look on his face what he was gonna say.

"Lee, what the hell is this?!" Kenny demanded.

"Kenny, calm down. A walker stumbled upon the farm. We're taking it inside the barn. And that's final."

Kenny shook his head and folded his arms. "I'm starting to wonder if me and my family shouldn't just leave right now. I mean, we're safe here! Keeping those walkers in there is just gonna put us in more danger."

"Look, Hershel believes this is how the walkers should be handled. And it's our duty to follow his rules."

"I'm starting to think maybe we oughta shoot all of those dead bastards in there."

"Kenny! I'm trusting you to keep cool on this one, okay? Don't make rash decisions!"

Lee gave Kenny a firm glance, before he caught up with the three teenagers and the old man. Kenny stood in his place, wary of them. Hershel strolled with the zombie towards the barn. The zombie waved its arms, growled, flicked the two moons filling his orbits in all directions, but Hershel had bizarrely a great control over the creature, emanating from his years of taming beasts. "Go around back and distract the others."

Jimmy, Arnold and Lacey sprinted and disappeared around the corner of the barn. Hershel unlocked the barn door. Lee gulped nervously. He wasn't sure of how many walkers were there, but it was almost two months since the beginning, and if they had been harboring zombies ever since then, there could be a beehive of them in there. "Hey, Hershel, I don't think it's a good…"

He was cut off when a fat zombie, as inflated as a blob-fish, toppled over on the barn and rammed the door with its massive weight, bashing the door against Hershel's face. Hershel let go of the lurker he was grasping earlier and crumbled to the ground, with no time to react. The fat zombie rolled in the dirt, making an effort to get up but its dead lard kept him on the ground. The Hawaiian guy though, didn't took long to start crawling towards Hershel who was still recovering his senses.

Lee immediately whipped out his gun and aimed towards the fat zombie's forehead. With a precise hit, he shot it through the forehead. It went limp on the spot, the grass spraying with crimson blood. Kenny's eyelids expanded as he reached for a pitchfork that was sticking out of a haystack.

"What I'd tell you, Lee?!" He vociferated.

Lacey, Jimmy and Arnold were on the barn's upper platform, squatted, over-looking the horde of twenty-something zombies trekking below them. They began to discover that there was an exit, evident by their soulless gazes that were attracted towards the open door and their drooling jaws.

"Dad!" Lacey shrieked.

"Dad, I'm coming!" Arnold shouted.

Arnold jumped off the platform like a ninja, but lacking the skill of one. He landed on top of one of the zombies, that was thrust onto the ground with an impactful thud. Arnold's mass made its spine crunch and its belly to tear open, causing an explosion of intestines on the hay floor.

Hershel began recuperating from the blow just as the zombie dug its nails on the dirt next to Hershel's foot and dragged its corpse towards him. "Ugh…God, no!"

Arnold rushed past the zombies in the dingy barn and tackled the zombie off him, standing above him. Easily provoked with the sight of his father in danger, just like he was always fueled by anger by the slightest affront, he punched the walker's skull with his gloved hands. Its jaw cracked in two but the creature didn't wail in pain nor did it feel the pain. His hits were savage, strong, but caused a considerable damage on his knuckles. "No! Not my father! Not my father!"

Lee's heart skipped a beat when a walker, dressed in old garments and bearing black, shaggy hair, trailed outside the barn. It advanced towards Arnold, who was stuck in a trance with his furious punches on the Hawaiian zombie. Lee fired a shot but it just scraped its neck. Kenny brushed past Lee with the weapon in hand, but by then, Arnold's neck was being ripped off by the zombie's teeth.

Lacey proceeded to leap to the floor, making her best efforts to push past the throng of walkers to reach her endangered brother.

Hershel got on his feet, witnessing in horror as his son was devoured by his own brother, a zombified Shawn. Arnold collapsed to the side like a child gone to sleep. His attempt to spit out words resulted in blood oozing out his neck. A straggled gurgle exited his mouth and his shoulders had a final spasm. Even when his soul vanished, Shawn kneeled and gnawed on the remnants of his neck with a putrid mouth full of black, thick drool and bile.

"Shawn, no!" Hershel hollered, reaching towards Shawn. "He's your brother! Don't do this! You have to remember!"

Kenny raised the pitchfork with both hands and impaled the nearest undead farmer through the head. The four blades delved deep into its cranium and the impact bulldozed it to the ground. Lee was static in his place, just taking aim and firing.

Lacey was surrounded by walkers. She backed up, but eventually her back touched the barn's wall. Kenny sliced his way toward her but more of them just kept coming. "Lacey, get outta here!"

Just as he finished his sentence, Lacey slid down the wall onto a sitting position. The nearest zombie, another farmhand, pierced the girl's stomach with its claws. Lacey howled like a wolf at a full moon as the zombie cleaved her tummy. Tens of walkers joined the buffet, spreading her guts and vital organs everywhere. The sassy teen was just now a meal consisting of meat sloppily devoured by unskilled butchers.

"Goddammit!" Kenny screamed.

Maggie, tears running down her cheeks and ruled by emotion, ran to the scene, gun in her trembling hand. Glenn tried to stop her by clutching her arm. "Maggie, don't!"

"Let go!" Maggie shouted, kneeing Glenn in the testicles to free herself from him. Glenn curled into a ball, clutching his genitalia and groaning in agonizing pain as he struggled to breathe.

Carley, T-Dog, Dale and Rick had already arrived with their weapons and distributed heavy fire. Failed shots splintered the wood but the other bullets sent the walkers into the void. Their collapsing bodies made it seem they were in a shooting range. Their numbers were thinning out quickly. Jimmy was the only one who had stayed in the platform, and had exited through the same way he'd entered. With his eyes red and puffy, he was given a shotgun but often missed or didn't shot because of the hiccups and tears.

Maggie bent near her dad, who was leaning on his knees. His visage was splattered with blood and his fingers twitched in strange patterns. "Daddy, you okay?!"

"Your gun." Hershel muttered as he grabbed Maggie's gun.

"Daddy?"

Hershel oscillated like a machine on its last legs. His spine was slightly hunched over like a senile elderly. His eyes were humid and his nose had drops of snot dangling off it. Hershel lifted the gun, dodged his gaze and shot Shawn in the head, spilling grey matter on the ground. "Sorry, Shawn!"

He proceeded to fire to an unknown zombie just as he fired towards Arnold's forehead to prevent him from reanimating, "Sorry, Arnold!"

Hershel, along with everybody else, stood among the scattered piles of zombies. They were all dead. "I'm sorry."

Hershel raised the gun and pushed the barrel against his temple. "I'm sorry."

"Hershel, no!" Rick shouted as he slapped the gun off his hand.

Hershel fell onto his knees, sobbing into his hands. "I'm sorry!"

Lee dropped his gun and pinched his nose bridge, admiring with disgust the bloody massacre. Turning his head to the left, he saw something that crushed his heart. Clementine was crying.

A/N: Excuse me for the long delay. I've been busy with other projects and I was kinda stuck in this chapter.