Ch.43

Shane leads Rick, Daryl, and Glenn to where he last saw Randall run off. Carl walks up to me worried and with tears in his eyes. "I'm all right, little man." I say ruffling his hair to cheer him up.

"I know. You're tough, Maezy." Carl says hugging me. I smile at him at his comment. "You, too, kid." I hug him back. Instead of me making him feel better, he made me feel better.

It's dark outside now, and I pace back and forth waiting for the men to come back. "Don't worry. They'll be back in no time. They'll find Randall, deal with him, then deal with Shane later." Andrea walks up behind me.

"I wish it was that simple. I have a bad feeling about this. I feel like Randall was just a distraction." I say looking out the window. The worry on my face grows more intense.

"Distraction? From what?" Andrea looks at me confused. "I don't know. The fact that Shane's been trying to get Rick out of the picture. Shane hates Rick because he came back." I say nervously glancing around the room.

"That's no excuse to try and kill him, though. Are you sure?" Andrea says crossing her arms. "Yes!" I exclaim throwing my hands up. I let out a sigh before continuing. "Look. He's mad and enraged that he can't have Lori anymore." I whisper to her.

"What do you mean? Did he...unbelievable." Andrea trails off letting out a huff. I think she's starting to get the picture. "I told you he was dangerous. You guys saw it first hand with me. I won't put it past him to try and kill anyone who gets in his way." I huff at her turning my back away.

"Hey, Maezy, have you seen Carl recently?" Lori asks me concerned. "Not since earlier. Why? I thought he was with you." I say confused. We both look out to the woods worried. I hope the guys hurry up. Carl better not be out there, either.

Daryl and Glenn burst through the door asking for the other two. "We heard a shot." Daryl says walking over to me. "Maybe they found Randall." Lori comments easing the tension.

"We found Randall." Daryl says to everyone in the room. "And?" I look up at him anxious. "He's a walker." he says looking down at me. "Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asks placing his hands in his pockets.

Apparently Randall wasn't bit or shot. He had his neck broken. I look confused at Glenn as they explain the situation. "See?! I told you! It was Shane! He killed Randall! That bastard." I say letting out a heavy sigh.

"Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane, and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori steps up to Daryl pleading urgently. "You got it." is all he says heading towards the door.

I walk up to the window and notice movement surrounding the house. My eyes go wide, and my heart races from fright. "Guys? I think you should come see this." I say causing everyone to pause in their tracks.

Patricia shuts the lights off and Andrea grabs all the guns. We watch as the walkers stagger closer to the house. "Carl's gone." Lori runs down the stairs in a panic. "Are you sure? Jesus Christ. It's one bad thing after another." I exclaim panicking myself.

They plan on defending against all these walkers. "There's too many. They'll overrun the farm. Hershel, we can't stay." I plead pointing at the horde of walkers coming our way.

Hershel plans on staying and I let out a growl. "Hershel, you can't be serious?" I ask growling at him. He said 'it's his farm and he'll die here', but I don't care. I'm not leaving him here to die. I don't agree with his logic. Not one bit.

"As good a night as any." Daryl shrugs jumping over the railing. "Come on. Climb over." he tells me reaching for my hips. I hop off the banister and follow Daryl to his bike.

"Daryl, what if we don't make it?" I ask Daryl running behind him. "We will make it." he states grabbing onto my hand and pulling me to run faster. "But there's too many." I exclaim with tears falling down my cheeks.

"I won't let anything happen. You remember what I said? We will make it." Daryl growls kissing my forehead. "Come on. Get on." he says holding out his hand for me to grab. I swing my leg over the bike and he revs up the engine.

"What the...The barn's on fire." I shout noticing the barn going up in flames. "That target practice would have come in handy right about now." I comment screaming into Daryl's ear so he could hear me. "That's for damn sure, but we got a little sidetracked." he grunts back at me.

"Daryl, what do we do? There's too many." I scream unsure what to do. "I'm gonna get off and stake 'em." I say hopping off the back of the bike. "Mae! Mae, don't!" he urges me to get back on the bike.

We hear Carol scream a little ways away. "Go get Carol. I'll work my way through. I'll be fine. Just focus on the walkers. Come back for me after you get Carol." I scream stabbing the first walker to come up to me in the head.

"No! It's too dangerous! I'm not leaving you!" Daryl shoots another walker coming up on me. "Just go! I'll follow." I reassure him I'll be fine. "But, Mae! Wait! Don't do this!" he screams over everyone fighting.

I run up to Daryl with tears in my eyes and kiss him harshly on the lips. "Daryl, I have to! Now go!" I scream running in the direction of Carol. He screams at me as he drives over to Carol.

I scream as I dodge one walker after another. A walker almost gets me halfway there, and I scream at the close encounter. Now I agree that this was a bad idea. A very bad idea. "Who brings a knife to a gun fight?" I give a mental note to myself.

"Mae!" I hear Daryl scream for my attention. I run directly towards him as he shoots at the walkers following me. "Come on. Get in front." Daryl shouts scooting back as much as he can.

I hop on facing Daryl with my legs up at his sides. This is not very comfortable. Carol grabs onto my hands for support. I sob into his chest as we kick off away from the farm.