A/N: oh boy do I have a long ass chapter for you guys! The pacing in this chapter is a little weird so I apologise in advance but I wanted to fit in all these moments and tensions and issues and drama. it mainly centres around Glenn, Hershel, Rick and Pol in the bar and the stuff that happened. There's action and plenty of dialogue which I'll hope you enjoy. Now please, don't hate me for this chapter, you guys knew it was coming eventually.
Thanks to everyone who supports and reads this story! Particularly my lovely reviewers:
Ryane: Girl Shane needs to go for real, but i need him for the story now. Haha your reaction to when they kissed. I loved it! and honestly felt the same. I know they need to be together, but all good things to those who wait...
JasminJW: Hehe I wonder what you'll think of this chapter.
One more thing, I won't be uploading another chapter until Monday because I need to figure out what I'm going to do with regards to what happens at the end of this chapter. You'll see what I mean.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead or any affiliated characters and storyline, only my OC and plotline.
- Angels and Douchebags
It was nearing the end of the day when Rick pulled up the car and parked it in the desolate and isolated town.
"Rick? I know about Lori her being pregnant. I got her those pills." Glenn said as Rick turned to look at him looking slightly ashamed.
"I knew too." I said piping up from the back when Rick glanced back into the mirror.
"I figured." He said opening the car door. We followed him out of the car guns out and trained in front of us.
"Hey," I nudged him arm making him look down at me.
"Sorry we kept it from you," I felt guilty.
"Don't be, you did what you thought was right." He said walking ahead with his gun out.
Me and Glenn looked at each other before following him. We reached the bar, Rick turned and nodded to me. I pushed the door open and he went through first rifle out. I pointed my gun out covering him and Glenn as we entered the dusty shop.
We closed the door seeing Hershel sitting at a table with his back towards us looking down into his glass. Poor guy. Probably wants nothing to do with me. I grimaced. I let Rick and Glenn walk ahead of me as I tried to stay relatively hidden behind them.
"Hershel," Rick called out by the door.
"Who's with ya?" He asked his head slightly turned.
"Glenn." Rick said before turning to me with an unsure look on his face.
"And Pol," He said carefully testing Hershel's reaction.
"Why are you here?" Hershel turned around accusingly at me.
"Beth. She need's you, she's gone into some sort of shock." I said quietly.
"I don't want you here. Nor do I need you here." Hershel stated turning back around. I looked at Rick who was looking at me sympathetically.
"I'll keep watch outside." I said glumly before opening the door and closing it again. I sniffled and wiped my nose. Checking the rifle was loaded I paced back and forth against the door letting keeping an eye on any stray walkers whilst Rick and Glenn tried to talk to Hershel.
They had been talking for a few minutes when a Walker stumbled out of the alleyway opposite the road and noticed me, began snarling and growling my way. I began pulling out my knife before I stopped myself. I should practise with the gun. Making sure the silencer was on I aimed and pulled the trigger hitting it in the chest.
"Damn," I said silently. I reloaded again and pointed it at the head as it got closer. I took a deep breath in and released the trigger exhaling as the bullet hit square in the head, the Walker falling to the floor. I heard the handle squeaking as Glenn opened the door standing in the doorway with Rick still inside.
"What happened?" I asked them.
"He's not coming." Rick said jaw clicking.
"So what do we do, wait for him to pass out?" Glenn asked making me scoff.
"Just go." Hershel called out.
"Just go!" He said more firmly.
"I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe." Rick said walking back into the bar.
"Like you promised that little girl?" Hershel chuckled. I held Rick's arm rubbing it for support as he looked at where my hand was then silently back to Hershel. Glenn looked at my arm on Rick then looked up at me. I dropped his arm quickly and held my hands behind my back. But Rick wasn't giving up.
"So what's your plan? Finish that bottle? Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?" Rick walked back into the bar angry. Hershel stood up and turned around suddenly.
"Stop telling me how to care for my family. My farm. You people are like a plague!" He shouted at Rick.
"The world was already in bad shape when we met." Rick said calmly directly in Hershel's face.
"And you take no responsibility! You're supposed to be their leader!" Hershel shouted with tears in his eyes.
"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?!" Rick finally lost his temper. Hershel walked back to the bar and picked up his glass taking another sip. I felt myself getting angry. Alcohol. People drinking themselves like that was the root of problems.
"Come on. Your girls need you now, more than ever." Rick said to Hershel gently pulling his arm. Hershel pushed him off as Rick walked backwards.
"Rick," I said calling his attention.
"Let me," I pushed him back with my arm gently and handed him the rifle walking up to Hershel.
"I know you don't want to hear this from me. I know you hate me right now but I'm going to tell you something. Drinking yourself to death is not the answer." I said firmly.
"What would a girl like you know about it? You haven't had to face something like this? You're the cause of this? You shot Otis." Hershel said is words slurring slightly. Rick moved forwards slightly but I shook my head at him.
"Yeah what would I know." I scoffed pacing back and forth near the bar.
"I did cause this. You're right. You think I don't punish myself everyday for what I've done? Every single time someone kills a Walker I think to myself: that's another human life I've destroyed. I shot Otis manipulated by Shane that he would expose me and hurt Rick." I said as Hershel turned around in his seat eyes wide with surprise and shock.
"Yeah,"
"When I was younger back in London, I witnessed my father drink himself to passing out every single night without fail. Those were the good days. The bad days were when he used to hit me and my mother. Taking out his frustrations he would call it." I said feeling the old memories springing up.
"My mother, rest her soul took most of the beatings for me. But one day when I was 17, she killed herself." I said the tears falling freely down my face.
"For that entire year I was the subject of my father's abuse. His rage. When finally the police had enough on him to be charged with manslaughter and abuse and he was put in jail. Since that day I vowed that I would never touch a glass of wine or any form of alcohol ever again." I said wiping my eyes. Rick and Glenn were looking at me in a mixture of shock and sadness.
"When I was 18, the first opportunity I had, I applied to university here in America and left England on a scholarship at Stanford. I worked my hardest to get a job in research in Washington. And well, you know the rest." I said shrugging.
"So please don't tell me, that I haven't had hardship or had to face anything in my life." I leaned in close to Hershel putting my hands on his shoulders.
"Your girls need you, please be there for them. Be better than he was." I said walking back to Rick and Glenn. I was clearly shaking because I felt Glenn put his hand into mine squeezing it. I looked at him and he smiled at me. Rick held my gaze and nodded.
"Rick," Hershel said more softly.
"You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe that. But when Shane shout Lou in the chest, and she just kept coming? That's when I knew what an ass I'd been. That Annette had been dead long ago and I was feeding her rotten corpse!" Hershel cried now.
"There is no hope. And you know it now, like I do." He spoke to Rick who said nothing.
"That's where you're wrong." I spoke up.
"And this is coming from the person who started the apocalypse." I smirked making Glenn and Rick smile.
"There's always hope when you have people you love. People you need to keep fighting for. Everyone I love are dead. But I found a new family, new friends, new people I love." I looked back at Glenn who chuckled and Rick who had a hint of a smile on his face. I thought my speech might have changed something in Hershel, motivated him a bit. But 10 minutes later he was still staring at the bottom of the glass and Rick was losing his patience.
"Look I'm done, I'm not doing this anymore." Rick was standing by Hershel frustrated now. I bit my lip anxiously, it was getting dark soon and we were going to be in more danger if we didn't leave town.
"This isn't even about what we believe, if we've all lost hope. It's about them, the people at home. They give us a reason to go on." Rick said trying to knock sense into him. The door swung open and we suddenly turned around seeing two men standing there. I put my rifle up and trained it on them.
"Son of a bitch. They're alive." One man chuckled. They put their hands up in surrender, I looked up at Rick waiting for him to give me the word but he gestured to lower my rifle. I reluctantly put it down as the men sat at the table pouring them drinks.
"Feisty one aren't you." The man with the cap said smirking at me, I made a face of disgust at him.
"I'm Dave," The man with the blue t shirt said smiling. He was kinda cute. But not trustworthy at all.
"That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony," He pointed to the other man with the cap.
"Eat me Dave." Tony spat jokingly.
"Hey maybe someday I will." Dave said nonchalantly.
"Do you think that's funny?" I narrowed my eyes at Dave hand by knife, moving closer to him. Rick pulled my arm back and I glared at him but he shook his head.
"Lighten up honey honestly. You're not from around here are you?" Dave said smirking. I hated his type. Fairly good-looking think they owned everything they saw. They seemed dangerous. We should leave, before something bad happens.
"England." I said shortly.
"I like foreign girls." Tony licked his lips.
"If your boy keeps looking at me with that predatory smile on his face I'm going to cut his fingers off one by one." I said to Dave who laughed.
"Easy Tony. This little girl thinks she can take you." Dave stated.
"I wouldn't antagonise her." Rick warned as I could see his jaw locking. He was pissed.
"I'm Glenn, it's nice to meet some new people." He smiled to them taking a drink at the bar.
"Rick Grimes," Rick said cautiously.
"Polaris." I said stiffly to them.
"How about you Polaris, not having a drink?" Dave asked as Rick kept refilling his shots.
"I don't drink." I said dismissively.
"Not even one drink?" Tony asked.
"Come on Tony, what did we talk about." I said sarcastically.
"I. Don't. Drink." I spat out for them.
"Fair enough. What about you man?" Dave asked Hershel at the bar.
"I just quit." He said shortly. I made eye contact with Hershel and nodded respectively at him. He wouldn't regret it, he was doing the right thing.
"His name's Hershel. He lost people today, a lot of them." Rick explained.
"I'm truly sorry to hear that. To our dead, may they be in a better place." Dave said sincerely. Maybe not a complete asshole. Dave leaned over and a gun sticking out of his trousers caught my eye.
"Not bad huh," He said watching our gazes.
"I got it off a cop."
"I'm a cop." Rick said not missing a beat. He sat up next to Hershel by the hair as I took the seat next to him, going into his side slightly not feeling safe around these people.
"So what drove you south?" Rick asked drinking his shot.
"We heard of a refugee camp in DC, but all the roads were jammed. Every group we came across had a new rumour about this thing." Dave said.
"You guys ever been to Nebraska?" He asked looking at us.
"There's a reason they call them flyover states." I felt Rick shake next to me in quiet laughter.
"How bout you guys?" He asked turning the attention to us. See. Can't trust these guys.
"Fort Benning eventually." Rick stated making Dave look down and chuckle.
"I hate to piss in your cornflakes officer, we came across someone who said the fort was overrun by Walkers." Dave said. Rick looked shocked then disappointed. Oh no. There is literally nowhere else for us to go.
"Wait, Fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?" Glenn asked incredulously.
"Sadly I am. Ugly truth is there is no way out of this mess." Dave stated.
"But it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You holed up someplace else?" Dave asked a seemingly innocent question. I lightly nudged Rick warning him not to trust him. He seemed suspicious from the start.
"Not really," Rick said turning to look at me then back at Dave.
"Those your cars out front?"
"Yeah. Why?" Glenn said innocently. Shit. No Glenn I tried not to roll my eyes.
"Those look empty, clean, we're living out of ours. Where's your gear?" He asked.
"We're living with a larger group. Out scouting, thought we could use a drink." Yes Hershel! Quick thinking. Hopefully they leave, and we won't have to make them.
"A drink? Hershel I thought you quit." Dave said looking between us.
"He quit just now." I said narrowing my eyes at him.
"We're thinking of settling up out here. Is it safe?" Dave continued with the questions.
"It can be. Although I have killed a couple of walkers around here." Glenn said as Rick turned to look at him slightly. I squeezed Glenn's hand with my fingers behind me trying to get him to stop talking.
"You guys set up in a trailer somewhere, you on a farm?" Dave asked. I was desperately trying to get Rick's attention to get up and leave this place before something bad happened. Tony got up and walked past me looking me up and down. I went further into Rick's side trying to avoid his gaze.
"Old McDonald had a farm." Dave sang.
"E-I-E-I-Oh." Tony sang holding onto the beer tap and taking a piss against it. I scrunched up my nose and Rick glanced sideways frowning.
"You got food? Water?" No one answered. We were kind of trapped, but all we had to do was get up and leave this place. I had a bad feeling.
"We've said enough." Rick said firmly leaving no room for conversation.
"Well, hang on a second. This farm, it sounds pretty sweet." Dave said.
"Yeah real sweet." Tony said still urinating against the wall.
"How about a little southern hospitality? We got some guys back at camp having a hard time. We could pool our resources, manpower." Dave suggested getting too comfortable.
"Look, I'm sorry. That's not an option." Rick said putting his foot down. Tony looked at Dave who appeared to be disappointed.
"I'm sorry we can't. We can't take in any more." Hershel said with an air of finality making Dave chuckle in his seat.
"You guys are something else. I thought we were friends." Dave said looking down at his lip.
"Are you shitting me? We've been talking for 5 minutes and you think that's it we can trust you and take in your group and all be a big family." I scoffed looking at Dave.
"What world are you living in?" I challenged him.
"She's right. We don't know anything about you." Rick said calmly. I could see he was getting tense the way his shoulders were hunched up.
"That's right. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out here." Dave said seriously.
"We've all had to deal with shit. We all have baggage." I said leaning forward in the stool.
"That's this life now."
"Come on all the things that we've all had to do. We're all the same. So let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other." Dave said trying to worm his way in again.
"That's not gonna happen," Rick stayed calm.
"Rick-" Dave started.
"This is bullshit!" Tony said angrily.
"Calm down." Rick said.
"Don't tell me to calm down, don't ever tell me to calm down." Tony said advancing on Rick. I put my finger on the holster of my gun and flashed it up to Tony.
"You wanna back off Tony?" I asked warning him.
"Woah," Dave said.
"I'll shoot you 4 assholes in the head and take your damn farm." I got up off the bar stool and stood up walking towards Tony with Rick standing right by my side.
"Woah, woah relax. Take it easy. Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody. Right Rick?" Dave asked jumping over the bar and putting his gun on the table. Glenn was looking worried standing behind the other side of the bar and Hershel was remaining cautious. Rick moved a hand to his gun but I gently took his fingers off his holster.
Be careful. I shot him a warning look.
"The farm is crowded enough as it is. I'm sorry you're gonna have to keep looking. I hear Nebraska's nice." Rick quipped making Dave laugh.
He nodded to me and I took the gun out of my holster. Rick's gun whipped out so fast as he shot Dave in the head. I turned around and shot Tony in the chest then in the head, both bodies fell to the floor in a thump.
Hershel looked at me the same way he did when I told him I had shot Otis. Both him and Glenn were worriedly looking at Rick who remained silent looking at the bodies on the floor, holstering his gun.
"Holy shit." Glenn said coming to look at the bodies on the floor.
"You alright?" Rick turned to Glenn who nodded.
"Hershel?" He asked on the other side who said nothing at first but slowly nodded his head.
"Pol?" He asked turning around to look at me. My hand with the gun was shaking uncontrollably. Even though I hadn't hesitated to kill Amy, I shot Otis, yet it was these men who had posed a threat to us that unnerved me. I didn't answer him but continued looking at my hands which were shaking. Rick walked slowly forwards until he was right in front of me and took the gun from my hand holstering it on my belt.
"Y-yeah." I stammered.
"Look at me." I looked up at Rick who bent down to my level and studied my face.
"You're a little pale and your pupils are dilated. I need you to breathe." He said putting his hands on my shoulders. His face was so close to mine I could feel him breathing so I mimicked his actions until my hands weren't shaking anymore. He looked into my eyes for confirmation and I nodded. He took his hands of my shoulders and rubbed my arm.
"Lets head back." Hershel said after a minute, causing me to break eye contact with Rick. Rick bent down and picked up the rifle Tony had along with some of the rounds. We slowly walked around the bodies to the front of the bar, Glenn still looking down at the ground.
"Car, car! Get down." Rick said quietly. Glenn ducked beneath one side of the door. Rick and me bent down on the other side of the door with Hershel sitting in between a window. We heard the car approach and park right in front of the bar. I was still shaking beside Rick and he turned to look at me.
"I need you to be calm for this Pol. I need you. Can you do this?" He asked his piercing blue eyes focused on me.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry." I said snapping out of it. What was wrong with me? I had survived on my own for 6 months and have had to do horrendous acts to survive but this was bothering me. I had to stay focused for us. The car door opened and we could hear footsteps coming closer to the door. I took quiet deep breaths in and out as outside it was now completely dark outside.
"Dave? Tony?" A man called from outside the bar. Oh shit. This was just supposed to be about getting Hershel back. How did it turn into such a shit storm? I whined to myself.
"I'm telling you man I heard shots." A second man said.
"I saw roamers two streets over." A new voice piped in.
"Three." Rick mouthed to me and I nodded. One of the shadows of a man came up to the door window and the barrel of a gun could also be seen. Rick had his gun unholstered and put the safety off which made a small click noise. I pulled out my colt knowing it had more bullets than the rifle I loaded. Rick stood up quickly the creaking sounds being made against the wood and peeked out of the window to see where they had gone. He leaned back down and gestured me to follow him as we creeped over to Hershel and Glenn's side.
"Why won't they leave?" I said frustrated.
"Would you?" Hershel asked.
"We can't sit here any longer. Let's head out the back and make a run to the car." Rick interjected.
"I second that." I whispered agreeing with him as the rest agreed. We had just began standing up when gunshots could be heard from outside.
"What happened?" One of the men asked.
"Roamers. I nailed 'em." The other one said proudly.
"They disappeared but their car's still there. Let's clear the building." One of the men said as they stood in a group discussing it.
"We're looking for Dave and Tony and no one checks the damn bar?!" Rick and I snapped our guns out quickly aiming it towards the door. It was about to open when Glenn jumped in front pushing it close. I glared at him and Rick threw his head back frustrated.
"Someone's in there." the man muttered.
"Yo, if someone's in there, we don't want no trouble. We're just looking for our friends." the man called out. We didn't respond so they started talking amongst themselves deciding what to do.
"Now what?" I mouthed to Rick.
"We don't want any trouble. We're just looking for our friends." The man emphasised. I looked over at Tony's body lying on the floor with his eyes rolled back and a pool of blood next to him and winced. That's on me. Rick pressed his hand against his temple trying to think of what to do. He thought for a moment then opened his mouth.
"They drew on us." Rick shouted back and I closed my eyes for a brief moment. Now we're screwed. Hershel put his hand over his mouth looking at Rick with wide eyes. Glenn was sweating along with the rest of us as I wiped my hand over my brow trying to get rid of it.
"Dave and Tony in there? They alive?" The man asked coming closer to the door.
"No!" Rick said as they started muttering amongst themselves again.
"No man I'm not going back that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar." The man outside said annoyed.
"Your friends drew on us! They gave us no choice!" Rick shouted more aggressively this time.
"I'm sure we've lost enough people, so let's chalk this up to what it was. Wrong place, wrong-" But before Rick could finish gunshots came straight throw the window shattering glass on top of us. I shielded my head and face as Glenn crawled away out of the firing line. Rick got up and started shooting back through the broken glass on the door.
"Get out of here! Go!" He shouted to the three of us. Glenn and Hershel headed towards the back exit keeping low.
"I'm not leaving you! I promised Lori I'd bring you back!" I shouted shooting through the glass with him. He looked at me firmly but I wasn't leaving him.
Hershel and Glenn ducked under tables near the bar as I bent down to the other side of the door from Rick. They had bigger guns, more ammunition. Bottles were being smashed everywhere with bullets flying into the bar. Suddenly the firing stopped and we were all breathing heavily. Rick handed me some bullets as we both loaded our weapons some more. All this sound was going to draw Walkers and we were going to have bigger problems on our hands.
"Hey, we all know this is not gonna end well! There's nothin' in it for any of us!" Rick shouted ferociously back to them.
"You guys just back off, no one else get's hurt!" He said with slight pleading in his voice. We should've left when we had the chance. The garbage cans at the back of the bar building were being rattled. Rick gestured to Glenn who mustered up whatever courage he had and ran off over the backdoor silently.
Slowly, he creaked it open keeping his gun pointed down into where the basement was and walked inside until we couldn't see him.
"I'm alright." Glenn called out and I breathed out a sigh of relief. Rick and me walked over to Hershel who was standing behind a pillar in the bar.
"I'll hold it here. You cover Glenn, see if you can make it to his car." Rick looked at me and Hershel. I raised an eyebrow at Rick.
"Okay, we'll hold him here." He said and I smiled satisfied he was letting me help him.
"We'll run for it, get the hell out of here." Rick said sweating.
"Yes please." I groaned missing the farm despite the fact half of the people hated me there. Hershel walked off into the other room where Glenn was.
Rick and me stood silently against the pillar with our guns out ready to shoot.
"How you doing?" He asked looking down at me.
"Been better." I chuckled feeling tired.
"Bet you wish you left today." Rick said smirking.
"Yeah for the record I'm blaming you for this." I nodded closing my eyes hearing Rick laugh.
"We'll make it out." He said reassuring me.
"Promise?" I asked although it was a stupid thing to say.
"Promise." He said nodding. It was quiet for a few minutes before he heard gunshots outside. I looked at Rick worriedly. I hope Glenn and Hershel were okay. We rushed down the stairs to the basement and by the open door where Hershel was standing in the doorway with his gun.
"What happened?" Rick asked. About 10ft away was a man groaning on the floor holding his stomach.
"He fired his gun. Glenn must've been hit, he's behind the dumpster. Doesn't look like he's moving." Hershel said to Rick. I stood by Hershel with my gun out to help him cover Rick as he walked out towards the dumpster, pointing guns in both directions.
"You hit?" Rick whispered over to Glenn. But no answer. Glenn couldn't be dead. He couldn't. I held my breath as Rick walked out into the open to get behind the dumpster.
"No." Glenn's voice was discernible as I breathed out a sigh of relief. Glenn and Rick were hiding behind the dumpster with me and Hershel keeping a vigilant eye out for our attackers. Rick and Glenn began coming out from behind the dumpster before gunshots came from above. I looked up to the top of a pharmacy where a man was standing there with a sniper gun. Car tyres were squealing and pulled up in front of the pharmacy.
"We gotta get out of here!" The man in the car shouted to the sniper.
"We're leaving?" He asked. He looked young. Younger than me.
"Jump!" The other man said. The sniper began walking along the roof of the pharmacy and stood along the ledge. Don't do it you idiot. Please. He jumped onto the next building with a corrugated roof and slid off it behind the car where we couldn't see him but I heard his screams and winced.
"Help me!" He was screaming but the man in the car drove off.
"Hershel!" I called his attention to the side where the man was groaning on the floor. Five walkers came out of nowhere and we started shooting at them but it was too late. They were already feasting into him.
"Hershel! Pol!" I turned around seeing Glenn calling us as we snuck over to where the dumpster was.
"The gunfire must've attracted the walkers." He said as we joined Glenn.
"Where's Rick?" I asked Glenn my eyes not being able to make out anything in the dark.
"He ran across." Glenn said.
"He did what?" I asked incredulously. I looked across the road and ran across where the others followed me.
"Rick!" I called out. He was trying to help the sniper that fell and had impaled his leg on the gate and was bleeding out onto the ground. Walkers were going to be here soon, there was no way we could make it with this kid.
"We have to go now. I'm sorry son we have to go." Hershel said putting his hand on the boy's knee.
"Nooo," He was crying out in pain.
"Don't leave me please." He said.
"He was just shooting at us!" Glenn said anxiously.
"He's just a kid!" Rick shouted.
"This place is crawling with Walkers." Glenn said frustrated.
"We can't leave him." I said firmly.
"The fence went clean through, there's no way we can get the leg off in one piece." Hershel said inspecting his leg. The kid kept groaning and crying loudly which was going to attract the Walkers.
"Shut up! Shut up or I will shoot you!" Rick said shaking the fence.
"That may be the answer. Maybe we should put him down, I can't see a why to get his leg out." Hershel said pulling Rick back. Rick furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head at Hershel.
"I don't wanna see any more killing, but this is cruel." Hershel said gesturing to the kid.
"We should do what we can to save him. Walkers or not. The day we decide human life isn't worth saving is the day we lose our humanity." I said making Rick and Hershel look at me.
"Can't we just take the leg off?" Glenn asked.
"That hatchet still in the car?" Rick asked Glenn who shook his head. I pulled out my knife and handed it to Hershel.
"Will this cut through bone?" Hershel began taking off his shirt leaving him in his undershirt.
"I'd have to sever the ligament below the kneecap. He's gonna lose his lower leg and when we get clear of here, need to find some tinder and cauterise the wound." Hershel stated coming towards the kid.
"Alright no choice let's go." Rick said decisively. Rick held him down against the fence as Hershel tied a tourniquet above his knee cap. I was standing by his head when Glenn went forward shooting the Walkers that were coming towards us. Walkers started appearing on the other side of the alleyway.
"Oh God. They're everywhere." I said and started shooting at them. The Walkers began to surround us and seemed to come from everywhere snarling and snapping their teeth.
"We don't have much time! We've gotta go!" Glenn shouted using the rifle to kill them.
"I'm almost out of ammo!" Rick came beside me and started shooting the Walkers as I went back to help Hershel. He had the knife pressed into the kneecap.
"I can't hold 'em off! Hershel, do it now!" Rick shouted walking back towards us. I turned around and used the remaining ammo I had to shoot with him.
"Hershel come on!" I shouted feeling panicked. It was getting desperate as more and more were gaining on us. We were out of time.
"Please, don't leave me!" the kid was screaming on the fence. Hershel got away from the kid still on the fence, getting ready to leave. Rick took one look at him and ripped his leg up off the fence it was impaled on leaving him to let out a bloodcurdling scream. I swung one of his arms over me and he leaned against me heavily as I tried to drag him over to the car. Rick continuing to shoot the Walkers around us. We made it to the red truck and Rick shifted the car into drive speeding off.
A while later after we had got the wound cauterised we made it back to the farm where it was day light. We pulled up the red truck in front of the us where Rick got out of the car and Carl ran towards him to hug him.
"Dad!" He screamed happily throwing his arms around his waist. Lori pulled Rick into her as he wrapped his arms around her upper back. I got out of the car slowly, covered in dirt, blood and sweat with my legs aching. I smiled at Lori as she came up towards me and engulfed me in a tight hug.
"Thank you," She whispered.
"I couldn't have done it without her." Rick said looking back at me with admiration. Hershel came out of the truck as Maggie looked as she was running towards him but ran passed him and tackled Glenn who was holding the rifle instead.
"Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery." Hershel said walking straight back into the house.
Lori let go of me as I looked up at her face which was bruised.
"What happened to you?" I asked pointing to her face. Rick came up to her and put his hand on her cheek.
"I was in a car accident." She said glancing down.
"How?" I asked shocked.
"I went looking for you." She said.
"Not that I didn't have faith in you." She defended to me but I waved her off.
"It's alright, he's a handful." I joked as she smiled.
"Snuck out on her own. I brought her back." Shane said admittedly arrogantly.
"Are you crazy? That-" Rick started but was interrupted by T-Dog.
"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog asked pointing to the car.
"That's Randall." Glenn said. He was blindfolded in the car and we took him inside letting Hershel perform surgery on him.
Rick and Lori went inside their tent with Carl to spend some time together. T-Dog and Andrea were sitting by the fire eating and Dale was keeping watch. Glenn was inside with Maggie and Hershel and Shane was god knows where.
"Why are you always covered in blood?" Daryl asked seeing my white T-shirt stained.
"I ask myself the same question."
A while later they decided to keep Randall on the farm until he was well enough to walk. Hershel kindly let me use his showers and I changed and packed my bag properly this time getting ready to leave. Dale handed me a rifle with rounds and extra bullets for my colt. I was standing at the exit to the farm with the whole group.
"Do you have to go?" Carl asked looking sad. I kneeled down on the floor in front of him and put my hand under his chin. I looked up at Hershel who didn't look like he was changing his mind anytime soon.
"Yeah kid, I do." I said. I took off the silver chain necklace I had around my neck which had the constellation of Ursa Minor.
"But take this." I said dropping it into his palm.
"What is it?" He asked playing with it.
"It's the constellation, a collection of stars in the sky called Ursa Minor. Or the little dipper. That star there, is called Polaris. Keep it safe for me, I'll find you again." I smiled at him and he wrapped his arms around me. I felt tears springing in my eyes but wiped it away quickly.
"Thank you, for everything." Lori said as I looked to her and gave her a tight hug.
"Look after yourself, and the baby." I said nodding to her.
"Be wary of Shane." I whispered into her hair and she nodded slowly.
"T-Dog, Andrea. I'm gonna miss talking to you guys." They gave me stiff nods not fully forgiving me for what I had done.
"Dale." I smiled at the older man who gave me a warm look and patted me on the shoulder.
"Pol." Glenn had come out of the house and I hugged him tightly.
"Be good to yourself. And to Maggie." I gestured to the woman standing near him. I waved to her and she waved back. I don't know where I stood with her but it was a little better than before.
"Hershel, Patricia. I'm truly sorry for what happened that day. I hope me leaving eases your pain more, and maybe one day you can find it in your heart to forgive." I said gently to the two standing there. Patricia was looking down at the ground whilst Hershel gave me a nod of respect. I think we had an understanding with each other.
"Daryl Dixon." I stood in front of him as he looked down at me with a serious look on his face.
"I can still come with you, it's not like I fit in here anyways." Daryl argued but I shook my head.
"Yes you do Daryl. You have people that care about you here." I looked over at Carol who smiled at me.
"No matter how stubborn you are to see it." I smiled at him making him scoff.
"Take care yeah," He reached out his hand and touched my forearm.
"One day Daryl, you'll hug me first." I eyed him with a smile walking towards Carol.
"Carol. You're such a strong, independent woman and you don't even know it yet." I said as she didn't look at me in the eyes.
"I know we had our differences, but I will miss your company." Carol said.
"I'm sorry about Sophia." She shook her head. I hugged Carol then walked back to the front of the gate to the farm picking up my pack.
"I'll walk you down to the highway." Rick said as we left the farm walking side by side. It was still early morning, not midday yet and the sun was already beginning to burn my neck. We got down to the highway which I was gonna try and follow up to DC since Atlanta was a lost cause. We stood standing opposite each other.
"I think this is where we part ways." I said sniffling slightly.
"I don't want to." Rick said wiping the tears falling on my cheek.
"I know, me neither."
"Pol." Rick said taking another step closer to me. I moved closer to him until we were face to face.
"Take care of yourself."
"You too Grimes." He began leaning in slightly then placed a gentle fluttery kiss on my forehead. I closed my eyes taking it in before wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my head into his chest. I felt his arms enclose around my shoulders and we were standing there hugging. There was a gentle breeze and the birds were chirping up in the trees.
"I'll miss you." I said my voice muffled with tears.
"I'll miss you too." He said smoothing down my hair.
"You know you have to let me go at some point." I said. I unwrapped my arms from his waist and took a step back from him as he dropped his arms. I saw a single tear running down his cheek and went onto my tiptoes to wipe it away. We stood in front of each other not wanting to leave. I reached my hands out and pulled his head down to my level going on my tiptoes. I leaned in until our noses were almost touching and gave him a brief kiss on the lips before he had the chance to respond.
"I had to do that. One last time." I whispered as I rested my forehead against his. Finally releasing him I turned around and walked off to the other side. I turned around seeing Rick watching me from the highway and then walked off into the forest.
Alone again.
A/N: So that chapter had a lot of stuff. Action, Pol's backstory, heartbreak and romance. Until Monday! Let me know what you think.