Disclaimer: Buffy The Vampire Slayer was Created by Joss Whedon and is property of many companies but not me. The Walking Dead was created by Robert Kirkman and the show, which is the world I am referencing in this, is shared with Production Creators Frank Darabont and Angela Kang.
Arthur's Note: Division of labor in this chapter could be better, but aside from Andrea the TWD group didn't make any strides in that area until Michonne and later Maggie so felt like it kept true to the universe for the season it is meant to be set in. Additional deviations from the show as started last chapter. Also replaced this chapter because my goodness the spelling.
[13]
They came when Rick, Shane and Daryl were away, clearing the new house. Dawn and Carol volunteering to assist with seeing what could be done to clean up the house itself.
"Company!" Glenn's voice broke across the yard from his place atop the RV, standing with the rifle in his hands. Below him, inside the camper, Dale rolled along the bed to look out the blinds spotting two vehicles coming up the road.
Slowing down as the drivers spotted the people on the farm, they eased through the open gate and rolled onto the property, the Forerunner quickly followed by the X-terra. The man behind the wheel was talking to his passenger, a large man leaning forward in the passenger seat staring at the group visible in front of the house while the second car seemed to be waiting on the occupants of the first to make a move.
The screen door swung wide, Jimmy jogging down the steps ahead of Herschel, Patricia in the doorway. Amidst the trees and tents, Beth corralled Sophia and Carl from the picnic table where they'd been studying and rushed them inside as the closest driver's door opened, curly haired man clearing his throat, "No rush, no rush."
Hands up, he indicated he was unarmed, "We're not here to harm anyone." Looking up, the interloper nodded at the Korean aiming at him down a long barrel, "Should be more worried about you I guess."
"What is it you think we can help you boy's with?" The old farmer was brusque, studying the men who slowly moved out of their vehicles a moment of two after, lingering behind their doors. One of them, somewhere between the ages of Beth and Maggie, was staring at him, skin paling beyond his usual color.
The man put a hand to his chest, indicating, "I'm Dave, we're looking for a friend of ours. 30's, blonde, English." Amusement colored his voice at the description, aiming for fondness as he studied the people surrounding them, "Ya seen him?"
A few of the group looked amongst themselves before settling back to either watching the newcomers or Herschel who shook his head, "Sorry, doesn't sound familiar."
Finger running over his eyebrow with a sigh, Dave moved his hands into his pockets as one of his partners came out from behind the passenger side door of the other car, "You mind if we have a look around?" Walking away from his vehicle, closer to where Dave stood it was clear he planned too anyway.
The kid at the vehicle hesitated, "He mighta bunked s-somewhere to stay out of the way, s-somewhere you might not have noticed, Mr. Greene." Both groups turned to look at the second driver, the wanderer stopping his walk around the RV.
Squinting, the man looked closer at the young man, moving just a step closer, "Do I know you?"
A soft click, the safety was off the rifle above him, and Dave's hand moved behind himself, elbow positioned high, "Easy." Keeping his eyes on the man a moment more he drew the young guy's attention, "Randall, you know this guy?"
Torn between having spoken and not wanting the attention he paused then nodded, "I was a couple years behind Maggie? We h-haven't really met but I was in church with you?" Although they were meant to be statements, both sentences ended high in question as he came out from behind his car, curling his fingers in his shirt for lack of else to do, "I know you might not want strangers on your property but I-I'm not, not really."
Jimmy leaned closer to his girlfriend's father, the two speaking lower then could be caught by the others for a moment before the farm owner straightened, "Jimmy will show you around." Steely gaze fixing on the other three he ordered, "The rest of you will stay here."
A hard look passed from the large passenger to Dave, the man putting a hand on the top of the car with his fingers raised then slowly lowering. A grunt escaped the man, spitting on the ground by the car as Randall walked up to meet Jimmy halfway, the two shaking hands before they began to move toward the house.
[Break]
The tension didn't ease up as they left the group, Jimmy's studying the older guy as they walked, "You ok?"
"Yeah, yeah." Response an octave or two higher than Jimmy thought his voice was, he tried to keep his face clear of worry.
[Break]
The dead from Daryl's first visit were stretched out the back door but the 3 men had still gone room to room clearing the house again to make sure nothing had been missed. Dawn and Carol crept inside when the clear was given for the downstairs, taking in the living room with its predominantly1930's furniture atop a corded corded rug. Carol considered the space while Dawn investigated the kitchen, "There's another one in here."
Carol peered around, "Oh, look at that!" The fireplace was in the wall opposite the sink. Behind them the counters were covered in abandoned plates and old food, but they took a moment to ignore it for the dependable brick.
"Looks like we'll be fine whether there is a generator or not." Carol nodded in agreement, continuing to circle around the downstairs. Within a few minutes the men came back down from the upstairs, both Shane and Rick holstering their guns.
"So," Rick looked between them, "What do we think?"
Arms crossing under her chest, she held her elbows, "How many rooms are up there?"
"Four," Rick shifted his stance, hip rolling back, "If we get the water working there's a full bath on each side."
"If we get them working," Shane chorused, leaning against the entryway to the room, boot hooked behind the other, "Didn't see a fuse box, did y'all?" With no reply he shoved out of the doorway to head outside, "That's just great."
Rick watched him go, Daryl silent behind him, "He'll come around. The land's good and we'll need the heat down here come winter." Picking at his fingernail between his teeth Daryl nodded, looking over at the women for their input when Shane gave a shout from the back, the others were out in an instant.
An additional door leading into the house was under the car port, windowless and kept closed with the padlock dangling off it by its shank. Shane looked over at Daryl and Rick, reaching to pull it off and the door swung open, stairs leading down. The three looked at each other before Daryl slipped by them, flashlight coming up, "Don't piss your pants people."
They watched the light as he disappeared down into the dark, swinging first to one side and then the other when he got to the bottom, "It's alright." Shane trudged down after, his own light in hand, the rest waiting while they looked around.
A long whistle pierced the air, the sound flat against dirt walls, "Jesus man," the Sheriff Deputy's voice low before he shouted up, "You'll want to see this."
Rick pointed Dawn to keep a look out before he sauntered down, depending on their lights to guide him and a laugh wound up the stairs a few minutes later. Returning shortly, he carried out a mason jar, yellow squash packed tight inside but both women couldn't help noticing the lights were still off inside the house, "No generator?"
Daryl shook his head behind the man with food in hand, "No, half a wall of those though," he nodded at Rick's find, then counted off a variety of other vegetables that were canned the same way, "and a hand pump down there for when the electricity is off, move water into the house."
"You said there were wells?" Daryl nodded at Dawn turning to point in each direction,
"Just there, another by the stable." His arm dropped, shoulder rolling, "Probably one or two more but there are walkers we need to get first before we can check."
Motivated by the real prospect of the home, Rick stepped forward, "Well let's get to it, we're wasting daylight." Shane moved half a step behind him, following the two out to the stable.
[Break]
Carol was asleep in the back of the jeep, Dawn fighting to keep her own eyes open as Shane drove them back. The guys had been gone for hours, walkers hanging off the fence of the pasture near the stable, hungering for the horses inside. Though it couldn't be seen from the stable itself they had to have access to water to have made it so long on their own, the grass shorter inside the fence then the rest of the property where they'd been grazing. In their absence the women had cleaned the inside of the house, emptying the fridge of molded fruits and spoiled meat, the milk immobile in its jug. Everything went straight outside in double bags, left by full trash cans already spilling over.
From there they'd gone back outside, Dawn travelling down under the house while Carol kept watch above, testing out the hand pump. Though the water was cold, the sink was full when she came back inside, turning the tap back to off before they started cleaning the counters and windows. Sun lowering in the sky the three figures had started up the yard to find them on the side of the house, sitting in cast iron patio furniture.
Now riding shotgun, Rick leaned back in his seat, ankle crossed over his knee, arm out the window. Finally able to breathe around his friend he felt relaxed for the first time since the discussion about leaving the farm close a week ago. The squash sat unopened between them for the Greene's when they returned, the half hour drive calm until the last few minutes when the smell of smoke thickened the air. The barest hint of a smile that had been on each man's face dropped, leaning forward as Shane pressed the gas, the faint sound of a horn growing louder.
Dawn shook Carol's shoulder, the short haired woman already stirring with a cough as the vehicle bounced out of the dip from the road onto the packed dirt, "Oh god."
"Lori! Carl!" Rick was out the jeep before it stopped moving, falling forward at first but catching himself and pushing up to run to the house lit on fire. Shane was behind him once he'd parked, running up, gun drawn and looking around. Carol and Dawn scrambled out looking around as Daryl's motorcycle revved past them, the mother wide eyed as she took in the torn down tents that had been their campsite, Sophia's name on her lips.
The RV was gone, the yellow wagon with it, but 4 unfamiliar vehicles were pulled into the grass ahead of them, one with the front window shot out. Inside it, a man was slumped over in the driver's seat, half his head spread out on the seat behind him. Daryl cut the bike's engine, moving to shove the drive off the wheel the blaring noise stopping suddenly, the fire crackling as the house creaked in its flames.
Moving around the car with the deceased driver, Dawn found another body pulling itself on the ground, leg's broken, head having trouble staying up. Yanking the head up by it's hair, Dawn saw the ripped throat and stained clothes before she shoved the screw driver into it's temple, face falling into the dirt as she released it, "This one hasn't been back long."
Daryl nodded, armed as he moved around the other vehicles checking them and finding one other body stuck under the front end of the car. Wincing he leaned down, stabbing Jimmy through the top of the skull. Closer to the house silenced walkers could be seen here and there, the directions of the shots that took them out coming from several directions indicating they'd been the focus of not only the house's occupants but also the group that had come upon them, "The hell?"
From the angle of their bodies, they'd come up from hill leading from the barn, but he couldn't explore as Rick and Shane came running back out the house without anyone else, Carol on her knees a less than safe distance from the porch. Stumbling past her, Rick leaned over but remained standing, hands deep in his hair. Shane was shouting, urging him to get up, saying they had to go, had to find the others but when the other man didn't move, he charged at him, grabbing him by his shirt and shaking him.
Carol was asking what they saw, had anyone been inside. There was shouting and crying, and Dawn's head was pounding as Daryl pulled Shane off Rick and shoved him into the Jeep and slammed the door, gathering up Carol and getting her in the back seat again then he was in front of her,
"Can you drive?" Dawn stared at him, taking a minute to absorb before nodding and she moved for her own car, about to slam the back door shut when Daryl wrestled Rick into the back seat of her car, "Get to the traffic jam. Any luck that's where Dale went." Nodding Dawn put the car in reverse backing out, unsure if Shane had already left or not, not certain when Daryl would be pursuing but just following direction.