Chapter 22
"Dale could – could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare. And brave." Rick says placing the final rock around Dale's grave
"Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us-the truth, who we really are." Penny moves away from me and gets closer to Rick reaching out to grasp his hand and he looks down at her with a gentle, sad smile
"In the end he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it." Rick says kneeling down and resting one hand on the ground, the other pulling Penny more firmly into his side
"Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves. And take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale." He finishes standing with Penny now in his arms. Glancing around the group, I note Lori with her arms around a crying Carl, Andrea's silent tears, Maggie holding onto Glenn and Beth both and Daryl standing back from the rest of the group
"Herschel?" Rick prompts
"I only knew Dale for a short amount of time. But he was a man of honor. May he rest in heaven above us and suffer no more. The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. That is Psalm 23, may Dale find peace with the Lord" Herschel does not read the psalm from his bible instead reciting it from memory
Everyone stands, silent for a moment before slowly breaking off back to the camp, there's a lot to be done today.
Once everyone is gathered Rick gives out things to do
"I want some people to go check the fence line, see if there's weak spots. Everyone else stay here and pack up camp and begin moving it up to the house."
"Andrea, T-Dog, Daryl? Wanna pack your bags and meet me at the truck? We'll check the fences" Shane offers and the 3 mentioned nod before moving to their respective tents to break them down and pack their bags to be piled into the back of one of the cars to get ferried up to the house
"Gonna be tight 18 people in one house" Rick says turning to Herschel
"Don't worry about that. With the swamp hardening up, the creek drying up"
"With 50 head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell" Maggie says
"She's right. We should've moved you in a while ago." Herschel agrees
"Well alright, thank you"
"No thanks needed. When y'all are ready just come on in, Patricia and Maggie have worked out sleeping arrangements I believe" Herschel tells us and we all nod, watching as he moves up to his house his family following
"Alright, Jack, Penny go ahead in the RV and start gathering your things. I'll be in in a moment" I tell them
"Carl, go with them and pack your stuff that's there too" Lori tells him, and all 3 kids hurry off to do as they're told while I move to help Carol pack up the cooking spot
Maggie joins us in packing and tearing down tents at some point and Beth comes to help but when she asks me what she can do, I accept her help with keeping Penny entertained and soothing Anneliese when need be so that I can move around more freely
Once I've packed the remainder of our stuff into the car that's filled with bags and supplies, I accept the baby back from Beth, see Carl safely get to Lori and herd Jackson and Penny up to the house
Patricia greets us in the living room "We got y'all in one of the guest rooms upstairs. Come on I'll show you" she says before leading the way up the stairs
"I hope you don't mind but Beth will be bunking in here as well. With it being so cramped Herschel wanted to have her in a room with people he could trust" she explains
"That's totally fine. I understand completely"
"We got Lori, Rick and Carl in the master bedroom. Maggie and Glenn are in the other guest room – and it would just be awkward for her to bunk in there with them. Me and Carol will be in Maggie and Beth's old room and the living room is for Herschel, Andrea, Shane, T-Dog, Jimmy and Daryl" She continues and yeah I can understand not wanting Beth to sleep anywhere else. Although eyeing the bed, it's going to be tight.
"There's extra sheets and blankets in this closet here, feel free to use anything" Patricia tells me
"Alright thank you. If you see Glenn wandering around with our bags can you send him this way?" I ask with a laugh and after assuring me that she will Patricia heads back downstairs.
I set the kids to do some schoolwork and within an hour Glenn comes in with our bags, Beth following with a small bag in her own hands
"You can just put the bags over there Glenn, thank you." I tell him gesturing to the corner next to the dresser
"No problem, let me know if you need help with anything else" he says before leaving
Heaving a sigh, I turn to Beth "You can put your things wherever, it's going to be a little tight, but we'll make it work. If you need to move something of mine or the kids to have room, go ahead" I tell her before moving towards the bags next to the dresser
"Is this yours Beth?" I ask holding up the duffle bag with an attached sleeping bag that's not mine or the kids
"No. I only brought a few changes of clothes and a book, it's all right here in this bag"
"Huh" I hum and decide to peek in the bag
From the contents I can tell that its Daryl's. How Glenn ended up bringing it to our room I'm not sure but it's fine he can set up a spot on our room floor I think eyeing the space between the bottom of the bed and the dresser. There's enough room for three Daryls if we had to
"It's Daryl's" I announce to the room and when I don't get any response, I nod to myself and settle the bag back next to the dresser.
Before I know it it's time to feed Anneliese and then make lunch for everyone. Which is just some jam on bread Patricia made so that everyone can grab it at their own leisure. After lunch I gather up the kids including Carl and Beth and settle on the front porch with some schoolwork, while everyone else continues moving things around
The fence checking group are back at this point and Rick starts handing out more tasks
"Let's move the vehicles near each of the doors, facing out toward the road. We'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft. That should give us sightlines both sides of the property. T-Dog you take the perimeter around the house. Keep track of everyone coming and going"
"What about standing guard?" T-Dog asks
"I need you and Daryl on double duty" he explains
"Gotcha" T-Dog replies
"I've stocked the basement with food and water, enough that we can all survive there a few days if need be" Herschel says from his seat on the steps
"What about patrols?" Andrea asks
"Let's get this area locked down first." Rick tells her before moving off to help grab some things
Once the pickup full of bins and supplies is parked out front of the house, Lori, Glenn, and Maggie start unpacking it
"Whoa. Don't- don't strain yourself." T-Dog tells Lori breezing down the steps and taking a bin from her
"Thank you. Rick, Carl and I are taking the corner of the living room" Lori says, and it sounds like she was not briefed on the sleeping arrangements
"You can put that in my room" Herschel instructs T-Dog holding the door open for him
"We can't do that" Lori tries to protest
"A pregnant woman and a child sleeping on the floor while I've got a bed to myself?"
"This is still your house" Lori tries again
"It's our home. I'll take the couch downstairs. On nights when I came home reeking of bourbon, my wife would lock the bedroom door. I'm sad to say that couch and I became old friends" Herschel tells her
"If you two can't decide, I'll take it" T-Dog jokes
"Thank you" Lori says to Herschel
"The couch is mine" Herschel calls after T-Dog as he carries in another bin
"Gonna get real cozy, real fast in here" T-Dog says to me with a laugh
I watch in amusement as Lori heads off to talk to Shane, who's building the lookout on the windmill.
"Alrighty. I think that's enough schoolwork for today, Jack and Carl, you two help T-Dog and Herschel unload the rest of that truck."
"Yes ma'am" They both chorus, happily setting their books aside
"What do you think I should help with?" Beth asks
"Well, I would certainly not turn down your help keeping an eye on these two ladies or helping with dinner prep" I tell her, and a small smile graces her face
"Okay" she says, and we all head inside
Patricia is making up what looks to be a batch of biscuits and quickly hands me potatoes and carrots to peel and cube. After setting Anneliese in her mosses basket on the island I wash my hands and get to it, while Beth helps Penny wash her hands and pull over a chair for her to stand on. Together they snap the ends off green beans and shuck some corn.
Dinner ends up being a nice vegetable stew with biscuits, and once everyone has eaten, I help Patricia and Carol with the dishes then herd the kids into the living room where I read to them until the sun sets.
And then we all take our turns in the bathroom and settle into bed. Beth and me on the outsides with Jackson next to me and Penny between him and Beth. It's a little tight but it works.
About 5 hours after going to sleep Anneliese wakes me up crying and I quickly rise and scoop her from her mosses basket. Placing a pacifier in her mouth I change her and grab a bottle, the formula can and head downstairs to the kitchen to make a bottle.
I walk as quietly as possible through the house and jump a little at the sight of Daryl standing at the back door peering outside.
"Hey" I whisper, and Daryl's eyes meet mine in the dimly lit room
"Everything okay?" he asks
"Yeah, was time for Anneliese to eat" I tell him with a yawn
"I think your stuff ended up in our room" I tell him, and he raises an eyebrow
"You're welcome to set up in a sleeping bag on the floor, unfortunately the bed is overtaken by children" I continue moving about to prepare the baby's bottle
"Nah I'll find somewhere els- "
"Daryl just sleep on the damn floor, it ain't gon hurt nothin'" I practically scold him
"Alright, fine if you're sure there's room" he mumbles after a moment of silence
"I mean, you'll be on the floor so yeah there's room"
"I'll come up when my watch is over"
"Okay" I tell him before heading back upstairs and feeding Anneliese
Anneliese is almost finished her bottle by the time Daryl makes his way into the room and quietly shuts the door. I watch from my spot in the rocking chair as he wastes no time unclipping his sleeping bag, laying it out and removing his shoes before settling in. I can tell as I burp the baby that he doesn't go right to sleep instead he lays there staring at the ceiling.
I take a few minutes to rock the baby to sleep and once she is, I rise from my spot and lay Anneliese in her mosses basket. I sigh eyeing the bed, it seems in my absence the kids have spread out across it. Shaking my head to myself I move to the bottom of the bed and place the mosses basket next to Daryl on the floor causing his eyes to focus on me.
"Looks like I'm joining you on the floor" I whisper moving to the closet and grabbing a comforter.
I set up a makeshift sleeping bag on the other side of Anneliese's mosses basket and settle in. It doesn't take me long to fall asleep.
Anneliese's whines rouse me and as I'm settling her, I notice Daryl's sleeping bag is rolled up in the corner with his duffel bag. I change Anneliese and wake Beth, Jackson, and Penny before heading downstairs to make the baby a bottle and feed her. By the time the kids amble downstairs dressed and ready for the day half an hour later I'm beginning to prepare breakfast with Patricia and Carol.
Patricia teaches me to make the easy biscuits she made the night before with just a few ingredients and we serve that with some eggs and gravy.