The Hallway

The rain was now on its fourth day as everyone in the house paced around. With so many people being confined in such a small space tempers were high. Before the rain had begun, they had started building the dorm hallway, or 'the hallway,' as it was now called. Since the rains began and construction had stopped, everyone had just been lying around the house trying to keep out of one another's way. Early this morning, the group had been awakened by loud shouting. One of the married couples in the house were in a heated argument. A few minutes later, a bedroom door slammed, and Daryl came storming down the steps and grabbing his crossbow headed out to sleep in the barn's unused hayloft. Everyone had tried to keep themselves occupied these last few days as the pantry had been completely reorganized, all of the clothes had been sorted not only by size but by color and style as well. Finally, Hershel, Beth, and Lu had rearranged the library, so everything was in order by title and not by the author. This way, it was easier for the younger kids to find something to read without getting an adult to look for a familiar author. Abraham had proven himself useful as two days prior, a small heard attacked, then yesterday he saved Lizzie who had been standing there watching a walker approach her.

Everyone was concerned that she showed no signs of fear as it had approached, she only showed a sense of curiosity. She had been upset and unable to understand why she couldn't play with them. Tired of explaining what should be obvious, the group left her with a firm 'no' and continued on to other things. Sasha had also proven an excellent asset to the group as she and Lu cleared out a couple of traps that had caught walkers instead of dinner. Eugene had lived up to his boast about being a genius and had constructed a hand-powered water pump to draw the water from the well to save on the use of the generator. That alone would add numerous hours to the life of the electricity. The only problem that everyone could see was Jack. He just sat around, telling everyone that he was too old to be more than moral support. He could give advice on how things should be built but was unable to actually do anything. Lu, Carol, and Michonne kept an eye on Stacy and would always find a reason to keep her away from Jack. She still had not said anything against him, but everyone was afraid that something had happened before their arrival. It was late in the morning as Lu looked out of the kitchen window above the sink. Sighing once again, she just stared into the distance, not really seeing anything.

"Again?" Carol smiled at her as she was peeling potatoes for supper.

Turning to her, she spoke.

"Again, what?"

"You're as bad as Daryl. Neither of you do very well indoors."

"Yeah, well he's not in here at the moment anyway." She sulked.

"You wanna talk about the fight?"

"Not much to say, really. I had a guy that I was seeing before everything went to hell and I was dreaming about him. Daryl got mad because I said the name Peter in my sleep. I tried to tell him that we only went out a couple of times and we were never physical, but Daryl can be jealous at times and he wouldn't let it go. We got into an argument about my subconscious."

"He knows that you haven't been with anyone but him since you were taken away. He'll snap out of it. Just a piece of advice from someone whose been married before."

"What?"

"When he realizes that he's been a jerk and that you didn't do anything do not say 'I told you so'. That will open up a whole new fight."

Lu smiled and nodded, looking back out the window.

"Where is Daryl, anyway?" She asked.

"He and Rick left a little while ago. They took the hearse to go to that small town down the road and see if there was any electrical wiring in the town. There was a hardware store, but the useful stuff had already been picked over. Hammers, axes things like that. Lu, why did he leave you here anyway? You two have fought before, this isn't something brand new. You don't fight often but you two do have some loud ones when you do."

"I think that he just wants me to stay near the younger ones. Watch out for Jack and make sure that he doesn't slip back into his old routine."

"That's putting a lot of trust in you. I don't know how I would react if Ed suddenly showed up on our front porch."

"You'd probably do the same thing that I am. Give the asshole enough rope to hang himself with. He's going to mess up, he can't help himself. When he does, then we can send him away, or whatever they want to do. I've learned patience, I can wait."

"You sound certain that he's going to hurt someone."

"I am. If he hasn't already, and I believe that he has, he will. Etta has changed, that's true. She's certainly different than before, but Jack is not. He's just more cautious."

An hour later, Rick and Daryl returned with a large amount of electrical wiring rolls. Unloading the car, they were soon inside and dry.

"There should be enough there to wire the hallway and the rooms." Rick said.

Daryl looked over at Lu and spoke.

"That van, do those seats lay down flat?"

"Yeah, back of the van turns into one big bed. Why? Wanna go camping?" She teased.

"Nah, it's for the mattresses that we found. It looks like the rain is about to stop and if it does you and me will go tomorrow morning and load up the mattresses."

"Sounds good." She nodded.

He nodded and started to walk away as she spoke.

"You still pissed off about nothing?"

He turned to look at her as Carol sighed. That was not the question to avoid an argument with.

"It's not nothing. I don't dream about other women."

"He's dead, Daryl. I was standing right there when they ripped him apart. Forgive me for having nightmares about it."

"It's just that you should have told me about him."

"I'm telling you now." She said, her hands on her hips.

"After I asked." He pointed out.

Everyone sighed as soon the argument started up once again. Neither one backing down and both being defensive. In seconds Daryl was in her face as they stood toe to toe shouting. It was then a loud banging was heard. Turning around, they noticed Carol standing there with an upturned soup pot striking the bottom to get their attention.

"Will you two cut it out." She said.

They just looked at her. Both of them hated it when others got involved in their business. Not showing any intimidation, Carol continued.

"You two have such a rough past you both tend to be aggressive when you're concerned about the other one. Daryl you know very well that she hasn't done anything since she left when she was a teenager. As for Lu, you really had to start another fight, didn't you? Both of you get so angry you need to remember that you've been together your entire lives. Since you were children, whether you were fighting or playing you were always together. Stop fighting. There is nothing to fight about. We're all on edge being cooped up in this house together with nowhere to go. That's enough."

They nodded and quieted down as Daryl went to work on his crossbow, and Lu returned to helping Carol with dinner. As the day continued, Rick, Daryl, and Hershel took turns watching Jack. Daryl noticed that he seemed friendly and helpful, but something about him kept Daryl on edge. He knew Lu felt that way as well, which was one reason she was so hostile lately. He wasn't stupid enough to point that out to her, though. It was what Jack would do to prove that he couldn't be trusted that worried him. Someone was going to have to get hurt before he could be stopped. They went to bed late that night, and although not fighting, there was certainly no touching either. Early the next morning, the rain had stopped temporarily as Daryl and Lu got into the van and headed down the road. Pulling up in front of the small furniture store, they popped the lock off of the door and cautiously entered inside. It wasn't long before two walkers came shambling towards them, snarling. Twirling her staff, Lu had put both of them down in seconds before Daryl even got in a shot.

"Damn, Lu. What's gotten into you today?"

"Sexual frustration. We ain't done anything since Jack and Etta showed up, except for the one time that we took the hearse out."

"Yeah, well your old man makes me nervous, that's all." Daryl defended.

"I know. I ain't mad at you or anything. In truth I don't want to do anything with him around anyway. To many bad memories."

"You said he never touched you, isn't that a good thing?"

"He never touched me, true. However, he would watch sometimes. Mentally, it feels like the same thing. He let some stranger take me into my room and he would follow. Watch what he did to me. Only after that would he let the man take me out of the house."

Daryl just nodded at her, not sure of what to say. Heading over to the roll-up doors, he opened them as she pulled the van inside. Closing the doors again, they laid the seats down and started loading the van with mattresses. Once they had packed all they could, they opened the door once again. This time Daryl drove it out as Lu closed and bolted the loading doors. Getting into the van beside him, they headed back to the farmhouse. As they arrived, they noticed that there wasn't anyone outside in the lookout tree. They also did not see another lookout setting on the porch. In fact, there was no sign of movement anywhere. Quickly turning off the engine, they got out of the van. Their weapons drawn and ready Lu stood to the side as Daryl opened the door. Rushing in, they entered to find everyone standing in the living room, quietly staring down at a body lying on the floor. Moving forward, everyone parted to let them see. They saw Jack, dead on the floor with a gunshot wound to the chest.

"What the hell. You didn't hit the brain, he's gonna come back." Daryl warned.

Rick looked at them and nodded.

"We were waiting, hoping that you would be back soon. After all he's done, I thought that one of you would want to put him down."

"Lu's call. Personally, I say let the son-of-a-bitch turn. Let him wander about out there as one of them. Ain't much different than them anyway, just another type of predator."

Looking around, Lu spoke.

"Where's Etta?"

"In the corner of the kitchen. She's too scared to move." Rick answered.

"I don't know what happened, but is there a problem with her?"

"Nah, not her. Jack was the problem." Rick said.

"Good, well then." Lu said, pulling her staff. "Personally, I don't care if kill him or not, but I don't wanna risk him biting one of us. Wouldn't that be ironic? Save him just so that he can kill us later." She smirked.

Moving forward, they heard Lizzie speak from the library doorway where the children were being kept.

"Don't hurt him."

"Hurt him? Lizzie, he's already dead. I'm just going to make certain that he stays that way."

"No, you can't." She shouted, moving forward. "Don't you understand? They all come back now. No one dies anymore, they all come back."

"Their bodies do, yes. But not them, not their minds. They walk but they're not alive." Lu reasoned.

"No, if they walk then they are alive." Lizzie argued.

"Look, we'll debate point later. Right now, we've got a dead body in the living room and if I'm right he ain't gonna be dead; dead, much longer." Lu warned.

Raising her staff to plunge it into Jack's forehead Lizzie rushed forward and grabbed it, stopping her.

"Move kid." She shouted.

"No, listen to me, he's coming back." She shouted.

Rick moved forward and spoke.

"Lizzie, he's a bad person and needs to be put down, now move."

"People can be bad, and don't you say that we don't kill the living. What's the difference?"

"Come on." Rick said, taking her hand.

"I won't. Not until you see." She said, defiantly pulling her hand away.

Rick growled, and grabbing her by the wrist, pulled her away from the body. She immediately started screaming and struggling against him, trying to escape his grasp.

"Don't he's coming back."

"That's exactly what we're afraid of kid." Lu said, raising her staff once again.

Finally, twisting out of Rick's grasp, Lizzie rushed forward and stood over Jack's body.

"Damn it, kid. Move." Lu shouted.

"Not until you see. He'll come back and just be different, that's all."

"He'll kill you like those others killed your parents." Lu shouted, trying to get her to understand.

"No, they were confused. I understand them and I know that I can talk to them. They're just different, not dangerous. Not if we just tried to understand them. We shouldn't kill them just because they're different. What if he was in a wheelchair? Would you kill him because of his difference?"

"This isn't a handicap, idiot." Lu shouted, shoving Lizzie aside.

Looking around, she spoke.

"Does anyone else have a problem with me stopping him before he wakes up and decides that he's hungry?"

"We're good, go ahead." Daryl said, pushing Lizzie away.

Looking around, Lu nodded and once again raised her bayonet, ready to strike. Suddenly a shrill scream was heard as Lizzie threw a crystal vase hitting Lu in the head. Falling sideways with blood running down her face from a cut on her temple, she shouted.

"I'm about to kick your ass, kid. What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm saving his life." She said, setting down on him.

"What life? He's dead. You have to be the dumbest little shit that I've ever met, and I've spent my life dealing with some pretty messed up kids, myself included."

Rick and Glenn reached down to grab Lizzie once again when Jack suddenly opened his eyes. Reaching up, he grabbed Lizzie by the hair and pulled her down, biting deep into her shoulder. She screamed as he tore the flesh from her. Lu grabbed Lizzie as Daryl drove his dagger into the front of Jack's skull. Lu looked down at Lizzie, who stood there laughing, instead of crying. They all looked at her as she spoke.

"Now you'll see. I'll show you. I'll change. I'll still be me, but different."

Carol looked at her and smiled.

"Of course, you will, sweetheart."

Lu looked at her for a moment, utterly amazed at the stupidity of this girl. Taking a deep breath, she spoke.

"Why don't we go into the kitchen and get you and Mikka some of those chocolate chip cookies that Carol made this morning?"

They headed into the kitchen as Hershel gently cleaned her wound. While Carol and the others listened as Lizzie chattered on excitedly about what it would be like to turn, Lu and Daryl headed upstairs. In their room, Lu sat down on the bed and just stared ahead.

"That kid really doesn't understand. I've spent my life championing the children's voice, but I swear I've never wanted to beat the crap out of a kid so much in my entire life."

Daryl just sat there beside her, not saying anything. An hour later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Lu quietly said, still sitting there.

Rick opened the door and walked in. Looking at them, he spoke.

"You both came back to find Jack dead and neither one of you asked what happened."

"We knew he would try to hurt someone eventually. He can't help himself." Lu answered matter of factly.

"Yeah, he did. He tried to attack Carl out in the barn. Only Carl fought back. I don't think that he was expecting that. He was expecting him to be weak and easy to prey upon. They came inside and Carl told us what had happened. That's when Stacy finally broke her silence. Seems he's been threatening her with leaving her behind and alone if he didn't have his way."

"She give in?"

"Yeah, it's been going on for a while now. Abraham was furious and was the one that actually shot him."

"Are you here to tell me what happened or to make sure that we're not going to hurt Abraham in retaliation?"

"Both, I guess." Rick sighed.

"Don't worry, Jack finally got what he deserved. We ain't going to get vengeance on someone that worthless. What about Lizzie?"

"The fever is starting to set in. She's complaining about being hot, feels it too."

"You going to finish it?"

"No, Carol asked to do it. Thanks that she's responsible for not stopping her knowing how she thought."

"No, Lizzie is older, and we just tried to reason with her to get her to see. Some people are messed up and you can't reason with that type."

"I know. We all knew she'd get bit sooner or later. Just wanted it to be later is all."

Lu nodded as she and Daryl began signing in one another's palms. After a few moments, ' Lu looked up at Rick and spoke.

"Do I need to talk to Etta?"

"I'd like for you to. She's confused and upset."

"Confused? About what? She knew that he hadn't changed, she said so. He did what we all knew that he would. That's all."

"Yeah, but I think that she's afraid we're going to make her leave. She knows that she won't survive out there on her own. She can stay, we're not going to send her away. She didn't do anything."

"Yeah, that's always been her problem. She never did anything. She knew but she never did anything."

Rick nodded and left as Lu looked over at Daryl.

"Listen, I know that you're not much on emotional support, but will you still come with me to speak to Etta?'

Daryl just nodded as they headed down to the kitchen. She was still sitting in the corner, afraid of everything. Looking over at Michonne, Lu spoke.

"Where's Lizzie?"

"Carol took her out for a walk. Mikka is with Beth and Mercedes."

"What about Stacy?"

"She's in the corner in the living room. She doesn't want anyone to get around her."

"I understand. I'll see if I can talk to her later."

Walking over to Etta, Lu spoke.

"Did you know about him and Stacy?"

Etta just shook her head.

"No, I really thought that he was too old to do anything more than just watch."

"Watch? Watch what?"

"He would watch her bathe. We'd be at a river and he would watch her. I never thought anymore of it. He's always had those urges; I just didn't think that he could act on them anymore. A long time ago, yeah, I knew. But not now."

Lu nodded.

"We're not going to send you away. He was the problem, not you."

"Thank you." She whispered with a smile of relief.

Lu and Daryl nodded and headed for the living room. They had already cleared away Jack's body. Seeing Stacy sitting in a corner, Lu crossed over to her. Setting beside her, Lu pulled up her long-sleeve jacket showing her burn scars. Daryl stayed to the side, letting them talk. Breaking down, Stacy began to cry as she leaned over into Lu's embrace. They stayed that way for a long time as finally, Stacy fell asleep. Heading outside, they saw that Abraham was digging a grave separate from the others.

"Why are you bothering to bury him?" Lu asked.

He looked at her for a moment then answered.

"I know that he wasn't a good man but good or bad he saved my life a few times."

"Only because he needed you to save his own. Otherwise he would have just left you to die." Lu said.

"Maybe, but I'm here."

"If you want to bury him then go right ahead. I don't think that you'll find many tears being shed for his passing."

Walking on, they found the others standing around a small grave, waiting.

"Carol still gone?" Daryl asked.

Rick nodded.

"Yeah, they headed off into the woods. Said that they wouldn't go too far just in case. We heard a shot a couple of minutes ago."

They nodded as everyone just stood there waiting. Eventually, Carol appeared carrying a small body wrapped in a blanket. Approaching the others, they stood around the grave as Rick took the covered body and gently set it in the grave's bottom. Abraham joined them as they started a short funeral service. Maggie, Beth, and Lu sang 'The Old Rugged Cross,' and Hershel gave the eulogy. As darkness began to fall, they buried Jack as well. Etta stood by the grave as Lu, obviously reluctant to be there, stood by Etta. Hershel read scripture that everyone knew was only a formality before filling in the grave. Everyone headed back to the house as the rains began to fall once again. Due to the rain, it took another three weeks to finish the hallway, but everyone in the living room lost no time in moving into their own places once it was completed. They had built it long enough to have extra rooms on the end for anyone else who might find them. Rick noticed that one of the front rooms was where Lu had put Mercedes. From there, she could see whenever someone came and went. Other than that, one strategic placement everyone else took whichever room they wanted. Now with a sense of privacy, the hostile mood seemed to lighten up, and the daily routine of life continued.