DISCLAIMER: READ CHAPTER 1.

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CHAPTER 7 - CALM BEFORE THE 'RUNNER' STORM

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"You think we should send people out to look for Daryl Dixon? I'm sure that he's fine, Rick." Shane said to his friend and former cop partner.

Rick sighed and looked at his best friend as he said. "I'm worried that he might hurt himself again out there looking for Sophia."

"I'm sure he's fine besides…it's not like we forced him to go-it's basically our faults that ever since the barn incident, we were all feeling depressed and losing hope that Carol's little girl might not make it alive out there, all lost and alone," Shane said.

Shane Walsh still was a good man even when and after the zombie apocalypse happened, and Rick was happy that his friend didn't change even though he tried to deny to himself deep down that the one he used to love and got married to had changed when he got into a coma after being shot in the line of duty.

When the apocalypse happened and Shane was forced to leave Rick at the hospital and get his wife Lori and his son Carl out of there and escape the zombies, it was Lori who had changed and she handled it badly even though Shane tried his best to keep them safe, alive, and happy.

Shane admitted to Rick with all of his shame and Rick didn't blame him when he thought that he might've died back at the hospital when he was in a coma and abandoned him there. That and also he admitted that Lori tried to go to him for more than just mental psychological comfort and wanted to be comforted in a 'physical' way. But Shane didn't and refused, and even though Lori kept on with her sexual advances, Shane kept a fair distance away from Rick's wife in respect for his friend and to atone himself for abandoning him.

The others back then when they were at the Quarry had thought at first that Shane was the one sexually involved with Lori Grimes, but in reality, it was Lori who made the first moves and was being unfaithful and selfish.

Fortunately, Carl doesn't know how bad his mother has been turning into as Shane tried to keep up with the pretense that everything is fine until Rick had come back and found them.

Needless to say, Shane was happy to see Rick alive but then Lori seemed like she isn't and she was selfish enough after Rick had found them that she acted like a victim and blamed Shane for her being unfaithful and having such carnal lustful thoughts to having an affair with him.

Shane can take the blame on abandoning his best friend Rick but he wouldn't let Lori drag him down in this so-called 'affair' she's cowardly cooking up to mess with their friendship.

When Shane and Rick were alone before at the quarry to do a perimeter check on the group camp to watch out for Walkers, Shane instantly confessed to Rick about Lori's antics and how she changed for the worse and everything.

Rick wanted to deny it so much after his friend told him this, but after discreetly observing and watching the behavior of his wife, he couldn't deny the harsh reality and truth that was right in front of his eyes.

Before he was shot and got into a coma, their marriage was starting to get strained when Lori began to think about some selfish thoughts about their relationship.

Now when the apocalypse began and after, it has gotten worse and Rick felt like that they've truly broken apart from each other with the way how Lori completely changed.

At first, he wanted to divorce her, but he didn't for his son Carl's sake.

And then right now, here at the Greene farm, he was starting to regret on not choosing to divorce her back then before when Dale secretly told Rick that he caught her asking Glenn to get some kind of medicine to induce sexual activities and ensure a fertile conception for getting pregnant easily.

Rick instantly knew why Lori was looking for them and he couldn't believe how selfish she's being on wanting to have a baby to keep them together and trying to maintain an image that she's some kind of faithful housewife of her family.

Rick told Shane about it and his friend promised that he'll keep an eye out for Carl while he goes to think over and figure out what to do over his wife.

Rick sighed again and Shane knew that the thoughts running madly in his head are messed up because of Lori and patted him awkwardly on the shoulder.

Then they looked up upon hearing noises and saw that a truck is going at a fast speed towards the farm and at first, they thought that it's hostile intruders invading into the tranquil place when they saw a familiar motorcycle at the back of the truck.

"It's Dixon! But-why does he have a truck?" Shane wondered.

The ones on lookout at the top of Dale's RV are T-Dog and Glenn and they looked through the binoculars to look at the truck that's heading to their direction fast with a dust trail left behind from the revving tires and they had seen that Daryl isn't alone and he has company which they didn't expect.

Glenn had hollered as loud as he could with his voice over to Rick that Daryl's got company with him and almost all of the people at the Greene farm had gathered to meet them as they arrived.

Instantly the truck braked in a dusty stop and instantly Daryl came out first and ran straight to Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh.

"Daryl, what…?" Rick began but Daryl didn't give him to ask as he urgently said. "Listen, you need to get all of the people to pack up quickly. We need to leave this place NOW!"

"Hold up there, Dixon!" Shane said as he tried to calm the frantic-looking hunter down. "What's going on? What are you talking about and why are you-?"

"THERE'S NO TIME!" Daryl yelled at them harshly, almost making the two cops flinch at his sudden loud outburst, and that also surprised the others when the redneck man yelled. "All of you need to pack up everything, the necessities, supplies, food, water-and I mean everything! We need to leave before sundown right now."

"Slow down, Daryl. And calm down too. Now take a deep breath and just tell us what…" Rick began, trying to soothe him but then a familiar voice barked out loud which he didn't expect to hear from again since the last time he had heard and met the person whose voice it's from.

"For the love of-will you quit being a cop for once and listen to my little brother, Officer Friendly!?" Merle yelled as he came out of the truck from the driver's side, making almost all of them stare at him with stunned shock, except the confused Greene family members. "I don't blame you for not listening to me since I was a jack-ass before, but my little brother ain't like me and I know it coz' he's the reasonable one in the family! So just listen to him for Christ's sake!"

"M-Merle?! You're alive!?" Glenn stuttered in shock and he was in more shock when Merle turned and gave him a friendly smile which is not like him before.

"Hey, China-man. I see you haven't changed a bit!" he said with a grin.

Glenn couldn't help but correct him instantly like they had used to before. "I'm Korean!"

"Yeah, whatever, Korean, China-all of you Asians are the same," Merle muttered as he went around and removed the motorcycle bike from the truck's back bed.

"Seriously!?" a young voice almost yells out loud as a teenage boy came out from the back and looked at all of them incredulously. "Much as I hate to break whatever this happy family reunion or something-but we got a super-fucking situation here!"

Lori frowned at the new stranger and scolded him. "Young man, you watch your language! Don't you know your manners-?!"

"MOMMY!"

"SOPHIA!"

Both cries rang out with joy and disbelief as the mother and little girl reunited for so long and Carol hugged her daughter tight against her body, sobbing with happiness on having her child alive and safe back to her.

They were touched at this tender sight but then the moment was ruined when the young teenage stranger Colt had yelled at them to pack up their things again and that they needed to leave but they didn't move an inch as they stood on their places confused over what the Dixon men and this teenage stranger were so frantic about.

Even Sophia had snapped out of her loving reunion moment with her mother and started to panic and was begging her mom to get their things ready and that they needed to leave which also confused her mother Carol over what's going on.

That was when something happened that made them all snap out of it and stare over the distance as if an approaching dark storm was brewing on the horizon.

Loud and familiar haunting inhuman animalistic roars echoed throughout the area and from those sounds, it's sending cold chills down all of their spines when they heard those monstrous sounds.

Daryl cursed when he heard them. "Shit! Merle! How long until they try to track and get here?!"

Merle frowned as he gazed out on the distance where the roars came from. "Judging from the wind blowing and how loud those roars were as they echo out…I'd say they're gonna be here about a few hours tops at the most when the moon shines over our heads tonight!"

"Damn it!" Daryl turned and looked at Rick seriously right at his eyes as he said, "Look, long story short-there is something worse than the Walkers out there, something new and very bad…and if we don't pack up before night-time comes, those things that roared out there-they're gonna come here running like they're hungry hounds straight from hell and tear us all into pieces!"

When both Rick and Shane saw and heard that Daryl Dixon was serious, they instantly shout out and yell orders to the others to start packing up all their things and necessities and supplies and prepare to leave.

Daryl almost sighed with relief that they listened to him and he walked back to Merle and asked him. "You sure that all of us got enough time to escape before those Runners come?"

Merle looked at him incredulously as if he's gone crazy. "Hey, come on little brother! Don't start doubting on me now! Remember I used to serve back in the military before?"

Colt added in pointing out. "That was before you made the mistake on punching your superior and gotten yourself honorably discharged, remember?"

Merle growled and grumbled as he sets up his motorcycle bike and seemed to be doing something with it. "I regret and hate myself telling you that story!"

Daryl almost grinned at this as if Colt was adopted into the fold like he's family and he shook his head and looked around at something. "I'm going to check on the others and help them pack up before I check the perimeter just in case," he said gruffly.

Both Colt and Merle nodded as the teenager helped Merle to do something with his motorcycle as Daryl left to go to the others and check on them and also pack up his stuff.

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By the time the sun was setting down and the night was slowly coming in a foreboding ominous way, all of the survivors in the Greene farm, including the Greene family members have packed up their stuff and were getting their vehicles ready to leave.

The only delaying problem is that Greene's truck was broken and it hadn't been fixed since one of their own who was fixing it had died from the Walker barn incident and that Dale's RV still got its engine busted.

Merle had finished whatever he was doing with his motorcycle and went to help out and fix Dale's RV and make it run faster than it usually was regularly so that they'll be able to leave and get out of there sooner before the mutated zombies come running.

Dale and T-Dog were surprised and impressed that Merle's personality had changed from the way he was before and in an albeit a good way. It's like his whole attitude had completely turned 180 after whatever had happened to him when he got missing and lost his hand. Still, his snarky ranting and nickname-calling stayed on Merle and his usual hot temper seemed to have cooled down a bit from what they can observe and see from him.

T-Dog asked Merle when he had noticed him have done something to his motorbike. "Hey, Merle. What's up with what you were doing before at your bike?"

Merle sighed as he focused on fixing the engine of Dale's RV. "I fixed up my bike and made it a decoy to distract the Runners once they come. It's dead weight now, so I'm giving it my last moment with a hell kind of send-off to go against those things out there."

Dale seemed to understand the sentiment as Merle is almost finished fixing the RV. "I know it's hard to part away with something important, but at least you still got your brother."

"I know, old man. You don't need to remind me of that. It's what got me going all this time when I got rescued by Colt's people and got my new hand from them. I owe them a lot to change myself from the jerk I was before and so that I would be able to come out here and look for my brother when I trusted them with my loyalty." Merle said as he slammed the lid down after finishing fixing the RV's engine.

Dale blinked upon hearing that statement and couldn't help but ask. "Who are these people that saved you, Merle? And are they good ones?"

Merle didn't answer because he noticed Colt coming towards him and he knew that Colt had seen his motorbike and was impressed at the ingenuity he had done with it.

Colt noticed him standing by the RV and asked, "You done fixing?"

Merle nodded back and Colt said. "Good, better get the decoy ready in place and set off its timer when the Runners start coming. We can use the timing of their arrival to distract them with the decoy and it will give us ample time to escape while the Runners are busy at the distraction. I'm going to check the perimeter with Daryl just in case he might run into trouble."

Merle suggested, "Take Glenn along with you. He's a fast runner and you never know you might need him to run back and tell us quickly that we need to set off earlier than expected if the pack of Runners might send out scouts to hunt for us."

Colt nodded and he went off to do just that as Merle ignored Dale and T-Dog staring at him stunned at the fact that he had suggested such a thing and he's really not the same man he was before.

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It's already sundown and Colt, Daryl and Glenn were cautiously walking around to check the perimeter and see if there were any stray Walkers or maybe Runners that might be in the area.

"Are these Runners really worse than the Walkers?" Glenn asked like it's the hundredth time and Daryl sighed annoyed and glared at him.

Before the Dixon hunter was about to snap at him, Colt intervened and answered, "Yes, they are, Glenn. Trust me when I say this-these are the new kind of zombies we need to watch out for more than ever from the Walkers. They're much faster and nastier than the rotting ones."

Glenn looked like he wanted to gulp soundly but he tried to put on a brave front. "I'm sure that we can deal with them and fight back!"

Daryl snorted with disbelief as he muttered. "Try telling yourself that once you see them in action." he went off first like he's taking the lead.

Then in a heart-stopping moment, there were soft snaps of broken twigs from somewhere.

Daryl Dixon was instantly on red-alert and he raised his crossbow to aim at something from the direction those small sounds were heard from.

Glenn and Colt had noticed his actions and put up their weapons as well with another crossbow and a shotgun rifle.

Slowly the three boys moved forward quietly to confront whatever's making those noises, but they didn't need to move further as the ones that made those small snap noises had come out slowly ambling from the shadowy dark trees.

Three Walkers that are moving and wandering so slow like they're two-legged snails into the grassy clearing nearby the trees of the dark forest they had come out from.

Colt sighed almost in relief and lowered his bow. "It's okay…just some Walkers…"

However, his relief was suddenly short-lived when the three wandering Walkers were suddenly ambushed and attacked by three Runners that lunged at them from out of nowhere. Instantly Colt and the two men hurriedly ducked out of sight and try to hide behind the low rock boulders and bushes as the Runners growled and snarled as they tore the Walkers into pieces.

Glenn was completely stunned horrified by seeing the 'Runners' in reality and in action, and he was almost hyperventilating into a panic attack as Daryl hushed him harshly.

"Oh my God! Ohmygod-ohmygod-ohmygod!" Glenn muttered to himself in fright and both Daryl and Colt sharply shut him up.

Colt clamped a hand over Glenn's mouth to keep him quiet as he hissed, "Shut up! The Runners will hear us!"

"Yeah, so shut it, China-man!" Daryl snapped.

Glenn moaned a little under Colt's hand and the three men seemed to freeze still as if turning into silent statues when they heard the ripping noises stopping and the growls of Runners seemed to continue as if they're looking for more prey to rip apart to pieces more.

Daryl readied his crossbow to aim and shoot as he was already told by Merle and Colt before that Runners move fast and he could be able to shoot and kill them if he thinks of them like the fast squirrels he usually hunts in the forests, only in a human-like zombified version of them.

Colt kept his hand over Glenn's mouth to be still and quiet and Glenn just shut his eyes as if he's praying internally in his head that he wished for those monstrous creatures to leave and go away.

Daryl peeked a little to see where the Runners are at and he could see that there are only three so far and they were prowling around and about as if trying to scent more prey.

Daryl made careful aim to shoot at one of them as they were unaware that they're being targeted and he made a perfect shot as the bolt hit right at its head, killing it.

But somehow the death of their packmate had pissed off the other two Runners and they were about to roar out loud as if to call for the others in their pack when the two were suddenly killed and their starting roars were interrupted by two flying arrows that came shooting and striking right at their heads.

Daryl turned surprised at Colt that he somehow managed to shoot two arrow bolts at one time from his crossbow, and Colt seemed to smirk smugly from seeing his stunned expression.

The hunter scowled at him at his smugness but he shook it off for later as he checked on Glenn. "You alright, man?"

Glenn gasped as he tried to stand up again on his feet albeit shaking in his knees. "Um…I don't think I am."

He turned to gaze over the dead mutated zombies and was looking more frightened than ever. "So those…they're the Runners?"

Both Colt and Daryl nodded solemnly and Glenn moaned as he voiced out almost loud. "We're screwed."

"Not yet we ain't!" Daryl snapped at him, not liking his moodiness.

"Come on, let's run back and tell the others that we need to leave now. I think these Runners are scouts sent off first to hunt for fresh prey-and that means with them dead now…it won't be long before the others of the Runner pack came following after them fast." Colt said grimly.

The three men knew deep down the dark gravity of the situation and instantly ran like hellhounds are at their feet chasing them and hurriedly went back to the site where their cars and vehicles are waiting and ready to set off and leave the Greene farm.

However, just as they were almost near to that place, Colt almost stumbled to a stop when he had spotted something. "You gotta be kidding me!" he almost cursed out aloud.

Daryl noticed that Colt had stopped and wasn't following and he looked back.

Colt just gestured him to continue. "Go! Just go tell the others to start their cars and get ready to leave fast! Tell Merle to get the decoy ready too!"

He went off running in another direction, towards the house of the Greene family and Daryl wanted to follow after the teenager but he knew that they don't have time left so he went off in a dash to tell Rick and the others to get their vehicles started to leave and get to Merle to have the distraction decoy ready for the incoming Runners.

What Colt had spotted and seen was that he saw two women that he had figured where the old man's daughters coming back into the house as if they had forgotten something.

He had just burst in through the back door with an almost loud opening and closing slam that startled the two girls who were inside the boarded-up house.

"What the hell are you two doing?! We need to leave now!" Colt snapped at them.

The younger Greene blond-haired girl named Beth said, "I saw Lori get in back here. She said she had forgotten something to pack up and she was taking too long so I came in here to check on her!"

Maggie continued. "I followed my sister along when she told me about Lori being here."

Colt cursed with irritated annoyance, and then Lori came down the stairs just in time, holding a small bag which is the thing that she must have stupidly forgot to pack up. "Okay, she's here. Now let's get out of here and leave before…"

Then suddenly Colt gave out a soft gasp, cutting his words off when he saw something through the boarded windows.

"Oh no…" he whispered.

"What?" Beth asked in a small whimper as if she instantly sensed that something is wrong.

Colt turned his head slowly, looking at the people with a horrified look on his face as he whispered. "...They're here…"

Loud ear-deafening roars near the Greene house sounded and echoed and from those monstrous noises it sounds like there are many of them and that it already seemed like they're surrounding the house and entrapping the people in it inside.

Beth sobbed over the hand clamped over her mouth from her sister Maggie as they watched in horror when leaping and sprinting shadows moved fast and around through the house from the board-up windows as slamming and hitting noises were heard with the Runners trying to break into the house.

Colt tensed and looked like he was trying to be brave as he readied his crossbow to fight back against the Runners that might come barging and bursting in soon.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Instead of a Walker herd that overruns the farm-it's the Runners!

Like the chapter? Including its heart-jumping spine-chilling cliffhanger?

Stay tuned for more as there are more thrills and chills and shivers on the next chapters!

I promise there will be more soon!

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ENJOY READERS!

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