Chapter 23-The big spot
One month later
Glenn's P.O.V
Glenn walks outside the prison and splashes some water on his face. He walks down the trail and over to the garden. He puts in his headphones and starts to work. He works on the crops and looks at Hershel as he walks down the trail. He pulls the headphones out and looks at the older man. "You're out here before me every day," Hershel says.
"I like the quiet," Glenn says as he looks at the fence. "They'll need to start working on the walkers today."
"You could join in on the meetings," Hershel says.
"I said no to the council because I needed to rebuild myself," Glenn says. "Is the big spot today?"
"Yeah, Merle is leading the run."
"Who's going with him?" Glenn asks.
"Rick, Sasha, Tyreese, Laura, Michonne, Zach, T-dog, Oscar, Allen, Bob, and Lori," Hershel says.
"Lori?"
"She's been going on runs for the last month. She's ready."
"Bob just got here. Is he ready?" Glenn asks.
"I saw him speaking with Sasha. It is his choice," Hershel says. "Franklin, Carol, Carl, Ellie, Joel, Tommy, Tara, and Lilly are going on a run to the strip mall you and Maggie searched. They are going to search the rest of it, clear it out," Hershel says. "But that is their business. We have work to do."
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl walked into the office and looked at Lori as she held Judith. "I'll be back in a few hours, don't give Daddy too much trouble. He's gotta keep this place running."
Lori looks at Daryl and smiles. "Just telling her the rules," Lori says with a smile.
"I doubt she'll listen. In my experience, children with your blood inside of them seem to have a problem listening," Daryl says with a smile.
"Maybe it's Rick's blood that makes Carl not listen," Lori says.
"Maybe," Daryl says as he walks up to her and kisses her. "Be safe out there."
"I will," Lori says as she hands him Judith. She kissed him again and grabbed her gun and knife, and walked out of the room.
Laura's P.O.V
Laura was loading the truck with supplies. She looks at Beth as she walks out of the prison. "Have you come to say goodbye?" She asks with a smirk.
"You know I don't say goodbye," Beth says with a smile as she walks up to her. She looks at Zach, who is helping Bob.
"He has the biggest crush on you," Laura says with a smile.
"I have my eyes on someone else," Beth says.
"Who is that?"
"Come back alive, and I'll tell you. I promise," Beth says. She kisses her cheek and walks away.
"You sure about the goodbye part?" Laura asks.
"Yes," Beth says as she walks away.
Merle's P.O.V
Merle drove the truck down the trail and stopped it beside the garden. He rolls the window down and looks at Glenn. "You sure you don't want to come?" Merle asks.
"I'm sure I'll help Daryl if he needs it," Glenn tells Merle, who nods as he drives towards the gate. Ben pulls it open, and they leave the prison. Merle's group turns one way, and Carol's turns the other way. Merle drives the truck down the road and looks at Sasha.
"So why the hell am I driving? I have one hand," Merle says.
"Because I don't like driving," Sasha answers with a smirk. "You do because you're such a gentleman."
T-dog chuckles in the back, and Merle looks at him in the mirror. "Something funny, T-dog?"
"Yeah, she called you a gentleman," T-dog says with a smirk as he Oscar, who was also smiling. "You know, the Merle I knew in Atlanta would have crashed this car, being a car filled with black people."
"I've grown as a person, T-dog," Merle says with a smirk.
"I can tell," T-dog says.
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl walked through the tombs. He had given Judith to Beth as he walked towards Philip's with a tray of food. He stops in front of the hell and looks at Philip. "Looks good," Philip says as Daryl slides the food under the cell door.
"I'll be back soon."
"Wait," Philip says, making Daryl stop and look at him. "Have a chat with me, Dixon. I haven't had a conversation with anybody in over a week. Rick's visits have become less frequent."
"That's for a good reason. We didn't leave you down here to talk with you. We left you down here so you would regret what you did," Daryl says as he grabs the cell bars. "Seems like that may be starting to happen."
"It is," Philip growls.
"Thanks for giving me a reason to leave you," Daryl says as he walks away.
Philip's P.O.V
Philip was sitting in his cell eating when he heard footsteps. He looked up and smiled. "At least you guys will talk to me," Philip says with a smirk as he looks at Lizzie and Mika Samuels.
"We shouldn't be," Mika says.
"Yet you still come," Philip says.
"Everybody else treats us like children," Lizzie says.
"You are children," Philip says. "Did you bring me something new?"
Lizzie nods as she pulls a book out and slides it under the door. "Bye," Lizzie says as they leave, and Philip picks the book up.
Carol's P.O.V
Carol stops the car outside of the strip mall and climbs out. "Okay, we'll split up. Franklin, Carl, Ellie, and I will check the first shop. You go towards the others," Carol says. They nod as they split up, and they walk towards the first shop. Carl hands Carol the bolt cutters, and she takes the chains off the door. She pulls the door open and looks inside. She pulls out her flashlight and shines it inside. "Looks clear. Stay close," Carol tells them as they enter the building.
"You'll think they'll do good at the big spot?" Carl asks.
"If the walkers are gone, they should," Franklin answers. "We've been planning this for weeks."
Carl nods as they hear walkers outside. "Carl," Carol says to the boy as she walks towards the door, and Carl follows. They walk outside and see a group of walkers. "I'll take the first one. You take the ones behind them," Carol tells the boy, who nods as Carol withdraws her knife and stabs the first walker in the head and then stabs the other one as Carl shoots the other two with his silenced pistol. They both look at the road as a military truck stop. They raise their guns as the rest of the group starts to come out of the building with their guns up. "Get out!" Carol shouts. The door opens, and three people climb out. A large man with red hair. A woman in a crop top and shorts and a man with a mullet.
"You got a lot of people and guns. What else you got?" The man asks.
"Drop your weapons," Joel says. The redhead grins as he sets his gun down and his knives as the others do the same. "Your names?"
"I am Sergent Abraham Ford and these are my companions, Rosita Espinosa and Eugene Porter. We're on a mission to get Eugene to Washington, D.C. He knows exactly what caused this mess and how to fix it," The group stares at them.
"What caused it?" Tommy asks.
"That classified," Eugene answers. Joel and Tommy share a look but say nothing.
"We are looking for more companies who know how to handle themselves. You could join us," Abraham says.
"We can't," Carol says. "We have a home, and I don't believe your friend. Look, you can come back with us, see if anybody else wants to join you and maybe we can trade some supplies and help you out, but if that's the case, you're helping us clear this place."
Abraham looked at Eugene and Rosita, who nodded. "You got yourself a deal."
"I'm Carol," Carol says as she walks away.
Merle's P.O.V
Merle sat with his back against the window of the big spot. "I think I got it," Zach says, making Merle look at him.
"Got what?" Michonne asks.
"I've been trying to guess what Daryl and Merle did before the turn," Zach says.
"He's been trying for weeks," Merle says. "You could just ask T-dog or Lori."
"That takes the fun out of it," Zach says. "Okay, it's a long shot, but a homicide detective."
Sasha, T-dog, and Michonne start laughing as Merle looks at them. "What's so funny?" Merle asks.
"Nothing, it makes perfect sense," Sasha says.
"You know, the kids, right," Merle says, making Zach look at him.
"Really?"
"Yeah, we don't like to talk about it," Merle says.
"Really?" Zach asks.
"No," Merle says.
"I'll keep guessing," Zach says.
"You do that," Merle says as walkers hit the windows.
"You ready dectieve?" Sasha asks.
"Let's do it," Merle says. They kill the walkers and break up into pairs. Merle walks with Sasha.
"So, what did you do before the fall?"
"You first," Merle says.
"I was a firefighter," Sasha asks.
"Nothing," Merle answers. "Daryl and I worked a few odd jobs to get by but mainly just sold drugs."
"So, drug dealer?" Sasha asks Merle, who nods as they hear a shout. They run towards the sound and see Bob on the ground.
"What happened?" Merle asks.
"The damn shelf fell," Bob says as Allen and Merle try to lift it up. They look up as a walker falls through the roof.
"Time to go," Lori says.
"We gotta get, Bob," Merle says as he motions Oscar and T-dog over to help Allen. He runs up to Lori and Laura. "Get her out, now," Merle orders the blond woman. She nods as she grabs Lori and pulls her out of the store. Merle stabs a walker through the head as he hears a shout. He turns around and looks at Allen as a walker bites his ankle and pulls him down.
"Allen," Tyreese shouts.
"We gotta go," T-dog says as he grabs Tyreese and pulls him away. As a walker bites Allen's neck, the building falls. They get outside, and all breathing heavily.
"Where's Allen?" Lori asks.
"He's dead," Merle says.
"I could have helped," Lori says.
"I know," Merle says. "Just didn't want you dying for nothing," He says as he walks towards the cars, and the others follow.
Abraham's P.O.V
Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita stood in the cafeteria, looking at Daryl, Glenn, Hershel, and Negan. "How long have you been here?" Rosita asks.
"About three months," Daryl says as Beth comes out with Judith. "I'll take her," Daryl says to Beth, who nods as she hands her to Daryl.
"Your daughter?" Abraham asks Daryl, who nods.
"She was born during this?" Eugene asks.
"Yeah," Glenn says. "She had the baby here."
"Where is she? Did she survive?" Rosita asks.
"She did," Hershel says. "She's on a run with another group."
"How many people live here?" Eugene asks.
"50, maybe sixty, there's another Community not far that we work with, Woodbury," Glenn says.
"You don't have problems with the dead? Cause we saw a pretty big herd out there," Abraham says.
"We manage it," Daryl says. "You see all the shovels Carol brought back?"
"Yes," Rosita answers.
"They're for a trench around the fence. Going to see if we can find some better equipment too. We're gonna put tarps on the fences to try and block the walker's views," Daryl says. "As Carol said, we can give you some supplies for the road. If you wanna stay here for a few nights and recharge, that's fine. You'll have to hand over your weapons. We have fresh water, showers, and food. You'll be safe here, and so will you, friend."
"That's generous, but we'll only stay one night. We gotta get Eugene to Washington as soon as possible. The fate of the whole damn world-"
"I lied," Eugene says, causing Abraham to stop. "I lied. I'm not a scientist. I can't stop this."
Thanks for reading. Next chapter, the group arrives back from the big spot, the group controls Abraham, and the group tries to save Eugene, and Abraham figures out how to rebuild his life and find a purpose. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.