Within moment the group was in movement moving the bodies. The ones of those that were unimportant placed in the back of the older blue truck and those bodies of Maggie and Beth's brother and their mother placed aside to be buried. Zoey grabbed a shovel and headed to the chosen place for the graves, after ushering her grumbling brother back to camp to rest.
Andrea and Tdog had taken the bodies out to burn in one of the furthest fields and the smoke could be seen from where Zoey was thrusting her shovel into the dirt. She was only ankle deep when Carol wondered over with a shovel herself. A sad smile on the older women's face as she began to help the red head. Carol stopped a moment wiping the sweat from her brow. "I can't imagine what they are going through. I don't know if I would have survived if somehow Sofia had ended up there." She sighed before sticking her shovel in the dirt again. Zoey paused a moment trying to imagine the heart break for everyone if Daryl hadn't found the little girl. Shaking her head clearing her thoughts she shoved her shovel deeper into the dirt pulling up more dirt.
Half way through digging their holes Shane and Glenn came over to take over. Handing her shovel to Glenn she stepped out of her knee high hole and climbed out. As Glenn jumped into her hole she went over to the sheet covered bodies and pulled one closer to its final resting place. Struggling against the dead weight only little to get it there. With curiosity she pulled the sheet back from the face to see who would be placed in her hole. Finding that it was male she sighed.
He only a little older than her and she could tell through the decay and with the memory of the young man in the pictures she could tell her was handsome. Tossing the sheet back over his face she moved back over to the other body not bothering to see her friends mothers dead face, she pulled it over to the other hole. Brushing her hands off she made a mental note to tell Hershel which grave was which, so they could make markers if they wanted.
She turned and headed towards the main house. Carol was behind her a few feet behind her and she was headed for their main camp. As Zoey passed by she noticed that Daryl moved their tent a ways off to the next tree over, with a frown she made a mental note to ask why.
When she reached the house and entered the front door it was quiet, except for the sound of dishes from the kitchen. Taking a quick look around searching for the older man who had taken them in only to find his usual spot in the front room empty. With a sigh she headed for the kitchen finding Beth cleaning the remaining utensils from breakfast with tears streaked down her face. Zoey filled with concern placed her arm, uncomfortably, around the younger girls should giving an uncertain squeeze. Beth didn't react to the gesture.
Lori entered with Andrea in that moment talking quietly before cutting off conversation quickly. Lori waved the red head over quietly and asked, '' How is she doing?" Zoey shrugged and looked back in forth between the two women when a crash and a quiet thud caused her attention to return to Beth.
The young blond was lying on the floor the dish rag in her hand breathing shallowly. The older women rushed over to her and Maggie rushed in from the dining room asking what had happened. All three women rushed the girl to her room. Zoey stayed out of their way and waited in the kitchen deciding to finish the few dishes that were left, just so she didn't feel useless.
When everyone came back into the room Lori announced that someone had to find Hershel. No one seemed to know where he went and hadn't seen him since the barn. "Well I am going to ask around, Beth needs him right now." As she turned to leave Zoey scampered after her determined to help if she was needed. When no one fessed up to seeing where the old man had wondered off to Rick offered to go looking for him. "There is a bar in town that daddy used to go to before I was born." Maggie offered up
"I know where it is I have seen it." Glenn nodded. "I show you where." Rick nodded in agreement and told the Asian man to meet him at the car. Zoey standing next to Lori nodded and checked her waist to make sure she had her gun. She smiled at Glenn and tapped his chest with the back of her hand as she headed into the hall way after Rick.
Lori was standing there her arms crossed and playing with her chain. "Hey, Zoey?" she asked quietly stopping the red head with a gentle hand on her arm. "Can you go with keep an eye on them and maybe hurry them back?" Zoey looked into the women's eyes. When she found a fiery determination staring back at her she gave a tight lip smile and nodded. Lori's eyes immediately showed relief and she nodded her thanks.
Zoey skipped down the front steps and trotted to the older SUV that Rick was standing next to. She gave him a smile and reached behind him and tugged the door open. "You're coming too, huh." He asked slightly amused as he look back over his shoulder at her. The red head smirked and jumped into the back seat and shut the door. Locking the door to make a point she smirked as Rick made a snorting noise.
Glenn emerged from the house with Maggie following behind him. The brunette stopped him at the bottom of the steps and grabbed him said something and kissed him before allowing him to proceed to the car. Zoey rolled her eyes when she caught Glenn's attention. His response was to stick his toung out at her before climbing into the front seat beside Rick.
There was small conversation between Rick and Glenn on the way to the bar. In that time Zoey heard that Maggie had said the three word confession to Glenn but the silly man hadn't reciprocated. She had let him know how stupid he had been by snorting at him from the back seat, only to have Rick agree with her.
The sun was still up when they reached their destination. The little recovery group still had about an hour and a half to get Hershel and get back. Zoey jumped out of the vehicle and slammed the door a little harder than she meant to, causing all three of them to look around nervously. "Hey watched it!" Glenn whispered harshly at her once the coast was clear. The red head just shrugged and mouthed 'sorry' before following Rick into the bar.
Upon entry she noticed that the bar was very old school and looked like she had sort of stepped onto an old western like the ones like she had caught her dad watching every now and again. She almost half expected John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart to pop out of the wood work.
Hershel was at the front, sitting at the bar leaning heavily against the brass railing. His grey hair was in disarray and even from this distance she could see the effects of the alcohol where starting to kick in. Rick spoke first saying Hershel's name letting him know it was him. The older man's head turned slightly and asked. "Who came with you?"
Rick turned back and looked at both of them. "Zoey and Glenn." Rick replied sounding almost tired.
"Maggie and Beth send them?" the older man asked leaning closer to his drink. "No. Glenn came because he volunteered, and well Zoey just kinda jumped into the truck." Rick replied as he looked at the red head before shaking his head.
Zoey took this as a kind of que and made her way to stand next to him. The older man looked over at her and she could see all the pain he was in. His face looked tired and more warn and the wrinkles around his eyes seemed impossibly deeper. His mouth was set in a tight line and his brows seemed to be pulled down into a permanent frown. The alcohol coming from his breath even at this distance reminded her of her own father's problem, but she didn't see this man as a violent man. In fact he looked just looked plain defeated.
"Actually that is what we are here about." Rick sighed as he took a few more steps towards the older man. "Beth needs you. She collapse earlier and has slipped into a kind of state. She isn't responding to anyone. She needs you back at the farm." Rick said trying to encourage the man to listen and come back. Hershel looked away from Zoey and turned to Rick. "Is Maggie with her?" he asked and when Rick nodded yes the old man nodded and turned back to his glass.
Zoey, growing frustrated, pulled herself up and jumped over the bar landing behind the counter with a soft thud. Looking around quickly she found a bottle for herself and pulled it up. Popping the top off on the edge of the bar she took a pull of the cheap whiskey and calmly waited for the burning to stop as she set the bottle down.
Rick grunted and gave her a look to say that she shouldn't be joining in but she just shrugged and continued to sip on the bottle while watching Hershel form the corner of her eyes. She tilted her head to the side when Rick pinched the bridge of his nose and headed for Glenn who was standing by the front door.
She could hear them whispering to each other so she turned her attention back to the man in question. She heard him say something under his breath but she couldn't make it out. She cocked her head to the side more in question when Hershel stood. "Go back. Just go back all of you leave me in peace."
"Your daughters need you. Hershel set down the glass lets finish this at home." Rick pleaded. Hershel shook his head venomatly. "I was doing to the Christian thing helping you, taking in you and your group. In the end all you did was destroy my farm. I even went as far as to let myself be fooled with hope after helping your boy. It gave me hope seeing that he had made it through a hopeless situation. Even though we lost Otis, Shane came back and we saved him. Your boy making it gave me hope that there was a cure. But there isn't I realized that after Shane shot Lou in the chest. I realized it then that there is no hope for this world. I should have allowed my girls to mourn weeks ago, instead I was feeding a corpse." When he finally fought out the last word he sat heavily in his seat again and looked down into his glass.
Rick paced towards the man, his jaw set with determination. "You know. Death has always been here. Hasn't changed and it aint going to stop. Just because there is a new version of it out there doesn't meant anything. Death isn't a new thing Hershel, and your daughter needs you to help her through this." Hershel took a shaky breath and a look of understanding crossed his eyes. Zoey smiled when the older man took the last swig of his drink and turned the glass upside down signaling that his was done. "Alight let's get home." Rick said as he waved the red head out from behind the bar.
A voice from behind Glenn caused them all to stop and look. "Look they are alive." Zoey took a hesitant step towards Rick trying to step around him but his had stopped her. The skinner of the two men walked in and took a seat at one of the tables while the heavier set man took a seat not far from Hershel. "Hi I'm Dave." He introduced himself as the other threw a bottle at him. "And the skinny looking douche bag is Tony." He laughed at his partner. "Ah eat me Dave." He chuckled as he poured himself a drink.
Glenn walked around the bar to stand right next to Hershel and Zoey took that opportunity to grab a napkin and a random pen lying on the counter. Once she was next to Glen she wrote. 'I don't trust these guys.' Nudging Glenn's arm she slid the note to him without looking down. Once he read it he nodded but that stupid look on his face stayed. "Nice to meet you." Glenn responded. "Nice to actually see some new people."
"Rick Grimes." He said as he leaned over to where Zoey's bottle sat unfinished and poured himself and Glenn a drink. "How 'bout you?" Dave asked nodded to Hershel and the older man announced that he had just quiet. "Kind of a unique sense of timing my friend." He chuckled to himself. "He lost a lot of people today." Rick supplied for him. "Well I am sorry to hear that." The man replied lifting his glass looking sincere. "May they all be in a better place."
The red head had noticed that Rick had left her out and she was glad not to have attention on her, she wasn't comfortable with strangers as is. "How 'bout you little lady?" Dave asked lifting his glass towards her. Zoey looked up through the stray strands of hair and eyed him suspiciously.
Rick eyed her for a second before responding for her. "Nah, she is under age." The red head felt relieved that Rick had come up with an excuse for her. She didn't feel like drinking anymore especially with the new people among them.
Dave leaned forward, "ah that's a shame." He said as he placed the glass on the table. Rick shifted more into a standing position when he looked at the stranger's hip. Zoey shifted more towards Glenn and Hershel when she noticed why. Dave wasn't lost on the change in position. "Like it. I got it off a cop." He said as he brought the gun into his hands rolling it over a few times. Rick stiffened evermore slightly. "I'm a cop." He announced.
Dave gave off a halfhearted chuckle. "Yeah well this one was already dead. Didn't think he needed it anymore." The red head shifted again feeling a little more uncomfortable with their guests. Her eyes landed on Tony, who she caught eyeing her. Zoey mustered up the most stuck up snobbish looks she could and glared at him. She folded her arms over her chest and held her head a little higher as she looked back over at the man who seemed to be the ring leader. She had noticed that the tony guy hadn't said much at all.
"Where you guys headed?" Rick asked looking back and forth between the two men. "Well at first it was D.C but there was too much of a traffic jam so we headed for the scenic route. Keeping off the main highways and such. Then we heard that the coast guard was sending ferries to secluded islands. It seems that every new group has a new way out of this shit hole." He grumbled reaching up and rubbing the sweat off his forehead. "Latest one was trains being sent out to Kansas and Nebraska."
Glenn frowned. "Why they going out there?" Tony snorted and spoke up for the first time. "Low population and lots of guns." He announced smugly. "Yeah well we hope." His partner snorted back. "Say do you have a group? Maybe a place to stay?" Rick shook his head to the negative and Zoey and Glenn shared a quick look before catching on.
"Aren't those your vehicles out there?" he looked back and forth between Hershel and Rick. "If they are I noticed there aren't a lot of stuff in the back so you gotta be shacked up someplace." When still no answer came he continued. "Maybe we can combine out groups. We can pull our own weight. I am sure you got food maybe some water." That is when Tony stood and amble on out of the way leaning against the far wall and began reliving himself. "We know you got girls. Haven't had a piece of ass in weeks." He announced. Zoey twisted up her face in disgust as she stepped around Glenn to get further away from the obliviously disgusting man.
"Ah, excuse him. These city kids don't have any manners. He don't mean any disrespect." Dave supplied looking slightly embarrassed by his buddy's manners. "Look we have people back at camp that aren't doing so well. If we could just pool our resources…" he was cut off by Rick's "sorry but that just aren't going to happen."
"Ah come on how about a little southern hospitality." The leader pleaded. "I am sorry we just don't have enough room for any more." Rick said adjusting himself from a seat that Zoey hadn't seen him take. She looked over both of the men in front of them. Their faces had filled and the heavy one looked like he might explode.
"Hey I thought we were going to be friends here. We have people who need looking after." Dave said getting a little upset. "Yeah well so do we. I am sorry we just can risk any more joining us right now." Rick said crossing his arms defensively. "This is bullshit." Tony said agitated from the place he stood. "Hey now calm down." Dave said lifting his hand in pleading his partner. "I don't need to calm down." he retorted. "How bout I just kill you and take your damn camp." Rick jolted straight up and took a menacing step towards the heavy man before Dave jumped in between the two. "Hey now calm down. Nobody is going to kill anyone." He assured them.
Zoey placed her hand on her little 9MM. the feeling of worry sunk into her stomach causing her to clench her teeth together. She watched as Dave jumped over the bar the same as she did only further down. "Aint nobody going to shoot anyone." He said with a smile as he placed his gun on the counter. Zoey glanced over at the other one who was currently standing with his hand on his own gun mimicking Rick. "Now where do they keep the good stuff?" He said searching the cupboards repeating good stuff over and over. "I'm sorry but we are too crowded as is you are just going to have to keep looking." Rick stated glumly.
"Well I am sorry to hear that." Dave said with a small smile. "You got any suggestions?" Rick smirked a little. "I hear Nebraska is nice." He said sarcastically. Dave chuckled a little. "This guy's funny." He said quietly. In a sudden movement Dave reach for something behind him but Rick was faster shooting him through the head before he could pull his hidden weapon from his pocket.
Zoey flinched and before she could pull her gun to help Rick if he needed it the man had turned and pulled the trigger twice more. Hitting Tony in the chest and then the head just to make sure he couldn't use his own weapon. It got suddenly quiet and everyone was breathing heavier from the tense atmosphere. "I think it's time to go." Glenn said quietly as he tried to shake the fear out of his eyes.