Wohay! The very last couple of chapters. 5 more and I'm done. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

setting: episode 13 "Beside The Dying Fire"

Salvation

Chapter 35 - Doomed

When Daryl and Connor got back inside the farmhouse they frowned because there were only Lori, Andrea, Herschel and his family, Glenn and T-Dog sitting inside the living room. They all looked worried.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl asked and Lori shook her head.

"No" she answered and Daryl and Connor looked at each other.

"We heard a shot" the Irishman said and Lori shrugged.

"Maybe they found Randall" she suggested but Daryl shook his head.

"We found him."

"Is he back in the shed?" Andrea asked and Connor snorted.

"He's a walker" Daryl went on and Herschel got up from the couch.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?"

"No, 't was pretty fucked up, everything. He wasn't bit. He didn't end up as some dead prick's chew toy" Connor said and his friend nodded.

"His neck was broke."

"So he fought back" Andrea, who was standing in the corner and eyed them, said and Daryl snorted.

"Yeah of course.."

He turned around to look at the others.

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together."

Connor snickered.

"Right, our snoopy here did one hell af a job. Felt like fuckin Sherlock Holmes an Doctor Watson. Like in the movies."

Daryl looked at him and rolled his eyes. Suddenly Lori got up and approached Daryl.

"Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?"

When Daryl nodded and nudged her Connor raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected him to say yes. Just a couple of days ago he'd told her to go herself.

Looks like te car crash didn't do me any good but him, he thought and smiled.

"You got it" Daryl said to Lori and headed for the door.

He nudged Connor to signalize that he should come with him.

"Thank you" Lori said and they left.

"Since when do you do something fer people when they ask ye?" Connor asked with a smirk on his face.

Daryl growled.

"Shut up."

"'m just saying. That's good, man."

"We're coming with you" they heard someone say and turned around.

Andrea and Glenn were standing right behind them. Daryl frowned.

"Why the heck would we need four people t'search for Rick and Shane?"

Andrea folded her arms.

"We can search a bigger area in less time."

Daryl and Connor looked at each other. The latter shrugged after a moment.

"Guess she's right."

The hunter just growled and stepped outside. When they saw the barn they all froze. There they were, hundreds of walkers coming from the woods. They were all heading for the farmhouse. They were just by the barn and kept moaning and staggering towards them. They couldn't really tell how many there were but it looked like an army of the undead, preparing to tear them down. The fields were only lit by moonlight which gave the scenario an eerie atmosphere. "Holy shit" Connor whispered and Herschel turned around.

"Patricia, kill the lights" he ordered and Andrea grabbed the door handle.

"I'll get the guns."

"Maybe they're just passing, like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?" Glenn said and Connor snorted angrily.

"Aye, cos walkers ain't interested in tasty fresh meat when it's right in front of them."

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size would rip the house down" Daryl said at the same time and Connor nodded.

"Aye. Nat only the house."

Suddenly Lori came outside. She was out of breath and looked troubled.

"Carl's gone."

They turned around and looked at her.

"What?" Daryl asked and she nodded.

She was panicking.

"He..he was upstairs, I can't find him anymore."

"Maybe he's hiding" Glenn suggested and Connor glared at him.

"If she said she can't find him she probably looked everywhere he could hide, smartass."

"He's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy" Lori stammered and Connor grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Af course we ain't leaving yer boy behind, are you nuts? We'll go back inside and search once more. Pair af fresh eyes can't do any harm.
I'm gonna make sure we find yer boy."

Carol, who'd just come outside, nodded.

"He's right. We're gonna find him. We'll look for him. Together."

Connor turned around to look at Daryl who just frowned. The Irishman smirked and nudged his shoulder.

"Be back in a minute. Then we'll have some fun with the walkers."

Daryl snorted.

"Admit it, you're just scared outta yer pants. The kid's just an excuse for yah t'run and hide in a closet."

Connor grinned.

"Yer the one grabbing yer fuckin crossbow with yer knuckles going white."

The Irishman turned his head to look how close the walkers were.

"Fuck" he murmured and turned around to get inside the house.

"Eh Connor" Daryl said then and the Irishman turned his head to look at him.

"Watch yer whiny ass."

Connor grinned and nodded.

"Aye. You, too."

When Lori, Carol and Connor entered the house Rick's wife started yelling her child's name again. Patricia and Beth were still standing by the windows.
When they heard them they turned around and looked at the small group. Beth approached Connor with a frown.

"What's going on?"

"Lori's kid's gone. She can't find 'im."

"Want us to help?"

He looked at her and nodded.

"Aye, the more people look fer him the faster we find him. We're gonna need the time."

He looked behind the sofas and under the tables.

"Connor?"

"Aye?" he said but didn't look up.

"How many?" the girl asked, but he didn't answer and kept searching.

"How many walkers are out there?" she repeated and he finally looked at her with a sigh.

"Hundreds. We're gonna have ta leave. I think. But still, we haven't got time fer this fucking chitchat right now. We gotta find te kid."

She took a deep breath and looked at Patricia.

"Okay, we want to help."

He nodded.

"Okay. You take the back of the house, the kitchen, look behind bushes and counters, anywhere where he could hide."

Beth and Patricia nodded and left. Lori came running in a second later.

"I can't find him, I can't find him. He's nowhere!" she said and knelt down to look under the tables.

Connor grabbed her by her waist and lifted her up to stand. He placed both his hands on her shoulders again and looked her in the eye.

"Now you listen ta me. It ain't no use if you keep panicking and fuckin scream the neighborhood down. You've gotta concentrate and stop shouting. I doubt it'll bring him back. All yer doin is attracting those lame brains to our house. Now you've gotta take a deep breath and concentrate. All yer fuckin panic isn't doing anyone any good. It just stresses you an yer unborn kid, okay? I told you that I'm going ta find yer kid. Just trust me on this."

She nodded and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Carol's checking the attic, Beth and Patricia are searching the rooms on this floor, I'm going upstairs...but no one's found him yet!"

He nodded.

"Okay. Patricia and Beth are checking the back af te house, I'm gonna check the cellar. Maybe he's hiding down there were all the food an water is.
It's a good place ta hide. I'm sure we're gonna find 'im."

Andrea came back with the guns just a couple minutes after Lori, Connor and Carol had left. Everyone grabbed a gun and got ready.
Maggie handed Glenn a shotgun which made him frown.

"Maggie.." he said but she interrupted him

"You grow up country, you pick up a thing or two" she said and Daryl snorted.

He'd spent some time counting the walkers. He couldn't believe that they were really stupid enough to believe that they could take that herd on.

"I got the number. It's no use" he said and Herschel looked up from his gun.

"You can go if you want" he responded and Daryl frowned.

"You gonna take 'em all on?" he asked in disbelief and Herschel nodded.

"We have guns. We have cars."

"Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm" Andrea went on and Daryl looked down at her.

When he saw that she wasn't kidding he turned his head to look at Herschel.

"Are you serious?"

The old man loaded his gun and grabbed all the ammo he could.

"This is my farm. I'll die here" he said and Daryl raised an eyebrow.

No matter how stupid and suicidal their plan was, he sure had some guts.

"All right. It's as good a night as any" Daryl murmured and jumped off the porch. Truth was that he really didn't want to die because of some stupid farm but then again, they could die any day now. And he preferred going down with a big bang instead of getting eaten by some geek in the woods one day. At least he could take a great number of those bastards with him. They got inside their cars in pairs once their guns were ready. Daryl placed his crossbow on the back of his motorbike and checked his guns once more. After a moment he decided to take the one Connor had given him and started the engine of his bike. Part of him wondered where the Irishman was and if he was alright but then he forced himself to stop worrying. He needed to concentrate now. And if Connor had managed to survive on his own for months, survived a suicide attempt and a car crash, he was sure that there was no reason to worry.

They drove towards the barn where the walkers kept coming closer. At some point the building started to burn and he was sure that Rick and Shane were back. There was no one else who could have started the fire and he was pretty sure that walkers were too stupid to use matches and lighters. They started driving up and down the fence and shot the walkers from their vehicles. In the meantime Jimmy, the farmer's boy, drove the RV to block the way that led from the barn to the farmhouse and made sure that no walker could slip through the gates. No matter how many times they drove up and down the fence, the walkers wouldn't stop coming. There were too many of them.

When Connor came up the stairs from the cellar he heard Lori shouting and running again.

"I can't find him anywhere" she shouted, completely out of breath.

Connor joined them in the hallway and shook his head.

"Didn't find him in the cellar either."

"So maybe he snuck outside" Carol said and Connor wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Aye, looks like it. Going ta check on the other girls outside and ask them, maybe they've found him."

"What do I do?" Lori screamed all of a sudden and Connor stopped to turn around in surprise.

"He was here. He must've run off, maybe looking for Rick or went after Randall himself" Carol suggested and tried to calm Lori down.

"Maybe he set the barn on fire" Carol went on.

Connor took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay, so that's it. You go outside and wait fer me by te door. I think Herschel's still outside and sounds like he's still shooting the fuckers.
You grab yer guns and wait til I get back. I'm gonna check the back of the house and get Beth and Patricia, and when we're done I'm gonna check the barn myself."

Once the women were outside Connor took his gun and checked the magazine. He took a deep breath and entered the kitchen to get to the back door.

"All right, everything's fuckin all right. Just a couple af hundred dead and flesh eating pricks. You've done this shit before, man" he murmured and opened the door.

"Beth!" he shouted and went down the stairs. He turned his head to look for her.

"Beth! Patricia! Were te fuck are ye, we need ta leave! The boy ain't here! Time ta go!" he went on but couldn't see them anywhere.

It was too dark outside. He could still hear the gunshots and moans everywhere. He reached the corner of the house and startled when he came across two walkers. He cursed and went backwards. The two undead started growling and reached out for Connor who sighed. "Sorry but I ain't on the menu today" the Irishman said and shot them in the head. He turned around to check if there were any walkers nearby. He couldn't see Beth and Patricia anywhere either.

"Beth! Patricia!" he yelled again and shook his head. "Jesus, where the fuck are they?" he murmured and kept walking.

He was heading for the next corner of the house. He wondered where Daryl was and if he was all right. But then again, he was Daryl Dixon with his stupid crossbow. Eating raw squirrel flesh and surviving gunshots and arrows. He reached the other end of the house and looked down to check his gun. He didn't have much ammo left and knew that there was no way they could ever take down the entire herd. He knew that they needed to leave soon.

When Connor walked around the corner and looked up again he was surprised by another walker. Connor yelped when the creature attacked him and made them both fall down. The Irishman tried to get hold of his gun and struggled to fight the walker off. He finally managed to place his gun on the creature's head when a loud gunshot close to the house startled him. He lost grip of the walker because of that and screamed in pain when it bit his left forearm. Connor pulled the trigger at the same time and shot the walker dead. He was panting heavily and swallowed hard.

Too late. Too fuckin late.

He managed to get the corpse off him and sat up, still panting and groaning because of the fight and incredible pain in his arm.
The walker hadn't managed to rip the flesh out, but he could still see the bite on his bloody arm.

"No..no" he murmured and placed a hand on the wound, somewhat hoping it would disappear beneath it.

But he could feel it. Pulsating, hurting, bleeding.

"No, oh god no. Please."

The pain and the bleeding wouldn't stop, and he knew he was doomed.