Hope burst out of the camper in a dead run. She paid no attention to the curious looks from the group she just focused on the point in front of her and ran towards it.
"Hope?" Dale called after her. Dale looked around at the camp. "Anyone know what that was about?"
"Nope," Glenn replied. "Should someone maybe go after her? She looked pretty upset."
Almost in unison the group looked at Daryl.
Daryl spat on the ground. "What the hell are you looking at me for? I ain't her damn keeper."
Dale shook his head sadly. "I'll go. Glenn you mind taking watch?"
"Sure."
"Thank you." Dale climbed down from the roof and trotted after Hope.
T-Dog stared at Daryl.
Daryl glared at him, "Problem?!"
T-Dog shook his head. "That's cold man, even for you."
Daryl stomped back into his tent.
"Hope! Hope! Hope, it's me Dale! I just wanted to see if you were all right." Dale looked around the stables. He could've sworn he'd seen her run in here. Dale checked each stall until he came to last one. Inside, Hope was curled up into a little ball. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed silently. Dale's heart broke; she looked so small, so helpless.
Dale eased himself next to her, careful not to touch her. He knew of her aversion to touch. "Hope? What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Hope shook her head.
"Okay, so you're not hurt that's good. Do you want to talk?"
Hope shook her head.
Dale nodded. "All right. We can just sit here, for as long as you like. I'm right here if you need me." Dale said gently.
It was a long time before Hope stopped crying but eventually she calmed down enough to speak.
"My name is Hope Lawson."
Dale looked at her, he'd never known her last name. "Well it's nice to meet you Ms. Lawson."
"Mrs."
"Sorry?"
"It's Mrs. Lawson. My husband's name was Tucker."
"I'm sorry I didn't know you were married."
"Neither did I."
Dale looked at her curiously.
"I was a doctor before all this, I think. I was married and I lived in a small house with blue shutters and red door. My husband was a police officer in Washington D.C. where we lived. I was pregnant." Tears welled up in her eyes and throat clenched. "The last thing I remember is kissing my husband goodbye and promising that I wouldn't go outside. Then I got a call, they needed my help and I couldn't say no. So I went, even though I promised I wouldn't. I knew I shouldn't go but I went anyway. I woke up on the hospital room floor covered in blood. And I have no idea how that happened." Hope sobbed.
"You have amnesia?"
Hope swallowed, "Retrograde amnesia probably as a result of some sort of head trauma. I couldn't even remember my own name. It was on my name tag."
Dale remained quiet.
"When I first woke up I could hear helicopters. They must have been still evacuating. I was so confused I didn't know where I was or what was going on. When I opened the door I saw them eating this man. There was so much blood. I panicked, I ran away and somehow I ended up in the cafeteria. I barricaded myself in the staff lounge. I lived on chips and soda for about two weeks before these two men showed up. They told me they were helping people evacuate," Hope laughed humorlessly. "They said they knew a safe place."
Dale swallowed.
"They knocked me out and when I woke up again I was tied up in the back their car, naked." Hope clenched her jaw. "They took turns and when they were done, they talked about whether or not they should kill me. They decided against it and took me with them. They drove for days, stopping every once in a while for gas or food. They couldn't decide where to go, until finally Lawrence said we should come here to Georgia. He had family here, I think, but they were estranged. When they got to the house it was empty, so they decided to stay. They kept me locked in the basement handcuffed to a radiator. I was with them for about a month before I escaped. One of them, Lloyd, got bitten and hid it until it was too late. He died and turned and bit Lawrence, the other one. In the commotion Lawrence dropped the key to my handcuffs. I managed to get the key and then I ran. "
Dale wiped a tear from his cheek. He couldn't imagine the pain Hope had been through.
"I didn't start to remember until a few weeks ago. Small things at first but a few days ago I had a dream. It all makes sense now. About a week after they captured me I got really sick. My stomach hurt so bad I thought I was dying. I was bleeding, God there was so much blood. It wouldn't stop. I remember being thankful. They were both so disgusted by the blood they left me alone for a while. But I didn't die, my baby did." Hope choked out the last word. "I lost my baby and I didn't even know." Tears blurred her vision.
Dale turned and hugged her. Hope gripped onto him like she was drowning and he was her life raft. Dale sniffed, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that happened to you. No one should have to suffer like that."
Hope took a shaky breath and let go of Dale. "You know what the worst part is. I keep remembering parts of a life that feels so far away. It doesn't feel like my life."
Dale looked into her eyes. "That's okay, Hope. Anyone would be changed by what you went through. Now I may have not known you before but I know you now and let me tell you, you're doing just fine."
Hope scoffed.
"No listen to me. You a smart, resilient, strong, beautiful young woman, not many people would have been able to survive what you went through. A lot of people would have given up but you kept fighting." Dale grabbed her shoulders. "Hope, you survived and you're still surviving. That in itself is an amazing feat and I am glad that I have had the privilege of knowing you."
Hope gave him a watery smile.
Dale checked his watch. "I think it's dinner time. You ready to go back out and face the world?"
Hope took a deep breath. "I think so." Hope stood up and brushed off the dirt from her pants. "Dale, if you don't mind I'd like this to stay between me and you. I'm not comfortable with everybody knowing."
Dale nodded. "Of course, I won't tell a soul."
"Thank you Dale, for listening."
"Anytime."
Hope and Dale walked out of the barn back towards camp both completely oblivious to Daryl's presence in the next stall.
The next morning Hope felt a sense of peace. She sat quietly next to a tree and ate her breakfast. Every so often she would catch Daryl looking at her but he would look away if they made eye contact. She didn't even try to guess what was going through his head. For the first time in a while she felt calm, she wasn't going to let his bad mood ruin it.
Glenn on the other looked like a man on his way to the gallows. Last night, she, Dale and Glenn had talked about whether or not they should tell the group. It wasn't much of a discussion seeing as how all three wanted to tell the group. The only question was who would do it. Glenn had surprised them both by saying he wanted to be the one. Hope was proud of him.
Glenn stood up and moved to where the whole group could see him. He cleared his throat. "Um, guys."
Everyone looked up at him. Hope gave him a small smile of encouragement.
"So, the barn is full of walkers."
Hope looked around and saw everyone's faces slowly drop.
You didn't have to walk very close to the barn in order to hear the walkers, or smell them for that matter. That didn't stop Shane from walking right up to it and peeking through a hole on the boards.
Shane stomped towards Rick. "You cannot tell me you're all right with this."
"No I'm not," Rick spat. "But we're guests here and this isn't our land."
"This is our lives man!" Shane yelled.
"Lower your voice," Glenn hushed him.
"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea chimed in.
"It ain't right. Not remotely." T-Dog agreed.
"We got to go in there and make things right or we just gotta go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time."
"We can't go."
"Why Rick? Why?" Shane asked.
"Because my daughter is still out there," Carol said.
"Okay," Shane covered his face for a moment. "I think that it's time that we start to just consider the other possibility."
"We're not leaving Sophia behind." Rick told him
"I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago." Daryl spat.
"You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll." Shane replied.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Daryl yelled back.
"I'm just saying what needs to be said!" Shane said. "You get a lead in the first 48 hours!"
"Shane stop!" Rick yelled.
"Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction man!"
"Shut up!" Daryl yelled. He charged Shane but Rick held him back. Shane came after him but was stopped by the rest of the group.
"I'll beat your ass! Don't come at me man!" Shane yelled. The group struggled to keep both men from fighting.
"Back off!" Rick yelled.
Shane pointed at Lori. "Don't touch me!" Lori put her hands up in a gesture of surrender.
"Let me talk to Hershel," Rick said. "Let me figure it out."
'What are you gonna figure out!"
"If we're gonna stay here. If we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land."
"Hershel sees those things in there as people", Dale cut in. "Sick people, his wife, his stepson."
"You knew?" Rick asked.
'Yesterday I talked to Hershel."
"And you waited the night?" Shane spat.
"I thought we could survive one more night and we did. I was waiting until this morning to say something but Glenn wanted to be the one."
"The man is crazy Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or no!"
Suddenly the doors of the barn started to rattle as the walkers pushed against them, attracted by the noise. Everyone backed up. Daryl carefully stepped in front of Hope. Hope stared a hole into the back of his head. They stayed silent until the rattling slowly stopped.
Rick turned to the rest of the group, he spoke quietly but firmly. "I'm going to talk to Hershel, sort this out. We'll carry on as we have. The walkers can't get out, we're still safe but as a precaution no one comes the near the barn." Rick made eye contact with everyone before nodding. "All right we all have things to do so I suggest we do them let's go."
The group dispersed in a much more somber mood than before.
Hope spent the next few hours wandering around aimlessly. She tried reading but couldn't stay focused so she gave up after ten minutes. She explored the farm a bit, taking in its simplistic beauty. It was so peaceful, so calm, so isolated. She could see how Hershel and his family could be oblivious to what was happening. Unfortunately, obliviousness was a luxury no one could afford lately. The world had changed and people had to change with it, for better or worse. Things were never going to be the same. In a way, Hope felt lucky. The past was a faint glimmer in the back of her mind, and it was easier to adapt to something new when you had no ties to the old.
Hope eventually found her way to the main house and there she sat with Glenn and Maggie. It seemed the two had made up.
"You look like you should be in line for the early bird special," Maggie joked. She grabbed Dale's hat off Glenn's head. "Go get your cap; I'll wash it for you."
Hope looked curiously at Glenn.
He shrugged, "Long story."
"Do you know what's going on?" T-Dog asked as he and Andrea approached them.
"Where's everyone?" Andrea asked.
"You haven't seen Rick?" Glenn replied.
"He went off with Hershel; we were supposed to leave a couple of hours ago." Andrea told him.
"Yeah you were. What the hell?" Daryl griped as he and Carol walked up. As usual he avoided eye contact with her. Hope suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.
"Rick told us he was going out," Carol said.
Daryl glanced at her for a moment. "Damn it, isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail! Oh, here we go."
Hope turned to see Shane stomping up the drive with a duffel bag full of guns. A sense of uneasiness filled Hope. It looked like the other shoe was about to drop.
"What's all this?" Daryl asked him.
"You with me man?" Shane handed him a shotgun.
"Yeah," Daryl replied as he took it.
"It's time to grow up. You already got yours," Shane asked Andrea.
"Yeah, where's Dale?"
"He's on his way."
Thought we couldn't carry?" T-Dog asked.
"We can and we have to. Look it was one thing sitting around here and picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe but now we know it ain't." Shane walked to Glenn. "How about you man, you gonna protect yours?"
Glenn reluctantly took the gun.
"That's it. Can you shoot?" Shane asked Maggie.
"Can you stop?" Maggie retorted. "You do this, you hand out these guns. My dad will make you leave tonight."
"We have to stay Shane." Carl told him.
'What is this?" Lori asked.
"We ain't going anywhere okay?" Shane told Carl. "Now look Hershel, he just gotta understand, okay. Well, he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia am I right?" Shane kneeled in front of Carl. He handed him a gun. "Now I want you to take this. You take it Carl and you do whatever it takes to keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how, go on take the gun and do it."
Lori stepped in front of Carl. "Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make." She hissed.
"Oh shit." T-Dog said.
Hope turned to see Rick and Hershel emerge from the woods wrangling walkers using snare poles. Hope blinked, utterly confused by the past few minutes.
Shane ran towards Rick and the group followed. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"Shane just back off!"
"Why do you people have guns?" Hershel demanded.
"Are you kidding me?! You see?! You see what they are holding on to?!" Shane screamed.
"I see who I'm holding onto!" Hershel yelled back.
"Nah man you don't!"
Rick tried to calm Shane down but he was having none of it.
"What do you want to talk about Rick? These things ain't sick! They're not people! They're dead! Ain't gonna feel nothing cause all they do is kill! They're the things that killed Amy! They killed Otis! They're gonna kill all of us!"
"Shane shut up!" Rick yelled.
"Hey Hershel let me ask you something. Could a living, breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane pulled out his gun and fired three shots into the chest of the walker that Hershel was holding. It had little effect on the walker. "That's three rounds in the chest! Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?" Shane fired two more shots. "That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?" Shane fired another shot.
"Enough!" Rick screamed.
"Yeah you're right man that is enough." Shane walked up and fired a shot point blank into the walker's skull. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone! Enough living next to a barn of things that are trying to kill us! Enough! Rick it ain't like it was before! Now if ya'll wanna live, if y'all wanna survive, you gotta fight for it! I'm talking about fighting, right here, right now!
Hershel dropped to his knees. Rick begged him to take the snare pole but he didn't respond. Everyone was frozen in place as they watched Shane open the doors to the barn.
Hope watched in horror as walkers poured out from the barn. One by one they fell as Shane, Andrea, Daryl, T-Dog, and Glenn shot them. Hope could hear nothing but groans of the walkers and pops as the bullets hit their target.
And then it was quiet. So quiet it made her ears hurt. It was like the whole world took and deep breath.
There was a low groan, the sound of shuffling feet. The first thing Hope saw was tiny purple sneakers. Her heart broke at the sight.
"Sophia! Sophia?!" Carol ran towards her daughter but Daryl grabbed her. Hope walked to them. "I've got her." She said softly to Daryl. Daryl nodded and passed the sobbing woman into her arms. Carol fell to her knees and Hope went with her, her arms wrapped tight around her. Hope leaned her head on Carol's as the woman sobbed.
Rick walked to Sophia and hesitated. Hope winced as the gun fired.