This is it. The chapter to close season 2. Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 20: Beside the Dying Fire

It was quiet inside the house. As hours went by, everybody is starting to get worry about Rick and others because their not back yet.

Andrea's voice broke the silence, "I'm going out to look for them." She stood up and Amy turned around, but Lori beat her to it.

"Don't. They could be anywhere. And if Randall or Ed comes back, we're gonna need you here."

They hear the front door open and footsteps enter the premises. Everyone's heads turned to see Daryl and Glenn walking in, their bodies lifting from the chairs they sat in,

"Rick, Shane and Sophia ain't back?" Daryl asked while looking around, not seeing them.

"No." Lori answers.

"We heard a shot."

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori suggests.

"Or Ed." Amy said.

"We found Randall." Daryl told them.

"Is he back in the shed?" Maggie inquires.

"He's a walker."

There's silence for a moment, Hershel breaks it by saying, "Did you find the walker that bit him?"

"No, the weird thing is, he wasn't bit." Glenn said.

"His neck was broke." Daryl adds.

"So he fought back." Patricia guesses.

"So that means Rick, Shane and Sophia found Ed and shot him." Michael said.

Lori approaches Daryl, asking, "Would you please get back out there, find Rick, Sophia and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?"

"You got it." Daryl replies.

"Thank you." Lori said.

As Daryl, Glenn and Andrea step outside, they saw what they couldn't believe.

The barn used to be full of them, but now it's surrounded by walkers.

Everyone except Lori and Beth came outside. Hershel walked in front of Michael, staring out at the barn in slight horror. He turned, his voice soft in a whisper,

"Patricia, kill the lights!"

"I'll get the guns." Andrea said as she and Michael quickly turned and ran back into the house.

As Andrea is about to take the guns, Michael stopped her.

"Andrea, I'm gonna stay back with the others and you go on ahead but before you do, we may have to leave the farm. If we get separated, you go and find some place safe. When this is over, I will go and find you when I can. I promise and I love you so much, Andrea." He said as he lifts the heart on her necklace in front of them before telling her,"Never foget that."

Andrea was about to cry, but now is not the time. "I'll never forget, Mikey. I love you so much, too." She said as they shared a kiss.

After that, Andrea went out with the guns while Michael went to get his gear.

Andrea pushed through the group and set the gun bag down on the bench. She opened it in haste and everyone began to distribute guns.

Maggie hands Shane's shotgun to Glenn, who looks at her and says, "Maggie."

"You grow up country, you pick up a thing or two." she replies, loading shells into the Mossberg 500 shotgun and handing some to Glenn.

"I got the number—it's no use." Daryl states.

"You can go if you want." Hershel said while loading the Remington 870 Wingmaster shotgun.

"You gonna take 'em all on?" he inquires.

"We have guns. We have cars." Hershel answers as he cocks the shotgun.

"Kill as many as we can," Andrea said. "We'll use the cars to lead the rest off the farm."

"You serious?" Daryl inquires.

"This is my farm," Hershel said, "I'll die here."

"Alright… it's as good a night as any." Daryl said.

They all went to their cars and drove to where the Walkers are.

Daryl is leading them while on his brother's motorcycle while Merle is in the police car.

Dale, Amy, Jacqui and Jimmy are in the RV.

Maggie and Glenn are in the Hyundai.

T-Dog and Andrea are in Otis's truck.

They started kiling as many Walkers as they can.

Meanwhile inside the house, Beth, Michael and Patricia are watching what's going on. They see the barn is on fire.

Lori and Carol are looking for Carl, unknown to them that he is with Rick, Shane and Sophia.

Outside, Dale parked the RV near the fence and he and Amy lean out the windows to shoot any Walker coming near them. Daryl rode up to Dale.

"Yo! Must've been Rick and Shane who started that fire. Maybe they're trying to get out back! Why don't you circle around?"

"Got it!" Dale said.

"Go!"

Dale drives the RV to where Rick, Shane, Carl and Sophia are. He parks it right next to the barn so that Rick, Shane, Carl and Sophia can jump onto the roof and climb down.

Just as Dale was about to drive out once Rick and Company gets down from the RV, three Walkers burst the door and they bit Jimmy. Amy killed the three Walkers, but it was too late. They had to toss his body out to distract the other Walkers so they can get away.

Rick, Shane and the kids got down the RV and ran into the woods as fast as they can.

Dale drove to get the others so they can leave.

Merle decided to leave the farm.

Otis stand in the yard next to Hershel, firing shells from the Harrington & Richardson Pardner Pump Compact shotgun he's using.

Lori and Carol are on the porch, still looking for Carl. Then Carol tells Lori they have to go now. Lori tells her to get the others. She calls for her son when she saw some Walkers approaching. Lori takes out her Colt Detective Special revolver and shoots the Walkers coming near them. Carol calls for Lori as Lori turns to see Beth, Patricia and Michael standing with her. Lori picks up the gun bag as she calls out to Otis and Hershel.

"Hershel! Otis!" she calls, but they continue firing. "Hershel! Otis! It's time to go!"

Otis looks at Hershel, and he nods. "Go!" he tells him.

Otis leaves him and heads towards Lori and the others. As they are running, a Walker grabs Otis. But then Michael kicks it off him. He takes out his sword and drives it into the Walker's head.

Then Michael started hacking and slashing Walkers left and right. He told Lori to get the others out of there. And he will leave on his bike.

Lori did what Michael told her. T-Dog drove up to where Lori and Beth are while Otis and Patricia headed towards the RV. Lori and Beth got in Otis's truck while Andrea went to get Carol.

Andrea shot two Walkers that came towards Carol.

"Look out!" Carol shouted as a Walker is behind Andrea.

Andrea turns around and shot the Walker but it falls on top of her. She then pushes it off and look around to see everyone is gone.

Michael manage to clear a path to his bike. He put away his sword, got on his bike and rode on out.

Maggie and Glenn get off the farm as well.

Rick and Shane, along with the kids caught up with Hershel, who is still killing Walkers. Rick told them they have to go. So the five of them got into Hershel's truck and got out of there. They don't realize Andrea is behind them, who kills some more Walkers, grabs the gun bag that Lori dropped and heads into the woods.

Daryl and Carol rode out together.

The farm is now gone.

Morning

Rick, Shane and Hershel along with Carl and Sophia are at the highway they first broke down to see if the other are there.

Moments later, they hear a motorcycle approaching and see Daryl with Carol. Michael behind them. The RV. The Hyundai. And Otis's truck.

They parked their vehicles and got out to hug their loved ones.

"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asked Daryl.

"Well, those guys' tail lights zigzagging all over the road. Figured he had to be Asian driving like that." Daryl jokingly said.

Glenn chuckles, grinning. "Good one."

Daryl looks around and see that Merle is missing.

"Merle not here?" Daryl asked.

"He might have gotten lost." Michael said.

"Andrea?" Glenn inquires.

Amy now notice her sister is not with them.

"She saved me, then I lost her." Carol said.

"We saw her go down." T-Dog said.

"What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?" Beth asked.

"He was in the RV with us. Three Walkers burst through the door and got him. Sorry Beth." Amy told her.

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asked.

"There were walkers everywhere." Lori said.

"Did you see her?"

"I'm gonna go back." Daryl said.

"No." Rick said.

"We can't just leave them." Daryl said.

"We don't even know if they are there." Lori said.

"Their not. Merle can take care of himself. And Andrea did what I told her. If we got separated, go somewhere safe and when the moment comes, I'll go look for her." Michael said as he approached Amy. "We'll find her, Amy. We will."

Amy nodded as Shane held her close.

"So we're not even gonna look for them now?" Glenn inquires.

"We gotta keep moving. There have been walkers crawling all over here." Rick said.

"I say head east." T-Dog states.

"Stay off the main roads." Daryl says, picking up his crossbow. "The bigger the road, the more walkers. More assholes like this one. I got him."

Daryl fires his crossbow, hitting the walker in the forehead.

Then they got into the vehicles and headed east.

While they were heading east, the truck horn honks, signaling for the others to stop. Everyone climbs out of their vehicles, as Rick jogs up to Daryl. "You out?" Daryl inquires.

"Running on fumes." Rick replies.

"The RV is almost out, too." Dale said.

"We can't stay here." Maggie said.

"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn contradicts.

"We'll make a run for gas in the morning." Rick said.

"Spend the night here?" Carol inquires.

"I'm freezing." Carl states.

"We'll build a fire." Lori said.

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close." Daryl tells them. "We only got so many arrows. How you doing on ammo?"

"Not enough." Rick answers.

"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out." Maggie said.

"Watch your mouth." Hershel scolds. "Everyone, stop panicking, and listen to Rick."

"We'll set up a perimeter." Rick states. "In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on."

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." Maggie said.

"No, we stay together. God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn said.

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure—I really wasn't—but we did. We're together. Let's keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."

"Rick, look around." Glenn said. "Okay? There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something."

"There's gotta be a place," Rick said. "Okay, not just where we hole up, but that we fortify. Hunker down, pull ourselves together. Build a life for each other. I know it's out there. We just have to find it."

"Even if we find a place," Maggie said before continuing, "and we think it's safe. We can never be sure. For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that it was safe."

"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel assures her.

"We'll make camp tonight," Rick says, pointing to a bridge just off the road. "Over there. We'll get on the road at the brink of day."

Carol approaches Daryl with Sophia asking, "Does this feel right to you?"

"What if walkers come through?" Beth asks Rick. "Or another group like Randall's?"

"You know I found Randall, right?" Daryl said. "He had turned, but he wasn't bit."

"How's that possible?" Beth inquires.

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori questions.

"Ed killed Randall. To separate us so he can get to Sophia." Daryl said

"You said Randall turned, but wasn't bit?" Shane asked Daryl who nodded. "Same thing happened to Ed. Rick killed him and then he turned. Why did he turned when you killed him, Rick?" Shane said.

"Wait. They turned, but wasn't bit?" Michael asked as both Shane and Daryl nodded. "Then he wasn't lying, Rick."

"Who wasn't lying, Mikey?" Shane asked. He then looked at Rick.

After a moment, Rick said, "We're all infected."

"What?" Daryl asks, incredulous.

"At the CDC, Jenner told us," Rick informs them. "Whatever it is, we all carry it."

"And you both never said anything?" Carol accuses.

"I thought he was lying." Michael said. "Rick?"

"Would it have made a difference?" Rick replies.

"You both knew this whole time?" Glenn asked.

"How could we have known for sure?" Rick counters. "You saw how crazy that mo—"

"That is not your call," Glenn snaps. "Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told for the good of everyone."

"Well, I thought it best if people didn't know." With that, Rick turns and stalks off, and Lori follows him after a moment.

Later that night

They make camp and sat around the fire. They talk quietly to each other when leaves suddenly rustle, and they got to their feet. "What was that?" Beth inquires.

"Could be anything," Daryl answers. "Could be a raccoon, could be a possum."

"A walker," Glenn suggests.

"We need to leave," Carol said. "What are we waiting for?"

"Which way?" Glenn inquires.

Maggie nods in one direction. "It came from over there."

"Back from where we came?" Beth questions.

"Yeah," Maggie answers.

"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark," Rick said as Shane and Michael stand next to him. "We don't have the vehicles. No one's travelling on foot."

A branch snaps, and Hershel said, "Don't panic."

"I'm not," Maggie says. "I'm not sitting here, waiting for another herd to blow through. We need to move, now."

"No one is going anywhere," Rick said, rather harshly.

"We stick together, y'all. Nobody leaves like Rick said." Shane told them.

"Do something," Carol tells them.

"We are doing something!" he snaps. "We're keeping this group together, alive. We've been doing that all along, no matter what. We didn't ask for this. I killed Ed for you people, for Christ's sake!" Rick continues, "You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He killed Randall to separate us, led me and Shane out to get Sophia." Rick pauses and looks at everyone before continuing, "Maybe you people are better off without Me, Mikey and Shane. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you go and find out yourself? Send us a postcard. Go on, there's the door. You can do better? Let's see how far you get."

No one gets up to leave. Rick continues, "No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight—you're staying. This isn't a democracy anymore."

It was quiet for a moment. Then Michael broke the silence. "We all stick together. Separated, we're weak. Together, we're strong. That's what a group does." He said as he turns to look at everyone before continuing, "But I see us as more than a group."

Everyone looks at Michael and wonders what he is about to said next. "Before all this, My parents, brothers and sister was murdered. After that, I thought I was alone. But Rick, Lori, Carl and Shane were there for me. I then realized that with them there, I'm never alone. Then when all hell broke loose, I met some new people. Lost a few of them to Walkers. Then we met you, your daughters and Otis and Patricia. You saved Carl's life. You gave us shelter. You didn't have to, but you did. What I'm saying is even though we lost 3 people, the rest of us are still here. That's all that matters right now. We're not just a group, to me we're family. And family stick together no matter what. All of you are my family now and from the bottom of my heart, I love you guys. We ride together, we die together. Family 4 life." He finished saying.

Everybody is touched by what Michael said.

Rick, Shane and Michael then did their bond as brothers. Rick then signal for Lori and Carl to join them. They put their hands on top of Rick's. Then Amy put her hand on top of Shane's. The rest put their hands in. They look at Michael.

"The last nine words I said, we all say them. Together." Michael said.

They nodded to him. All together they said,"We ride together, we die together. Family 4 life." They bow their heads in respect.

From then on, they decided to keep going on living. For who knows what's in store for them next.

That does it for season 2! Next is season 3 of my story. A lot is going to happen. Lots of guns firing, killing Walkers and more. So stay tuned. And May the Force be with you!