Chapter 26
After running into Daryl, Bay went downstairs and left the house to get some freshly washed and dried clothes from the clothes line out back. She didn't want to return to her room, because she knew that was where Daryl had been headed and right now, she didn't want to get changed in front of him. She figured they were both still running hot from their shower, and there were other things to do right now, than getting distracted by each other and probably end up rolling around in her bed. While she got herself some clothes from the line, she spied Hershel walking towards the barn, pushing a wheelbarrow in front of him. As she watched him, Bay's movements got harsher as she yanked a shirt off the line, making the clothespins fly through the air and land at her feet. She shook her head in disgust and stomped back into the house to change. After that, she started cleaning the kitchen. It would have been Beth's turn today, but she was hiding out somewhere with Jimmy, fooling around where her father wouldn't catch them. Bay only hoped that they hadn't strayed too far away from the farm for their alone time.
Half an hour later she was in the stables, cleaning out Nelly's box, when Hershel walked in. Bay watched him with a grim look, making the old man sigh. "You are looking at me like that every single time. It's not going to change anything, Bay, so don't give yourself any wrinkles. I am not letting our family and friends starve."
"They are not starving, Hershel. And they are not our family and friends. Not anymore." Bay said sharply.
"Once again, we'll have to agree to disagree on that."
"It's not right Hershel. Those are not the people we knew anymore. They are dead. There's nothing left of them. Would Annette try to kill you if she was still in there? Your poker buddy Don, would he try to eat you if it was still him? They are not alive Hershel. They died. We don't need to feed them. We don't need to sacrifice our animals for the dead. We have to put them out of their misery. I don't know how many times I will have to say it until you listen. You put an animal out of its misery when it's too far gone, but you won't show your wife the same mercy? You let her be this mindless, human-flesh eating thing? I don't get you, Hershel. I don't... This is not right." Bay shook her head angrily. Beth kept out of it, but Bay and Maggie were butting heads with Hershel regularly on this matter. They thought it wasn't right to keep them in the barn, letting them wander around brainlessly in there while they wait for new meat to show up. It's not what Annette would have wanted.
"They are just sick, Bay. They said it's a virus and a virus can be cured. We can save them." Hershel tried once again to convince her.
"There is no saving them, Hershel." Bay started shouting. "They are dead. DEAD. They freaking died, their hearts stopped beating and you know that. There is no saving them! One way or another, there is no saving them. Dale told me that they were at the CDC. Only one doctor was left standing, Hershel, ONE! And now he's gone. The whole CDC is gone. If they weren't able to help, then there is simply nobody left who can. We are doomed, Hershel. All we can do now is keep living as best as we can... survive... try to get the best out of the time we have left. That's all. No cure, no help." Bay had no illusions about the grim future ahead of them. She didn't think that there would be a cure. Maybe one day someone would be able to come up with a containment plan, but until then, there was nothing that they could do, but to stay put and stay alive. "You are doing your wife a huge disservice by keeping her locked up in that barn along with the others. This isn't God's work, you can't expect this problem to vanish into thin air. You can't help her live anymore. You can only help her and the rest of them to find true peace. I can do it. You won't have to. Just say the word and I will go in there and take care of it."
"You're wrong." Hershel shook his head. "They are still people, Bayanne. They are our people. We are not giving up on them. If anyone is doing Annette a disservice, it's you and Maggie, by saying these things."
"Right." Bay laughed humorlessly. "Whatever. Was there anything you needed?"
"Did you give Bessie her antibiotics?"
"I did."
"Good." Hershel nodded and turned to left the stables.
Shane ran back to the camp as fast as his feet would carry him. He had made a round around the farm, looking for walkers, when he had been attracted to the stables by Bay's shouting. He'd listened in, and as soon as it had become clear to him, that there were walkers in the barn, he'd taken off running. Now it made sense, why Hershel was so insistent on them keeping away from that building.
"Grab your guns!" he shouted as he headed straight for the RV, yanking open the door and looking around wildly for their bag of guns.
"The fuck's going on?" Daryl, who had moved back into his tent minutes ago, frowned when he watched a frantic Shane starting to distribute weapons.
"There's walkers in the barn. Hershel is keeping fucking walkers in the barn!" he shouted, making everyone stand at attention immediately. They all froze for a second, then most of them scrambled to get guns from the bag.
"What?" Rick had just approached from the house after checking on Carl, and had heard what Shane had said.
"Walkers, Rick. He is keeping walkers in there. We could have died out here. We gotta take care of 'em."
"We can't. Shane! Stop! Stop, people, stop! We can't. If we do this, we are out of here, you get that? Carl is not ready to travel and we haven't found Sophia yet. We can't get kicked out, do you get that? Let me talk to Hershel, we can figure this out." Rick was talking urgently, imploring Shane to calm down with his eyes, but his best friend wouldn't have it.
"No. No more talking, Rick. Hershel's just gotta understand. I heard them talking up in the stables. Him and Bay." Shane explained and looked at Daryl. "Your girl knows what's up. She knows what's gotta be done, we have her on our side, Maggie, too, but Hershel is in fucking denial, man. He won't kick us off. Not with two of his girls sidin' with us, Rick. This has got to be done." Shane grabbed a shotgun and pushed it into Daryl's hands. "You with me, man? You gonna protect your girl?"
"Hell yeah!" Daryl nodded enthusiastically. He might not see eye to eye with Shane a lot, but where this was concerned, he was on Shane's side. As long as those walkers were around, this farm was anything but safe, and not the place for Bay to be.
The scene was absolutely chaotic as the group headed towards the barn, most of them wielding guns and ready for battle. Rick's head was spinning. Shane was yelling, everybody was arguing and at the same time Lori and Carol were begging him to do something, to stop this and to ensure that they would be able to stay on this farm. "Shut up! All of you, just shut up! Lower your voices!" Rick shouted, and finally, everybody else quieted down. "This is not our decision to make. This isn't our land. We are guests here. If we clear out this barn, we need Hershel's consent to do so, we can't just go in there guns blazing." Rick took a deep breath and held up his hand, when Shane was about to go ranting again. "You said the girls want this taken care of? That's good, they can help us convince Hershel."
"Convince Hershel, my ass. Sounded like the girls tried and they ain't succeedin' Rick. I heard Bay offer to go in there and do the dirty work for him. He didn't bite!"
Daryl's head snapped up at that and he clutched his shotgun tighter. The hell? Ain't no way I'm lettin' her go in there. Crazy girl, ain't changed one bit.
"We just got to rip off the band-aid here, Rick. It's gotta be done, we all know it. Hell, his own family knows it, he's just too blind to see it right now."
Rick stemmed his hands into his hips and lowered his head. He didn't know what to do. If they went ahead and killed the walkers in the barn, Hershel would kick them off the land for sure. They weren't ready to leave. They couldn't go back out there. His son needed a safe place, they all needed it. There had to be another way.
"One more night." Rick finally said. "We can survive one more night. We'll keep watch. Tomorrow I'll talk to Hershel, until then, we do nothing. You hear? Nothing, Shane. Don't make Carl pay for what you think is the right thing to do here." Rick implored Shane once more, before he grabbed as many guns as he could out of people's hands and walked back to the camp. Once the guns were all safely put back in the bag and stowed in the RV, he went to seek out Maggie and Bay. He would need their help in bringing this matter up with Hershel. He found Maggie in the kitchen cutting green beans and knocked lightly on the door frame to get her attention.
"Can I talk to you?" he asked her when she looked up. Upon her nod he entered the kitchen and leaned against the counter opposite of her. "We found the barn..."
"Why the fuck didn't you tell me about the damn barn?" Daryl didn't beat around the bush when he stormed into Bay's room at the same time as Rick was downstairs with Maggie.
Bay looked up at him in surprise. "What do you know about the barn?"
"I know that it's full of walkers." he spat with narrowed eyes as he paced back and forth in front of her. "I know that ya think you can just go in there and take care of it yourself."
"Oh my God, did you eavesdrop on me and Hershel?" she asked with an incredulous look on her face.
"Nah, Shane did. They all know and they all want those fucking geeks gone! Why the fuck didn't ya say anything?"
"Because it's none of your business, Daryl. It's not your problem."
"The hell it isn't!" he scoffed. "How am I supposed to protect ya with a barn full of walkers right next to the damn house? Ya run around here all day, all carefree like nothing ever happened. What if they busted through those doors? You ain't got no gun. You'd be down faster than you could blink. That what ya want?"
"No, it's not what I want." she sighed and dropped down on the bed, which sheets she had just changed again. "Look, I'm not happy about it, either. Maggie and I talked to him a hundred times, but Hershel still thinks he can save all of them. He thinks he's just gotta keep them fed while he waits for a cure."
"He's insane. He ain't got no idea what it's like out there. There ain't no saving them. I saw it with my own eyes. At the CDC. They're fucking dead. Their brain just restarts enough to get them up walking, that's it. Everything else is dead."
"You don't have to tell me. I believe you. But unfortunately for you guys, what I believe doesn't count here. You're gonna have to convince Hershel."
"Rick's working on that." Daryl sighed, finally calming down again.
"Good luck to Rick, then."
"You can help him. You and Maggie. He's prolly gonna ask ya to." Daryl warned her.
"We can talk to him, but I don't know what it's gonna help." Bay looked at him and noticed him pressing his hand to his side for a moment. "Pain worse again?"
"It's fine." he waved her off.
"Liar." she smiled and opened her nightstand drawer. "Here, snagged these for you earlier." she handed him two small white pills which would help him with the pain.
"Thanks." he took them and swallowed them dry. It made him happy that she had thought about him and had gotten him pain killers as a precaution. Still, a bit of an awkward silence befell them now. She was giving him a second chance, but what exactly did that mean? Were they back together now? Or still just friends? What was he supposed to do now?
He started by sitting next to her on her bed. They just sat there for a moment, neither knowing what to say, before he cleared his throat after a couple of minutes. "I'm gonna go back out tomorrow. Look for the girl."
"I would tell you that you should wait another day or two, but I guess I'd be wasting my breath. Am I right?"
"You could come with me." he shrugged casually. "You know... make sure I'm safe." he grinned slightly and nudged her elbow with his.
"I can't. I'm going to the pharmacy tomorrow, but you should take Maggie. She knows the area very well." Bay told a frowning Daryl.
"The hell you going to the pharmacy for? Thought that was Maggie's job?"
"Not exclusively. I need something and I wanna make sure to get the right thing, so I'm going myself."
"You ain't goin' by yourself!"
"Okay. I'll ask Glenn to come with me, if you take Maggie with you." she smiled when he rolled his eyes at her.
"Fine. Don't know what the girl's gonna help, but if it makes ya take Glenn to the pharmacy, then I'll do it."
"Maggie can help you a great deal. She knows the land and the surrounding farms like the back of her hand, unlike me. She'll be more help than me, actually. You should head north to the houses, look there." Bay suggested.
"Houses are possibly full of walkers. Don't think she would go there." Daryl argued.
"If I would be a little girl lost in the woods, I'd look for a house. Hole up somewhere warm until someone found me. Get out of that green, hellish maze only superb hunters can navigate without a compass."
"Was that a compliment?"
"Maybe... " she laughed and nudged him this time. "What's this I hear about you throwing squirrels and being abrasive? That's not you."
"It is me." he corrected her. "What I turned into after you were gone. What Merle made out of me. Was nothin' good in life left for me after they told me you jumped. Was fucking angry all the time. Was angry at you, too."
"At me?" she was surprised. "What were you angry at me for?"
"Suicide... taking after your parents. Taking the easy way out. That wasn't the girl I knew. You're a fighter. You don't give up, no matter how hard shit is. Should've known you never would have done it." he reached over and carefully took her hand in his. "I ain't the same anymore, Bay. Guess you should know that before... dunno..."
"Who says I haven't changed? It's been a long time, Daryl. We both grew up, we've both seen things... done things... It's bound to be different this time around." she looked at him and smiled. "Just look at you. You look so different. Physically you're a completely new person." She reached her free hand up and traced her fingertips over his scruff. The Daryl she had been with back in the day had always been so soft, no facial hair whatsoever. Looks like he'd been a late bloomer, but he's since made up for it. "Daryl 2.0... as stupid as it sounds. It's gonna be different, and maybe that's for the best. Like you said, fresh start."
"You're gonna hate who I've become." he scoffed self-deprecatingly and hung his head.
"No." she squeezed his hand reassuringly, making him look up at her. "Trust me, I can say with the utmost certainty, that I could never hate you. Believe me, I've tried. I had enough reason to, but it never happened." She pulled their linked hands up to her mouth and kissed his knuckles gently, one by one. "Things are gonna be better again. You can find your way back, Daryl. We can do that together. Maybe not all the way back, but the guy you used to be, he's still in there. I can see it in your eyes. What you are doing for Carol... that's you. Sweet and selfless, always trying to help. You are still that person. Not all is lost. And just so you know, the only fault I ever saw you having was, that you kept listening to your brother. Apart from that, you used to be perfect in my eyes."
"You're really fucking crazy. Always been." he smiled a little.
"Maybe, yeah... But I guess you never really minded all that much, did you?" she grinned and leaned in a little closer.
"Nah... Liked it all." he mumbled, and started biting his lip, showing her that he was nervous. It made her smile even more. This was what she had always loved about him. Sometimes he was so confident, that it might have bordered on being cocky, while other times, he was still painfully shy and nervous. She wanted to kiss those damn lips. They were still as luscious as ever, even though the facial hair might take a bit getting used to.
They were so close,... so damn close, but once again, a knock on the door stopped them from kissing. Bay looked to the door just when Maggie poked her head in. The younger woman's eyes widened when she saw them so close and holding hands, while Bay sighed deeply. "Maggie, we really gotta work on your timing."
"I'm sorry, but we should talk. All of us." She opened the door wider to reveal Rick, and Daryl, on instinct, quickly removed his hand from her grasp and shifted a little away from her. Bay didn't even notice in that moment, because she was focused on Maggie and Rick.
"About the barn and your father's opinion on the people inside?"
"Exactly."
"Well, you know my opinion on the matter, I don't know what else you want to talk about." Bay was slightly frustrated at having been interrupted again, and it showed, much to the amusement of Maggie and Rick. However, they didn't show it as this wasn't the time to joke around.
"We need to talk some sense into him." Maggie closed the door behind them and leaned against it.
"We talked to him a million times, Maggie. He's in denial. He doesn't see them as dead. He really thinks people can find a cure, that they give them a shot and they miraculously come back to life." Bay was sick and tired of having the same discussion over and over again. "He's crazy where that's concerned."
Rick nodded. "It doesn't work like that. We were at the CDC, they had no idea what it was or how to cure it. It's all over the world, that's what he told us. Ain't just here. There's nothing left. The walkers are starting to outnumber us. We have to put down as much as we can of them, try to keep it from spreading it even further and further. We've been out there, we know what it's like and I'm telling you, we can't go back out there. Not with the kids. This farm is a blessing. I don't know how, but it's completely shielded. It's where my son needs to be. It's where Sophia needs to be once we find her. We can't leave. We're dead if he sends us back out there."
Bay looked at Maggie, trying to see where she stood on the whole group staying. She didn't have to wonder for long, because Maggie spoke up when Rick was finished. "We have to show him the benefits of them staying. We need help around here. We've all been working like crazy and we're barely able to keep up with everything."
"Your father is refusing help Maggie, you know that. He says that it's his field to tend." Bay reminded her.
"I know, but he is not getting any younger. He needs to see that, and I think he is starting to see it. He just needs a push. We have to convince him to open up our home permanently to Rick and the others."
"Okay, we'll try. We'll talk to him tomorrow after we're back from our runs. Can we get Beth on board, too? If he listens to anybody, out of all of us, it will be her he would listen to the most." Bay looked questioningly at Maggie, who was already nodding.
"I already talked to her. She thinks it would be good for them to stay, too. The only thing she's keeping out of is the barn matter."
"Right." Bay slapped her hands down on her thighs with finality and got up from the bed. "Then we'll talk to him tomorrow." she said again, while Rick and Maggie nodded in agreement. "Oh Maggie, while I have you here. Since I'm going out to the pharmacy tomorrow, can you accompany Daryl while he searches for Sophia? Show him the way to the houses up north?"
"Sure. You got it." Maggie nodded. She didn't mind at all. It would actually be a good opportunity for her to talk to Daryl and get to know him a little. "When do you wanna leave?" She asked the man who was sitting on Bay's bed.
"First light." he said in a gruff tone of voice, making Bay roll her eyes with a little smile. They would really have to work on his gruffness a little.
"Good. I'll meet you out front at first light, then." Maggie confirmed and opened the door to leave.
"Thanks." Rick smiled at Bay. "For helping us."
"No thanks necessary." Bay smiled and put her hand on his arm. In his peripheral vision Rick was able to see Daryl's eyes zeroing in on Bay touching his arm, and he couldn't help himself, he needed to see the reaction it would evoke in the redneck, when he put his hand on Bay's back in return.
"If you need help with anything, Bay... Just tell me." he smiled and casually let his eyes wander over to Daryl, who was scowling at him murderously. Rick grinned internally and removed his hand from Bay's body in the next moment.
"Actually, there is something." Bay said. "I need to go to the pharmacy tomorrow and I wondered if Glenn might be able to come with me."
"I'll ask him, but it shouldn't be a problem." Rick assured her. "Daryl? Can you come back to camp with me? We wanna talk about the search tomorrow."
"Mhm." Daryl grunted with a nod. He got up and when he passed Bay he wanted to ask her, if he would see her later, but somehow, he didn't dare in front of Rick. So the men left without another word, and Bay actually had to laugh a little after she had closed the door.
"No you don't, Daryl Dixon. You don't go back to being ashamed of me in front of other people. That's not how it's gonna work. Didn't let you do that back then and I won't let you do it now."
She didn't see him for the rest of the day, though, and the next day he left with Maggie first thing in the morning, to look some more for Sophia. Bay prayed every day for the little girl. She knew it's been days and that the chances of finding her alive were slim to none, but until they didn't know for sure, she wouldn't give up hope for Sophia. Kids were resilient. If anyone would survive something like this, then it would be them.
"You and Maggie are getting closer, aren't you?" Bay asked Glenn conversationally when they were riding into town.
"Uh... yes Ma'... I mean, Bay." Glenn replied nervously.
"So... do you like her or is she just your convenient slam-piece for the time being?"
Glenn's eyes widened and he shook his head frantically. "No, no, no... it's not like that. I'm not like that. She's... I like her."
"Good." Bay nodded with satisfaction. "She's the last family I have you know? I would hate to see her get hurt."
"I won't... not on purpose."
"Yeah... Heard that one before, Glenn. But I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt. You seem like a good guy."
"Thanks... I guess." he mumbled and ducked his head back down. Bay watched him with interest, not getting why he was so fidgety around her, but suddenly it hit her.
"Are you scared of me, Glenn?"
"No!" he answered a little too quickly. "Just... you can be intimidating." he said, and startled when Bay actually laughed out loud.
"ME? Intimidating? Are you kidding me?"
"I... uhm... you dated Daryl... he's... um... different. You gotta be intimidating yourself to handle him, I figure." Glenn stammered, while Bay continued chuckling.
"Oh boy... Glenn, you don't know the first thing about me or Daryl. Well, good thing that we are all going to spend more time together, right?" Bay winked. "Hey, relax. I'm not gonna rip your head off until you seriously screw up. See this?" she pulled the cross necklace out of her top for him to see. "Some people liked to describe me as a quiet little church mouse, but Daryl will tell you that I can turn into a freaking Mama Bear if you threaten my cubs. That's all you have to worry about Glenn. Treat my family right and we'll be a-okay."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"Okay, call me Ma'am one more time and I will whack you upside the head." Bay threatened jokingly. "I'm thirty years old, and not a grandma yet."
"How old is Daryl?" Glenn asked curiously. They had all guessed around the campfire a couple of times, but nobody had been able to figure it out, and there were a lot of different opinions.
"He's two years older than me. Which makes him thirty-two now. Thirty-three soon."
"He looks older. I was way off. Good thing we didn't bet on it." Glenn finally laughed a little.
"If you look at him closely you can see it. I guess the facial hair and all the dirt are making him look older. I was startled at first, too. At how much older he looked. But after I cleaned him a little I saw that he actually hadn't aged that much."
"Were you together long?"
"A couple of months. Close to a year. I think you and I, we know two very different Daryls. It's surprising to me, that you were so surprised about him having had a 'nice' girlfriend once upon a time. He was a wonderful boyfriend, you know? He did everything to make sure that I was okay. He worried when I wasn't feeling well. He pulled up the blanket when he woke up at night and noticed that I was cold. He was very caring. Don't tell him I told you, though. I'm not sure he would like that these days." Bay quickly added at the end.
"Hard to imagine." Glenn tried to envision Daryl being the perfect boyfriend, but it wasn't happening. "Guess he changed after you broke up."
"Looks like he did, yeah. And I think we can thank Merle for a lot of that. But I think Daryl is changing yet again. I think now with Merle gone, he is returning to his roots. He's a good guy, Glenn. You'll see."
"Yeah." Glenn nodded, not knowing what else to say. "We're here."
They got off their horses and went inside, carefully checking for walkers, before they started looking for the things on their lists. Bay soon put her backpack on the counter and took out some items in order to reorganize it and fit in more stuff. Glenn joined her, scratching his head as he tried to figure out where to look for the item Lori had written down for him on an extra piece of paper. Absently his gaze drifted over the items Bay had put on the counter next to her pack. Micro-thin large Condoms. Trojan Magnum. Magnum XL. His eyes widened and he inhaled audibly.
"What?" Bay asked without looking at him.
"Nothing. Just that that's way more than I ever wanted to know about Daryl, I guess." Glenn made a face as he waved towards the condoms. Bay looked over then and blushed as she quickly stuffed the condom boxes into her backpack.
"Oh... You didn't see that!" she mumbled mortified.
"Nope... no I didn't. Already forgot about that." he said quickly.
"Are you done with your list?"
"Um yeah... except for one thing... I um... I don't know... Lori wrote it down. I'm just gonna..."
Before he was able to say anymore, Bay had torn the piece of paper out of his hand and looked at what Lori had written down. Pills "Plan B". Lori needs the morning after pill? Oh man, didn't think I'd ever have to deal with those again. Might not be a bad idea to take a couple of boxes of those. Bay took off towards the back to go look for the pills, while Glenn just stood there with a puzzled look on his face.
"You know what she meant?"
"Yep." Bay simply stated while she looked through the shelves. She took all that was left of the emergency contraceptive and turned back around to go back to Glenn. She got the shock of her life when two cold hands grabbed her arms and pulled her back. She shrieked and struggled and tried to get free, but the walker that had grabbed her was surprisingly strong. "GLENN! GLEEEENN!" she screamed for help as she struggled with all she had. The sound of teeth snapping close to her ear made her heart beat out of her chest in a panic. She stomped on the walkers foot with all her might, trying to distract him with pain like she would do with a living person, but unfortunately for her, walkers didn't feel pain and it didn't let up and the next growl was dangerously close to her ear.
"Bay! Head down!" Glenn yelled as he came running, Maggie's baseball bat ready to swing. Bay bowed her head until her chin hit her chest and just a second later she felt the bat whizz past her head and strike the walker with a loud crunch. It let go of her as it fell back and Bay's shaky legs gave out and she fell to the floor as well. She quickly crawled backwards, putting some distance between herself and that thing that had almost killed her, watching Glenn bash its head in until it stopped moving. "Bay! Are you okay? Did it get you?" Glenn knelt down next to her and looked over her arms and neck, trying to spot any scratches or bites. He almost fell back when Bay was suddenly lunging herself at him, slinging her arms around him and hugging him close.
"Thank you!" she whispered shakily. "Thank you, Glenn."
He patted her back and held her for a moment, before he gently pushed her back. "Let's get out of here."
"Gladly." she was still gasping for air when Glenn helped her up and they grabbed their backpacks and left the pharmacy.
She had barely calmed down by the time they had reached the farm, when the next shock was waiting for them. Gunfire. So damn much gunfire greeted them, that Bay didn't dare breathe as all the possibilities of what might be happening flashed through her mind. They took off at a gallop and the closer they got to the house, the louder the shots got, but they started dying down. They halted, when the barn came into view and they saw what was going on. The highway group was assembled in front of the barn. The doors were open and the walkers were stumbling out and getting shot by Rick, Shane & Co. Only Dale and Carol were hanging back and watching, while Hershel was on his knees, with a crying Beth clinging on to him.
"Holy shit." Bay watched the scene with wide eyes, and her stomach dropped. She didn't know how this had happened, but she had a feeling, that Hershel hadn't given his consent. This was not how it was supposed to go down, but it was too late to intervene. The last walker had gone down and it was suddenly eerily quiet. They all just stood and stared silently for a little while, then she watched Hershel get up on wobbly legs and walk back towards the house, Rick walking next to him, talking urgently. Bay and Glenn got off the horses and tied them to the post in front of the house. "What happened?" She asked as the trio came closer.
"Shane took matters into his own hand." Rick said with disdain, shaking his head in disappointment at his best friends actions. Bay would later learn that Shane had gotten fed up with waiting and had riled up T-Dog and Andrea, walking down to the barn with them and opening the doors by pulling on the chain with a pickaxe. There had been no stopping him.
"I'm sorry Hershel." Bay approached the old man, but he waved her off.
"This is what you wanted. Don't you tell me you're sorry. Leave me be. All of you." he said with a tear-stricken voice and disappeared inside the house while Beth launched herself into Bay's arms and sobbed hysterically. She had just watched her mother getting gunned down mercilessly. To Beth it hadn't been a walker, but the woman who had given birth to her, raised her and loved her for all her life. The young girl was shocked to the core.
"Bay, I'm sorry. This is not what we wanted, I tried to stop it, but it was too late." Rick apologized to her.
"It's not your fault, Rick. It's okay... It's done. We'll work through it, and we'll be fine." Bay said. She wasn't so sure of it, but it's what she hoped would happen. "Come on, sweetheart, let's get you inside, too." she murmured gently to Beth and walked her into the house.
"Bay!" Rick called out to her. "We can't go back out there."
"Go back to your family, Rick. We'll figure this out later. I promise. I need to take care of Beth and we need to wait for Maggie." Bay told him before she took the crying girl to her room. She laid down with her and let Beth cry into her shoulder for what seemed like an eternity. She hoped Maggie and Daryl wouldn't be out for too long. She needed both of them here, and pronto.
"It's okay, Beth. Ssshhh it's alright, sweetie. She didn't feel anything anymore. She's at peace now." Bay murmured gently to Beth, hoping she would calm down soon. Between getting attacked in the pharmacy and coming home to a small massacre, she was unbelievably tired. She needed to find Daryl, drag him into her room and into her own bed, crawl into the safety and warmth only his arms were able to provide, and sleep.
She was glad that Daryl was back in her life, and she found herself liking most of the new people staying on their farm, but one thing was for damn sure: Life had been much quieter and much more peaceful without them around.
Unfortunately the day went from bad to worse. When Beth had fallen asleep, Bay had gone to check on Hershel in his bedroom. She had found it empty, so she had searched the entire farm for her 'Substitute Daddy', as Daryl called Hershel, but hadn't found him anywhere.
"DALE!" she ran towards the RV. She had noticed quickly that Dale had an eye on everybody and always seemed to know about everything that was going on. Maybe he had seen Hershel somewhere. "Have you seen Hershel?"
"Not since that massacre earlier. What's wrong?" The man in the Hawaiian shirt and floppy hat walked towards her, wearing a concerned expression.
"I wanted to check on him, but I can't find him anywhere. I think he's gone." Bay was slightly hysteric. "I looked everywhere, Dale. Where in the world is he? He can't leave the farm..."
"Now, now, calm down, dear. It will be alright. Let's go find Rick, maybe he knows something." Dale gently squeezed Bay's arms, trying to reassure her that things would be okay, while they went towards the barn where clean-up was happening.
"It won't be alright, Dale. We don't know how to handle ourselves out there. We don't have much experience with the walkers, especially not Hershel. What if he gets bit?"
"Hershel is a smart man, he can handle himself until we find him, I truly believe that, Bay. Don't worry. Maybe he needed to get away for a moment, maybe he is wandering around the land."
"No, he isn't. See that?" she pointed towards a big shed that had functioned as a garage. "His truck is gone. Goddamnit Hershel..."
"Rick!" Dale called out to their leader to get his attention. "We have a problem."
"Another one?" Rick said with a tired voice and rubbed the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"Hershel's gone." Dale stated.
"Gone?" That's when Rick noticed Bay's distraught state. "He left the farm?"
"His truck is gone." Bay nodded, trying to keep her tears from falling, but staying calm after the morning they already had wasn't easy. "We have to go after him, we have to find him."
"I'll go." Rick nodded and took off his gloves. "Shane!" he called out to his best friend before he turned his attention back to Bay. "Any idea where he might have gone?"
"I don't know... maybe the bar? He's an alcoholic. He's been sober for years, but watching your wife die again might drive anyone back to the bottle, I reckon."
"Alright, we'll check that out first. It's in town?"
"Yeah, just a little ways down the street from the pharmacy."
"Okay. Shane!" Rick bellowed again.
"You're not gonna take Shane, are you? I'm sure he's the last person Hershel wants to see right now." Bay looked at Rick incredulously.
"Ain't got no one else, Bay."
"You have Glenn and T-Dog, why not take one of them?"
"Because Shane and I work well together, Bay. I agree, Hershel probably doesn't want to see him right now, but I think if he isn't at the bar I have a better chance of finding him faster with Shane." Bay wasn't happy about Rick taking Shane and it was very obvious to the former sheriff. He took a step closer and put his hands on her upper arms and looked her in the eyes. "Bay listen,... you and Hershel, you took care of my family, now let me take care of yours and trust me, alright?"
"Alright, fine." Bay sighed. "I have to get back to Beth. Please hurry and bring him back, yeah?"
"I will." Rick promised and hoped that he would be able to keep it.
"Come on, Bay. I'll walk you back to the house." Dale guided her away from the barn and to the steps of the porch. "I'll keep watch. I'll tell you as soon as I see something."
"Thanks Dale." she smiled gratefully and went back inside to look after Beth. She hoped the girl wouldn't lose her father today, too. Jesus Hershel, please, please, please be safe. We can't lose you, too.
Thank you for reading! And a happy TWD-Sunday to all of you! The next chapter will be out on Tuesday.
I hope I replied to everyone who reviewed. I sometimes get confused, lol, don't kill me for that.
Also thank you to my lovely guest reviewers who I can't reply to.
Dear Snowbird: I am planning on covering all seasons. I would love to keep this going forever, lol. Thank you so much for the continued support, I hope you are doing well! xoxo