Chapter 2 "Easy"

Day 2

The next morning, Robert woke up to the smell of homemade eggs and bacon, a scent he hadn't smelled in many years. For a moment he thought that he was back at his grandmother's house and that she had made him breakfast. He then remembered everything that had happened. How that crazy man had died. How LaRissa had been bitten. And that he and his friends were now living under the roof of strangers on a farm in the middle of nowhere.

Robert rose out of bed and was about to put on the clothes he wore yesterday, but he was surprised to see that they were gone. In their place were fresh clothes: a fresh pair of blue jeans, black socks, plain black boxers, and a green plaid short-sleeved button-up. He put them on and went downstairs, where he saw Annette and Beth working at the stove, while Hershel was at the table reading a newspaper, with Shawn and Arnold sitting next to him. Hershel looked over to see Robert standing at the stairs and smiled. "Good morning, son! Did you sleep well?" Robert nodded, giving a slight smile in return.

"I see you found my clothes," said Shawn. "Since y'all lost all your luggage yesterday, we decided it wouldn't be any harm to lend y'all some clothes. Beth and Maggie gave some of their clothes to your friends, too." Shawn looked to be in his mid to late twenties, and had stunning eyes of hazel. He was wearing a plain white shirt, as he often did, and blue jeans just like the pair Robert was given. Like his father and his step-cousin, he wore brown, worn-out cowboy-style boots. His smile was enticing, and he looked very friendly. His dad was almost the opposite, fat and wrinkly, with squinty, dark eyes, in frumpier, duller clothes, including brown overalls. According to Maggie the night before, who had brought his birthday that was a few weeks back, he was 72. Arnold was a very plump, nerdy-looking man that seemed a bit shy. He was Maggie's cousin. Hershel's first wife was named Josephine, and he had Maggie with her. She died sometime later, and he got remarried to Annette, who had had Shawn from a previous marriage. The two then had Beth together. Arnold was Josephine's brother Jonathan's son, and was visiting for the summer.

Annette, their mother, looked very pretty for her age. She had very long brown hair that went to her lower back, though most often it was up in a bun. She must have been about fifty, and she liked to wear long dresses. Beth was a very attractive girl, just like her older sister Maggie. Beth had long blonde hair and was quite scrawny. Maggie was the opposite, with short brunette hair, and seemed to be more fit, with a very shapely figure.

Robert joined the men at the table, making small talk. Lily and Lyrik came down the stairs about twenty minutes later, dressed in fresh clothes that seemed a bit long on them as the duo were both quite short. Lily was a very short girl with a bit of meat on her and mid-length brunette hair. Lyrik was almost a mirror image in terms of proportions, except she was dark-skinned with quite short, nappy, black hair.

Seeing them made Robert remember LaRissa, who was as plump as the other two girls, but was just as tall as Robert and had long, reddish-brown hair. "How's LaRissa doing?" he asked.

Hershel seemed to remember something as well, and he half-smiled at Robert. "Go see for yourself," he said. Robert looked to Lyrik and Lily and the three hurried upstairs to LaRissa's room. She was awake. She was still quite weak, but she was eating and drinking.

Though obviously in pain, LaRissa smiled at them as they came in. "Guys, hey," she said. They smiled back at her. "I know I don't look so good-"

Lily laughed to herself. "Don't look so good now? Should have seen yourself before this happened!" Robert and Lyrik looked to Lily, slightly shocked she couldn't keep her humor to herself at a time like this, despite both of them smiling about it.

LaRissa half-smiled weakly. "Thanks, Lily. But thank you guys so much for helping me out, bringing me here. I'd be dead if you guys didn't do anything."

Looking at her, Robert was getting concerned. Even though Hershel had helped fix the bite wound, LaRissa still didn't look very good. She was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, her sheer pink top was now stained with blood and dirt. She looked even more ill than when they arrived. Robert thought to himself, You're dead anyways, but smiled at her and reassured her, "Of course. We're best friends."

Annette walked in and told them that LaRissa needed her rest, and that Hershel could use their help. She smiled at LaRissa as she closed the door behind them and led them back to the kitchen. As they were eating, they spoke solemnly about LaRissa. "I'm just sayin'," Lyrik sighed, "I'm pretty sure LaRissa's not gonna make it."

Hershel took them outside and showed them around his land. He asked if Robert's group were willing or able in any way to help out around here while they stayed. They all agreed to help with anything Hershel needed, whether it be helping to take care of LaRissa or helping with the animals. Robert then volunteered to help with the farming, realizing that Hershel probably had more things in mind for them to do than to laze around until someone or something gets sick. Lily quickly caught on and joined, as well. Hershel smiled at them and nodded his head.

"Great," he said. "For now, let's go back and tidy up a spare bedroom or two. We have a few people movin' in, and we should make room for everybody."

"More?" Lyrik asked hesitantly, worried that the teens may be kicked out soon to make room for people the family actually knows.

"Yeah, three more," Hershel nodded. "They can't live in town anymore. They say it's way too dangerous with all the walkers around. People gettin' sick left and right." The teens nodded politely, hardly able to imagine what being surrounded by what they experienced yesterday would be like.

Due to the new additions to the household, Robert was forced to move in with LaRissa. LaRissa had come down with a heavy fever later that day, and couldn't move at all without experiencing crippling pain. That night, Robert was sitting next to LaRissa in her bed, talking to her as she drifted to sleep about how they should try to get back home soon, assuming that the walkers were disposed of, having seen very few here in Hershel's secluded lands.

"We should get back on the road as soon as we can," Robert said, looking down to meet LaRissa's eyes, but they were closed.

"I'm sorry," LaRissa choked out forcefully.

"Don't be. It's not your fault that psychopath — what was it, Jackson? — put you in danger. To be honest, I'm kinda glad he's dead now." Robert looked back down at her. She was so pale. She looked weak. If she didn't start getting better soon, this might be the end for her. He looked away, out the window, watching clouds roll in. "You're gonna to make it," he said, trying to reassure himself more than he was her.

After a long pause, LaRissa's wheezing breath faded into silence. Robert's breath caught. He slowly looked to her, hoping she was simply yawning, or stretching. Of course, she wasn't. She wasn't breathing at all. Robert began to panic. He began shaking her, and she was so frail, so weak. He put his ear to her chest. Nothing.

Robert got off the bed and ran to Hershel's bedroom door. He pounded his fists against the wood. "Hershel! Annette! Get up, I need you right now!"

"What do you want?! Just a second!" Hershel yelled angrily and groggily through the closed door.

"I think LaRissa's dead!" Robert screamed, running back to LaRissa. Hershel came out a few moments later with some serious bed head, followed by Annette, dressed only in a silk robe. They rushed into LaRissa and Robert's room and checked for the girl's vitals. Seeing no response, Hershel decided to try CPR.

Despite all of their attempts, Hershel got no response. No matter what the old couple tried, it appeared that it was no use. He pronounced her as dead, and lifted the sheet over her cold head. A teenage girl's life had just been lost out of what appeared to be insane, senseless violence. A group of friends had just lost a dear friend at a time in their lives that they should not even be considering death.

Robert grabbed his stuff and decided to bunk with Lily and Lyrik that night, not wanting to sleep next to the dead body of one of his closest friends.

"I hate to say it, but I told you so," Lyrik said. Lily rolled her eyes, noticing Robert was very upset.

"Come on, Lyrik, really?" Lily questioned angrily. "We all know you don't hate to say that., but this is absolutely not the time for that."

Robert ignored the whole conversation and rolled over on the bed they made him on the floor, facing away from them. He cried himself to sleep, thinking about all the things he hadn't gotten to say to her. How much she must have suffered before she finally just let go. How her last words were "I'm sorry." The entire situation was awful, and he couldn't believe that LaRissa was dead. This had to be a dream. This was unreal. Lily and Lyrik did their best to comfort him, to the point that they both began to cry, too. Tonight, they lost a true friend, and they would never forget it.