Chapter 6 "Followed"

Day 15

Since the new group of six has arrived at the farm, they have actually improved the whole group's survival rate. Occasionally, a stray walker or two may come out of the woods. To take care of the issue of walking outside and being met with an undead monster approaching, Seth suggested they have a lookout at all times and that they could take shifts. They even assist the majority group in all of the jobs, and the farm has grown and is back on track for a successful harvest.

They had enough guns to get every Greene family member armed, as well as Robert, Lily, Otis, and Jimmy. The two days after they arrived, they took the group into town to the local firing range and taught them quite a bit about shooting and aiming, as well as quickly reloading. Seth and Lee impressed everyone as they dispatched of walkers in town with ease and seemed very confident in surviving this new world.

Everyone in the group has begun to warm up to the new group. They have been very nice, and none of them have seemed too threatening to them. The only one who seemed suspicious in any way was Seth, who seemed to be hiding a lot of things. Everyone else was either a sad mother or an average citizen, and thus didn't much cause any suspicion.

Generally, however, they seemed to be quite paranoid, or on the lookout for something. It seemed quite off to the original group. They were constantly volunteering for lookout duty, or staring outside windows to the road. Hershel, Patricia, and Arnold, having already grown much closer to them than some of the more suspicious, said that they were probably just working extra hard to show that they can pull their weight and make sure they were all safe. That they are proving they are worth keeping around, especially because they must have seen and experienced awful things. Finally, they were beginning to ease up, and they decided to let Arnold have night shift as lookout so that they could all finally get some much-needed rest.

Arnold got onto watch duty just around sundown, right after dinner. He went upstairs and climbed onto the roof through Hershel's window to take his position for the night. He brought up his favorite magazine for when it gets too quiet, and a fresh cup of coffee for just in case.

Hours and hours passed, way past midnight, and the only thing he saw was a stray walker crossing from one side of the field to the other, being swallowed back into the forest.

About an hour before sunrise, Arnold was getting very tired. He went inside for a quick refill of coffee. He climbed in through Hershel's window, being careful not to wake the man. The overweight man eased his way downstairs, passing by everyone's bedroom doors. When he got downstairs, he was careful to step lightly, so as to not wake up Seth's group. In the kitchen, he found he had drank nearly all of the coffee in the empty pot, aside from a thin layer of coffee in the bottom. He poured what little he could into his cup and started up a new pot. Paranoid, and knowing it would take about twenty minutes for the coffee to make, he quietly shuffled back upstairs and out the window to return to his post.

He sat back on the roof and sipped at what little coffee he had. By his third sip, it was gone, and he groaned to himself, putting his head in his hands. Then, he heard a low rumble that took him off guard. He lifted his head from his hands. It was a shaky, vibrating sound, and it felt like a small earthquake. He almost brushed it off as an actual earthquake before he noticed movement up the road. There, a massive truck was driving up, followed by a small car with long paint scratches on one side. From the dimness, the truck looked like a rolling, demonic porcupine, with spikes and chains dressing it, poles sticking out of many sides of it it, and most of the vehicle covered in blood. Their headlights were turned off, and they were moving quite slowly. Clearly, the drivers were trying not to be noticed. They're either looking for something, Arnold thought to himself, or they know we're here and want something from us. God, I hope they just want directions.

Arnold readied his gun, pointing it into the windshield of the blood-splattered truck. Looking through the sniper, he saw a large, dark man, who appeared to be either Hispanic or simply very tanned. He had muscles ripping at the seams and the beginnings of a handlebar mustache. In the passenger seat was a smaller, though still quite fit, white man with a buzzcut. He had an angry sneer on him, and a blade of wheat between his teeth. Arnold sighed in concern. Maybe sugar?

As the vehicles neared the house, Arnold pressed against the side of the roof, right next to Hershel's window, attempting to blend in. He kept his sniper up and watched the people in the vehicles as they studied the house. They were looking at the grounds around the farm, eyeing up vehicles and things outside such as tables and occasionally trying to see through windows. They were nearly out of sight and surrounded by the trees again, on the exit of the road off of the farm, when the small car stopped. The truck soon took notice and stopped, as well. A flashlight turned on in the car, illuminating the people within and revealing three people in the back. The light first was directed to the back window of the truck to get their attention before the beam turned and shone in a direction Arnold couldn't see. He scooted closer to the edge of the house as the roof creaked below him, and saw that the beam was on the vehicle Seth's group arrived in.

After a few moments of the flashlight's beam scanning the car, presumably making sure it was the right one, the light turned off and the vehicles began moving, quicker this time. Arnold felt a rush of relief. They were mistaken. This isn't the car they're looking for. He lowered his gun and began to smile. Then, the truck made a sharp u-turn, the car following. Their headlights blazed to life, blinding Arnold instantly. He fumbled, attempting to raise his gun, but struggling to find the right parts of it in the bright light.

The two vehicless drove up into the yard and parked right below the part of the house Arnold was pressed up against. Arnold's eyes finally adjusted to the light and he squinted, his gun up and finger on the trigger. The strangers climbed out of the cars and stood right in front of them, becoming no more than silhouettes standing in the headlights. There was about ten of them. The big, strong one lifted his gun, using his sniper in the same manner Arnold was. As he was about to fire, he realized that this man was unfamiliar. He lowered his gun back down. "Who are you?" called the stranger.

"A-Arnold," the farm hand squeaked in horror. The other silhouettes around him raised their guns in unison. Arnold considered lowering his, but was too afraid to move. "A-" he paused, "Arnold Greene."

The leader nodded his head in response. "Well, Arnold, have you seen any people around recently? A group of four? Maybe a bit more?" Arnold was quivering, instantly thinking of Seth's group and his head filled with anger and fright. What did they do? The large man in the headlights continued, "Their leader's a pretty built guy, dual-colored hair. Should be traveling with a black guy and two weak girls. Unless they died by now. Ringing any bells, Arno'?"

Arnold was having trouble breathing and thinking at the same time as he stood vulnerably on a roof, lit up and surrounded by dangerous strangers. What should he say? What happened? Were the people in Seth's group bad people? Murderers? Thieves? Arnold realized the gravity of the situation, nine guns pointed at him, ready to fire, and snapped back into it. With immediate regret, he said "Yes."

"Just as I thought. Well, Arny-boy, I'm going to need you to let me in. Immediately. They are inside, yes?"

Beginning to panic, Arnold told them to wait while he got his leader. The silhouetted stranger turned to the person right next to him and they whispered to themselves. They agreed to let Arnold go in, but if he took longer than one minute the farm house would become Swiss cheese.

Quickly, Arnold got to his feet, shoved the window open, and could be heard from where the strangers were standing, shouting incoherently.

Hershel, rudely awakened, quickly slipped on pants and a jacket and grabbed his pre-loaded shotgun. He slipped on his shoes as Arnold slipped back out the window to buy more time. Hershel made his way out of his room and woke up Otis and Patricia, and told them to get everybody up and ready to fight immediately. He made his way downstairs and woke up Seth and Jessie, before he heard the leader outside yell, obviously getting annoyed at Arnold. Hershel quickly went out of the door.

"I'm here, I'm here. I'm old, damn it," Hershel said, trying to cover for his slowness.

Upstairs, Otis and Patricia were waking everyone up. They grabbed their guns, and some of them shoved their most prized possessions into their pockets or grabbed bags they had packed in case they needed to make a quick escape. They all readied their guns, making sure they were loaded and ready to go, and positioned themselves in windows or in safer areas to wait out the gunfire or to provide a safe area in case someone got injured and needed medical attention as soon as possible.

Downstairs, Seth panicked. He knew what was going on. If he or one of his people were on lookout duty, they would have seen the truck coming and could have done something. They could have hidden the car more, drove it out of there, or even killed the dangerous group on sight. Anything would have been better than this. Better than ruining their chances at the group ever trusting them again. Better than having this safe, beautiful farm possibly being destroyed. Certainly better than having these good, trustable, amazing people die for something that was in no way their fault. He gathered his group, armed them, and they positioned themselves in the windows, ready to fight for this place.

"So you're the leader?" the silhouetted stranger asked Hershel. "You seem to be quite...elderly for a leader."

"Doesn't mean I can't keep people safe. And I can damn sure keep 'em in line," Hershel said, his eyes hardening.

"Well, whatever man. I don't care about you or Augustus Gloop up there on your roof. I'm here to...get my friends. Seth, I believe one goes by." Though it could barely be seen, it was obvious the man was smiling at what he had just said.

The conversation lasted for as long as Hershel could manage, but it eventually went out of control when it became apparent to the strangers that Hershel was trying to buy time. Arnold had sneaked back to the window, with one leg in and one leg out, his gun still up and ready to fire. Trying to be subtle, Hershel took a step back, and the door behind him was quietly opened slightly, so that Hershel could push past it and get inside if things got dirty. The leader took notice, however, and he raised his gun. He had lost his patience and knew what was about to happen. "I'm sick of this shit," he said and quickly fired at Hershel, the bullet flying just barely past his head, chopping off a few white hairs. Hershel quickly turned and ran inside, throwing the door open and slamming it shut behind him as his heart raced. Bullets began firing from the windows of the house at the strangers, who were nearly all taken out right then, blindsided by the amount of people ready and shooting from the farm house.

One of the gunners who had ducked behind the truck managed to hit Arnold in the arm as he quickly tumbled inside and fell flat onto his face, which made a loud thud throughout the house. He scrambled to his feet through the pain and ran out of Hershel's room to Patricia and Lyrik, who were crouching in the hall as they tried to gather their belongings and ready some first aid kits. "Patch me up, quick," he begged them, knowing he had to take care of his wound, but also had to help defend the farm.

The gunfire flew rapidly, bullets exchanged between the two groups. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Allison was shot right between the eyes, falling lifelessly to the ground. Jessie and Erin ducked down, panicking.

"Get back up and fight for this fucking farm, goddamn it!" Seth screamed at them, filling with rage that they could just give up so easily. Jessie cautiously but quickly raised back up to the window and resumed firing. Erin, however, stayed down, frozen with fear.

Upstairs, Otis, Shawn, Beth, Jimmy, Robert, Lily, and Maggie were in a row, firing at the opposing group. Shawn downed a woman, shooting her right in the heart. Beth got a headshot and smiled, pleased with herself, but kept the firing going. Jimmy looked to her and they smiled at one another before Beth went back to shooting. Jimmy opened his mouth to congratulate her, but a bullet went right through the side of his open mouth and he fell to the floor, lifeless. Beth wailed and dropped her gun. She was quickly on her knees over him, her hands over the hole in the side of his mouth as she confusedly attempted to save him.

"Patricia! Jimmy needs your help, now!" Patricia and Lyrik rushed in crouching and keeping their heads low before the three dragged Jimmy into the hallway to assist him. As soon as they lowered him back onto the ground in the hallway and the got a good look at his injury, Patricia gasped and covered her mouth. The bullet had passed through Jimmy's cheek and into his neck. He had passed out and was barely breathing, so it did not seem as if it had hit his brain, but there was no way to tell where the bullet hit in that moment. If they had proper medical equipment, there was a chance that he could be saved. But they did not, and there was no way to get them in time during this chaos. Patricia looked up to Beth and grimly shook her head no.

Outside, the mysterious leader grew angry from ducking behind cars, having to deal with two warring groups that could barely aim. "Everyone in the farm should be dead by now," he angrily said to his friend.

The leader had killed someone on the ground floor and one of his women nailed someone upstairs, but she had been taken down pretty much right after. He had lost seven of his people out here, way over half of his group. He turned to his right-hand man and nodded his head. The man with the buzzcut grabbed a bottle of liquor and ripped off a shred of fabric they kept around for just this. He put it in the mouth of the bottle and turned to the leader who was ready with a lighter. The fabric was lit and the leader threw it quickly to the house. It burst, setting the porch ablaze.

"Fuck!" Seth yelled as the flames erupted outside and he pushed Jessie and Hershel from the windows. He pointed at the stairs, but remained where he was, still firing at the dangerous strangers. "We have to go now. You two go get everyone and get ready to run!"

Before long, Hershel, Maggie, Shawn, Jessie, Robert, Lyrik, Lily, Arnold, and Otis came running downstairs with packs loaded and they ran out the back door into the two trucks they had, Hershel and Shawn driving either.

Inside, Patricia was screaming at Beth, crying for her to pull herself together and get into action. Finally, Patricia drew back and slapped the teenager, and she stared at Patricia, stunned. Patricia took the opportunity to get her to her knees and to get their their things so they could flee.

Downstairs, Seth's group was split. Lee had made it outside in the back of the one of the trucks. Seth, Erin, and Amanda were inside, still. Erin was still on her knees, kneeling with her face on the ground, weeping into the floor, Allison's undead body lying in front of her. Amanda was yelling, watching the flames grow closer, inching in through the windows. "Erin, goddamn it, we have to leave now, or we will die! Don't you get that?"

Seth was kneeling over them, out of aim from windows. Even though the bullets had now ceased, he was taking no chances. "Look, either this place is going to fall on us, or we're gonna leave her here. She's not moving any time soon. We have to go now!"

Amanda looked at Seth, horrified. "How could you say that? That we'd just leave her here." Amanda pulled on Erin, but she screamed, an ugly, roaring scream of deep anguish.

"Do you not see her? She was a mess before we ever got here. Seeing more people die was only ever going to set her off the edge. If she didn't break down now, she would have done it later. If we leave now, we won't have to deal with her in the future, doing this again. She could get us all killed if that happens."

Behind him Beth and Patricia ran through the back door, and Patricia yelled to them, "Come on, we need to leave right now!"

Seth looked over his shoulder, then turned back to Amanda. Amanda stared at Erin, contemplating. An ember fell beside her, and she finally took notice of how far the flames had gotten, eating at the house. She looked back to Erin, and tears began falling. "I'm sorry," she said to her dear friend. Seth grabbed Amanda by the arms and dragged her out. Loud bumps could be heard coming from upstairs, but there was no time to check what it was. Amanda began to regret her decision immediately, and tried fighting back once they got out of the back door.

Two dead bodies lie between the trucks and the house. They were two of the strangers, who had come around to make sure there were no survivors, but Lee and Hershel had killed them.

Seth fought Amanda toward the trucks until she eventually gave up after hearing a large crash, knowing the front of the house had collapsed. Hershel quickly drove off, his truck full of people and unable to sit around any longer. Seth and Amanda climbed into the back of Shawn's truck.

As the truck was taking off, two walkers made their way from around the house and a singed one came from inside. Amanda hit the back window and screamed at Shawn to stop, thinking the figure was Erin. "Erin, hurry up!" Amanda called desperately as she tried to climb out. Seth held her back, though, pointing out that the figure made no response and was walking very slowly. They soon realized it was on fire when they thought the fire was simply from the flames of the house. It was undead Jimmy, but no one knew that it was him. They assumed that it was one of the mystery group or a random walker that had got in somehow. The truck kicked back to life and chased after Hershel's.