Chapter 7 "What Just Happened?"

Day 16

Hershel led the pack, overwhelmed with sadness. He did his best not to let it get to him, and definitely not to let it show. Right now they needed to focus on escaping and keeping calm, but the severity of the situation was not easy to ignore. They had just lost the farm, most of their supplies, and the lives of three people in their group.

Now they were on the run, driving northwest. The sun rose above them like a flag, symbolizing the new start they have been forced to make. They drove all day, passing through towns and cities, trying to make as much distance as possible between themselves and the farm. After having passed a fourth town, the people in the leading red truck felt they were safe enough and Hershel signalled to Shawn that they were turning off onto a side road.

Hershel pulled over the red truck and everyone got out of the seats or climbed out from the bed. Soon, the blue truck drove up and did the same.

As Hershel got out, he began, "So, where should we-" but was cut off by Shawn, who had been holding in his rage this whole time, letting it boil deep inside like a kettle ready to blow.

"What the fuck was that about?" He screamed, huffing and puffing over Seth. He turned to Lee and pointed, "Do you know anything about this shit?"

Everyone originally from Seth's group lowered their heads. "Yeah, we know what that was about," Lee spoke up. Seth looked him in the eyes, and they shared a knowing look.

"Those people," Seth paused, trying to find the right words. "Those people were actually the innocent ones. Well, not after that. But originally, we were the ones at fault. And we didn't know they would find us. We were hoping that they lost us. And on behalf of everyone, I'm sorry."

Shawn was angrier still. He waited, but Seth said nothing more, holding a guilty look on his face. "Are you gonna fucking tell me what the hell happened, or do I have to shoot all'a you one by one? Leave you all here? I fuckin' will!" He reached for his holster, about to grab his gun, but Hershel grabbed his arm and glared at his step-son.

Seth sighed, scratched at his beard, and looked down. "We stole from them. We didn't know we were stealing from them, though. We should have, but we foolishly thought that it was out for the taking. There was food, medicine, guns. Lots of stuff that we needed. And it wasn't everyone in my group's fault, either. Amanda and Erin, they weren't with us at the time."

Shawn spat. "I don't believe you. How the hell did he know your car? Your name, Seth?"

Seth's face remained the same, unfazed. "Well, their leader saw us drive away with the stuff, which made us realize what we had taken just then was stolen. And I imagine he heard Allison or Jessie say my name when we left." Seth lowered his head, and spoke with sincerity, "I'm truly sorry. Especially to you, Beth. I'm very sorry that you lost your boyfriend. But, you guys, you aren't the only ones who lost something last night. We lost two of our friends, Erin and Allison."

Beth looked down to the ground. "It's okay," she said. "I forgive you." She looked up to him, wiping away a tear. "But it's not really my place to forgive you. It was Jimmy's life. Not mine."

Seth lifted an eyebrow, not expecting that kind of response from her. He nodded to her. Shawn looked to his sister, slightly shocked. Since Beth and Hershel let it go, he decided he should try to as well. He sighed, scratched his head, and leaned against a car, resisting the urge to keep the fight going.

Hershel looked between them and decided they were done arguing. "Well," he began, "as I was tryin' to say. Our priority right now is finding a place to stay, and soon. We're nearly runnin' on fumes, and I don't know about y'all, but I'm exhausted. Finding more vehicles couldn't hurt. It'd get people out of the cold, open back of a truck. Anyone got any suggestions?"

There was a long pause as the group thought or looked around. Down the highway, Maggie spotted a sign. "Welcome to Palmetto," it read.

"Daddy, look. We're outside of Palmetto. We could go check on Fern."

"Fern?" Hershel questioned. It took him a second, but then the memory came back to him. "Fern, that girl who moved away a few years back? Maggie, I'm not sure that's a great idea. When was the last time you talked to her? And," he hesitated, looking to the ground, "there's a real good chance she's gone."

Maggie shook her head. "I know, Daddy. But if she's gone, her house could still be a great place to stay. Her parents kept it real nice. A farmhouse surrounded by forest, even has a little pond outside of it."

Hershel slowly nodded his head. "Alright. You lead the way," he said, and gestured for her to drive his truck there.

They made it to Fern's house about twenty minutes after. Maggie had to constantly turn around, trying to recall the way to her friend's home. She turned down another one of the many dirt roads on the main road, beginning to feel stupid, when the large pond materialized on the right side of her, the water shining blindingly into the trucks. They made their way up the road and were met with a few walkers roaming around the house.

The walkers quickly took notice of them and began trudging their way toward the trucks. Maggie grabbed her gun and got out, taking down two walkers as Shawn took out the third one. Maggie approached their dead bodies and sighed, slightly saddened. She recognized one to be Fern's father, Fernando. He had a large chunk of his neck missing, obviously eaten by walkers. The other two walkers appeared to be strays, or possibly other survivors that were with him when he died.

Hershel stood over her and put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. She turned to him, her expression unbothered. "It's alright, Daddy. She wasn't my best friend or anything. I'll be fine, so long as the house is."

As they began walking into the house, Lily gave Robert a worried look. They both had their guns ready, but Lily seemed to be afraid of what could lie inside. If it was something awful, Maggie could be very upset by what she finds. If it's anything too gruesome, they may just have to move on and find another place, which could be dangerous.

Shawn entered the house first, his gun at the ready. In the living room stood five walkers, meandering around aimlessly. Maggie, Robert, and Otis followed in directly after. Maggie noticed that the walker farthest from them was Fern. She frowned and lowered her gun slightly. Gunfire went off around her and all five were quickly put down. She looked to the ground and turned around. "All clear," she said, signalling for everyone to come in and unpack.

Otis, Shawn, and Robert went upstairs, checking the rest of the house for more walkers and supplies. Maggie decided to walk the perimeters and act as lookout to distract herself.

Everyone moved in, carrying their stuff inside as much as they could at a time. Beth and Patricia were the first ones in, carrying the medical supplies and some sleeping bags. Immediately upon entering, they were smacked in the face with the vile odor of rotting corpses. Beth dropped the box of medical supplies, doubling over in disgust, puke threatening harshly to make its escape. Patricia helped her out, wrapping her arm around Beth's shoulders and guiding her outside. "Don't go in there," she said to everyone coming in. "They put down some walkers and the smell's liable to kill you."

Hershel turned to Arnold and Seth and nodded his head. "Alright," he said. "You two, come on, let's go get those stinkers outta there."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Seth said.

"Yeah," Arnold so helpfully chimed in.

"Those things could make us puke everywhere, and it would be a lot worse," Seth said. "We might catch something."

"Well, unless you want to wait on them up there to come back down to do it, leavin' us all just standing out in the open, then yeah, I'm sure," Hershel retorted. "We can wear masks, it'll be fine."

The three entered holding their breath and grabbed the medical box Beth had dropped. They quickly tried to get masks out of it before the scent hit them. Arnold couldn't hold it, and the smell attacked his nostrils. He ran outside immediately, desperately holding his hand over his mouth. As he ran out, everyone outside scattered away, avoiding him at all costs. He made it to the edge of the woods and hurled onto the trunk of a tree.

After Arnold was done, he headed back to the house and was met by Hershel, wearing gloves and a mask, holding out the same for Arnold to put on. He dumbly looked at Hershel, giving him a look that said, "I hate you for still making me do this."

By the time they made it to the third body, the three upstairs had finished scanning the house, finding no more walkers, but a few guns and bullets that Fern's father used to own. Robert, Otis, and Shawn then helped out in disposing of the walker bodies, also affected by the smell. Soon, the bodies had been dragged out and put in an open area near the lake to be burned later, another great idea from Seth.

Everyone carried on moving in and setting up shop. Things seemed to be good here, to Hershel, Beth, Otis, and Patricia. They loved it here, and thought the group could live here indefinitely. Robert, Arnold, Maggie, Lily, Seth, and Lee, however, felt that we should keep moving for a while and not get too comfortable. Seth made his case on why they should stay, stating how "They found us in Senoia, all the way from northern Atlanta. If we want to escape them, if they're not all dead, we need to keep moving, because they will find us. It's clear now that those crazy fucks have a bloodlust."

The discussion carried on for quite a while, until Hershel ruled a compromise. "I suppose you could be right about them following us. But we can't keep driving around like this. We need to take time to get our strength back, and to find more supplies, better vehicles. And there's only, what, three of them left? We managed to take out a lot of them. I don't think the last few are much of a threat." Most people nodded their heads or somewhat agreed, but Seth and Lee stood firm on their stance. "How about this?" Hershel suggested. "We stay here for three days. Then we decide what to do from there. If anyone feels too uneasy, or we find signs that we've been followed, we leave immediately." Begrudgingly, everyone agreed to the compromise.

That night, Maggie stayed up as lookout, almost terrified of sleeping in that house after seeing Fern like that. Her old friend looked terrible, like she had been tortured for days before she died. Her jaw was missing completely and she was missing her left hand. Fern's mother was in the room with her, too, and she looked just as bad. Maggie finally realized how bad things must be out here, and she suddenly felt very scared for the future. Everyone would die, and it would be painful. She would die, her father would die, her siblings, Otis, Patricia, Robert, Seth. Everyone.