Chapter 17 "After"
Day 45
Over the last ten days, things had been going just about as well as would be expected. Abi-Maria brought in a lot of drama for a while, but then seemed to have just given up. Everyone else carried on as usual all throughout it. Beth's fingers had healed to the point that touching them no longer hurts, but she still had to keep it wrapped while the skin healed back. Selenis had been given a lot of trust in leading a scavenging group a few days ago, and it went successfully. They had found many supplies in a town about seven miles south of them named Bunker, and even scouted out a few places around it in case something went wrong.
Abi-Maria had seemed to be keeping to herself for the past few days, and everyone had assumed that she had given up. That is, until she began stealing and breaking things that belonged to people in her group and blaming it on the people she despised. She broke the glass of a photograph on one of Oscar's pictures of his family, ripped a hole in Shakira's favorite sweater, and stole Gabriel's pink-triggered pistol and Selenis's makeup box. They found the gun and makeup box hidden behind a few bales of hay in the barn, and the glass fragments from Oscar's photo in the trash can in the basement, where the group stayed. She tried framing Hershel and his people, but she was doing it so carelessly and obviously.
"Hershel, I know you don't believe in killing people like that," Selenis told Hershel, the two sitting privately in the room he shared with Maggie, who was currently in Shawn and Beth's room, "and neither do I, but we have to do something. I thought once she realized that none of us wanted to go with her she would just leave on her own, or give up and become a part of the group, but apparently I was wrong. I'm afraid of what she'll do if we keep her around any longer."
Hershel looked grimly at Selenis. "I know she's dangerous," he said hesitantly, "but is there any chance she could change? We can't just throw her to the walkers, and I certainly won't have her killed," he said firmly, clenching a fist at the thought of killing another living being.
"I don't think we have much of a choice, Hershel. I've known her long enough to know that when she thinks something, when she's truly set on it, she'll do whatever it takes to get her way. You can try to talk her down all you want, but she just won't get how wrong she is. She's like a wolf desperate for food, even if that means killing her own. I would know," she said, drifting off.
Hershel worriedly stared at her. "Has she.. has she killed her own?"
Selenis looked into his eyes, silently conveying that she had.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," she said. The middle-aged woman was hoping she wouldn't have to say it, but it now appeared that she must. "We met her with this girl she apparently grew up with. Her name was Rosa. A week after they joined our group, she shot Rosa in cold blood after a huge argument about whether or not we should leave that place we were in. Rosa may have been on a side that promoted, or more accurately just turning a blind eye to, killing of innocent people for survival, but Abi-Maria actually did it. She just took her down, right in the middle of their arguing. And when she was asked about it by Oscar later, we thought she was gonna kill him, too. She even said that Rosa was a huge bitch, and that she didn't regret it at all."
Hershel looked into her eyes in fear. "I guess we have to get her out of here, then. Do you know how, though?"
"I have an idea. There was this town we scavenged a while back. The one you made me lead at. Bunker. We could tell her we're going on another run. Pack her some supplies, fix up a car we find out there, and eventually break it to her that she's out of the group. Leave her with the supplies and car and she'll go on alone. She's strong enough to survive on her own. She'll probably find other people, they might be like her."
Hershel nodded his head. "Alright," he said. "Let's get this show on the road, then. I want to do this as soon as possible."
The two left the room, and Selenis winked at Gabriel, signalling that the plan was in action. They went downstairs to the basement and began to pack Abi-Maria's stuff while she was in the bathroom, along with a bit of food and medical supplies. When they were done, Gabriel sat in the living room as though he had no idea what was going on and Selenis waited outside of the bathroom for Abi-Maria. When she exited, Selenis told her in Spanish, "I know you don't want to be around them, but you better get ready. We're going on a run, and I want you to come with us. Me, Hershel, Gabriel, and you. Maybe some others that Hershel wants to bring."
Abi-Maria looked both angry and slightly puzzled. "Hershel's going?"
"Well, he is the leader, after all. He just wants to finally feel like one."
"It's about fucking time he pulled some weight around here."
"You've been whining, crying, bitching, and sleeping in this room for ten days straight. Shut the fuck up."
Hershel came down the stairs and listened. "Still speaking in Spanish? Not hiding any secrets, are you?"
"Sorry, Hershel," Selenis said. Abi-Maria rolled her eyes, picked up her gun, and headed upstairs to wait at the door. Selenis and Hershel followed her up. "Come on, Gabe," Selenis said, and Gabriel pushed himself up, slightly struggling to stand.
As they were going out the door, Maggie came down the stairs. "Daddy? Where are you goin'?"
"Sorry, dear. I almost forgot to tell you. I'm going on a run. We'll be back in a few hours."
"With them?" Maggie asked, looking to the three Mexicans. "Alone? Are you sure, Daddy?"
"Yes, dear, everything's fine."
"But," Maggie began, looking right to Abi-Maria, who immediately scoffed when she realized what Maggie had implied. "Daddy, I don't care what you say, I'm coming with you."
"Well, alright," Hershel said, not wanting to argue too much. Selenis and Abi-Maria speaking in Spanish made him a little bit nervous that they could have been plotting against him, and he took comfort in knowing he'd have someone he trusted with him, even though it was his daughter, who he wanted to stay at the house, safe. He yelled into the kitchen where Patricia and Robert were making dinner, "We're going on a run. We'll be back in a couple hours."
"Okay," Patricia and Robert said in unison, then looked to each other, confused that Hershel was going. Patricia nodded her head to Robert, gesturing for him to go ask about the situation.
Robert ended up with the same story Maggie was told, and when he offered to go, Hershel made a strong, resounding "No, damn it," that he was not about to argue with. Hershel made an apologetic look after yelling at Robert, who nodded nervously in return. He felt guilty about yelling, but he knew Robert could take it. He just didn't want too many people put at risk, and not everyone needed to know what they planned to do to Abi-Maria.
The five got into Hershel's RV, and he drove into Bunker. Just outside of town, a van that looked to be in pretty good condition, though a bit dusty, was parked on the side of the road. The group got out and took down a few walkers around it. Gabriel got to work immediately after the walkers were taken care of. "Why the hell are we on the side of the road, fucking with an ugly old van?" Abi-Maria asked, complaining as always.
"Well, we can't always use the RVs," Selenis said. "They aren't very practical for runs like this, now are they?"
Abi-Maria rolled her eyes and watched as Gabriel tweaked with the van. Hershel finally got the van to start up, and he went into the RV with Maggie. Gabriel pretended that he still had to work on the van while Hershel was in the vehicle explaining what this run was really about to Maggie. She nodded, and finally understood. They exited the RV, Maggie carrying the bag they had packed for Abi-Maria.
"What the fuck is this?" Abi-Maria said in Spanish to Selenis.
"This," Selenis said in English, "is where we give you the news. As of today, you are no longer a member of this group. You've caused too much trouble and pain, and you obviously don't want to be there. So now you get your wish. You get to leave. We packed you a bag with all of your things in it plus some food and medicine to help you survive."
"This is bullshit, are you kidding me?" Abi-Maria said angrily. She grabbed her bag and began crying, but she still looked more angry than sad. "Are there any tissues in here?"
"There are rags," Hershel told her.
Abi-Maria opened the bag and began looking, pretending she was looking for the rags, but actually looking for a gun. Grabbing the one in her holster now would be too obvious, so she had to make use of the bag. Her finger slid against something metal, and she smiled slightly to herself. She quickly pulled it out and began firing it. Panicked, Selenis took cover behind a large rock as Gabriel ran off into the woods in the direction of the road back to the house. Maggie and Hershel attempted to run for the van, but Abi-Maria shot Maggie in the leg, causing her to double over in pain. "Maggie!" Hershel yelled, stopping to attempt to help her stand. "Come on, baby," he said, bringing her to one knee. He wasn't going to leave his daughter, his flesh and blood. He was trying his hardest to get his daughter up and to safety, and if he were strong enough, he would have just picked her up and carried her.
Behind the rock, Selenis had her gun and was firing it at Abi-Maria, who was now taking cover behind the van. As Selenis shot again, she got Abi-Maria in the left shoulder after she had shot Maggie's leg, causing her to scream in pain and fall back behind the van. After a few minutes of peace, Selenis considered leaving cover and going to make sure Abi-Maria was dead, hearing Hershel scream for his daughter and attempted to help her, when suddenly another shot rang and a loud thud hit against the RV. Hershel had been shot right in the chest, and had fallen over dead onto the side of the vehicle. Maggie screamed as his dead corpse fell on top of her. Luckily, his body shielded her from further bullets from Abi-Maria. Selenis realized as the gunshot was becoming slightly softer than Abi-Maria was running away, into the woods. Selenis peaked past the rock just in time to see Abi-Maria engulfed by the trees, wearing the backpack they had packed for her, her left shoulder sloppily bandaged and obviously bleeding a lot. She had left the van behind running south, closer to Bunker.
Selenis raised from her position, firing a few parting shots in Abi-Maria's direction, and ran to see what had happened. Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. Around the side of the RV, she was shocked to see two lifeless bodies. "Hershel," Selenis said, her voice quivering. "Maggie…" Selenis dropped to her knees. This was all a huge mistake.
"Help!" a small, muffled voice said underneath Hershel's body. Maggie's alive! Selenis happily thought as she rolled Hershel's body off of Maggie, who was bleeding profusely from the right leg. Selenis helped Maggie to her feet, and they struggled into the RV. Selenis laid her down on the couch. "My daddy," Maggie said. "Please tell me he's still alive. Still breathing. Has a pulse. Answer me, damn it!" Selenis sadly looked away from Maggie, and she began crying violently. "Stop! He's okay! He's going to be okay!" Selenis solemnly stayed quiet, doing her best to disinfect and wrap Maggie's wound. "Get him. Go get him. We need to take him back. Get him help."
"Bury him," Selenis stated. "We'll see what help we can get him, if any, but I don't want you getting your hopes up. He's dead, Maggie. We're going to take him back to bury him."
Maggie lifted her arm and sobbed into it, weeping desperately. Selenis finished treating the wound and stood up. She looked down at Maggie sadly and exited the vehicle, dragging Hershel's lifeless body into the RV, onto the floor in front of the couch Maggie was lying on. Maggie grimly looked down at her father, speaking to him quietly, searching hopelessly for a response.
Selenis wordlessly went to the driver's seat, started up the RV, and drove back to the house.
Not ten minutes later, Selenis spotted a large figure on the side of the road, headed towards the house. It was Gabriel. She pulled over the RV. "What's going on?" Maggie asked as Selenis opened the door to let Gabriel in. He was smiling happily to her, not knowing how darkly things had turned out. He thought that everyone was fine. That no one had died, at least. As he entered, he nearly stepped on Hershel's hand, and he saw the tragedy that had happened to the father and daughter. Selenis went straight back to the driver's seat, remaining silent. Gabriel sat in the passenger seat next to her. He didn't push her to talk. He knew Selenis. When she was ready, or when she needed to, she would speak. They quietly drove back home.
About a mile out, Hershel began to move, and Maggie screamed happily, scaring Selenis, and making her drive off the road, shaking everyone up. Selenis and Gabriel got whiplash, and Maggie had fallen on top of her father and was hugging him gleefully, crying into his chest. She looked up at him with a huge smile to see that he had turned. He was a walker. Maggie's smile flipped. Her world crashed down around her. Not only was her father dead, he was a walker, too. She rolled off of him and pushed him back. He began crawling near her as she bawled, her hands over her head in shock and sorrow. Seeing her dad like this, for such a dumb reason, for a reason that could have just been taken care of some way else, was the worst thing that could happen to her. She though about how alone she was now. As her undead father came closer, she began to give up. She reached out her left hand, giving Hershel what he wanted. If he wanted her to turn so badly, she was going to give her dad one last wish, even if he was no longer truly himself. He chomped down onto her hand, digging into the flesh and bone, blood splattering around, and Maggie screamed in pain.
Then, a deafening bang went off, amplified by the metal on the walls and the enclosed room. Selenis had put down Hershel, and she went to Maggie to checking her. Her hand was a mangled, disgusting mess. "Fuck," Selenis said. She looked back to Gabriel and began to take off her belt and she put it around Maggie's arm.
Gabriel looked at her in shock. "Are we really going to try that?" he said, sounding very panicked.
"I don't think we have much of a choice. Honestly, what have we- what does she have to lose?" Selenis said, her face looking as unsure as Gabriel's. "Get me something we can do this with."
Gabriel got out of his seat and looked through his bag and handed her an ax, coming around to also put the wooden handle of a knife into Maggie's mouth. "Bite down if it hurts, and do your best not to flinch, please. We don't want anything to- well, just don't flinch," Gabriel told Maggie, looking very nervous. He got behind her and held onto her, bracing her for what was to come.
Maggie began to panic, not knowing what they were planning. In an instant, Selenis swung her ax down on Maggie's hand, severing it halfway through the wrist. Maggie screamed hysterically, biting into the wooden handle as Gabriel did his best to hold her and keep her still. Selenis swung once more, hoping to finish off the job, but because of Maggie's panic, her aim was slightly off and it only went a few inches deeper. "Maggie, calm down," she said. Selenis took one final swing, and the hand came off. Gabriel immediately began cleaning up after her, attempting to stop the bleeding. Selenis threw the hand out the window and quickly got back to driving to get Maggie to better help with Patricia.
They drove up into the yard, parking as close to the house as possible, and Selenis quickly ran in to get people outside to help. Gabriel picked up Maggie, using one hand to hold a once-white sheet over her arm, and began to carry her inside. He was met halfway to the door by Seth, Shawn, Patricia, Robert, and Lyrik, led by Selenis. Seth and Shawn took Maggie from Gabriel, and they carried her into the living room and onto the couch. Patricia bent over her and with the help of Robert and Lyrik, they stopped the bleeding and did their best to sew it up as best they could.
Much of the group sat at the kitchen table looking confused at first, creating a familiar scene, but then they realized that it was Maggie and that she had been injured, and they did their best to help, fetching towels and water and other such things for Patricia. "Where's Hershel?!" Patricia asked, swamped.
Selenis was reminded of what had happened, and she grew silent once more. Gabriel whispered to Patricia that he had been killed, and Shawn went outside to the RV to check for him, where he found Hershel dead, blood all over the RV, and a gunshot right through his head. Shawn began crying and clenched his fists. He stormed back into the house and punched Selenis right in the face, Gabriel being too far away, and she fell to her knees. "You killed my father!" Selenis looked up at him in shock, and rose back up, punching Shawn in the face, and they began to wrestle; punching, kicking, and biting. Seth and Gabriel finally managed to break it up and they both had bruises on them. Shawn had a black eye, and Selenis had bruises beginning to form on her cheek, and scratches and more bruises were scattered across their bodies.
"I didn't kill your dad!" Selenis said, spitting at Shawn, who furiously threw another punch in response, and Seth tried to hold him back, but he managed to get Selenis right in the nose. "You motherfucker!" she yelled, and Gabriel and Seth struggled to keep them off of each other as they resisted once more.
"Fucking stop it!" Seth screamed, pushing Shawn into a wall and turning to do the same to Selenis. "Now both of you assholes calm down and explain what happened, civilly."
Selenis took a deep breath, and decided to just say it. "We were kicking Abi-Maria out of the group. Me, Gabriel, Hershel, and Maggie went to go leave her in Bunker. But when we told her, she tricked us by looking through the bag of supplies we gave her, saying she needed a rag, but pulling out a gun, shooting Maggie in the leg, and then killing Hershel. She meant to kill all of us, but she got them."
"And why the fuck is that?!" Shawn asked angrily.
"I don't know! To be honest, they didn't make the smartest move. Gabriel ran into the woods, I hid behind a large nearby rock, and they tried to run a good thirty feet to get to the RV."
"So you're saying it's their fault?!" Shawn questioned, absolutely furious.
"Would you please take this somewhere else?!" Patricia asked, trying to concentrate and keep Maggie calm.
"Sorry," Selenis said. "I'm just saying that it's my fault. I should have pulled them behind the rock, or helped them more somehow."
"You're damn right it's your fault! Yours, too, Gabriel! Pussying out like that, really? Fuck you both! My dad's dead because of you assholes!"
"I'm sorry," Selenis said.
"Stop that," Seth said. "That could have been anyone, Shawn. It wasn't their fault. It was fuckin' Abi-Maria. Fuck that bitch, not this one."
Hesitant to speak, Lyrik, who was helping with Maggie, asked, "Um, but what happened to Maggie? You said she got shot in the leg, but that's already been doctored. What happened to her arm?"
Selenis grimly turned to her and spoke with solemn seriousness. "When Hershel died, he turned. And he wasn't even bit. We've all seen walkers around that hadn't been bit, right? Well, I think I know why. When you die, no matter how you die, you come back."
Everyone looked on, horrified. Shawn worriedly looked up to Seth, who was still holding him. Seth let go, his mouth open in disbelief. "You're lying, aren't you?" Seth asked.
"You think so? Go look at Hershel's body. Does that just look like death to you? Like he hadn't turned? You know how Maggie lost her hand? Hershel bit it off. And we amputated it to save her."
Shawn looked like he was about to punch her again. "You amputated her arm? Are you fucking crazy?!"
"No," Selenis said. "We've met people who survived like that. In that place we were at, where we escaped from. Some of the people there had survived walker bites through immediate amputation."
"Well, you better fucking hope it works, or I'm going to kill you for both of their deaths," Shawn warned.
Selenis and Gabriel nodded grimly, hoping to whatever gods may be out there that this worked. Not just for their sake, but for everyone's.