Hey everyone! Sorry for the long delay, but I thought I'd give you guys an early Christmas present ;) Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
It was a gloomy day on the farm and everyone was preparing for their chores. It was also eerily quiet, which was a bit strange given what lurked in the barn. Carol was cooking breakfast and started handing out plates with spam and eggs. Andrea was sharpening her knife. Shane ate his breakfast awkwardly away from the others near a tree. After learning from Dale what Shane had done, Jacob was more than a little uneasy around him. He inadvertently caught himself glaring at Shane as he ate, and Shane just shook his head with a smirk and kept eating. Jacob tried to make it look like he was doing something and started cleaning up his plate. He looked over to Zach who was also sitting by himself with his head resting on one hand, not really eating much. Jacob looked over to him sadly, but when Zach noticed him, he went into his tent. Jacob still wasn't sure what to say to him after their fight yesterday, so he just shook his head and brought his plate to the wash bin. Rick, Lori and Carl were finishing up breakfast, but Rick looked distant.
"Hey," Lori said, kissing him on the cheek. "Where'd you go?" Rick shook himself back to reality.
"I'm here," he said softly. Meanwhile, Glenn was seated near them and looked incredibly uncomfortable when he saw Maggie standing on the porch shake her head at him. He looked over to Dale who nodded at him. Glenn stood up and looked at everyone.
"Um, guys," he started. "So, The barn is full of walkers," Everyone stopped what they were doing and gave Glenn a look of panic and shock.
Barn
At the barn, everyone was gathered around to see if what Glenn had said was true. Sure enough, when Shane took a look through the crack in the barn's door, he could see at least a dozen or so walkers shambling around inside. One of them came to the door and met Shane's eye. He walked away from the barn in a huff.
"You cannot tell me you're all right with this," he said to Rick.
"No I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land," Rick said.
"This is our lives!" Shane yelled angrily.
"Lower your voice," Rick replied back.
"We can't just sweep this under the rug," Andrea said. Shane agreed.
"It ain't right. Not remotely," he said. Everyone looked at him.
"Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time," he said. Jacob rolled his eyes and scoffed at more mention of Fort Benning.
"We can't go," Rick said.
"Why, Rick? Why?" Shane said in a huff.
"Because my daughter is still out there," Carol said, irritated. Several others nodded. Shane just sighed.
"Okay. Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility," Shane said.
"We're not leaving Sophia behind," Rick said, putting his hand up.
"I'm close to finding this girl, I just found her damn doll two days ago," Daryl added. Shane just scoffed and even chuckled a bit.
"You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll," he said looking Daryl in the eye.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Daryl said angrily getting in Shane's face.
"I'm just saying what needs to be said," Shane added.
"No. You're being a dick. Have a heart for God's sake! She's still out there and we're gonna find her, but not with the way you're acting," Jacob said, crossing his arms. Daryl seemed to nod in agreement. Shane pretty much ignored him.
"You get a good lead, it's in the first- - Let me tell you something else, Daryl.
If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife— geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction man!" Shane yelled with a cocky smile on his face. Daryl couldn't take it any more and shoved Shane. The two nearly got into a brawl before Jacob pulled Daryl back and Lori pulled Shane back.
"Keep your hands off me," Shane said, basically to everyone. He started to walk away before Rick spoke up again.
"Now just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out," Rick said, waving his hand. This only seemed to make Shane more angry.
"What are you gonna figure out?!" He said, almost charging at Rick.
"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land," Rick said, pointing to the barn. Dale then stepped in, hoping to break the tension.
"Hershel sees those things in there as people- sick people- his wife, his stepson," Dale added.
"You knew? How long?" Jacob asked.
"Yesterday I talked to Hershel," Dale said, matter-of-factly.
"And you waited the night?" Shane asked angrily, taking his hat off to rub his head.
"I thought we could survive one more night. We did," Dale said. "I was waiting till this morning to say something. But Glenn wanted to be the one," Everyone looked to Glenn but he looked guilty, yet relieved he didn't have to keep it a secret anymore
"The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or no!" Shane yelled. All the noise must've been driving the walkers crazy, because they started to pound and shake the door to the barn, causing everyone to physically recoil and back away…
Firepit
Back at the main camp, Carl and Zach were doing math problems with Lori instructing them. Lori looked over to Zach who had his chin in one hand and was just doodling sadly on his paper, not paying much attention to the math. Lori gently put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"Hey," she said. "Everything alright, Zach?" Zach shook himself back to reality.
"Um, yeah. I'm ok. Just- - just thinking about Sophia. Does Shane really think she's dead?" Zach asked sadly. In truth, while he was worried about Sophia, he was still upset about his fight with Jacob. Carl nodded, seemingly asking the same question.
"Shane's just scared," Lori said softly.
"Of the walkers in the barn?" Carl added.
"Yeah," Lori replied, hanging her head slightly.
"Mom, I'm not leaving until we find Sophia. And I don't want to go even after that," Carl said. Zach nodded in agreement.
"Me either. I feel safe here," he said.
"Well, we're not leaving, boys. Now both of you finish those problems," Lori said, gesturing to the math textbook. Carl looked down at the book before speaking again.
"I think— I think she's gonna like it here. This place, it could be a home," he said with a hopeful look on his face. Zach gave a slight smile too.
"It will be. For everyone," Lori gave both of the boys a smile as they continued on their math.
(Replacing Daryl and Carol's stable scene with one between Jacob and Billy to give more relevance to the JW side of things.)
Cornfields
Jacob was patrolling the fields where the cattle and trikes were grazing, making sure no carnivorous dinosaurs were in the immediate vicinity. He had a hunting rifle just in case, but luckily, the only meat-eaters he had scene were a few compies. Including the one that Zach had been feeding. Seeing the small dinosaurs, Jacob just sighed and shook his head. He wasn't sure how to apologize to his brother, because truthfully, he felt as if he were in the right. Feeding a dinosaur their rations was a really dumb move. On the other hand, maybe he had been a bit harsh. He was shaken from his thoughts to Billy walking up to him.
"Hey, Jacob," he said with a wave.
"Hey, Billy. Everything alright?" Jacob asked. Billy put his hands in his pockets.
"Feel like I should be asking you that," he said. Jacob just sighed.
"Just some brotherly tough love is all. Nothing to worry about," he said. Billy just shrugged and nodded and looked out to where the trikes were grazing.
"You know, if we run into anything bigger than them, you're gonna need something with a lot more firepower than that," Billy said, pointing to the rifle slung on Jacob's shoulder.
"I've done alright with it so far. Besides, I don't think Hershel would approve of us carrying military grade weaponry around," Jacob said, tapping the rifle.
"Look. Hershel's a good man. Naive, but a good man. He took me in when I was at my lowest. Doesn't mean I agree with his views on not carrying weapons," Billy said.
"Or the walkers," Jacob added. Billy nodded.
"Yeah. That too. But that's beside the point. If that T. rex you guys hid from on the highway makes its way to the farm, you're gonna need more than a few rifles and half a dozen hand guns," he said. Jacob sighed again and shook his head.
"That's all well and good, but where the hell would we even get anything like that?" He asked. Billy gave a quick smile and Jacob looked puzzled.
"The national guard outpost. I didn't grab all of it on my last supply run. I deliberately left the guns there knowing how Hershel feels about them. But if you tag along we might be able to sneak them back in under the guise that you had them the whole time. What do you say?" Billy asked. Jacob scoffed and smirked.
"Throw us under the bus, huh?" Jacob said. He was quiet for a minute before he spoke up again.
"Alright. I'm in. But we don't breathe a word of it to Hershel. We should let Rick know though," he said with a nod.
"I'll relay the plan to him and let you know when we're ready. Should we take anyone else?" Billy asked.
"Nah. Better if it's just the two of us. Less questions that way," Jacob said.
"Oh, and Billy? Don't let Shane know we're doing this. Please?" Jacob asked. Billy looked confused.
"Why not?" He asked.
"I don't trust him," Jacob let the words slip out. Billy looked alarmed and Jacob caught himself.
"I- - I mean I don't trust him not to do something rash with the firepower we're picking up. You've seen how he can be," he said. Billy just nodded and shrugged and made his way back towards the farmhouse. Jacob had a smile on his face. It felt good to have a plan. He had been worried about what to do if they ran into the Rex again, but the thought of some higher firepower put his mind at ease.
RV
Back at the RV, Glenn and Wu were both on watch; Glenn facing towards the east on walker duty, and Wu to the west on Dinosaur duty.
"Dale," Wu said, turning to face him. "I believe Andrea's looking for you,"
"Thank you, Dr." Dale nodded back to him, about to step in the RV. Glenn looked down to him as well.
"Hey Dale? Any chance you got an extra hat?" He asked. Dale smiled wryly and took off his hat.
"Nope," he said, throwing his hat up to Glenn. Wu and Glenn both looked at each other and chuckled as Dale stepped in the RV.
"That's a good look for you," Wu joked.
"Thanks," Glenn said sarcastically. When Dale entered the RV Andrea was reloading and holstering her pistol. She smiled at Dale as he walked in.
"Going off with Rick to look for Sophia," she said. Dale looked puzzled.
"I thought he was talking with Hershel?" He asked.
"He is. We're gonna go after. I'm headed to the barn in the meantime. Shane wants a watch duty down there," Andrea said, packing up a bag.
"Does Rick?" Dale asked suspiciously.
"Why wouldn't he?" She asked, putting a second handgun in her bag.
"Are you only getting yours? I don't know what's going on with you and him," Dale said with a concerned look.
"Him?" Andrea asked, somewhat annoyed.
"Shane," Dale replied stoically.
"Dale," Andrea scoffed.
"It's not my business," Dale continued before she could say anything else. "All that matters to me is that you- You may not really know him," he said, looking Andrea in the eyes. Andrea just sighed and shook her head.
"We don't need to do this. "You and I are finally- -" Dale cut her off.
"It's important," he said.
"I get it. You don't like him," Andrea said, shaking her head.
"It isn't that," Dale said.
"Then what is it?" Andrea asked.
"Is that how you want to be? Like him?" Dale asked.
"He's not a victim," Andrea replied, shaking her head again.
"You don't know him," Dale said in a cautionary way.
"Dale, I need you to stop. You spend so much time watching me, looking out for me- -" Dale cut her off again.
"You want to beat me up anytime I show any concern. Go ahead. I'm done," Dale said sadly.
"I'm not beating you up, Dale. I'm okay, really. Things are different," Andrea said with a smile. Dale was quiet for a moment and looked quite sad.
"You got your gun," he said. Andrea just looked at him with an awkward expression.
"Okay," She said, slipping passed Dale out of the RV. On top of the RV, Wu and Glenn exchanged concerned looks.
"You heard all of that, right?" Glenn whispered to Wu. Wu just nodded and watched as Andrea walked away.
"Dale? You okay?" Glenn asked from atop the RV.
"Yeah," Dale paused. "One of you mind running and getting me some water? I just- I need a second," Dale said, looking at the bag of guns on the table.
"You'll keep watch?" Dale didn't say anything and kept looking at the guns.
"Dale?" Glenn asked, when he didn't respond.
"I'll see if I can find some food as well. It sounds like he may need it," Wu whispered to Glenn. Glenn nodded and waited for Dale to say something as Wu jumped down from the RV. Dale finally seemed to respond.
"Yeah sure,"
Cornfield
Back at the cornfield where the cattle and trikes were grazing, Billy had brought one of the pickup trucks back up to Jacob, who was scanning the tree line.
"Hey. I got the go ahead from Rick," Billy said, stepping out of the truck.
"And how'd that go?" Jacob asked, still keeping his eyes on the tree line.
"Well, he wasn't too thrilled when I told him we were gonna be getting more guns with this being Hershel's land and all. He seemed a little more at ease when I told him I'd take the fall if Hershel found out," Billy replied. Jacob but down his binoculars and looked back at Billy.
"I thought we were gonna tell Hershel we had them from the start?" Jacob asked. Billy nodded.
"We are. That's just the back up plan in case this one falls through. Which I'm really hoping it doesn't. Hershel likes me and I'd like to keep it that way," Billy said. Jacob scoffed with a smirk.
"Yeah. Hershel's not the only one on this farm who likes you," he said, looking back at Billy.
"Um, I uh- - what?" Billy asked befuddled, clearly already knowing the answer.
"Come on. I've seen how you and Beth are together," Jacob said with a smile.
"Shut up. She has a boyfriend anyway. Let's get going. I want to get to those guns before someone else does," Billy said, quickly changing the subject. Jacob just laughed and nodded as the two of them climbed into the truck and drove off towards town.
Farmhouse
Back in the farmhouse, Hershel was reading his bible while eating when Rick knocked on the door.
"Come on in," Hershel called, not looking up from the bible. Rick walked in and stood next to the table.
"A little light reading for lunch?" He asked.
"Been working so hard lately I get my studying where I can," Hershel replied.
"You know we can help you out with your work," Rick said, almost pleading with him.
"It's my field to tend," Hershel retorted, still not quite looking up from his afternoon meal. Rick wasn't sure what else to say.
"We found the barn," he simply said.
"Leave it be," Hershel said, clearly trying to brush Rick off.
"Well, I'd like to talk about it, but either way- your barn, your farm, your say," Rick said, putting his hands on the chair in front of him. Hershel finally looked at Rick.
"I don't want to talk about the barn. I don't want to debate," he said annoyed.
"Not a debate, a discussion," Rick stated. Hershel sat back in his chair and wiped his face with a napkin before he said anything.
"I need you and your group gone by the end of the week," he said. Rick didn't look pleased. He paused for a moment before speaking.
"I talked to Dale. You and I have our differences with the way we look at the walkers. Those people, they may be dead, they may be alive. But my people, us, we are alive right now, right here, right in front of you. You send us out there and that could change," Rick said, his voice rising a bit. Hershel was visibly getting more irritated.
"I've given you safe harbor. My conscience is clear," he said, taking a drink of water. Rick sat next to him at the table.
"This farm- this farm is special. You've been shielded from what's been going on out there," Hershel just looked at him as he continued. "Dale said you saw everything happen on the news. Well, it's been- it's been a long time since the cameras stopped rolling," Hershel stood up from the table in frustration and took his dishes to the kitchen. Rick got up and followed him, continuously begging him.
"The first time I saw a walker it was just half a body snapping at me from the ground. My inclination wasn't to kill it. And I know these dinosaurs are just animals following their instincts, but what the world is out there isn't the one you saw on TV. It is much much worse and it changes you. Either into one of them or something a lot less than the person you were. Please do not- do not send us out there again," Rick begged. Hershel did seem to consider Rick's words, but simply stared out the window and sighed. Rick stepped away from Hershel for a minute and there was silence as Hershel continued to hang onto Rick's pleading.
"My wife's pregnant," Rick said. Hershel looked at him with concern. "That's either a gift here or a death sentence out there. If we were to stay we could help you with the work, with securing this place. We can survive together,"
"Rick, I'm telling you we can't," Hershel said.
"You think about what you're doing," Rick pleaded.
"I've thought about it," Hershel said, his voice rising.
"Think about it," Rick said again. Hershel seemed to let it out as he yelled.
I've thought about it!"
"Think about it again. We can't go out there," Rick stormed off out of the farmhouse as Hershel started to follow him, and watched in shame as he saw Maggie looking on to their conversation. Maggie just walks away as her gaze meets her father's, ashamed.
Truck
Jacob and Billy were on the road, a few miles out from the National Guard Outpost. Jacob looked distant as he was staring out the window. They drove by fields of corn and grain that Jacob could only assume belonged to the other farms in the area, much to the delight of a herd of sinoceratops grazing along side apatosauruses.
"That's a new one," Billy said, looking out the window, and pointing to the sinoceratopses as they drove by the group. Jacob was still a bit distant.
"Huh?" He said, looking at Billy.
"New species. I've been taking a mental note of any new species we see. Good news is, with all of the ceratopsians around here, the T. rex will probably think twice about attacking," Billy said.
"Oh," Jacob said quietly. "Yeah," He went back to looking out the window.
"Everything alright?" Billy asked, still keeping his eyes on the road, noticing Jacob's sudden mood change. Jacob sighed loudly before speaking.
"My brother and I- - we had a fight. He was feeding a compy our food. OUR food! It was dumb, and I told him so," Jacob vented.
"I'm uh, guessing you didn't just 'tell' him, huh?" Billy asked.
"Yeah. I said some things I wish I could take back. I just wish he could see I'm trying to keep him safe. Trying to keep him alive! But, he's- - he's just so young he doesn't understand that there are consequences to things like that. Life or death, kind of consequences," Jacob explained, seemingly to himself.
"It sounds to me like you're trying to be a father. Not his brother. Maybe just, talk to him. Not as a guardian, but as his big brother," Billy said. Jacob just looked at him, but sighed and nodded.
"Maybe you're right. I've spent so much time looking out for him as a protector, I haven't really gotten the chance for us to just be brothers. When we get back I…" Jacob was about to finish his sentence when he saw something in the road. Billy wasn't paying attention.
"You'll…?" Billy asked. Jacob's eyes widened as he looked ahead of them.
"Look out!" He yelled. Billy looked at the road just in time to slam on the breaks, right in front of a brachiosaurus carcass. Behind the carcass there were army vehicles overturned and scattered around the road. Compies and walkers alike were ripping off pieces of flesh from the massive dead sauropod.
"Is this the national guard outpost?" Jacob asked. Billy caught his breath.
"Uh, yeah. What's left of it. This Brachiosaur wasn't here last time," he explained, as he grabbed his combat knife. The two of them stepped out of the truck with their melee weapons at the ready.
"What the hell do you think took this thing down?" Jacob asked, before plunging his knife into a walker. Billy kicked a walkers legs out from under it and stabbed it in the forehead.
"What do you think? Looks like it was already weakened by whoever shot at it," Billy said, shaking blood off his knife and pointing to the bullet holes in the sauropod's legs. Jacob already knew what took it down though.
"T. Rex. That's not good. This is too close to the farm," he said, shaking his head.
"All the more reason to grab what's here," Billy said, finishing off the last walker in the group. Jacob nodded as they moved from behind the brachiosaur carcass to search through the trashed military vehicles. It took them a while to find the kind of weaponry they were looking for, but eventually turned up with a few useful weapons.
"I think I got something here!" Jacob said, pushing debris off of a lockbox. Billy ran up to him.
"Help me get it open," Jacob said. Billy nodded and both of them put their knives under the hinges of the lockbox, and with some effort, they were able to pry it open. Inside the box was a fancy looking rifle. Jacob looked puzzled, yet the rifle looked somewhat familiar.
"Any idea what this is? Or if it's useful?" He asked. Billy nodded and took the rifle out of the box.
"Yeah. It's a Marlin. 45-70 caliber. This thing can take down a T. rex and then some," Billy said with a smirk. Jacob nodded and grabbed several ammo pouches next to the box and loaded them into a bag along with the gun.
"Not much else here though. I found three MP5's and a sniper rifle. I thought you said there was plenty here?" Jacob asked, as he loaded the weapons into the truck bed.
"There were," Billy said, scratching his head. "Either someone ransacked the rest, or it's buried under that," he pointed to the brachiosaur carcass. Jacob sighed, but still felt good they managed to get at least some of it. Especially the Marlin. The two of them started walking back to the truck with their new weapons in hand.
"I think we got all we can find for now let's head- -" Jacob was interrupted by the ground shaking.
"Oh no. Not again," he said. Billy looked at him and threw the last of the ammo in the truck.
"Come on. Let's go. You drive," Billy said, grabbing the Marlin and getting in the bed of the truck.
"What? Why me?" Jacob asked in a panicked state as Billy threw him the keys. The foot steps were getting closer and they heard a roar. It was definitely the Rex.
"I'm gonna make sure we aren't followed. Now gun it!" Billy called back as he loaded the Marlin. Just as the truck sped forward, the T. rex roared thunderously and stomped out of the forest. Jacob had the pedal quite literally to the floor as the rex got ever closer to the truck. Billy fired a shot at the Tyrannosaur's head. Miss. Jacob's driving wasn't helping.
"Hold it steady will you?!" Billy called back, chambering another round. Jacob looked back and saw that the T Rex was nearly right on top of them.
"Kind of hard to do that when a fuckin' eight ton ravenous locomotive is trying to eat us!" He yelled over the roar of the T Rex and the hum of the engine. He tried his best to keep it steady as Billy fired another shot. Another miss.
"Dammit! We're gonna lead it back to the farm at this rate! I need a clearer shot!" Billy said, reloading. Jacob looked back to the bed of the truck. The T Rex was about to clamp its jaws on Billy, when he swerved the truck to the right, causing the T Rex to fumble and run into a tree.
"Great," Billy said. "Now you just pissed it off!" Jacob turned the truck to face the T Rex. It was still recovering from running into the tree, but shook itself off and roared at the Truck.
"Get ready!" Jacob called as he put the truck in gear. The Rex started running and was charging at them. It was closing, fast.
"Ready for what?!" Billy said.
"Line up a shot!" Jacob called. Billy quickly stood up, mounted himself and the gun on the cab of the truck and fired, grazing the Rex's eye in the process. A new scar to add to this particular animal's collection. The Rex let out a pained roar as blood streamed down from its face. Billy reloaded preemptively, ready to land a kill shot, but the Rex just roared at them and ran quickly back into the forest. Both Jacob and Billy took a minute to catch their breaths.
"Nice- - nice shooting," Jacob said with a smile, looking back to Billy.
"Your driving needs a little work," Billy said between breaths, hopping down from the bed. He climbed into the passenger seat.
"Let's get the hell out of here before it comes back," And with that, Jacob put the car in gear and headed back in the direction of the farm.
After driving for some time, Billy motioned for Jacob to stop the truck.
"Woah, woah. Hold up," Billy said, as Jacob stopped.
"Why?" He asked.
"This is the school," Billy said, pointing outside the window.
"You mean, the one where Otis…?" Jacob asked. The school grounds looked empty now, with only a few walkers shambling around. Billy unexpectedly got out of the truck.
"Billy! Where the hell are you going?" Jacob asked, getting out as well.
"There's probably still some medical supplies here. We should—" Billy was stopped in his tracks by a familiar looking body on the ground just outside the fence. Jacob looked at Billy, then fixed his gaze to where Billy was looking.
"Oh God. That's—"
"Otis," Billy finished Jacob's sentence. They both looked on sadly as what was left of Otis was dragging himself across the school ground's pavement; his entrails hanging out and one of his hands missing.
"Let's- - let's get out of here, man," Jacob said sadly. Billy didn't say anything but walked up to Otis' corpse, killing a few walkers in the process. Jacob followed quickly behind him with his knife at the ready. Billy just stood looking at what remained of Otis as it weakly reached a hand up in attempt to grab Billy. Jacob stood watching the scene unfold and put his hand on Billy's shoulder.
"Hey. Come on man we should—" Jacob was interrupted by the sound of Billy's knife plunging into Otis' skull, putting him out of his misery. Billy stood up and just looked at the corpse. Jacob did too and said nothing.
"I didn't know him well, but he was a nice guy," Billy looked over to Jacob. "And I know he shot Rick's kid, but- -" he trailed off.
"Hey. It was an accident. I know that and so does Rick. He seemed like a good guy," Jacob replied, putting his hand on Billy's shoulder. Billy nodded sadly and the two of them just took in the somber moment. Suddenly, Billy turned his head inquisitively and fixed his gaze on Otis' leg.
"What the hell?" He said to himself and kneeled next to the corpse.
"What? What is it?" Jacob asked.
"There's a gunshot wound on his leg," Billy stated. Jacob looked on and saw what Billy was talking about. Billy angrily stood up and put his hands on his head, and kicked the chain link fence behind them. Jacob had a disgusted look on his face as well.
"Raptors didn't kill Otis. Shane did,"
Farmhouse, later in the day
(Skipping the scene where Rick tells Shane Lori is pregnant, because that happened during Billy and Jacob's outing)
Back in the farmhouse, Hershel and Maggie were getting ready to prepare dinner.
"Hi, honey," Hershel said, walking into the kitchen. Maggie just looked at him and kept peeling vegetables. "Carl doesn't need any more of my help," Hershel explained.
"So that's it?" Maggie asked.
"Rick was trying to make his case. It'll be hard. They'll have to be careful. But he was being dramatic. They're a strong group. They've done well on their own. They're just gonna have to go out and find their own farm. There's plenty of them now to chose from," Hershel said. Maggie didn't look convinced.
"There aren't," she said. Every one of them nearby is burned out, overrun with dinosaurs or full of walkers," Hershel looked appalled that she used that word.
"Walkers? So we just keep these people here forever? How are they my responsibility?" Hershel asked as he sat at the table. Maggie was silent for a minute but looked her father in the eyes as she spoke.
"'A new command I give to you, love one another as I have loved you.' That's what you told me, right? I was mad about mom. Mad about you marrying Annette. I was 14 years old and I was awful, to you more than anybody. All I wanted to do was smoke and shoplift. Love one another. That's what you told me," she said, almost sadly. Hershel shook his head.
"Maggie," he said. "That was different,"
"No. You're different," Maggie said.
"I am. But we're not. I love you. That's part of this," Hershel Replied. He took a moment before speaking again "Is this about you and the Asian boy? "Do you want me to—" Maggie cut him off.
"No," she cried. "His name is Glenn. He saved my life yesterday when one of the people you think is sick tried to kill me. How's that for dramatic? Things aren't what you think they are. They aren't," Maggie said with tears in her eyes. Hershel looked at her with remorse as she spoke.
"Don't do this. Okay? It's not about me and Glenn. It's not about me and you. It's about you. It's about who you are, who you're gonna be," Maggie said. Hershel was about to respond when Jimmy came running in.
"Hershel! It happened again,"
Firepit
Jacob and Billy pulled back into the farm and Billy shut the truck off next to the RV. He just sat there for a moment and sighed, shaking his head.
"Hey. Do you wanna talk about what we saw back there?" Jacob asked. Billy shook his head again.
"What's there to talk about? That asshole killed Otis. To save his own skin," Billy said angrily.
"I- - I know. But right now, we need to keep this to ourselves," Jacob said, Billy gave him a look.
"I know, I know. I don't feel right about keeping it under wraps either, but you've seen how volatile he can be. How impulsive. If we start hurling accusations at him, it's not gonna end well. For anyone. Please," Jacob said. Billy just sighed and nodded as the two of them stepped out of the truck. Billy discreetly handed Jacob the bag of weapons they got and said nothing as he walked back to the farmhouse. Jacob saw Rick walking towards the group and intercepted him.
"Rick. We got them," he said, holding up the bag.
"Good. Don't tell anyone. Put them with the rest, but do it quietly," Rick said as the two of them walked towards the group. Jacob nodded and ran to the RV with the bag. Luckily, there was no one on watch when Jacob entered the RV. He didn't think anyone saw him until he entered the RV to find the other weapons missing.
"What the hell?" Jacob said to himself. He looked around for the guns but didn't find them. He just shrugged and stepped outside. When he came out of the RV, Rick and Andrea were convening by the cars to gear up for another search for Sophia. He quickly made sure no one was looking and hid the new guns under the RV, and covered them in leaves and dirt. He also couldn't trust himself not to tell Rick what he saw at the school yet, so he went to find his brother.
"…Also shows she could be moving this way south. If Sophia kept in that direction, she might have gotten out of the forest and into the farmland. So we take 74 up to Ivy Road, then push down south on foot through the forest till we hit Christopher, go east a couple of miles and then double back," Rick said. Hershel came walking up from the farmhouse.
"Rick," he called.
"Hershel. We just have our guns out because we're gonna go look for Sophia," Rick said.
"Before you do that, I could use your help with something," Hershel said.
"Count me in," Andrea chimed in.
"Thank you, but I just need Rick," Hershel replied.
"I'll be down at the barn keeping watch until you're ready," Andrea said, feeling offended as she holstered her pistol. Hershel gave her a look as she walked away.
(Replacing the scene with Shane and Lori to one with Jacob and Zach)
Firepit
Back at the firepit, Zach was coming out of his tent as Jacob walked up at the same time to go in.
"I'm just gonna go for a walk," Zach said sadly. Jacob sighed.
"Zach, wait. Come here a second," Jacob said. The two of them sat down on a fallen tree.
"Listen buddy," Jacob sighed. "I'm sorry for how I talked to you the other day. I just want you to be safe, Zach. I don't want to spend every day worrying if I'm going to find you dead somewhere. Or worse," Jacob said with tears in his eyes. Zach was silent for a minute, but then looked at Jacob and hugged him.
"I'm sorry too. I just wanted to make sure squeakers had enough to eat. But, I shouldn't have used our food. I'm sorry, Jake," Zach said. Jacob pulled away from the hug and put his hands on Zach's shoulder, smiling.
"And I'm sorry I keep acting like your dad and not your brother. But maybe save people food for people next time, huh?" Jacob chuckled. Zach laughed and nodded.
"Wanna come on dinosaur watch with me?" Jacob asked. Zach nodded enthusiastically, and Jacob gave a smile and gestured for him to follow.
RV
Back at the RV, Shane was in a huff after his conversation with Lori.
"S'up?" Glenn said from atop the RV. Shane just ignored him and walked inside to find the guns missing. Shane angrily turned the RV upside down looking for them to no avail.
"Son of a bitch," he swore to himself. He walked out of the RV to confront Glenn.
"You see where he went?" Shane asked.
"Who?" Glenn asked standing up from the chair.
"Don't even try to shit me, okay? Dale, Glenn. Or Jacob. I saw him slip inside with a bag and it ain't there," Shane said angrily. Glenn looked frightened.
"Did you see where either of them went?"
"Yeah, Dale asked me to run and get him some water. He said he'd cover me on watch. Jacob went patrolling for dinosaurs, I guess?" Glenn said.
"And Dale was was gone when you got back, huh?"
"Yeah," Glenn said. You think he's okay?"
"Oh, he's fine," Shane seethed.
"Why'd he bail then?" Glenn asked. Shane didn't look him in the eye.
"So you wouldn't tell me which way he went," he said.
"I don't get it," Glenn shrugged.
"No, man, you don't," Shane stormed off to look for either Jacob or Dale. Whoever he found first.
Forest
In the woods on the outskirts of the farm, Hershel, Jimmy, and Rick were tracking walkers when they came to a creek bed. Jimmy was carrying two catcher poles.
"The silt on the bottom is like glue. You just sink in," Hershel said. They came up on two walkers. "That's Lou Bush,"
"You knew him?" Rick asked.
"Lou as in Louise," Hershel corrected. She has a farm up the road. Sweet corn mostly. Worked at Hapman's bar on weekends," he said. Jimmy handed him a pole.
"The man, I don't know him, but the coveralls, I've been to where he worked," Hershel said. He paused for a minute then looked at Rick.
"How many have you killed?" He asked.
"Too many to count," Rick replied.
"Can you stop?" Hershel asked. Rick didn't say anything and just gave Hershel a look.
"There are people out there who haven't been in their right minds, people who I believe can be restored," Hershel explained.
"You're not talking about the walkers, are you?" Rick asked.
"It doesn't matter if you see them as human beings anymore. But if you and your people are going to stay here, that's how you're gonna have to treat them. And the dinosaurs. They're just animals doing what they've always done. My farm, my barn, my say," Hershel handed Rick a pole, who reluctantly took it.
Cornfield
In the cornfield, Jacob and Zach were patrolling looking for any signs of hostile dinosaurs. It was quiet and peaceful for a few minutes as they just walked the length of the field, when Zach spoke up.
"Jake?" He asked. "Do you think we'll find her? Sophia?" Jacob gave a hopeful smile.
"I do, Zach. I think she's still out there," he said. Zach smiled back but still looked sad. Jacob noticed a familiar looking flower that he and Daryl hand found a few days before.
"You see that?" He said, pointing to the flower. "It's a Cherokee Rose. Daryl said it'll bring good luck, and that it'll bring Sophia home. I'm inclined to agree with him," he explained. Zach's hope rose and smiled as he touched the flower.
"We'll find her. I know we will," Jacob smiled back at him and motioned for them to continue their walk.
Forest
Back at the creek bed, Rick, Hershel, and Jimmy were in the process of getting the walkers unstuck.
"Otis said if you get them halfway out they'll do the rest of the work," Jimmy said, struggling as he and Rick attempted to pull a walker out.
"How many times did he do this?" Rick called over the snarling of the walkers.
"If one wandered onto the property," Hershel explained. "Otis would get them into the barn. Now we have to," Rick and Jimmy had almost gotten the walker out of the creek.
"What happens when the barn gets full- -?" Rick tripped and fell into the mud, taking the walker along with him.
"Get the pole! Jimmy. Jimmy!" Rick called as he struggled to stand up. He finally caught his breath and continued guiding the walker out of the silt.
"You got it. Easy. Easy, Rick. Lead him. Jimmy will spot for us. Lead him lead him, Rick," Hershel called over more walker snarls.
"You're the carrot, not the stick," he said.
"What?!" Rick asked in a somewhat panicked state.
"You heard me, just lead him. He'll come to you," Hershel said.
"You told me he handled them easily," Rick said. "This is easy?"
"It's easier than some things," Hershel said, as they finally got the walkers out of the creek. All three of them walked back into the woods towards the farm with the walkers in tow.
Firepit Outskirts
(Replacing a scene with Maggie and Glenn to one with Jacob and Shane)
Jacob and Zach had just returned from their patrol. Zach went into his tent to do some reading and Jacob was walking back towards the RV to check on the guns he had hidden. He realized they weren't in the best hiding spot, but he wasn't sure what else to do. He was almost to the RV when Shane came around the corner and stopped him.
"Goin' somewhere, Jake?" He asked. Jacob looked angry.
"None of your business Shane," he replied. He tried walking away but Shane stepped in front of him. He sneered and scoffed.
"What, you- - you think I'm stupid or something? I saw you carrying a bag of guns. Why don't you just tell me where you hid them and we'll call it even," he said. Jacob's expression didn't change.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," he said. Jacob always had been a terrible liar, and Shane could see that. Shane got in closer to Jacob.
"You think I don't know? You and Dale, workin' together? You pass them off to him or something? Where'd he hide the guns, Jacob?" He asked, threateningly. Jacob stood his ground.
"You think I don't know? What you did to Otis?" He said, clenching his fist. Shane just chuckled.
"See- - I did- - I did what I had to, to keep this group safe. What do you do, Jake? Put your little binoculars on and tell us another compy came runnin' through the fence?" Shane mocked. Jacob's face bared an angry grimace but didn't say anything.
"Hell, you've been with us, what? Three weeks tops? Who you think they're gonna believe? Some snot nosed kid and his little brother, or someone who's actually been bending over backwards to keep this group safe?" Shane said. Jacob didn't know what else to say.
"Stay the hell away from me. And my brother. I don't have your guns. If I did, you'd be the last person I'd give them to. You'd have to kill me. Like you did Otis," he said. Shane gave him an angry look as Jacob started to walk away.
"Get the hell out of my way," Jacob said. He shoved Shane out of the way and kept walking. Shane was about to fight back, but saw Zach come out of his tent and walk up to Jacob, so he stormed off to find Dale.
Swamp
After nearly getting into a brawl with Jacob, Shane eventually came to Dale attempting to hide the guns underneath a tree.
"Man, this is a good hiding place. We ain't been in the swamps much, huh?" Shane said from across the swamp. Dale just looked at him and rolled his eyes.
"Imagine if you applied your tracking skills to finding Sophia," Dale mocked. Shane stepped closer to Dale, practically getting in his face.
"How about you just give me that bag, huh?" He demanded.
"I'm not gonna do that," Dale replied.
"Yeah you are, Dale. Unless, well, you do have that rifle over your shoulder," Shane threatened.
"You gonna shoot me like you did Otis? Tell another story?" Dale asked. Shane scoffed.
"Yeah, I see Jacob got to you first," he chuckled to himself. Dale didn't say anything.
"Hell, when you really look at it in the cold light of day, you're pretty much dead already," Shane said. Dale just looked at him angrily.
"Just give me the guns. Do it now," Shane said.
"You think this is gonna keep us safe? Dale asked.
"Mm-hmm. I know it is," Shane said in a singsong tone. Dale still wasn't budging.
"Rick is trying to get Hershel—" Dale started, but Shane cut him off.
"Dale, shut up. Just shut up and give me the guns," Shane said. Dale said nothing, but set the guns down and loaded the rifle strapped to his back.
"Am I gonna have to shoot you? Do I have to kill you? Is that what it's gonna take?" Dale asked, getting visibly shaken. Shane actually laughed a bit, but stepped closer to Dale, with the barrel of Dale's rifle pressed right on his chest.
"Eh. Yeah. That's what it's gonna take," Shane said. Dale reluctantly lowered the rifle in a defeated state.
"This is where you belong, Shane," he said, his voice nearly breaking.
"How's that, Dale?" Shane asked with a smirk on his face. Dale picked up the bag of guns and held them to his chest.
"This world, what it is now, this is where you belong. And I may not have what it takes to last for long, but that's okay. 'Cause at least I can say when the world goes to shit I didn't let it take me down with it," Dale thrust the bag of guns into Shane's chest. Shane simply grabbed the bag and walked off, leaving a shaken Dale behind.
"Fair enough,"
Farmhouse
At the Farmhouse, Patrica and Beth were doing math problems with Zach and Carl. Jacob was sharpening his knife looking out towards the Barn. Maggie and Glenn were conversing on the front steps.
"You look like you should be in line for the early bird special," Maggie laughed, taking Dale's hat off of Glenn's head.
"Go get your cap. I'll wash it for you, okay?" Maggie said. Glenn laughed and stood up as Andrea, T-Dog and Wu came walking up to the house.
"Do you know what's going on?" T asked.
"Where is everyone?" Andrea asked.
"You haven't seen Rick?" Glenn asked.
"He went off with Hershel. We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago," Andrea said. Suddenly, Daryl and Carol came walking up to the house as well.
"Yeah you were," Daryl said. "What the hell? Rick told us he was going out. Damn it. Isn't anybody taking this seriously?! We got us a damn trail," Daryl said. They all noticed Shane walking towards the farmhouse with guns in tote.
"Oh, here we go," Daryl said. Jacob stopped sharpening his knife and walked down next to Billy when he saw Shane coming. Billy and Jacob looked at each other with great concern.
"What's all this?" Daryl asked, pointing to the gun. Shane said nothing and handed Daryl a shotgun.
"You with me, man?" He asked.
"Yeah," Daryl replied.
"Time to grow up," Shane said with an angry look. Wu looked at both Billy and Jacob and then back to Shane. He pulled the rifle off his shoulder.
"You already got yours?" Shane asked Andrea.
"Yeah. Where's Dale?" She asked.
"He's on his way," Shane said. He started handing out guns.
"Thought we couldn't carry?" T Dog asked, after Shane hands him a pistol.
"We can and we have to. Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. But now we know it ain't," Shane said to everyone. He walked over to Glenn and handed him a shotgun as well.
"How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" Shane asked him. Glenn was hesitant at first but took the gun, much to Maggie's dismay.
"That's it. Can you shoot?" Shane asked. Maggie looked pissed.
"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight," she said. Even Carl was getting upset.
"We have to stay, Shane," he said. Zach nodded in agreement with him.
"Sophia's still out there," he said, looking at Carl. Suddenly, Lori came storming onto the porch.
"What is this?" She asked, looking at Shane. Shane ignored her and walked up to Carl. Jacob cautiously pulled Zach towards him as Shane got closer to the two young boys.
"We ain't going anywhere, okay? Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? He- Well, he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia," Shane said, basically to everyone. There were mixed feelings about what he was doing. He knelt down next to Carl and pulled out a revolver, attempting to hand it to him.
"Am I right? Huh? Now I want you to take this. You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how," Carl looked shaken and confused as Shane tried to hand him the gun. "Go on, take the gun and do it," he said. Lori stepped in and pushed Carl behind her.
"Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make," she said. Shane looked angry, but before he could say anything Wu spoke up.
"What the hell?" He said. Jimmy, Rick, and Hershel had returned from rounding up walkers and everyone looked on in confusion and fear as the trio led walkers back on to the farm. Out of nowhere, Shane started sprinting towards Rick, as the others unsuccessfully tried to get him to stop.
"What is that? Huh? What is that?!" He called as he ran.
"Shane! Wait!" Billy called. Shane ignored him as he caught up to Rick and Hershel.
"What the hell are you doing?!" He screamed at Rick.
"Shane, just back off," Rick said, struggling to keep the walker from escaping.
"Why do your people have guns?" No one answered Hershel.
"Are you kidding me? You see? You see what they're holding onto?!" Shane yelled to the group
"I see who I'm holding onto," Hershel said.
"No, man, you don't," Shane said.
"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk," Rick said, putting his hand up. Shane was getting more heated.
"What you want to talk about, Rick? These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't gonna feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis. They're gonna kill all of us," Shane looked at the entire group as he spoke.
"Shane, shut up!" Rick said. Shane ignored him once more.
"Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane pulled his gun out and fire three shots into the walker Hershel had in his snare. Everyone looked scared and stepped back quickly after Shane fired his gun.
"No! Stop it!" Rick yelled.
"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?" Shane asked, rhetorically. He fired three more shots at the female walker.
"That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?"
"Shane, enough!" Rick yelled.
"Yeah, you're right, man," Shane said, walking to Hershel's walker. "That is enough," Everyone watched in horror as Shane executed the walker Shane had in his snare pole. Lori held Carl close, and Jacob did the same with Zach. Patricia and Andrea looked at each other with concern. Shane caught his breath.
"Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!" He said. Carol looked stunned and started to cry. Shane continued.
"Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now!" Shane grabbed a pickaxe and ran to the barn door. Hershel was on his knees in shock as Rick tried to get through to him.
"Take the snare pole. Hershel, take the snare pole. Hershel, listen to me, man, please! Take it now," he said. Hershel didn't respond as he watched Shane go at the barn door with the pickaxe. "Hershel! Take it!" Rick yelled again. Shane was going at the lock now.
"No, Shane. Do not do this, brother," Rick pleaded.
"Shane stop! Think about this!" Jacob called.
"Wait! Stop this!" Wu joined in.
"Don't do it!" Glenn called. Lori held Carl close, anticipating the barn door flying open.
"Rick!" She called.
"Please!" Rick tried pleading with Shane again. Shane didn't answer and had the completely unlocked by now. He began banging on the door, trying to lure the walkers out.
"Come on. Come on, we're out here," He said, pretty much to himself.
"This is not the way! Please!" Rick pleaded one last time for Shane to stop.
Jacob grabbed Zach's arm and pulled him closer.
"Get behind me, Zach," He said. He noticed Shane pull his gun out and aim it at the door, so he did the same.
"Come on," Shane said, his sights set on the door. There were a few seconds of silence before several compies scurried out of the barn and ran away frightened in the opposite direction. Everyone seemed confused, until the walkers came pouring out of the Barn. One by one, the group started gunning down the walkers. He noticed Andrea, T Dog, and Daryl join the firing line with Shane, So he looked to Billy as if to ask him to watch Zach. He nodded and Jacob ran up to the firing line and assisted in gunning down the walkers. Billy hung back and comforted Zach as he cried. Glenn looked conflicted, wanting to help.
"Maggie," he said. She looked at him and nodded, tears in her eyes.
"It's okay," she said. Glenn loaded his shotgun and joined the firing line as Maggie collapsed to the ground and held her father. Shane looked angrily back at Rick and shot the walker in his snare pole, then resumed killing the walkers flooding out of the barn. Rick looked back to Lori, who was holding Carl in her arms. Billy did the same with Zach.
"Rick. You gotta stop this," Billy said as he held Zach, over the sounds of the gunshots.
"Stay back!" Rick responded. He tried one last ditch effort to stop them.
"Stop!" He called. Either no one could hear him, or they weren't listening. One by one, walkers continued to drop like flies, and Jacob gunned down what they thought was the last one. Everyone lowered their weapons and took a second. Shane gave a menacing look back to Rick as Dale rejoined the group. Jimmy held on to Beth as she cried. Just when they thought the carnage was over, they heard a low growling coming from inside the barn once more. Everyone looked on in horror and devastation as a zombified Sophia came shambling out of the barn. She had a bite on her neck, and claw marks across the length of her torso. Carol started to sob when she saw her daughter.
"Sophia?" She asked, in disbelief. Carol began running towards her daughter, but Daryl stopped her and held her as she cried.
"Sophia! Sophia. Sophia," Carol cried. Everyone began to tear up and Zach ran back to Jacob.
"Oh no," Jacob said, throwing his hands on his head. Sophia kept shambling towards the group as no one knew quite what to do.
"Sophia. Sophia," Carol balled. Lori held Carl in her arms as they both cried.
"Don't watch," she said, covering her son's eyes. Rick gave Shane an angry look as he upholstered his gun and walked up to Sophia. He looked at her sadly for a moment, and fired the shot. Carol wailed in agony as her daughter fell to the ground.
END
Phew! Hi all! Sorry for such a long delay in chapters! I meant to get this one out sooner, but with Thanksgiving (and various other video game releases) I got a bit distracted from my writing. But, I will try to get the next chapter out soon! I hope you enjoyed this one, as it is one of my favorite episodes of the show! I also wanted to develop Jacob and Billy's friendship more here, so I thought having them take on a T. Rex together would be great for that lol. Anyway, let me know what you think, and as always, thanks for reading!
~JPfan