Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay! See if you can spot the JP 3 references in this chapter ;) Enjoy!
Character Statuses:
Jacob Bishop: Alive
Zachary Bishop: Alive
Henry Wu: Alive
Dr. Alan Grant: Alive
Billy Brennan: Alive
Nima Cruz: Alive
Gerry Harding: Alive
Kayla Watts: Alive
Rick Grimes: Alive
Carl Grimes: Alive
Lori Grimes: Alive
Shane Walsh: Alive
Andrea: Alive
Amy: Deceased; Cause of death: Arm torn off by velociraptor, and fatally bitten on the neck by a walker
Dale Horvath: Alive
Glenn Rhee: Alive
Daryl Dixon: Alive
Merle Dixon: Status Unknown
Jim: Deceased, presumably undead; Cause of death: Bitten on the torso by a walker during the camp massacre and left to turn
Morales Family: Status Unknown
T-Dog: Alive
Jacqui: Deceased; Cause of death: Died when the CDC exploded
Carol Peletier: Alive
Ed Peletier: Deceased; Cause of death: devoured by walkers in his tent
Sophia Peletier: Deceased; Cause of death: Bitten on fatally on the neck by a walker and left to turn. Was possibly attacked by a dinosaur before hand.
Morgan Jones: Status Unknown
Duane Jones: Status Unknown
Edwin Jenner: Deceased; Cause of death: Died when the CDC exploded
Hershel Greene: Alive
Maggie Greene: Alive
Beth Greene: Alive
Otis: Deceased: Cause of death: Shot by Shane in the leg to use as bait, and devoured by both walkers and velociraptors
Patricia: Alive
Jimmy: Alive
Dinosaurs encountered so far
Carnivores
Velociraptor
Tyrannosaurus Rex
Allosaurus
Carnotaurus
Dilophosaurus
Herrarasaurus
Compsognathus
Herbivores
Apatosaurus
Triceratops
Sinoceratops
Gallimimus
Brachiosaurus (seen briefly in the prologue)
Stegosaurus
Pachycephalosaurus
Parasaurolophuss
Non-Dinosaurs
Dimorphodon
Pteranodon
Mosasaurus (seen briefly in the prologue)
It was a particularly cloudy day at the warehouse Rick and Shane had stopped at with Randal. Both their faces were bloodied and both of them looked worse for wear. Especially considering walkers were pouring out of the building, followed by a large group of compies. More of a nuisance than a threat at this point. Rick stumbled around a corner as a walker fell out of the window and landed in front of him. During the commotion, Randal dragged his body, hands tied up, towards the knife on the ground in an effort to get himself free. Meanwhile, Shane was being tailed by a large group of walkers, and several annoying compies. A few of the compies jumped on to his back and began biting at him. He grunted in pain as he shook them off, giving the last one a kick as he shambled into a broken down school bus, with the walkers pounding on the door…
(Intro)
Several hours earlier
The day was cloudy, but peaceful. Sounds of distant sauropods and birds rang out across the country side as the station wagon Rick and Shane were driving, with Randal in tow, came to a stop at a four way intersection. Rick stepped out of the car followed by a confused Shane, who had his shotgun in hand.
"I thought we were going further?" Shane asked, surveying the area. Rick walked ahead of him a bit.
"We are," he said. "Eighteen miles out,"
"So why are we stopping?" Shane asked, walking closer to Rick.
"I wanted to talk. Been waiting a week till we were gonna do this. I just wanna talk," Rick said.
"We don't need to," Shane replied.
"We do," Rick said, firmly.
"No man, we don't. We're doing this. I get it. He was passed out when y'all brought him back, doesn't know where the farm is- -" Shane started to say. Rick stopped him.
"That isn't what I need to talk to you about," he said. Shane couldn't look Rick in the eye.
"I heard what really happened at the school," Rick continued.
"Was it to survive?" He asked.
"Yeah. One of us wasn't gonna make it out. Not with those raptors on our tail. It had to be him. One shot to the leg, Carl lives. Reality is He had no business being here- There. Whatever," Shane said, coldly. Rick shot him daggers while he spoke.
"You don't think I would've done it?" Rick asked.
"No, man, I know you wouldn't have," Shane said, shaking his head.
"You don't think I can keep Lori or Carl safe?" Rick asked.
"I didn't say that," Shane said.
"Or my baby?" Rick said, looking right at him. Shane just scoffed as Rick continued. "Is it gonna have to be me too?"
"Rick, you can't just be the good guy and expect to live," Shane said. Rick got closer to Shane, basically in his face.
"To save Carl's life, I would've done anything- anything. Now Lori says you're dangerous, but you're not gonna be dangerous. Not to us, not to me, not anymore," As Rick spoke, Shane yet again, didn't meet his gaze.
"How about you look at me?" Rick said. Shane reluctantly raised his head to look at Rick.
"You and Lori- I get what happened. When I figured it out- and I figured it out pretty quickly- I wanted to break your jaw, let you choke on your teeth. But I didn't. That wasn't weakness. It took everything," Rick paused for a minute, and Shane's smug look, slowly turned to an angry guilty frown.
"That is my wife. That is my son. That is my unborn child. I will stay alive to keep them alive," he continued. Shane looked down in shame.
"You don't love her. You think you do, but you don't. Now the only way you and me keep on Is that you accept everything I just said right here, right now, and we move forward with that understanding," Rick said. He started to walk back to the car, but Shane finally spoke up. Whether out of guilt or appeasement, remained to be seen.
"When it started it was just- It was a couple of weird stories on the news. Then- then it was so quick," he said. Rick stopped walking.
"Everything- It just happened. Two weeks later, I'm in the hospital and there were soldiers shooting people in the halls. They were shooting people, man, not walkers. Then the walkers came through. You know, I tried to get you out, I tried, but we weren't gonna make it. Man, there was no way and I knew it. But I couldn't live with it. I couldn't live, knowing- But I had to. I didn't keep Lori and Carl alive, man.
They kept me alive," Shane said, his voice breaking. He paused for a minute, but Rick still didn't look at him. Shane continued.
"I want you to know that I didn't look at her before that. Brother, if I could take it all back, I would," Rick didn't say anything but started walking back to the car.
"I wanna check the ropes," he simply said. He opened the trunk of the car and Randal was muffled and blindfolded with a cd player blasting music into headphones around his ears. Rick tugged at the rope around his wrists, making sure they were taut. Rick and Shane looked down on him as they shut the trunk and climbed back in the car.
Farm
Lori and Maggie were in the kitchen prepping food.
"Rick say anything to you about Glenn when they got back from town?" Maggie asked, peeling some potatoes.
"Just that it had gotten pretty bad," Lori replied. Maggie paused for a second.
"He's not the same. Says he froze. Blames me. Says I got inside his head," she said. Lori looked her in the eyes.
"He came back- that's what matters. Men have to do certain things- You know that- And they're either gonna blame the little woman as the reason they do 'em or the reason they don't," she said. She plated up some chicken and washed her hands.
"I'll tell you something- what happens out there happens out there. And we- we're just trying to keep it together till they get back," Lori said, walking back from the sink.
"Things were good. Maybe I—" Maggie started.
"Glenn's a big boy," Lori said, eating a cucumber. "He makes his own choices, and then you- do you have anything to apologize for?" She said. Maggie shook her head sheepishly.
"Tell him to man up and pull himself together. Just don't say 'man up.' It never goes well," Lori said. The two of them chuckled. Maggie sighed and went to grab the tray of food.
"Let me just get this to Beth," she said. Lori gently shook her head.
"You go on- I got it," Lori grabbed the tray and headed upstairs.
Back on the road
The station wagon continued down the derelict country road. Shane stared out the window, watching as a herd of parasaurs grazed on the overgrown grasses that seemed to stretch for miles.
"We've gotta start using our knives more," Rick said, breaking the silence. "If there's one walker, we use our knives. We keep things quiet. We save ammunition. If it's a dinosaur, might be a different story. We gauge the situation. Maybe use that rifle Billy found," Rick said, intentionally leaving Jacob's name out of the conversation. He was aware of the growing hostility between them.
"Yeah," Shane simply said, actually seeming a little down.
"We need dry goods ahead of the winter- Warm clothes, fuel. Maybe we get a break. You gotta think the cold affects them. If it doesn't kill 'em, it's gotta slow 'em down. The dinosaurs too. At least some of the bigger ones. Be nice to know we aren't being tailed by a T. rex everywhere we go," Rick said. Shane stayed silent and kept his eyes on the field they drove by. A lone Apatosaurus grazed the tops of the trees. Rick continued.
"The second week of January last year, we got all that snow and ice. My cousin got stuck on 85 for 24 hours. Sitting in his car with a birthday cake for his girlfriend at Georgia Tech. He just sat and ate birthday cake and listened to the 'Lord Of The Rings' book on tape. We get lucky, we get the same winter as last year. By December, it's a different world. Safer. Maybe we find some snowmobiles to make runs," he said.
"That sounds good," Shane said, not looking away from the window. It was clear to him Rick was just trying to make conversation as they continued on down the road.
Farmhouse
Beth was lying in bed, still looking rather pale as Lori brought up a tray of food.
"Knock knock," Lori said, opening the door and setting the tray down. Beth sat up and looked at her.
"How about this- You, uh- You eat up all your food, we'll get you up and out of here and go take a walk. What do you say? It'll do good to be outside," Lori continued. Beth just looked at her and ignored the food.
"You're pregnant. How could you do that?" She asked. Lori understandably, was a bit taken aback.
"Uh, I don't really have a choice," she said.
"You think it'll make a difference?" Beth asked in a low voice.
"Of course it will," Lori said. "You eat something,"
Field
Billy was out by the chicken coop chopping wood. He was trying to give Beth some time to recover from her fall in the kitchen. And trying to keep his mind off of what he saw at the school. Not to mention the ever creeping guilt he continued to feel for not searching for Alan and the others. He was shaken from his thoughts by Jacob walking towards the coop with a hatchet in hand.
"Want some company?" Jacob asked, grabbing a log with his free hand. Billy just nodded and shrugged, then wiped sweat from his forehead.
"So," Jacob started. "You mentioned you were on Isla Sorna, what, 17 or so years ago?" He brought the hatchet down on a log and split it in two. Billy did the same and threw the wood in a pile.
"Yeah. Not the best near death experience, but I wasn't gonna let Alan go alone with the tourists," he said. Jacob snickered.
"Tourists, huh? The ones looking for their kid?" He asked. Billy nodded.
"Yep," he sighed, setting up another log. "The Kirbys. Dragged us there under false pretenses and nearly got us killed. They actually did get a few others killed, come to think of it," he said as he threw some more wood in the pile.
"Raptors?" Jacob asked grimly. He wiped sawdust off his shirt. Billy nodded solemnly,
"Among other things. Pteranodons, spinosaurus," he said. Jacob's eyes widened.
"Spinosaurus? I didn't think InGen had any of those planned for their first park?" He asked. Billy just shook his head.
"They didn't. But right after Masrani Global took over InGen, a few rogue scientists cloned one. Illegally. Along with a few other species. It's part of the reason why Sorna went to shit shortly before Jurassic World opened in '05. Last I heard there weren't any dinosaurs left on Sorna after '03," he explained. He leaned his hatchet up against a log to wipe his face off.
"Jesus. I bet I can guess who one of those scientists were," Jacob said. Referring to Wu. He continued. "Just out of curiosity; the raptors on Sorna. What'd they look like?" Billy gave him an inquisitive look.
"Some of them were gray, stripes down the sides. The others, had these feather like quills on their heads. Different from the ones we've seen so far," Bill explained.
"Not anymore," Jacob said, shaking his head. Billy stopped chopping for a minute.
"What do you mean?" He asked. Jacob sighed.
"Back at Hatlins, we saw them. It's how I got this," he said, holding up his bandaged arm. Billy sighed and shook his head.
"That's not good. On the island, they tracked us for miles,"
"Really? Seems a bit excessive, even for Raptors," Jacob said.
"It would have been. If I- -" Billy started. He cut himself off.
"If you what?" Jacob pried.
"If I hadn't stolen their eggs," Billy said with shame.
"Jesus Billy!" Jacob exclaimed.
"I know, I know. I thought they'd be worth something. I got an earful from Alan and then nearly died after being dragged down river by Pteranodons, so, karma, I suppose," Bill explained. Jacob just sighed.
"Promise me you won't do anything that stupid again with these ones? I get the feeling they hold grudges," Jacob joked.
"Smarter, bolder raptors," Billy nodded and chuckled, referring to what Jacob had said a week or so ago. Jacob just nodded.
"Alright. Break time's over. Let's get back to choppin'"
Back on the road Rick and Shane were driving through a decrepit town, looking for anywhere they could ditch Randall. They'd been driving for a while and Shane spoke up.
"It's more than 18," he said, looking at Rick.
"Yeah, I'm looking for a place," Rick replied.
"A place for what?" Shane asked.
"Give him a fair shake. A shot," Rick said, keeping his eyes on the road. They drove a few more miles, and the sun had started setting. A spot seemingly caught Rick's eye as they passed over a set of train tracks.
"There," Rick said, pulling the car into a public works building parking lot. Him and Shane stepped out of the car and gauged the area, walking up to a chain link fence. The only signs of dinosaurs so far was the bellowing of sauropods far off in the distance.
"This'll do," Rick said. "We'll leave the boy here and scavenge some supplies," he then whistled to Shane, gesturing to a walker shambling on the other side of the fence.
"Over there," he said. Shane readied his pistol and aimed it at the walker but Rick stopped him.
"Wait. Like I said," Rick pulled out his knife, and sliced his finger slightly, smearing the blood on the fence. The walker happily obliged and began biting at the blood on the fence, which allowed Rick to plunge his knife in the walker's skull, leaving it's lifeless body hanging on the fence.
"Gun's quick, easy, but other ways to do this," Rick said. Another walker came shambling over after hearing the commotion.
"One more. Your turn," Rick said. Shane did the same thing, and the walker laid dead on the ground. After checking the area, Rick used bolt cutters to open the fence and the two of them entered the parking lot with their guns at the ready. As they checked the perimeter inside the fence, Shane stepped in something soft, and smelly.
"Jesus," he said, shaking his boot off. Rick chuckled a bit. As did Shane, and the two of them shared a moment.
"What ever left a shit that big might still be around. Keep an eye out," Rick said. Sure enough, they turned a corner, and in front of them was a disgruntled looking ceratosaurus. Rick and Shane readied their guns, standing still and far back from it, but the ceratosaur looked annoyed and simply stomped away slowly into the woods with a low bellow.
"Too damn close, man," Shane said. Rick nodded and let out a sigh of relief.
"Guess he wasn't hungry. Come on," he said. A few minutes later, the two of them come to a gruesome scene. A pile of bodies charred to a crisp. Rick stared at them somewhat sadly and Shane investigated an abandoned school bus that looked like it had once housed survivors. Later, Rick siphoned some gas from a tanker truck and Shane inquisitively inspected the two walkers they had killed, when he noticed something odd.
"Hey, Rick," Shane called. Rick walked over to him. "I don't see any bites," Shane said.
"Gotta be scratches then- This one's hand, other one's cheek," Rick said, pointing at the walkers. He continued.
"They had walkers here- burned bodies down the hill," Shane still didn't look convinced.
"I guess it gotta be scratches then, huh?" He said. The two of them then drove the car into the interior parking lot and unloaded a still blindfolded Randall.
Farmhouse
Lori had come back to check on Beth and saw that she hadn't eaten any of the food.
"Couldn't eat a thing, huh?" She said, stepping in to the room. "You're gonna- Hey," she stopped when she noticed Beth crying and knelt down next to her.
"I know how hard it is. I tried for days to reach my mom, and get her on the phone. I can only assume—" Lori didn't finish before Beth spoke up.
"It's just so pointless," she said through her tears.
"Oh. You have Maggie, and your father, Patricia and Jimmy. And you've gotta stay strong for them. I wish I could promise you it would be all right in the end. I can't, but we can make now all right And we have to," Lori said softly. Beth just looked at her with genuine gratitude and wiped her tears away.
"Thank you," she simply said. Lori smiled and nodded as she stood up.
"I'll be right back. We'll go take that walk," With that, Lori brought the uneaten food back to the kitchen. But as she set the tray down next to the sink, she noticed something alarming: the steak knife was missing from it. She quickly ran back up to the room to find Beth curled up in her blankets facing away from the door.
"Beth? You give it to me, sweetheart," she said. Beth didn't say anything.
"You don't wanna do this," Lori said again. Beth still didn't say anything but took the knife out from under the blankets and reluctantly handed it to her. Several minutes later, Lori runs out to the RV, where Jacob and Billy had just returned from chopping wood.
"Have either of you three seen Maggie or Hershel?" She asked out of breath. Jacob and Billy looked at each other worriedly.
"I haven't seen Hershel, but I saw Maggie and Glenn walk by, maybe 20 minutes ago," Andrea said.
"Could you find her for me? I've gotta get back to the house," Lori said.
"Of course," Andrea replied.
"We'll come too," Billy said, referring to him and Jacob. Lori nodded and the three of them ran to the farmhouse.
Public works warehouse
Rick and Shane led a still blindfolded Randal to the middle of the parking lot. Shane took the bag off his head and tape off his mouth while Rick took the MP3 player out of his ears. His hands were still tied, however.
"The hell is this?" Randal asked. Rick and Shane didn't say anything and started to walk away.
"Oh, come on, don't be stupid. I owe you guys. I can help protect what you've got. Why would you save my life just to kill me by leaving me here? One guy- one guy can't make it alone!" Neither or Rick or Shane said anything, but Rick took a knife out and dropped it on the ground for Randall to cut himself free. Randal continued.
"That's why I was with those dudes- I was alone. Don't be stupid! I'm not like them! I'm just some guy! I used to watch football and screw around on the Internet.
I lived with my mom! I lost her like you lost people. I went to school with Maggie for God's sake!" That got their attention. Rick and Shane looked back at him finally.
"I went to church. I rode the bench on varsity baseball!" Randal called. Rick and Shane started walking back toward him
"You went to school with Maggie?" Rick asked.
"You go to school with Maggie?" Shane also asked.
" Answer the question! Did you go to school with Maggie?" Rick demanded again.
"I- it- she didn't know me," Randal stammered. Didn't even know I existed. I mean, I knew her. I knew who her dad was," Rick and Shane looked understandably distraught and frustrated.
"There is no way I would ever do anything - to hurt her or her family," Randal said, his voice cracking.
"Jesus," Rick muttered under his breath.
"Or you- or your people! I'm not like the guys I was with!" Randall called out in desperation. Shane got in close to Rick.
"He knows where the farm is, Rick. Where we are- he knows. Say he finds his way back to his people," He said. Rick didn't say anything, contemplating it. In an act of frustration, Shane pulled out his pistol, and aimed at Randal.
"Shane, no!" Rick said, grabbing the pistol. A shot rang out that narrowly missed Randal. Shane fell to the ground, up against a police car.
"Not now- just not now!" Rick yelled. Shane angrily hit the car with his fist.
"Well, when, Rick? When?" Shane asked, visibly irritated. Rick kicked the gun away from Shane.
"When I've had a chance to think about it," He said.
"Don't let him kill me. Please don't," Randal said.
"Shut up!" Rick yelled at Randal. "We're going back. It's a man's life, I need a night to think it through," he said. Shane was getting more belligerent.
"You're gonna bring this piece of garbage- this piece of garbage who- he shot at you, Rick. He ran with men who tried to kill you. You gonna bring him back to where Lori sleeps? To where Carl sleeps?!" He yelled.
"He'll be locked up in the barn, - unless you bust it open," Rick said mockingly
"Oh, don't start that shit," Shane said, standing up.
"I'm taking the night," Rick said again, walking back toward Randal.
"Man, you take that- you think on it, Rick. Keep struggling with it. It ain't hard, man. The right choice is the one that keeps us alive. It's always the same with you. It's like the first moment- it's whenever you're put to the test—" Rick cut Shane off and started walking back towards him.
"Stop acting like you know the way ahead, like you know the rules. There are no rules, man. We're lost," Rick said. Shane just shook his head.
"No-no-no, man. I know exactly where I am," he said.
"You don't know shit anymore," Rick said.
"I don't think you can do it, Rick," Shane retorted, almost mocking him.
"It's my call, man," Rick said, about to walk away.
"I don't think you can keep them safe," with that, Shane and Rick locked eyes, and Rick sucker punched him in the face. The two of them then got into a violent fight, Rick pinned Shane against the police car and wailed on him, while Shane head butted him in return. While Rick was disoriented, Shane reached for Rick's gun to use against Randal, but Rick quickly recovered and repeatedly punched Shane in the face, knocking the gun under the school bus. During the chaos, Randal slowly inched himself towards the knife Rick had left on the ground. Rick and Shane continued their brawl, as Shane pinned Rick under a motorcycle. As Rick struggled to get free, Shane grabbed the gun from under the school bus and walked towards Randal. He had a shot lined up, but Rick had gotten himself free and tackled Shane from behind before he could kill Randal.
"Get off me, man!" Shane yelled as Rick had him in a chokehold. Rick finally got the upper hand, pinning Shane to the ground and landing several punches to his face. Shane was struggling to stay conscious as Rick got up off of him. Meanwhile, Randal had managed to cut his legs free.
"You're not doing this! You don't get to make these calls anymore. I won't let you," Rick said. Shane didn't say anything, but grabbed a pipe wrench and hurled it at Rick, narrowly missing him as it flew through the window of the public works building. Shane's bloodied, angry face reflected off the broken window, as a walker crawled out the window towards Rick. He struggled for a moment but was able to take the Walker out. When all seemed calm, several more walkers began to pour out of the window. Rick pulled the dead walker on top of him, as the rest of the dead shambled towards a panicked Shane.
Farmhouse
Beth was sitting on the edge of the bed while Maggie scolded her. Jacob and Billy had gone downstairs with Andrea and Lori.
"Are you crazy? What if dad finds out?" Maggie said.
"What's he gonna do? Kill me for committing suicide?" Beth joked darkly. Maggie rolled her eyes in frustration.
"Stop being such a brat," she said. "He'd die. So would I. This isn't just about you. We all lost mom," she said sadly.
"We'll lose each other and I couldn't stand that," Beth explained. Maggie looked at her with tears in her eyes.
"So you give up?"
Public Works Building
While Shane continues to be chased by walkers, Rick is cornered by a walker that had lagged behind the rest. There was a compy tail stuck in its jaws, and it lunged at him. Meanwhile, another walker had found Randal, who had managed to get his legs free. The walker lunged at him, but Randal kicked in its leg, causing it to fall to the ground. He limped a bit away and managed to get his hands free, reading the knife.
"Come on, bitch. Let's see what you got," he said to the walker. He then stabbed several times in the head, with a slight look of bliss on his face.
Farmhouse
Back at the house, Lori, Andrea, Jacob and Billy were sitting in the kitchen awkwardly listening to Beth and Maggie argue loudly from upstairs.
"Where's Hershel?" Andrea asked.
"He doesn't want to find out yet. It's a family affair," Lori said. Jacob nudged Billy.
"Aren't you family, Billy?" He asked. Billy shook his head.
"Not exactly. They took me in, but I'm not quite ready to be a part of the family shouting matches," he said.
"They'll work it out," Lori said, nodding at Billy.
"That's working it out?" Andrea asked.
"When Beth stops fighting, that's when it's time to worry," Lori said.
"You are being so selfish!" Maggie yelled from upstairs.
"This could've been handled better," Andrea said out of the blue.
"'Handled better?'" Jacob mouthed to Billy.
"How so?" Lori asked, almost annoyed.
"You shouldn't have taken the knife away," Andrea said.
"Excuse me?" Lori said.
"Yeah hold on a second," Billy chimed in.
"You were wrong, like Dale taking my gun. That wasn't your decision. She has to choose to live on her own. She has to find her own reasons," Andrea explained. Jacob rolled his eyes and Billy looked angry.
"Want me to tie a noose for her?" Lori said darkly.
"If she's serious, she'll figure out a way," Andrea said.
"Doesn't mean I can't stop her or let her know that I care," Lori said, putting some dishes away.
"That has nothing to do with it, Lori. She only has so many choices in front of her, and she believes the best one is suicide," Andrea said so casually.
"Andrea knock it- -" Billy started to say, but Lori chimed in first.
"That's not an option," Lori said.
"Of course it is. She doesn't need to be yelled at or treated like a child," Andrea said.
"She needs a loaded gun, right? You'll understand if I don't send you in there," Lori said. Jacob and Billy still just kind of sat there as the catfight went on.
"I came through it," Andrea said.
"And oh what a productive member of this group you've been," Jacob said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Let Maggie handle this her way. It's not your decision," Billy chimed in.
"I contribute," Andrea said, looking at Jacob. "I help keep this place safe,"
"We've got more than enough people on watch," Jacob retorted.
"They don't need your help," Lori said, nodding in agreement with Jacob. She put some more dishes away.
"I'm sorry. What would you have me do?" Andrea asked.
"Oh, there's plenty of work to go around," Lori said.
"Are you serious? Everything falls apart, you're in my face over skipping laundry?" Andrea said, standing up.
"Puts a burden on the rest of us, on me and Carol, and Patricia and Maggie.
Cooking, cleaning and caring for Beth. And you- you don't care about anyone but yourself- You sit up on that RV, working on your tan with a shotgun in your lap," Lori said.
"That's an understatement," Billy said under his breath.
"No, I am on watch against walkers. And dinosaurs! That is what matters, not fresh mint leaves in the lemonade," Andrea said, practically yelling.
"Do you even know how to handle any of the dinosaurs? Because if I remember correctly, you lost your shit when a dilophosaur came at you," Jacob added.
"It caught me off guard. I know what I'm doing," she said dismissively. Jacob just shook his head and looked at Billy.
"We are providing stability," Lori said, referring to the housework. We are trying to create a life worth living,"
"Are you kidding me?" Andrea said.
"Look, I went after Rick. I took down two walkers," Lori replied.
"After crashing Maggie's car," Andrea said. They were speaking over each other now.
"Don't act like you're the only one who can take care of herself," Lori said, over Andrea. Meanwhile, Jacob and Billy hung back a bit, seeing things were getting heated.
"Ever apologize for that?" Andrea said smugly. That caught Lori off guard.
"Crashing her- - You're insane," she said, shaking her head.
"No, you are. And you're the one that's self-centered, the way you take it all for granted," Andrea insulted. Lori got practically in Andrea's face, which caused Jacob and Billy to look at each other with concern.
"My husband is out there for the hundredth time. My son was shot. Don't you dare tell me I take this for granted!" Lori yelled.
"You don't get it, do you? Your husband came back from the dead, your son too. And now you've got a baby on the way. The rest of us have piled up our losses- Me, Carol, Beth- but you just keep on keeping on," Andrea said.
"We have all suffered," Lori said, shaking her head. Andrea continued.
"Playing house, acting like the queen bee, laying down rules for everybody but yourself. You know what? Go ahead. Go in there and tell that little girl that everything's gonna be okay, just like it is for you. She'll get a husband, a son, baby, boyfriend," That last word really got everyone's attention. Lori didn't say anything. At this point, Jacob and Billy had removed themselves to the living room.
"She just has to look on the bright side," Andrea finished her insult, and walked away. Lori walked to the living room and sat with her head in her hands.
"You alright?" Jacob asked. Lori just sighed and nodded.
"Thank you for backing me up in there. Both of you," she said.
"Of course. She doesn't know what the hell she's talking about. Probably best to keep her away from Beth," Billy said. Jacob and Lori nodded. Lori stood up and sighed and went back to the kitchen.
"You really care about her, don't you? Beth, I mean," Jacob asked Billy. Billy just chuckled awkwardly, patted Jacob on the back and walked up the stairs.
Public Works
Rick was scrambling around on the ground as he searched for his gun, and found it under the police car just in time to shoot one of the two walkers headed towards him. It fell on top of him as he called out. He tried to shoot the second one but initially missed and hit the window of the car. Finally, he had managed to take out the second one, but a third walker came running, hearing the commotion. As did a group of compies that emerged from behind the other car. The compies were chirping and biting Rick's face and arms as the third walker piled on top of him. He struggled to ready his gun with the compies and walkers on him, but he managed to put his gun in the mouth of one of the already dead walkers, and shot through it to kill the third one. With his free hand, he swatted away a few compies from his face, and was finally able to push the pile of walkers off of him. When he stood up, he kicked the other compies halfway across the parking lot towards the school bus.
Farmhouse
Maggie and Beth had stopped the shouting, but not the arguing. Billy sat outside the room on the floor next to the closed door.
"Mom would be ashamed to learn she raised such a coward. "What about dad, Beth?" Maggie said with tears in her eyes.
"He's clueless," Beth said bluntly. "He had us waiting for a cure,"
"He knows he was wrong," Maggie said.
"When has dad ever admitted he was wrong? He's just telling Rick's group what they want to hear," Beth said, shaking her head.
"And Jimmy?" Maggie asked.
"We went out for three months and now I'm married to him?" Beth shrugged.
"What about Billy?" Maggie asked. Billy perked up outside the room. "I've seen how you look at each other,"
"He's not even family," Beth said. Billy was, admittedly, a bit hurt to hear that.
"He saved your life," Maggie said. Beth looked away from Maggie and didn't say anything.
"And me? You could do that to me?" Maggie continued. "I can't take another funeral," She said.
"You can't avoid it," Beth said. What are we waiting for? We should both do it," she said. Maggie looked appalled.
"What?" She said in disbelief.
"At the same time. Help each other," Beth continued. Maggie grabbed her hands pleadingly.
"No," she cried.
"It's hard to do it. No one wants to but- " Maggie cut Beth off.
"No, please don't," Maggie pleaded again. Meanwhile, Billy, feeling as if he shouldn't be hearing this, and frankly disturbed at what he was hearing, left for the spare bedroom he'd been staying in.
"We can do it so it's peaceful, easy," Beth continued.
"Stop talking like that," Maggie said.
"Our choice, and then it would be over. Or we'll be forced to do it when the farm and this house is overrun. No one can protect us," Beth said, now crying herself.
"That's not true," Maggie said with a hopeful smile.
"Who, Glenn?" Beth said. Maggie gave her a hurt look. "I heard what happened. Rick will save his family, the others too. We're alone. You, me, Patricia, with only dad, Jimmy, and Billy against a whole world of things that want to kill us. And if those raptors come back? I- - I don't wanna be gutted," Beth said, holding Maggie's hands. She paused for a minute and looked desperately at her sister.
"I wanna go In this bed, tonight With you beside me. Please,"
Public Works
The walkers had cornered Shane into the school bus, along with a group of compies that he had managed to shake off his back. Frantically, he looked around for something to get himself out of there. He eventually found a knife, and cut his hand open and smeared blood on the door to the school bus. The walkers eventually pried it open, and began going to town on the blood. Shane noticed this, and seized the opportunity.
"You want some of that?!" He yelled at the walker, before plunging the knife into its head, relieving some stress on the door. He called out in exasperation as he watched the try to bite the door.
"Oh shit!'
Farmhouse
Maggie and Beth were still sitting on the bed silently, with Maggie still not sure what to say. A knock came on the bedroom door. It was Andrea.
"Hey," she said. You can't sit on top of her," Maggie got up and met her at the door.
"I can't leave her by herself," she said.
"You're gonna have to. You're exhausted. Go get some air. I'll sit with her," Andrea offered. Maggie looked hesitant.
"Go ahead. Wash up, get something to eat. I got it," Andrea said. Maggie nodded slowly.
"Okay, okay. Thanks," she said. Maggie left the room and Andrea shut the door. She sat in the chair across from the bed and her and Beth just looked at each other.
"Aren't you gonna say something?" Beth asked. Andrea just stood up, and opened the door to the adjoining room.
"Is this what you want?" She asked. "The pain doesn't go away. You just make room for it," with that, Andrea inexplicably left the room and shut the door, leaving Beth by herself.
Public Works
Rick had finally collected himself and gotten the walkers away from him when he ran into Randal. He pointed his gun right at him.
"Oh! - Holy shit!" Randal said, limp-running in the other direction. Rick grabbed him and threw him to the ground, behind the car to hide themselves from the walkers.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Rick said to him on the ground.
" What did you expect me to do? Please, just let me go, man. That's what you came here for. I'm not gonna tell anyone anything!" Randal whisper-yelled.
"Shut up," Rick said, casing the situation. His eyes fixated on the school bus surrounded by walkers and Randal took notice.
"You wanna stay here?" He asked. "Help the guy that just tried to bash your head in? There's 10 roamers there," Rick just continued to stare at the bus and weigh his options.
"You think you can take them on? They don't see us. We can get out of here," Randal said. Still nothing from Rick. Finally, Randal gave in.
"Oh, come on. Fine! But let me have a gun. I'll help you. I'll show you. I can.
I know it," he said. Rick grabbed Randal and started walking away from the bus.
"Let's go," he said.
"What?" Randal asked.
"He did this. We're going," Rick replied. Randal gave a hopeful smile.
"Oh, thank you, Thank you," Meanwhile, Shane watched in despair as Rick and Randal left the confines of the Public Works parking lot.
"Rick no, man. Come back, man,"
Farmhouse
Billy was pacing back and forth in his room. Something didn't feel right. He went to Beth's room and knocked on the door.
"Hey Beth, it's uh, Billy. Can I come in?" No answer. He turned the door knob and entered her bedroom, but she wasn't in the bed. Then, sobbing coming from Beth's bathroom. He ran over to it frantically and tried to open the door but it was locked.
"Beth?" He asked, pounding on the door. Then came a shatter of glass. "Beth?! Beth!" He called again.
"Maggie! Jacob! Someone!" He called downstairs. Lori, Maggie and Jacob came running into the room.
"Billy?" Maggie and Lori asked in unison.
"She's in here! I heard glass shattering!" Maggie and Lori both walked up to the door. Jacob stood back a bit, not quite sure what to do.
"Beth, you all right?" Lori asked, leaning up against the door.
"Don't do this, Beth. Don't do this. Open up, please," Maggie pleaded.
"God, I left her with Andrea," Maggie said. Lori and Billy looked at each other. Jacob began frantically searching the nightstand and dresser.
"Where's a key? Do you have a key?" He asked.
"I don't know," Maggie said, also searching the dresser.
"Beth honey, please open the door. I'm not mad. I'm not mad, Beth," Maggie said, trying to jimmy the lock. Billy looked around the room, and caught eye of a fire poker.
"Look out," he said, wedging the poker between the door and the baseboard. "Hang on," he said. After a few seconds, the door came open to reveal a distraught Beth, crying and holding a bloody wrist.
"I'm sorry," she cried. Billy sighed, and Jacob and Lori looked sad as well. Maggie went into the bathroom and took her sister by the hand.
"It's okay,"
Public Works
Rick and Randal had started making their way back to the car, when Rick stopped walking and grabbed another gun from two dead and zombified police officers. He stared at the two of them, hesitant to keep going.
"Stay there," he said to Randal. Back at the school bus, the walkers were getting closer to opening the door so Shane smeared more blood on the bus door, but dropped his knife outside in the process. Suddenly, Shane heard rapid, relatively large foot steps approaching, followed by a hiss like roar. The Ceratosaurus from earlier came charging out of the woods, and trampled the group of walkers. It had inadvertently saved Shane in an effort to grab a quick meal. Also to Shane's relief and surprise, Rick and Randal came blazing up the road in the SUV. There were still a walker or two attempting to get into the bus. The ceratosaurus roared at the car, but largely ignored it and kept eating the walkers.
"Shane! Run! Go for the back door! Before that thing gets hungry for you too!" Rick said, hanging out the window, shooting some of the walkers. Shane ran down the aisle of the bus, opened up the back and jumped into the car
"Come on! Come on, get in!" Rick called over the roar of the ceratosaurus. Without a second thought, Randal gunned the car and drove off out of the parking lot. The ceratosaurus looked on indifferently as it finished its evening meal and trudged back into the forest.
Whoo- Yeah! Hell yeah! You see that? You see what we did?" Randal yelled as the sped down the road. Rick didn't share his excitement and kept his gun on Randal.
"Just keep driving,"
Farmhouse
Andrea came running up to the house from the firepit camp. She was met by Maggie, Lori and Billy who looked at her with disgust.
"Where were you?" Maggie asked.
"I heard. Is she all right?" Andrea asked.
"She would be if you had stayed with her," Billy chimed in.
"Where were you?" Maggie asked again.
"How bad is she?" Andrea asked, ignoring the question.
"It wasn't deep," Maggie said, her arms crossed.
"She wants to live. She made her decision," Andrea said with a smile, almost proud of herself.
"She tried to kill herself," Maggie called. Andrea just shook her head.
"No, she didn't," she said.
"My father is stitching her wrist right now," Maggie said.
"She'll live," Andrea said dismissively. She tried to go inside but Maggie blocked her from going up the front steps, and Billy stood in front of the door just in case.
"Stay away from her. From all of us. Don't you dare step foot inside this house again," Maggie threatened. Andrea said nothing, but she scoffed and walked back to the campfire. Maggie went back inside distraught, and Billy was about to follow, but Lori pulled him aside.
"I'm not gonna say she was right, but Beth has made her wants to live and now she knows it. And sometimes you have to cross the line," Lori said quietly.
"Maybe. But what Andrea did, was too far a line to cross," he said. He then followed Maggie back into the house. Jacob was in the living room and Billy sat next to him.
"I was listening to what happened out there," Jacob said. He shook his head in disgust. "Andrea's just as bad as Shane," Billy nodded but said nothing. Jacob paused for a minute before speaking again.
"Ya know, I'm sure Beth could use a friend right now. Maybe, more than a friend?" He said. Billy just sighed.
"She's already got Jimmy. And besides, the last thing she needs right now is me telling her I have feelings for her," Billy said. He didn't mean to blurt that last part out.
"Yeah, I suppose Jimmy wouldn't - -" Jacob cut himself off. "Did you just admit you like her?" Jacob asked with a smug look. Billy just chuckled awkwardly and gave Jacob a playful punch on the arm before standing up.
"Shut up,"
Car
Back on the road, they had pulled over to bind and gag Randal once more. Rick and Shane picked him up and stuffed him back in the trunk. The two of them took a moment to talk.
"If you wanna kill me, you're gonna have to do better than a wrench," Shane looked at him and chuckled.
"Probably gonna have to kill that boy, but I am gonna think about it a night. It can't be that easy, killing someone, killing anyone. You know that," Rick continued. Shane didn't say anything. "That is my wife. That is my son. That is my child. If you're gonna be with us, you gotta follow my lead, you gotta trust me," Rick said, almost pleading with Shane. Shane still didn't say anything, but Rick handed him a gun.
"It's time for you to come back,"
On the drive back to the farm, it was a silent trip. Shane looked out the window and watched as a lone walker trudged through the overgrown fields…
Hey everyone! Sorry for such a long wait! Also, sorry for a lack of dinosaurs in this chapter. Initially, I was going to have raptors in the public works building, but I feel like it wouldn't have made sense they were just lying in wait there. And I think it showcases that even though the dinosaurs can be a threat, the world belongs to the dead too. I also hope you enjoyed the appearance of ceratosaurus! Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for the next chapter!