Once Upon a Walker

Chapter 5

Rick woke earlier than the rest of the group. He smiled when he noticed that Emma had rolled closer to him during the night. Her breathing was still slow and even. And she was curled up into his side with her head resting on the crook of her arm. Rick wasn't sure how to begin to sort out the way he was feeling about her. They just met. And he lost his wife under horrific circumstances only a short time ago. And his relationship with Lori had become complicated and strained long before she died giving birth to a child that wasn't even his. He didn't think he was even in the right headspace to even think about starting a new relationship with someone else. But he also couldn't deny the feelings that Emma awakened inside him. When he looked at her, he felt something he hadn't felt in longer than he could remember. Hope.

Rick slowly eased away from her, pushing himself up into a sitting position. The only other person awake at this early hour was Merle. And from the looks of him, Rick guessed he'd been up a while. Maybe the entire night. He was holding his metal arm sleeve in his hands, staring at it intensely. From time to time he would hold up the hand that Emma regenerated for him, flexing it and rubbing at it with his other hand.

"Everything alright over there?," Rick asked. Merle's head popped up, like he didn't even realize Rick was awake until he spoke. Rick was surprised by this. Merle was as observant as Daryl. Maybe even more. He must have been in deep concentration to not have noticed that Rick sat up directly across the small fire pit from him.

"Just thinkin' on somethin'," Merle admitted. He paused a moment, then continued on without further prodding. "Ya think we're dreamin' now? Or maybe this is real and all the shingle that happened before was a nightmare?" Rick scrubbed his face with his hands, unprepared for a philosophical discussion at such an early hour. Merle looked over at his brother, who was wrapped around Ruby, using her long red cape as a blanket. "If this is a dream," Merle added, "...ya think there'd be more girls." Rick fought back a smile as he scratched at the stubble that was growing in along his jawline.

Beth was curled up on the ground near Merle's feet, her back facing the last few smoldering embers of the dying campfire. She twitched, her body going stiff for a moment before she settled back down, curling herself into a tighter ball. It wasn't until Merle leaned down and adjusted the shirt she was huddled under that Rick noticed he was clad only in his dingy white undershirt. Beth was using his actual shirt as a blanket. Rick gave him a questioning glance.

"She looked cold," Merle said with a small shrug. Rick nodded as he pushed himself up onto his feet and started stirring up the fire so they could make breakfast. He smiled a little when Merle flopped down on his back and cupped his hands behind his head, making it abundantly clear that he had no intention of helping.

Between the items they scavenged from munchkin land and the food that had been conjured up the night before, Rick was able to fry up a passable breakfast skillet. The smell of food cooking lured most of the group from their sleep. And the rest were gently woken up by their companions. Once they all had a little something in their bellies, they quickly packed up camp and kicked dirt over the fire.

The yellow brick road was fractured and uneven. And in most places, the bricks were tinged with the green moss that seemed to cover the entire land. But it was still easy enough to follow. They spread out a little, splitting off into smaller groups. They managed to travel most of the morning without encountering any major obstacles. But when Rick rounded the top of a rather steep hill, he could see their visible pathway had come to an end. The yellow brick road led directly into what looked like a never ending cornfield. The corn was dense, with no visible rows or spaces between the stalks. And the way the tassels seemed to be slightly blowing in a wind he couldn't feel gave him an eerie chill.

"I don't like the look of that," Emma announced, drawing her sword from its sheath and gripping it between her hands. Rick followed her example, taking the gun from his holster. Though he wasn't sure what he was going to do with it since there was nothing to shoot but corn.

Rick and Emma led the way, approaching the strange cornfield carefully with the rest of their group fanning out behind them.

"Look!," Henry exclaimed, "...it's a scarecrow!"

Rick looked in the direction the boys were pointing, warning them to keep back. He trained his gun on the figure as he approached. When he got a little closer, he could see that while the figure might be dressed as a scarecrow, it wasn't a dummy stuffed with straw but a man tied to a post with his arms outstretched. The man's floppy hat was obscuring his face. And his head was hanging forward, his chin resting on his chest. From how limp his body was, Rick's first guess was that the man was already dead. He motioned for Emma to stay behind him. Then he took a step closer and kicked at the post with his boot.
The man sprung to life with a loud keening wail of pain. He began to struggle against his ropes, his body moving in disjointed jerking movements. Rick jumped back, nearly falling on his ass in his attempt to create some distance between himself and the dead man that had suddenly sprung to life.

"Who did this to you?," Emma asked. She lifted her sword and circled around the man, cutting the ties that bound his arms and torso to the T post. The man collapsed on the ground. Emma's first instinct was to help the man. But Rick stopped her from going any closer, gripping her arm lightly with his hand.

"The wicked witch!," the man wailed. "She killed the wizard and took over the emerald city. She cast out anyone that wouldn't swear their allegiance to her." The man sputtered and gasped. "Please, help me," he pleaded.

Ruby pulled out her canteen, clearly intending to offer the poor man some water. But Daryl signaled for her to wait. He sniffed the air. Something about the man smelled off. Daryl couldn't place the scent at first. But after a moment he realized where he smelled it before. The man smelled like the monkey house at the zoo. And there was an undertone of that same acrid smell that clung to nearly everything in this strange land. He understood by now that it was the smell of magic. Dark magic.

When the man peeked up, his eyes were shaded by his floppy hat. But Daryl could see the eerily evil yellow glow. And there was some sudden odd movement under the tail of his patchwork waistcoat.

"Rick," Daryl warned, "...get back!" Rick jumped back, pulling Emma with him. He moved out of the way just in time. The creature's tail whipped out from under its coat. The end of it was a sharp pointed barb that stabbed into the dirt where Rick's boot was resting only a moment before. The creature wailed again. But this time the noise seemed to stretch on forever as it transformed into maniacal echoing laughter.

Rising to its full height, the creature tossed off its shirt coat, unfurling a large pair of batlike wings. It screeched, baring its fangs at them. Like the wailing, the screech seemed to go on forever. And Rick realized that it was because there was more than one creature screaming. Monkey after monkey were rising out of the corn. They flew into the air, circling as they gathered their numbers. Soon there were so many of them that it was starting to darken the sky. The ones that dared to flap towards them were gunned down. But even with unlimited ammunition, it was obvious that they would be overcome by sheer numbers the moment the herd flew at them.

"We've got to find some cover," Rick hollered above the sound of the wild flapping chorus of screeching. "NOW! If they come down on us out in the open like this, we're done." The group glanced around. Looking for anywhere they could make a stand. But there was nothing except barren forest and the uneven yellow pathway that led them into this trap.

"We can lose them in the corn," Daryl hollered, "...it's our only chance."