Glenn's eyes widen in surprise as he takes notice of the low-toned grunts and growls of the dead.
Ezra quickly rushes forward to shush him before he can catch their attention, his hand clapping against the Korean's mouth and his tone serious. "Look, I'll explain everything," he says.
"Just let's not scream," When he sees that the other won't make a noise he lowers his hand and follows the taller man down the ladder. Thankfully, Glenn is smart enough to wait until they are a ways away before spinning around with a look of frantic fear.
"I- what, the fuck man!" He says running a hand through his hair and pacing next to the fence out of sight from everyone else.
Ezra looks around warily before holding his hands up placatingly, "Look, I'll tell you everything just calm down," he tries to soothe the other man before he gets into a panic attack.
Waiting until the other manages to calm down enough to listen he gives Glenn a self-deprecating shrug. "This isn't my land, and I didn't want to ruffle any feathers, as long as the problem wasn't life-threatening-"
Glenn interrupts, "I'd think these Geeks would be considered life-threatening, like, fuck man," he says shakily while shifting in place.
"-for me," Ezra ends, and admits, he's always been a selfish creature who tries to be good.
"I knew I could run if anything should happen," he says, knowing how fucked up that can sound.
"That's fucked up," Glenn says, with a weak chuckle.
"Yeah, well I can't very well tell Hershel he is wrong, I don't have any leverage." Ezra defends, "It's only because of Maggie that I'm even here." He catches the way Glenn's eyes light up at the mention of her.
"I guess so," Glenn allows, swallowing as the shorter man gives him a look over, and his mouth lifts as he speaks, "Speaking of Maggie, I see you two have been getting sweet on each other."
Glenn misunderstanding raises his hand in surrender, "Whoa! I haven't done anything with your girlfriend I swear!" he insists only to get a look of pure amusement.
"My girlfriend," Ezra says, mirth eluding his entire form, "I'm gay, I was just teasing you, just a warning, she's a lot to handle and doesn't like bullshit." He offers the man who sputters and flails.
Wanting to change the subject and feeling silly for feeling jealous over Ezra, "So is her dad batshit insane or something?" Glenn asks, 'cause seriously, who keeps the dead in a barn?'
Ezra laughs giving the house a look, shaking his head,
"No, Hershel isn't. He's just clinging to the thought that his family can be saved and is not willing to look past what amounts to be his coping mechanism." Ezra offers with a sympathetic smile.
After a moment Ezra looks towards Glenn's group "I won't ask you to keep this a secret," he says, surprising the man, who furrows him in confusion.
"Why?" He asks.
Ezra shrugs, "Cause if I had a group to look out for I'd let them know too, the Greenes are aware of them," he waves towards the barn, "your people should decide if they want to take the same risk."
Ezra gives him a serious look, "Just make sure to take into consideration who you tell, while I find Shane a snack to look at I can already see he's got a hot head on him,"
"That hunter of y'all's seems to have a good head on his shoulders," Ezra offers over his shoulder as he makes his way towards the stable to gather his stuff to see if he can find a little girl.
Glenn shifts looking around his anxiety about the barn makes him jittery and he desperately tries to make his hands stop shaking.
His eyes immediately latch onto the sight of Maggie who is leaning against the porch railing while talking adamantly with a downtrodden Carol, obviously trying to distract the grieving mother. Seeing her makes him feel guilty and stupid for not asking Ezra if Sophia could be in there since he saw the man searching for something.
In his defense, he didn't even want to contemplate the possibility and was probably too scared to even voice it out loud.
"Whatcha guys talkin' about," he tries to chill but fumbles as Maggie looks up at him.
"Was just talking to Carol about how I saw Ezra going out to search for the little girl just a minute ago, and I was lettin' her know if anyone can find her it's 'em." She says with confidence.
Seeing their disbelief, she gives them a proud and find grin, "Ezra has a knack for finding lost things, he was the one who managed to find Miss Nervous Nelly as a pony all alone, don't know how he managed to find a whole damn pony but mama convinced daddy to keep the skittish thing since Ezra has always been her unofficial baby."
"Your mother?" He asks softly like he's stepping on a land mine and maybe he is.
She gives them both a wane smile, one that people give when speaking of an old wound, "My mama died when I was young, bet's mama married my daddy after he meets her in the hospital after an accident with his drinkin'."
"Oh," is all he says.
Carol shifts timidly as she tries to voice her concerns, "Did he ever hit you kids?" She asks, dreading the answer.
Maggie shakes her head vehemently, "No! Daddy would never! He may have a little bit of a loose lip when he gets drunk but he would never hurt his little girls." She defends her father with the ferocity of a lion, and man does Glenn feel hot?
Carol slumps in relief, "That's good, my husband would smack Sophia around if I wasn't there to keep his focus," she admits ashamed.
"Oh, honey I hope he's dead," Maggie says, pulling the older woman into a hug and looking at Glenn who gives a small nod.
After hearing how callous that could sound she reiterates, "I mean," she starts but is interrupted by the wet laugh of Carol.
"No! It's fine, I should be happy, right? I mean I'm free of him, but at the cost of my little girl." She says her throat is closing.
Maggie shakes her head, "These things don't have any connection, don't go thinking like that, Ezra always said our thoughts manifest in reality and he's always had a way of getting things to go his way, if he told me he's gonna find your daughter he will."
Her tone softens with reluctance to say it, despite her earlier words, as she finishes, "even if he has to bring you her body himself."
Not willing to let others think to pin the responsibility for her child's death on her best friend if he finds her dead.
Ezra grimaces as he pulls his dagger out of the dead's head watching as it slumps dead with a detached sort of look. He thought it would have felt more soul damming to kill infected people but after the first one and the lack of anything that makes them human beings present as they try to kill him. He found that it was easier to think of them as obstacles.
"I hope I'm following the right track," he mutters to himself.
He can admit he still has trouble with telling the difference between a walker and human tracks. You'd think I'd be easier with the dead not being able to watch where they walk but the woods make it difficult for untrained eyes to tell. He and Maggie are the only ones who risk scavenging and he does it more often than her since it's less risky for him as a male to be caught alone.
He mainly foraged the land and used small traps for smaller games when he wasn't trailing after Otis when the late man had hunted.
Truthfully, he doesn't know how to feel about the whole Otis situation, because he's not ignorant enough to not acknowledge that in a situation like that, he'd choose his life over the person who shot the boy he loves like a son intentionally or otherwise. He wasn't very close to Otis, but he did find the man a good one.
He sidesteps a rock and ducks under a branch his eyes shifting between the multiple sets of footprints as he walks.
"I hope I can find her," He says to himself while following the most likely path. If he's right is the cliff where Daryl would fall off Nelly finding Sophia's dolly?
He makes his way as quietly as he can, his stomach growling as the ping of hunger hits him. If he's hungry after four hours of searching then the little girl must be starving from the three days she's been out alone. She's got to be alive because if she isn't then he'll simply just feel no hope for anything of a future where life can overcome this shit.
Is he being dramatic? Yes, he is. Does he care? No.
Ezra pauses in his trek, his ears perking at the sound of a congregation of walkers growling. The only reason for them to be making those noises is if they are trying to get to a meal. A small group of them by the volume and various noises at once.
He gulps as he makes his way, his dagger ready and his body and arms covered in paintball gear.
The lightweight fabric and materials are thick enough to protect him from the dead, but leave enough mobility to move. On his other hand is a handgun with a custom silencer he had made by one of his foster brothers who got into it with the darker aspects of crime.
Hopefully, this is the moment of truth, regardless of the outcome he doesn't want to drag this out longer than it has to be.
As he quietly breaks through the foliage he sees the bubbling figures of the dead crowding around a tree trying to get to something. He slowly looks up and sucks in a breath as he takes in the curled figure of Sophia clinging to the trunk of the tree.
Her clothes are torn and dirty, with her hair all in disarray.
"Sophia," he whispers before moving to a different spot to try and face her after not receiving a response and seeing one of the dead start to take notice of him.
He swiftly raises his armed hand and pops one of the closer ones before stabbing the next one before backing away and wasting four bullets on the others hanging around the tree.
Ezra ducks out of the reach of another and kicks its legs before slipping his dagger into the back of its neck and pulling it out to skewer the next in the eye. He spits while leaping back to gain space as the others try to reach for him, forgetting about the little girl barely making a noise.
He turns and sprays down three more crowding his way before finishing the last two with a swift stab in the head. Just as he is about to call out for the starry-eyed little girl a gruff voice takes him out of his adrenaline-hazed brain.
"Well, well, well look what we got here, some fine fightin' you did there my guy." He turns and takes in the four guys who stand a few feet away. He bets they are a part of that one group that incel of a boy Randal is a part of.
Absently shifting his stance he mentally calculates how many bullets he uses and almost sighs in relief when he realizes he still has five bullets out of his twelve rounds.
Just enough and an extra.
Now he just has to find the opportunity, hopefully before they take his gun. While he's confident in his ability to defend himself against another he knows four bigger guys are out of his realm of possibility.
"Hullo," he says, offering a blissful smile, knowing that stupid people are seen as less threatening and they'll let their guards down more easily.
Now how to spin this to make it out alive.
A/n:
Glenn got the secret of the barn revealed earlier? Will that affect anything or will he be too distracted by Maggie to want to disrupt their potential. Maybe hearing someone his age being a little selfish will inspire him to keep it a secret for Maggie, (when she asks him to after he eventually confronts her.)
Sooo….What's going to happen to our dear protagonist?
I'm also showing that while Ezra crushes on Shane he's still aware of the man's hot headedness and more impulsive tendencies.