Sunday, January 31, 2010

Everyone ate brunch with a gusto while things went on in the background that Rick could see Annette's eagle eyes noticed. Friendships were renewed without words. A touch here, a nod there. Glances and humor exchanged. Needs were anticipated. Dishes were passed without being asked for. They knew each other's preferences. When Rick picked up the eggs and passed them to Daryl as he eyed them, she noticed that as well. Daryl was started by the action and Rick almost huffed out a laugh, but he held back, trying not to agitate his old friend. Daryl liked eggs, always had. Any time they had eggs available, he would always keep an eye out for seconds. It's just something he knew about his friend just like he knew his eyes were blue or that he'd always have his back in a fight--whether with walkers or humans.

Soon they'd eaten their fill and Annette got up to clear the table prompting everyone else to jump up and help. They even helped with the dishes as Carol just stepped up to the sink and started filling it, reaching unerringly for where the dish soap was stored out of sight. Annette noticed that as well. Then Michonne stepped up to rinse and Maggie dried the dishes. Beth joined them and put the dishes in their proper places after they were dried. Carl wiped down the table with Rick. Sophia watched Andre and entertained him. Merle, Daryl and Glenn pitched in and carried things where they were told to. They packed up the kids table per Annette's instructions and gathered the chairs around the big table in a bigger circle. Cleanup had always been a family affair, everyone did their share, just like guard duty or anything else. Everyone pulled their weight.

Once everyone had settled into their seats around the table again, including Beth, Carl and Sophia this time with Andre sitting sleepily on his Mother's lap, Annette addressed the hippopotamus in the room.

"I have no question that you all know each other." She looked at Hershel, "There was background conversation happening during that meal. I could feel the relief several of you have at being together again." She looked at Rick, "You know each other well. You could anticipate each other's needs." She looked at Carol, "You know where items are stored here in my kitchen. Now, since I've never laid eyes on any of you before," she looked at Glenn and then down at where his hand held Maggie's, "and yet it seems you know my Maggie *very* well despite the fact I've never heard a word of you," she transferred her gaze to Maggie, "I'm ready for you to tell me what I don't know." She ended with her gaze back on Hershel.

Hershel sat back in his chair, folded his hands over his stomach and let out a big sigh, all while holding Annette's steady gaze.

"You know me to be a truthful man," Hershel started.

Annette nodded. "That's not even a question Hershel. I know there's an explanation and you've always been truthful with me. I'll believe you, but I need to hear it."

Hershel sighed even more deeply. "I know you will. It's one of your strengths. But this one is hard to believe and may test even you. I lived through it and had a hard time believing it. I was so sure it wasn't what it appeared to be, that it couldn't be." He gestured to Rick, "I believed in a cure and it took Rick to set me straight. It took his crazy friend to show me I was wrong." His gaze shifted to Rick. "Not that I'm in any way condoning what he did or how he approached it."

"Understood," Rick replied.

Annette shook her head. "Can we stay on topic? I'm not following."

"I really don't know where to begin," Hershel stated.

"At the beginning dear. That's always the best place. Lay it out for me."

"Alright, the beginning. It's not pretty," Hershel warned.

"It rarely is," Annette replied.

"OK, the beginning. Even that is complicated. The beginning of the beginning or the end which seems to be a new beginning?"

Annette gave him the eye. "Hershel. The beginning please."

"Alright. Well, to start with, there were news reports of strange things happening in different areas of the country. Not here. Florida. California. New York. Places like that. People attacking other people, trying to eat other people."

Beth gasped and Shawn looked shocked. Annette just looked stoic, shushed them and nodded for Hershel to continue.

"At first they were reporting it was some new drug that was causing cannibalism as a side effect. Every day there seemed to be a new report somewhere else. The news said that the authorities were trying to track the drug down to get a sample so they could figure out what was happening, what was causing the attacks. But what they didn't tell us was that the people attacking? They were already dead."

Everyone who hadn't remembered living through it had wide eyes, including Daryl.

Merle spoke up. "The gov'ment never tells the whole truth ya see. I knew we couldn't trust 'em. When it started happening everywhere, when it spread they tol' people to go to refugee centers. Ours was Atlanta. We were sposed to get to Atlanta and wait for the gov'ment to protect us." Merle let out a cynical laugh. "Didn't believe that fer a minute. I grabbed Daryl and headed for tha woods. Safer than trustin' them."

Michonne hummed in agreement. "That was smart Merle. I made the mistake of going to one of those camps." She shook her head. "They couldn't protect us. They didn't teach us how the virus was spreading--because make no mistake it was no drug doing this and it was spreading. They weren't inspecting for people who had been bitten by one of the dead. People would hide their bites to get in the camp to be safe, they thought. Those people would get sick and die. Then they'd get up and start attacking others." She looked at Annette as she hugged Andre to her tighter. "I was out getting supplies and left Andre with his father and his friend. They didn't protect him, they got high instead. I lost my son."

Carol picked up the story. "They realized they were losing control, that the virus was spreading in the refugee camps. So they decided to cut their losses." She gestured to Glenn and Sophia. "We were some of the lucky ones. The roads were packed into Atlanta. We were at a standstill. That's when the jets came. They bombed Atlanta."

With large eyes, those who didn't remember turned to Merle when he spoke again. "As soon as I heard it I knew it. I knew the gov'ment cut their losses and were tryin' ta kill the dead and the living in the city to get control of the situation. But the dumbasses," Merle looked up at Annette and looked penitent, "Sorry Ma'am, the idjits jus killed more people and made more walkers. They made the problem ten times worse as tha always do. We found 'em," he gestured to Carol, Sophia and Glenn, "at the quarry outside Atlanta and joined 'em. Officer Prick was runnin' the show back then, but soon 'nuff Officer Friendly showed up." Merle looked over at Rick with a twinkle in his eye.

Rick took up the tale now. He met Annette's eyes. "Before all this happened, I was in a coma in the hospital. I'd been shot on duty and that's where I ended up. While I was sleeping the world ended." He shook his head, "It was quite the shock waking up to dead bodies everywhere, some of them still moving, hospital trashed and abandoned. I managed to get home, looking for my wife and son. The town was a wreck, military vehicles abandoned, trash everywhere. No one was home but I could see they'd packed and left in a hurry. I had no clue what was going on. Luckily I met a man and his son who brought me up to date. He taught me how to put them down for good, that only a hit to the brain would stop them." He looked back up at her. "It was hard to believe, I understand what you're feeling right now. Sadly, the evidence was right there walking around me."

Carl interjected now. "We call the dead walkers because that's what they do, just walk around aimlessly until they find prey. Dad found us. Dad's partner got Mom and I out and we were stuck in those cars on the road to Atlanta as well. We saw them bomb Atlanta, got to the quarry and survived until Dad found us."

"We weren't able to stay there long," Rick picked up the tale again. The walkers started to form up into herds. A herd came through the quarry, killed a lot of people. We had someone who'd been bit, who was sick. We tried to take him to the CDC hoping they were working on a cure. But...they had nothing for us. Only one man was left. The only good that came from there was that the last scientist left told us that we were all infected. Up til then we thought that if you were bitten and infected and died that was how walkers were made. He told us that no matter how you die, we were infected already and would become walkers."

Carol takes over again. "We hit the road after that, heading for Fort Benning. We got stuck on the highway in a traffic snarl. A herd came through." A slight wobble came into her voice then, and Sophia leaned over into her Mom and Carol hugged her tight. "We hid, but Sophia got out too early. A walker chased her into the woods and she ran. Rick chased and tried to save her, but he had to try and lead the walkers away and she was gone when he came back."

Rick jumped in. "We were dumb and incredibly stupid back then. We hadn't learned to keep a weapon on us at all times yet. Not a gun but a knife, something to take out the brain silently. Sound draws them as well as smell. Or if they see you. I had nothing but my gun with me and ended up using a rock. I couldn't risk shooting the gun and bringing the whole herd back on us." His gaze went to Sophia. "I'm so sorry, you paid with your life for that. It won't happen again."

Sophia nodded and jumped up and gave him a hug. "I'll be stronger too," she said.

Rick continued. "The next day we were in the woods hunting for Sophia. The details don't matter, but Carl got shot accidentally by Otis."

Beth looked shocked. "Our Otis?" she questioned.

Maggie nodded. "Yes. He was hunting and the bullet went right through a deer and hit Carl. He directed Rick to our house, told him to find Hershel and he'd save him. That's how we met the group and Daddy did save him."

Hershel takes up the story again here. "Because I didn't understand what was happening and wanted to help people, a couple of our neighbors who were walkers managed to bite you and Shawn, Annette. You both died from the bite. I was so sure there would be a cure, I was waiting for it and put you in the barn so you couldn't harm anyone but would be safe while I waited. I was a fool. You were dead and I was in denial."

Maggie interjects, "I tried to tell Daddy, but he wouldn't hear it. You were rotting. I knew you weren't alive anymore."

Annette looks shaken and Beth is crying. Shawn just shook his head in denial and said, "But we're alive. She's alive," he pointed at Sophia. "This sounds like a great horror story, but it isn't true, it can't be. I'm alive right now, not dead."

Hershel said, "That's why I wasn't certain where to start, the beginning or the end. It seems we're starting over, reliving this."

Annette said one word. "Explain."

Hershel looked to Rick. Rick thought for a moment and then said, "I woke up yesterday morning. In my bed in my house in King County. The last thing I remember before that is I was living in this world we just described. An even harsher world than we described if I'm honest." He chuckled. "I thought I was dreaming, thought my wife was a ghost when she came into the bedroom. I lost her last time. It took me the day of struggling with what was happening to accept it. I ran into Carol and Sophia and they didn't recognize me. I decided to just go with it in the hope of ending the dream faster. It didn't work."
Rick rubbed his temples for a minute. "It hurts my head every time I think about it too hard. I can remember the world we lived through. I have memories of the day I woke up from before. I didn't run into Carol that day. It's like we're in an alternate timeline, I don't know." He looked up at Annette again. "I really can't explain it."

She nodded looking contemplative. "What happened after that? Between yesterday and today? What made you decide it was real and not that all this walker stuff was the dream?"

"That's a fair question. I struggled with it all day yesterday. Finally I decided to call any of my family from that time, to see if they remembered too. I talked to Maggie who got Hershel for me last night. Neither of them knew who I was. I called Glenn, talked to Merle, Michonne and several others. None of them knew me. I'd seen Carol earlier of course. I'd even talked to Carl when I dropped him off at school and he didn't remember. The thing is, it was too vivid. I knew it was real, but this morning cinched it for me."

"What happened this morning," Beth asked.

"This morning I woke up and was still here. That alone would have convinced me, I've never slept and woken in the same dream before. Then Carl was there waking me and he remembered. He remembered everything, the walkers, life on the road, all of it. He said he dreamed it. Then the station called me and said Carol was there and insisted on speaking to me, so I went in."

Carol chimed in here. "I dreamed last night too, so did Sophia. I remembered it all this morning and I knew we had to get to Rick, to start planning. We have time to get ready this time, we have to be ready. I won't lose Sophia this time." Sophia patted her on the arm, comfortingly.

Michonne said, "It was the same with me. I didn't know who you were last night. But last night I dreamed and I woke up remembering it all. I haven't let Andre out of my sight since."

Glenn nodded along with Carol and Michonne, finally saying simply, "It was the same for me as well. I had to get to Maggie, get to my wife."

Annette was the one to gasp this time. "Your wife?!"

Maggie beamed at her Mom. "I can't tell you how happy I am you can meet my Glenn. We were married, we chose each other. It feels like I've loved him forever."

Hershel told Annette, "They're good together. I gave them my blessing. I dreamed last night as well, remembered it all and called Rick first thing this morning. I know him now, and he's going to help keep us safe, keep you all alive this time."

At this point Merle spoke. "That's why I called tha lawman this morning. I wanted ta think I got some bad drugs, but I'm not high. It's true, everythin' they said. We got another shot at this and I mean ta stay alive and keep you all alive too."

Annette gazed around at all of them. "You all remember this then? You all agree that this was real and is going to happen again? Everything that was said?"

Every one of them that remembered nodded. Daryl just watched silently, contemplating. Annette's gaze honed in on him. "What about you Daryl? You agree?"

Daryl slowly shook his head. "I ain't never seen any of y'all in ma life." He looked at his brother. "But Merle tells me this is true. I didn't believe him at first. Didn't wanna come here, thought he was crazy. But hearin' bout this whole thing and meetin' you people? Ya know things ya shouldn't." He stared at Rick and then Carol as he said that. "I guess I'm open ta the possibility."

Annette nodded. "Well then. I don't know about the rest of you, but if this is happening again I don't intend to die. Where do we start?"

A/N I have doubts about this one, but this is where they wanted to go right now. Annette's pretty hard to argue with, ya know, and she insisted on explanations. Most of this you all already know if you watch the show. I really hope this isn't boring to you, but this is the direction the muse went in. I feel like the story is going at a snails pace, but there is a LOT happening in the opening two days here and a lot to set up. 😉 Next chapter we should get to the planning stage and discuss options of places they could set up in and make safe and how to prepare.