November 14th, 2010

There they all were. Dale had been buried. They were having his funeral. Winter had let her guard down. She thought that maybe things could go back to the way they were, but she was wrong. Things will never go back, and she will not let her guard down again

"Dale could- could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us- the truth, who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety.. our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale" Rick said

An hour or two later. Everyone was packing up their things to move inside. It was safer that way. As Winter walked towards the house. Maggie walked over to her. Sam was busy doing other things

"How are you holding up?" Maggie asked her

"I'm fine" Winter said

"I don't think you are" Maggie said

"Maggie, I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. Death is a normal thing. We all die eventually" Winter said

"Mommy!" Nicky yelled as he rushed over and grabbed her leg. Maggie was carrying heavy things

"Patricia, we need him inside. He could get hurt with everyone carrying stuff" Maggie said. Patricia rushed over and grabbed Nicky. She brought him inside

"That boy is so reckless" Maggie said

"Well, he's only two" Winter said

"I worry for when he gets older" Maggie said. That was if he got older. There was no guarantee that they would all see tomorrow. Once everyone had gotten their stuff inside they began to relax just a bit. Rick and his little boys were discussing important shit that Winter didn't really care for. She seemed to not care at all really. Yet, she kept her guard up. It confused her. Maybe she was grieving and was confusing her mind, she wasn't sure. Winter didn't care to figure out either. Last night, something broke inside of Winter. Something important. All of the hope she had for life was gone. She knew they would all die painful deaths

It had been revealed that Randall was missing. He had escaped. Everyone was looking for him. Sam wasn't even sure how he managed to escape on his own. He knew how Daryl liked to play

"The cuffs are still hooked. He must've slipped 'em" Rick said

"Is that possible?" Carol asked

"It is if you've got nothing to lose" Andrea said

"The door was secure from the outside" Hershel said. Sam began to think. Perhaps somebody had let Randall out, but why would anyone do that. What would the purpose be? Then suddenly, they heard yelling

"Rick! Rick!" Shane yelled. Everyone turned to see his bloody face. Sam wondered what had happened to him

"What happened?" Lori asked

"He's armed! He's got my gun!" Shane yelled as he walked over. Sam couldn't believe that not only had Randall escaped but he had Shane's gun

"Are you okay?" Carl asked referring to Shane's bloody face

"I'm fine. Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face" Shane said

"All right, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Sam, Daryl, come with us" Rick said. Sam turned and looked at Winter. There was something different about her. The light in her eyes was gone again. Sam walked over to her

"Stay safe" Sam told her. She looked up at him

"You stay safe, too" Winter told him

"T, I'm gonna need that gun" Shane said

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?" Carol asked

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun" Shane said. Lori handed Sam a gun

"Don't go our there. Y'all know what can happen" Carol said

"Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!" Rick commanded. The five men went into the woods to look for Randall

"I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out. I'm not sure how long" Shane said

"He couldn't have gotten far. He's hobbled, exhausted" Rick said

"And armed" Glenn said

"So are we. Can you track him?" Rick asked Daryl

"No, I don't see nothing" Daryl said

"Hey, look there ain't no use in tracking him, okay? He went that way. We need to split up. We spread out, we just chase him down. That's it" Shane said

"Kid weighs a buck-25 soaking wet. You trying to tell us he got the jump on you?" Daryl asked. Now that Daryl had said it, Sam began thinking about it. There was no way that Randall would've gotten the jump on Shane. If it was Glenn, maybe, but Shane? Hell no. Something else was going on here

"I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?" Shane asked

"All right, knock it off. You three start heading up the right flank. Me and Shane'll take the left. Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other" Rick said before the pairs split up. Eventually it had gotten dark while they were searching for Randall. Glenn and Sam followed Daryl's every step. Daryl sighed

"This is pointless. Either of you got a light?" Daryl asked. Glenn handed him one. He turned on the flashlight and looked around. Daryl sighed, rather irritated

"Come on" Daryl said. Tbe two kept following him. They had circled back to where they originally started. Sam understood that Daryl was looking for something he missed. Shane hadn't been telling truth

"We're just back to square one" Glenn pointed out

"I think it's a good thing" Sam said

"If you're gonna do a thing, you might as well do it right" Daryl said. They looked a little more before Daryl stopped

"There's two sets of tracks right here. Shane must've followed him a lot longer than he said" Daryl said before he pointed is flashlight at a bloody tree

"There's fresh blood on this tree. There's more tracks. Looks like they're walking in tandem. Yeah, there was a little dust up right here" Daryl said as they kept walking

"What do you mean?" Glenn asked

"I mean something went down. It's getting weird. Had a little trouble" Daryl said as he picked up Randall's blindfold. They heard rustling and they all hid. It turns out it was just a walker. Daryl had his crossbow ready. The walker approached and the three realized it was Randall. Glenn panicked and Daryl couldn't get a shot. Sam quickly pulled out his knife and tackled the walker before it got to Glenn. He stabbed it in the head. Sam got up and Daryl began to inspect the body

"Got his neck broke. He's got no bites" Daryl said

"Yeah, none you can see" Glenn said

"No, I'm telling you he died from this" Daryl said. Sam couldn't believe it

"How is that even possible? How could he come back if he wasn't infected?" Sam asked. Neither Daryl or Glenn knew the answer, so they just left. Though as they were returning they heard a gunshot go off in the distance

Winter had been waiting for the others to return, but they hadn't. They were still out looking for Randall. Winter had enough of waiting, but she wasn't the only one

"I'm going after them" Andrea said. Winter still found herself to be disgusted by Andrea. She just couldn't forgive her. However, she put their differences aside in that moment

"Me, too" Winter said

"Don't. They could be anywhere. And if Randall comes back, we're gonna need you both here" Lori said. The door opened and everyone turned. It was Daryl, Glenn and Sam. Winter was glad that Sam was okay

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl asked

"No" Lori said

"We heard a shor" Daryl said

"Maybe they found Randall" Lori said

"We found him" Daryl said

"Is he back in the shed?" Maggie asked

"No, he's dead. I killed him" Sam said

"You killed him?" Winter asked him

"Well, he was a walker" Sam explained

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked

"No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit" Glenn said. Winter didn't understand how that could even be possible. The infection was spread by bites or scratches

"His neck was broke" Daryl said. Patricia who was holding Nicky spoke up

"So he fought back" Patricia said

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together" Daryl said

"Shane was lying" Sam said

"Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori asked

"You got it" Daryl said

"Thank you" Lori said. Daryl, Sam, Glenn, Andrea and Winter all walked outside. Their eyes widened in horror, as they saw the hundreds upon hundreds of walkers on the horizon. Hershel came out

"Patricia, kill the lights" Hershel said

"I'll get the guns" Andrea said

"Maybe they're just passing,,like the heard on the highway. Should we just go inside?" Glenn asked

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size would rip the house down

"Carl's gone" Lori said. Everyone stared at Lori in shock

"What?" Daryl asked

"He- he was upstairs. I can't find him anymore" Lori said

"Maybe he's hiding" Glenn said

"Why would he be hiding?" Winter asked

"He's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy" Lori said

"We're not. We're gonna look again. We're gonna find him" Lori said

"I'll help" Winter said as she followed the women inside

Sam had watched Winter go inside. Andrea handed him a shotgun and he took it. Maggie handed Glenn a shotgun as well

"Maggie" Glenn said shocked

"You grow up country, you pick up a thing or two" Maggie said

"Damn straight" Sam said

"I got the number- it's no use" Daryl said referring to the walkers. Everyone was loading their weapons

"You can go if you want" Hershel said

"You gonna take 'em all on?" Daryl asked

"We have guns. We have cars" Hershel said

"Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm" Andrea said

"Are you serious?" Daryl asked as Sam grabbed some more ammo

"This is my farm. I'll die here" Hershel said

"All right. It's as good a night as any" Daryl said. Sam had gone with the others to grab the vehicles. He was in the back seat in the SUV. They had all seen that the barn was on fire. The windows were down as Maggie drove. Glenn and Sam were shooting at walkers. However, Maggie's driving made it rough for either of them to hit the target

"Keep it steady!" Glenn yelled

"I'm trying!" Maggie yelled back. Glenn and Sam both fired and missed

"Son of a bitch" Sam muttered

"Damn it" Glenn muttered. They kept firing and started hitting their targets. Glenn put his upper body outside the window as he continued shooting. Maggie had turned the car around. Sam moved to the other side in the back and shot out of that window

They couldn't find Carl. Winter was inside with the other women. She had found a gun, and kept it on her. She would protect them if it came down to it

"The barn's on fire" Beth told Patricia. Winter walked over and looked out the window. Sure enough, the barn was burning

"They're headed for it. Maybe Rick set it to draw 'em in" Patricia said

"Where is he?" Lori asked worriedly

"So maybe he snuck outside" Carol said

"What do I do?!" Lori yelled

"He was here. He must've run off, maybe looking for Rick or went after Randall himself" Carol explained

"Maybe he set the fire" Patricia said as she held Nicky for dear life. Lori rushed out to look for Carl. Carol decided to look around the house just one more. When Lori had come back she was even more frantic

"I checked the shed. I can't find him anywhere" Lori said

"Not in the cellar or the attic" Carol said

"Why can't he listen for once?" Lori asked. The three women went outside. Winter was by them with her gun ready just in case. Beth, Patricia and Nicky were inside. Hershel just kept firing at the walkers

"Okay, okay, if he followed his Daddy, he went that way" Lori said as she pointed

"No, you'll lead 'em right to him. We can't stay here!" Carol tried to reason. Winter believed Carol was right. Her gut told her that Carl was okay

"That's my boy!" Lori yelled

"You're gonna have to trust. If we find him, he's gonna need his mother. We've gotta go" Carol said

"Carol, get the others" Lori said. Carol rushed inside

"Carl!" Lori screamed for her son

"Beth, Patricia, come on. We've gotta go now" Carol said. Carol came out with Beth and Patricia. Lori and Winter both aimed their guns and began shooting at walkers. Nicky began crying in Patricia's arms. She did her best to calm him down but he wouldn't

"Lori, Winter" Carol said. They both turned and nodded. Winter grabbed duffel bag filled with guns and ammo

"Hershel. Hershel. Hershel! Hershel, it's time to go!" Lori yelled at Hershel

"Come on! Now!" Carol yelled as Hershel just kept shooting

"Hershel! We need to go!" Winter yelled. Winter and Lori ran to the others

"We gotta go" Carol said

"Stay behind us. Stay behind us" Lori told Patricia and Beth. Beth and Patricia ran as fast as they could, as did everyone else. Then, Winter heard screaming. She turned to see that a walker had bit Nicky. Her eyes went wide as another bit Patricia. She had never seen something like that. Patricia was still holding onto Beth. She watched blood cover Nicky's clothes as he and Patricia were eaten alive. Patricia just kept screaming. Winter just froze

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Lori yelled in horror before she ripped Beth away from Patricia. Lori then grabbed Winter and forced her to run. Winter could hear Patricia's screams. T-Dog had arrived with the truck and everyone got in, while Andrea ran out to get Carol. Lori and Beth were in the truck, and Winter was on the roof. She just kept shooting as the walkers surrounded the truck. They kept grabbing at her but she just kept shooting

"We gotta go! Dog, come on!" Lori yelled. Winter grabbed moved to the bed of the truck as T-Dog drove off

Sam had seen the truck speed off. He didn't know where they were going

"Where the hell are they going? Should I follow them?" Maggie asked. There were walkers everywhere

"I'd say yes. Swing it around. Swing it around here. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa" Glenn said as the car was surrounded. They closed all the windows earlier

"I can't get through" Maggie cried. It was time for them to leave the farm behind

"We need to leave" Sam said

"What?" Maggie asked

"You heard him. Get off the farm now" Glenn said

"Don't say that" Maggie said

"Maggie, it's lost!" Glenn yelled

"The others- we can't leave them. I can't leave Nicky!" Maggie cried before she screamed at the walkers, horrified. She put the car in reverse and pressed the gas

"Get off the farm now!" Glenn yelled. Maggie put the car in drive and slammed on the gas. Sam could only hope that Winter was okay. T-Dog's truck had stopped by the house so he assumed she was with him

November 15th, 2010

"Oh my God. Oh my God. My baby" Maggie cried

"All right, let's just- let's just circle back to the highway" Glenn said

"Nicky.." Maggie cried

"It's gonna be okay" Glenn said

"Did either of you see my Dad? Did- did he make it? Did you see?" Maggie asked

"I couldn't see anything" Glenn said

"Me neither, I'm sorry" Sam said

"And Beth- I lost Beth. We've gotta go back there" Maggie said

"Beth is with Winter. I'm sure they're okay. I saw T-Dog go over by the house. Your father is probably with them, too, and so is Nicky" Sam said

"Yeah, Lori should be with them, too" Glenn said

"Did they make it?" Maggie asked

"I don't know" Glenn said

"Patricia? Jimmy? What if they didn't make it? What if nobody made it?" Maggie asked. Sam's heart dropped hearing that. If they were the only ones who made it, he wouldn't know what to do

"They made it, okay? They had to. All right, let's just circle around to the highway where we left supplies for Sophia" Glenn said

"No, the head came from that direction" Maggie cried

"Just stop. Stop the car. Stop the car" Glenn said. Maggie stopped the car

"Let me drive" Glenn said as he got out of the car. Maggie moved to the passenger's seat. She was hysterical, but Sam didn't blame her. Honestly, he wanted to break down and cry to. There was so many unknowns and he didn't know what to do. Glenn got in the front seat and looked at Maggie who was sobbing

"Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, Maggie, look at me. Look at me. Hey, we're alive. We made it. Okay? I'm sure they are too. Right? I love you. Maggie, I love you. I should've said it a long time ago and it's been true for a long time. We're gonna be all right, okay? We'll be all right" Glenn reassured her. Sam had realized he had been taking his time with Winter for granted. If he saw her again, he would hold her in his arms and never let her go

"Okay. Yeah" Maggie said. Glenn began to drive. On their way to the highway, they saw Daryl and Carol on his bike. They drove ahead and Glenn followed. Sam was glad to know others were alive. And then, T-Dog's truck was behind them. He understood that a lot of people made it out. So far, no one was dead in his eyes. He was wrong, but he didn't know that yet. They made it to the highway and saw Rick, Hershel and Carl

"Daddy.." Maggie muttered happily. Glenn parked the car and they all got out. Everyone had a reunion. Sam saw Winter and he ran at her as she got out of the bed of the truck. He hadn't noticed the traumatized look on her face as he wrapped his arms around her

"I'm so glad you are okay, listen Winter, I love you so much, and you are everything to me" Sam told Winter. However, she didn't respond or hug him back. Sam was a little confused. Usually this was the part where she would hug him back, but she didn't. He removed himself from her and looked at her face. She had this look, like she had seen the most horrific thing known to man. She wasn't even acknowledging that he was there. Sam looked at Lori worriedly who was hugging her son. Everyone was having their reunions

"How'd you find everyone?" Rick asked Daryl

"Well, those guys' tail light zigzagging all over the road- figured he had to be asian, driving like that" Daryl joked

"Good one" Glenn said

"I don't want to ruin the good mood, but what happened, Lori? What's wrong with her?" Sam asked worriedly. Lori looked at Sam and then at Maggie

"I.. Maggie.. I'm sorry.." Lori said as she began to tear up

"Where's Nicky? Patricia? Why aren't they with you?" Maggie asked

"The walkers got them. I watched as they ate them both alive.. and I couldn't move.. I just stood there, and I didn't help them. I.. I watched.." Winter spoke up before she broke down into tears. Sam grabbed her as she fell to the ground. Sam couldn't believe what had happened. Sam was doing his best to comfort Winter, but he also shed a few tears as that was his nephew. Maggie fell to the ground and began to scream as she sobbed. No one tried to tell her it would be okay, because it wasn't. Carol knew better than most what it was like to lose a child. Hershel and Beth were crying. Nicky was so young, which made it worse. It was a horrible thing to think but watching an adult be eaten, versus a toddler is a very different experience. Sam couldn't imagine the guilt Winter was feeling

"I was holdin' onto her, Daddy. She just- and Nicky" Beth cried

"What about Shane?" Lori asked. Rick shook his head. Sam understood that Shane had died

"Andrea?" Glenn asked

"She saved me, then I lost her" Carol said

"We saw her go down" T-Dog said

"What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?" Beth asked

"He was in the RV. It got overrun" Rick said

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asked

"There were walkers everywhere" Lori said

"Did you see her?" Carol asked

"I'm gonna go back" Daryl said

"No" Rick said

"We can't just leave her" Daryl said

"We don't even know if she's there" Lori said

"She isn't there. She isn't. She's somewhere else or she's dead. There's no way to find her" Rick said. Sam had to agree

"So we're not even gonna look for her?" Glenn asked

"We gotta keep moving. There have been walkers crawling all over here" Rick said

"I say head east" T-Dog said

"Stay off the main roads. The bigger the road, the more walkers, more assholes like this one. I got him" Daryl said referring to the walker approaching the group. Daryl got his crossbow ready and he shot the walker in the head. The group had gotten into the vehicles and began heading east. That was until Rick's car ran out of gas. Rick honked and the other cars stopped. Sam had his arms around Winter. Everyone had gotten out of the cars, including them. The group all met up

"You out?" Daryl asked

"Running on fumes" Rick said

"We can't stay here" Sam said

"We can't all fit in one car" Glenn said

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning" Rick said

"Spend the night here?" Carol asked

"I'm freezing" Carl said. Rick took off his jacket and gave it to Carl. Sam had to agree, it was getting colder

"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori said

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close. Only got so many arrows. How you doing on ammo?" Daryl asked

"Not enough" Rick said

"Well we need to do something" Sam said. Winter and Maggie were both out of it completely

"Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick" Hershel said

"All right, we'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on" Rick said

"Me and Glenn can make a run now" Sam said

"No, we stay together. God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car" Rick said

"Rick, we're stranded now" Glenn said

"I know it looks bad, we've all be through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure- I really wasn't- but we did. We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place" Rick said. Everybody was on edge

"Rick, look around. Okay? There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something" Glenn said

"There's gotta be a place not just where we hole up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other. I know it's out there. We just have to find it" Rick said

"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure for how long? Look what happened with the farm. I- we fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe" Maggie said

"We won't make that mistake again" Hershel said

"We'll make camp tonight over there, get on the road at the break of day" Rick said

"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asked Daryl

"What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?" Beth asked

"You know I found Randall, right? He had turned but he wasn't bit" Daryl said

"How's that possible?" Beth asked

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori asked

"Shane killed Randall. Just like he always wanted to" Daryl said

"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked

"We're all infected" Rick said causing everyone to look at him shocked

"What?" Sam asked

"At the C.D.C., Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it" Rick admitted. Sam couldn't believe it. He was infected

"And you never said anything?" Carol asked

"Would it have made a difference?" Rick asked

"You knew this whole time?" Glenn asked

"How could I know for sure? You saw how crazy that mo-" Rick was cut off

"That isn't your call. Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone" Glenn said

"Well, I thought it best that people didn't know" Rick said. Night had fallen and the group had set up camp. There was a small fire burning and everyone was around it. Sam held Winter close as it was rather cold

"I think we should take our chances" Maggie told Glenn

"Don't be foolish. There's no food, no fuel, no ammo" Hershel said. They heard leaves rustling

"What was that?" Beth asked

"Could be anything. Could be a raccoon, could be a possum" Daryl said as everyone stood up

"Walker" Glenn said

"We need to leave. What are we waiting for?" Carol asked

"Which way?" Glenn asked

"It came from over there" Maggie said

"Back from where we came" Beth said

"Yeah" Maggie said

"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark. We don't have the vehicles. No one's traveling on foot" Rick said as they heard a branch snap

"Don't panic" Hershel said

"I'm not- I'm not sitting here, waiting for another herd to blow through. We need to move, now" Maggie said

"No one is going anywhere" Rick said

"Do something" Carol said

"I am doing something! I'm keeping this group together, alive. I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this. I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake! You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, let me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice. He was my friend, but he came after me" Rick said. Carl began crying. Lori hugged her son

"My hands are clean. Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe- maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe- maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you- why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a postcard" Rick said. No one had moved

"Go on, there's the door. You can do better? Let's see how far you get" Rick said. Still, no one had moved

"No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight- you're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore" Rick said. No one spoke as they all just stared at him

(4729 words)
12/3/22