The Walking Dead

Chapter 17

The duo strolled past the wooden gates and down the clear pathway towards the designated area of work. They made small chat, talking about the motel, the farm, and whatnot. The farm was quite large, extending its reach over the vast and broad field of plentiful corn and tall grass.

"So how's the place looking?" Mark began, "Is it safe enough for us to stay…if we can?"

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing what they've done with this day. But let's see what it takes to secure this fence before drawing any conclusions."

"I can't wait until everyone's out here. Everyone besides Larry…" Mark shook his head.

Lee remembered the morning's incident the moment Mark mentioned Larry's name, "Why the hell did you have to tell him I thought he's a racist? As if tensions weren't high enough!"

Mark flinched, diverting his gaze to the ground quickly, "Sorry man! It just…popped out!"

"I try to be civil, at least." Lee muttered angrily.

"He's too busy being cranky to notice."

They dropped the subject when they spotted one of the husks that Andy was talking about. The corpse was collapsed limply on top of the fence's wire, dragging it down slightly under its heavy weight. There was a strange and long arrow that stuck out of its neck. A pitch-black crow balanced on its shoulder, nonchalantly pecking into its rotten and ash-burnt skin. It flew off to a certain direction when it noticed the twos' presence.

"There's one. Eeugh." Mark voiced, implying the obvious.

Lee stopped in front of it, squinting at the dead thing. He kicked it lightly with his foot, just in case.

"Lee, it's dead." Mark sighed.

"Come on, let's push it off."

Lee noticed a lightbulb protruding from some of the wooden posts, Mark saw him staring at it and commented, "And said, when this fence is working, the walkers go up like a tree branch on a power line. If those lights are out that means the fence is off, right?"

"It'd better be."

Lee returned his attention to the dead walker, he took his axe and pushed the thing, but it wouldn't budge a bit. "Looks like he's stuck."

He remembered the arrow stuck into the walker's dead flesh, making a disgusted face before grasping the arrow's shaft. He tore the thing out, "Disgusting."

Lee once again attempted to slide the husk off the electrical wire, this time it succeeded and fell to the ground with a thump. "Come on, I'm sure there's still a few more."

The pair continued their talk, Mark started, "Once this fence is patched up, this place'll be a fortress! God, can you imagine not having to worry about the walkers anymore?

"It's useless without gas. We might need food, but the St. Johns need gas too."

"Not many drivers these days, Lee. We could scrounge up a year's worth of gas, easy." Mark pointed out, noticing Lee's ambivalence, "So what's your take on the brothers? They seem to have this place tied down pretty well."

"We've got enough people to take this place by force, if we have to."

"Sheesh, Lee. You sound like Kenny." Mark replied, a slight smile touching his features.

"There's another one." Lee gestured with his eyes.

"I see it."

This walker hung off the fence from the outside, its head dipping low towards the ground. Without its arms supporting the corpse, it would've surely knocked over the fence itself. Lee bent low and pushed the walker off of its leaning position. Lee knew that if the farm were to become a permanent shelter, this would become a routine. It fell back, but there was no thump because it still hung off the wire by the tips of its hands, its posture looked like a triangle. Lee grunted and swung the axe, being careful not to chop the wire. He cut through its wrist, causing the walker to go into an awkward position. Cutting through the other wrist, it hit the ground.