The Purification (From the Ashes We Will Rise: Book One)

Chapter 5

 This morning every food was cardboard. No amount of chewing made it possible to swallow. The air is so brittle it could snap, and if it doesn't, I might. No-one speaks, what is there to say? Platitudes won't cut it right now. We sit knee deep in silence. Lincoln was sitting on the ground next to me with his back against the log, happily eating his eggs.

Something went down last night. I have a feeling that Dale did as he promised he would, and "took care of it". The old sounds to be hears in this camp was Andrea sharpening her knife and the sounds of forks scraping against the metal plates everyone was eating off of.

Glenn plopped down beside me and let out a deep sigh as he stared at the porch. Maggie stood there, seemingly pissed off about something, shaking her head. That's when he turned his attention to Dale who gave him a curt nod.

Glenn stood up and walked over by the fire, "um, guys."

Everyone paused what they were doing to look over at him. "So...the barns full of walkers."

The way everyone's heads snapped in his direction was shocking, but not all at once. The group was frozen mid bite and that's when the realization washed over their faces. Without a moments hesitation, the entire group, Lincoln and Carl included, walked down to the barn. Everyone else stood back while Shane walked up to the building, poking his eye through a crack in the door.

"You cannot tell me you're all right with this," Shane hissed.

"No I'm not," Rick snarled, "but we're guests here. This isn't our land."

"Oh god! This is our lives man!" Shane exclaimed.

"Lower your voice," Glenn demanded.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug," Andrea countered harshly.

"It's ain't right," Shane puffed, "not remotely. We either got to go in there, we've got to make things right, or we just got to go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time—"

"We can't go!" Rick argued, cutting him off.

"Why, Rick? Why?"

"Because my daughter is still out there," Carol spoke for the first time.

"Okay," Shane spoke snidely, wiping his hands over his face. "Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility—"

"Shane!" Rick hissed. "We're not leaving Sophia behind."

"I'm close to finding this girl!" Daryl agreed from beside Carol. "I just found her damn doll two days ago."

Shane chuckled mockingly as he paced, "you found her doll Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll!"

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Daryl snapped at him.

"Look, I'm just saying what needs to be said! You get a good lead, it's in the first forty-right hours!" Shane shouted.

That's when Rick stepped in the middle, before things got ugly, "all right, all right. Shane, stop."

"Let me tell you something else man!" Shane pushed as Rick backed off, knowing his efforts were useless. "If she was alive out there and saw you coming all meshed-out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction!"

Just as the fight was about the breakout, Glenn and I both stepped in to pull the two men apart before they ripped each other's heads off.

"Get your hands off me," Shane hissed at Lori as he stormed off.

"Now just let me talk to Hershel! Let me figure it out!" Rick shouted after him, causing the man to snap around.

"What are you gonna figure out!" Shane exploded.

Lori stepped in between as Rick took a deep breath to calm himself, "if we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it! This is his land."

"Hershel sees those things in there as people—sick people. His wife, his stepson," Dale spoke, trying his best to diffuse the tension.

"You knew?" Rick snapped at him.

"Yesterday," Dale nodded calmly, "I talked to Hershel."

"And you waited the night!" Shane hollered.

"I thought we could survive one more night. We did," Dale argued. "I was waiting 'till this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one."

"This man is crazy, Rick," Shane growled. "If Hershel thinks those things are alive or no!"

After a while, everything calmed down and everyone, except for Shane, made their way back to camp. Since Glenn had given me the guitar and Lincoln heard me play, he's been non-stop asking me to teach him a song. So like any good parent would, that's exactly what I did. We had nothing but time after all.

It was comical if I was being honest, because the guitar was way to big for him and he couldn't reach both the neck and the body at the same time. So while he strummed along happily, my fingers glided over the frets like muscle memory. I could stay like this with him forever if I had a choice, but nothing good can last forever. Lori called out for Lincoln and he ran off to go join Carl for some school work.

I slung the guitar over my shoulder and walked over to the RV, climbing up the ladder, clasping onto my brother's as I reached the top. He's been stressed out as long as we've been reunited and it's clear why. Between the drama of the group and his problems with Maggie...I feel bad for him.

"Andrea's looking for you," Glenn called out to Dale.

"Thank you Glenn," Dale nodded solemnly.

"Do you have an extra hat?" Glenn asked, seeing as his hand wasn't really a suitable visor.

"Nope," Dale chuckled before taking off his own and tossing it up to him.

"Thanks," Glenn smiled at him before Dale walked into the RV.