𝙴𝙿𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙳𝙴 𝚃𝚆𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚈 - 𝙳𝙰𝙼𝙽 𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃
𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐
It had come to the group's attention that Randall had escaped Shane's custody so Rick, Shane, Glenn and Daryl went out to look for him whilst everyone else stayed back at the house. "I'm going after them." Andrea said as she got up.
"Don't. They could be anywhere." Lori said.
"And if Randall comes back, we're gonna need you here." Madelyn said before the door opened and Daryl and Glenn came inside.
"Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl asked, looking a little worried.
"No." Lori said.
"We heard a shot." Daryl said.
"Maybe they found Randall." Madelyn suggested.
"Nah, we found him." Daryl said.
"Is he back in the shed?" Patricia asked.
"He's a walker." Daryl said.
"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked.
"No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit." Glenn said, confusing everyone.
"He wasn't bit?" Madelyn asked.
"His neck was broke." Daryl said.
"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." Daryl explained. "No, they were together."
"Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori asked.
"Yeah, you got it." Daryl said.
"Thank you." Lori said.
Daryl went outside with Madelyn, Glenn and Andrea and what they saw shocked them to their core. "Oh my god." Madelyn gasped as they saw a huge herd of walkers headed towards the farm.
"Patricia, kill the lights." Hershel said in a panic.
"I'll get the guns." Andrea said before quickly going inside.
"Maybe they're just passing, like the herd on the highway." Glenn suggested but he knew that possibility was very slim. "Should we just go inside?"
"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about." Daryl said. "Herd that size will rip the house down."
"Carl's gone." Lori said in a panic as she approached the group on the porch.
"What?" Daryl asked.
"Oh no." Madelyn said.
"He was upstairs. I can't find him anymore." Lori said, worried.
"Maybe he's hiding." Glenn said.
"He's supposed to be upstairs." Lori said. "I'm not leaving without my boy.
"We're not. We're gonna look again." Carol said before she and Lori left to find Carl. Andrea brought out the bag of guns and everyone armed themselves. They had to get ready for this fight.
"You can go if you want." Hershel said.
"You're gonna take them all on?" Daryl asked.
"We have guns. We have cars." Hershel said, prepping his gun.
"Don't be ridiculous, Hershel. We're helping." Madelyn said. That went without saying.
"Kill as many as we can." Andrea said. "Then we use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm."
"Are you serious?" Daryl asked.
"This is my farm. I'll die here." Hershel said.
"All right, it's as good a night as any." Daryl said, about to climb over the fence when Madelyn stopped him.
"Wait, I need to talk to you." Madelyn said.
"Can't it wait?" Daryl asked.
"No, please. It'll just take a second." Madelyn said. Daryl nodded and the two went inside the house, heading to a quiet area.
"What is it?" Daryl asked.
"I just....I needed to do something and if I die here tonight, I wanna die with no regrets." Madelyn said as she looked at Daryl. She needed to know. She had to know if there was something there.
"What are you-" Daryl asked but was interrupted when Madelyn kissed him. There was instant sparks between the two. Madelyn hadn't felt like this since she was with Landon. Daryl was totally shook but he was more than happy to kiss her back. Daryl did want her and it seemed like she wanted him too. Madelyn smiled into the kiss as she wrapped her arms around Daryl's neck. She felt her back being pressed against the wall and Daryl's hands sitting on her hips. The kiss was warm, sexy, beautiful. It felt real. When they pulled away, Madelyn couldn't help but smile as a blush grew on her cheeks. Just as Daryl was about to say something, they heard the groans of the walkers getting louder. They were getting closer to the farm.
"You're not dying on my watch, Maddie." Daryl said, kissing her nose before quickly leaving. Madelyn blushed a little and grabbed her gun and crossbow before quickly heading outside.
Daryl got on his bike and drove over to the barn that was now on fire. He couldn't believe he had just kissed Madelyn. The kiss was nothing like he had ever experienced before. There really was something there between them, something passionate. He had a lot of motivation now to kill the walkers, to protect the group but most importantly, to protect Madelyn so he began shooting any walker his eyes landed on. Madelyn was with T-Dog and Andrea. T-Dog was driving a truck and Andrea and Madelyn were shooting any walker within their sights. Glenn and Maggie were doing the same thing.
"They're all over the place. There's no corralling them." Andrea said.
"We're gonna run out of ammo before we even make a dent." Madelyn said as she reloaded her gun.
"We need a new game plan." T-Dog said as he tried to run over the walkers. He drove over to where Lori, Beth and Carol was and Andrea opened the door.
"Get in!" Andrea said to Lori.
"Andrea, get Carol." Lori said.
Andrea got out and went to get Carol whilst Madelyn helped Lori and Beth get in the truck. They waited for as long as they could but it looked like the walkers had gotten to both Andrea and Carol.
"No." Madelyn muttered. Another two members of their group was most likely dead.
"We need to go!" Lori said, making T-Dog quickly drive away from the farm.
"Please be okay, please be okay." Madelyn muttered to herself, referring to Daryl as she watched the barn burn.
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It was almost dawn as T-Dog was still driving away from the farm. "Hey, we gotta turn around." Lori said to T-Dog.
"Straight back to that herd?" T-Dog asked. "No."
"T, the highway's back there." Madelyn said. "That's where they'll be. Everyone will be there."
"She's right. Rick will go back there to where we first broke down and Glenn too." Lori said.
"But we're headed east." T-Dog said. "Get to the coast. We should've done that from the jump. Look, we've got a shot to get out of here in one piece."
"I gotta find Carl." Lori said. "They may have escaped with somebody."
"And I'm not going anywhere without Glenn and Daryl." Madelyn said. There was no way she was going to be separated from Daryl, especially not after their kiss.
"I hate to say it but they're all on their own." T-Dog said. "There's nowhere to even begin to start looking."
"You're wrong." Lori said.
"Look, we can't go back. I'm sorry. It's suicide." T-Dog said. He was not budging.
"Alright, then let me out." Lori said.
"Hey, whoa!" T-Dog said as Lori opened the door of the truck that was still moving.
"You turn around or you let us out right now." Lori said.
"Please, T." Madelyn said. "I need to know that everyone's okay."
"I should do it, you know?" T-Dog said. "You're out of your damn minds." T-Dog sighed and turned the truck around, heading back to the highway. When they made it to the highway, Madelyn saw Rick, Carl, Hershel, Daryl, Carol, Glenn and Maggie.
"Oh, thank god." Madelyn said quickly getting out of the truck and running over to Daryl.
"Maddie." Daryl sighed in relief before kissing her. Again, their kiss felt magical. They could feel the sparks, the electricity, the passion. Maggie ran over to Hershel and Beth, hugging them tight. Lori ran over to Carl and Rick, glad to see they were still alive.
"I was so scared, D." Madelyn said once they pulled away.
"It's okay. We're safe now." Daryl said before they both hugged each other tight, not wanting to let go of each other.
"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asked.
"Well, he's got his taillights zig-zagging all over the road, figured he had to be Asian driving like that." Daryl said, making Madelyn playfully hit his arm before going over and hugging Glenn.
"Good one." Glenn said sarcastically.
"Thank god you're okay." Madelyn said.
"Thank god you're okay." Glenn said, hugging her back.
"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asked as Madelyn went back to his side, wrapping her arm in his.
"We're the only ones who made it so far." Rick said.
"Shane?" Lori asked. Rick shook his head, suggesting he was dead. Shane was dead? Madelyn wasn't expecting that. Shane was quite a fighter. She didn't expect him to die to that herd.
"Andrea?" Glenn asked.
"She saved me then we lost her." Carol said.
"We saw her go down." T-Dog said.
"Yeah, I...I think they got her." Madelyn said as Daryl rubbed her arm to comfort her.
"Patricia?" Hershel asked.
"They got her too." Beth said. "Took her right from me. I was holding onto her, Daddy. She just...what about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"
"He was in the RV. It got overrun." Rick sighed. A lot of people seemed to have lost their lives back there.
"God." Madelyn muttered, wrapping herself in Daryl's arms. She felt terrible for the people that were dead. Anyone could've lost their lives there. Whoever made it to the highway got lucky.
"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asked.
"There were walkers everywhere." Lori said.
"Did you see her?" Carol asked.
"We'll go back." Daryl said.
"No." Rick said.
"Can't just leave her." Daryl said.
"We don't know if she's there, D." Madelyn said.
"She isn't there. She isn't. She's somewhere else or she's dead." Rick said. "There's no way to find her."
"So, we're not even gonna look for her?" Glenn asked.
"We gotta keep moving. There've 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." Daryl said. "The more assholes like this one. I got him." He said before shooting a walker.
Everyone got in their vehicles and Madelyn sat behind Daryl on his bike before leaving the highway, once and for all.
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After driving for a while, one of the cars honked, telling everyone to stop for a moment. "What's wrong?" Madelyn asked as everyone got out of their vehicles.
"You out of gas?" Daryl asked.
"Running on fumes." Rick said.
"We can't stay here." Maggie said as she looked around.
"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.
"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori said.
"If you go out looking for firewood, stay close." Daryl said. "Only got so many arrows. How are you doing on ammo?"
"Not enough." Rick said in concern. Things really weren't looking up.
"Well, we can't just sit here with our asses hanging out." Maggie said.
"Everyone stop panicking. Listen to Rick." Hershel said.
"Alright, we set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on." Rick said.
"Glenn and I can go and make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." Maggie 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 been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other." Rick said. "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, there's walkers everywhere." Madelyn said. "It's starting to get really bad. They're, like, migrating."
"There's gotta be a place, not just where we hole up but that we fortify." Rick said. "Hunker down. Pull ourselves together. Build a life for each other. I know it's out there. We just have to find it."
"Even if we do find a place we think is safe we can never be sure for how long." Maggie said. "Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that it was safe."
"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel said.
"We'll make camp tonight over there." Rick said, pointing at some old rock walls. "Get on the road at the break of day."
"What if walkers come through or another group like Randall's?" Beth asked.
"You know how I found Randall, right?" Daryl asked. "He turned, but he wasn't bit."
"How's that possible?" Beth asked.
"Shane killed Randall." Daryl said.
"Just like he wanted to." Madelyn said. She should've known.
"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked.
"We're all infected." Rick admitted.
"What?" Daryl asked.
"At the CDC, Jenner told me." Rick said. "Whatever it is, we all carry it."
"Oh god." Madelyn said as she looked down at herself.
"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 have known for sure? You saw how crazy that mo-"
"That is not your call." Glenn said, obviously not happy.
"Rick, we had a right to know that." Madelyn said. "When Glenn found out about the walkers in the barn, he told for the good of everyone."
"Well, I thought it best if people didn't know." Rick said.
"This is ridiculous." Madelyn said, shaking her head as Rick walked away.
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𝙽𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕
It was now dark and everyone had made camp by the rock walls Rick had pointed out. There was a fire and everyone was trying to stay warm.
"I don't think we're safe with him." Carol whispered to Madelyn. "Keeping something like that from us? He's gonna pull us all down."
"I don't agree with what he did but he's a good leader." Madelyn said.
"You're just saying that because he saved you in Atlanta." Carol said.
"Maybe, but I know that we wouldn't have made it this far without Rick. I wouldn't have made it this far without him." Madelyn said. "And that's just the truth."
Suddenly, there was a rustle, alarming everyone. "What was that?" Beth asked.
"Could be anything. Could be a racoon, could be a possum." Daryl said as he got up.
"A walker." Glenn said.
"We need to leave. I mean, what are we waiting for?" Carol asked.
"It came from where we came from." Beth said.
"Last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark." Rick said. "We don't have the vehicles right now. No-one's travelling on foot."
"I'm not sitting here waiting for another herd to blow through." Maggie said. "We need to move now."
"No-one is going anywhere." Rick said.
"Do something." Carol said.
"I am doing something." Rick growled. "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!"
Everyone looked at Rick in shock. Rick killed Shane. He killed his best friend. Why?
"You saw what he was like." Rick said. "How he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back."
"What?" Madelyn asked in shock.
"That's right. He gave me no choice." Rick said. "He was my friend, but he came after me. My hands are clean. Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's another place for us or maybe that's just another pipe dream. Maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a postcard! Go on. There's the door. You can do better. Let's see how far you get."
No-one moved.
"No takers? Fine. But let's get one thing straight. You're staying." Rick said. "This isn't a democracy anymore."
Everyone sighed and sat back down by the fire. "Glenn, you got any water?" Madelyn whispered. Glenn nodded and took out a half full bottle of water. Madelyn then pulled something out of her pocket, making Glenn's eyes widen.
"You're using the birth control?" Glenn whispered.
Madelyn sighed happily and looked at Daryl. "You're damn right I am."