live and let die --- guns n' roses
It was quiet after. The shock was evident to everyone. Looks were shared throughout the group.
"Don't look. Don't look." Daryl helped Carol off the ground. She pushed him off and bolted for the house.
Beth was sobbing as she walked over to kneel next to one of the bodies. Rick tried to stop her, but she pushed past him. "Ma." Apparently, we missed that walker. It grabbed Beth and it took all of the group to pull Beth away and end the walker.
"We've been out combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along?" Shane asked as Rick, Glenn and JJ followed the Greene's up to their farmhouse. "You knew."
"Leave us alone." Maggie snapped.
"Hey, Shane, just stop man."
"Get your hands off me." He pulled away from Rick. "You knew, and you kept it from us."
"I didn't know." Hershel's voice cracked.
"That's bullshit. I think y'all knew."
Maggie turned and shouted, "We didn't know!"
"Why was she there?!"
"Otis put those people in the barn. Maybe he found her and put her in there before he was killed." Hershel justified.
Shane scoffed, "you expect me to believe that? Do I look like an idiot?"
Rick, once again, tried to stop him.
"I don't care what you believe!" Hershel began to fight back.
"Everybody just calm down." Rick put his arms out.
"Get him off my land!"
Shane made a threatening step toward Hershel and Maggie slapped his face. "Hey, don't touch him! Haven't you done enough?"
"I mean it...off my land." Hershel got the last word before him and his family went inside.
There was a second of silence before Rick asked Shane, "What are you doing? Hey! What are you doing?"
"Daryl almost died looking for her, Rick. Any one of us could have. I'm gonna tell you right now- that son of a bitch, he knew."
"Shane, just shut the fuck up. God, you are so ignorant it's annoying." JJ started, "Hershel's not like that. He didn't know. He let your group stay here. Opened his home to you."
"Put us all in danger. He kept a barnful of walkers..."
"So, you just start insurrection, hand out guns and massacre his family?" Rick shot.
"His family's dead, Rick."
"Well, he doesn't believe that. He thinks you just murdered them in cold blood."
Shane shook his head, "no, man, I don't care what he thinks."
"Clearly." JJ scoffed. "You don't care what anyone thinks except yourself. Rick was handling it."
"Your brother had us out in those woods looking for a little girl that every single one of us knew was dead! That's what your brother did! Would've gotten us all killed if I hadn't done something bout it."
"You know what, Shane? You're a piece of shit. Hershel was gonna let us stay, that's why he took Rick out in the woods to help. He wanted us to stay. So, you might think you did was brave and smart and for the better of the group, but in reality, you just fucked us all over."
"No, JJ, I think you're the piece of shit. You wouldn't have-"
"Hey, don't you talk to her like that." Rick warned in a low, calm voice. "Don't you ever talk to her like that."
"Man, you don't even know the half of it. You're just as delusional as that guy." Shane stomped off, "you're handling it, huh?!"
♮♮♮
[JJ]
We stood in silence by the three graves. Once we were done staring at the freshly dug piles of dirt, we all went our separate ways.
I followed Maggie, Glenn and Beth into the house.
"So, if your group leaves, you wouldn't stay?" Maggie asked Glenn. I knew she was gonna ask me next.
"I- I hadn't really thought about it. I mean, I- I didn't know that-" Glenn stuttered, shrugging, "do you think this is really the time...to discuss this, I mean?"
"Well, I'm not really feeling like there's a lot of time for anything."
"No, no, there- there is." He took a few steps toward her, "There is. I mean, I- I- I want-"
Maggie shook her head and rolled her eyes, looking to me, "what about you? Would you stay? Or..."
I shrugged, "I don't know. I just got my family-" I was cut off by Beth crashing in the kitchen. I helped Maggie and Glenn get her to the upstairs bedroom.
"Sweetie, can you hear me?" Maggie stroked the side of her sister's face.
Lori stood at the door, "what's wrong with her?"
"I think she's in shock." I told her.
"Where's Hershel?"
"We can't find him anywhere." Glenn crossed his arms.
We moved into Hershel's room where a suitcase was open on the bed.
My brother looked in the suitcase, "Your stepmother's things?"
"He was so sure she'd recover." Maggie sighed. "They'd just pick up where they left off."
Shane held up a flask that was sitting on the dresser, "looks like he found an old friend."
"That belonged to my grandfather, gave it to my dad when he died." Maggie took the flask.
"I didn't take Mr. G for a drinker." I said.
"No, he gave it up on the day I was born. He didn't even allow liquor in the house."
Rick thought, "what's the bar in town?"
"Hatlin's." I answered before Maggie. I looked between them, shrugging, "just a guess."
"JJ spent a lot of summers here." Maggie muttered. "But my dad practically lived at Hatlin's during his drinking days."
"Betting that's where I'll find him."
"Yeah, I've been there before. I can go with you." I offered.
"I'll go too." Glenn chimed in.
Rick nodded, "all right. I'll get the truck."
Maggie looked from me to Glenn, "no, no."
"It's an easy run." Glenn assured her.
"Don't worry. I'll bring 'em back."
♮♮♮
JJ and Rick went out to the truck to wait on Glenn, who was saying a lengthy goodbye to Maggie.
"So, did you have a boyfriend?" Rick awkwardly made small talk with his sister.
JJ looked at him, confused, "I know you're trying to make up for lost time, but we really don't need to talk about my dating life."
Rick nodded like he understood, "Or girlfriend, I wouldn't judge."
"Rick." She audibly laughed, before telling him. "I went on a few dates with this one guy, but I didn't really like him." It went quiet again.
"I mean, I was just curious." Rick shrugged. "We just never talked about that sort of stuff and I've missed out on these last few years. I feel guilty."
"Okay, well, we can catch up over something that's not my love life."
"So, did you know the guy from class?"
"Yeah, this was why we didn't talk about that sort of stuff." JJ awkwardly huffed, "Glenn! Let's go!"
"You ready?" Rick asked as the three got in the truck. Glenn and Rick sat up front and put JJ in the back.
She moved over to the middle seat in the back, "why do I have to sit in the back if I'm the only one who knows where we're going?"
"Doesn't matter. You suck at giving directions."
The three rode in silence for the first few minutes before Glenn blurted, "Maggie said she loves me...she doesn't mean it. I mean, she can't. I mean---why- she's upset or confused. She's probably feeling, like-"
"I think she's smart enough to know what she's feeling." Rick told him.
"No, no. No, you know what? She wants to be in love, so she's- she needs something to- to like- to hold onto."
"Glenn, it's pretty obvious to everyone that Maggie loves you, and not just because you're one of the last men standing. So, what's the problem?"
"I didn't say it back." Glenn admitted, causing JJ to disappointedly put her head down. "Don't do that, JJ. Don't make me feel bad. I've never had a woman say that to me before except my mom, of course, and my sisters. But with Maggie it's different. We barely know each other. What does she really know about me? Nothing. We're practically strangers. But I- I didn't know what to do with it. I just stood there like a jerk."
"Hey, this is a good thing. Something we don't get enough of these days. Enjoy it."
She moved forward, sitting on the edge of the backseat to talk to the two in the front. "As much as I love the Dr. Phil 'talk about your feelings' scene that's going on up here, I think Glenn's right. This was rushed. Like, really rushed. I mean, you don't see me jumping the bones of the first single guy I lay eyes on."
Rick looked immediately uncomfortable.
"What? You wanted to talk about my love life, so we're talking."
"I mean, to be fair, you don't have much of a selection." Glenn agreed.
"Look, I think when we get back Glenn needs to return the favor. It's not like she's going anywhere."
"Rick, I know about Lori." Glenn admitted. "Her being pregnant."
"Oh, yeah, I know too."
"You told JJ?"
"He didn't have to tell me. I figured it out on my own. I remember when she got pregnant with Carl. She's been so squirrely and bitchy lately, figured she got knocked up again."
Rick glared at his sister, huffing and taking out the key. "Let's go."
We covered each other as Rick opened the door to Hatlin's. There Hershel was, drinking alone, not even phased by our entry. "Mr. G?"
"Who's with you, JJ?"
"Rick and Glenn."
"Maggie sent you?"
"They volunteered." Rick answered. "They're good like that." He walked over, leaning against the bar. "How many have you had?"
"Not enough."
"Let's finish this up back at home." Rick suggested.
JJ stepped in, moving next to her brother, "Beth collapsed. She's in some sort of...state. Must be in shock, and I think, I think you might be too."
"Maggie's with her?"
JJ nodded.
"But Beth needs you." Rick emphasized.
Hershel looked back at his drink, "what could I do? She needs her mother. Or rather to mourn. Like she should've done weeks ago. I robbed her of that. I see that now."
Rick shook his head, "you thought there was a cure. Can't blame yourself for holding out for hope."
"Hope? When I first saw you running across my field with your boy in your arms, I had little hope he'd survive."
"But he did."
"He did. Even though we lost Otis, your man Shane made it back and we saved your boy. That was the miracle that proved to me miracles do exist. Only it was a sham, a bait and switch. I was a fool, Rick. And you people saw that. My daughters deserve better than that."
Glenn and Rick went to the door of the bar, quietly talking, "So what do we do? Just wait for him to pass out?"
"Just go." Hershel told Glenn. "Just go!"
"I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe."
Hershel scoffed, "like you promised that little girl?"
"What's your plan? Finish that bottle? Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?"
Hershell stood up and walked up to Rick, "stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm. You people are like a plague! I do the Christian thing, give you shelter, hell, I even raised your sister like she was my own daughter. And you, you destroy it all!"
"The world was already in bad shape when we met."
"And you take no responsibility! You're supposed to be their leader."
"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"
"Yes. Yes. Yes, you are." Hershel went back to his drink. "I didn't want to believe you. You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe that. But when Shane shot Lou in the chest and she just kept coming, that's when I knew what an ass I'd been. That Annette had been dead long ago and I was feeding a rotten corpse. That's when I knew there was no hope. And when that little girl came out of the barn, the look on your face, I knew you knew it too. Right? There is no hope. And you know it now. Like I do. Don't you?"
Rick looked down, and Hershel continued, "there is no hope for any of us."
"Look, I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore, cleaning up after you. You know what the truth is? Nothing has changed. Death is death. It's always been there, whether it's from a heart attack, cancer, or- or a walker. What's the difference? You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you? Now there are people back at home trying to hang on. They need us, even if it's just to give them a reason to go on. Even if we don't believe it ourselves." Rick told him, rubbing his face out of frustration, "You know what? This isn't about what we believe anymore. It's about them."
Hershel took one more sip of his drink, but just as he stood up, two strangers walked in the door.
"Son of a bitch. They're alive." The man turned to his friend. They sat down for a drink. "I'm Dave. That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony."
"Eat me, Dave." Tony spat.
"Hey, maybe someday I will. We met on I-95 coming out of Philly. Damn shit-show that was."
"I'm Glenn." He smiled, "it's nice to meet some new people."
"Rick Grimes. This is my sister JJ."
JJ gave a polite wave, but crossed her arms over herself, feeling somewhat underdressed.
Dave looked between the three, admiring JJ, but moving onto Hershel, "how bout you, pal? Have one?"
Hershel glared at the drink, "I just quit."
"You've got a unique sense of timing, my friend."
"His name's Hershel. He lost people today, a lot of them." Rick told him.
Dave looked down, "I'm truly sorry to hear that. To better days and new friends. And to our dead- may they be in a better place." The group drank and Rick noticed the gun in the back of Dave's pants. "Not bad, huh? I got it off a cop."
"I'm a cop."
"This one was already dead."
Rick was already on edge by the way the two were eyeing JJ, but he was even more after that comment. "You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia."
"It feels like we're a long way from anywhere."
"Well, what drove you south?"
"Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather. I must've dropped 30 pounds in sweat alone down here."
"I wish." Tony joked.
Dave went on, explaining the journey, "first it was D.C. I heard there might be some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close. We decided to get off the highways, into the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing."
"One guy told us there was the coast guard sitting in the gulf, sending ferries to the islands." Tony joined.
"The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country- Kansas, Nebraska."
"Nebraska?" Glenn questioned.
"Low population, lots of guns." JJ shrugged, "makes sense."
"You ever been to Nebraska?" Dave asked JJ, who shook her head. "There's a reason they're called flyover states." The two laughed and then Dave got curious, "what about you guys?"
"Fort Benning, eventually." Rick answered.
"Hate to piss in your cornflakes, officer, but...um, we ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains."
"Wait, Fort Benning's gone? Are you for real?" Glenn's eyes widened in panic.
"Sadly, I am. Oddly, the truth is, there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab ahold of you when you sleep."
"If you sleep." Tony commented.
"Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You holed up somewhere else?"
JJ was quick to lie. "Not really."
"You lost your mother and sister?" JJ nodded to answer Dave's question. "That's tough."
"Those your cars out front?"
"Yeah. Why?" Glenn answered.
"We're living out of ours. Those look kinda empty, clean. Where's all your other gear?"
"We're with a larger group. Out scouting, thought we could use a drink." Hershel responded.
"A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit. Well, we're thinking of setting up around here. Is- is it safe?"
"It can be. Although, I have killed a couple of walkers around here." Glenn told them.
"Walkers? That what you call them?"
"Yeah."
"That's good. I like that better than lamebrains." Dave rubbed the back of his neck.
"More succinct." Tony agreed.
"Tony went to college."
"Two years."
Dave's smile faded into more questions, "so what? You guys set up on the outskirts or something?"
Tony stood up, walking over to the corner to piss, "That new development? Trailer park or something? A farm?"
All four of their heart's sped up when he asked.
"Old McDonald had a farm." Dave sang. "You got a farm? Is it safe? It's gotta be. You got food, water?"
"You got more cooze like her? Haven't had a piece of ass in weeks."
Dave noticed JJ's disgust, "Listen, pardon my friend. City kids-- they got no tact. No disrespect. So, listen, Glenn-"
"We've said enough." Rick decided.
"Well, hang on a second. This farm- it sounds pretty sweet. Don't it sound sweet, Tony?"
"Yeah, real sweet." Tony agreed.
"Now, how about a little southern hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time. I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We could pool our resources, our manpower."
"Look, I'm sorry, that's not an option." Rick plainly told him.
"Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem."
"I'm sorry. We can't." Hershel repeated.
"We can't take in anymore."
Dave chuckled, "you guys are something else. I thought- I thought we were friends. We got people we gotta look out for too."
"We don't know anything about you."
"No, that's true. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out there, the things we've had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those things yourself, am I right? 'Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same. So, come on, let's-let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm, and we'll get to know each other."
Rick shook his head, calmly, "that's not gonna happen."
"Rick-"
"This is bullshit." Tony stated.
"Calm down." Rick warned.
"Don't tell me to calm down. Don't ever tell me to calm down. I'll shoot you four assholes in the head and take your damn farm!"
Dave got in the middle of it, "whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Relax. Take it easy. Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody. Right, Rick?" He climbed over the bar and set his gun down. "Look. We're just friends having a drink. That's all. Now where's the good stuff, huh?" He clapped his hands and went below the bar, "good stuff, good stuff, let's see. Hey, look at that. That'll work."
Dave poured himself a drink and sighed, "you gotta understand, we can't stay out there. You know what it's like."
"Yeah, I do. But the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking."
"Keep looking. Where do you suggest we do that?"
"I don't know." Rick shrugged.
"I hear Nebraska's nice." JJ commented.
Dave snickered, "Nebraska. This girl." He went for his gun, but Rick and JJ were faster. He pulled on Dave, and she fired on Tony.
And Tony and Dave were no more.
a/n: ok long chapter. also rick & jj's sibling relationship is my new fav thing. when they have each other's backs! we stan the grimes' sibling
until next time,
a + n <3