07 : FIRE AND FLAMES
" Believe me, you can have the floor! "
- ᴛ - ᴅᴏɢ
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EVERYONE was moving into the house to prevent another accident happening. It'd be safer. Before, no walkers came anywhere near their area but now... They don't want to risk it.
Lori picked up a big blue box from the back of the truck. She was soon stopped by T-Dog, who ran up to them.
"Whoa. Don't, don't, don't strain yourself." He said as he took the box out of her hands.
"Thank you." She gave him a light pat on the shoulder. "Rick, Carl and I are taking the corner of the living room."
T- Dog nodded in response. Hershel held the door open for him as he walked in. "You can put that in my room. You'll be more comfortable there."
Lori shook her head. "We can't do that."
"A pregnant woman and a child sleeping on the floor while I've got a bed to myself?"
"There's two more kids." She told him.
"Oh no, don't worry about me." Lucy spoke up. "I'm sleeping on the floor."
"Sweetheart, I think it's best if you sleep on the couch or something." Lori told the girl.
"Nah, I like sleeping on the floor." She reassured. "It's quite comfortable."
Back when everything was still normal, she slept on the floor whenever her sheets and pillows weren't clean. Her dad never made any effort cleaning them, so she would always wash them herself in a bucket of water.
Of course, it doesn't dry as fast since they were always soaked. She'd have to wait days until they were dry. She couldn't sleep in her actual bed so she'd sleep on the floor instead. It wasn't comfortable at first but she learned to love it later on as she had to sleep on the floor multiple times a month.
Lori gave the younger girl a questioning look before turning back to Hershel. "This is still your house."
"It's our home." Hershel stated. "I'll take the couch downstairs. On nights when I came home reeking of bourbon, my wife would lock the bedroom door. I'm sad to say the couch and I became old friends."
"If you two can't decide, I'll take it." T -Dog joked after he just came out of the house. He gave them a sheepish smile before walking back to the house with another box in his hand.
"The couch is mine!" Hershel called after him.
"And the floor is mine!"
"Believe me, you can have the floor!" T -Dog yelled back.
Lucy was sitting on the steps that were leading to the Greene house once again. It seemed like a place she found herself getting back to everyday.
For the moment, she was trying to keep the image of Dale out of her mind by reading comic books. It didn't help much though. Even the comics couldn't keep all the events that have been happening out of her mind.
She decided comic books weren't going to help her, no matter how much she tried. She placed the book down before putting her head in her hands.
The door opened behind her but she hadn't bothered looking up to see who it was. "Hey." A familiar feminine voice behind her called.
Maggie.
Maggie sat down next to her. "You okay?"
"Not really." Lucy shrugged. "I just can't stop thinking about Dale. I mean, I didn't even know him that well but that was just..."
"I'm sorry you had to see that." She shoved the comic out of the way before scooting closer to the girl and wrapping an arm around her. Lucy leaned her head on Maggie's shoulder as she let out a deep sigh. Maggie placed her head ontop of Lucy's.
"It wasn't my first time." She muttered.
"What do you mean?"
"It wasn't my first time seeing someone die like that." She explained. "I saw my dad die too."
"Oh." Maggie rubbed her arm, comforting her the best she can. "I'm so sorry. No one should go through that."
"It's not like- I mean I..." Lucy trailed of, letting out another deep sigh before continuing. "I don't even remember that much of it."
"Yeah, but he was your dad." She said quitly. "It must've been hard to see someone that close to you die like that."
"No because I-" She stopped herself, suddenly having to resist the urge to throw up. She never liked thinking back about the day he died. About any day that included him, to be honest. He wasn't a good person. And he sure as hell wasn't a good father. "I don't think I wanna talk about this right now."
"That's okay." Maggie reassured. "You don't need to talk about it right now. You can talk about it whenever you're ready. You don't even have to talk about it at all."
Lucy was grateful of Maggie's understanding. It wasn't something she was used to. But maybe she should get used to it.
"Thank you, Maggie."
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"What's wrong?" Lori asked as the group ran up to the barn.
"Randall's missing."
"Missing how?"
"How long has he been gone?" Hershel questioned.
Rick walked out of the barn, everyone gathered around him. "The cuffs are still hooked. He must've slipped 'em."
"Is that possible?" Carol held onto Sophia's hand, not daring to let her go now that Randall was missing.
"It is if you've got nothing to lose." Andrea walked out of the barn.
"The door was secured from the outside." Hershel stated, closing the barn door. Everyone was panicked, eyes searching for a missing Randall.
"Rick! Rick!" A voice yelled. They all turned towards the noise. Shane stomped towards the group, blood dripping from his face.
"What happened?"
"He's armed!" Shane answered Lori. "He's got my gun."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, little bastard just snuck up on me. Clocked me in the face."
"All right." Rick pointed at the group. "Hershel, T- Dog, get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Daryl, come with us."
The mention of Glenn caused both Lucy and Maggie to step forward. He made a comforting gesture towards them.
"Just let him go." Carol said. "That was the plan, wasn't it? To just let him go."
"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Shane took the gun T- Dog handed him.
"Don't go out there. Y'all know what could happen!"
"Get everybody back in the house." Rick demanded. "Lock all the doors and stay put!"
Everyone ran back to the house as soon as the words left Rick's mouth. Maggie grabbed Lucy's hand, dragging her away.
"We aren't supposed to be out here." Lucy told Carl as she trailed slightly behind him.
They were supposed to be upstairs in the house but she caught Carl trying to sneak out. Sophia had already fallen asleep by then and Lucy was about to fall asleep until her ears caught the sound of Carl's extremely loud footsteps.
While she had tried to stop him, he wouldn't listen so she decided to follow him instead. Now thinking back, that probably wasn't the smartest decision. She should've just told the adults.
"Carl." Lucy tried getting his attention again. "Let's just go back. It's not safe out here."
"No!" He refused, which Lucy expected to hear. She knew she couldn't convince him so she took out her knife instead.
"If we die because of you, I'm gonna kill you." She threatened.
"How are you gonna kill me if we're dead?"
"I'll find a way, Grimes." She whispered. "I'll find a way."
When they finally neared the woods, they saw Rick kneeling infront of a body. Wether it was Randall or a walker, Lucy didn't know as they weren't close enough.
"Dad?" Carl called.
Rick stood up, trying to walk towards his son but he only took a step backwards. "Carl."
"Is that Shane?" Lucy asked, nearing the corpse. She wasn't entirely sure if it was actually him or a walker that looked afwully similar.
"You know, you should be back home with mom." Rick kept walking towards them. Lucy hadn't even noticed that both of them were crying.
Carl raised his gun. For a second Lucy thought he raised it at his father but when she looked closely, it was pointed at the walker, that used to be known as Shane, stumbling his way towards them.
"Just- just put, put the gun down-" Rick tried, not noticing the walker making it's way towards them.
"Rick-" She tried warning him, but he didn't listen.
"Please, it's not what it seems-"
Before Rick could finish his sentence, he got cut off by Carl shooting walker Shane in the brain. Rick looked behind him before turning back to the two kids.
He walked towards the lifeless body, kneeling infront of him.
"I'm sorry."
"That wasn't Shane, you know that." Rick reassured Carl as the three of them were walking back to the house.
"Used to be." It was quiet for a moment before he decided to speak up again. "What happened? You guys attacked? I mean, I...I heard the gunshot, but I didn't see any walkers nearby. How did Shane die?"
Rick stopped walking which caused the other two to pause. He walked up to Carl, seeming to prepare to tell him whatever happened to him. Right as he was about to say something, Lucy heard growling.
"Uh- guys." She called quietly. They both looked at her, waiting for her to continue. She pointed behind them. An entire herd of walkers were slumping their way towards them.
"Oh, my God." Rick pushed both of the kids away. "Go, go, go, go, go."
They ran away and hid behind a tree. Though that probably wasn't the best hiding spot for an entire herd of them. Rick looked around for a better hiding spot.
"We gotta get to the house." Carl suggested. "Tell the others."
"We'll never get through that."
Lucy noticed that the barn was close nearby. She tapped Rick on the shoulder, nodding her head towards the barn when he looked at her.
"Carl, Lucy, stay close." He demanded before pushing them both with him as they made a run for the barn.
They got inside pretty quickly but they got quite a few walkers following them. Carl and Lucy pushed the barn door, trying to keep it closed while Rick placed a piece of wood to support the door and hold it from the walkers.
"Over there!" Lucy ran over to the gasoline that was lying at the side of the barn. They all poured the gasoline throughout the entire barn before making their way up the platform in the barn.
Since Lucy was the fastest, it didn't take long before she had made her way up. Carl was next but was stopped by Rick for a second. He handed him the lighter and gestured for him to get up aswell.
"What about you?"
"I'll be right there." Rick reassured. "Drop the lighter when I say. We'll stop some of them from reaching the house and distract the others, so atleast we'll have a chance. You can do this. Carl, I love you."
They both paused, not making any sort of movement.
"Hey! This is sweet and all but could you please hurry the fuck up?" Lucy interrupted, not wanting either of them or herself to get eaten by the walkers that were banging on the barn door.
Carl finally made his way up the ladder. Once he was almost up the platform, Lucy stook out her hand, helping him get up easier. Rick was already infront of the barn door, banging and shouting.
He took of the last supporting piece of the door that was holding the walkers out of the barn before opening them, allowing the drooling freaks to walk in. Rick hurried his way up. "Carl, now!"
With that, Carl dropped the lighter down. Lucy ran towards the ladder, helping Rick up since he was still on the ladder. "Thanks."
They went through the gap of the barn, Rick and Carl were shooting the walkers beneath them while Lucy tried to look for a way down. She saw Jimmy drive the RV.
"Hey! Jimmy!" She jumped and waved to get his attention. "Over here!"
He parked the RV infront of the barn. The three of them jumped on and made their way down.
Once they reached the house, they saw Hershel shooting the walkers walking towards them. What he didn't know, was that there was one right behind him about to take a bite out of his shoulder. Luckily for him, Rick shot the monster just in time.
"Where's Lori? Did you see Lori?" He shouted.
"I don't know what happened, Rick." Hershel shook his head. "They just keep coming. It's like a plague. They're everywhere!"
"Lori! Did you see her?"
"No!"
"What about Glenn? Maggie? Sophia?"
"We have to go." Rick shot another walker. "Find mom and the others."
"It's my farm." Rick dragged Hershel along to the car. "Not anymore!"
Carl and Lucy opened the car doors, sitting in the backseat while Rick and Hershel made their way to the front.
With that, they drove of the farm that they once called home.
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They were on the highway. Lucy assumed this was the highway Sophia talked about. Turns out she was right since they passed a car with 'Sophia stay here' written on it and a bunch of supplies gathered ontop.
"Well, where's mom? You said she'd be here." Carl asked after not seeing Lori on the highway. "We gotta go back for her."
"Carl-"
"No. Why are we running?" He cut him off. "What are you doing? It's mom. We need to get her and not be safe a mile away."
"Shh, you need to be quiet." Rick whispered. "Alright? Please."
While they were having their conversation, Lucy sat ontop of the 'Sophia car' and took one of the drinks that was standing there. It looked like some type of soda. She opened the bottle, smelling it first before taking a sip and spitting it out immediately.
Both Hershel and Rick turned towards her as she gave them an awkward smile. "Sorry." She placed the soda back down and pointed at the bottle. "Don't drink from that, it doesn't taste as good as it looks."
"We're not splitting up." Rick continued his conversation with Hershel while Lucy decided to go talk to an upset Carl instead of drinking more of those nasty drinks.
"Hey." She sat next down to him. "You okay?"
Carl shrugged as he rocked his legs back and forth. "It's just so unfair, you know? We should be out here looking for mom, for the rest of our group! Not sit around here doing nothing."
"I think we should listen to your dad." Lucy disagreed, earning a weird look from Carl. "He wouldn't sit around here, waiting for your mom if he wasn't entirely sure she'd come here."
If she was completely honest, she herself wasn't sure if Rick was making the right decisions but she clinged onto that tiny bit of hope that was still lingering inside her. Up until now, she hadn't had the chance to panick yet, being more focused on surviving instead.
She hoped Glenn, Maggie and Sophia were alright. She hoped everyone was. Maybe they all had the same idea as they did, maybe they'll all go to the highway.
"She's fine." Lucy told her friend. "They're all going to be fine, okay?"
Carl let out a deep breath before nodding. "Okay."
"And maybe you should have a little more faith in your dad." She shot him a smile in order to break the panicked tension.
"I have faith in my dad!" He laughed.
"I have more faith in him than you!"
"Not true." He shoved her shoulder playfully, her doing the same thing to him.
Their conversation however, got interrupted by Rick. "Kids!" He whisper-shouted and motioned his way.
They both hopped of the car they were sitting on and carefully made their way towards Rick and Hershel. They hid behind the car they used to get to the highway. Rick nodded his head towards the walker that was walking around.
"I don't know for how much longer we can stay here." Hershel whispered.
"I'm not leaving without mom."
"And I'm not leaving without Glenn."
"So, we're just gonna walk away?" Rick asked Hershel. "Not knowing if my wife, your girls are still out there? How do we live with that?"
"You've only got one concern. Just one." The older man told him. "Keeping them alive." He gestured towards the two kids standing next to them. "Nature may be throwing us a curveball, but that law is still true."
"Carl." Rick kneeled infront of him. "It's not safe here. I'm sorry. We'll-"
His sentence got cut off by the sound of a motorcycle approaching them, two cars following right behind them. On the motorcycle were Daryl, Carol and Sophia all huddled up together. How all three of them fit on there, was a mystery.
Sophia stepped off the motorcycle and ran towards Lucy. She wrapped her arms around her friend, giving her a hug. Carl joined them soon, wrapping his arms around both of them.
The cars had stopped by now too. The three of them pulled away, looking over at the cars. Lori was the first one to step out. Carl ran towards her.
She didn't know what happened afterwards as she saw Glenn step out of one of the cars. Glenn let out of a sigh of relief at the sight of her. "Glenn!" She ran towards him as fast as she could while he kneeled down. She wrapped her arms around his neck while he rubbed her back.
"You're okay." He whispered, holding onto her like his life depened on it. "You're okay."
"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick's voice was heard from behind them before the two pulled away from the hug, though Glenn's arm was still around her shoulder.
"Well, this guy's tail lights zigzagging all over the road." Daryl explained. "Figured he had to be Asian, driving like that."
"Good one." Glenn chuckled.
"Where's the rest of us?"
"We're the only ones who made it so far." Rick told Daryl.
"Shane?" Lori asked. Rick shook his head in return.
"Andrea?"
"She saved us, then I lost her." Carol replied while Sophia looked down at the ground.
"We saw her go down."
"Patricia?"
"They got her too. Took her right from me. I was holding onto her, daddy. She just..." Beth trailed off as Hershel pulled her into a hug. "What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"
"He was in the RV. It got overrun." Rick answered.
"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol turned towards T- Dog.
"There were walkers everywhere."
"Did you see her?"
When they didn't answer, Daryl was about to go back on the motorcycle. "I'm gonna go back."
"No." Rick stopped him.
"We can't just leave her."
"She isn't there. She's somewhere else or dead." He shook his head. "There's no way to find her."
"So, we're not even gonna look for her?" Glenn asked in disbelief.
"We gotta keep moving." He told him. "There have been walkers crawling all over here."
Speaking of walkers, there was one approaching them right now. Lucy took out her knife, since she wasn't sure if the others even had one right now. All she's seen up until now were guns. Except for Daryl, who had a crossbow. Guns would make too much noise and would lead even more walkers towards them.
Lucy walked towards the walker slumping his way towards them and as usual, she kicked it under the knee before stabbing it through the brain.
"I think it's time to go."
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It was dark, the only source of light being the fire they build.
Everyone was gathered around the fire while T- Dog kept watch. Lucy was lying between Glenn and Maggie. Her head was ontop of Maggie's lap while her legs were on Glenn's lap, occasionally kicking him.
"I think we should take our chances." Maggie told Glenn.
"Don't be foolish." Hershel said. "There's no food, no fuel, no ammo."
Lucy blocked out the rest of the conversation as she was about to fall asleep but the sound of leaves rustling stopped her from doing so.
"What was that?" Lucy was quick to stand up, along with the rest of them.
"Could be anything." Daryl gripped onto his crossbow. "Could be a raccoon, a possum. A walker."
"We need to leave." Carol stated. "I mean, what are we waiting for?"
"Which way?"
"It came from over there."
"Back where we came from." Beth looked the direction Maggie nodded towards.
"The last thing we need is eveyone to be running off in the dark. We don't have the vehicles. No one's travelling on foot."
"I'm not sitting here waiting for another herd to blow through." Carol said. "We need to leave."
"No one is going anywhere." Rick gritted through his teeth.
"Do something."
"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!"
Everyone looked at him with wide eyes, even Lucy. When she saw Shane's lifeless body come back to life, she figured he'd just been bitten, like everyone else.
"You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to pull a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice!"
Lucy couldn't say she was surprised. She never thought of him as a guy that genuinely cared about the group. His death, didn't affect her in any way. She knew it affected Carl which was the only reason why she felt bad about him dying.
"Maybe you people are better of without me." Rick continued before pointing towards the forest. "Go ahead. I say there's a place for us but, maybe it's just another pipe dream. Go one, there's the door. Let's see how far you get."
When nobody moved an inch, he nodded to himself. "No takers? Fine. Get one thing straight, you're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore."
With that, everything went quiet. Everyone was looking at eachother, sharing looks. Some were crying, some were glaring.
Lucy just hoped they could find a new home because she wasn't sure if they'd survive this time.
° ° °
Season two is finished!! I'm literally so excited for the prison era.
The last part was so annoying to write because Rick just kept talking so I didn't write some parts of his speech😭😭
Also yeah this was kinda rushed, sorry about that