Dangerous Game (feat. Beginners) by Klergy
"Hey." I greet Glenn softly, as I climb atop the RV.
"Hey Mia." he replies, politely but glumly.
He's been off ever since he, Rick and Hershel returned with Randall.
I walk along the RV and sit down in the chair beside him.
"You wanna tell me what's goin' on?" I ask him gently. "What happened out there? Are you okay?"
"..I'm fine." he answers, looking out across the farmland to the trees. "I'm alive.. Thanks to Rick and Hershel." he adds.
I'd believe him if his words weren't thick with distaste.
"And they're alive and here because of y-"
"No." Glenn cuts me off. "Not this time."
"What happened?"
Glenn is silent for a moment but then he looks at me.
"I froze." he answers. "For the first time, I froze."
"Glenn, that's okay." I try to reassure him but he shakes his head.
"No, it's not. Not when people are depending on you. You know it's not."
"Tell me how it went down." I say gently. "Rick told us the summarised version. What did he leave out?"
Glenn tells me how after Rick shot the men in the bar, he went out the back to look for an escape.
He tells me how Hershel covered him as he went out for the car. But men outside shot at him and he hid behind a dumpster.
"Maggie.. She told me she loved me. Bullets flew past me and all I could think about was if I was killed.. it would hurt her. I only thought of myself."
"And after that?"
He then tells me how he covered Rick and Hershel while they tried to help Randall as walkers closed in.
"You're being way too hard on yourself, Glenn. After everything you've done, one little slip-"
"One little slip is all it takes for someone to get killed." he says.
"You weren't the only one that hid behind the dumpster, right? Rick was with you and then you all went out into the street, where you covered Rick and Hershel."
"You don't get it-"
"No, you don't get it." I cut him short. "Yeah, you froze. Momentarily. But you still showed up. You got up, you got yourself and the others out of there and back home. You always show up, Glenn. Always."
Glenn looks at me. He still sits in disgust of himself but I can tell he's considering my words.
"Just think on that for while, okay? Now, back to the most important part of that story.." I sit forward with my elbows on my knees and rest my chin in my hands. "Maggie said she loves you?" I ask with a grin.
He laughs softly and shakes his head, looking back out across the farm. "She did."
"Did you say it back?"
"Not yet." he answers.
"Yet? So you do love her and you will tell her?"
"I do.. I don't know whether to tell her or let her go."
"Oh, no you don't." I lift my chin from my hands and shake my head. "No regrets, remember? That's what you told me. This fear of yours, it's just a reminder that you've found something to fight for. And this love, it's a good thing. Something we don't get enough of these days. Enjoy it."
"Okay, Guru." Glenn says with a laugh. "Have you told Shane you love him?"
"As a matter of fact, I have." I say as I sit up straight and hold my head high. "Earlier today actually."
"Really? Was this before or after you lost your shit at everyone?"
I cross my arms. "After."
"Yeah? How'd he take it?"
"Very well." I smirk, thinking back to Shane's naked body hovering over mine. "He even said it back."
Glenn smiles fondly at me. "I'm happy for you guys."
"Thank you. Now, hurry up and tell Maggie, so I can be happy for you guys, too."
He laughs while he watches the trees.
I watch him for a moment, staring at him as my heart swells with platonic love.
"Look at us," I say, sitting back in the chair. "giving each other relationship advice."
Glenn looks at me and chuckles.
"We need some wine next time." I add.
Then I stand up and pat him on the shoulder as I leave.
"Mia?" Glenn calls softly as I reach the ladder.
I turn and look at him.
"Thanks." he says with a smile.
I return the smile before descending the ladder.
~
Days go by and this Randall situation is odd.
Guarding him and feeding him has given us something else to do with our day.
It's given us a sense of purpose and feels like we're working towards something.
Which we are, I guess.
At the end of the week, after Randall's leg has recovered, we're taking him out of town and letting him go.
We all managed a somewhat civil discussion on the matter and this is the solution we agreed upon.
The options were: let him stay, let him go or kill him.
We don't kill the living. It shouldn't even be an option to begin with.
Before coming here, he had tried to kill Rick, Glenn and Hershel. So letting him stay would be difficult. We won't be able to trust him and we'll be forever checking over our shoulders. Until he'd potentially run away, find his people and bring them back to the farm.
Taking him away and setting him free is the best option. For everybody.
We've just got to make it to the end of the week.
And a week it's been so far.
My days have taken an appealing direction.
Each day, I've gone out into the woods with Daryl, to learn how to track.
I've learned the basics quite quick, Daryl commenting on my attention to detail. Something I've heard often, regarding my art.
But tracking isn't just about seeing.
You have to listen.
You have to be fully aware of your surroundings.
And you have to be able to know and predict the nature and the habits of whatever it is you are tracking.
It's fantastic and fascinating.
On today's outing, I managed to score a lesson with Daryl's crossbow. My aiming and shooting was decent but the hardest part was reloading the arrows.
Worse comes to worst, I know how to use the weapon if I have to, but I think I prefer to leave it to the expert.
And an expert he is.
Daryl isn't a man of many words but he is a gracious teacher. Blunt and no nonsense at times, but informative.
If you look past Daryl's scruffy exterior, he has this aura that screams good guy.
In this short space of time, we've developed a bond of mutual respect.
"Thank you, Daryl." I say, as we exit the tree line, returning to the farm.
"How many times you gonna say that?" he grunts and I laugh.
"I just, I really appreciate you and your time. I know you like to keep to yourself.."
"'s alright."
"I hope I haven't been too annoying for you."
"Yer not so bad."
I smile to myself.
Coming from him, that's a compliment of the highest order.
Combing the woods with Daryl, five days in a row, tracking and crossbows weren't the only things I learned.
It didn't take long to figure out that compliments or kind words of any sort given to Daryl, are taken dismissively, with a hint of shyness.
And any form of physical contact is greeted with awkwardness.
But now, I compliment him so matter of factly, he has no choice but to listen to it and accept it.
He tolerates my affectionate shoulder taps and arm grabs. I even got away with tousling his hair yesterday.
I also scored a smirk that reached those blue eyes that see everything but give away nothing.
"Aw shucks." I say, still smiling. "Seriously though man, thank you. I'm real grateful for your guidance."
"Ain't got much else to do, so.." he mutters lowly.
We head towards the little wooden shed where Randall's being kept and where Shane is currently on guard.
I smile and wave to my Deputy.
He waves back while he watches and waits.
Daryl walks me to Shane, like the misunderstood gentleman he is.
Shane greets us, stepping away from the shack. "How was she today?"
"She did good." Daryl answers and we come to a stop in front of Shane.
"Of course she did." Shane replies, smiling down at me.
"Imma go get these squirrels ready for dinner." Daryl says and stalks away.
Shane reaches a hand out and grips my chin, gently pulling me closer as he leans down and presses his lips to mine.
He breaks away, dropping his hand and I wrap my arms around his waist.
"Hey lover." I say, placing my chin on his chest as I look up at his face.
He looks down at me with a gorgeous smile, while his hand strokes the hair out of my face.
"Hey, sweetheart."
Each day, I go out into the woods with Daryl and each night, I snuggle in with Shane.
And we do more than snuggle.
We touch, we feel, we kiss. We lick, blow, suck. We get each other off and we make love. And we do it all as quietly as we can.
It can be difficult but I find sometimes it adds to the pleasure. And I love it when he captures my moans, stifling them with his mouth.
Mmm, he's heaven.
I love this man, wrapped in my arms.
I love our group.
I'm content with our current living situation and I'm enjoying the routine of my days.
And it has the potential to only get better.
After Rick and Glenn saved Hershel from the bar that night, Hershel agreed to let us stay and he graciously put aside his differences with Shane.
No one was comfortable with Randall's presence here but in a day or so, with the okay from Hershel, we will be releasing him.
Shane most of all did not like Randall being here.
Like the walkers in the barn, his presence holds a threat to us, even if he is tied up and blind folded.
Since his arrival, Shane insisted I carry my knives with me at all times. All my knives. My Ka-bar, my throwing knives and my shoe blades.
He has me armed and ready for anything.
Shane's worried of a repeat of quarry camp.
Complacent, comfortable, no one on watch, Randall could easily cause trouble for us if he wants.
Not for long though. He'll be gone soon enough.
~
"It's getting colder every day. I'm gonna talk to Hershel, see if we can work out new living arrangements." Rick comments from the drivers seat.
I glance over at him, resting my face against the front passenger seat Shane is occupying.
We're roughly forty minutes into our trip, on our way to rid ourselves of this burden named Randall.
"What are we gonna do? Move into the barn? I'd rather not." I respond lazily.
"It's a pretty big house.." Rick implies.
"Have we not asked enough of this man?"
"You rather stay outside and freeze?" Rick asks, throwing a quick glance in my direction.
I shrug and tilt my head to look at Shane.
"It's not that cold in our tent." I mumble quietly.
Shane looks at me with a smirk and snorts.
Rick glances at us but stays silent.
The tension in the air is evident but remains unaddressed.
Rick's still unhappy with Shane's behaviour towards Hershel. Shane's unhappy with Rick's decision to bring Randall home and jeopardise our safety.
Throw me in the middle, with Rick's opinions of my influence over Shane's behaviour, it's one big ol' elephant in a tiny, tiny room, hidden behind polite small talk.
Shane had wanted me to stay back at the farm but I'd refused.
I would go out of my mind within minutes, waiting for them to return. Especially after what happened last week when Rick and Glenn went into town for Hershel.
So here I am, perched between these two cranky cops, feeling like a third wheel but also waiting to play mediator.
All the while, Randall's tied up in the back, blindfolded with headphones on.
An hour in to the drive, we enter a small town, driving slowly past properties and shops.
The seemingly abandoned structures increase in numbers and size as we make our way to the centre of town.
"We'll find a spot here that'll give him a fair shot." Rick says as the three of us survey our surroundings.
"There." Rick announces ten minutes later, pulling into a driveway.
The sign at the gate reads Mert County, Department of Public Works.
Rick pulls up out front of the gate and we get out of the car.
Behind the high fences is multiple buildings and abandon vehicles.
"If it's clear, we'll leave him here." Rick states.
"Take a look around, see what we can gather for ourselves first." Shane says and Rick nods.
Shane bangs and rattles the gate loudly.
"What are you doin'?" Rick growls.
"Knockin' on the front door. Any walkers in there, they'll come runnin'."
It's quiet for a moment but then the unmistakable gargles and snarls start and soon two walkers round a bus in front of us.
Rick and Shane both draw their pistols and I quickly step between them.
"Wait." I say, spreading my arms, placing my hands over their weapons to lower them.
I pull a throwing knife from my thigh sheath and step closer to the chain-link fence.
The first walker closes in and throws itself again fence, pressing its face up against the wire. I drive my blade into it's stupid skull and it drops to the ground.
I turn around and Shane and Rick stare at me. Rick looks analytical, Shane looks amused.
"We should use knives more." I say, looking between the pair. "Keeps things quiet, saves ammo.."
Behind me, I hear the remaining walker snarl as it closes in.
I shrug and gesture over my shoulder. "Any takers?"
Rick steps forward and takes down the second walker with his own knife.
We open the gate and bring the car in before we scour the area for supplies.
Shane and I syphon a few cans of gas from abandon vehicles while Rick looks around.
But there's not much else to find.
Rick tosses me the car keys before he and Shane unload our unwelcome cargo out of the back, walking him down between two buildings to the other side of the lot.
I stand back, watching as they drop Randall to his knees and remove the blindfold, the headphones and the tape from his mouth.
Randall looks around at the fence in front of him, the cars and bus either side of him. "What the hell is this?"
Shane and Rick turn their backs on him and make their way to me.
"Come on, don't be stupid." Randall pleads, his hands and feet still tied. "I owe you guys! I can help protect what you got. Why would you save my life just to kill me by leaving me here?!"
Rick throws a knife onto the ground, a couple metres away from Randall.
"One guy can't make it alone. That's why I was with those guys. But I'm not like them!"
I toss the small bag of food and water Carol made in his direction. Then Shane nods his head at me, gesturing for me to move and the three of us turn to leave.
"I'm just some guy. I used to watch football and screw around on the internet! I lived with my mom and I lost her like you lost people!" Randall was yelling louder with every sentence.
Dude, just shut up, untie yourself and leave.
"I went to school with Maggie for Gods sake!" he says.
I halt and turn.
Shane and Rick do the same and we stare at Randall in silence.
He knows Maggie..
He knows where he's been the whole time.
"You went to school with Maggie?" Rick asks sternly.
Randall goes quiet and stares back.
"Did you go to school with Maggie? Answer the question!" Shane yells. He and Rick start marching back to Randall.
Randall fearfully starts to back track. "She didn't know me. Didn't even know I existed. I knew her, I knew who her dad was. There is no way I would ever do anything to hurt her or her family. Or you or your people. I'm not like the guys I was with!"
I rush forward to Shane and Rick.
"He knows. Where the farm is, he knows." I say quickly, keeping my voice low.
Shane shoots a glare at Randall.
"Say he finds his way back to his people.." Shane suggests, low and gruff.
"Not now." Rick replies.
"Not now?"
"Just not now! Not here."
Shane scoffs and throws his hands up. "Well, when Rick? When?"
"When I've had a chance to think about it."
Shane puts his hands on his hips and presses his lips together.
"We're going back." Rick concludes. "It's a man's life. I need a night to think it through."
"You think on it, Rick. Keep strugglin' with it." Shane says mockingly.
"What's the alternative, Shane? You gonna kill him? Right now, you're gonna end this boys life?" Rick argues heatedly.
"He shot at you, Rick! He ran with men who tried to kill you. If he didn't get hurt, he would have ended your life. Maybe Glenn's and Hershel's, too. And you're gonna bring him back to where Lori sleeps? To where Carl sleeps?"
"He'll be locked up in the barn. Unless you bust it open." Rick growls.
"Don't start that shit."
"Guys, come on. He won't find his way back from here." I try but unsurprisingly, I'm ignored.
"Stop acting like you know the way ahead, like you know the rules." Rick says, getting in Shane's face. "There are no rules man, we're lost."
"You're the one that's lost, man. I don't think you can do it. I don't think you can keep them safe."
I see fire ignite in Rick's blue eyes.
"Okay, enough." I try to seperate them but my efforts are futile, both of them standing their ground. I might as well be indivisible.
"You think you can do better?" Rick spits.
"I did do better until you showed up." Shane counters.
"Yeah, I'm sure Otis feels that way." Rick jibes.
"I'm sure your wife and son do." Shane retorts.
Rick takes a swing at Shane but he quickly deflects it, grabbing a hold of Ricks arm before head butting Rick in the nose.
I let out a gasp as Rick falls to the ground.
He swiftly gets back to his feet and barges Shane back against a car and lands two hard punches in Shane's face.
"Stop it!" I scream but again I go unnoticed.
They wrestle and slam each other into the abandoned vehicles, grunting and growling as they brawl.
"STOP!"
I watch them land blow after blow on one another, their faces and fists getting bloody.
Rick gets a few hard jabs into Shane's ribs.
Shane elbows Rick in the face and tosses his body to the ground.
It's too hard to watch.
I look away and my eyes land on the source of this argument.
Randall shuffles along the ground, heading towards the knife Rick left for him.
I rush over and kick the knife away from his reach.
"Don't let them kill me. Please don't." Randall whines, looking up at me.
"Shut up!" I spit.
While Shane and Rick act like cavemen, I think on our situation.
Randall knows our location.
If he finds his group, he could lead them straight to the farm.
Will he though? Will he return to a group that left him for dead?
"Please, I'm not like the other guys." Randall begs.
"Stop talking." I tell him sternly.
We could still just leave him here and go.
We've driven an hour to get here and he was blindfolded the whole time.
He won't find his people.
"You're nice. You won't leave me here, will you? Please don't."
"Stop talking!"
We can't take him back. He's just an extra mouth that we don't need to be feeding.
I hear a window shatter from where Shane and Rick are fighting.
"Please-" Randall tries again.
I draw my gun and aim it at Randall's head.
"Shut. Up." I growl.
Randall stares up at me with wide eyes. I glare at him, flexing my jaw as I breathe heavily through my nose.
The third option..
If he isn't here, there's nothing more to argue about.
I feel detached from my body while I think, until I feel my finger hovering over the trigger.
No..
We don't kill the living. We don't.
Rick did..
I don't.
I look down my arm at the terrified kid on the other end of my gun.
I don't want to kill him. I just want him gone.
I hate how he's ruined our peace. I hate what he's doing to me. To us.
I turn to Rick and Shane who are still brawling.
Hurting each will get us nowhere.
We need each other. We can't fall apart.
Enough is enough.
I raise my arm straight up and fire into the air.
Shane and Rick stop immediately and turn swiftly in my direction, shock clear on their faces as they take in the scene before them, figuring out who fired the gun and why.
Then Rick shoves Shane away from him.
I lower my arm back to my side and storm towards them.
"Are we really going to let this little shit get the best of us?" I yell. "Stop acting like cavemen and start acting like men! This is useless! You're only gonna hurt each other and where will that leave us? We need each other and we need each other strong!"
I hear a snarl and my eyes shoot up to the broken window of the building behind Shane and Rick.
Walker after walker begin to crowd the window.
I look down at the gun in my hand.
Shit.
After my talk out the front of knives being quieter..
"We gotta move!" Shane says and grabs my arm and pulls.
The walkers stumble out of the window, cutting themselves on shards of left over glass on their way out.
"Rick!" Shane yells as we duck behind a large four wheel drive.
Rick runs down the path ahead of the walkers, back to Randall and the majority of the swarm follow.
A couple walkers make their way around the four wheel drive and Shane and I quickly take care of them with our knives.
We watch Rick pick up Randall and run onto the bus and shut the door. The walkers instantly crowd the door, trying to break in.
"Come on." Shane grunts. He grasps my free hand and pulls me up. "We get to the car, we can get 'em out."
We run back down between the buildings and across the lot to the car.
I try to pass Shane the keys.
"You drive, I'll shoot." he says.
We jump in and I take off.
Shane winds down both windows on his side of the car, then leans out to perch himself on the frame, one hand gripping the roof racks, one hand gripping his gun.
"Drive around to the back, we'll pick 'em up there!" Shane yells.
"Okay!" I yell, my grip on the steering wheel so tight my knuckles could break through the skin.
I zoom around the corner while Shane fires a couple shots.
"HEAD OUT THE BACK!" Shane yells at Rick as we drive past the swarm of walkers at the front of the bus.
I make the turn at the end and pull up at the back of the bus.
The back door opens and Rick helps Randall into the car. Shane fires into the bus as walkers make their way in and down the aisle.
As soon as Ricks hits the car, I hit the accelerator and take off again, heading for another gate in front us.
We burst through back out onto the road.
I look in the rear view and see the walkers break out onto the street trying to give chase.
I look back to the street in front of me and dodge a figure too clean to be a walker.
"Human!" I say to Shane, trying to speak over top of Rick and Randall as they fuss in the back.
I turn in my seat and spot the old man standing on the road, my foot moving to the brake.
"What?" Shane turns too.
"Why are we stopping?" Rick asks. "Keep going!"
"There's a man-" I watch as the man just stares at us, the herd close behind him.
He doesn't move.
"He's not coming Mia, we gotta go. I'm sorry, we gotta go." Shane urges.
I put my foot back on the accelerator and increase our speed again while I stare into my side mirror.
He didn't try for the car and he isn't trying to get out of the street.
"Don't look." Shane says beside me but I can't help it.
I can't look away.
Not when the walkers just flow past him, like a stream flowing around a rock.
I frown and look over at Shane.
His body still turned, he stares out the rear window, wearing the same confused expression.
I look back in the mirror but the man has disappeared amongst the herd.
I focus on the road ahead and get the hell out of the street before any other weird shit happens.