BIRDY SAT IN THE BACK OF THE CHEROKEE, STARING OUT THE WINDOW, WATCHING THE TOWN PASS BY.
Glenn was in the driver's seat, fidgeting around nervously while Rick glanced at him every once in a while.
The Asian man clearly had something on his mind, and Birdy was wondering if she was the reason why he wasn't expressing his thoughts.
The blonde sighed and leaned back against her seat, "Just... out with it, Glenn."
She could tell he was holding his breath, "Maggie said she loves me." The car stayed silent as the other two waited for him to tell them what exactly the problem was, "She doesn't mean it. I mean she can't."
Birdy felt a little hurt. She had been close to Maggie her entire life, they spent almost every day together, except for those few years Birdy was at college. And she had never had a serious boyfriend, it was hard with her overprotective father and brother.
To her knowledge, Maggie has never said 'I love you' to a boy... ever. And her cousin never told her she felt so strongly about Glenn. She thought it was just a little fling, that the group would move on and Maggie would forget about the guy.
Was this a way for Maggie to get her father to allow the group to stay at the farm? Or did she genuinely confess her feelings to a guy she just met?
Or maybe Birdy had been gone for so long she doesn't know her cousin anymore.
"I mean... well... She... she's upset or confused." Glenn rationalised, "She's probably feeling, like..."
"I think she's smart enough to know what she's feeling." Rick interrupted him,
Glenn shook his head, "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 Maggie loves you, and not just because you're one of the last men standing." Rick comforted him with a smile, thinking it was ridiculous that Glenn was worked up over such a thing.
Birdy kept her mouth shut. She didn't know what to say. She didn't want to create a bigger problem for Maggie, but she also wanted to comfort Glenn. While their mission to retrieve her uncle didn't seem dangerous, she wanted him to have a level head in case anything went wrong.
"So what's the problem? Havin' a girl say 'I love you' doesn't scream existential crisis to me." Birdy commented,
"I didn't say it back." Glenn answered, "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." He ranted, "What... 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. Hey, this is a good thing, somethin' we don't get enough of these days. Enjoy it." Rick encouraged, "And when we get back, return the favor. It's not like she's goin' anywhere."
"Unless my uncle still wants ya'll gone." Birdy mumbled before leaning forward, "The bar's right there." She pointed to the building that was on the left, labelled 'Hatlin's'.
Rick pulled over, which Birdy thought was a funny thing to do since there wasn't any other cars on the road, and put the car in park before turning the engine off and taking the keys out of the ignition,
Birdy got out of the car, gun in hand. She searched the area first, looking around for any roamers before noticing the two men were still in the car, conversing.
With a sigh, she walked over to Rick's window and tapped on it, "Are you two comin' or are you gonna sit in the car and gossip all day?"
They glanced at each other before stepping out of the car, "Hey, I'm sorry I kept it from you." Glenn continued their conversation as they walked towards the front door,
"Don't be. You did what you thought was right." Rick replied, "It just so happens it wasn't."
Birdy's hand reached for the doorknob and she took a glimpse back at Rick and Glenn, who were golding their guns tightly. Rick raised his and gave her a nod, silently telling her to open the door.
They were greeted with emptiness. Dusty beer bottles lined the bar, some still half full. Some chairs were overturned, signalling that the patrons had all left in a hurry.
But one lone figure sat at the bar, and Birdy wondered if that was the chair he used to sit in back in his drinking days.
The blonde closed the door behind them and Rick spoke, "Hershel."
"Who's with you?" Her uncle asked before taking a sip, not bothering to turn around and greet them,
"Glenn." Rich answered as he put his gun back in its' holster,
"Maggie sent him?"
"He volunteered. He's good like that." Rick and Birdy approached the farmer, while Glenn stayed near the door as a lookout, "Your niece is here, too."
"You shouldn't be here, Alberta. It's dangerous." Hershel commented,
"Not anymore dangerous than bein' back at that farm with a barn full of dead people who have a hankerin' for living flesh." Birdy commented, walking over to be on the other side of the bar, staring at her uncle's face, "How many have you had?"
"Not enough." He answered,
Rick stood next to him and leaned against the bar, "Let's finish this up back at home. Beth collapsed, is in some sort of state. Must be in shock. I think you are too."
He looked over at the sheriff, "Maggie's with her?"
Birdy nodded, answering for Rick, "Yeah, but Beth needs you." She insisted,
"What could I do?" Hershel turned his attention back to his glass, "She needs her mother. Or rather to mourn like she should've done weeks ago. I robbed her of that. I robbed you of that...I see that now." He sighed, drinking the rest of the whiskey, ""Why'd you come? You hate me."
"I want to hate you." Tears filled Birdy's eyes, "I want to hate you so much it hurts. You robbed me and Beth and Maggie of time to grieve. But your intentions... were more pure than your actions. You believed that one day we could bring them back an' be a family again." She placed her hands on the bar, forcing him to make eye contact with her, "You were selfish. But I understand. And because of that, I don't hate you. You're one of the last family members I have left and I need to cherish that."
Rick took over, knowing if Birdy continued, she'd be a sobbing, angry mess, "Can't blame yourself for holding out for hope."
Hershel paused, "Hope? When I first saw you running across my field with your boy in your arms, I had little hope he would survive."
"But he did." Rick argued,
"He did." The older man nodded, "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 and my niece deserve better than that."
Hershel was done with the conversation, that much was clear. Rick and Birdy shared a look and they both walked over to Glenn to discuss their next move,
"So what do we do? Just wait for him to pass out?" Glenn whispered, but it was louder than intended, which was made clear as Hershel snapped at them,
"Just go. Just go!"
"I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe." Rick stated, a stern look on his face,
"Like you promised that little girl?" Hershel asked as he reached for the whiskey bottle. Birdy knew that was a low blow coming from her uncle, Sophia was a sensitive subject for the group. At least the Greene family knew their loved ones were dead and in the barn, Carol's daughter was a complete surprise for everyone.
"So what's your plan? Finish that bottle?" Rick approached him again, his eyes narrowing as he was now pissed, "Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?"
Hershel slammed the bottle down on the bar aggressively before standing and turning to Rick, "Stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm. You people are like a plague!" He turned to Rick, "I do the Christian thing, give you shelter, and you destroy it all!"
"The world was already in bad shape when we met." Rick stated,
"And you take no responsibility!" Hershel raised his voice as he got closer to Rick, "You're supposed to be their leader!"
Birdy didn't like where this conversation was going. He was shifting blame, maybe he was trying to get Rick mad at him so he'd want to leave her uncle behind.
Rick got closer to him, "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?!"
Hershel paused before lowering his voice, "Yes. Yes. Yes, you are." He turned around and went back to his seat,
Rick followed after him, "Now come on. Your girls need you now more than ever." He placed his hand on Hershel's arm, and he shook him off,
"I didn't want to believe you. You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick."
Birdy rolled her eyes and shared a look with Glenn. With her uncle's drunk rambling, they wouldn't get back to the farm until after dusk.
Hershel turned to Birdy, "I never told you about your parents because I knew you thought differently about this matter. You would try to tell me they wasn't a cure, and maybe I didn't want to believe it. 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!" He turned back to Rick, "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." His eyebrows went up and tears filled his eyes, "Right? There is no hope. And you know it now, like I do. Don't you? There is no hope for any of us."
Her uncle turned back to his drink and Birdy walked back over to him, sitting at the bar stool next to him, "You know what the truth is?" She turned her torso to face Hershel, "Nothing has changed. Death is death. It's always been there, whether it's from a heart attack, cancer, or a Walker. What's the difference? You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you? Josie died and you told us to have faith, that God had a plan for us, and a plan for her. He's testing you and you're failing." She hissed at him, "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. You know what? This... this isn't about what we believe anymore. It's about them. It's about Beth and Maggie and Carl. Because they're the future of this world and it's about time they've learned how to navigate it."
The bar went quiet and they all stared at Hershel, waiting for his response. After a moment, he drank the rest of his whiskey and put the glass on the table, upside down, signalling that he was done, "Okay."
"Thank you."
The door opened behind them and the two unfamiliar men walked inside.
Birdy's eyes moved over to Glenn, who was supposed to be on lookout. He stared sheepishly back, a guilty look in his eyes, knowing he messed up.
"Son of a bitch. They're alive."