The room was silent, except for the soft humming provided by Madison as she sat on the bed beside her baby sister and braided a section of her hair. Beth still remained in her catatonic state, and she was still unable to get any sedatives; Rick and Glenn still hadn't returned with her father, and Madison was starting to worry. The anxiety was eating at her, so badly that she couldn't even stomach the thought of food— when Carol sought her out to tell her dinner was almost ready, she'd told the woman she wasn't hungry. While the others were all gathering downstairs to eat, Madison stayed with Beth. She didn't want her to be alone.
Her humming stopped as the door suddenly opened, and she looked over to see Maggie, who looked worried. "Lori's not in here?"
"No," Madison answered slowly, confused as to why she would think that. "Isn't she downstairs with Carl?"
"No. Carl hasn't seen her since this afternoon."
Instantly, Madison dropped the half-finished braid she'd been putting in a lock of Beth's hair and climbed out of the bed. "Will you stay with her?" She asked Maggie, causing the younger Greene to nod while Madison grabbed her things and rushed out of the room.
Running outside to help look, she slowed to a stop when she saw Andrea standing with Dale and Carl. "Anyone find her?"
Andrea shook her head as Shane walked up. "She's not at the barn."
"I checked the yards," T-Dog said as he walked up to them as well.
Carl looked between them all with wide, worried eyes. "Where is she?"
"She asked Daryl to go into town after Madison tried to get him to," Carol said breathlessly as she ran up to them. "Must've gone herself." Instantly, Carl fought back his tears and ran off. Andrea exchanged a glance with Shane before rushing after him to make sure he was alright.
"Did you know about this?" Shane asked Dale, who shook his head honestly, although Shane clearly didn't believe him. "Look, just— did she take a gun?"
"I don't know. I wouldn't let her go out there alone," Dale pointed out when Shane shot him a look of disbelief. He was given no response as the ex-cop turned and rushed over to his vehicle, jumping in and taking off. They all watched him drive away worriedly, wondering if anyone would be returning to the farm or if Lori had just unintentionally added two more names to the missing-persons list that seemed to be growing.
About forty minutes later, they had their answer. Shane returned back to the farm with Lori in tow, the latter of the two sporting a new wound on her temple from an apparent car accident. Madison attempted to take a look at it, but Lori brushed her off. "Where's Rick?" She asked instead, more worried about the whereabouts of her husband.
Madison looked at her in confusion. "He's not back yet."
Lori stared at her, the younger brunette's word sinking in. "They're not back?" She turned to Shane then, and accusatory look in her eyes. "Where are they?"
"Look, I had to get you back here," Shane said, attempting to defend himself. Madison realized he must have lied to Lori to get her to come back to the farm. He didn't care if Rick returned, and he cared even less about the return of her father and Glenn.
"You asshole. He's my husband!" Lori shouted, lunging at him.
Shane grabbed her arms and held her back. "Lori, I will go after him! I will find him!" He insisted. "Now, look— first things first, I gotta... I gotta look after you. I gotta make sure the baby's alright. Okay?"
"You're having a baby?" Carl asked, everyone turning to look at the boy. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Silence. Lori didn't know how to respond, for that hadn't been how she had planned on Carl finding out. She just stared at her son, trying to find the words to say but coming up short. It was Dale who finally spoke, reaching out for her as he said, "Come on. Let's make sure you're okay."
Lori was reluctant to do so. She shot Shane another dirty look as Andrea and Dale each took one of her arms to lead her into the house, and then looked at Madison, expecting the nurse to follow them. "You go on ahead, Dale will take good care of you," Madison told her as she pulled Otis's rifle off of her back to check its ammo. "I'm going out to look for them."
"What? No!" Maggie exclaimed, clearly against the idea while Lori visibly relaxed at the knowledge that at least someone was trying to help. "Madi, you can't go! What about Beth?"
"I can't do anything more for Beth that I haven't already done, not without the keys to that safe," Madison pointed out. "And we're all worried about the others. Maggie, not being able to help Beth, not knowing if Dad, Rick, and Glenn are okay— it's eating me alive. I have to do something. I have to go. Okay?"
"No, not okay," Maggie denied, shaking her head. She reached for Madison's arm. "Please, don't leave."
"If I don't find them within an hour, I'll be back," she promised, looking over Maggie's shoulder at Patricia. "You'll help her look after Beth while I'm gone?"
Patricia nodded and hurried forward to hug her. "You be careful out there."
"I don't like this," Dale said, frowning deeply. "Madison, it's dangerous out there."
"I know that," Madison told him. "But other than Maggie and Patricia, I'm the only one here who knows this area well enough to travel at night. I'll be okay."
"Maybe I should get Daryl to go with you," Carol suggested, she and Dale looking at each other with the same worried glint in their eyes.
"No," Madison said instantly. "He's already said he's done looking for people. I'll be damned if I ask him to come with me."
"But Madi—"
"We're wasting time. I'm leaving." Madison quickly hugged Maggie tightly, promising her again to be back within an hour if she didn't find the others. Then she quickly gave Lori, Dale and Carol a hug as well, before ruffling Carl's hair and hurrying over to one of her family's cars. She noticed that Shane hadn't even bothered to try and stop her, nor offer to go with her; but she didn't care. Madison knew that there was a part of him hoping that she wouldn't return, either. He didn't care if she died and probably preferred that she did. It would just mean one less person that knew his true nature, one less person that would fight against him.
But Madison wasn't going to die tonight. And as long as she could help it, the people she loved weren't going to die, either.
× × × × × ×
The sound of gunshots were the first thing that told her something was wrong. Rick and Glenn were smart; they wouldn't be firing off rounds if the situation could be helped, not when it would just attract more walkers to them. And the way these guns were being fired— erratic, rushed— had Madison worried. Rick was steady and sure when he shot his gun. And while Glenn was a bit more inexperienced, he wasn't a bad aim. A small voice in her mind told her that maybe other people were shooting, and the thought made her pull her car over and walk through the town on foot.
She was headed toward the bar when she heard more gunshots, and the sound of unfamiliar men talking to each other. "Those assholes are holed up in the bar still, they gotta be!" One of them were saying.
"Sneak around the back," another called out. "These fuckers are dead when we get a hold of 'em!"
Madison's face paled, and some part of her just knew they were talking about her father, Rick and Glenn. She held her rifle at the ready and quickly crouched down behind a post office mailbox when footsteps came her way: two men, beginning to make their way around the back of the bar. Checking to make sure no one would see her, Madison silently snuck off after them, her heart pounding harshly in her chest while her hands shook. She had never killed a living person before, and she didn't want to. But if these men opened fire on her family... she would have to.
"You keep going," the younger one said before quickly turning down toward an alley. Madison had to practically dive behind a vehicle to avoid being seen— a vehicle she recognized as the one Rick and Glenn had taken when they left the farm earlier that day. If she had any doubts about her family being the ones these men were talking about, she certainly didn't have them anymore. "I'm gonna try and get a better vantage point."
The other guy snorted and kept walking. "Whatever, dude." Madison looked to see where the first guy had went, but he had already ran out of sight. She crept around the vehicle and trailed after the second guy.
Just as he was rounding the back of the bar's building, where Madison knew there would be back doors, the guy suddenly lifted his gun and shot at someone. Her heart was practically in her throat, but her hands no longer shook as she lifted Otis's rifle and shot at him. The guy screamed in pain and slumped to the ground, and as Madison ran closer she saw that he had been shot twice: once by her, and another by someone else. Her head quickly turned to the side, gun still held at the ready, only to see her father standing at the bar's back door with a gun in his hands. "Madison?" He asked in shock as she sprinted toward him.
"Did he hit anyone?" She asked, wanting to hug her father but knowing this wasn't the time for it. "Are you hurt?"
Movement behind Hershel had Madison quickly raising her gun, but he held out a hand to her to push the rifle back down. Rick's face appeared as he hurried over to Hershel. He was clearly surprised to see Madison, but like her, knew this wasn't the time to bother with greetings. "What happened?"
"He fired," Hershel answered. "He must've hit Glenn." Madison quickly followed her father's gaze, seeing Glenn's feet. "He's behind the dumpster. Doesn't look like he's moving."
Madison instantly started to make her way toward Glenn, Rick hurrying out of the bar to cover her back as he walked backwards behind her. "You hit?" He whisper-shouted toward Glenn.
There was no answer. Madison moved faster, her gaze darting around ahead of them to make sure there wasn't any danger while Rick looked behind them. "Glenn, are you hit?" She asked as they reached him, seeing him sitting on the ground clutching his gun with a pale face.
He shook his head, a nervous sheen of sweat glinting on his forehead. "No. No." Rick nudged her, and the two of them hurried over and crouched next to Glenn so they weren't standing in the open. Glenn stared at Madison in confusion. "When did you get here?"
"About the same time that asshole just started shooting at you," she responded. He choked out a small 'oh' and then went silent again.
"It's alright," Rick assured him. "The car's right there. We're almost home." He glanced at Madison and then back to Glenn. "You good?"
Glenn swallowed. "I'm good."
"Let's go." The three of them stood, Madison leading the way, with the intentions to make it to their car so they could leave. However, the second they stepped out into the open, someone started shooting at them. Madison cried out as a bullet grazed her arm, and Rick yanked her back behind the dumpster with him and Glenn. "Let me see, let me see," he said frantically, trying to get a good look at her wound.
"I'm okay," she insisted, pressing her other hand to it in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding. "It just grazed me." She didn't bother trying to make a tourniquet; there was no time.
The squealing of tires took the attention off of her, and they all peeked around the dumpster to see that a white truck had stopped in front of the pharmacy. The younger boy Madison had seen earlier was on top of the roof— he had been the one that shot her. "Let's get out of here!" The guy in the truck shouted to him. "Roamers are all over the place, hurry up! We gotta get out of here!"
"What about Sean?" The younger guy shouted back. Madison's heart thudded painfully at the name similar to her brothers'.
"They shot him! We gotta go, roamers are everywhere!"
"We're leaving?"
"Jump! Hurry up, jump already!"
Not wanting to be left behind, the guy jumped onto the lower roof next to the pharmacy. However, he didn't land right, and he was unable to stop himself from rolling off of it. When a sudden, pain-filled scream echoed through the night, it was obvious that he was injured. "Dude didn't make it," Glenn whispered, looking at Madison with wide eyes as the guy screamed for help. His buddy in the truck peeled off without him, shouting an apology as he left.
"Get Hershel," Rick told Madison and Glenn before running off.
"Hershel!" Glenn called out, casting Madison a concerned glance as she stood to her feet, hissing in pain as her injured arm accidentally bumped against the dumpster.
Walkers had appeared down the alley, attacking the man that Madison and Hershel had shot earlier when he attempted to kill Glenn. "Dad, come on!" Madison shouted as Hershel shot at one of the walkers.
"Hershel. Hershel!" Glenn exclaimed, finally breaking Hershel out of his little haze. He turned away from the horrific sight in the distance and moved the other way, his eyes instantly zeroing in on the blood dripping down his daughters arm.
"I got grazed by a bullet," she told him before he could ask the question on the tip of his tongue. "I'm okay."
Hershel nodded, his expression fearful as he looked around them. "The gunfire must've attracted the walkers," he said. If they weren't in such a dire situation, Madison would have taken the time to fully feel her surprise at her father using their term for the infected. He had been so adamant that they were still people, that they weren't dead. But the incident with the barn had really shaken him up and changed his views. "Where's Rick?"
"He— he ran across," Glenn answered.
"Well, hell, we can't go without him," Hershel said, darting after his daughter, who had already hurried across the street. "Rick!" The aforementioned man was found standing at the wrought-iron gate at the end of the alleyway next to the pharmacy. The young guy who hadn't been able to jump off the roof correctly was there, his leg impaled by a portion of the gate as he lay on top of a dumpster. "We have to go now."
"No!" The guy cried out.
"I'm sorry, son. We have to go."
"No, no, don't leave me, please," he begged, tears streaming down his face. Madison was torn. On one hand she wanted to help this guy, for the simple fact that he was clearly young and in so much pain that it bothered her. On the other hand, he was also the guy that had just shot her only minutes ago...
"We have to go," Hershel told Rick firmly.
"We can't!" Rick disagreed.
"He was just shooting at us!" Glenn exclaimed, gesturing toward Madison's arm. "Look what he did to Madison!"
"He's a kid!" Rick pointed out as the guy kept pleading for them to help him.
"Rick, this place is crawling with walkers," Madison spoke up, siding with Glenn and her father. The situation was too dire for them to waste time trying to free the guy's leg.
"We can't leave him," Rick insisted. He and Hershel started arguing then, going back and forth on how best to handle the matter. It wasn't until Glenn piped in and suggested that they simply cut the leg off that they found some sort of common ground; but even then, there was still a big risk, especially when a bunch of walkers seemed to appear out of nowhere. Madison was forced to leave her father to do the amputation while she hurried forward with Glenn, beginning to shoot walkers down before they could get too close.
"There's too many!" Madison shouted over her shoulder, her eyes quickly scanning over the hoard of walkers that were staggering toward them. "I've got at least thirty this way!"
"There's others over here, too!" Rick shouted back, from where he was shooting down walkers at the end of the alley.
"Come on, we gotta go!" Glenn exclaimed. "I'm almost out of ammo!"
"I can't hold 'em off! Hershel, do it now!" Rick called to Madison's father, who shouted back that he didn't have any time to do the amputation. Madison grabbed his hand with her bloody one, tugging her father toward the car along with Glenn, forgetting entirely about the vehicle she had left a few blocks over. Rick yanked the guy's leg off the spike mercilessly, carrying him over to the vehicle with them. Madison jumped into the backseat, sitting between the guy and Glenn, trying her best to stop the blood pouring out of the guy's wound. She didn't exactly agree with Rick's decision, but letting him die would have just made it all for nothing.
How ironic it was, she thought. That this guy had just been trying to end their lives less than twenty minutes ago— and there they were. Trying to save his.