Natalie reached for her gun from her waistband and held it ready for any attack. They approached the bar and Rick went in first. They lowered their guns when they saw Herschel alone drinking his sorrows away.
"Dad?" Natalie called out, walking towards him.
"Who's with you, Nat?" Herschel said.
"Rick and Glenn."
"Maggie sent Glenn?" Herschel asked.
"He volunteered," Rick spoke, "he's good like that."
"Dad," Natalie said rushing towards him, "what is this?" she said calmly containing her anger, "how many have you had?"
"Not enough," Herschel spoke not even looking at his daughter.
"You need to stop, you need to come home and take care of your family, Beth collapsed, some kind of shock, she needs you and she needs you sober." Natalie spoke sitting next to him, "you haven't had any alcohol in twenty-two years, and now when you're family needs you the most you bail. Forget about me, but Maggie and Beth, they need you, dad, I can't look after everyone on my own. I need you, by my side."
"Beth needs her mother." Herschel said, "or rather to mourn, what she should've done weeks ago, I robbed her of that. I see that now."
"Don't blame yourself, dad, it does no one any good," Natalie said.
"You thought there was a cure," Rick began, "you had hope."
"Hope?" Herschel scoffed, "When I first saw Natalie, you and your boy running across my land, I had little hope he would survive. But he did. We lost Otis, but your man Shane made it back, and we saved your boy and that proved to me miracles do exist. Only it was a sham. I was a fool, and you people saw that." Herschel now turned to Natalie, "my daughters deserve better than that." He said taking another swallow at his drink.
Rick went in closer, "Just go!" Herschel shouted when he noticed.
"I promised Maggie, I'd bring you home, safe," Rick said.
"Just like you promised that little girl?" Herschel scoffed.
"Dad!" Natalie said shocked at how insensitive he was being.
"So what's your plan?" Rick said storming up to him, "you gonna drink yourself to death and leave your girls."
Herschel also got up, "Stop telling me how to take care of my girls, my farm, my family. You people are like the plague! I do the Christian thing, I opened up my home for you people, and you destroyed it all! And you take no responsibility! You're supposed to be their leader."
"Well, I'm here now!" Rick shouted.
Herschel retreated back to his glass, "Dad, this is not okay! We need to head back." Natalie tried.
"I knew there was no hope when Shane kept shooting that thing, I knew then that I had been feeding Annette's rotten corpse, and when that little girl came out of that barn, the look on your face, I knew you knew it too, there is no hope."
"You're wrong," Natalie debated shaking her head at him. They all looked over to her. "I look at Emmy, I look at Carl and I see hope, I see the future, I want them to live long lives, humans always adapt, we'll learn to live in this world. There is always hope, dad, just as long as we don't lose ourselves, and that's what you're doing, you're allowing this to consume you. Don't let it. Otherwise, you will die and we won't be far behind either."
"Death has always been here, this is just in another form," Rick started, "there was cancer, hunger, you didn't think it was helpless before? And the people at home they need us."
Herschel nodded, finished his glass, slammed it onto the counter and got up. Natalie smiled at him, relieved they were going home now. As they turned around the door at the entrance swung open. Revealing two men. One shorter and skinnier and the other taller and larger.
"Dave," the man introduced himself, "he's Tony." They plonked themselves on chairs and Rick poured them a drink.
Natalie stood up straight with her arms crossed over her chest never once letting go of her gun that rested on her hip.
"We met on the 1-95 coming out of Philly, damn shitshow that was."
"I'm Glenn," he said standing behind the counter leaning across it with a smile on his face. "It's nice to meet some new people."
"Rick Grimes."
"What about you, gorgeous? Got a name?" Dave said smirking at her.
"Natalie." She responded coldly trying not to sound intimidated by them. She stood up straighter as she stood next to Rick who was leaning against the table behind him.
"What about you pal? Have one?" Dave asked Herschel.
"I just quit," Herschel said causing Natalie to smile.
"You have a unique sense of timing my friend."
"His name's Herschel," Rick spoke. "We lost people today a lot of them."
"I'm truly sorry to hear that." He shifted his glass towards us, "To better days and new friends. And to our dead, we hope they're in a better place." They then downed their drinks.
As Tony went to put his drink down, Natalie caught the sight of his gun strapped to his waistband, she nudged Rick softly and nodded towards it. Dave saw this interaction.
"Not bad huh?" he smirked bringing it out. "Got it off a cop."
"I'm a cop."
"Yeah? Well, this one was already dead."
"You fellas are a long away from Philadelphia," Rick said. "what drove you south?"
"Well, I can tell you it ain't the weather. Must've dropped like 30 pounds in sweat alone down here." Dave chuckled.
"I wish," Tony said.
"Nah, first it was DC, heard they had some kind of refugee camp. But the roads were so jammed we never even got close. Decided to get off the highway, and into the sticks keep hauling ass, every group we came along had a new rumour about how we could be gettin' out of this mess. Camps that were actually doing well, Kansas, Nebraska-"
"Nebraska?" Glenn questioned.
"Low population, lots of guns," Tony replied.
"What about you guys?" Dave asked causing Natalie to calmly but quickly turning her head to Rick, hoping he wouldn't give up their home.
"Fort Benning, eventually," he replied with ease.
"Hate to piss in your cornflakes, officer, but um- we met someone who was stationed at Fort Benning, said the place was overrun by lamebrains."
"What?" Glenn said shocked, "Are you for real?"
"Sadly I am, the truth is there is no way out of this mess, keep going from one place to the next, praying one of the mindless freaks doesn't grab a hold of you whilst you sleep."
"If you sleep," Tony added.
"Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here - you holding up somewhere else?"
"Not really," Rick said.
"Those your cars out front?"
"Yeah, why?" Glenn said.
"We livin' in our, yours kinda look empty. Where's your gear?"
"We're with a larger group, we're out scouting thought we could use a drink," Herschel said.
"A drink? Herschel, I thought you quit, besides, it doesn't even look like Natalie's had even one sip yet," He said smirking towards her.
She rolled her eyes and went behind the bar, all the men's eyes following her as she did. She grabbed a shot glass and filled it up, then downed it one go, "Happy now?" she asked with her eyes narrowing, as she scowled at him.
"Sure am darlin'" he breathed out a laugh. "Well we thinking about setting up here, is it safe?"
"Can be," Glenn started causing the other three to turn their head towards him, hoping he wouldn't give anything away. "Killed a couple of walkers around here."
"So you set up on the outskirts or something? In the new development? A trailer or something? A farm?" Dave interrogated, as Tony got up and went beside a wall, and taking a piss. Dave sang Old McDonald had a farm whilst looking at Herschel, he had caught on. "You got a farm? Is it safe? Gotta be. You got food? water?"
"You got more cooze?" Tony said turning around and looking up and down at Natalie, who once again was stood between Rick and Herschel. She scowled and Rick positioned himself in front of her, both in a protective manner and defensive, in case she acted. "Haven't had a piece of ass for a week."
"Ah, pardon my friend, he got no respect," Dave said. "So listen Glenn-"
"we've said enough," Rick interjected looking away from Natalie and at Dave now.
"Wait- wait, hold on this farm sounds pretty sweet, what about some southern hospitality?" Dave tried to persuade, "we got some buddies back at camp, having a real hard time, don't see why you can't make some room for a couple of others, well can pull our own weight, join our manpower together."
"I'm sorry, but that not gonna happen" Rick concluded.
"Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem."
"We can't, there's not enough room as it is," Natalie said crossing her arms over her chest. "We don't know a single thing about you."
"That's true, but we're similar in more ways than one," Dave said looking at her, "I bet you've had to sacrifice and do the same things as us to be here right now. Am I right? Ain't nobodies hands clean in what's left in this world. We're all the same, so let us come to the farm and we'll get to know eachother."
"Not gonna happen." She said standing her ground.
"That's bullshit!" Tony said.
"Hey, calm down," Rick defended.
"Don't tell me to calm down - don't ever tell me to calm down!" Tony shouted. "I'll shoot you three assholes in the head, take this bitch and your damn farm." Causing Rick to stand up and storm over to Tony.
"Woah," Dave said standing in between the two, "relax, no bodies killing anybody, right Rick?" Then going behind the bar.
Dave placed his gun on the table, "we're friends having a drink - that's all, now, where's the good stuff?" He went under the bar to find some alcohol, Rick put his hand on his gun just in case.
"Now you gotta understand, we can't stay out there, you know what it's like."
"Yeah, I do," Rick confirmed. "but you'll have to keep looking."
"Keep looking," he nodded, "what do you suggest we do?"
"I hear Nebraska's nice."
"Nebraska, this guy," Dave laughed, before pulling out his gun to shoot, but Rick was faster, he pulled the trigger, and Dave fell back into the wall, dead.
He turned around quickly and shot Tony in the chest twice before walking over to him, and shooting him in the head.
Natalie, Glenn and Herschel watched but said no words as they had just witnessed Rick Grimes' first kills.