“Immune 11
–The Dead Strikes Back” Part One
“Hershel’s gone!” Carl came running
up to us as Carol finished bandaging my arm.
“What do you mean he’s gone?” I
asked.
“We can’t find him. He left and
there’s something wrong with Beth.” I got up to see Maggie consoling Beth on
the bed. Beth’s eyes were staring straight up to the ceiling but seeing
nothing. “It must be shock.” I told Lori. Rick walked up behind us.
“She needs Hershel. Maggie, where
would he go?” He asked her.
“A while ago, he used to have a
problem drinking. He lived in the bar in town….maybe he went there?” She said
with a southern drawl.
“We’ll get him and bring him back.”
Rick started off to the RV with the guns. I heard Lori stop him in the yard
telling him he was needed here instead of running off chasing Hershel. He told
her he was the only one who could help Beth and for the baby. I walked out
behind them and headed for the truck. Not to leave and find Hershel but to see
what the group was planning. Most of the planning sessions seemed to take place
on the hood of that truck.
Rick laid out the plan of him and
Glen going into town to find Hershel. He didn’t want a big group of people
running around lost. The rest of us were to stay behind and do what we can. It
seemed to me though; we were doing more running around than anything. I
wondered.
As night fell around the farm, the
hope of security and a normal life fell with it. We were having so many
problems from Carl being shot to Sophia’s death and now Hershel’s run off with
Rick and Glen chasing him. I sat on the bed upstairs and watched Lizzy as she
slept. She still hasn’t said a single word since I found her in the woods. I
was more than worried for her. In a time when quiet was preferable for
survival, I found myself wanting to give anything just to hear her inane
chatter again.
While Lizzy seemed to be retreating
into herself, Carl seemed to be growing. He wants to be more a part of the
group and less a child. It’s hard to come to terms that the world we knew is
gone and children who are lucky or unlucky enough to still be alive will have
to grow up faster.
The next and after a suicide attempt
by Beth and Andrea’s banishment from the home, a suburban rolled onto the lawn
with Rick, Glen and Hershel. I was glad to see that they made it but it
appeared we missed the dramatic events that transpired in town.
“That’s Randall.” Glen spoke when
asked about the 4th man in the truck, tied up and blindfolded.
“Randall? What the hell have you
been doing?” I asked astonished. We went inside while Randall was taken to the
shed on locked in. I had a bad feeling about this. Rick told us about the
adventure in the bar. Another group of men, all working together, was trying to
fish for the farm’s location. Most likely they were in town scavenging and
needed more supplies and while under the guise of potential friendship, tried
to find out where we were. This proved my thought that the living were turning
out to be more dangerous than the dead.
“So what exactly was the plan, to
bring this guy here to the farm and lead his buddies back to us?” Shane spoke
up with contempt.
“He would have died if we left him.
His ‘buddies’ did just that, left him to die.” Rick said.
“And that’s what you should have
done too. You don’t think you can just let this guy go on his merry way. He’ll
lead them right back here. They’ll take the farm by force and maybe kill us all
for what? So your conscience can be clear?” Shane all but spat the words out.
His disdain for Rick has been showing more and more lately. I’m not sure if the
others in the group picked up on it, but I sure did.
And so it went for the next few
days. Hershel tended to Beth and Randall. Randall remained locked in the shed
with Andrea guarding him, by Rick’s request I believe. It seemed the group was
falling apart as we decided what to do with this guy. Rick and Shane went off
to let him go only to come back again with him. They didn’t speak much about
what transpired between them, but I think it was significant. However, that
still left us with Randall who apparently knew of Maggie. It was time for a
family meeting.
I left Lizzy upstairs after giving
her dinner. In that moment, I started questioning why I was here. Perhaps Lizzy
and I would have been better off on our own. I have nothing against Rick and
the others, they’ve saved me as much as I’ve saved them, but survivors seem to
be a bigger problem than walkers and I’m not sure if I should just take my
chances.
In the living room, the group had
gathered to discuss the fate of a young boy like it was something to do on a
Tuesday. I made eye contact with Daryl in the corner. He stayed away from group
activities for a while, even more after we found Sophia in the barn.
“We can just take him out with some
food and water and let him go, far away from here.” Rick started jumping right
into it.
“Leaving him out there is the same
as leaving him for the walkers.” T-Dog explained.
“We can’t let him go. He knows where
this place is. He’ll be back with more from his group and they’ll take us all
out. He’s a threat. What we do to threats is we eliminate them.” Shane didn’t
hold back.
“Eliminate him like he was nothing?
He’s a boy, a kid. We can’t just kill him like he was nothing.” Dale pleaded
his case. Earlier in the day, Dale had spoken to everyone in the group. He told
me that everyone looks up to me just as much as Rick or Shane. That if I said I
was against this plan, they will listen. I told him that I was on the fence. I
wasn’t entirely opposed to it and yet I wasn’t convinced. I could see in his
eyes that he needed someone to back him up, but if it put Lizzy in harm’s way
again, I couldn’t support it and I told Dale as much.
“So what? That world is gone Dale.
Over. This is a new one. In this world, it’s kill or be killed. Those men were
trying to find us to take what we have. This guy Randall, if he gets back to
them you don’t think this is the first place they’ll come? They’ll kill the men
and make the women wish they were dead.” Shane got up from his chair and spoke
in the center of the room.
“Shane does have a point. We can
live by the rules of the old world anymore. We’ve got to fight to stay alive.
I’m not saying it’s completely right but we need to do something. We just can’t
keep him locked up forever, can we?” Rick asked.
“This is a young man’s life and it
deserves more than this. We do this we’ll be no better than them. Vanessa,
please, tell them.” Dale looked at me.
“Yeah, Vanessa. What do you think?”
Rick asked sounding as if he could use some guidance too.
I had to tell them the truth. Maybe
that would affect what decision we made here.
To be
Continued….
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