Don't Get Dead | TWD | Volume 1

[26] Home, Sweet Home

The sun came up on the drive back to the farm, making me more and more tired. I leaned back in the seat, my eyes closing almost automatically. The only reason I knew I was still awake was because I heard the quiet hum of the engine as we drove on.

No one spoke on the way back. Hershel had been checking in on Randall every couple of minutes, but the only one that knew what kind of vitals to check were him, so he did it in silence. Randall was out cold now, and he contributed to the silence of the car, too.

I was still wondering whether we should hide what happened with Tony from the group, the fact that only dying can turn someone into a walker. Rick said he wanted to wait until everything died down, but then when he finally decided to tell everyone, they would be mad that he kept it from them for so long. Still, he was in charge, and it was his decision to keep it a secret, and I would do what he said. I'm sure he better understood what was the best thing to do.

I did feel bad keeping it from Glenn, though. He told me about Lori and the barn, and now I was hiding one of the most important things we could understand about the walkers from him. But he would never be able to keep it a secret, and still, Rick would get in trouble for trying to hide it from everyone when Glenn told them about it.

The engine sound grew quieter as we slowed to a stop, which made me sit forward and open my eyes, running my hands up over my face and through my knotty hair. We had stopped outside a little while away from the farm.

"We're here," Rick said.

"I got it," I climbed out of the car, walked over to the gate and pulled it open, closing it again after Rick passed through. He waited for me to put the latch on and get back in the car so he could continue driving back to the farm.

I wondered for a while if the group were worried. They were bound to be, but Shane told me that if anything went wrong while we were out there, then he wouldn't come and save us. Part of me guessed that he was lying, just saying things to stop me from going on the run, but I wasn't so sure. He never went out after groups to save anyone because he wanted to hang back and protect the rest of the group.

The second gate was open, so when we returned, we just drove straight in and parked in front of the house. The thing that surprised me was that almost everyone was standing outside. Some gathered around a car. Were they coming out for us? They must have been, and it made sense because we had taken all night to get back to the camp.

We all climbed out, and everyone rushed to their family. Rick ran over to Lori and Carl, hugging each of them, and Maggie ran straight to Glenn. Everyone else gathered around, obviously wondering why we had been gone for so long. Even Daryl was in the group that was coming out to look for us.

Hershel walked back towards the house, "Patricia," he said as he passed her, "prepare the shed for surgery."

Lori, who has now been hugging Rick, started bombarding him with questions about the town, "Are you hurt?"

"No, but what happened to you?" Rick held her face in his hands, which drew my attention to the fact that she had cuts over her face, one very prominent in the middle of her lips.

"I was in a car accident," she said after a beat.

"Accident? How?"

"I went looking for you," she answered.

"Snuck out on her own," Shane added like Lori was keeping a big secret. "Brought her back."

Rick turned back to Lori, his body lowering down to stand face-to-face with her, "Are you crazy? You could've—"

"—Who the hell is that?" T-Dog asked aloud, interrupting Rick.

Glenn, who was no longer standing near Maggie, answered, "That's Randall."