The Wanderer (bethyl)

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Rick and Shane were alone in the woods, looking for some escaped crazed teenage boy they had kept locked in the barn, for reasons Beth never entirely understood and found a little unsettling - she pretended not to hear all the debate going on about whether or not to kill him. The remaining group members were huddled in the living room, waiting for the two to return. As the hours passed, they all grew increasingly anxious, especially when Daryl returned with the word that Randall was discovered dead. Something was clearly wrong.

Attempting to find out what was going on, Lori opened the front door and stood on the front porch, gazing over the horizon. Suddenly she raced back inside with a hushed gasp of "Walkers - there's a herd out there!"

They peeked out the window, and it was unlike anything they had ever seen before. Hundreds and hundreds of walkers, shuffling menacingly toward the house, getting closer.

"What do we do?" stammered Patricia.

"Have to get out of here now," insisted Daryl. "Go get the cars." Several group members bolted out the door to retrieve the vehicles and take out as many walkers as they could. Beth's reaction was to grab as many things as she could that they could take with them. She ran around the house, quickly stuffing food, clothing, and medicine into a backpack and hoisted it over her shoulders. Her father grabbed his gun and stepped outside.

"Quick, quick, let's go!" Carol grabbed Beth and Patricia and hurried them outside. She tried to get Hershel to follow them, but he seemed to be in a trance, steadily firing shots at the dead beasts before him.

All Beth could think of was that she had to move faster. She clutched onto Lori and Patricia's hands for dear life, feeling terror surge through her veins. There were so many of those things - more than she had ever seen before, all in a group, moving toward her and her family and friends. She just ran as fast as her legs could take her, focusing directly ahead at the truck. Around her, several walkers dropped to the ground lifelessly as her father and several of the adults took out as many as they could with their weapons. But it wasn't enough, it seemed like they just kept coming.

Beth caught a glimpse of her father, and it scared her. His face was stony and expressionless as he mechanically picked off walkers with his shotgun. He was shaking with a silent fury toward these monsters, yet he didn't seem to care about his own safety. Beth had never seen him like that, and she knew that he would rather die than leave his farm behind, but she didn't have time to stop. Meanwhile, Maggie was getting into a car with Glenn several feet away, and she gave Beth a final worried nod before they peeled out, nearly mowing down a few walkers as they left.

Suddenly, Patricia was grabbed from behind by two snarling walkers, who sank their black teeth into the flesh of her neck. She howled in pain, dropping to her knees but still clutching Beth's hand. Beth let out a tortured scream as the woman who had been like a second mother to her since childhood was being torn apart. Blood sprayed over her and she was frozen in fear. She couldn't just leave Patricia there to die in agony.

Lori's eyes widened at the sight, and she quickly tried to pull Beth away. When a hysterical Beth wouldn't let go of Patricia's hand, she forcibly yanked her away and ran with her toward the truck.

Daryl caught sight of Patricia on the ground, and Beth being dragged away toward safety. Oh no. He made sure he saw the truck drive away before revving up his motorcycle and following suit to get the hell out of dodge.

Beth didn't really register anything after that. She was pulled into the truck with T-Dog in the driver's seat and Lori's hands on her shoulders in an attempt at a comforting embrace. She couldn't help but cry and shake uncontrollably, staring blankly out the window as the farm she called home was being destroyed.

She curled up into a ball in her seat, wondering what the hell they were going to do, and whether everyone else was safe. She was most worried about her father, knowing he was too stubborn to listen to everyone else and would probably fight tooth and nail to protect his farm. And that would get him killed.

Where were they going to go?

T-Dog and Lori clearly didn't know either. T-Dog seemed to be driving aimlessly, nervously hoping to catch someone's trail. Lori had one hand on her belly, face scrunched up with worry. She looked at Beth and murmured as if she was trying to convince herself, "Everything is gonna be okay."

Finally, they managed to meet up with the rest of the group, who was parked on the side of the highway. They were all standing around, nobody speaking much. Beth jumped out of the car and embraced her father and sister in a short-lived relief. A few members were gone, including Andrea and Jimmy. Although she hadn't seen Jimmy in a romantic light for over a year since they had broken up, she was still shattered that another one of her friends was gone. At this point, she would have been sad to see one of the bitchy mean girls from her high school die, because they were all connections to her past life, keeping her grounded to some sense of normalcy.

Daryl pulled up on his bike with a sullen Carol. He let the engine die and then hopped off, striding over to join them. "Nobody hurt?"

"None of us," Maggie answered shakily. "We haven't seen Andrea. And Jimmy and Patricia..."

"I saw that," he replied. "Terrible shame." He glanced over at Beth, but she was staring miserably at the ground.

Rick was completely silent with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Finally he blurted out, "You people don't need to look at me like that, like I'm a monster."

Lori stepped toward him. "Rick-"

He jerked away from her. His voice grew angry and "Nobody else is saying it, so I will. Yes, I killed Shane. But it was necessary. He tried to kill me. He threatened the safety of this whole group. It had to be done."

Rick's son Carl remained tight-lipped and somber.

His voice intensified. "I don't know where we're going to go next. I don't know what we're going to do. But I am doing the best I can, goddammit. Any of you think you can do a better job? Any takers?"

Everyone just stared at him, no one daring to move or speak.

"No? Didn't think so. If you don't like how I do things, nobody's forcing you to stay. Road's right there, feel free to leave and try your luck. But let's be clear - you stay, and it's not a democracy. Everybody got that?" He didn't wait for an answer before storming off into the woods. Lori didn't follow him. She just stood still, trying hard to repress her tears.

Carol leaned toward Daryl, eyes wide with shock and voice hushed. "Somebody has to stop him. He's erratic and dangerous. He's no leader." She nudged him urgently. "You would do us better."

Daryl just shook his head. "Rick's done alright by me. I say we follow him. See how things go. Just have faith." What he didn't say was that he had no idea what the next move was anyway. He was as scared as anyone else. His eyes scanned the group, and he realized Beth was looking right at him this time. They shared a worried look, and he tried to convey to her that it was going to be okay, although he wasn't so sure himself