Forager || Rick Grimes

e l e v e n

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."