25. overrun.
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ACT ONE
(overrun)
THE GROUP looked towards the field in awe.
They watched as more and more walkers headed directly towards their house, causing fear to grow in everyone's chest.
The silence that they shared wasn't awkward, seeing as everyone was far too scared to even come up with something to say.
That was until Hershel spoke up. "Patricia,
kill the lights."
Patricia nodded and rushed inside while Andrea followed, going to get the guns. "Maybe they're just passing like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?"
"Not unless theres a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size would rip the house down."Daryl kept his eyes trained on the herd approaching.
Veroníca nervously shook her hands, her nerves only worsening when Lori came back outside. "Carl's gone. He—He was upstairs. I can't find him anymore."
"Maybe he's hiding?" Glenn suggested making Lori grow increasingly upset.
"He's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy."
"We're not.. We're gonna look again, we're gonna find him." Carol insisted as she pulled Lori back inside.
As soon as those two mothers went inside, Andrea came back out with the bag of guns. She then began passing them out.
"I got the number—it's no use."
"You can go if you want." Hershel replied, cocking his gun.
"You gonna take 'em all on?"
"We have guns. We have cars." Hershel answered, staring at Daryl as Andrea added on. "Kill as many as we can. Then we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm."
"That sounds like a very unsafe plan." Veroníca said, her voice still hoarse as she picked up a gun.
"It's my farm. I'll die here." Hershel replied, beginning to walk off the porch.
"It's a good a night as any." Daryl caved, hopping over the fence.
Veroníca then turned to Rory, who was nervously pulling at his curls. "Rory, go help look for Carl inside okay?—Stay with Lori. I mean it."
Rory nodded, pulling his mom into a hug as she kissed his head.
As the boy anxiously ran inside, Veroníca turned to Aiden. "Should we pair up?"
Aiden looked around the group outside before listing out pairs while everyone on the porch listened. "Jimmy, take the R.V. Glenn, Veroníca you take the green car. Andrea, T-dog you take the truck. I'll stay here and help Hershel."
The group nodded while Maggie added on. "I'll help them find Carl." The group nodded again, this time splitting up immediately after.
Veroníca pointed her shotgun out the window, while Glenn drove. The man wasn't the best driver, making the car continue to bounce while the woman shot at the walkers.
"Can you make a circle?" Veroníca said, her throat aching which she ignored as Glenn nodded.
He then quickly did a U-turn, causing Veroníca to sit halfway out of the car as she continued to shoot.
She paused for a second, shaking her head as the shotgun ran out of ammo. She quickly repositioned herself inside the car, refilling the shotgun before taking her previous position.
Rory held onto Beth's hand as the teenager looked out the window. "The barn's on fire."
"They're headed for it. Maybe Rick set it to draw them in?" Patricia suggested just as Lori ran down the stairs.
"I can't find him anywhere."
Carl shook her head. "Maybe he snuck out?"
"What do I do?" Lori yelled, her nerves getting the best of her.
"He was here. He must've run off looking for Rick, or maybe just went after Randall himself."
"What if he set the fire?" Rory butted in, making Lori's head look over to him as he pointed at the boarded up window.
Aiden stood beside Hershel. The two had been shooting at the oncoming walkers for what felt like forever, so Aiden wasn't shocked when he ran out of ammo. "I'm out."
Hershel didn't reply, making Aiden yell this time. "I'm out! Hershel, it's time to back down."
"This is my farm." Hershel answered, making Aiden nod as he rushed back to the porch.
As he reached the porch, he was shocked to see Carol and Lori talking to one another. "You'll lead them right to him. We can't stay here!"
"That's my boy!"
"You're gonna have to trust. If we find him he's gonna need his mother. We've gotta go." Carol insisted, rushing inside to tell the others.
Lori stayed on the porch, looking out at Hershel while Aiden spoke to her. "I can't get him to leave."
Lori sighed at this, shooting a few walkers before Carol came back out with the others. Patricia, Maggie, Beth and Rory looked at Maggie as Carol spoke to her. "Lori. We gotta go."
Lori nodded, grabbing the gun bag while she yelled at Hershel. "Hershel! Come on! Hershel! Hershel."
The older man didn't turn around, in fact he didn't even pretend he heard the woman making Aiden sigh. "Hershel it's time to go. Now!"
Aiden then caved, he reloaded his gun with a spare box on the porch. Looking upwards at Lori as he yelled. "I'll cover him. Protect Rory!"
Lori nodded at this, rushing over to the rest of the group as she forcefully grabbed Rory's hand.
"No, no. Tio Aiden!" Rory yelled, making Aiden send him a sad wave while Rory tried to rip himself away from Lori.
Lori didn't seem phased as she continued pulling the boy farther and farther away from his uncle.
Veroníca rubbed a hand down her face as she rolled her window up. "I'm completely out... We need to go pick up Rory and Aiden."
When Glenn continued driving straight, a frown overcoming his face, Veroníca furrowed her eyebrows. "Glenn.. We need to go get them."
"Vee, We have to leave." Glenn said sadly, continuing to drive farther away from the farm.
"Glenn.. Glenn! That's my son."
"Aiden is taking care of him. Look, it's lost.. He got your kid far away from here already. We need to leave. Now." Glenn explained which made Veroníca turn to look back at the farm.
It looked like all the cars were gone, making the woman have some hope that her son and brother had gotten off.
She reluctantly nodded, knowing that if her son was off the farm. She wouldn't do him any good by staying and getting killed. Yet as Glenn got farther away from the farm, Veroníca couldn't help but feel guilty.
A loud gunshot rang through Aiden's ears making him and the older man beside him turn around.
While Aiden was relieved to see Rick and Carl, Hershel began rambling about the walkers. "I don't know what happened, Rick. They just keep coming. It's like a plague. They're everywhere."
"Did you see Lori!" Rick yelled, disregarding the older man's words.
"Yeah! She took Rory—I don't know where they went." Aiden answered continuing to look at the walkers getting closer to them.
"We have to go!" Rick yelled, pulling Hershel behind him.
Hershel tried protesting yet as Rick pushed him and Carl into the car, he ultimately gave up. Just as Aiden was about to hop into the back seat, something caught his eye. He saw it from a distance.
Andrea.
He watched as she shot a few walkers around her, and pity filled the man. He groaned to himself, slamming the car door as he began bolting towards the blonde.
When he reached her, a genuine smile filled her face for a moment. Immediately dropping seeing as walkers began nearing them once again.
The duo then ran, not heading to any certain place. Just getting away from the creatures that followed them.
Glenn nervously glanced between Veroníca and the road. While it was obvious the woman was trying not to cry, the tears that pricked at her eyes was enough for Glenn to notice.
Glenn finally sighed, pulling to the side of the road as he parked. He then turned his full attention to the brunette in the passenger seat. "Veroníca. They're okay."
"You don't know that."
"You're right. I don't.. not for sure.. You know what I do know? I know we're gonna go back to the highway, and we're gonna reunite with at least some of the group.. I know we're gonna be okay."
Veroníca looked at the roof of the car, trying to get her eyes to stop watering at the thought of her son being gone.
"I know no one can replace them. Like it or not, this group—we're a family.. If they're gone, you still have the rest of us." Glenn encouraged, placing his hand on the woman's leg as he stared at her.
"But that's my boy."
"I know... If he's not okay you can personally take it out on me." Glenn attempted to lighten the mood which made Veroníca softly smile.
"I'll take you up on that offer."
Glenn smiled wider at this, starting the car once more after double checking on the woman.
After he was sure she was feeling a little better, he continued driving. He didn't remove his hand from her leg, but she didn't seem to mind.
Rory sat on Lori's lap. The woman was currently talking with T-dog while Beth laid her head on the woman's shoulder.
Beth had sat on Maggie's lap and although it was a tight squeeze, they were just glad they were all here. "We gotta turn around."
"Straight back to that herd? Hell no."
"The highway's back there. That's where they'll be. Rick will go back to where we first broke down. Glenn too." Lori explained as Rory nodded.
"And my Ma."
"We head East. Get to the coast. We should've done that from the jump." T-dog said, earning a glare from Rory as he wiped his still-teary eyes. "Look, we've got a shot to get out of here in one piece."
"I've gotta find Carl. He may have escaped with somebody."
"I hate to say it but they're on their own. There's no way to even begin to start looking—"
"—You're wrong." Lori cut off, messing with Rory's curls.
T-dog sighed before replying. "Look, we can't go back. I'm sorry. It's suicide."
"All right, then let me and Rory out." Lori said, opening the door as her grip tightened on Rory.
Immediately T-dog slammed on the brakes, making the Greene sisters almost slam into the dash.
He looked at Lori with shocked eyes while she raised her voice at the man. "Turn around, or you let us out right now."
"I should do it, you know?!"
"T-dog." Lori sighed, watching as he gripped the steering wheel.
"You're out of your damn minds." He said, making Lori shut the door. The man then did a U-turn sighing as he headed back towards the highway.
Glenn and Veroníca smiled, as they followed behind Daryl. The bike had gotten in front of them awhile ago, yet the excited feeling from seeing Carol and Daryl didn't leave.
When they pulled up to the familiar highway, the excited feeling only grew.
As soon as Glenn stopped the car, the duo hopped out. While Glenn leaned on the car door, Veroníca rounded the car and stood in between their car and the blue truck.
The blue truck then parked as well, Lori and Rory hopping out. At the sight, a wide smile filled both Veroníca's and Rory's face.
They immediately ran to one-another. As Veroníca pulled the boy in for a hug, she was quick to pick up the child.
The hug deepened as she began slowly spinning him around, placing a kiss on his cheek.
After another moment, Veroníca put down the boy. She still held his hand as she glanced around the group.
Her smile then dropped as she realized her brother was no where in sight.
Unfortunately before she could bring it up, Rick began questioning Daryl. "Where'd you find everyone?"
"Well, those guys' tail lights zigzagging all over the road—figured it had to be Glenn. Driving like that."
Glenn laughed at this, looking down while he replied. "Good one."
"Where's the rest of us?"
"We're the only ones who made it so far." Rick said sadly.
"Andrea?"
At Glenn's question, Carol spoke up. "She saved me, then I lost her."
"We saw her go down." T-dog said sadly, still leaning on the truck door.
"Aiden?"
"We had him.. He disappeared when we got in the car." Rick said, not making eye contact with the woman or her son out of guilt.
Veroníca's mouth dropped at this, tears beginning to prick at her eyes immediately. Glenn recognized this and didn't hesitate to pull his friend and Rory into a hug.
As he did so, Hershel spoke up. "Patricia?"
"They got her too. Took her right in front of me. I was holding on to her, daddy. She just.." Beth cried, hugging her dad before speaking again. "What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"
"He was in the R.V. It got overrun." At Rick's answer, more of Beth's sniffles filled the air.
There was a brief silence. In which The Greenes comforted eachother, while Glenn comforted the Hayes'.
After a long moment, Glenn pulled away from the hug, smiling down at Rory as he examined Veroníca's tear-stained face. Before he could verbally comfort them, a walker growling filled the group's ears.
Everyone's eyes landed on the walker just as Rick decided to put an end to the short grieving. "We gotta keep moving. There have been walkers crawling all over here."
"I say head east." T-dog recommended, glancing at Veroníca for a moment with worry-filled eyes. "Stay off the main roads."
"The bigger the roads, the more walkers. The more assholes like him." Daryl added, pulling out his crossbow to shoot the walker that was approaching.
As the walker dropped, it wasn't long until the group begin walking back to their cars. Although Rory went with his mother and Glenn this time, the rest of the seating stayed the same.
What didn't stay the same was Veroníca. The woman had been eerily silent the entire drive, and Glenn knew Aiden's death would take a massive toll on the woman.
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