Chapter Text
“The barn is full of walkers.”
The thought ran through the heads of everyone present, some more worried than others.
“We should go,” Shane declared hurriedly.
“Stop, you have to think about this.” Rick looked at Merle and Daryl. “What are you guys thinking?”
“You've got to be kidding me,” Shane interrupted. “Do you want his opinion on all this?”
Merle, Daryl and Rick had grown closer in the last few weeks they were on the farm, Rick frequently turning to the brothers for help or consultation, Beth thought it was because Shane seemed on the edge of her own mind.
Merle was the first to move forward. “You have to calm down first.” He looked at Glenn and Dale, who gave obvious support to the younger boy. “Is the barn sealed?” They both nodded
"We can't do anything at night, we're going to take double the number of guards, first thing tomorrow morning I'll go talk to Hershel" Rick declared, hoping someone would refuse.
“Why don't you guys go to bed first and then I'll call you in a couple of hours?” Rick suggests Daryl and Merle.
Daryl nods and wants to pull Beth towards the tent but the blonde only stands there for a few seconds before starting to run in the direction of the house. Merle followed by Rick take the lead to follow her but Daryl stops them.
“She needs this, he needs to talk to Maggie.”
Beth doesn't stop until she enters the house and stands in front of Maggie who is crying and cleaning the dishes.
“Did you know?” Her voice is quiet, incredulous.
"That?"
“Maggie” Beth warns “You knew the barn was full of walkers.”
“They are our neighbors, people we love” she looks like she is going to continue talking but she stops.
“Those people are dead, Maggie, dead.”
“You don't know” Doubt “They could be sick”
“I know, I saw it, they wanted to eat me, I had to kill many of them to survive, they are dead Maggie” Her voice is broken, she is dizzy and confused, Maggie only cries worse “We will leave here in the morning with the group, “This isn't safe.” She doesn't give her sister time to respond before leaving the house the same way she entered, running and angry at Maggie and her father.
Rick stops her before she reaches his store. “Are you okay?” Ask
“They think they are sick” Sighs
“We'll talk to Hershel in the morning, she goes to sleep.” Rick squeezed her shoulder and she said goodbye with a loving smile.
Merle was asleep when she entered the tent, Daryl was waiting for her and simply opened the sleeping bag and hugged her, she knew he understood. It was a very long night for everyone because they could hardly sleep at all, waking up alert every time a tree moved outside.
It's before dawn they assume, when Daryl and Beth get up, Merle is in the center of the camp with Rick at her side when she sees her sister-in-law hug her and kiss her head.
“I'm going to talk to Hershel,” she walks a few steps and stops. “Keep an eye on Shane.”
Rick returns a while later with bad news, Hershel was not going to let them clean the barn, he refused to give any kind of explanation or give in to the camp's stay on his land.
“We can search one of the nearby houses, make them safe, put up fences, put up alarm systems, let's get our ideas together, let's get our things together and leave,” Merle said.
“We can go to Fort Benning, the military base they told us about,” Shane interrupted. “You said about going before the CDC.”
“I changed my mind, I want to stay close” Rick responds
"By? Near lunatics with a barn full of walkers?”
“Shane,” Daryl warned with a menacing tone as he felt Beth tense up.
"That? Are we going to stay here because his wife wants him? “I thought you had more balls than that Dixon,” Shane scoffed.
“Stop it, we're going to stay here because Lori is pregnant.”
Shane froze just like Merle and Daryl, Beth knew, she had seen Lori throw up every morning for a few weeks, she had also heard from Glenn that she had asked for pills at a race, Glenn had come to her for guidance. Lori had told Rick the night before, they had decided to tell everyone when things calmed down.
“I want to stay close to the only doctor we know.”
“Then we have to stay here” Shane responded with his gaze fixed on Lori's, who pressed herself closer against her husband.
“Aren't you listening Shane?” Merle asked exasperated. “The damn barn is full of walkers, we have to get out of here.”
“It needs to be cleaned,” Shane declared.
“No,” Beth spoke in a clear voice after a while, “we can't just go and clean it up.”
“Your father is delusional, the damn man will get us killed, he's sick,” Shane protested.
“Don't talk like that, don't you dare say that, didn't you learn anything the other day?” Beth asked, referring to the hit she had given him.
“Are you threatening me?” Shane makes a step menacingly
“Maybe not her” Daryl and Merle imposed themselves in her path almost at the same time “But if you dare to put a finger on her, you dare to get close or breathe close to her it will be the last thing you do” Daryl was breathing close to the body of Shane with Merle just a few inches behind him and it was Rick who separated them
In a second, Daryl and Shane were on each other, Merle tried to separate them without success, when they wanted to realize, Shane had made a headlock and was choking Daryl.
"cuchkehold s is illegal you idiot" Beth heard Daryl say before she took the gun from her and fired it into the air.
"The next move you make against my husband, the bullet goes to you Sheriff" Beth reached out to Daryl and pulled him to her side.
“That's enough,” Rick shouted, “the decision has been made.” Rick declared, stepping into the middle.
Shane walked away angrily and Rick dubiously pulled the map out of his pocket and looked back at the small family in front of him.
“Shane is becoming a bit of a problem.” Merle sighed seriously as he slapped his brother on the back. “If he becomes a big problem and threatens my family again, I'm going to deal with him, and honestly officer I don't think so.” "That he likes my way of dealing with things." He put on a sly smile. "You're in charge, Rick, it's time for you to accept it."
Rick looked at the man in front of him for a few moments and then at his sister and sister-in-law, he looked at her for a few moments and nodded.
“I'll talk to Hershel one more time while you guys try to find a place we could go.”
Rick found Hershel when they were going down the stairs. “Rick, was that a gunshot I heard?” “No matter how hard you try, I'm not going to change my mind.”
The former officer sighed "We have ideas to strengthen the farm we are going to, but we could do the same if we stayed here, we could live in peace, Beth could live near you again Hershel" He looked at the older man for a few moments and continued. “But it all depends on cleaning the barn.”
Hershel hesitated for a few seconds as they continued walking, he took two capture poles and handed one to Rick. “I'm willing to talk, maybe to move the sick but not to kill them, and for that I need you to accompany me.”
Rick went into the woods after Hershel with a bad feeling pressing on his chest.
Back at camp Shane had recovered the weapons and was creating chaos.
“If Rick isn't going to do it, we should,” Shane shouted, “Let's take a stand and clean out the barn.”
Merle assessed the situation in front of him, he glanced at Beth who already had a gun in her hand, and at Daryl with the rifle slung over his shoulder.
“Man, you better calm down, Rick is already on his way to solving this,” Merle replied.
“I'm not going to do what some old redneck tells me, not because you're Rick's bitch now I'm going to be one,” Shane growled.
“Fuck you Shane,” Merle screamed.
"What's that?" T-dog suddenly yelled with his head looking back to see Rick and Hershel bring two walkers.
“Everyone stop,” Rick ordered as everyone approached, weapons raised and aimed at the walkers.
“What is this Rick?” Shane shouted backing towards the barn.
“Why do your people have guns?” Hershel asked.
Lori arrived hand in hand with Carl towards the scene, Beth only raised her eyes for a second to look at Daryl and Merle, they both nodded at her to get ready. Daryl stepped forward, grabbing another rifle and handing her the fixed rifle.
"It's a joke? Are you seeing what you are holding on to?” Shane screamed again.
“I'm seeing who I'm holding on to,” Hershel countered. Each step they took they got closer to the barn, fear evident in all of them.
“No, you don't.”
“Shane just let me do this and then we'll talk” Rick tried again.
"What do you want to talk about? These things are not sick, they are not people, they are dead."
“Shane, stop it,” Rick ordered again.
“These things right here are the ones that killed Amy, they killed Otis, they are going to kill us all.”
“Shane shut up” Merle yelled over the noise.
“Hey Hershel, man, tell me something, could anyone who is alive survive this?” Shane drew his gun and shot straight into the walker's heart. Hershel staggered and Maggie, who had arrived minutes before, screamed. Daryl stepped between Beth and the chaos, Merle approached them.
“Shane, stop it,” Rick asked again.
“Her heart is gone.” Shot again. “Lungs, everything, she's not alive.”
“Shane is enough.”
“Yes man, you're right, that's enough” Shane moved forward again and shot directly at the walker's head, Hershel fell next to her.
“Enough of barns full of walkers and searching for girls who are gone, enough of risking our lives for that. Rick this is not like it was before, now if you want to live, if you want to survive you have to fight for it” Shane continued yelling “I'm talking about fighting now and here” Shane ran back to the barn and broke the lock.
“Hershel take the lasso!” Rick shouted.
"Beth, Daryl!" Merle shouted as Shane finished breaking the lock.
Andrea was the first to stand on Shane's right, Merle stood a few steps behind her, Daryl and Beth on her side. Beth felt her father's gaze burning on her back, but that didn't stop her from focusing on the growls of the walkers coming out of the barn. The shots were clear and direct as she had been taught. It seemed like the minutes were endless as she watched her neighbors. and friends leave the barn one by one.
The sound of Daryl's rifle stopped and Beth allowed herself a quick glance, her husband standing right next to her with the rifle in his hand but not firing, and time seemed to stand still as she followed his gaze to meet her mother. get out of the converted barn and fall due to some gunshot.
Beth sobbed, broken inside, while saying "I'm so sorry, Mom."
Beth snapped at that and fell to the ground before Daryl could stop her, see what their father had done to them, lock them up like they would ever be cured when they were dead, not allow them a dignified death before they turn, not allow them a funeral, just locking them up like he had locked himself in his foolish belief that they were sick. Her father had only thought about him and that she didn't want to let them go, the fury growing inside her as well as her sadness as she heard Daryl tell her to breathe, and to focus on her eyes.
At some point Shane had killed the walker that Rick had tied to him and the former officer could be heard shouting to his wife and son, “Stay back.”
Beth composed herself when she heard Rick's voice and from the floor she looked up at her with her father's gaze still burning her back and Maggie's sobs filling her ears. Her tear-filled eyes still allowed her to see a single walker emerging from the barn, Sofia, disoriented by the light, stumbled over the bodies, growling lowly, the bite on her neck exposed. Everyone remained silent as the once sweet and happy girl moved forward in search of food.
“Sofia” Carol's heartbreaking scream was enough for Merle to react and throw the gun on the ground, stopping her before he could reach her daughter's walker “Sofia no” Sob, they both fell to the ground.
"Don't look, don't look," Merle repeated holding a broken Carol on the ground.
“Don't look,” Lori whispered to her son who was crying in her arms.
Rick raised the gun and fired to put the little girl to rest.
Hershel got up from the ground to hold his eldest daughter.
“I want your people off my farm,” I declare and throw Maggie and Patricia away.
Rick glared at Shane.
“It was necessary” Shane defended himself
“Not this way, not like that” Rick turned to his son and his wife and held Carl who was still crying over the loss of his friend “Come on Carl, I got you.”
Carol was carried by Merle towards the camp to breathe and calm down, Beth wanted to help but no words came out of her mouth so she just collapsed again in Daryl's arms who picked her up to take her to the tent.
“It's okay honey, you're going to be okay” Daryl whispered in her ear, he hugged her until she fell asleep from crying so much. She woke up in her arms again a few hours later.
“Hey” whisper
“Hey, are you feeling better?” Daryl's concern evident in his voice
“I can't believe he locked them in the barn, I know he thought they were sick, but it's horrible the way he did it.” Fury grew inside her again and she decided to keep it, she decided not to cry anymore and keep that anger. that made her stronger.
She left the tent with Daryl to find Merle finishing putting things together, the entire camp was up now and it was almost getting dark. "Carol?" Asked
"She was very nervous, so Andrea got some sleeping pills and went to bed inside the RV."
“Hey Angel” Merle smiled at her and she gave him a sincere smile.
The bodies were carried away and burned, all but two, Annette, and Sofia were buried next to a tree, Beth watched from a distance as the funeral took place, Hershel, Patricia, Jimmy and Maggie cried silently.
Shane had not approached again and Andrea had accompanied him. The things were placed in the cars when the last ray of sun disappeared, Beth decided to go to the grave and place some flowers that Daryl had collected in the forest.
The blonde approached the house and saw a pile of boxes with her name on the door. She sighed loudly and before she could knock to say goodbye to her sister, she emerged from behind the house.
“Did anyone see my dad?” Maggie asked.
Rick, Merle and Glenn took a car for a quick run to the only bar in town. Beth had said she could be there, and she and Daryl were left in charge of the camp while they went looking for Hershel.
No one said much in the car until they got to the bar. Hershel was indeed inside, sitting at the bar with a bottle and glass in front of him.
“Service is slow tonight,” Hershel scoffed and Merle huffed, taking the other side of the bar. Glenn took guard as Rick sat next to the older man.
Merle poured two glasses of water and placed one in front of Rick.
"Official?" He offered
“No, I don't drink” Rick
“Me neither, it's water, no one, not even the damn apocalypse, is going to take away the years I've been clean.” Merle smiled proudly.
“Oh,” Rick responded surprised.
“You hate me,” Hershel declared suddenly, his eyes fixed on the eldest Dixon.
“And you hate me too,” Merle replied, shrugging his shoulders. “But unlike you, I have my reasons. I remember the night Daryl met you. I remember how hurt my little brother came home. He left Beth at home telling her she was It was better that they didn't see each other again, I had never seen my brother as happy as when he was with Beth and I had never seen him as sad as when he left her." Merle paused for a few seconds. "I spent days seeing my brother depressed, until one day when Beth came in like a whirlwind to yell at Daryl that he was an idiot for leaving her, you judged us by our last name, you hated us without knowing us, I hated you for making my brother feel bad.”
"Beth left my house hand in hand with a man bigger than her, she preferred to go with your brother rather than stay under my roof and then she got married, my little girl married a Dixon" Hershel replied "I heard the news about you and about your father"
"If with my brother, the man who loves her the most in this world, the man who would give his life for her, my damn brother who is the best man you could have the pleasure of knowing." Merle began to get angry "You never heard anything about my brother"
“Merle,” Rick warned and Merle sighed.
“My brother and Beth belong together, they belong together, they love each other and neither you nor anyone else can separate them so you better get your ass out of that chair and get over it, a last name doesn't change anything”
Hershel sighed heavily and somewhat surprised by the man's words.
“You still surprise me,” Rick declared to Merle.
“We're in trouble,” Glenn warned before two men entered the bar.
The two men who entered the bar were not going to leave without causing problems, Merle did not hesitate before shooting the first, Rick followed with the second.
“We have to get out of here” Merle warns before more men arrive and as they try to escape a gunshot hits right in front of Glenn, rushing out they hear someone's scream.
“We have to help him,” Rick declares to the men in front of him, the boy who had previously screamed is now in front of him with his leg stuck in a fence.
After midnight after Maggie invited the group to stay at the house, the headlights of the car Rick drives illuminate the house. Daryl is the first to leave with his crossbow ready and Beth follows him with the rifle on her shoulder.
Rick, Merle and Glenn got out of the car hastily and Hershel a little later giving a short glance at his youngest daughter and the farmer next to her. Maggie ran into her father's arms, worried about her.
"Everything's fine?" Daryl asked.
“Just a few little problems,” Merle declares and shrugs, pointing to the seat behind the car where a boy is tied up and bandaged.