Till The End Of The Line

Days Gone Bye Part 4

No POV-

Rick slowly comes to. He sees that he's lying tied up in a bed in an unknown house. Duane is guarding him with a baseball bat. The man from before is washing his hands in a basin "Got that bandage changed now. It was pretty rank. What was the wound?" Rick answers "Gunshot." "Gunshot? What else? Anything?" Rick answers back sarcastically "Gunshot ain't enough?" The man walks over to the bed where Rick's tied to the headboard. The man spoke up "Look, I ask and you answer. That's common courtesy, right?" He leans down close, in a more serious tone he asks again "Did you get bit?" Confused he asks him "Bit?" Urgently the man says "Bit, chewed, maybe scratched– Anything like that?" "No, I got shot. Just shot as far as I know." He reaches out with his hand, Rick flinches back "hey, just let me." The man touches his hand to Rick's forehead "feels cool enough. Fever would've killed you by now." Rick answers "I don't think I have one." "Be hard to miss." He takes out a switchblade and holds it in front of Rick's face "take a moment, look how sharp it is." Rick leans his head away from the knife "you try anything, I will kill you with it and don't you think I won't." He cuts the rope holding Rick to the bed "come on out when you're able. Zayne is already downstairs." He turns to his son and beacons him to follow "Come on." Lying on his side, Rick holds his wrists. He composes himself. Rick comes out of the room wearing a blanket over his shorts. He looks around. Morgan is at the dining room table with Duane serving a meal. Rick makes a comment "This place – Fred and Cindy Drakes'?" Morgan quickly said "Never met 'em." Rick says "I've been here. This is their place." "It was empty when we got here." Rick asks Morgan about Zayne "Where's Zayne?" Morgan's son answers for him "Bathroom." Rick nodded and walked to the window but before he can pull the curtain back Morgan stops him "Don't do that. They'll see the light. There's more of them out there than usual. I never should've fired that gun today. Sound draws them. Now they're all over the street." Zayne interrupts "Stupid – using a gun." Morgan nods "But it all happened so fast, I didn't think." As he talks Morgan picks up a large tin can with towels and sets it on the table. He picks up a sterno can and blows it out. Rick walks away from the window following Zayne to the table. Zayne and Morgan sit. Rick spoke up "You shot that man today." Shrugging Morgan asks "Man?" Duane says "It weren't no man." His father gets upset at the way he spoke "What the hell was that out of your mouth just now?" Duane corrects himself "It wasn't a man." Rick confused says "You shot him in the street out front – a man." Morgan "Friend, you need glasses. It was a walker. Come on. Sit down before you fall down. Here" Morgan spoons food onto Rick and Zayne's plates. Suddenly hungry he sits and spoons up a mouthful. Duane says "Daddy, blessing." Morgan nods "Yeah." Morgan looks at Rick. Duane takes his father's hand and Morgan puts his hand on one of Rick's. Zayne reaches out for his other and Duanes. Rick hesitates. Duane looks at him expectantly. Rick, with disbelief, puts down the spoon and takes Zayne's offered hand. They bow their heads. Morgan begins the blessing "Lord, we thank thee for this food, thy blessings." Morgan opens his eyes and looks at Rick "and we ask you to watch over us in these crazy days. Amen." Zayne and Duane both say amen while Rick nods then they all eat. After a bit Morgan speaks up "Hey, mister, you even know what's going on?" Rick shakes his head "I woke up today in the hospital, found Zayne, came home, that's all I know. Morgan "But you know about the dead people, right?" Rick "Yeah, we saw a lot of that out on the loading dock, piled in trucks." Morgan "No, not the ones they put down. The ones they didn't– the walkers, like the one I shot today. 'Cause he'd have ripped into you both, tried to eat you, taken some flesh at least. Well, I guess if this is the first you're hearing it, I know how it must sound." Rick "They're out there now? In the street?" Morgan "Yeah. They get more active after dark sometimes. Maybe it's the cool air or hell, maybe it's just me firing that gun today. But we'll be fine as long as we stay quiet. Probably wander off by morning. But listen, one thing I do know – don't you get bit. I saw your bandage and that's what we were afraid of. Bites kill you. The fever burns you out. But then after a while...you come back." Duane "Seen it happen..." The memory makes Duane sad. Morgan squeezes his arm and smiles at Duane. Morgan "Come on." They finish eating. Leaning up against the wall by the dining room Morgan sits on the sleeping pallet he and Duane share. Across the room Rick and Zayne sit on a bed made of couch cushions. Rick's still wrapped in his blanket. Morgan "Carl — he your son? Well, you – you said his name today." Rick "He's a little younger than your boy." Morgan "And he's with his mother?" Rick "I hope so." Duane lies in the bed, almost asleep. Duane "Dad?" Morgan "Hey?" Duane "Did you ask them?" Morgan laughing "Your wounds? We've got a little bet going. My boy says you're bank robbers" Zayne laughing "Yeah, that's us, deadly as Dillinger's. Kapow!" Morgan and Rick chuckle then Rick answers him "I was Sheriff's Deputy" Morgan "Uh huh. And you?" Zayne was about to answer when a car alarm started blaring. Duane jumps, startled. Morgan tries comforting him "Hey. It's okay. Daddy's here. It's nothing. One of them must have bumped a car." Zayne "Are you sure?" Morgan "It happened once before. It went on for a few minutes. Get the light, Duane." Rick, Zayne, and Morgan get up while Duane turns down the lantern light. Rick turns down the second one. The alarm continues.

Zayne's POV-

Morgan goes to the bay window at the front of the house. It's been boarded up loosely then covered with blankets to keep in the light. He carefully pulls them apart and peers outside. He stands aside for Rick and I. The street outside is crowded with shambling shuffling corpses. Several of them walk toward a late model sedan; its lights flash in time with the alarm that had startled Duane. Zayne "It's the blue one, on the street." Morgan "The same one as last time. I think we're okay." Zayne "That noise, it'll bring more." Morgan "Nothing we can do about it now. Just have to wait 'em out till morning." Duane comes up between us all and seems to get scared "She's here." A walker that used to be a middle aged woman walks toward the house. Morgan urges his son away "Don't look. Get away from the windows. I said go. Go on." Reluctantly Duane leaves the window and lies on the bed sobbing Morgan goes over to him, not just to comfort him, but to make sure his cries aren't heard by the walkers outside "Duane, Duane, quiet now. Come on, quiet now. Shh shh." The walker that used to be Duane's mother walks toward the front porch. Rick and Zayne leave the window for the front door. Zayne looks out the peep hole and sees her come up the steps and over toward the door. Morgan sits on the bed. Duane lies in his lap unable to stop crying. Morgan picks up one of Duane's pillows. Morgan comforts his son still "It's okay. Here, cry into the pillow. Do you remember? Shh shh." Zayne tells Rick to take a look, when Rick does the walker looks closely at the door, the peephole. It tries the doorknob. Slowly Rick backs away as quietly as he can Zayne following. Morgan explains what happened "She, um... She died in that other room on that bed in there. There was nothing I – I could do about it. That fever, man, her skin gave off heat like a furnace." He stopped for a moment trying to not cry with his son "I should've – I should've put her down, man. I should've put her down. I know that, but I – You know what? I just didn't have it in me. She's the mother of my child."