Who We Are | TWD

.045

    The screen door swung open, letting a cool, evening breeze enter alongside Daryl and Glenn. Cole stood up from his place on the couch to face the two men, anxious to hear their verdict. When they hadn't fallen into an uncomfortable silence, the only thing they could focus on was the fact that Shane and Rick were missing from their group. The possibilities of their location became only more worrisome as night had fallen and the darkness had dominated.

    "Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl asked, moving into the living room.

    "No," Lori returned.

    "We heard a shot."

    "Maybe they found Randall," Cole suggested optimistically. He was hoping that was the case because any of the other ideas that came to his mind were simply intolerable to him.

    "We found him," Daryl replied, his blue eyes darting to Cole. Cole furrowed his eyebrows, unable to understand what exactly that meant.

    "Is he back in the shed?" Maggie questioned.

    "He's a walker." Cole could hardly believe it. He could feel his eyes widening once he knew that wasn't the reason they had heard the gunshot.

    "Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked, taking the question right from Cole's mouth.

    Glenn sighed. "No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit."

    "His neck was broke."

    "So he fought back," Patricia said, but that wasn't the same thought Cole had gathered from the situation. He quieted his questions, however, knowing that he shouldn't jump to senseless conclusions and hear Daryl out.

    "The thing is, Shane's and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together." Cole lifted a hand to his head, smoothing out his hair. It was his only subtle way to cope with stress, the same motion he had been doing for years. It had fooled Hilary for a while before she had finally caught on herself, but it would continue to fool everyone in this room, specifically his own children who sat nervously on the couch.

    "Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane and what on Earth is going on?" Lori pleaded Daryl.

    "You got it," Daryl nodded before starting back to the door.

    "Thank you," Lori muttered as she watched him go. Andrea and Glenn followed, the door smacking shut just as Emmie began to ask her own questions.

    "Dad, what's going on?"

    "I don't know, honey. We're gonna figure it out though, okay?" Cole replied, acting quickly on his feet in order to comfort his children. He never wanted to do it, but had no other choice. It was either that or leave them feeling worried. He had no intention of doing that if it could be avoided. Slowly, the others began to file out of the door and onto the front porch. Confused as to what was going on, Cole needed to join them.

    "I'll be right back, okay? Stay here." Emmie nodded quickly. Cole patted her on the shoulder and headed out the door.

    "What's-" He couldn't get the rest of his sentence out before he realized what everyone's attention was turned to. Highlighted by the white, dusky moonbeams were walkers, and a lot of them. Slowly but surely, Cole watched as one walker after another crested the little hill past the fields, each one leading to the farmhouse, the place where his children were.