Destruction ||| Glenn Rhee (BEING REWRITTEN TO OC)

31 ~ Drink

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There's no surrender

And there's no escape

Are we the hunters?

Or are we the prey?

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Rick, Glenn, and Rosanna arrive at the location and walk through the creaky doors.

"Hershel." Rick says.

Hershel is at the bar, glass in hand, facing away from them.

Hershel sighs. "Who's with you?"

Rick speaks. "Glenn. Rose too. They volunteered. They're good like that."

There's silence as Rick walks closer to the old man. "How many have you had?"

Hershel sets the glass down. "Not enough."

Rick puts a hand on his shoulder. "Let's finish this up at home, okay?"

Rosanna speaks softly. "Beth collapsed. She's in some state."

Rick agrees, continuing. "Must be in shock. I think you are too."

Hershel takes another sip. "Maggie's with her?"

"Yeah, but Beth needs you."

"What could I do? She needs her mother. Or rather to mourn like she should've done weeks ago. I robbed her of that. I see that now." Another sip.

Glenn takes a breath. "You thought there was a cure."

"Can't blame yourself for holding out for hope." Rick says.

He sets his glass down and looks at Rick. "Hope? When I first saw you running across my field with your boy in your arms, I had little hope he would survive. But he did. Even though we lost Otis. Your man Shane made it back and we saved your boy. That was the miracle that proved to me miracles do exist. Only it was a sham, a bait and switch. I was a fool, Rick, and you people saw that. My daughters deserve better than that."

Rick slowly pushes the glass away from Hershel. "I promised Maggie, I'd get you home safe."

Hershel sighs. "Like you promised that little girl?"

Rick flares his nostrils. "So, what's your plan? Finish that bottle? Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?"

"Stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm. You people are like a plague! I do the Christian thing, give you shelter, and you destroy it all!"

"The world was already in bad shape when we met." Rick replies.

"And you take no responsibility! You're supposed to be their leader!"

Rick starts to raise his voice. "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

Hershel sighs, facing back to the bar and grabbing the glass. "Yes. Yes. Yes, you are."

Rick tries reaching for the glass again. "Now come on. Your girls need you now more than ever."

Hershel moves the glass away from Rick and finally chugs the rest of the drink. "I didn't want to believe you. You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe that. But when Shane shot Lou in the chest and she just kept coming, that's when I knew what an ass I'd been, that Annette had been dead long ago and I was feeding a rotten corpse! That's when I knew there was no hope. And when that little girl came out of the barn, the look on your face... I knew you knew it too. Right? There is no hope. And you know it now, like I do. Don't you? There is no hope for any of us."