The Purification (From the Ashes We Will Rise: Book One)

Chapter 12

"You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia," Rick continued.

"It feels like we're a long way from anywhere," Dave countered.

"Well, what drove you south?"

"Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather," Dave joked, "I must have dropped thirty pounds in sweat alone down here."

"I wish," Rick laughed.

"No, first it was D.C. I heard there might be some refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed that we never even got close. So we decided to get off the highways in the sticks and keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing," Dave explained.

"One guy told us a coast guard was sitting in the gulf, sending ferries to the islands, " Tony sighed. "The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country—Kansas, Nebraska."

"Nebraska?" Glenn asked, intrigued.

"Low population, lots of guns," Tony answered.

"Kinda makes sense," Glenn nodded.

"You boys ever been to Nebraska?" Dave asked. "There's a reason they call em' flyover states. How about you guys?"

"Fort Benning, eventually," Rick answered before anyone else could speak.

"I hate to piss in your cornflakes, officer, but...we ran across a grunt stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains," Dave spoke gently.

"Wait, Fort Banning is gone?" I asked as Glenn spoke, "Are you for real?"

"Sadly, I am," Dave spoke, cocking his head to the side. "Oddly, the truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab hold of you when you sleep."

"If you sleep," Tony agreed.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here," Dave spoke, causing me to straighten up. "You hold up somewhere else?"

"Not really," Rick spoke casually.

"Those your cars out front?" Dave pushed.

"Yeah," Glenn nodded, "why?"

"We're living in ours," he replied. "Those look kinda empty, clean. Where's all your gear?"

"We're with a larger group," Hershel added. "We're out scouting, and I thought we could use a drink."

"A drink?" Dave asked with a laugh, "Hershel, I thought you quit? Well, we're thinking of setting up around here. Is it—is it safe?"

"It can be, although I've killed a few walkers within a few miles," I responded.

"Walkers? That what you call them?" David asked.

"Yeah," Glenn answered.

"That's good," Dave smiled. "I like that. I like that better than lamebrains."

"It's more succinct," Tony agreed with a curt nod.

"Okay, Tony went to college," Dave mocked.

"Two years," Tony boasted.

"So what—so what, you guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development? Trailer park or something? A farm? Old McDonald had a farm," the man began to sing. "You got a farm? "

"E-I-E-I-O," Tony sang as he began pissing on the floor. "Is it safe?"

"It's gotta be," Dave agreed. "You got food, water?"

"You got cooze?" Tony questioned, "ain't had a piece of ass in weeks."

"Ah, listen, pardon my friend," Dave groaned, rubbing his brow, "city kids—they got not tact. No disrespect. So listen, Glenn—"

"We've said enough," Rick interrupted.

"Well, hang on a second," Dave spoke, shaking his head. "This farm—it sounds pretty sweet. Don't it sound sweet, Tony?"

"Yeah," Tony laughed, "real sweet."

"How about a little southern hospitality?" Dave mocked. "We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time. I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We could pool our resources, our manpower—"

"Look, I'm sorry, that's not an option," Rick interrupted.

"Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem," Dave countered.

"I'm sorry. We can't," Hershel spoke gently.

"We can't take in any more," Rick agreed.

"You guys are something else," Dave chuckled. "I thought—I thought we were friends. We got people we gotta look out for too."

"We don't know anything about you," Rick argued.

"No, that's true," Dave nodded. "You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out there—the things we've had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those things yourself. Am I right?" We all stared but remained silent as Dave continued, "'cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same. So come on, let's—let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm, and we'll get to know each other."

"That's not gonna happen," Rick stated plainly.

"Rick—" Dave sighed.

"This is bullshit," Tony interrupted.

"Calm down," Rick snapped in his direction.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Tony snapped back. "Don't ever tell me to calm down."

"Woah!" Glenn interjected.

"I'll shoot you four assholes in the head and take your damn farm!" Tony shouted. That was it for me. This blundering idiot wouldn't threaten my family and get away with it. I vaulted over the counter and got right up in his face.

"Woah, woah, woah. Relax," Dave laughed, placing a hand on my chest. "Take it easy. Nobody's killing anyone. Nobody's shooting anyone. Right, Rick?"

Dad hopped over the counter, causing everyone to place a hand on their gun. Dave slowly pulled his gun out and put it on the counter.

"We're just friends having a drink. That's all. Now, where's the good stuff, huh? Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff? Let's see," Dave spoke as he began searching under the counter. When Rick placed his hand back on his gun, Dave stood up straight with a bottle.

"Hey!" He smiled. "Would you look at that? This'll work. You have to understand—we can't stay out there. You know what it's like."

"Yeah, I do," Rick nodded, "but the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking."

"Keep looking," Dee laughed. "Where do you suggest we do that?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I hear Nebraska's nice."

Dave let out a solid laugh, "Nebraska. This guy."

Before anyone could move, Rick outshot Dave, and he went down. Then, Rick turned on Tony, firing two shots into him, but he was still moving. He took a few steps forward and fired a final shot into his head. I looked over at Glenn, frozen where I stood. Dave's shots would have hit me if I had been a few feet forward. Rick walked over to Tony's body and looked down at him before holstering his gun. Hershel walked up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder while I made my way to my brother.