The Lucky One//twd

031. Something in the Dark

Madison's POV

The wind smelled like rain and something else — something wrong.

Glenn adjusted his flashlight. Blake walked beside me with a crowbar in his hand, his jaw clenched tighter than usual. We were doing another night patrol around the perimeter of the farm. Technically, it was supposed to be a two-man job. But I had volunteered, and no one said no to me anymore. Not since the bullet.

They still thought I was fragile. Delicate. But I'd gotten better at hiding it.

The three of us had looped around the woods twice already. Nothing. No tracks. No fresh blood. Just empty fields and old fences that creaked like bones in the wind.

Still, I felt it.

Like we were being watched.

Again.

"I'm telling you," I muttered, "there's something weird about this place."

Blake glanced over. "We've been here for days. It's been quiet."

"Too quiet."

Glenn gave me a tired look. "You sound like Shane."

"Don't compare me to him."

"I'm just saying..." Glenn kicked at a rock. "Shane's always ready to light a match. You don't need to join him."

I stiffened. "You think I'm paranoid?"

"No," Blake answered, cutting in. "I think you're paying attention."

We stopped walking.

His voice was low. Careful. "You've been off since the fire."

I looked between them. "Don't you think it's weird no one's allowed near the barn?"

Glenn hesitated. "That's Hershel's deal."

"That's not an answer."

"I asked Maggie once," Blake added. "She said her dad keeps livestock in there."

"At night? Locked up tight? With chains?" I raised my eyebrows. "That's not pigs."

They didn't argue.

Somewhere in the distance, a crow screamed.

Blake shifted closer. "What are you thinking?"

"I want to get a look inside."

"Now?" Glenn asked, incredulous.

"No. Not with all the lights on. Tomorrow night. After they all go to bed."

Glenn shook his head. "That's a good way to piss off the only doctor we've got."

I gave him a look. "You're not curious?"

His silence was answer enough.

Blake nodded once, slowly. "Then we go quiet. One shot. We take a peek. No more."

I gave him a small smile. "Deal."

⸻

We were halfway back to the house when we heard it.

Low. Wet. Moaning.

We froze.

Flashlights off. Breaths held.

Another groan. Closer now. Followed by the heavy drag of feet through grass.

We crouched in the dark, behind the broken tractor near the back pasture. The moon had just slipped behind a cloud.

"I see two," Blake whispered.

Glenn raised his knife. "Maybe more."

They shambled past us slowly, their outlines stiff and twitching. One of them had no jaw — just a tangle of skin and teeth, glistening in the faint light.

I held my breath as they passed.

We didn't move until they were halfway across the field.

Then Blake whispered, "What the hell are they doing here? We've had the fence reinforced for days."

Glenn cursed. "We're gonna have to double the patrol."

I stood up slowly, watching them.

And then I saw it.

One of the walkers turned toward the barn.

Just for a second.

And the moment it did, a loud thud came from inside the barn.

All three of us froze.

Then it came again.

Thud. Drag. Moan.

Not from outside. From inside the goddamn barn.

We didn't speak on the way back. Didn't need to.

Because now we knew.

Hershel was keeping walkers in that barn.