For You // R.G.

Chapter 21

"Max!" I yelled in the house. She didn't sleep in the camper last night, and she wasn't in the house.

"Where is she?" Jamie asked me, growing more and more afraid every passing second. I then see Rick walk down the stairs. He looked like crap, like he didn't sleep at all. He didn't look up to see us,

"Rick, do you know where max is by any chance?"

He looked up at me, his eyes bloodshot. He took a moment to think and then shook his head. He walked past us and went outside. I then watch as he crossed the lawn. I scoped the fields and then the lawn. I then saw a figure leaning against a tree, I then see that it was max sleeping.

"Oh my..." I say to myself, Jamie and I ran out to her.

"Max! What the hell?!" I exclaimed, not caring that she was still sleeping. She was covered in dirt and once she opened her eyes, she revealed that she had bags. I sighed

"Why were you out here? You could've gotten eaten!" Jamie said. She was upset, max rubbed her eye with her hand. She sat up and looked up at us. She then smiled groggily at Jamie.

"Good morning."

Jamie hid behind my leg. Max looked at me,

"What the hell made you sleep out here?!" I asked again, quieter. I then looked at the rest of the group who was around 300 yards away eating breakfast.

"Nothing." She said, she was terrible at lying so I knew instantly. She got up and started walking towards the group. We followed. I started to lecture her about what could've happened while she was sleeping outside and naming a hundred things that could've killed her but once we got into hearing distance of the group, I slowly faded out

"Um, guys?" We heard Glenn say, we all turned to face him. He stood awkwardly among us,
"So, the barn is full of walkers."
The air felt as if it collapsed all around us. I looked at the barn, not believing what he just had said.
..
Shane peeked through a crack in the door. We all were feet away from him, waiting for the real deal. I looked back at max, she was staring at Rick who was a few feet away. Shane then came back towards us,
"You cannot tell me you are okay with this." Shane mumbled to Rick, he stormed past us.
"I'm not, but we're doing our best here- this isn't our land." Rick hissed
Shane threw his hand in the air in frustration
"This is our lives man!"
"Lower your voice." Glenn said
"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea added
"It ain't right."
Shane came in the middle of us, we all watched the walkers pass the little crack in the door. Max wasn't even in this, she was staring at Rick the whole time. I nudged her
"Why are you staring at him?" I asked. She glanced at me then back at Rick. I looked at Rick who was looking at max now, he looked at her with purpose. He then saw that I noticed him looking at her and he looked away.
"This is what we're gonna do, we either gotta make things right, or we just have to go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long-"
"We can't go!" Rick yelled.
"Why, Rick? Why?"
"Because my daughter's still out there." Carol said, we all looked at her
"Okay, okay-" Shane rubbed his face in frustration with a smile, "I think it's time we all start to just consider the other possibility-"
"Shane, we are not leaving Sofia behind!" Rick said
"I'm close to finding this girl, I just found her damn doll two days ago!" Daryl yelled at Shane
"Yeah, Daryl, that's what you did, you found A DOLL." Shane tried to get through him.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Daryl came up to Shane and threw his arm in the air. Daryl and Shane yelled at each other, Rick intervened, trying to stop the dispute calmly
"Shane, Shane, shane- shut up!" Rick yelled as shane ran his mouth, but Shane didn't listen.
"Lemme tell you somethin' else man, if she was alive out there and saw you coming, all methed out with your buck knife and your geek ears around your neck, she'd run in the other direction." Shane yelled
Daryl almost hit Shane but Rick got in between them again, Rick tried to push them away but they pushed past him. They were all shouting and fighting now. I looked at max, she was biting the inside of her cheek, watching blankly.
"What happened last night?" I asked, whatever happened, it messed her up.
"Rick kissed me."
I paused, not expecting that. I then turn my head to hear
"Keep your hands off me."
Shane said that to Lori, everyone was silent. Lori watched as Shane stormed away
"Just let me talk to Hershel!" Rick yelled, "Let me figure it out-"
"What are you gonna figure out?!" Shane yelled, charging at Rick. Lori pressed him back,
"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land." Rick explained to Shane
"Hershel sees those things in there as people- sick people- his wife, his stepson-" Dale came into the discussion
"You knew?" Glenn asked
"Yesterday I talked to Hershel."
"And you waited the night?" Shane asked challengingly
"I thought we could survive one more night. We did." Dale directed at Shane, he then talked to Rick, "I was waiting till this morning to say something but Glenn wanted to be the one."
"The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or-"
Rick tried to reason with him again
"No!"
The doors started to rattle and shake, the walkers growled.

Max's POV
I walked inside the house after everything. I searched for a piece of fruit to eat. My footsteps echoed throughout the room. I then heard Rick's voice from inside the kitchen. He sounded in a deep discussion so I paused and listened. I peeked inside and saw Hershel at the sink and Rick next to him.
"My wife's pregnant." Rick says. I feel my heart drop. "That's either a gift here or a death sentence out there."
Hershel turned around to look Rick in the eye, he then looked at me in the doorway. Hershel stayed silent, Rick turned around to see why Hershel dismissed the conversation. Rick looked at me, his eyes flickered when he knew that I heard his conversation.
"Max-"
I turned away and rushed out the door.