Don't look back

Twenty One

"Daddy'll be fine, honey." She smiled to Mary, picking her up, but Mary shook her head in fear.
"I'm going after them." Andrea decided, getting up.
"Don't," Lori said suddenly, "they could be anywhere. And if Randall comes back, we're gonna need you here."
"I'm scared." Mary whispered into Lori's ear.
"It's okay. We're safe here. We're safe. They're just a little late back." Lori soothed. Then Daryl and Glenn came in, making Mary jump a little.
"You're safe." She smiled softly, walking over to Glenn. Glenn picked her up, and held her on his hip.
"'Corse I am."
"Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl asked, looking over at Mary pitifully.
"No." Lori whispered.
"We heard a shot." Daryl half asked.
"Maybe they found Randall." Lori assured Mary.
"We found him." Daryl replied, making Mary cry softly.
"Is he back in the shed?" Patricia asked.
"He's a Walker." Daryl replied.
"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked.
"No the weird thing is he wasn't bit." Glenn explained.
"His neck was broke." Daryl added.
"So he fought back." Patricia shrugged.
"The thing is, Shane 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. No, they were together." Daryl explained.
Lori walked over to Daryl, and gently held one of his arms. "Would you please get back out there, and find Rick and Shane, and find out what on earth is going on." Lori asked nervously.
"You got it." Daryl nodded.
"Thank you." Lori smiled. Daryl went outside, as did Glenn, after putting Mary down. Then Patricia, Hershel, and Andrea went outside, and not long later Patricia came back in.
"There's a heard coming." She whispered as she turned the lights out, and Mary ran to Lori.
"Okay. Okay. Right. I'm gonna get Carl. Stay with Maggie." Lori ordered, and Mary nodded, then went to Maggie. The woman picked the tiny girl, and held her tightly as they went outside. Mary clung onto Maggie, and began to cry.
"There's so many." Mary sobbed.
"Carl's gone!" Lori panicked, coming out of the house. Mary went silent.
"What?" Daryl shouted.
"He, he was upstairs, I can't find him anymore!" Lori explained, scared.
"Maybe he's hiding." Glenn said, trying to keep the situation calm.
"He's supposed to be upstairs. Mary said he's napping. I'm not leaving without my boy!"
"We're not," Carol promised, "we're gonna we're gonna look again. We're gonna find him."
"Mary. He was sleeping? You sure?" Daryl said suddenly.
"Of course she's sure." Lori snapped.
Mary turned her head to Daryl slowly. Daryl walked over to her. "Mary, I'm not mad. No one is mad. Yer not in trouble. But if yer know where Carl is, you gotta tell me. Come on now."
"Daryl! She doesn't know." Maggie hissed. "Leave her be!"
Daryl never lost eye contact with her. "Sweetie. Just tell me if you know. No one will tell you off. I promise." Daryl whispered to her.
"Daryl!" Lori snapped angrily.
"He went to find daddy." Mary mumbled, so quiet only Maggie and Daryl heard.
"He's gone to find daddy?" Daryl repeated slowly, and Mary nodded, sobbing. "Alright. Lori, yer boy's fine. He's with Rick."
"Mary! Why didn't you say!" Lori shouted angrily.
"No. She did the right thing. Told us the truth. Don't yell at her." Daryl defended sharply, and Lori walked away.
"Take her?" Maggie asked Daryl, and passed a Mary over to him before Daryl could protest.
"He said if I told, he couldn't save daddy. And if he didn't help, daddy would die. So I couldn't tell." Mary sobbed into Daryl's neck.
Daryl was taken back by the child's sudden closeness to him. "But it was the right thing to do. Okay? It would have put people in danger if they looked for him. We know he's with yer daddy. So don't feel bad. Feel proud that yer was brave enough to tell. Okay?"
"Okay." Mary whispered.
Maggie smiled softly at the pair, then gave Glenn a gun, then Daryl one.
"Maggie?" Glenn asked in surprise.
"You grow up country, you pick up a thing or two." Maggie shrugged.
"I got the number, there's no use." Daryl sighed.
"You can go if you want." Hershel snapped.
"You're gonna take them all on?" Daryl asked with raised eyebrows.
"We have guns, we have cars." Hershel shrugged.
"Kill as many as we can. Then we use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm." Andrea explained.
"Are you serious?" Daryl scoffed.
"This is my farm. I'll die here." Hershel said determinedly, and Mary smiled slightly at his comment.
"Alright," Daryl shrugged, "it's a good a night as any."
"Mary, go in, yeah? With your mom." Maggie sighed softly.
"She's mad."
"With Carol then." Glenn smiled gently.
"You listen to what they say. Okay?" Maggie said firmly, taking Mary out of Daryl's arms. Mary nodded, and Maggie kissed Mary's nose, then she went inside, and sat on the couch, by Beth. Everyone left, driving around the farm and shooting the Walkers.
Beth went over to the window, and looked at their farm. "The barn's on fire!" Beth exclaimed, and Mary peered our, seeing the building in flames. Patricia walked over, and looked too.
"They're headed for it. Maybe Rick and Carl set it to draw em in." Patricia nodded.
Lori came down the stairs, alongside Carol.
"Where've you been?" Beth asked gently.
"Looking our the windows. For Carl." Lori sighed shakily.
"He's with daddy." Mary whispered.
"We don't know that Mary." Lori muttered.
"I think we should go." Beth panicked.
"What?" Lori asked.
"I think we gotta go." Beth repeated.
Patricia looked out of the window and nodded. "We're not making a dent. If we stay, we're gonna die."
Lori and Carol nodded and they all went into the porch.
"We can't stay here!" Carol exclaimed panicky.
"But that's my boy! We don't know if he's safe!"
"You're gonna have to trust! He's a smart kid, he'll have found his dad. We've gotta go." Carol insisted.
Lori nodded and Lori shot some Walkers, Mary grabbing onto the bottom of Lori's shirt. "Hershel!" Lori yelled, as they watched the man shoot Walkers.
"Hershel, come on." Carol shouted, but he still didn't respond.
"Hershel it's time to go! Hershel! Hershel! Go, we've got go!" Lori screamed. "He'll come. But we gotta get in a car ready." Lori sighed. Carol nodded, and picked Mary up. Then she began to run, Lori behind her. "Okay. Stay behind me! Just stay behind me!" Lori yelled to Beth and Patricia.
Suddenly, a Walker bit Patricia, but Carol carried on running, even as Beth and Patricia screamed.
"Oh God!" Carol cried, realising that they were cornered against a fence, Walkers surrounding them. "Mary. Oh God. It's okay Mary. Just... Close your eyes." Carol soothed, as the Walkers got closer, no escape possible. "Soon you'll be in a happier place, okay? It'll all be over. And..." Carol sobbed, until a gun shot cut her off. "Thank God!" She shouted, seeing Andrea there, saving them both. "Look out!" Carol warned, but it was too late.
A Walker was on top of Andrea.
"Okay. We gotta run!" Carol whispered to Mary, holding her tighter. But the car that Lori and Beth had got into was gone.
So Carol ran.
She ran until she could barely breathe, until her legs felt like jelly. Then she stopped, breathed in shakily, and carried on.
"Carol! Where's daddy?" Mary sobbed into her ear.
"I don't know baby girl. I don't know." Carol whispered. Then she opened her mouth, and began to scream for help, Mary joining in.
"Thank God!" Carol laughed slightly.
"What?" Mary cried.
"Daryl." Carol smiled, as a motorcycle came over.
"Come on, I ain't got all day!" He shouted. Carol scrambled on, Mary stuck between the two adults.
"Go!" Carol hissed. And he went. He drove, and he didn't stop.