the boys,the girls,they all like carmen

ilomilo

"Lori,did you....I mean,it was legendary. Did you ever hear about the time Shane stole Kingsley's car?" Rick asked Lori was sitting next to Carl. "Yeah." Lori answered. "The principal's car right out of the teacher's lot in the middle of a school day. Shane steps out of lunch and makes a beeline to Kingsley's Hyundai," Rick chuckled,"wires the ignition,peels out,drives down Dylan Drive to that chicken farm out there. You've heard this before,right? So he pulls it into one of the big holding pens. Kingsley,he waxed that thing every month:had the auto shop vacuum it out every week. Shane,he parks it in this huge pen with a couple of hundred Rhode Island reds. He busts open bags of seeds in the backseat,rolls down all the windows,and then starts sprinting back to school. It's three miles away easy. He's back in time to finish his sandwich before the bell. And then the bell rings. Shane gets up and when he runs into Kingsley in the hallway he looks out the window and says,"Principal Kingsley,your coupe's gone." Coupe,like chicken coop." Rick said. "I get it." Lori said. "Of course you do. You've heard this story 1,000 times. What you said before, you're right. Shane's gonna make it back with what the doctor needs. He'll make it back." Rick said. "Hershel says you need to eat." Lori said. "Carl's gonna be all right." Rick said. Lori looked at Rick and said,"Please,for me. You've got to keep your strength up."

Daryl laid down on the bed of the R.V. and he could hear Carol sobbing. He looked over at Andrea who was reloading a gun. Daryl got up and he grabbed his crossbow. "I need my clip now." Daryl said and Andrea gave him the gun she was reloading. "I'm gonna walk the road,look for the girls." Daryl said and he exited the R.V. "I'm coming too." Andrea said and she gave Daryl a flashlight. Dale looked confusing and Daryl explained,"I'm going for a walk. Shine some light in the forest. If they're out there,give them something to look at." "You think that's a good idea right now?" Dale asked. "Dale." Andrea scoffed and the two adults walked off into the forest.

The Cherokee was slowly driving up the farmhouse and the car stopped. T-Dog and Glenn got out of the car and T-Dog was shivering. The two began walking up to the porch of the farmhouse. "So do we ring the bell?" Glenn asked T-Dog. "We're past this kind of stuff,aren't we? Having to be considerate." T-Dog answered. "Did you close the gate up the road when you drove in?" Maggie asked. "Uh,hi. Yes,we closed it. Did the latch and everything. Hello. Nice to see you again. We met before briefly." Glenn said. "Look,we came to help. There anything we can do?" T-Dog asked. Suddenly,the front door opened and Barbara walked out of the doorway,wiping blood on the white cloth she had. "Glenn. T-Dog. Hi." Barbara said and her eyes looked at T-Dog's left arm. "It's not a bite. I cut myself pretty bad though." T-Dog explained. "Maggie and I have it looked at. I'll tell them you're here." Barbara said. "We found some painkillers and antibiotics. I already have T-Dog some. If Carl needs any." Glenn said while holding up a bag of antibiotics and painkillers. "Come on inside. I'll make you something to eat." Maggie said and the four went inside the house.

Glenn,T-Dog,Barbara,and Maggie stood in the doorway of Carl's room. Glenn took off his baseball cap and said,"Hey." "Hey." Rick said. "Uh, we're here,okay?" Glenn asked. "Thank you." Lori said. "Whatever you need." T-Dog said. Then,the four left the room. Hershel looked at Carl's wound and said,"They don't come back soon, we're gonna have a decision to make." "And that is?" Rick asked. "Whether to operate on your boy without the respirator." Hershel answered. "You said it wouldn't work." Lori said. "I know. It's extremely unlikely. But we can't wait much longer." Hershel said.

"You really think we're gonna find Sophia and Carmen?" Andrea asked Daryl as they walked in the forest. Daryl shined his flashlight on Andrea's face and said,"You got that look on your face same as everybody else. What the hell's wrong with you people? We just started looking." "Well,do you?" Andrea asked. "It aint the mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia. They could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost and they survive. It happens all the time." Daryl answered. "They're only 12." Andrea said. "Hell,I was younger than them and I got lost. Nine days in the woods eating berries, wiping my ass with poison oak." Daryl said. "They found you?" Andrea asked. "My old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doing another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse than wear. Except my ass itched something awful." Daryl answered.

Lori stood on the porch and Rick walked towards her. "Maybe this isn't a world for children anymore." Lori said. "Yeah,well,we have a child. Carl is here in this world now." Rick said. "Maybe he shouldn't be. Maybe this is how it's supposed to be." Lori said. "You can't mean that." Rick said. Lori looked at Rick with a serious face and Rick said,"Okay. All right. I can understand that thought crossing your mind." "It didn't cross my mind,Rick. I can't stop thinking it. Why do we want Carl to live in this world? To have this life? So he can see more people torn apart in front of him? So that he can be hungry and scared for however long he has before he...so he can run and run and run and run and then even if he survives he ends up — he ends up just another animal who doesn't know anything except survival? If he — if he dies tonight,it ends for him. Tell me why it would be better another way." Lori said,and her voice broke. "What changed?" Rick asked. "What?" Lori asked. "Jenner offered us a way out. You asked him to let us keep trying. You begged him. 'For as long as we can,' you said. What changed?" Rick asked. "It was a moment,the other day — it was just a second but I forgot Jacqui was dead. I turned around,I wanted to tell her something. I almost said her name. It was just a second and then I remembered. But then I realized she didn't have to see any of it. In the highway,the herds,Sophia and Carmen,Carl getting shot — she didn't.....she doesn't have to be afraid anymore. Hungry. Angry. It hasn't stopped happening,Rick. It's like we live with a knife at our throats every second of the day. But Jacqui doesn't. Not anymore. And then.....I thought,'Maybe Jenner was right.'" Lori answered. Rick rubbed his temples of his wife's bickering and said,"I don't accept that. I can't accept that. That man surrendered. It doesn't matt—it doesn't matter what he said. None of it. You really think it would be better if Carl — if we just gave up?" Rick asked. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two adults and the only thing they could hear was the crickets.

The needle was going in and out of T-Dog's skin and Patrica said,"You got here right in time. This couldn't go untreated much longer." She looked at the pills bottle and she asked," 'Merle Dixon.' Is that your friend with the antibiotics?" "No, ma'am. Merle's no longer with us. Daryl gave us those — his brother." Glenn answered. "Not sure I'd call him a friend." T-Dog grunted. "He is today. This doxycycline might have just saved your life. You know what Merle was taking it for?" Patrica asked. "The clap." Glenn answered and Barbara looked at him. "Um,venereal disease. That's what Daryl said." Glenn corrected himself. "I'd say Merle Dixon's clap was the best thing to ever happen to you." Patrica said to T-Dog.

Glenn sat on the rocking chair out on the porch and his hands were together. "Are you praying?" Barbara asked as she walked out of the doorway of the front door. Glenn sighed and he wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Why do you sneak up on people so much?" Glenn asked. "It's a habit my older sister taught me and plus, you're easy to sneak up on." Barbara said. "I was praying. I was trying to." Glenn said and Barbara sat down on the floor with her knees to her chest and her arms rested on top of her knees. "My older brother doesn't pray. He says there's not much sense in his going to church. What are you praying for?" Barbara asked. "My friends. Our daughter. You think — you think God exists?" Glenn asked. "I always took it on faith. Lately I wondered. Everything that's happened,there must have been a lot of praying going on. It seems quite a few went unanswered." Barbara answered and she sniffled.

A truck approached the farmhouse and Shane exited the truck while carrying backpacks. Everyone rushed out and Shane asked,"Carl?" "There's still a chance." Rick answered. Shane gave the backpacks to Hershel and Hershel asked,"Otis?" Shane shook his head and Barbara hugged Maggie who was crying. "We say nothing to Patrica. Not till after. I need her." Hershel said.

"I've known Otis since I was a kid. He's run this farm since before my mother died and before Barbara was born." Maggie said and she sniffled. "Who else? Who'd you lose?" Glenn asked as he looked at the fridge that had pinned photos. Maggie got up and she pointed at a photo. "Stepmother. Stepbrother. Brother. My niece." Maggie said and she cried harder.

—

The branches snapped underneath her combat boots and her body hit the floor after her foot got trapped underneath a fallen tree. Carmen's face had dirt,dried blood,and grime on it and she gripped on her knife. She quickly got up and she continues running away from the herd of walkers. Her clothes were dirty and tattered up and she continued running to God who knows where.