Worth It

Chapter 17: Beside the Dying Fire

"I'm going after them." I say after heading back downstairs. I lean down and begin to tie my boots as quiet murmur surround me.

"Don't. They could be anywhere. And if Randall comes back, we're gonna need you here." Lori tells me, but I shake my head.

Suddenly, the door opens, and I whip my head around. I walk up to Daryl and hug him tightly.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" He says over my shoulder. "No." Lori tells him. "We heard a shot." Daryl tells us

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori suggests. "We found him." Daryl says, keeping his hand on my cheek.

"Is he back in the shed?" Maggie asks. Daryl holds my face in his hand and looks around. "He's a walker."

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershal asks. "No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit." Glenn tells us. "His neck was broke." Daryl explains.

"So he fought back." Patricia says.

Daryl shakes his head. "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. They were together."

"Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori asks him. He nods. "You got it." Daryl and I both head out the front of the house. I look around. "Oh my god. Daryl." I point. "Patricia, kill the lights." Hershel says.

"I'll get the guns." Andrea tells us.

"Maybe they're just passing, like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?" Glenn asks us. I held Daryl's hand, fear surrounding me. Sam and James stood next to us, and James looked up at me.

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size would rip the house down."

"Carl's gone." Lori tells us. I look back at her. "What?"

"He--he was upstairs. I can't find him anywhere." She stutters.

"Maybe he's hiding." Glenn suggests. "He's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy." Lori says. Carol grabs her arm. "We're not. We're gonna look again. We're gonna find him."

"Maggie." Glenn mutters as he watches her cock a shotgun. "You grow up country, you pick up a thing or two."

"I got the number--it's no use." Daryl tells us. "You can go if you want." Hershel says, cocking his own gun. "You gonna take 'em all on?"

"We have guns. We have cars." Hershel answers. "Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm." Andrea states.

"Are you serious?" Daryl asks them. I look down at James and Sam, who is now holding a loaded gun.

"This is my farm. I'll die here."

Daryl looks at me and smiles. "All right. It's as good a night as any." I smile. We both jump over the handrails and head over to his bike.

"You driving?" He asks me. I laugh. "And let you have all the fun?"

"Sam! James! You best take care of each other!" I yell, watching the three of them jump into the trunk of the truck.

I hop onto Daryl's bike, my back against his and I rack my feet onto his bike, holding myself still.

He drives up to the fence and starts to shoot. I do the same. When they get too close, he starts to drive back and forth, allowing me to shoot them.

The barn had caught fire, luring some of them away, but it was no use. "There's too many." I tell him. He looks around. I look over to the truck. One of the walkers had gotten to close.