Chapter 5

"So you telling me a woman on a horse asking for Lori and said that Carl's been shot and Lori just went with her?" Dale wanted to get a recap of what had taken place in the woods. The older man was leaning on his precious van as he shook his head.

"Basically," Glenn responded.

" So now what?" Andrea asked as she placed her hand on her hips, squinting her eyes as the sweat rolled down her face, looking at each one of the people surrounding her to get answers.

"I won't go if that's what you're saying. I won't leave here." Carol opposed the idea that the people in the group were thinking before announcing aloud.

" Carol, the group is split and we can't be sticking ducks out here for another night," Dale said as sympathy coated his eyes.

" What if she comes back and we are not here? What will my baby do then."

" She's right, that's awful. We can't leave yet."

Akaze was silent during the conversation ever since he came back and listened attentively. Both sides stated their facts. Although he rather be in a shelter so Andrew's safety wouldn't be in jeopardy. However, he feels for the little girl because he can imagine how she scared shitless. As for right now, Akaze will remain quiet until a person can come up with a better idea to handle this properly because he had zero clues on how to proceed.

"How about this, tomorrow we will make a big sigh for the girl and leave supplies for her. I will stay here tonight inside the RV." Daryl pitched in an idea and it was better than anyone could come up with honestly.

"I guess I'm staying since my baby will be here." That statement alone from Dale made Akaze cringe at the old man.

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she sent a grateful smile at the two of them. "Thank you so much." She whispers.

"That sounds like a plan." Akaze finally muttered as Andrew nodded his head in approval.

"I'm in." Andrea agreed with Akaze as she sent a small smile to the man.

( As for now, I guess I can call it a truce with that annoying woman.)

" No, no, no, Akaze. You have to take care of that boy. Akaze, Glenn, and little Andrew should head out there as we stay here." Dale suggested but it was more than an order.

" Me? Why is it always me? Why can't I stay here?" Glenn butted in.

" Because you and Akaze have to reconnect with our people and always Akaze's guard will be solely placed on Andrew. Since he's busy with the kid you have to look out for them and the Grimes family."

( I don't like being ordered around but Grandpa has a point. I am going into a new territory. I'm not just protecting myself, I also have to watch out for Andrew. I can't possibly look out for the rest of the group when my mind will be thinking about Andrew's safety.)

"More importantly, T-dog needs help. He has a nasty cut that's just getting worse by the second. He needs help and that's not an option." Dale continued.

( Nasty cut? When did that happen?)

As Dale kept rambling about T-dog's health, Daryl walked to his bike to pull out a bag of meds.

"Where did you get that from?" Akaze questioned the biker as Daryl threw dirty rags towards Dale.

" Get your shit off my bike and this is my brother's stuff." he pulled out the painkillers and tossed them at Glenn. Then pulled out the Oxycycline and threw it at Dale. " Be careful with that. It's first class, not the cheap shit."

Akaze went near Glenn and gave his shoulder a good pat. "It's a brotherly bonding time, heading to a farm that we know nothing about. What could possibly go wrong?" Sarcasm spilled out the Japanese mouth as the Korean flinched at his strong grip.

"I don't know. You think they eat people?" the Korean answered and Akaze winced due to a flashback he had.

(That memory just won't go away.)

Andrew gave Akaze a grin because only the young boy knew what happened to Akaze at his farm. Akaze glared at the boy but it just made Andrew's grin grow wide.

( Little shit.)

****

Daylight burned out as the dark sky took control with only stars beaming above. On a typical night when the world wasn't totally screwed, people on earth would think it's a beautiful night to drive but now it is different and it's not because the world came into shit, the real reason why the passengers in the car were tense was for Akaze awful singing about being cuts to a bit in the farm that where heading.

" Oh say can you see, we are going to see a blood trail from thee. That woman on the horse has a chainsaw on her. Heads slice off the necks while the eyes are still wide open. Her family is eating our group and they will end us too."

Glenn kept wincing at the image of Akaze singing and he was starting to turn the car around as T-dog was in agony resting his head on the window. Andrew kept side-eying Akaze and was starting to be embarrassed by the association.

" Hey, if they do kill us. They are doing me a favor then." T-dog mumble.

"Let's not talk like that. We're right here guys." Glenn put the car into stop as he looked at the house ahead of him. " That's it." his shaking hands never leaving the wheel.

A mischievous smirk is placed on the Japanese lips as she sees fear eating Glenn alive. "Glenn, are you scared?" Akaze ate up the distance between them as he went close to the side of Glenn's face. " Scared to be eaten alive by humans," he whispered in a dark tone.

Glenn didn't face Akaze's eyes because he knew that the jokester was laughing at him but he couldn't stop the jitters. "No. I'm not scared," he said but he wasn't fooling Akaze or himself.

Without a second pass, the Korean heard the doors open as everyone was leaving the car. "Then come on, scaredy-cat." Akaze finally said as he shut the car door. The three were heading up to the house as Glenn was trailing behind, holding the shotgun tightly on him. When the four made it to the front porch they all stopped simultaneously.

" Do we ring the doorbell?" Andrew suggested.

"Mhm, I don't know." Akaze chimed in. " Do we?" He faced Glenn and T-dog.

" I suppose we do," Glenn uttered as he held his gun.

" We passed this kinda stuff. Come on." T-dog stepped forth and the rest followed. Before T-dog was about to open the door a voice scared the four.

" Did you lock the gate before you came in?"

"OH SHIT!"

"MOTHER TRUCKER!"

The four of them yelled as they saw the girl with her knees pressed against his chest.

( I didn't even see her.)

"Are you a ninja or something? This is coming from the Japanese, by the way." Akaze finally spoke as the three were still startled.

Glenn narrowed his eyes at Akaze's stupidity and shook his head. " Hi and yes we did close it."

The woman placed her feet on the porch and she leaned forward to catch a good look at the four males.

" Nice to meet you again. We met briefly before." Glenn kept speaking to the woman as Akaze made a sly grin.

( Why does Glenn sound nervous? Does Glenn Boy have a crush on this southern pie? More materials to tease Glenn about.)

" We came to help." T-dog cut off Glenn to get straight to the point of their visit. Before he could finish she grunted out of pain and the woman caught a good look at his bleeding arm.

" Not a bite. I cut it pretty bad," he assured the woman.

" Let's bring this inside and have a good look at it." the woman passed the four. She opened the door as Glenn held out the pills.

" These are painkillers and antibiotics for him and Carl," he uttered and the woman smiled at him.

" Thank you. Come on in and I will make you something to eat," she said as she held the door open for them.

( I know I was playing earlier but I hope they don't eat humans. I don't want to go through this again.)

They all followed the woman and she led them to the room where Carl was being held up. Akaze eyes follow from the boy on the bed to Rick's face. He could see the pain in the man's eyes as she stared at his only child on the bed.

" We are here, Rick," Akaze spoke softly and the sheriff looked at the group when they arrived.

" Thank you," he muttered. Then Akaze looks at Lori, he has strong dislike feelings towards the woman but she is a good mother to Carl.

" You rest up well," Akaze said. " Both of you." Lori finally met his gaze and she nodded her head at him.

" Thank you." she softly spoke with gratitude in her tone.

The four left the room following the woman to the kitchen. " Get comfy. It's going to be a long night." She gestured to them to sit on the chairs. They all said thank you and sat down. As T-dog was resting his body on the table, Glenn was stealing looks from the woman as Andrew was staring at the wall probably in his imaginary world. Akaze, however, was eying her every move as she fixed them sandwiches. From what seems like a brief chat with her and seeing some of the people here, they look like good people but anyone could play the role of a good person. Akaze didn't want his guard to be down. As Glenn and Andrew were sharing brief chats with the woman, Akaze heard footsteps coming down and his ear perked up. His hands were under the table, gripping his gun to be ready for anything but before his mind wandered into further paranoia a petite white woman with brown wavy hair that dropped to her shoulder and had the bitchest expression glued to her face.

" Full house, Maggie?" she curtly spoke.

Maggie turned around and nodded her head. " These people need help."

The woman sauntered to the kitchen table where everyone was sitting and looked at each one of them in the eyes, she finally looked at Akaze's eyes and the two of them didn't break contact. The girl wants to show them dominance and each of the others fails when they switch their gazes off except for Akaze. She stared at him as she reached for the apple in the fruit bowl in front of him. " Don't we all need help, sissy." then proceeded to take a big bite from the apple.

(No matter how fucked up the world is getting, you will always find a bitch and she's gross for not even washing the apple. Hope she has bacteria in that nasty mouth of hers.)