The Truth

(A/N: Short Chapter today to lead into the next chapter since it's going to be pretty long.)

The trip back was uneventful, but we did stop at a little gas station/Thrift market thing to pick up some clothes for them. As we were pulling in the driveway, I could see my dad talking to Rick by my RV. So, I stopped right next to them, and we got out of the car, and when Rick and my dad saw I wasn't alone, their hands went to their guns on their hip, "Easy! They're cool."

My dad asked me, "Who are they?"

I pointed at Axel first, "He's Axel, and you got Oscar and Big Tiny. They were trapped in the prison I stopped at. And I know what you're thinking but they've been pretty solid so far. They deserve a chance, and they brought gifts." I opened the driver door and opened the trunk, and Rick and my dad walked over.

"Holy shit, son. This is a lot of food."

Rick started digging through it, "This will last us a long time if we are smart with it."

My dad said, "Hershel will want to meet them of course."

I scratched my head, "Yeah, do you mind taking them to him? I want to go back out."

My dad nodded, and looked at them "My name is Paul, but we're guests of the man who owns this land, Hershel. So, follow me to meet him."

Rick ended up following too, and I got back in the car and pulled up to the house to unload the trunk. I started piling the food on the porch when the front door swung open, and my mom and Maggie came out to help me. With their help, getting the food in went fast. I told them I was going back out, so we said our goodbyes, gave both of them a kiss on the cheek and I got in the car and left.

Well, the prison is kind of a bust, but it could make for a decent home. I'll keep looking, hopefully I'll find something better.

*2 Days Later*

I couldn't find anything worth a damn besides the prison. I'll have to at some point expand my search radius, but we might have to move somewhere far away or settle with the prison unfortunately. The only thing to come out of these wasted days, were some new weapons I found in a hunter's store. They were simple throwing knives, but they're already proving to be an excellent addition. Truth be told, it wasn't the easiest thing to adjust to, since my axes and spears weigh more, but after one day of practicing I felt at the level with my other weapons. I'm calling it and heading back to the farm.

*1 Month Later*

Things on the farm were going great, we have all become a pretty tight knit family. It was pretty refreshing to have some sort of normality in this world. That changed when Rick came to me unexpectedly.

"Hey, Bear, you busy?"

"No, what's up Rick?"

Rick looked around, and asked "Can you back Glenn and me up on a run? Shane and Daryl are busy."

I smiled, "Of course, what are we looking for?"

We started walking towards a truck, and he answered "Well, general supplies honestly. But Dale asked if we could get him some tools to replace what he lost in Atlanta."

Glenn came running over to the truck, and asked "We ready?"

"Yeah."

We got in the truck and started to leave, but I had Rick stop by my RV so I could grab a spear. We reached the next town after Senoia and were cruising through, when I said, "Stop the truck!"

Rick slammed on the brakes, "What is it?"

I pointed, "There's a baby store, I want to check it out."

Glenn and Rick obviously knew why so they didn't say anything, and Rick just backed up a little and pulled in front of the store. We got out, and I said "No, she isn't pregnant."

Rick and Glenn just cheekily smiled at me. The door was unlocked, and we cleared it so I could look. I found a crib I liked so I had Rick help me carry it so I wouldn't damage it by manhandling it myself to the truck when Glenn let out, "We should probably grab two since…" He stopped talking.

I looked at Rick then to Glenn, "Who else is thinking about having a kid? I don't think your hand can get pregnant, Glenn."

Glenn stumbled out, "Uh, just forgot I said anything."

Rick put his side down, and stepped to Glenn, and asked, "Who?"

Glenn went extremely red and started to trip on his words, "I-it's nothing, nobody."

Rick put his hands on his hips, "Just tell me who. If someone is actually pregnant, tell me."

Glenn whispered, "Lori." But then he spoke normally, "Don't tell her I told you, I promised."

Rick didn't say anything and walked past me to the door and walked out. I looked back at Glenn, "Help me put this in the truck, we should make sure he's fine."

After Glenn and I got the crib in the bed of the truck, we started to follow Rick who was just slowly walking down the sidewalk. About halfway down the sidewalk, Rick turned into a bar. We followed him inside and he went behind the counter and pulled out a shot glass and whiskey. He was pouring his shot when I asked "Why are you drinking right now? This is a little blessing in this cursed world."

He looked at me, and then downed his shot. He started pouring another when he finally said "It might not be mine." He put down the bottle and downed his second shot.

I looked at Glenn then back to Rick, "What do you mean? You're Lori's husband."

He was about to pour his third shot when I grabbed the bottle from him, and then he told us "Shane and Lori slept together before I found them."

I put the bottle on the counter, and asked "How do you know? She straight up told you?"

"No, but I can put two an…." The bar door creaked open.

We all looked towards the door, and two men came walking in, the skinny guy looked at the fat guy and said, "Son of a bitch. They're alive." They walked in and the skinny guy sat at a table, while the fat guy took a stool by the counter. The skinny guy said, "I'm Dave." And gestured to the fat guy, "That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony."

*AN: I'm not going to write this whole interaction because well if you are reading a walking dead fanfiction you have seen it… hopefully. *

Five minutes after our introductions, things started to get heated between Tony and Rick, so I pulled a throwing knife out a little, but Dave managed to calm Tony down. Then Dave hopped over the counter to find some better alcohol and ended up putting his pistol on the counter and said, "You know what it's like out there."

Rick replied, "Yeah, I do. But the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry, you'll have to keep looking."

"Keep looking, where do you suggest we do that?"

Rick answered, "I heard Nebraska is nice."

"Nebraska huh? This guy." Then he tried to grab his pistol off the counter, but Rick was faster and put a bullet in his head.

Tony was struggling to pull his shotgun up, and I took advantage of that and threw my throwing knife into his head, his body slumped to the ground.

I was about to say something when we heard more people outside so we ran and hid by the front door, out of sight. I muttered, "Shit..."

They tried to get in, but Glenn stopped them by pushing his body into the door. And, after Rick told them their friends were dead, they opened fire on the bar.

'Fuck.' I thought to myself as I ran and dived over the counter to Dave's body. I grabbed his pistol, and checked him for a spare magazine. He only had one so I stuffed it in my pocket.

Rick yelled, "Bear check the back, see if there is a way out. Glenn get behind the counter."

Without seeing if Glenn got behind the counter I rushed through the door leading to the backroom. I saw the exit, but there was already someone there trying to enter. The guy broke the glass and had his hand reaching for the doorknob so I raised my gun and fired twice.

BANG BANG.

THUD

"They got Zach!" Somebody yelled outside.

I ran to the door and peeked outside to see another guy coming up on the door.

BANG BANG.

THUD.

I was about to exit the door when I heard Rick and Glenn behind me, "I think it's safe to leave this way." I whispered.

We exited and made our way to the front when we heard a car stop, "Come on we gotta go! Roamers are everywhere!"

"What about Sean?"

"They got him, just jump! We gotta go!"

THUD, FOLLOWED WITH GROANS

"Sorry, I gotta go."

"Don't leave me!"

After watching that shit show I looked at Rick, "Do we save that dumbass?"

He looked to be torn, but said "Yeah, fuck. We should."

We ran over to the guy that had jumped and he had impaled himself on the fence. He started begging us to save him. As we got closer I could tell he might not make it even if we got him unstuck. We tried to gently pull him up, off the fence, but we were running out of time due to the walkers. So, Rick just yanked his leg up which made the guy scream and pass out, "Bear carry him to the truck, we gotta get him to Hershel."

I didn't respond and just put him over my shoulder and we ran to the truck. The guy was knocked out all the way to the farm, and he woke up for a second as we pulled in the driveway but a bump put him back in pain and he passed out again.

Rick got out and yelled at the house, "Hershel we need you!" Then he looked over at T-Dog who had came out of his tent, "T, help Bear get the guy inside."

I opened my door and T helped me get him out, and we carried him to the house, once inside we saw Hershel was clearing a spot on the dining table for us.

Hershel was able to stabilize him and Rick had T-Dog watch over him through the night. And in the morning Rick locked him in a shed for the time being.

(A/N: This came out shorter than I wanted but next chapter we can get to the action and juicy part of the early season plot. DON'T READ if you don't want spoilers but I'm thinking of having them move to Virginia earlier to make Alexandria their home earlier since I think it was better than the prison, or we can take it slow through the prison/Woodbury stuff)