Chapter 26 "I Just Quit"

Speeding down the road, they arrive at the town. The sun was already on the horizon, and it was going to get dark soon. John gave Rick directions as they navigated through the town to the bar.

When they reached the bar, they hopped out of the car. They walked into the bar through the front door. The inside of the bar was empty, the chairs were upside down on the table, John guessed the world ended while the bar was closed.

The rest of the interior was the same as any small-town bar would be. It had some pictures of regulars on the walls, some cheap chandeliers on the ceiling, and a bathroom on the far side, there was also a room that led to the stocking area.

They quickly saw Hershel at the counter, sitting on a stool. His face was quite flushed, and he was sipping on a glass of whiskey. They walked over to Hershel and Rick started to talk to him.

Rick said, "Hershel. We need you to come back."

Hershel just ignored him and said, "Care for a drink?". John seeing that Hershel was ignoring Rick laughed in his head, he jumped over the counter to the other side and grabbed a nice bottle of liquor, Bourbon. He looked down for a glass and saw a double barrel shotgun resting in front of the cups. He grabbed a glass cup, after he set the shotgun on the counter. Pouring himself a drink, John listened as Rick continued to try and convince Hershel to come back to the farm.

While this was happening, Maggie, Lori, and Patricia were standing over Beth. They were getting increasingly worried. Lori walked out of the house, then she went over to a tent that was further from the rest of the camp. She saw Daryl and Merle, sharpening some sticks into arrows for Daryl's crossbow. She asked Daryl to go after Rick and bring him back to the farm. Daryl scoffed and said, "I got better things to do".

Lori seeing this and not wanting to ask Shane, snuck off to Maggie's car and drove out of the farm. The group was busy doing other things and did not see her leave.

Lori driving down the road, looked down to her map. When she looked up, there was a walker in the road. Reacting quickly, she swerved around it, but the car went out of control and flipped multiple times before stopping. Lori was knocked unconscious, with a bleeding head, hanging upside down by her seatbelt.

Back to the bar, Rick was trying to convince Hershel, John standing there behind the bar drinking. Rick said, Beth collapsed, she's in some state. I think she is in shock, and I think you are too.",

Hershel questions, "Maggie's with her?".

Rick says, "Yeah she is but she needs you. She needs her father to help her."

Hershel responds, "What can I do? She needs her mother. Her mother was the best when taking care of her. Losing her twice has impacted her heavily. She should have mourned her long ago. But I thought that there was a cure, and I kept her from grieving for her, I stole that away from her".

Hershel then picks up his glass drinking some more. John hearing this, decides to speak for the first time. John says, "Hershel, I get that you are grieving now, but your daughters need you. Beth may be the one in bed, but Maggie is also having a hard time. You can't blame yourself for having hope. Hope is what keeps everyone sane, hope that the world will go back to normal someday in the future".

Hershel says, "Hope? I have no hope! When I first saw you come driving onto my farm, I thought things were going to get better. That the lord had guided you to me, for us to build something great together. But when Shane opened the barn and started shooting the things inside. Seeing those things get hit by bullets, all over their bodies, they just kept on coming and that's when I knew how foolish I had been. That those people had been gone for a long time and I had convinced my family that those things would get better, even when all of the signs were there."

John hearing this just continued to drink with Hershel. Rick and Glen walked away and stood by the door. Talking about what they were going to do now. Glen suggests, "Do we let him pass out from drinking? Then take him back."

Hershel hears this and says, "Just go, leave me be".

Rick says, "I promised Maggie, I would bring you back."

Hershel says, "Because you promised her. What is that worth to anyone anymore."

Rick gets pissed off and says, "What? Leave, so you can sit here and drink yourself to death? Leave your girls alone, to fend for themselves?", Hershel shakily gets up and confronts Rick.

Hershel says, "Stop telling me how to care for my family! My Farm! You people are like a plague. I do the Christian thing and allow you people to stay on my farm. AND YOU DESTROY IT ALL!"

Rick walks over to Hershel with a scowl, he says, "The world was already destroyed when we met.",

Hershel yells back, "AND YOU TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THEIR LEADER!".

Rick yells back, WELL I'M HERE NOW, AREN'T I?!"

Hershel then takes a breath. He was breathing heavy, his breath caught he says, "Yes. Yes, you are.", he then walks over to the counter again and sits down.

This whole time, John was standing behind the counter watching this drama unfold, eating some peanuts he found.

Hershel now sitting on a stool, drinking the rest of his glass of whiskey. Rick walks over to Hershel and grabs his arm, saying, Lets go. Your girls need you."

Hershel shakes Rick's hold on him. Hershel then says, "I didn't want to believe you. You told me there was no cure. That these people were dead not sick. I chose not to believe you. When you all were shooting them, and they just kept coming. I knew that Anette was dead, and so was my hope. I had been feeding her rotten corpse, none the wiser. Thats when I knew for sure, that there was no hope. And you know that now, just as I do. Don't you?".

Rick then backs away as Hershel says, "There is no hope for any of us".

With that said, John says to Hershel, "Hope is not what brings you out of the situation, it is a tool used by people to inspire others. Hope can never vanish because anything that still lives has hope for the future. No matter how hard things get, I won't ever give up. Because the people I care about still need me, and my will is not so easily broken".

Rick piggybacks off of this and starts a speech, he says, "Look, I'm done doing this, cleaning up after you. The truth is. Nothing has changed. Death is Death. It's always been there. Whether it's from a heart attack, cancer, or a walker. What's the difference? You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you? Now there are people back at the farm trying to hang on. They need us, even if it's just to give them a reason to go on, even if we don't believe it ourselves. This isn't about us anymore, it's about them".

Hershel then contemplates for a while, finishing his drink, he turns it upside down before setting it on the counter. At the same time, the door opens. John thought, 'that is some exceptional timing.

They all turn to the door and see 2 men walk inside, one fat and one skinny. The skinny one says, "Son of a bitch, their alive." They then walk over to a table, and sit down, pouring himself a drink the skinny man introduces himself and his friend to Rick and his group.

He says, "I'm Dave and that scrawny looking douche bag there is Tony."

The other man saying with a chuckle, "Eat me, Dave".

Dave saying, "Hey maybe someday I will."

Dave then explains how he and Tony met eat other. "We met on I-95 coming out of Philly. Damn shit-show that was."

Glen then introduces himself before saying, "Hi, nice to see new people. Then Rick introduces himself, John doing the same. Hershel was quiet.

Then some drinks were passed around and he asked Hershel, "What about you pal? Have one?", Hershel responds, "I just quit."

Dave says, "You got a unique sense of timing, my friend."

Rick says, "His names Hershel. He lost people today, a lot of them."

Dave then says, "I'm truly sorry to hear that. To better days and new friends. And to our dead--May they be in a better place." Then they all drink a shot.

Rick asks them why they came so far south, they reply saying they were at first heading to D.C., but they never made it, they kept getting blocked by walkers, so they gave up. They then explained that each group they met on the way here had a different story of a safe place they were trying to get to.

They said some people heard about the coast guard saving people, their most recent target was a railyard in Montgomery. Sending trains to the middle of the country. Kansas, Nebraska.

Glen asked, "Nebraska?"

Tony says, "Low population. Lots of guns."

Glen says, "Kinda makes sense".

Dave responds, ever been to Nebraska, kid? There is a reason they call'em fly over states".

Tony laughs before giving Dave a look, only noticed by John, the rest of the group oblivious. Dave then says, "What about you guys?"

Rick says, "Fort Benning eventually".

Dave then says, "I hate to piss in your corn flakes, 'Officer', but umm. We ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by 'Lamebrains".

Glen says, "Wait Fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?"

Dave replying, "Sadly, I am." Dave then sighs before saying, "Oddly, the truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next. Praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab a hold of you when you sleep."

Tony saying, "If you sleep."

Dave then says to them, "Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You holed up somewhere else?"

Rick pauses for a second before saying, "Not really".

Dave asks, "Those your cars out front?"

Glen says, "Yeah. Why?"

Dave then says, "We are living in ours; those look kind of empty, clean. Where's all your gear."

Hershel then says, not understanding the situation, "We're with a larger group. Out scouting, thought we could use a drink."

Dave says, "A drink. Hershel, I thought you quit.... Well, were thinking of setting up around here, is it safe?"

Glen not understanding that Dave is trying to find out if their group is stationed close by, says, "It can be, although we have killed multiple walkers around here."

Dave says, "Walkers? That what you call them?" Glen replying, "Yeah"

Dave says, "That's good. I like that. I think that's better than 'Lamebrains'."

Tony says, "Yeah, more succinct".

Dave says, "Okay, Tony went to college."

Tony saying, "Two years".

They all go quiet, observing each other. Dave then says after a while, "So what-- So what, you guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development."

Tony saying, "Trailor Park or something. A farm" Dave then sings "Old McDonald", with Tony finishing the song as he pees on the floor. The group stay silent, confirming Dave's guess, John almost face palmed at how bad his group members were at lying.

Tony says, "Is it safe?"

Dave saying, "It's gotta be. You got food and water?"

Tony interrupting, "You got 'Cooze'. Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks."

Dave chuckles before saying, "Hey pardon my friend. City kids, they got no tact. No disrespect."

Dave then says, "So listen Glen..."

But he was interrupted by Rick saying, "We have said enough".

Dave says, "Well hang on, wait a second. This farm it sounds pretty sweet. Doesn't it sound sweet Tony?"

Tony saying, "Yeah, real sweet."

Dave then says, "How about a little southern hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time. I don't see why you can't make room for a few more people. We could pool our recourses, our manpower."

Rick says, Look, I'm sorry. That isn't an option for you."

Dave says, "Doesn't sound like it would be a problem."

Hershel says something good for a change, "I'm sorry, We can't."

John saying firmly, now feeling the tension in the room, "We don't know you."

Dave says, "Yeah, your right. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out there. Things we have had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those same things. Am I right?... Cause nobody's hands are clean in this world. Were all the same. So, let's take a nice hayride to this farm of yours. We'll get to know each other."

Rick and John saying at the same time, "That's not going to happen!"

Dave starts, "Rick-", but he is interrupted by Tony, saying, "This is bullshit!"

Rick says, "Calm down"

Tony says, "Don't ever tell me to calm down. I'll shoot you four assholes in the head and take your damn farm!"

Hearing this John was about to shoot both of them in the head with the shotgun, but Rick stands up. Dave then calms them both down, before saying, "You got to understand. We can't stay out there. You know what it's like".

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

Dave says, "Keep looking. Where do you suggest we do that."

Rick says, "I don't know? I hear Nebraska's nice."

Dave then laughs, before saying, "Nebraska, this guy." He then goes to reach for his gun, but before he could even take it out of his belt, he was shot in the head with a shot gun, blowing his brains out.

John then shot Tony in the face, emptying the double barrel shot gun he was holding. Tony 's face was ripped to shreds. Rick was fine seeing this as he had also taken his gun out, Glen and Hershel however were shocked by this development.

This seen especially shocking in the room lit only by the moonlight shining through the windows.

At this time, Lori had woken up and saw that it was dark out. A walker trying to bite her from the other side of the broken windshield. Panicking she got out of the car and tried to run but she tripped as she was still dizzy from hitting her head. The walker now almost upon her, she managed to grab a hub cap and hit the walker's head.

This strike did not kill the walker, as it began to get up. Lori seeing this, gets up as fast as she can, running back into the car and grabbing her small revolver. Just as she turned around to shoot the walker, she saw that it was right in front of her.

Quickly shooting the revolver, she hit its head and killed it. She then exited the car again and started walking towards the town.

A while later Shane drove up to her and pulled her into the car. She resisted, until she heard that Rick and the group, had already come back with Hershel and were looking all over for her.