Ch.69

Amy came to me saying they couldn't go through with it so they were holding him for now. I pulled her to bed and we were a bit busy when the screams came. We dressed and I ran out with my sword, only to find it was too late for Dale. His stomach was ripped open and he was dying so when Rick failed to do it, I took the pistol from him instead of Daryl.

I put it to his head and told him. "I give you mercy."

I pulled the trigger and he was no more. I stood up and passed the gun to Rick, telling him I'd get started on the grave. I left without another word and dug Dale's grave, finishing and washing up before building him a plain wooden casket, putting him inside and sealing it before carrying it to the grave the next morning. I carved words into stone, shaping it afterwards, making a big angel.

The tablet at the bottom read: Here lays Dale Horvath, a man who despite all odds, believed in humanity and our better angels. He was the best of us and he will be missed.

We tracked and killed the walkers nearby the farm before I was asked to help repair the fences while Shane was building the guard lookout. They pulled the vehicles up towards the house and when I returned from fixing the fence all by myself, Rick told me they were letting the asshole go. I grunted and headed to my RV, telling him I'd best find all my weapons because I sure as hell wasn't staying if he was free.

Andrea and Amy stopped me while the rest of the group convened. Hershel told me Dale told them why I wouldn't stay if he was freed and still he argued for the kid's life because he knew I'd given him a lot of guns and ammo of which Hershel himself now had with the RV. Rick sighed. "Dale may have believed in our better angels, but you know the consequences of what may happen and you aren't willing to have that on your conscience. That makes you a necessity to this group more than the guns at this point. Now we can't make you stay, but we are asking that you'll consider this. We're taking the kid an hour and a half away and dropping him off with a couple days worth of supplies and a knife."

I clenched my fists and growled before releasing my hands as Amy and Andrea asked me to stay while taking them. I turned to Rick. "I'm not like Dale, I won't be the voice of reason you want back. I don't give a damn about some rapist, kid or not and I don't care about what's right when dealing with such people. But I won't kill them if it dooms a lot more. You can't ask that of me, not when there's another option."

Hershel sighed. "If they come, we won't expect you to fight-"

I punched my RV's siding and a bell toll range out before I grunted. "Dammit! Just…Dammit!"

I leaned back against the RV and rubbed my head before sighing. "Dale was right, we can't play God with a man's life, we have no right to do so. If they come looking to kill us or worse we can't be looking to the future and worrying about people we've never met and may never even know. If we're to survive we have to roll with the punches, come what may. Kill them in a fight, but not in cold blood huh? I guess the old geezer had something to teach me after all."

I stopped looking at the clouds and looked to them, leaving my eyes on Rick. "I won't leave. If they come, they die. They make their decisions and we make our own, but this is the last time you try and get in my head."

I turned to Hershel. "Both of you. You make me break my word to leave, you had your reasons and Dale was right, but if you make me break my word to protect those I've promised to, you will both be running from me and you won't get far. I don't have anything worth a damn in this world except a powerful will to survive, but my word is my vow and I've broken once now. Don't make me do it again because you won't like what's left."

They gave me their word they wouldn't and I grunted. "In that case lets be clear, I don't answer to Rick and I don't answer to you either Hershel. I stay because I gave my word I'd protect a part of both your groups, but I won't at any point follow your orders. You want something of me then you speak to me as an equal and I will do the same. Talk down to me and we will come to blows and I don't go down easy."

They both agreed before I took my keys from Andrea and moved my RV, telling them. "Move Dale's RV right up to the door, keep a person on top for watch and keep the doors shut unless we need to evacuate. If we do, you don't wait, you get as many will fit inside and you go. That old thing can't face a horde and it's only reinforced enough to stop small caliber bullets from handguns. If we need to move it needs to be one of the first ones loaded and out."

I turned to Hershel. "Some advice, move whatever supplies and clothes you think you can fit in it without causing you problems for day to day stuff. A go bag is best for everyone from this point on because I can tell you now that if they bring something more powerful than rifles, a lot of you are in danger and if a horde of walkers come, we won't have time to pack. My rigs powerful, but if we waste the ammo on walkers then we're sitting ducks for any group that comes with an inkling to do violence, not just the boy's."

Hershel nodded and told Maggie to see it done before thanking me. I shrugged. "It's just advice. You don't have to listen to a word I say or pay it any heed if that's what you want."

He shook his head. "No, I know what's useful when I hear it. I mean it, thank you for everything."

I nodded slowly and told him he was welcome. I moved my RV and placed it strategically so the other vehicles were between it and the house. That way it can tank whatever comes. Then news came of the asshole escaping and that sent everyone into panic mode.

Shane said he clocked him with a rock and took his gun before he followed him out and passed out. I headed back to the house and told Amy and Andrea to get their stuff and pack up camp because something was coming and I could feel it. We packed fast, put up the stuff and the others followed suit seeing, Carl wander off. I continued to help pack up and when the shot was fired, I told them to load up. I tossed Andrea the keys. "Turn the RV on and keep the lights off."

The others were doing the same when the walkers came. I drove in with Andrea and Amy in the RV when the barn was lit ablaze, activating the saw blades and taking over with the scoop active. I told Amy to make sure the door was locked while telling Andrea. "Open the roof hatch, if Carl and Rick are in the barn we'll swing by and pick them up."

She agreed and we cut into the walkers around the farm while the flood lights flipped on, attracting a lot of attention. Amy sat down and told the others to evacuate over the radio and meet back up on the highway because the blades weren't tested and they were getting stuck from walker blood and gore. We stopped and Andrea helped Rick and Carl into the RV before I was forced to activate the guns to open a path through.

The loud noise from the guns on the RV attracted more from the woods while we cut a swathe through the madness. We made it out and headed to the highway after the rest. When morning came, we parked on the highway where I got out, cleaned the blades and put them away after shaking my head when I saw the wires. Andrea asked if it was fixable. "Not with the supplies we have. Shitty wires to begin with, but it was the best I could get ahold of from scavenging."

Rick thanked me and I nodded before grunting. "We'll regret the ammo loss later, but for now we're alive."

The others gathered and asked Rick for the plan. Rick turned to me and I shrugged. "I'm heading to Fort Benning to get ahold of what I can even if I have to clear out the fort to do it. That much ammo and possibly a tank or helicopter, I can't pass that up, not if we plan to find a place and make it livable instead of living on the move. I'll bring whatever MREs and supplies I can get, but I can't take a lot of people, not with the blades the way they are."

Andrea spoke up. "We're coming with you."

I nodded and turned to Rick. "Take half the bags of guns, ammo and two thirds the food from the camper."

He nodded and told me. "We'll head east towards the coast first, circle around for supplies, use bows, swords and knives to conserve ammo and stay quiet. In two weeks we'll meet back here and reconvene to move to a better location."

I nodded and I turned to T-Dog. "I could use the extra muscle to move the supplies we find fast. Somehow I doubt Fort Benning will be very defensible for long even if we clear it out."

He nodded and Rick agreed so they took the supplies and guns before we left.