Ch. 16 Close Calls

Michael walked over and heard Carl happily talk about their walk and the walker.

"Congratulations on your pregnancy Lori" Michael tried to talk about something else to distract her, but it doesn't work.

She doesn't respond. Rick comes out of the tent and seems to have listened to what Carl said before coming out.

"I will say that it's better for him to learn early. It's better than him freezing when he actually has to do it in a dangerous situation-"

"I asked you to keep him safe Michael. And what do you do when a walker appears? You hand him a knife and encourage him to kill it. He's just a kid"

"Exactly Rick. He's a kid and the dead are rising and eating the living. He needs to learn how to survive"

"You're right that he needs to learn but you aren't his parent. You aren't even their parent" Rick points at the twins. "You can't just make these decisions Michael. I'm glad he is safe and had a good time. But you….you didn't ask me or Lori if we thought it was ok for him to end a walker"

"So you are saying I should have just let him throw rocks at it?"

"No, you should have taken care of it and not put Carl in danger is what I'm trying to say"

"He wasn't in danger. I showed him to cripple its knee or ankle. Then I taught him how to actually kill it. I was there teaching him. If the walker moved or Carl tripped I was there to keep him safe. And it's more dangerous for him not to know. Right?"

"Haaah. You are right that he has to learn at some point. But that doesn't mean that you had to do what you did. Keep in your lane"

"And where is that exactly Rick? Where is my lane so I can not be the parent to the twins? It's not like I had to raise them or anything" Michael sarcastically responds then gets serious. "I wouldn't put them in danger Rick! And I see Carl like a younger brother! Hell, Beth is like a younger sister as well and I've barely spoken to her! You want to keep pushing buttons you're gonna fuck something up Rick" Michael tolerated it for as long as he could. Then he just snapped and couldn't hold it in. He walked back towards the woods. If there was one walker there could be more.

Rick just let Michael go. He was mad but he wasn't going to push this too far. He just wanted Carl to not kill yet, or for as long as he can help it. Lori was mad but was kinda thankful for Michael teaching Carl. She knew that Michael was right, she just would have preferred it if Michael asked.

Michael was walking when he saw Maggie near the horses. He turned and headed that way. "Hey Maggie" Michael said. He could already feel his frustration leaving his body.

"You doing ok? I heard shouts from you and Rick. Seemed pretty heated from your side. What happened?"

Michael explained what he had done and how Rick was acting.

Maggie sets down the saddle she was taking off a horse. "Michael, Rick didn't mean that. He's stressed out. My dad doesn't want to leave the farm and he's extremely stubborn. And he's probably mad that Carl killed something that resembles a human. The kid already acts so cold. He will realize you were just looking out for the kid once he cools down and talks to Lori like you are talkin to me"

"You're right" Michael slumps his shoulders and looks out at the woods behind him. "It's just that….when Carl saw the walker...He wasn't afraid like Briana or Brave like Paul tries to be when they are in front of a walker. He was curious and felt no sense of danger. He picked up a rock and was going to throw it at the walker like it was an animal or something. I grabbed his wrist before he could throw it and I wanted to teach him it's dangerous and that he's too young and small to be acting invincible"

"I know you had good intentions. And it seems like you did the right thing. Not everyone thinks like you do Michael. I think you were the only one that would have done what you did. And before you act all wounded that's not a bad thing. Everyone would rather the kids look away. Maybe Andrea would have done what you did but she would have done it sloppily and gotten someone hurt. Now what are you up to?"

"Thanks Maggie. You know you are pretty smooth when you decide to be"

"Don't change the subject, what were you going to do?"

"Oh, I wasn't trying to change the subject. I was going to make sure there weren't anymore walkers roaming the woods. Needed to vent a bit too but you took care of that"

Maggie was worried he would do something stupid and she wasn't wrong. He was going to hunt walkers by himself. But she was glad he was worried about the safety of everyone.

"Well, how about we go to the house first? I think my dad wanted to talk to you. I can talk with Beth while you two talk" Maggie grabbed his arm and pressed her body against it.

"How am I supposed to say no now? I actually wanted to talk to him as well. Can I ask for something before we go?"

"Depends on what it is?" Maggie playfully narrows her eyes.

"Oh, it's nothing much. But it would make my day" Michael acts shy

"Still depends"

"Ok, here it goes. Can you...."

"Out with it!" She squeezes his arm tighter.

"…..Give me a kiss!" Michael leans down and gives Maggie a quick kiss catching her a little off guard.

"Bold of you to steal it after asking permission mister" He smirks at Maggie

"I'm daring like that"

They share a small laugh and then head to the house hand in hand.

Once inside they go to the second floor and see Hershel holding Beths hand as he says a children's song or something as he sits beside her and taps her hand. Something about 'doodlebug'.

Michael and Maggie stand in the doorway. Maggie goes and stands next to Hershel and hugs him while he's sitting down. "Oh, hello Maggie, Michael" Hershel greets them.

"Hey daddy" "Hello sir"

"Maggie, can you stay by Beths side for me? I want to talk to Michael"

"Was gonna do that anyway. Need to talk to my lil sis"

Hershel stands up and is walking over after kissing Beths hand.

"How's she doin?" Michael asks as Hershel is halfway through the room towards the door.

Hershel stops walking and turns his head. "She seems to be in good spirits today. I'll be back in a few Doodlebug" Hershel waves to Beth.

"Glad to hear it" Michael smiles and nods to Beth as he walks out with Hershel behind him.

"Let me know if you need anything. I can do a run through town. Gonna do it anyway yknow…"

"Where's your family from?" Hershel asks.

"I don't really know. Parents weren't around to ask and I was too lazy to search it on the internet before this went down"

"That's a shame. The parents not being there for you that is. At least you were there for your brother and sister...My family came from Ireland"

"Last name like Greene, makes sense"

They smile for a second and Hershel pulls out a pocket watch and looks down at it in his hand. "My grandfather brought this over from the old country. And he passed it on to my father who passed it on to me. I pawned it to pay for a night of drinking I no longer remember" He looks up at Michael's face. "My late wife Josephine. Maggie's mother. She gave it back years later when I sobered up. She was a good woman, my Jo…." Hershel looks at the pocket watch reminiscing. Then a few seconds later he looks back to Michael. "Maggie's a lot like her"

"I see why you married her then"

"When we were in that bar and afterwards I thought about a lot of things. You may know the feeling since you've raised Briana, but when you become a father you learn a lot of things. You will come to understand that no man is good enough for your little girl...until one is"

Hershel holds out the pocket watch by its chain letting the watch dangle in the air. Michael can hear the ticking and it calms him. He just stares at the watch lost in thought for a moment.

"Go on now. Before I change my mind about you"

Michael holds out his left hand and Hershel places the watch in it. Michael looks down at the silver watch. He feels amazing at the moment.

"Thank you sir"

"You can call me how you wish to. But you don't have to walk on eggshells around me because of Maggie. She's a grown woman and she'll do what she wants when she wants, whether we like it or not. But she's got a smart head on her shoulders. That's some of what she got from Jo. Wish I could take credit for some of it but I can't. I know I don't need to say this, but protect her. Please"

"Of course Hershel, with my life. And I think part of doing that is taking you with us off this farm and to the prison"

"Don't push it Michael...My girls are strong. They will be fine without me. My place is here on this farm. It's where my life started and it's where it will end"

"With all due respect sir, your girls need you. Yes they're strong, but I don't want to test how strong they are without you. I'm not sure Beth will even leave without you. And I won't take Maggie away without you as well. Ricks group, our group needs you. I know a little bit about medicine but not to your level. And Lori is having a baby, how are we supposed to deliver a baby? Sure Maggie may now a thing or two but nothing compared to you"

"You're giving me too much credit. I don't know everything-"

"I'm not saying you do, but to the rest of us you seem to. That just goes to show you that we need you. If Maggie or Beth, I pray they don't, but if they get hurt and I don't know how to help but you did. I don't know what I would do if I didn't try convince you to come along. Hell, I'll drag you if I have to. Or I'll get down on my hands and my knees and beg you to. We need you Hershel, your life can't end here on this farm"

"Give…..give me some time to consider it. I know it'll be hard for them either wa-"

"You can have some time, but the sooner you decide to come along the better. If not for yourself then do it for the rest of your family. Both the ones still alive and those that have passed on"

Michael bows his head after he's done talking and goes to Beth's room. He pockets the watch before he walks in.

"Hey Beth. How's your day been? Tired of this room yet?"

Maggie is sitting beside Beth who is laying down. Maggie is holding Beths hand in both of hers. Michael goes and kneels beside Maggie and puts a hand on theirs.

"I'm feeling better. And this room is getting old fast" Beth speaks quietly and her voice sounds hoarse or scratchy. Like when you've cried for a long time.

The three of them talk for a while. Hershel looks at them from the doorway for a minute and then goes to his room. He looks at the photos of both his wife's and the family photos he has framed.

Eventually Maggie and Michael leave Beth's room. Beth had the biggest smile since her incident. Her wrist has also seemed to have started healing already.

Michael and Maggie went for a walk through the fields. They held hands and enjoyed the cool night air. Michael gave her his leather jacket just in case she got cold. They joked and laughed together. They talked about silly things. Then Michael told her he would drag Hershel from the farm if he had to. Maggie understood that Michael wanted to not be the reason their family separates and comforts him.

They stop walking and it's really dark now. They lost track of time and are now in the middle of a field. They can see the house in the distance.

Then they hear the groans of a cow. They wander over to it and see that it is laying on the ground. It's stomach is ripped open. It's intestines and stomach were laying on the ground.

As soon as Michael saw this he grabbed Maggie's hands and ran through the fields. He looked back and saw a walker standing right where Maggie had been not even a second ago. Once he saw it then it made noise. He hadn't heard it until he saw it. But that's not how walkers operate, are some learning to ambush? But he would have remembered walkers evolving or learning from the show. Like the zombie video games. But the walkers were the same. It was the people you had to worry about after a while. He did then think about how walkers would play dead sometimes and then spring to life. It was always random if a walker was abnormal and always probably a plot convenience.

The walker didn't even turn to eat the cow it slaughtered. It walked after Michael and Maggie.

Maggie looked back and seemed to realize that she was almost just attacked if it weren't for Michael. She couldn't even find any words and just focused on running back to the house.