I told everyone at the farmhouse table, and nobody argued. It was the first time since I'd arrived that I was grateful for how many people had learned to trust me.
"The herd's coming from the north, about two hours out," I said. "We can't fight it here. We need to evacuate everyone to the road, and we need to hold the south gate long enough to get the vehicles out."
Hershel nodded. "What do you need?"
"Everything," I said.
We moved fast. Walt's builders barricaded the gate with tractors and farm trucks. Daryl and Merle loaded the vehicles. Maggie took the youngest children to the van. Rick organized the shooters, and Shane stepped up to the barricade without being asked.
"I'll hold the gate," he said.
Rick looked at him. "Shane."
"I'm good at this," Shane said with a small, tired smile. "Let me do it."
Rick hesitated. Then he nodded. "Don't die."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
The herd hit the farm like a wave at sunset. I met them with every weapon I had. I fought from the porch, then the fence, then the road. Thor and Rex tore through the first wave, and Dawn and Fenrir held the flank. My Z-Slayer title kept me going, stamina ticking up with every kill, and the coins rolled into my wallet so fast I stopped looking at them. By the time the sun was fully down, I'd lost count.
The gate held for an hour. It would have held longer, but there were too many. When the line finally buckled, Shane was at the center, swinging a fire axe, with three walkers on him. He shouted for Rick, then for Lori. I was fifty yards away, fighting my way toward him, when a wall of the dead closed between us.
"Go!" Shane yelled. "Go, I've got them!"
He didn't have them. Not for long. But he kept them off the road for exactly as long as it took the last vehicle to clear the gate, and when I finally broke through to where he'd been, there was nothing left but the axe and a broken fence.
Survivor lost: Shane Walsh. Penalty: −10 Z coins.
Rick stood beside the last truck with Carl in his arms, and when I told him, he didn't scream. He bowed his head, then straightened, and looked at the horizon.
"He held," Rick said hoarsely.
"He did."
"Good," Rick said. "That's how I'll remember him."
We drove through the night, a long line of lights and engines, until the farm was a smear of fire on the horizon behind us. When we finally stopped, everyone stumbled out and sat in the grass without a word. I took a seat on the hood of the jeep and checked the system for the last time that day.
Wallet: 1,399 Z coins.
The herd had paid more than I'd expected. I stared at the number, then did what I'd planned to do from the start. I opened the store, chose two packs, and spent a thousand coins.
Purchased: Soldier pack (500). Doctor pack (500). Wallet: 399 Z coins.
No one needed to know where the new faces came from. By morning, a medic and four fighters walked out of the trees to join us, and Hershel, who had lost everything but his daughters, looked at the doctor and let out a short, startled laugh.
In the pale light, Rick spread a map across the hood of the jeep. "There's a prison about thirty miles west," he said. "Walls. Towers. A fence. If it's empty, we can hold it."
"It won't be empty," I said.
"No." Rick almost smiled. "But we'll make it ours."
I looked at the camp behind us: Rose and Sophia asleep against the dogs, Carol and Lori sharing a blanket, Daryl and Merle arguing quietly about a motor, Glenn holding Maggie's hand, and Dale watching over everyone. I thought about the boy who'd died in front of a television, angry that nobody on the screen had made better choices.
I had come here to make the show better. I wasn't sure I'd done that. I'd lost Jim, Jacqui, Ed, and Shane, and I'd saved Amy, Sophia, Carl, and a camp full of people who wouldn't have lasted a week. Maybe that was all anyone could do.
Fenrir put his head on my knee. I scratched his ears, watched the sun come up over the road, and for the first time since I opened my eyes on that cloud, I wasn't thinking about what came next.
I was just glad to be here.
The End
Chapter 12
The Last Stand
I told everyone at the farmhouse table, and nobody argued. It was the first time since I'd arrived that I was grateful for how many people had learned to trust me.
"The herd's coming from the north, about two hours out," I said. "We can't fight it here. We need to evacuate everyone to the road, and we need to hold the south gate long enough to get the vehicles out."
Hershel nodded. "What do you need?"
"Everything," I said.
We moved fast. Walt's builders barricaded the gate with tractors and farm trucks. Daryl and Merle loaded the vehicles. Maggie took the youngest children to the van. Rick organized the shooters, and Shane stepped up to the barricade without being asked.
"I'll hold the gate," he said.
Rick looked at him. "Shane."
"I'm good at this," Shane said with a small, tired smile. "Let me do it."
Rick hesitated. Then he nodded. "Don't die."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
The herd hit the farm like a wave at sunset. I met them with every weapon I had. I fought from the porch, then the fence, then the road. Thor and Rex tore through the first wave, and Dawn and Fenrir held the flank. My Z-Slayer title kept me going, stamina ticking up with every kill, and the coins rolled into my wallet so fast I stopped looking at them. By the time the sun was fully down, I'd lost count.
The gate held for an hour. It would have held longer, but there were too many. When the line finally buckled, Shane was at the center, swinging a fire axe, with three walkers on him. He shouted for Rick, then for Lori. I was fifty yards away, fighting my way toward him, when a wall of the dead closed between us.
"Go!" Shane yelled. "Go, I've got them!"
He didn't have them. Not for long. But he kept them off the road for exactly as long as it took the last vehicle to clear the gate, and when I finally broke through to where he'd been, there was nothing left but the axe and a broken fence.
Survivor lost: Shane Walsh. Penalty: −10 Z coins.
Rick stood beside the last truck with Carl in his arms, and when I told him, he didn't scream. He bowed his head, then straightened, and looked at the horizon.
"He held," Rick said hoarsely.
"He did."
"Good," Rick said. "That's how I'll remember him."
We drove through the night, a long line of lights and engines, until the farm was a smear of fire on the horizon behind us. When we finally stopped, everyone stumbled out and sat in the grass without a word. I took a seat on the hood of the jeep and checked the system for the last time that day.
Wallet: 1,399 Z coins.
The herd had paid more than I'd expected. I stared at the number, then did what I'd planned to do from the start. I opened the store, chose two packs, and spent a thousand coins.
Purchased: Soldier pack (500). Doctor pack (500). Wallet: 399 Z coins.
No one needed to know where the new faces came from. By morning, a medic and four fighters walked out of the trees to join us, and Hershel, who had lost everything but his daughters, looked at the doctor and let out a short, startled laugh.
In the pale light, Rick spread a map across the hood of the jeep. "There's a prison about thirty miles west," he said. "Walls. Towers. A fence. If it's empty, we can hold it."
"It won't be empty," I said.
"No." Rick almost smiled. "But we'll make it ours."
I looked at the camp behind us: Rose and Sophia asleep against the dogs, Carol and Lori sharing a blanket, Daryl and Merle arguing quietly about a motor, Glenn holding Maggie's hand, and Dale watching over everyone. I thought about the boy who'd died in front of a television, angry that nobody on the screen had made better choices.
I had come here to make the show better. I wasn't sure I'd done that. I'd lost Jim, Jacqui, Ed, and Shane, and I'd saved Amy, Sophia, Carl, and a camp full of people who wouldn't have lasted a week. Maybe that was all anyone could do.
Fenrir put his head on my knee. I scratched his ears, watched the sun come up over the road, and for the first time since I opened my eyes on that cloud, I wasn't thinking about what came next.
I was just glad to be here.
The End