Kapitel 311: Insane in the Membrane, Insane in the Brain

Jayr POV - Earth, Georgia, Atlanta's Survivor Camp - 2010

The morning after we killed all the walkers that attacked the camp, the group started to clean up the area and deal with the corpses and while doing that, Rick and the others tell us what happened during their trip to Atlanta to recover the guns and rescue Daryl's brother, Merle.

They told us that the group arrived in Atlanta and parked the van beside a railroad line before Daryl threatened T-Dog of killing him if Merle's not okay, but in response, T-Dog insisted that the walkers couldn't get through the chains on the door.

How as they traveled on foot below a highway overpass, Glenn decided that the group should go for Merle first because going for the guns would mean doubling back something that all of them agreed.

Like that, Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and T-Dog returned to the department store and Daryl killed a walker in the store with his crossbow before they hurried to the rooftop.

They cut through the chain on the stairwell with the bolt-cutters and emerged onto the roof but then they found a bloodied hacksaw sitting beside a severed hand with bloodied handcuffs hanging from the pipe above on the ground something that upset Daryl greatly as he screamed as the others looked on helplessly.

Shortly after they had just discovered Merle's severed hand on the ground, the enraged Daryl angrily pointed his crossbow at T-Dog, who didn't show any fear.

Daryl eventually relented when Rick pulled his revolver out and aimed it at him, telling him that he doesn't care if every walker in the city hears him shoot it making Daryl put his crossbow down and ask T-Dog for a rag which he proceeded to fold up Merle's hand in it and place it in Glenn's backpack.

Shortly after that, T-Dog grabbed the hacksaw and the numerous other tools from Dale's toolkit on the rooftop, and then, Daryl followed the trail of Merle's blood along the rooftop to track him down.

While tracking his brother's blood, Daryl shoot another walker with his crossbow and proudly noted that his brother managed to kill two walkers in the room one-handed.

The trail of blood led Daryl, Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog to a kitchen, where a blowtorch was burning next to an iron steak weight crusted with skin the result, they speculate, of Merle cauterizing his stump which made them believe that Merle had left the building and was searching for a way out of the city, and at that point, Rick agreed to help Daryl search the streets for his brother.

They decided to take cover in an abandoned office above the department store where Glenn outlined a plan to retrieve Rick's bag of guns on an old whiteboard.

Their plan was quite simple, Daryl would have to watch Glenn's back from the store's alley, while Rick and T-Dog would cover a second alley that is two blocks away.

After formulating that plan, Glenn and Daryl climbed down the ladder to the alley, and Glenn dropped his backpack while Daryl stayed behind to cover him.

On the street, Glenn ran towards the tank as walkers were waking up all around him, but he grabbed the bag and Rick's hat without much trouble and headed back toward Daryl.

But in the alley, a teenager, who later they learned was named Miguel, sneaked up on Daryl from behind but the always wary Daryl quickly turned and trained his crossbow on the teen, interrogating him about his brother Merle and telling him to be quiet but Miguel yelled for help despite Daryl's warnings.

Rick and T-Dog, having heard Miguel's screams, head for the alley as Daryl is jumped by two men, who later discover are named Jorge and Felipe, who have also come there to retrieve the guns with which Glenn has just arrived at the alley but seeing what was happening he turns around to run the other way but the men grab him and start beating him before they take the bag of guns.

In retaliation, Daryl fired an arrow into Felipe's hindquarters, causing him to drop the bag while yelling in pain.

In the end, Felipe and Jorge instead grabbed Glenn, threw him in a getaway car while fighting off walkers, and drove off, leaving Miguel and the guns behind.

Daryl shut the gate in the alley to keep out the walkers before turning on the teenager but Rick and T-Dog arrived just in time to pull Daryl off Miguel as Daryl explained that his friends took Glenn.

After learning about what happened, they decided to take Miguel with them before Rick grabbed the bag of guns, and his hat, and then they headed back up the ladder to the roof.

Back inside the abandoned office building, Rick was looking for answers while a confused T-Dog wondered what they'd gotten themselves into while Daryl was still seething over Glenn's kidnapping and getting jumped by Miguel's men.

Then Daryl threatened Miguel by throwing Merle's severed hand in his lap, telling him that's what happened to the last guy who crossed him which made Miguel cower.

Rick threw Daryl off him and declared that he just wanted to know where to find Glenn, and he managed to convince Miguel to take them to him.

Miguel led Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog to an abandoned factory, where the leader of the group, a man named Guillermo, emerged.

At that point, Rick proposed trading Miguel for Glenn but declared that he had no interest in giving up his bag of guns.

Even with T-Dog aiming a scoped rifle at his head from a nearby rooftop, Guillermo demanded the bag of guns, threatening to kill Glenn if they didn't hand it over and to show that they meant business they shoved Glenn on the edge of a rooftop, his mouth covered with tape and his hands tied behind his back.

Seeing that the situation turned into a stall, Rick and the group retreated to a nearby foreman's office, where Daryl argued that the guns were more valuable than Glenn, but Rick insisted he owned more than that of him.

Rick knew how dangerous the mission could become and that he might get killed when he went back to the factory, and he told Daryl and T-Dog to head back to the campsite, but they refused to let him go alone and also took note that they wouldn't know what to tell his family, so they too load their guns and grab Miguel.

Just like that, Rick escorted him in to the warehouse carrying the guns on his back, cut Miguel loose, and demanded Guillermo to hand over Glenn.

In response, Guillermo told Rick something about how he was going to chop up Glenn and feed him to his three vicious man-eating dogs.

But before the situation could escalate further, an old woman wearing a nightgown, who they called Abuela, shuffled into the middle of the standoff, asking Felipe for help with a certain "Mr. Gilbert".

She then noticed Rick's uniform and begged him not to take Felipe away, saying he'd turned his life around and they needed him here.

Rick tells us how baffled he felt at that moment and how on impulse he told the old woman that Felipe was helping him find a missing person making her assume he was referring to Glenn, and took him by the hand leading him and the rest of the group into a nursing home auditorium, where several elderly people were grouped around an asthmatic man and Glenn was also there trying to console the man.

As Felipe helped the man with an inhaler, Glenn made Rick notice that Guillermo's "three vicious dogs" were in fact teacup-sized chihuahuas, that harmlessly yap at the group.

Rick told us how he immediately realized that Gulliermo's group was putting up a tough front to intimidate them.

Realizing that and without wasting any time he pulled Guillermo aside and confronted Guillermo, stating he was ready to kill everyone in the building for the guns.

At that point, Guillermo explained he was only trying to protect the food and medicine for the residents, as the staff abandoned the patients, leaving Guillermo and Felipe, the only staff members behind, and as people trickled in to check on their grandparents, Gulliermon suddenly found himself as the leader of a group of young men, women, and the elderly.

After they heard his story, the group agreed to leave some of the guns to Guillermo so he could defend the nursing home, and then they left the nursing home and headed back to where they parked the van, beside a railroad line but once there, they found out that the van was gone and immediately thought of Merle and that he was heading to the camp to enact his revenge for what happened and so they hurried back to the camp on foot.

Rick concludes their story by telling us how he and the others heard the gunshots as they were running toward the camp and quickned their pace to help defend the camp.

While they were telling us what happend during their trip to Atlanta, the group continued in their effort to clean up the camp.

Daryl, Morgan, and a few other survivors are walking around the camp armed with a pickaxe and other weapons using them to double tap all the corpses they see, perfectly following Rule #2 making sure that no walker is actually playing possum.

Jacqui, Andrea, Amy, and Jim are piling up the double tapped corpses in an area away from the camp where Glenn, T-Dog, and a few others are throwing the double-tapped bodies into a fire to deal with them.

In the meantime, I quickly checked every other survivor to make sure that no one was hurt, bit, or infected in the chaos, of course, I already knew that everyone was completily fine as I made sure that it was so, but even then, I still have to make a show of it to reassure the other people in the camp.

After I've made sure all the people in the camp are fine, I start to wander around the camp to see if I can do something else to help these people until something catches my attention.

Nearby, I see Daryl as he continues to casually swing the pickaxe into dead walkers' skulls, but suddenly he stops in front of the half-eaten corpse of Carol's husband, Ed, he snorts a little before he calmly raises his pickaxe, but just as he is about to swing it down, Carol stops him and states in a somber tone, "I'll do it. He's my husband."

Hearing that, Daryl looks at Carol for a few moments before he gives her the pickaxe.

Carol takes the pickaxe from Daryl's hand and raises it up on her shoulder, looks at her husband's corpse, and sobs a little before she swings the pickaxe down on Ed's skull, then, after a few moments, she pulls out the pickaxe from her husband's skull only to once again swing it down, and after that she repeats this as she sobs and let loose all of her anger against her abusive, shitty husband while Daryl watches in silence, cringing in apprehension.

Watching this scene, I smile a little while thinking, 'With this, she has finally started to break free from that scum of a human being's shadow... Hell, no one in the camp felt bad about his death when they found out that he was the only casuality in the walker attack. No one, not even Dale who is the most morally upright person in this group just sighed when he found out and moved on, not even his own daughter cried or felt bad about it. Just from that, I realize that what kept him alive until now was only the fact that no one in the group wanted to kill him, at least not yet as he didn't push his behavior too far likely scared by the presence of Shane, and the much more aggressive and loose Merle and Daryl.'

Sometime later, everyone in the camp gathered together to discuss our current situation.

Shane is the one who starts the discussion, he stands up, gives a quick look at everyone stopping a few more seconds on Lori and Carl, and lets out a sigh before saying, "Guys... At this point, it is clear that the camp is no longer as safe as before. Those things already found us two times already, and a third one is basically inevitable. Now we have to choose if we want to stay and try to reinforce this camp or leave the camp and find a safer place for everyone."

Daryl is the first one to declare his opinion by saying, "I say we stay in this camp. We got easy access to both clean water and food resources with a little bit of preparation we can survive here for a long time. More importantly, Merle could still return." but quickly T-Dog replies, "That's more of a disadvantage than an advantage. You yourself admitted that your brother would want revenge for what happened. At that point, we won't only have to worry about the zombies' attack but also about Merle's revenge. I think it is better if we search for a safer place."

Dale nods and adds, "There is also the problem with staying in this location. This time only 50 or so attacked the camp and it is already a miracle that we only had one casuality this time. But if they attack in even higher numbers then this camp will easily be overrun even more so if all the things in the city start to migrate toward the camp."

At this point, Andrea asks, "Then if we decide to leave, where should we go?" followed by Amy who adds, "The city is out of the question... maybe someplace similar to this camp? Maybe a farm or something like?" making Jim comment, "It's not a bad idea... if we find an abandoned farm we can make use of its structure to build up some defenses around it. Besides, considering that it is a farm it would also be away from the more populated areas like the cities, which means fewer walkers. Another advantage of this choice is that with a little luck maybe we can also grow our own food."

Many of the people present start to nod and talk to each other in response to Jim's proposal with some of them approving his choice and others being against it.

Then, Rick suggests, "What if we take a different approach? I heard the C.D.C. was working on a cure." which makes Shane comment, "I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell."

Hearing that, Rick continues, "What if the C.D.C. is still up and running?" but again, Shane doesn't seem convinced by this and says, "Man, that is a stretch right there."

In response, Rick looks at everyone and asks, "Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the C.D.C. at all costs, wouldn't they?" before declaring, "I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection…"

At this point, Shane sighs before he says, "Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning." which makes Lori comment, "That's 100 miles in the opposite direction."

Shane nods and continues to explain the reason behind his choice, "That is right. But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there."

But Rick shakes his head and argues back, "The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that. The C.D.C. is our best choice at the moment." followed by Morgan who adds, "While I'm not officially part of this group, I want to inform you guys that maybe Rick is right and that the C.D.C. is truly your best choice but not for the reasons that Rick told us."

After saying that, Morgan calmly explained, "You see, the C.D.C. was always our destination before we found your group, but not because it may be still safe and protected. The reason why we were heading there is because Doc wants to make use of the equipment there to find a cure for whatever is causing this thing."

As soon as Morgan finishes saying that, the people around explode in a messy, chaotic discussion until Shane shouts, "Quiet!" before Morales steps forward and asks, "Can you truly find a cure for what is causing all this?" followed by Daryl who also asks, "Do you even know what is the thing causing this thing to be with?"

Hearing those questions, I step forward and while feeling everyone's eyes focusing on me, I calmly answer, "To answer Morales' question, I'm not sure at the moment if I can cure it, but I already have a few ideas for a possible solution, it is just that without the equipment and facilities of a specialized lab, I can't actually safely test them and see if my theories are true."

Then I take a moment to let them digest that before I continue, "Regarding Daryl's question, the answer is yes, I know what caused all this. It is called the Wildfire virus. From what I know, the virus originated from la Biomédicine DDMI in France. I don't know if the virus is the result of an experiment that went horribly wrong or a biological weapon gone out of control or anything along those lines. The only thing I know for sure is that it is terribily infectious as it transmits through airborne particles and possibly direct contact and was able to spread across the whole world in only a few months."

At this point, Daryl curses out loud, "Those damned cheese-eating surrender monkeys! They always find new ways to screw everyone over one way or another!"

After that, the discussion continues for a few more minutes until the group mostly agrees on going to the C.D.C., and then the people go on their way to prepare for the journey and leave the camp.

As I'm walking towar the cargo truck to check on it with Morgan and Duane, I hear Carl ask to his father, "Are we safe now, Dad? Now that we're together?"

In response, Rick holds his son closer and states, "I won't leave again. I promise you that. Not for anything." before he asks, "Now give me a chance to discuss some things with your mom, okay?"

Carl nods and replies, "Yeah." which makes Rick smile as he says, "All right. All right." then he watches Carl run toward the center of the camp to talk with Sophia.

Shortly after that, Rick takes Lori's hand and asks, "Shane blames me for not being here. Do you? We got guns now. We're stronger." before Lori looks at her husband in the eyes and says, "And we were attacked by a small horde of zombie when you and the others were away. It is almost a miracle that only Ed died and for that, we have to thank that doctor who not only warned us before those things attacked but also because he prepared a coutermeasure beforehand and went on full terminator on them. You want me to say I think you were right? I understand that..."

At this point, Lori makes a brief pause before she adds, "All I can say is that neither one of you is entirely wrong. It's the best I can do right now."

Hearing that, Rick seems hurt by her words and stays in silence for a few moments before he asks, "What about the C.D.C.?" which makes Lori mutter unsure, "Rick…" but Rick interrupts her and explains, "We're at the ragged edge here. We need relief and we got a freaking doctor who can maybe help and even solve everything. I don't know why people can't see that."

Immediately after he says that Lori tries to make him understand by saying, "Well, look at their faces. Look at mine. We're all terrified. If one of us suggested, based on a hunch, that we head toward that city full of walkers, you'd have no part of it. We need certainties. Tell me something with certainty."

For a moment, Rick is unable to come up with anything, he slowly looks left and right as if trying to find someone who would give him a bit of advice or the answer, but then he looks at his wife in the eyes and simply says with conviction, "I love you. That's all I got."

Hearing that, Lori is torn between her happiness for hearing those sincere words and her guilt for what happened between her and Shane and because of that, she can only form a timid smile on her face and replies in an almost choked tone, "I love you too." before the two share a hug.

Shortly after that, Dale, Shane, and Rick leave the camp armed with their guns and explore the surrounding woods to sweep the forest for walkers that may be wandering around.

Seeing that, I focus my senses on them and hear that when Shane finds himself alone with Rick, he hesitates a little before he decides to follow my advice and come out clean with Rick about what happened between him and Lori.

Rick's first reaction is to yell at his friend, throw his gun to the ground, and tackle Shane in anger before he starts to punch him.

Shane tries to defend himself, but before the situation can escalate, I rush into the forest and arrive just in time to see Dale watching the two struggle on the ground unable to stop them as Rick doesn't listen to reason at the moment.

Dale notices my arrival but before he can say anything, I quickly move toward the two and calmly tap their pressure points temporarily paralyzing their bodies while also forcefully calming down their heightened emotions.

After that, I force them to talk in an impromt counseling session where Shane admits that at first he had no romantic intentions toward Lori and simply wanted to keep her and Carl safe in Rick's place as they were the closest thing he had to a family, but then as crazy things continued to happen around him and not knowing if they could even survive another day, Lori and him decided to seek comfort in each other, especially since at the time they thought that Rick had died and because of that, nothing stopped them from crossing that line.

Then Shane talked about how Lori and Carl became the things that kept him alive as the only reason why he didn't give up was because he had to keep them alive, and he also talked about the happiness and the guilt he felt when he found out that Rick survived.

On the other hand, Rick admits that he had already noticed some signs of their affair as soon as he arrived in the camp, he noticed the strange gazes, but the tense atmosphere, and more than everything, Lori's remorseful attitude made him ignore it.

On top of that, the only reason he didn't want to face it was because too much was already happening and from Lori's attitude he knew that she regrets it before he admits that even if he still feels upset about what happened, he understands and will forgive them.

At this point, I decided to take advantage of their forced calm state to also break out the news of Lori's pregnancy to Rick, and boy he was not happy about it, but then he let out a sigh and said to Shane that he will be part of the child's life as his/her father but that since the child will also be Lori's he will also loves it as his own and wants to be involved in the child's life.

Just like that, we spend a couple of hours addressing the various issues between, Rick, Shane, and Lori, not only talking about their feeling and how to deal with them but also how to deal with Lori in her current hormone-induced unstable state.

Of course, throughout that whole discussion, both Dale and I continued to give them our inputs and suggestions, Dale using his long experience, and emotional and moral support while I offered more logical ones.

After the impromt counseling session we all return back to the camp where Shane and Rick go to talk with Lori while I focus back on preparing for tomorrow departure.