Four days later...
The morning sun was already high when Jason appeared on the dirt road leading to the Greene farm. Duke trotted at a steady pace, his hooves kicking up small clouds of fine dust. He sat upright in the saddle, the reins loose in his left hand. He carried a bow on his back along with his quiver, and also had his knife strapped to his leg and his two Colt pistols. His expression was impassive, almost neutral, but his honey-colored eyes held a distant, thoughtful glint, as if he were mentally going over everything he had seen and done over the past few days...
The last four days had been busier than he expected.
Rick's group had finally settled in front of the main house, occupying the front area. Dale's old RV had been strategically positioned and now served as an elevated lookout point, offering a privileged view of the surroundings of the farm. The older man spent a large portion of his time up there, alert to any suspicious movement.
Andrea also took some shifts alongside him, showing a more serious demeanor than before. The light teasing and initial interest she had shown completely disappeared after she discovered his relationship with Maggie. Instead, there had been a direct apology, without detours or unnecessary justifications. Since then, her attitude had noticeably changed, and she simply maintained a friendly relationship with him.
Well… as for that…
Due to his importance as an actual doctor, the way he was treated clearly differed from the others. Most people were more receptive, even careful when dealing with him. It wasn't just genuine sympathy; there was a silent recognition of value. In a world where a simple injury could mean death, his skills represented something close to "security," and everyone sought that—consciously or unconsciously—in a world like this.
That was why he got along so well with everyone in the group. Rick and Lori, in particular, had come to treat him as a true family friend, especially after he had saved their son's life. That act created a bond of trust that was hard to break, making his presence almost indispensable among them.
Speaking of which, Carl had already recovered enough to walk around the farm again. Although he was still in the process of recovering, his determination was evident: he wanted to help in the search for Sophia and, at the same time, showed a growing interest in learning how to shoot, as a way to protect himself and contribute to the group. Despite the adults' concerns, it was clear that this new world left no room for a normal childhood—they were debating whether it was a good idea to let him learn to shoot or not...
The trust that Rick and Lori placed in him did not arise by chance; a few things had happened that made him realize it. With Carl's recovery underway, Rick began doing everything he could to ensure the group could remain on the farm, even asking for his help in convincing Hershel, believing his word could make a difference.
And indeed, there were reasons for that. Hershel trusted him deeply, even more after discovering his involvement with Maggie. The two even had a frank and direct conversation in the past few days. In that conversation, his father-in-law made it clear that he took things seriously—it wasn't just about young people getting involved, but about responsibility in a world that had lost any sense of normality. As a sign of that acceptance and his blessing for their relationship, Hershel even gave him the pocket watch that had belonged to his grandfather.
Even so, despite that closeness, he had no real power to influence Hershel's final decision about whether or not to allow the group to stay on the farm. Faced with that, he turned to Maggie, who managed to speak with her father. Hershel did not give a definitive answer, but the mere fact that he said he would think about it for a few days already represented significant progress—and for Rick, that was enough proof that he could count on him.
As for Lori, the trust took on an even more delicate form. Two days earlier, when he went into town, she asked him to bring back a pregnancy test from the pharmacy. Not only that, Lori also shared the result with him and the weight of that discovery. Amid fear and uncertainty, she revealed that she was pregnant and that she was considering finding a safe way to terminate the pregnancy. By entrusting him with something so intimate and controversial, she showed how much she saw him as someone reliable. Even so, faced with the request, he refused to help her in that regard, stating that a decision of that magnitude could not be made without Rick knowing...
In the end, all he could do was hope that the situation wouldn't explode completely. He was fully aware that Lori had been involved with Shane—useful knowledge from the first season—and the problem was that this had likely become the cause of the breakdown of Shane and Rick's friendship. That is to say… the two had already begun to develop a silent friction, and it became even clearer when Shane openly showed that he no longer wanted to continue searching for Sophia.
While hunting in the forest, testing his own hunting skills and helping in the search for Sophia, he ended up overhearing a conversation between Rick and Shane about it...
Faced with a situation worthy of a poorly resolved love triangle, all he could do was let out a tired sigh. Fortunately, the rest of the group was far less complicated to deal with. Andrea was tough, direct, and surprisingly easy to get along with. Dale, on the other hand, was the kind of person one could sit and talk to for hours—someone who still preserved a rare humanity in that world. Glenn, being practically the same age as him, ended up becoming one of the closest; the two understood each other easily. T-Dog also proved to be a reliable and kind-hearted man, someone with whom it was simple to maintain a peaceful coexistence.
Carol, Sophia's mother, held deep gratitude toward him for all the help in searching for her daughter. In addition, thanks to his skills as a psychologist, he quickly became someone she trusted to vent to. And that was not a problem—quite the opposite. Helping people understand their own feelings and organize their minds was the work he had wanted in his previous life.
And perhaps the most unexpected thing of all was how well he managed to get along with Daryl Dixon. Despite his closed-off demeanor and difficult personality, Daryl seemed to respect him in some way...
The only one with whom he maintained a more superficial relationship was Shane. He chose to remain neutral, aware that Shane exhibited a psychological profile marked by impulsiveness, emotional instability, and a progressive deterioration of moral control. There was a clear tendency toward obsession, especially regarding Lori—whom he saw as his woman—confusing protection with possession, an indication of emotional dependency and controlling behavior. His difficulty in dealing with frustration and loss of authority made him reactive and aggressive, frequently resorting to violence as a way to resolve conflicts. In simple terms, he was the kind of man who "exploded" easily when challenged.
Even so, it would be naive to ignore that, within that new world, Shane possessed a brutally effective survival mindset. He was, at that point, the most adapted to the post-collapse reality—someone willing to do what others hesitated to even consider. However, that same extreme pragmatism was corrupted by his feelings for Lori. In the end, he knew that this would hardly end well—sooner or later, that obsession would put him on a direct collision course with Rick, and it would likely culminate in his death, whether by Rick's own hands or in some desperate attempt to protect her.
Well, that was his analysis after living alongside him for the past few days.
Although the rest of the group was easier to deal with, that did not mean an absence of problems. A clear example was the incident at the well. Glenn nearly lost his life when he went down to try to remove a walker that had fallen inside. The situation, already risky, quickly spiraled out of control, and in the end all the effort proved useless: the decomposing body of that walker was torn in half when they pulled it out, completely contaminating the water. As a result, the group had no choice but to seal the well.
Aside from that, the other events were more routine than truly relevant—small tensions, daily tasks, and constant adaptations to life on the farm.
"...Well, now that I've finished reading all the books in that library, I need to think about how to acquire more knowledge..." he muttered, steering his thoughts away from the subject. Although he had stayed at the farm on the day of Otis's funeral, spending time with Maggie and helping organize the group, his routine had completely changed over the next four days.
During that period, he practically isolated himself, spending the entire day in the town's library, immersed in books and absorbing knowledge in an almost obsessive manner. The result was frighteningly fast. His competencies grew to an absurd degree, to the point of seeming unnatural: he became skilled in hundreds of different areas, developed proficiency in dozens of them, and in some, reached a level close to perfection.
Maggie accompanied him throughout all those days, without exception, always by his side in the library—observing, helping, or simply keeping him company while he immersed himself in that almost abnormal pace of learning. The only difference was today, when she decided to stay home to help her father—and besides, she was quite tired from their nighttime activities, since the two were like rabbits...
But setting aside his intimate life, his genius was not something widely known. Only the people at the farm had a clearer notion of just how out of the ordinary he truly was. To the rest of the group, he was seen merely as someone extremely well-educated, with knowledge that went far beyond medicine...
For now, it was better not to reveal that.
Setting that aside, he guided Duke through the main gate. The horse snorted softly, recognizing the familiar scent of the farm.
He dismounted near the smaller barn, running a hand along the animal's neck before tying him up. He removed Duke's saddle with automatic movements, his mind still distant. After finishing, he gave the horse one last pat on the neck and began walking toward the exit.
As soon as he stepped out, Jason stretched slowly, rolling his shoulders and neck with a faint crack. The morning sun beat warmly against his skin, but the air was still cool enough to be pleasant. He began walking toward the house when he heard something with his sharpened hearing—a muffled sound of something falling, coming from the larger barn, the one located a few dozen meters away.
The same barn that Hershel had explicitly forbidden him from approaching since the first day.
He stopped midway, his brow furrowing slightly. He was already part of the family now, wasn't he? Maggie was officially his girlfriend, Hershel had given his blessing, and he contributed to the farm every day. Did it still make sense to maintain that prohibition? The sound could mean that someone was there—or worse, that a walker had gotten inside. Simply ignoring it didn't seem like an option. Curiosity, mixed with a practical and nagging concern, ended up winning. He changed direction.
He moved cautiously toward the larger barn. With each step, the sounds became clearer—low, irregular groans, accompanied by the slow, heavy dragging of feet against the ground. There was no doubt: whatever it was, it was inside...
He slowed even further, the muscles in his body tightening instinctively.
After taking a few more steps, he stopped a few meters from the side door, which remained slightly ajar. The smell hit him before any visual confirmation—his heightened sense of smell immediately caught the putrid, sickly-sweet odor, impossible to mistake. His brow furrowed even more, the discomfort growing along with an unsettling suspicion.
"This can't be..."
He took another cautious step and leaned his body to peek through the narrow gap between the wooden planks.
The impact was immediate.
The interior of the barn was submerged in shadows, broken only by beams of light piercing through openings in the roof. Even so, there was no room for doubt: dozens of walkers moved inside. Some were clustered against the walls, others wandered in slow circles, their decomposing bodies emitting those same hoarse groans he had heard from outside.
His body stiffened instantly, his brain struggling to process what he was seeing.
What the hell was going on?!
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