Volume 11: Fear The Hunters

For the Volume's Gallery, see Volume 11: Fear The Hunters Gallery

Volume 11: Fear The Hunters includes issues 61-66. This volume happens as Rick and his group are suddenly beset by tragedy in the form of Dale's twin boys and also encounter a new survivor, though they immediately believe he is a fraud. All of a sudden Dale is kidnapped in the night by a group of cannibalistic hunters who terrify the group into hiding in a small town. Rick, Abraham,Michonne, and Andrea set out to find this new threat and discover their darkest inches of humanity beginning to come out in the worst ways.

Plot Synopsis
The story begins with the survivors finding a truck with mattresses inside. The van still works and Andrea is extremely excited. During the night Rick Grimes received a "call" from his wife Lori telling him they should speak about Carl Grimes but he puts the phone down immediately. The following morning the twins are nowhere to be seen and Andrea heads into the forest to find them and stumbles upon the body of Billy, killed by Ben, however Ben says they shouldn't worry because he didn't destroy the brains. The group attempts to decide what they should do with Ben. Abraham suggests that they need to kill Ben as they can't help him or keep him locked up. Andrea storms off angrily. Rick agrees with Abraham, not seeing another option, but no one is willing to kill him.All of a sudden, a survivor dressed as a minister, Father Gabriel Stokes, approaches the group while they are discussing Ben. The group immediately believes that Gabriel is working for someone who wants to harm them, but Gabriel continues to say that he has been alone in his church since the beginning of the outbreak and offers the group temporary sanctuary inside it if they can offer him food. In the night, Carl sneaks out of the tent, opens the van and fatally shoots Ben. He sneaks back to the tent without anyone noticing, except for Morgan, who keeps it to himself. The group buries Ben and Billy the next morning. The group loads up and departs for Gabriel's church, unaware that there are people watching them from the woods who decide to follow them.Carl gets into trouble after calling Dale a cry baby for mourning them even though they were never really his kids. He runs off before he is suddenly attacked by zombies emerging from the woods. After all the zombies are killed they hear Dale screaming for help. He tells the group that a zombie only managed to rip his shirt. Carl tells Rick later that Dale is weak and they would be better off without him in the group. When Andrea checks the woods, she suddenly sees figures watching her and screams for help, though the group dismisses it as an animal. While everyone else is sleeping, Dale wanders off into the woods to die as he was actually bitten. In the woods Dale is knocked unconscious by someone and carried away by two men. In the morning, Andrea goes into a panic and the group begins to search the woods. A zombie surprises Abraham but falls to the ground and isn't able to stand up. They decide to spend the night after arriving at Gabriel's church however they feel they are being watched. Rick interrogates Gabriel, claiming that his story is completely false. Gabriel confesses how he survived by locking his friends outside of the church to avoid dying of starvation, and believes that God sent the group to him so that he could be punished. In a neighborhood, Dale wakes up to find his leg being eaten by the group that captured him. The group explains that they are surviving by killing other survivors and eating them. Dale begins laughing hysterically and reveals he was bitten, the hunters yell he is tainted meat"and force themselves to throw up. Andrea confesses to Rick how much she regrets not telling Dale how she truly felt about him. The next morning outside the church the survivors find Dale, thrown onto the ground, unconscious. They go out to get him however when going back Glenn is shot through the leg by a hunter. They manage to get inside and treat Dale and Glenn. When Dale wakes up, he describes where he was held to the group. They later begin searching distance residential areas (guided by Gabriel) and eventually stumble upon The Hunters. Originally only Rick confronts them, unarmed. They begin talking and one of them begins explaining why they are doing what they're doing. They believe it is the only way they will survive as they are terrible hunters and they confess that they also ate the children that were with them. When they decide to kill Rick he mimics a pistol with his hand and Andrea shoots from a bush, injuring one of the hunters ears and shooting another ones finger. They then spend the night killing and torturing the hunters as Gabriel looks on in horror. The survivors return to the church the next morning feeling extreme remorse for what they did. A dying Dale thanks Rick for keeping the group alive this long and for giving him the time he had with Andrea and the twins. That night, Dale dies in his sleep and is shot by a remorseful Andrea.

After they burn Dale's body in the church graveyard Rick begins talking with whom he believes to be Abraham about the horrible things they did, however it turns out to be Carl, who then tearfully confesses to shooting Ben.

Credits

 * Rick Grimes
 * Carl Grimes
 * Morgan Jones
 * Michonne
 * Glenn
 * Maggie Greene
 * Sophia Peletier
 * Andrea
 * Dale Horvath
 * Ben
 * Billy
 * Sgt. Abraham Ford
 * Rosita Espinosa
 * Dr. Eugene Porter
 * Father Gabriel Stokes
 * Chris
 * Theresa
 * David
 * Albert
 * Greg
 * Charlie

Deaths

 * Dale Horvath
 * Ben
 * Billy
 * Chris
 * Theresa
 * Albert
 * David
 * Greg
 * Charlie