The second season begins with Rick and his group of survivors leaving
Atlanta. They decide
Fort Benning will be their next destination. Along the way, they encounter a traffic jam of abandoned vehicles on
I-85. The group loots several vehicles and, as a large horde of
walkers approaches, are forced to hide under the vehicles.
Carol's
daughter, Sophia, chased away from the camp by two of the remaining
walkers, runs off into the woods. Carl is accidentally shot during a
search for the missing girl. The remaining group deals with
interpersonal relationships while various searches for Sophia are
performed. Otis, a hunter who shot Carl, leads Rick and Shane to a
large, isolated farm owned by a veterinarian named Hershel Greene. The
remainder of Rick's group moves to the farm while Carl recovers. The
group tries to co-exist alongside Hershel's family, but dangerous
secrets and disagreements over leadership cause tensions to rise.
Daryl
leads the initiative to search for Sophia, and becomes close to Carol
as a result. Glenn builds a romantic relationship with Hershel's
daughter Maggie and discovers that Hershel's barn is full of walkers,
many of whom in life had been Hershel's friends and relatives. When
Shane forces the walkers out of the barn and the group opens fire,
Sophia appears as one of the undead and Rick shoots her.
The bonds of the group are tested in the aftermath of the showdown at
the barn. Carol, in her grief, withdraws, as does Daryl, who claims
that the group is "broken." Hershel, reacting to what has happened,
orders Rick and his group to leave immediately, before disappearing to
grieve for his family. Rick and Glenn go searching for Hershel and
discover him drinking heavily in a local tavern. After trying to
persuade Hershel to return, two other men enter the bar - survivors from
another group. They tell Rick that Fort Benning has been overrun and
the two men insist on moving onto Hershel's farm, only to be repeatedly
turned down by Rick. The situation rapidly turns violent, and there is a
brief, bloody gunfight which leaves the two new survivors dead. The
dead men's former group quickly finds and opens fire on Rick, Hershel,
and Glenn. The noise of the firefight attracts a large horde of walkers,
and in their desperation to get away, the other group of survivors
leaves Randall, one of their members, behind. Rick cannot stand the
thought of leaving him to be killed by walkers, so the three blindfold
him and take him to the farm.
