Vol. 11 Fear the Hunters (Issues #61-66)

Notables

• The Volume opens up with a scene of the group on the road scavenging the cars for supplies. Andrea finds a van with mattresses in the back. (Of course this is very exciting for everyone.)
• Rick is STILL "talking" to Lori on his disconnected phone.
• Andrea goes in the woods to check on the twins. She finds one twin kneeling over the other with a bloody knife. It's quite obvious he gutted his brother.The little boy's response was, "Don't worry, he's going to come back." (In the previous volume there is a scene that is easily overlooked. One of the twins is playing with a dead cat while the other one watches.Looking back this is obviously foreshadowing.)
• The group has a discussion about what to do with Ben. Abe obviously thinks he's a liability and danger to the group. He hints at killing the boy, which upsets and shocks most of the group.
• While having the discussion a preacher, named Gabriel Stokes approaches the group.
• While everyone sleeps Carl sneaks into the van where the group is holding Ben. Ben asks Carl if he is afraid of him. Carl say no, then you hear a gun shot. Next thing you see is everyone discovering Ben's dead body, but Carl's no where to be found.
• As the group gets back on the road, on the way to D.C., it is revealed that a couple of people have been following them.
• During the night while everyone is asleep and Rick's on watch, Dale wanders into the woods and kidnapped.
• Rick decides to postpone the search for Dale and head to Gabriel's church. Andrea is suspicious of Gabriel, because he showed up around the same time Dale went missing.
• It is revealed that Dale is being held captive by a group led by a man named Chris, and they eat people. (Apparently, they are referred to as the Hunters.) They've already began eating his other "good" leg.
• Dale is tickled by this situation because he wandered into the wood to die because he was bitten by a walker. He taunts the Hunters with this fact, and they are horrified. The Hunters decide to return Dale to his group as a message. A tactic to scare them and make them vulnerable.
•  While the group is carrying Dale inside, the Hunters shoot Glenn in the leg.
• Rick, Michonne, Abe, Andrea, and Gabriel set off in search of the Hunters and they find them. Rick confronts the group alone, and Chris tells Rick how they became Hunters. They even ate the children in their original group.
• Rick's group ends up disarming the Hunters and giving them a piece of their own medicine, minus the cannibalism. They chopped some body parts off and threw them into a fire. 
• The group returns to the church. Dale says his goodbyes and during the night Andrea "puts him down". Rick is really moved by Dale's death. He feels that Dale was strong because he held onto his humanity; whereas Rick is losing his. He compares his actions to the Hunters; unspeakable things they do to survive in their crazy world.
• The book ends with the group preparing to move on from the church, and Carl confessing to Rick that he killed Ben.

Random Thoughts

• I thought it was funny when Andrea said, "It's almost like Christmas..." when talking about finding the mattresses and Carl's reaction is, "Did we skip Christmas this year?"
• What do you do with an obviously disturbed kid. I know the twin (forgot his name) is only a child, but how do you deal with this situation?!
• Everyone is so mean and suspicious of Gabriel. I guess they find him to be foolish with his belief in God, especially after all that has happen. And of course they're weary of anyone they encounter.
• The "new world" is really making a cold bad ass out of Carl.
• It's really fucking weird that Eugene watches Abe and Rosita have sex. And what even creepier is that they know it and don't care! lol
• When Maggie's is contemplating Sophia future, it's very enduring to see the struggles the character go through. Kirkman, the author, did a great job demonstrating these internal struggles.
• At first I did not like Abe. . AT ALL! His character has grown on me. I love how pragmatic he is, even though he can take it too far, and how sarcastic his sense of humor is.
• It's so funny how when the group is having a discussion and a random walker appears someone just says, "Michonne..." and she replies, "On it." It's so routine.
• When Chris is introduce into the story he states that he's not crazy and it's important for people to know that. Pause. . . .lol that is NEVER a good sign. 
• Chris is very cocky, and he talks too much. He's VERY annoying. 

QUOTES

• Chris: "Well, mister the good news here is that you're not dead yet. That good, right? And please don't read too much into the word "YET" --- It'll just drive you crazy. There an order to how things work now, and it's unfortunate for some... The way things work... But my friends and I -- we didn't create this situation, we're just living with it. Just like you. We play the hand we're dealt. We don't want to hurt you. We didn't want to pull you away from your group -- scare you like this... These aren't things we want to do -- They're things we HAVE to do. So I promise you none of this is personal. . . But at the end of the day, no matter how much we may detest this ugly business... A man's gotta eat."