Reflections - TWD

4. John Stone.

Isabella and Carl both ran downstairs, the argument was getting heated and they needed to help Dale. Carl pushed the front door open and ran outside, Isabella following shortly behind. Carl was faster than Isabella since his legs were slightly longer, but Isabella ran as fast as she could since someone's life was on the line.

Everyone followed them out of the house, racing after them and screaming their names.

When Isabella and Carl reached the scene, they saw that Dale had managed to get the walker off him. Adrenaline was pumping through Isabella's veins so much that she grabbed the walkers hair and pulled it back, trying to keep the creature from reaching Dale.

She let go when a bullet was put through the walkers skull, by Shane. She rushed to Dale, who had Andrea knelt by his side. She saw the gaping hole in his stomach, where the walker had torn it apart.

Carl was crying into Lori's chest already, he must've noticed before Isabella did.

The young girl was pulled back by Maggie, who turned her head around so she wouldn't have to look at Dale.

"Get Hershel! We have to get Hershel!" Rick began ordering.

Hershel came across the field, slowly due to his old age, alongside Beth, Jimmy and Patricia. He saw the damage on Dale's body and shook his head. "We can't operate, he's lost too much."

Andrea let out a loud sob and held either side of Dale's face.

Rick took a moment, looking at Dale's face, he was still blinking and looking around. He knew that he was about to die, and that probably just made it even scarier for him.

Rick pulled out his gun and slowly lined it up with Dale's head, but he couldn't pull the trigger, so Daryl took it.

"Sorry, Brother."

BANG!

Everyone was silent, the sound of Andrea's sobs and Carl's sniffles filling the air.

Rick lifted from under Dale's legs, and Shane and T-Dog took an arm each, they carried him back to where the camp was set up. Everyone slowly moving with them. Maggie and Lori keeping the kids faced shielded.

The three men put the old man down. Rick took a moment, watching T-Dog cover the dead body with a sheet. "We'll bury him tomorrow morning.." He said.

Everyone headed back inside. Solemnly heading to their rooms, not a word spoken.

Isabella got no sleep through the night, her mind cursed with 'what's if's?'.

The next morning when Carl woke up, he looked over at her, then back down at his hands. "Morning." He said quietly.

"G'mornin'" Isabella replied.

The two kids were called downstairs by Carol for the funeral. When they got there, everyone had their head down and ready to head out of the door.

T-Dog and Rick lifted Dale into the hole that had been dug for him, and everyone stood and watched as Rick delivered a speech.

"Dale could- could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us--The truth...Who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, st feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives...Our safety......our future.We're not broken.We're gonna prove him wrong.From now on...We're gonna do it his way.That is how we honor Dale" Rick told everyone.