Rick looked over her body, disbelief suddenly washing over him. Shane stared at her body before looking to Rick.
Sophia was dead.
"don't look," Daryl pulled Carol away. she pushed him off of her, sobbing. she stormed off, unable to stay near the body any longer.
Beth, Maggie's sister, ran up to one of the bodies. she was crying. Rick tried to reach out and grab her, but she ran past him.
"mom-" she cried out when the walker she touched suddenly growled and reached for her hair. she started to scream, and Shane didn't hesitate to run forward and pull the blonde backwards. Hershel ran up, pulling the girl into his arms.
T-Dog stomped on the walkers head. after a moment, Andrea ran over and killed it with the pickaxe. Hershel held Beth close, and Jimmy walked up to try and comfort her as well.
Hershel and Patricia started to lead Beth to the house, Maggie walking in the front, and Glenn trailing behind them. Shane followed, and by the look on his face, seemed like he was about to go off.
"we've been out, we've been combing these woods, looking for her, and she was in there all along?" he yelled. "you knew."
"leave him alone," Maggie stopped walking and turned to Shane.
"hey Shane-" Rick reached forward to grab his arm.
"get your hands off me," Shane shook him off, following the family to their steps. "you knew, and you kept it from us."
"i didn't know-" Hershel started, still not turning to look at him.
"that's bullshit. i think ya all knew," Shane accused.
"we didn't know," Maggie turned to him again.
"why was she there?" Shane demanded. Hershel turned around, letting Maggie drag Beth in.
"Otis put those people in the barn. maybe he found her, and put her in there before he was killed," Hershel tried to reason.
"you'd expect me to believe that? what do i look like? do i look like an idiot?" he started to get closer to Hershel and Rick put his arm out.
"hey, hey, hey," he spoke.
"i don't care what you believe," Hershel spoke louder.
"everybody just calm down-" Rick tried.
"get him off my land!" Hershel yelled, looking at Rick.
"hey, let me tell you something man-" Shane stepped closer and Maggie stepped forward. she smacked his cheek and shoved him back.
"don't touch him!" she yelled. Glenn pushed him back even more. "haven't you done enough?"
Hershel followed his children and Patricia inside. he turned to Rick before opening the door.
"i mean it," he looked back at Shane. "off my land."
Glenn followed them inside, leaving Rick, Dallas and Shane alone outside.
"what are you doing? hey, what are you doing?" Rick approached Shane.
"Daryl almost died for her, Rick. anyone of us could have. i'll tell you, this son of a bitch, he knew."
"he didn't know," Dallas spoke up. Shane turned to him.
"he didn't know," Rick repeated. "he's not like that. he opened his home to us."
"he put us all in danger man, he kept a barn full of walkers."
"so you just started handing out guns and massacred his family?"
"his family's dead, Rick," Shane stated.
"well he doesn't know that. he thinks you just murdered them in cold bl-"
"i don't care what he thinks! why would i-"
"i was handling it and you went ahead-"
Dallas stepped off of the porch, not wanting to be around the two as they argued. he heard them yell at one another a few more times before Shane walked off as well.
—
Dallas and Daryl walked to the RV, where Carol sat wiping her nose with a tissue. Dallas stood by the door, letting Daryl walk in first.
Daryl sat on the counter, and Dallas sat across from her. she looked between the two before looking back out the window.
he glanced through the opposite window, and saw Rick take off his badge and throw it as he started to walk away from Lori.
she turned and walked into the RV as well, knocking to announce her arrival. she looked at Daryl and then to Carol.
"they're ready," she spoke. "come on."
"why?" Carol asked, looking down at the table.
"cuz that's your little girl," Daryl spoke up. Carol looked up, and shook her head.
"that's not my little girl. that's some thing. my Sophia died in the woods. all this time, i thought, she didn't cry herself to sleep, she didn't go hungry, she didn't try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago," she spoke, looking out the window.
Daryl stood up, and Dallas followed him outside. before he left, he put a hand on her shoulder momentarily. she placed her hand over his, and nodded at him. he gave her a sympathetic smile, very noticeably forced, and walked outside to join everyone else.
they stood around the graves. Daryl walked off in a direction far from everyone else. Dallas didn't know if he should have followed or not.
he helped load up the dead bodies in the truck, tuning out everyone. as T-Dog hopped inside of the truck, everyone froze when they saw Maggie running back down. Rick waved the truck off, as him, Dallas, and Dale stayed put.
"Dallas," Maggie spoke, her eyes wide. he felt fear twist in his gut at her expression. "it's your mom and Tyler. you need to come now."
he ran after her as she led him to the house.
—
Dallas sat in shock. his eyes were red and dry. he sat in the chair completely frozen. he had heard Rick and Glenn were heading off to find Hershel, who had apparently gone off to the nearest bar.
he overheard Dale trying to convince Lori of something. something about Shane shooting Otis- his brain couldn't focus and in the moment he couldn't care any less.
everyone avoided him like he was the plague. nobody wanted to speak to him. that was, until Daryl walked in.
"come on," he spoke. he looked both angry and sad. Dallas looked up from the bed, realizing he had dozed off while laying his head on his brothers sheets. he glanced up at Daryl.
he looked at Tyler, who laid on the bed with his eyes closed and breathing regulating. the sunlight poured through the windows, but judging by the color, it was becoming sundown.
"i can't leave," he spoke, his voice cracking from how much strain was on it from sobbing. Daryl nodded, and looked at the boy on the bed.
Daryl told him the spot he'd be at, and gave him a final look before leaving the room. he looked at his brother with a blank stare.
"Dallas," he heard a female voice. he looked up to see Maggie. "we buried her. would you like me to-"
"no," he interrupted. he shook his head, and stood up, letting go of his brothers hand. "when he wakes up, come get me."
she only nodded, watching has Dallas walked out of the room without another word. he went to the only person he could think of at the moment.
