Daryl led them through the back door, walking into the house first. Dallas felt himself relax slightly when the warm air hit his face, much more comforting than the chilled air that was hitting him for the past hour and a half.
"Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl asked as he stepped in. Tyler looked up at Dallas, and he could see his brother was worried. he gave him a small nod to signal he was alright.
"no."
"we heard a shot," Daryl told T-Dog, to which Lori answered,
"maybe they found Randall."
"we found him," Daryl told her, glancing around the room as everyone looked at the three.
"is he back in the barn?"
"he was a walker," Dallas responded to Maggie.
"did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel's use of the term 'walker' sounded odd coming from his mouth. it seemed only a week ago he would have flinched at the label.
"no. weird thing is, he wasn't bit." everyone looked at Glenn, shock crossing their faces as they did. Tyler turned to look at him, opening his mouth to say something, but Daryl spoke first.
"his neck was broke."
"so he fought back," Patricia assumed. Dallas looked to the ground, knowing in the back of his mind that there was no fight. he was trying to piece it all together, mind racing as he thought about how much force it would have taken to fuck up the bones in his neck that badly. Shane was strong, and aside from Daryl and maybe Rick, he couldn't see anybody else from the group being able to kill him in such a way.
"thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks are right on top of one another. and Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. they were together-"
"would you please go back out there and find Rick and Shane? and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori cut Daryl off as she stepped closer to him. she seemed so frail and scared in that moment.
"you got it," Daryl nodded, placing a hand on her arm for a moment before turning to leave. he looked at Dallas, nodding towards the door. the moment he took one step in that direction, Tyler stood up. he said nothing, and followed the two outside.
"you can't go out there again," his brother grabbed his shoulder. Daryl looked at Dallas with an understanding expression. "i don't trust Shane-"
"neither do i. right now, Rick is out there alone with him. i can't be wasting time here, i have to go. get back in the house-"
"you just got back! i'm sure Daryl can handle it alone," Tyler glanced at Daryl, and Dallas could have sworn he was glaring. Daryl just looked at him with a blank stare as he waited to see what Dallas would do.
"Tyler, i don't have fucking time for this-" he froze when he started to hear something.
"Dal, i'm serious. come inside-"
"shh," Dallas hushed him. he strained to try and make out the sounds that had started. Daryl even looked puzzled. he started to look behind him when Dallas placed what the sound was. he felt his jaw slowly start to drop. the noise grew louder, bringing out Glenn and Andrea. Dallas and Tyler turned in unison, eyes widening as they saw what was in front of them.
walkers were starting to stumble into the farm. not just a small group like at the pharmacy, this seemed to be beyond comparison. he felt frozen for a moment, not even noticing some of the group walking onto the porch.
"Patricia, kill the lights," he heard Hershel instruct. he felt somebody grab his arm, snapping him out of shock. Tyler practically dragged him up the steps, Daryl close behind.
