ᴅᴇᴀᴅɢɪʀʟᴡᴀʟᴋɪɴɢᴡᴘ (On Hold)

The Barn

Hannah was sitting eating with the group in the sunshine a few days later. They had settled into a new routine quite well, Carl was back on his feet with a worse attitude than ever and Daryl was going out every day in search of Sophia. He insisted he was onto a good lead after finding Sophia's doll in the woods two days prior.

"Guys" Glenn cleared his throat and stood up, wringing his hands nervously. Hannah got a sinking feeling in her stomach from the anxious look on his face and put down her piece of toast. The others seemed to notice his strange demeanor too, a hushed silence fell over them as they waited for him to continue. "Uh," he glanced over at Dale and then Maggie, who was glaring daggers, "The barn's full of walkers".

In the few moments it took for everyone to process this piece of information, Shane was already up and sprinting towards the barn. He was quickly followed by most of the adults, Carl attempted to follow but Lori pulled him back, not wanting her son to go running off towards danger while she couldn't protect him as Judith was sitting on her lap. Hannah quickly swallowed the toast in her mouth and followed the group, despite Lori's protests.

As she approached cautiously, Shane was ranting and raving at the top of his lungs. Daryl was blocking his path to the barn doors as Andrea and Rick attempted to calm him.

"You cannot tell me you're all right with this!" Shane yelled, turning his anger to Rick. "No I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land." the man replied, stepping forward. "This is our lives!" Shane persisted, his face turning a bright shade of red as he ran his hand over his now buzzed head. "Lower your voice!" Glenn hushed. Shane took a deep breath, "We can't just sweep this under the rug. It ain't right. Not remotely." he stated. "Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go." he suggested. "We can't go." Rick interrupted. "Why, Rick? Why?", Hannah flinched and took a step back at his harsh tone, Andrea noticed her discomfort and moved over to stand next to the girl pulling her closer.

"Because my daughter is still out there." Carol piped up, it was the first time the girl had heard her speak in days. "Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility." Shane sighed, plastering a fake sympathetic look on his face.
"We're not leaving Sophia behind." Rick said firmly. "I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago!" Daryl shouted, squaring up to Shane. "You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll." Daryl looked ready for punching Shane so Rick stepped in between the pair. "You don't know what the hell you're talkin' 'bout!" the man grunted, swinging his arm in a way that would usually make Hannah laugh, however nothing about this moment was funny.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours." Hannah was shocked at Shane's lack of empathy. "Shane, stop." Andrea cut him off, but he simply shook his head and opened his big mouth again. "Let me tell you something else man, " he continued, "If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction!" Shane's statement set Daryl off and the loud commotion started up once again. Hannah stumbled back and covered her ears with her hands as the group attempted to pull Shane and Daryl apart. "Back off!" Rick eventually got in between them and shoved Daryl back. "Keep your god damn hands off me!" he spat. "Now just let me talk to Hershel, let me figure it out." Rick pleaded. "What are you gonna figure out?!" Shane shouted. "If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land." the man explained.

"Hershel sees those things in there as people. Sick people, his wife, his stepson." Dale piped up, his voice soft in the way that always made everyone shut up and listen to him. "You knew?" Rick questioned the old man. "Yesterday I talked to Hershel." he replied. "And you waited the night?" Shane looked at Dale as if he'd grown another head. "I thought we could survive one more night, and we did.
I was waiting till this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one." Dale spoke calmly despite the neurotic state of everyone around him. "The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive-" Shane was cut off by the chains on the barn doors rattling, a cacophony of groans and scratching hitting their ears. With that, Hannah turned on her heel and marched off towards the house in search of Maggie, the guilt of Sophia still being missing was now eating her alive. Shane was a cop, he knew about missing people right? If he didn't have any hope left did that mean that they had no chance of finding Sophia? Had she been the reason that a little girl was now lying dead somewhere?