"You haven't seen Rick?" Daryl had returned from hunting with a small buck, and he went over to the group with an excited Hedley at his side. He ruffled the boy's hair, gaining a gleeful shriek.
"He went off with Hershel." T said.
"We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago." Andrea announced.
Daryl huffed, "What the hell? Damn it. Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail. Oh, here we go. What's all this?"
Shane came over with a bag of guns, handing one out to Daryl, "You with me, man?"
Daryl looked at Hedley - who was now next to Carl - and took the gun, "Yeah."
"Time to grow up. You already got yours?" Shane asked Andrea.
She nodded, "Yeah."
"Thought we couldn't carry." T said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"We can and we have to. Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. But now we know it ain't. How about you, man?" Shane offered a gun to Glenn, "You gonna protect yours? That's it." Glenn took it. Shane then looked at Maggie, "Can you shoot?"
She was not having it, "Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight."
Carl perked up, "We have to stay, Shane."
"We ain't going anywhere, okay? Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? He... Well, he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right? Huh? Now I want you to take this. You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe." Shane tried, "You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go on, take the gun and do it."
Lori pushed her son back and away from Shane, "Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make."
Jimmy looked over and gaped, "Oh shit."
Everyone looked to see Hershel and Rick walking walkers on poles. Everyone started to run with Shane yelling out, "What is that?! What is that?!"
"Shane!" Lori warned.
Carl took Hedley's hand as they ran. Daryl beside them.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Shane yelled.
"Shane, just back off!" Rick yelled back.
"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel asked.
Shane huffed, "Are you kidding me? You see? You see what they're holding onto?"
"I see who I'm holding onto."
"No, man, you don't."
"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk." Rick almost pleaded.
"What ya want to talk about, Rick? These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't gonna feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy! They killed Otis! They're gonna kill all of us!"
"Shane, shut up!"
"Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane shot the corpse.
The gunshot made Hedley shriek, hands flying to cover his ears.
Another two gunshots rang out. Lori pulled Carl and Hedley towards her in fright.
"No! Stop it!" Maggie screamed.
But Shane continued, "That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?" More shots, "That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?!"
" Shane, enough!" Rick yelled.
"Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough." Shane shot the walker in the head, it fell with a thud. He then went towards the barn, "Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone! Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now."
Rick was trying to get Hershel to take the pole but in shock, the vet didn't move. Hedley and Carl huddled together as the chaos grew.
"No, Shane. Do not do this, brother. Wait! Don't do it!"
It was too late. Shane opened the barn doors and walkers spilled out.
Everyone ran with their weapons raised, shooting the threat. Hedley and Carl pulled into Lori's chest as they cried. Glenn joined when Maggie said it was okay.
And just when they thought it was over, a small walker stumbled out.
A little girl with a bite mark on her shoulder.
"Sophia? Sophia!" Carol called for her daughter, running to her but Daryl caught her, stopping her from getting too close, "Oh no. Sophia. Sophia. No! NO!"
"Don't watch." Lori whispered to Carl as Rick stepped forward with his gun raised. "Don't watch, baby."
Hedley couldn't look away though. His eyes fixed on the corpse of what once was a little girl.
Rick pulled the trigger.
****
The cloud of mourning surrounded the farm. Hedley ran back to his tree to escape the emotions that suffocated the group. He rocked back and forth, humming as he replayed the events of the afternoon.
It was getting dark, the funeral for Sophia and Hershel's family had finished and everyone was getting ready for bed.
But as the next day came, things only got worse. Beth was in shock, Carol was an emotionless wreck, Daryl moved away from the whole group and Shane is on the verge of losing every ounce of control. And Hedley... stayed in his tree.
He had a small knife with him. He's had it since he was dropped off in the woods by his father.
"Stay here. Take this. I'll be right back." Those were the last words his father ever said to him. He just walked away and never came back.
Hedley carved into the tree, drawing little lines until woodlice came crawling out. He gathered them and watched them crawl around in his palm. He liked the way they felt against his skin. It tickled.
He then heard those growls of a walker. He snapped his head up and saw a lone walker stalk his way through the trees. He watched the corpse walk towards the opening of the treeline and close to the entrance of the farm. Hedley put the knife in his mouth and quickly swung his way closer to the walker. When he made it so that he was above the corpse, he effortlessly dangled from his legs, took the knife out of his mouth and stabbed the walker in the head. It didn't take much strength as the skull was fragile with infection. The walker dropped. Hedley cleaned the knife using his shirt before putting it back in his sheath that was attached to his belt. He climbed back up into the trees and sat there, looking up at the sky, liking the way the clouds moved.
"Hey!" Daryl's voice made him look down. The hunter was looking at the dead walker then back up at Hedley, "You do this?"
Hedley tilted his head.
"Fuck, kid. Don't be stupid! Ya could've gotten hurt! If ya see a walker, tell someone!"
Hedley looked confused at the outburst, not understanding what he did wrong.
Daryl sighed, "Fuck, man. Next time, come and get me or somethin'! Where ya get a knife from anyway?" No response. "This no replying thing is getten on my fuckin' nerves, kid. At least nod ya head!" No response. Daryl scoffed, "Whatever." And then he walked away.
Hedley followed and when they made it back to Daryl's tent, he saw one of Daryl's arrows on the floor and picked it up. He put the pointed tip in the dirt, drawing swirls.
Daryl just watched from his log. It was getting dark, so he quickly made a fire. He then began to skin the squirrels he caught all the while Hedley hummed, drawing pictures in the mud, in his own little world.
That was when Lori came over.
"Moving to the suburbs?" She joked but nobody laughed, "Listen, Beth's in some kind of catatonic shock. We need Hershel."
"Yeah. So what?" Daryl said, putting the freshly skinned squirrel on the fire.
"So, I need you to run into town real quick and bring him and Rick back." Daryl didn't respond so she called his name, "Daryl?"
"Your bitch went window-shopping. Ya want him? Fetch 'im yourself. I got better things to do."
"Like playing babysitter?" She nodded to Hedley.
"At least I know where the kid I'm watchin' is, unlike some."
Lori narrowed her eyes, "What's the matter with you? How can you be so selfish?"
"Selfish?" Daryl stood, anger written all over his face, "Listen to me, Olive Oyl. I was out there looking for that little girl every single day. I took a bullet and an arrow in the process. Don't you tell me about me getting my hands dirty! You want those two idiots? Have a nice ride. I'm done looking for people." He sat back down, poking at the fire, not looking at Lori as she huffed and walked away.
When the food was ready, Daryl made two plates and placed one on the floor beside Hedley. The boy ate happily in silence and Daryl couldn't help the protectiveness that swept his body. But he swallowed it down. Not wanting to show that kind of emotion. Not with what happened to Sophia.