Carl, Sophia and Chelsea were doing their school work. Chelsea was the 4 year old daughter of y/n and Shane. It was difficult, looking after Chelsea. Since she was so young, she didn't understand why she was forced to be silent at times, or why they were always running. Chelsea would often cry in the nightmare, scared of the dark. But they were handling it. This was sadly becoming a part of Chelsea life, and she was learning to accept it, getting used to sleeping in a tent
"Daddy" Chelsea yelled over to Shane, hoping he would save her from the school work
"Come on darling. You just finish writing this last thing for me and then you can go and play" y/n negotiated, or tried to. Chelsea dropped her pencil and crossed her arms, refusing to do the work. At the moment, they were teaching her how to write. Y/n would write a simple sentence and Chelsea would just have to copy it. She was doing well academically. But had no motivation. Being outside in the sun, she just wanted to play
"Dale, please save me" she begged as Dale walked passed
"Sorry Chelsea, but you gotta learn these things. Think of it this way, when things go back to normal, and you've continued your education, you could be the smartest little girl in the world" dales motivational words meant nothing to Chelsea who just rolled her eyes and walked off
"Chelsea Walsh, you get that ass back here right now" y/n yelled to her daughter.
"No way!" She started running but Shane grabbed hold of her arm, dragging her kicking and screaming to the tent
"Now you stop your little tantrum and you do the work. And you never speak to your mother like that again. Do I make myself clear?" Shane asked sternly, crouching to her height. She mumbled something almost inaudible
"Speak up"
"Crystal clear daddy" with a frown on her face, he walked back out the tent over to Carol and Lori as y/n spoke with Shane
"You're a good father" she said, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his cheek
"Chelsea don't seem to think so"
"Come on its Chelsea, she hates everyone atleast once a week. Just yesterday she wished death upon daryl because he wouldn't give her a gun" y/n chuckled, running her fingers through Shane's hair as his hands wrapped around her waist
"I love you" he whispers
"I love you too" they kissed softly and walked back out, getting back to what they were doing. As y/n walked over to Carol and Lori, she noticed Chelsea wasn't there
"Where's Chelsea?"
"Thought she was in the tent with you" Carol said
"No she walked out after Shane told her off. I assumed she'd done as he'd said and got back to her work. Shit" y/n walked around looking for her with the help of Carol and Lori
"Dale, did you see Chelsea?"
"No sorry. She missing?" He asked
"Fuck" y/n yelled. She ran over to Rick and Shane who were cleaning their guns in the rv
"You alright honey?" Shane asked
"I can't find chelsea" y/n panicked
"It's alright we'll find her. Can't have gone far" Shane comforted although inside, he was equally terrified. They grabbed their guns and walked out the rv, checking every single tent and all round camp before going into the woods. The group went to look for her with Dale, jacqui, Carol, lori and Amy staying behind incase she turned up. And of course the children stayed behind. Everyone had a weapon of some sorts as they went looking for her.
"Chelsea!" They called her name as loudly as they could without attracting walkers. Any louder and they'd had a swarm on their hands. They searched up and down until nightfall when they went back to camp
"We can't leave her out there alone" y/n sobbed as Andrea held her back
"I'm going back out there and I ain't returning without our little girl. I promise, I'll find her" Shane told her, kissing her forehead and hugging her
"You can't. You'll get yourself killed"
"THAT IS MY BABY GIRL OUT THERE!" He screamed at rick
"Well you ain't going alone" Rick said. Despite lori protests, the pair walked into the dark woods. Y/n could not sleep that night, so instead she stayed watch. As the sun rose, she became increasingly worried as she saw no sign of Shane, Rick or Chelsea
"Honey, come down and get some food" y/n got down from the rv with shaky legs and a nauseous feeling from worry. She tried to eat but just threw it all back up. Eventually, she went into her tent and cried
"Y/n!" Amy called out. Y/n got out of the tent and was greeted by the site of Shane emerging from the woods with Chelsea and Rick
"Oh my god my baby" y/n cried, holding Chelsea close as she hugged her mother
"Mama, it was so dark" she said. Y/n wiped her tears and kissed Chelsea cheek before kissing Shane passionately on the lips
"Thank you. Thank you" she thanked, crying from happiness. She kissed Rick's cheek and hugged him, eternally grateful
"You should all sleep" Dale suggested. Not a single one of them had gotten any sleep since she went missing. They went to their tents and Chelsea was asleep in minutes
"How did she last so long" y/n whispered in shock
"There's something you should know. When we found her...she was running from a walker. It grabbed a hold of her and we shot it in the head, brought her home. But....oh god" Shane began sobbing and y/n held him, not understanding what he was trying to say
"It bit her. We were too late" y/n couldn't believe it until Shane rolled up Chelsea t shirt a little bit to reveal a bite on her back
"Oh god. My baby girl. My little girl" y/n began crying, stroking her hair softly so as not to wake her. They ended up taking a nap, needing time to think about what they should do. The next day, they woke up and Chelsea had a fever. They carried her out the tent on Shane's hip as her head rested on his shoulder
"Oh sweetie are you poorly?" Lori asked sympathetically. Chelsea didn't reply. She was fast asleep. They called for everyone in the camp to listen up
"Chelsea...Chelsea got bit. She's got the fever and...and we don't know how long it'll last until..." gasps could be heard throughout camp and a few cries of shock
"So what do we do?" Daryl asked sadly
"That's for y/n and Shane to decide. It's up to you guys" Dale said
"Honey, you know we don't have a choice. It's the kindest thing to do" Shane looked at y/n who was sat down with her head in her hands. She looked up at him and nodded her head sadly, tears pouring down her cheeks. Shane handed Chelsea to y/n who kissed her forehead. Y/n held her on her hip, making Chelsea look away from everyone
Shane's gun was raised behind them as he cried, his hand shaking
"Don't. You shouldn't have to do that to your own daughter" Rick said. The last thing he wanted was to pull that trigger. But it was no longer about what he wanted. Shane stepped away sobbing. With a bang, and a scream, Chelsea was gone. Y/n collapsed to the ground, rocking her body as Shane hugged her. Everyone watched crying with them. They could hardly believe it. They've seen horrid things. People eaten alive. Their own families killed. But watching a parent decide to shoot their baby, that was more painful than anything. Even more upsetting because everyone knew that it was the kindest option.
They buried her body, Shane had to hold y/n up because she knew she wouldn't be able to stand an watch her daughter dumped into the ground, not even a coffin for her to rest peacefully
"I'm sorry" Shane whispered, his voice breaking as he cried
"You saved her. We both know that if you and Rick weren't there, her fate would have been a hell of alot worse"
"I just want my little girl" Shane sobbed infront of everyone as he hugged y/n. This was the end for them. They could rebuild the camp. They could learn to move on. But this was the moment they realised their lives would never be the same. It doesn't matter if the government get rid of the walkers and bring back the country they once knew, their lives won't ever be the same as they once were