I left the tent, seeing everyone around the fire eating breakfast. I rubbed my eyes and walked over, standing awkwardly next to Daryl since there were no spots left to sit. I gasped quietly when Daryl grabbed my hips, pulling me to sit on his lap, keeping an arm wrapped tightly around my waist. He handed me his plate of eggs, letting me have the rest. I slowly ate, savoring the flavor and feeling of Daryl's arms wrapped around me, knowing this sudden burst of affection wouldn't last long, much like every other time he's shown affection in front of the group. I looked around and spotted Luke, eating breakfast and laughing with Carl. I smiled. It was so good to see him happy.
Glenn got up from his seat and walked over closer to Dale. "Um, guys?" He said nervously, gaining our attention. "So...the barn's full of walkers." Silence. Everything went silent as we all looked at him in shock.
We all got up silently, running to the barn. We stood in front of it, unsure of what to do. The moans could be faintly heard. Shane walked up to the doors, peaking inside.
"Mama?" Luke's tiny hand latched onto mine. "What's happening?"
I pulled him to me. There's walkers in the barn." He gasped and buried his face in my stomach. I held tighter to him. "It's okay baby, I got you."
Shane turned around with a scoff, shaking his head. "You cannot tell me you're all right with this." He ran into Rick's shoulder, clearly mad.
Rick shook his head. "No, I'm not, but we are guests here. This isn't our land."
Shane turned back around, putting his hat on. "This is our lives!"
"Lower your voice." Glenn whispered.
"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea argued.
Shane shook his head angrily. "It ain't right. Not remotely. Okay, we either go in there, we got to make things right or we just got to go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time."
"We can't go." Rick growls.
"Why, Rick? Why?" Shane asked.
I took a step forward, standing next to Carol. Luke still held tightly to my side. "Because Carol's daughter is still out there. We can't leave without her."
Shane breathed a laugh, rubbing his face. "Okay. Okay I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility." I glared at him angrily. Man, if looks could kill.
"We're not leaving Sophia behind." Rick said, making it clear that leaving wasn't Shane's decision to make.
Daryl came forward. "I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago."
Shane laughed. "You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll."
Daryl walked even closer to Shane, swinging his arm. "Man, you don't even know what the hell you're talking about."
Rick stepped in front of Daryl. "I'm just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours!" Shane yelled.
Rick walked towards Shane. "Shane, stop."
Shane had no plans to stop. "Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears 'round your neck, she would run in the other direction!" I fought the urge to punch him.
Then everyone was shouting as Daryl and Shane tried to start a fight. I ran in front of Daryl, grabbing his arms. "Daryl, hey, look at me. Look at me. Calm down. Don't start something." I had my hands on his cheeks now, his chest heaving, glaring at Shane. Finally, he looked down at me, closing his eyes shortly before nodding. I stepped away, turning back around.
"Just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out." Rick said to Shane as he stormed away.
Shane spun back around. "What are you gonna figure out?!"
Rick continued. "If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land."
Dale stepped in. "Hershel sees those things in there as people-sick people-his wife, his stepson."
"You knew?" Rick asked, shocked that he didn't tell anyone.
Dale nodded. "Yesterday I talked to Hershel."
Shane rejoined the argument. "And you waited the night?"
Dale shrugged. "I thought we could survive one more night. We did. I was waiting till this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one."
Shane scoffed. "The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or not!"
I gasped as the chain holding the doors closed started rattling, walkers growling with the sudden awareness that there's food nearby. Daryl wrapped an arm around my waist tightly, pulling me closer.
~*~
I sat on the front porch with Beth, Patricia, Carl, and Luke. They were helping the boys with math. "Like that?" Luke asked.
She checked the problem and nodded, smiling. "Great job, Luke." Patricia praised him ruffling his hair. Luke smiled, proud of himself.
I looked up when I saw T-dog and Andrea walking up. "What's going on?" T-dog asked.
Andrea threw her arms out slightly. "Where is everyone?"
Glenn furrowed his brow. "You haven't seen Rick?"
"He went off with Hershel. We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago." Andrea answered.
We all turned our heads to Daryl, who was walking up with Carol. "Yeah you were, what the hell?"
Carol picked up her pace slightly, catching up with Daryl. "Rick told us he was going out.
Daryl looked frustrated. "Damn it. Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail." He looked away, spotting Shane, who had the bag of guns. "Oh, here we go. What's all this?"
Shane didn't answer. "You with me, man?"
"Yeah." Daryl took the gun from Shane's hand.
"Time to grow up." He looked to Andrea. "You already got yours?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Where's Dale?"
"He's on his way." I got up, joining the small group. Shane handed me a gun.
"Thought we couldn't carry." T-dog said.
Shane was very pissed. "Yeah, well, 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." He walked over to Glenn, holding out a shotgun. "How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" Glenn looked at Maggie, then back at Shane, taking the gun. "That's it. Can you shoot?" He asked Maggie.
"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight."
"We have to stay, Shane." Carl stated, walking down the steps.
Lori walked across the porch quickly, not knowing what this was about since she went to the camp to get something. "What is this?" She asked.
Shane looked utterly pissed. "We ain't going anywhere, okay? Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand, okay? Well, he's gonna have to." He pulled a pistol from his waistband, offering it to Carl. "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. You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go on, take the gun and do it."
Lori rushed forward, pushing Carl behind her. "Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make."
It was silent for a few moments. "Oh, shit!" T-dog yelled, looking in the distance. We all looked in the same direction to see Rick, Hershel and Jimmy coming out of the woods with two walkers.
Shane dropped the gun, getting to his feet, running to them. "What is that?" We all ran after him, Lori attempting to stop him. "What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled when we got close to them.
Rick glared at Shane. "Shane, just back off!"
"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel asked, shocked.
Shane walked around them. "Are you kidding me?! You see?! You see what they're holding onto?!"
Hershel shook his head, struggling with the walker. "I see who I'm holding onto!" Hershel corrected. I pulled Luke to my side and he buried his face in my jacket, whimpering.
Shane scoffed. "No, man, you don't!"
"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk." Rick bargained. We were slowly moving closer to the barn.
"What you 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!" Rick yelled.
We were at the barn now and Shane wouldn't stop shaking his head. "Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane pulled out his gun, shooting the female walker in the chest three times.
"Stop it!"
"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?" I flinched as he fired another shot. "That's it's heart, it's lungs. Why is it still coming?" He fired two more times.
"Shane, enough!"
Shane started walking closer to the walker. "Yeah, you're right man. That is enough." He shot her in the head and Hershel fell to his knees with the body. My jaw fell open. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!" Carol gasped. "Enough living next to a barn full of things 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!"
He ran to the barn as Rick tried to get Hershel to take the snare pole. Shane grabbed pick axe, hitting the lock with it until it popped open. I had Lori take Luke and got ready for a fight. We were all begging Shane not to open it, but he wouldn't listen. He pounded on the door with his fist, then backed away, holding up his gun.
"Mama!" I gasped as Luke latched onto me, shaking with fear. Dammit. I dropped my gun and sat with Luke. He buried his face in my chest, sobbing. I covered his ears.
They all started shooting walkers as they poured from the barn. Rick was begging a shocked Hershel to take hold of the pole holding the walker. Shane shot the one Rick was holding and Rick started ordering Lori and Carl to stay back. Hershel, Maggie, and Beth were huddled on the ground. Hershel was silent, in shock. The girls were crying, holding onto each other for dear life. Luke lifted his head, sniffling.
Until another small growl emitted from the barn. Slowly, another walker emerged, shielding its eyes from the light. My breath hitched and I felt a lump in my throat when I saw who it was. Sophia. She still had the pigtail braids. Her blue shirt with a rainbow on it covered in blood and dirt, eyes foggy and glossed over, a large bite taken out of her neck. Carol ran past me, but Daryl caught her, pulling her to the ground with him as she sobbed.
We watched as Rick hesitated before pulling out his gun, walking up to Sophia, and pulling the trigger. She fell to the ground, lifeless. Carol's sobs grew louder.