I stay close.
Still not in sight, but close enough to know what is going down.
"Alright knock it off, you and Glenn start heading up the right flank. Me and Shane'll take the left." I hear Rick from the distance. A few yards maybe.
"Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other."
Footprints disperse further into the woods as they break off in two groups. First I've got to let Daryl know I'm okay and then I will get the lead on Rick. Shane isn't going to be taking another life tonight.
The daylight is slipping away from us so whatever happens, it needs to happen fast. Rick was right about keep our eyes open. Too many things can go wrong too quickly.
I have to wait a few minutes before approaching Daryl and Glenn. If I do now Shane could hear us and possibly come back to face me. Minutes pass of silent walking and Daryl tries to concentrate tracking Randall.
Daryl stops walking and sighs. "This is pointless. You got a light?"
I stop my movements behind a nearby tree again. Glenn gives Daryl his flashlight to help him out. Daryl uses it to check the ground for any leads and I tip toe around them. I can't lose them now. Just when I thought I had everything under control, I step on a small twig breaking it in half. Daryl and Glenn snap their heads toward the sound and I duck down. We have to get further out.
Daryl whistles and I mentally slap myself. He thinks I'm a walker and he's going to shoot at me if I don't expose myself. I take a small step out into the open. Daryl doesn't hesitate to shoot an arrow at my head, lucky for me I was paying close attention and ducked in time. The arrow flies over my head, hitting the tree behind me.
"What the hell!" I whisper shout at him. Once he realizes it's me he sighs letting his body relax.
"Good god Killian-"
I place my finger over my mouth telling him to keep his voice down. Daryl and Glenn come closer to me so we can talk without having to use our full voices, furrowing their brows in pure confusion.
"You ok?" Daryl throws his crossbow over his shoulder. He uses both hands to check my head for any cuts or marks. "That son of a bitch hurt you?"
"No Daryl." I laugh silently at him. He takes my light mood as reassurance, letting go of me.
"You have listen to me." The smile drops from my face. They both nod their heads and lean in closer. "Shane brought Randall out here. I watched him. He broke into the barn and I followed him like Rick told me to. He snapped Randall's neck right in front of me and he knows I saw it. I think he's coming after me next."
Neither one of them looks surprised.
"That prick." Daryl growls.
"I don't think you have to worry about Shane. He's out with Rick right now" Glenn looks at us nervously. "And if he isn't looking for Randall..."
"I know" I stop him. We all look between the three us of trying to think of a solution. If we don't approach this carefully I don't know what could happen. "You have a gun?"
Glenn nods, handing me a clock out of his pocket.
"You both need to get back to the house and warn the others. I'm going to follow them to make sure nothing happens to Rick." I tell them.
I take the cylinder out, counting a full load of bullets and click it back in place. I cock it so it will be ready just incase I have to use it.
"I'll go with you." Daryl tries telling me.
"No" I shake my head. "They need you at the farm."
His eyes land on mine. He was becoming tense again, nothing I was saying was preventing it. I don't want to leave but someone has to do this. It's my job and he knows that.
"I'll see you guys at home."
Home. That is the first time I have called it home.
"Killian-"
I look back and watch Daryl take his crossbow back around his body.
"Take care of yourself." He tells me.
"Always do, sunshine." I can't help but smile. Through everything going on he could still somehow manage to make me smile, even at a stupid nickname.
Now it's all about timing. I don't know where Shane is taking Rick, I don't know where to even start to look. Wherever it may be, it's not on the east side of the woods. All I know to do is run until I find them.
Rick couldn't leave this group like this. Shane couldn't take away Carl's father and Lori's husband if he cared for her as much as he claims. No one else could fill Rick's position, especially Shane.
I hear voices and stop dead in my tracks. I hear them again. They are getting further away and I can't tell which direction they're going. Northwest? I start running again. It's absolutely pointless to look for anyone this time of night.
The only piece of unusual land is an open field back toward the farm. I hobble around the perimeter making sure I don't leave any possibility overturned. Then I see them.
"At least have the balls to call this what it is" I catch Rick's figure. He puts his gun in his holster, turning to who I'm assuming is Shane. I can only see their shadows. "Murder."
I get my gun out, scoping out for a steady aim just incase.
"You really believe if you walk back onto that farm with no me, no Randall-"
"I want you to hush up."
"You really believe they're gonna buy whatever bullshit story you cook up?"
"It ain't no story. You see I saw that prisoner shoot you down, I ran after him, I snapped his neck. It ain't gonna be easy but Lori and Carl will get over you. They done it before. They're just gonna have to."
I knew this man was a psychotic maniac. From the moment I met him I had my suspicion.
His gun raises to Rick right between his eyes. I tighten the grip on the handle, ready for anything. I don't believe he will have the audacity to shoot Rick but no surprises.
"Why? I thought we worked this all out?"
"We tried to kill each other man." Shane laughs in his face. "What you think? We just gonna forget about it all and ride off into the sunset together?"
"You gonna kill me in cold blood? Screw my wife." Rick's voice croaks. "Have my children call you daddy? Is that what you want?"
"That life won't be worth a damn. I know you and you won't be able to live with this"
Rick with his reasoning. He has to have learned by now that nothing is going to get through Shane's thick skull.
"What you know about what I can live with? You got no idea 'bout what I live with. You wanna talk about what I can do Rick?" He shoves his gun down in the front of his pants. "How about what you can do? Here I am. C'mon man raise your gun." He throws his arms in the air.
"No I will not"
"What happened, Rick? I thought you weren't the good guy anymore ain't that what you said?" Shane yells. "Even right here, right now, you ain't gonna right for 'em?"
"I'm a better father than you Rick. I'm better for Lori than you, man. It's cause I'm a better man than you. Cause I can be here and I'll fight for it but you come back here and just destroy everything!"
You can't fight for something that's already yours.
"You got a broken woman and a weak boy. You ain't got the first clue on how to fix it."
Shane raises his gun back to Rick's head. "Raise you gun."
"You're gonna have to kill an unarmed man." Rick sighs, pulling his gun out by the handle.
"Now listen to me Shane. There is still a way back from this, nothing has happened here" He slowly walks closer to Shane with his gun in the air. "We're gonna lay down our guns and we're gonna walk back to the farm together. Back to Lori, back to Carl. Let's put this all behind us."
Rick reaches behind his back with one hand and grabs his knife. Shane doesn't notice, letting Rick become close to him. Rick gives him one last chance to do the right thing and of course, Shane doesn't take it. Shane reaches out for Rick's gun. Rick pulls his arm into him, swinging his knife around and stabbing Shane into the chest. Shane's other arm comes around Rick and fires one round accidentally due to the shock of the stab.
A sudden and harsh impact tackles my entire body to the ground. My gun flies out of my hand, falling beside my head. I glance around for my weapon and notice a hole in my shirt covering my left shoulder.
Adrenaline was preventing me from feeling it right away but Shane's unintentional bullet had hit me.
Rick was shouting but I couldn't hear anything. My ears were blurring out everything around me. Once it wore off, everything that I didn't feel at first hit me in an instant and blood layers over me from the wound.
"Fuck!" I yelp in pain. Many groans escape my lips as I pull myself to my feet, getting my gun back in the process.
Rick snaps his head away from Shane's dead body lying in front of him when he hears my scream.
I clutch onto my shoulder and carry myself closer to him. He was saying something to me but I couldn't make out his words.
"I've got to get you back to Hershel." I try to make out what he says.
"I'm okay." I tell him and myself. "It's okay."
He wraps one arm around my upper body to support me. I lean my weight into him before I fall on the ground again.
Something gets Rick's attention and stops us from moving forward. I look up and Carl has a gun pointing to his father with tears in his eyes.
With Shane, killing him would be different. I will not hurt a child. Carl was just going to have to kill us.
The second gunshot leaves Carl's stolen gun and Rick and I still stand. Despite what it looks, Carl was aiming behind us. A walker more than likely but I couldn't see anything.
Rick breaks away from his gaze with his sun, shaking me. He was screaming something repeatedly but I couldn't make it out.
"What?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows. Everything snaps back into place and my hearing kicks back in.
"Run!" He yells in my face. His frightening tone causes me an immediate reaction.
An entire army of walkers came out of the woods, marching towards the farm. Despite my unbearable pains I pull my gun back out of my pocket and start running back to the house with Rick and Carl in front of me. The gunshots must have attracted them.
"Get in the barn." I instruct them. They both run inside but I don't follow behind.
I sprint with the best of efforts toward the front porch. Everyone is standing on the front porch getting their weapons ready for what's about to happen.
"Oh my god!" Beth's eyes wander to me.
"What happened?" Hershel steps down, examining my shoulder from the yard.
"Shane shot me" I wince. "It was an accident."
"Sit down!" Hershel tells me. I look around to try and calculate how much time we have until they reach the house.
"Killian if you don't sit down you're going to lose more blood and you've lost too much already."
"Then call me a dead girl walking" I snap at him. "Because I'm not going to stop until you're all out of here safely."
I look back into the porch and my stomach drops.
"Where's Maggie, Glenn, and Daryl?" I feel my eyes growing widely because the three people I care about most aren't to be seen.
"They're out there." Hershel points to the crowd of walkers, now reaching the barn where I left Carl and Rick.
This can't be happening.
I run out into the field. Hershel, Beth, and Lori yell for me to come back but my hearing blurs out again. My head was aching so badly I could throw up, and I only acted on what I knew how to do best; protecting my friends.
I cradle a knife in both of my hands. One by one, two by two I lay out as many walkers as I can. My shoulder eventually goes numb from the shock. The odds of me making it out of tonight alive is slim. I'm already injured but that doesn't mean I can't help someone else survive this.
The barn where Rick and Carl were goes up in flames. Most of the walkers walking into me attracts to the fire and turns in the opposite direction. Multiple cars drive back and forth, hitting some walkers and shooting others.
Not even a gunshot was going to slow me down.
"Killian!"
I turn my head away from the chaos finding Daryl sitting on his motorcycle at the end of the driveway. Seeing him is calming. Worry wasn't as overpowering as before.
Daryl is alive.
Carol runs and jumps on the back behind him. I didn't realize with everything going on that everyone had already left and I was alone. Walkers were getting closer to them and he wasn't moving.
"What are you doing?" I shout over the noise of the burning barn. "Get out of here Daryl!"
I was already dead. He just didn't know it. If he did we wouldn't leave and I can't let something happen to either of them.
No one else in this group is dying today
That's what I said earlier. Little did I know.
"Daryl" I yell again. His eyes couldn't break from mine. Carol was beating against his back with her fists and screaming as well. "Now!"
"I'm sorry." I swear I read his lips correctly.
He revs his motorcycle a few times, removing his gaze from me and slamming down on the gas. Within seconds he was out of sight and I was left completely alone with the walkers.
Now I just have to wait. I'm going to be dead within the next few minutes, but I'll be dammed if I go down without a fight.