♤

We were all gathered on the porch of the house as the sun began to set. The group was lacking in people as Andrea explained that Hershel dragged Rick off earlier in the day.

"Damn it. Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail. Ah. Here we go" Daryl chuntered as Shane stormed over carrying a bag full of guns over his back with one in his hand.

"What's all this?" Daryl asked.

Shane handed him a gun and asked, "You with me man?" Daryl accepted, cocking it before Shane continued. "Time to grow some balls!"

Handing me a small gun, he raised his brows, "Time to keep Charlie safe"

"Where's Dale?" Andrea asked as we all loaded up.

"He's on his way" Shane grumbled.

T stepped forward, "Thought we couldn't carry"

Shane scoffed, "Yeah, 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 turned to Glenn who was stood next to Maggie,  "How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" Glenn snatched the gun off Shane.

"That's it. Can you shoot?"

"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight." Maggie snapped.

"We have to stay, Shane." Carl told Shane.

"We ain't going anywhere, okay? Now look, Hershel, he's just gonna understand. Okay?" Shane announced.

"Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right? 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." Shane said as he knelt down in front of Carl, prodding him with a gun.

"Oh, shit!" T yelled, pulling everyone's eyes towards the treeline where Hershel, Jimmy and Rick were leading two walkers over to the barn.

We all began running over to them to see what was going on.

Shane began shouting as Daryl, Charlie and I trailed behind, catching up slowly. As soon as Daryl arrived at the scene, he began aiming a gun at the walkers.

"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" Shane shouted trying to rile up the crowd.

Shane wandered in front of them and pulled out his gun, "Hey, Hershel, lemme ask you something, can a living, breathing person survive this?" He yelled, firing 3 shots into the walkers chest.

"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that? Why is it still coming? That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?" He shouted as he fired more shots.

Charlie was standing away as I stood beside T with my gun in hand.

"Shane, enough." Rick yelled.

Shane nodded, "Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough" He growled as he paced forward, shooting the walker at point blank. Hershel fell with the walker and stayed there.

"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." Shane continued to try and rile the crowd up.

Rick was desperately trying to get the situation under control as he tried to give the walker he was holding to Hershel who wasn't listening, he had seemingly fallen under a spell from Shane's actions.

As Rick begged Hershel to take the walker, Shane was breaking down the doors of the barn, he was ready to unleash them, I looked over at Charlie, "Stay back!" I yelled over at him.

"Shane!" People yelled,

"Do not do this brother, do not do this!" Rick cried out to Shane who wasn't listening.

Glenn yelled, "Don't do it!" As he held Maggie.

Shane banged on the door, riling the walkers up and soon they began pouring out.

He immediately began gunning them down, one by one, picking them off alone until more joined, Daryl, Andrea, Glenn. I joined in, my only thought my son.

I stood beside Daryl and fired shot after shot, ploughing into the walkers as they kept coming.

The shots rang through the air as the guns kept firing. The walkers lining themselves up on the firing line, taking their final steps as the walked out.

As we fired, I wondered how many of these Hershel actually knew. How many family members were we murdering in front of him?

Eventually, the final walker took its last step and everyone lowered their weapons.

Bodies were littered around the floor as we all looked at the bloody ground.

Shock plastered everyone's face as we heard the groans of one more walker. We listened as it slowly took a step into the light.

That's when we all realised.

It was Sophia.

My mouth hung low and my heart sank as Daryl and I glanced at each other.

Carol raced forward, screaming for her lost child.

Daryl grabbed her, stopping her from embracing a child she no longer knew.

The cries of Carl and Charlie could be heard as I stumbled backwards, Charlie racing over and burying himself in my side.

The girl slowly stepped forward, a bite mark on her shoulder clear.

My heart ached for Carol as she cried.

It was a pain unimaginable.

A pain no mother should have to ever experience.

Rick stepped forward, the barrel of his gun aimed at her head, and after a few seconds, he pulled the trigger and Sophia's body fell limp onto the ground.

It was a day none of us would be quick to forget as Charlie sobbed into my side.

♤

Charlie and I laid on the cot in the tent as he cuddled into my side, upset from watching the death of a friend. He was beginning to fall asleep, his eyes dry from crying.

The echos of the gunshots and the screams rattled around in my head.

I laid, Charlie in my arms and gentle tears falling from my face as I imagined the pain of a mother losing her child.

After I knew that Charlie was asleep, I left the tent, zipping it up quietly before I wandered off to find Dale who was sat atop the RV.

"Hey" I whispered as I sat beside him.

He looked over at me and smiled sadly, "How is he?"

I shook my head, "Not good, he's upset, he's asleep right now.." I looked at him as we watched Daryl stroll into the RV, nodding up at us both. "Is Carol in there?"

Dale nodded, "Yeah,"

I sighed, "I can't imagine how much it hurts" I looked at Dale, "To lose all she had"

We sat in silence for a while before Dale looked at me, "Will you take watch for a while, I just got something to do" He asked.

I nodded, "Of course"

After a while, Lori walked over, nodding to me.

They were ready. It was time to say goodbye.

Walking over to the tent to get Charlie, Daryl joined, strutting into the tent. "Hey," He whispered seeing Charlie still asleep.

"Hey.." I whispered back, "How is she?"

Daryl shook his head, to which mine dropped, "It'll be alright, he'll be alright," Daryl nodded towards Charlie.

"He watched a friend die, he just watched his mother slaughter a group of walkers, he's never going to be the same, his childhood is over now..I can't keep pretending that he'll never have to do any of that" I said, my voice exhausted. 

Daryl grumbled, "There's always gonna be a piece of him, always. No matter what changes"

"If he loses me, or you..I--I-"

Daryl shook his head and looked me in the eyes, "Don't. He ain't gonna lose us, he's always got us. I don't want him to forget that, or you..Understand?"

I nodded slowly, looking over at the sleeping boy, wondering what nightmare he could possibly experiencing that was worse than this...