THIRTY EIGHT. return of the dixons

Adrenaline rushed through her veins, both guilt and anger coursing through her body. Adeline stood with her back pressed to the door of the guard tower, engulfed in silence and the sound of gunshots ringing out both above and around her. Her hands held onto the rifle strapped around her shoulders, taking in a few deep breaths before sprinting up the stairs of the tower to provide her family coverage from above.

When the first shot rang out, the one that killed Axel, Adeline knew instantly whose gun the bullet came from. The Governors. She didn't have to look, or guess for that matter - because she knew that it was meant for her instead of the prisoner she had just grown to tolerate and like. Maybe it was her consequence that came from biting the man's ear off, or maybe it was just because his mind had been lost in the darkness.

Adeline failed to give herself enough time to think through why or how she could've prevented it, because the moment her hands wrapped around the metal of the ladder and she pulled herself into the top of the tower - the only thing on her mind was guiding karma it's way across the playing field. She kept herself out of sight from Governors men, carefully opening the door to the balcony after she grabbed the two loaded mags from inside.

Lowering herself onto the grated surface, she felt the cold metal press against the part of her stomach where her shirt had risen. Goosebumps covered her arms, hands trembling as she positioned the rifle in front of her with a shaky breath. The necklace she wore clashed against her pale skin, clamping one eye shut to look into the scope before her.

Over the eight months on the road, the skills she had worked on the most was her pistol and throwing knives. There wasn't much target practice for the rifles, but she hoped that the amount of times Shane and her brother had taken her shooting before the world ended would provide her enough room.

Taking the lives of others wasn't something high on her list, but the moment her open eye landed on a man shooting at her brother, Adeline positioned her sights on the ground around the man's feet and pulled the trigger. In an instant, the bullets that whizzed around him caused his body to fall back - hiding behind a tree which gave Rick the chance to reload and shoot.

Knowing he could handle himself, Adeline released the trigger and hastily moved the rifles scopes over to the line of trucks outside of the fences. Spotting the Governor hide behind one of the doors, she noticed the bandage that wrapped around his ear to his eye as her finger pressed down onto the trigger and sprayed the metal of the truck with bullets.

Anger for what he had done bubbled up inside of her, and the bullets only stopped when there wasn't any left inside the chamber. The small pause of reaching over to grab another magazine gave the men below the opportunity to return fire her way. Bullets grazed the metal of the guard tower, spreading like wildfire against the protective railing she was quick to hide behind.

But the sound of the bullets behind her caused the widow to flinch, flashes of blood and screams echoing in her mind mixed with a prolonged ring. Images of her husband dying in her arms blinded her, the newfound feeling of blood coating her hands causing her to open her once squinted shut eyes to find herself in the field lit by moonlight. A sudden weight in her arms resulted in her looking down, fear striking her heart at the sight.

Shane laid in her grasp, the blood that he had choked on coating his face. His eyes were shut, body limp. He was gone. Adeline felt a short breath of fear mixed with disbelief leave her lips, heart pounding heavily at the memory that haunted her mind. Closing her eyes, it only brought more horror to her when she opened them back up again.

In an instant, his body was thrashing around in her grasp - eyes clouded with a grey mist as he clawed at her. Dark blood fell from his pale lips, splattering onto her tear stained cheeks as she lost sense of what was real. "No.."

The whisper of a word left her lips, her husbands nails clawing into her arms as tears dropped from her eyes. Her skin ached, images flashing in her tainted mind just as his teeth sunk into her neck. Before she could feel the infection course through her, a crashing sound was quick to pull her out of the nightmare and back into reality.

Eyes widened, chest heaving up and down rapidly, Adeline felt the tears that had etched a path into her cheeks dry. Cold sweat coated her forehead, a panicked feeling running miles in her stomach as her trembling hands released the tight grip she held on the rifle.

Twisting her body around carefully, the widow attempted to push away the episode that had just happened to her but the pain of her aching skin only kept the moment fresh in her mind. But - the sudden cease of gunfire and muffled moans caused Adeline to peek out from behind the bullet pierced metal, her curious eyes landing upon a van with a ramp attached on the open back.

The sound of her heartbeat echoed in her ears, the irregular beating felt in her fingertips as the ramp attached to the van fell onto the grass of the courtyard. It was only then when Adeline noticed the gaping hole in the entrance fence to the prison, walkers slowly filing in as a dozen of them toppled out of the van.

"Holy shit." The widow whispered, watching carefully as a man dressed in a bullet proof vest hurriedly jumped out of the van and began shooting at Michonne who hid behind the flipped over prison bus.

The gunfire resumed, bullets whizzing by Adelines body hidden behind the metal. Furrowing her eyebrows, she turned her head just in time to spot a man on one of the other guard towers. Before she could pull her rifle out and return fire, his body fell to the ground with the sound of the towers glass shattering.

Forever thankful to whoever fired the shots, the sound of a pistol shooting caused Adeline to eye the courtyard. Spotting Hershel laying on his stomach in the high grass, worry filtered through her veins at the sight of the walkers stumbling towards him. The sound of cars starting up made her eyes shift to the retreating vehicles of the Governor and his men, and a choice confronted her.

Try to stop them or help Hershel. The remembrance of what the Governor had done to her made her body ache, stomach twisting nauseatingly as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. But Maggie had suffered those same actions. And Adeline wasn't going to let another bad thing happen to the woman if she could prevent it.

Pushing back the thing she felt the urge to do, the widow turned the scope of her rifle towards the field. Finding a walker that was stumbling it's way towards Hershel, Adeline fired a shot towards it rotten body and watched as the bullet pierced it's shoulder. Taking another deep breath, she exhaled and pressed the trigger once more.

Thankfully, the sharp metal found its way into the mushy brain and killed the walker. Her ears had grown used to the ringing that once occurred from gunshots, and Adeline watched as the group filtered out from inside the prison and began firing towards the walkers in their home.

Taking notice of Michonne who left her cover and rushed over to Hershel in order to aid him, the widow moved her rifle away from the elder and searched the outer fields for her brother. The truck that Glenn had taken earlier left dust in its tracks as it rushed through the gaping hole of the gate, speeding towards Hershel and Michonne.

Adeline could feel her heartbeat quicken as her eyes landed upon the figure of her brother pushed up against the fence with a walker on top of him. "Oh, god." The woman breathed, hurriedly standing up and steadying the gun against the guardrail.

Firing a shot, the bullet missed completely and soared past the two walkers cornering her brother in. "Come on," Adeline whispered, her voice and hands trembling as she breathed deeply in attempts to calm her shaking body. Going to press the trigger once again, the clicking sound of the gun being empty ensured panic in her mind.

But before she could completely lose her mind, an arrow whizzed through the air and landed into the skull of the walker on her brother. Relief coursed through her veins, knowing exactly who the arrow belonged to as the rifle she held clattered to the ground and her breathing calmed.

Merle and Daryl emerged from the tree line, helping Rick out before silence engulfed the group and left them in a state of fear. Adeline stood on the walkway of the guard tower, her cold grip on the railing tightening as the dozens of stalkers littered the courtyard. They were trapped.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*