𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑
𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒
︶꒦꒷★꒷꒦︶

"Hello?"

Claire whispered as slowly made her way down the stairs, peaking her head around the corner. There was no one that she could personally see, so she stepped off the last step an turned into the kitchen.

She stopped in her tracks when her eyes landed on Marcus, who was slowly taking bites of his buttered toast, his eyes locked on the page of a half-read book.

He didn't seem to notice her presence, so she took a step toward him, bending her neck down to see what he was reading.

A small smile graced her lips at the book, "Anne of Green Gables, huh?" She spoke, pulling out a chair and sitting down, grabbing herself a slice of pre buttered toast sitting on the plate in the middle of the table.

The boy jerked his head up with a nod and a slight smile, "Yeah, my mom used to read it to me, found it on one of Hershel's shelves."

"It's a good book." She hummed, making him raise an eyebrow and set the book down. "You read it?"

"I uh, used to read it to my little brother when he couldn't sleep. Apparently, it 'bored him to sleep'."

Marcus laughed with a nod, "Yeah, it's not for everyone."

"So, were you with Ricks group, or where you here, at the farm?" Claire questioned, wiping her buttery hands with a napkin. "I was with the group. Dale found me on the side of the road, drenched in walker blood and dirt and God knows what else."

"Walker?" Claire questioned, and Marcus hummed, "The dead, zombies, whatever."

Claire nodded, "Much easier to say than zombies."

"Also less cheesy," Marcus joked.

Claire sent him a smile, "This is definitely not how I pictured the summer before college would go."

Marcus laughed, a genuine sound, nodding at her, "Definitely not-"

"Shane! Stop!"

Claires head spun back, looking at the front door, where the shouts had come from.

She looked back at Marcus, before the two both stood up and rushed out the door.

"What's going on?" Marcus spoke, pushing through Patricia and Beth, Claire following behind him.

Shane walked towards the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Listen boy, Hershel's got a barn full of walkers on the farm. He's keeping them, like trophies!" Claire stood still, sending a glance at Maggie who looked over at her with worry.

Marcus shrugged Shane's hand off of him when he saw the look in the man's eyes. "Shane, what the fuck are you doing, man? This isn't our property, what Hershel decides to do is his decision, not ours. Listen, where's Rick? We'll talk to hi-"

"No more damn Rick!" Claire flinched at the raise in his voice, shocked at the man she was seeing. What happened to him? Did this world really turn him this cold? "He's following these rules, and it's going to get us killed!"

Shane sucked in a deep breath and looked over at Claire, "Claire, what if your brother was in there? Wouldn't you want to put him to rest? Put all these people to rest?" Shane handed her gun to her, but she was frozen still with fear and shock at what Shane had insinuated, and Marcus could tell.

With a swift step to the left, he put his arm out in front of her and pushed the gun out of his face, "Shane, you're scaring people, man."

"Oh, shit!" Claire snapped her head over to T-Dog, who was pointing at the tree line.

There, at the edge of the field, was Rick and Hershel, guiding the dead, or the walkers with sticks, Jimmy walking backwards in front of them towards the barn.

"What is that?" Shane mumbled, before taking off in a full run towards them.

"Shane!" Lori shouted, and the group took off after Shane. Before running off, Claire picked her gun up off the ground and took off after the group. Claire was in the middle of the them once they arrived at the barn, heaving as Shane stopped running in front of Hershel.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shane shouted, and Claire stuttered to a stop, walking up and standing beside Marcus.

"Shane just back off." Rick warned, while Hershel looked around the group in confusion, "Why do your people have guns?"

Claire looked around at the group, most holding guns, minus Marcus, Carl, Patricia and Maggie. "Are you kidding me? You see? You see what they're holding on to?" Shane pointed at them, and Hershel shook his head as the walker struggled, "I see who I'm holding on to."

"No, man, you don't."

Rick grunted, "Shane just let us do this, and then we can talk."

Claire watched as a man, probably Daryl, seeing as she knew of his but hadn't been introduced to him, was holding a shotgun towards the walker.

"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 is kill!" Shane's shouting had increased in volume causing Claire to take a hesitant step back with a stuttered breath. Marcus glanced behind him, looking around the group for Kira. But when his eyes couldn't locate her, they landed on Claire, who's faced showed it all. Marcus turned with a glare at Shane, reaching down and grabbing the knife from his belt, just in case Shane went crazy.

"These things right here! They're the things that killed Amy! They killed Otis! They're gonna kill all of us if we don't shoot-"

"Shane, shut up!" Rick shouted back, still struggling to keep himself on his feet.

"Hey Hershel, man, let me ask you something." Shane reached around and grabbed his gun, "Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane pointed the gun and shot the walker in the chest three times, each gunshot causing the group to flinch.

"Shane, no! Stop it!" Rick screamed, and Shane shook his head, "That's three rounds to the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?" Shane lifted his gun again, three more rounds into it, "That's it's heart, it's lungs. Why is it still coming?" Shane shot it again, and Claire sucked in a breath at the man whom she once considered an older brother. She couldn't even recognize the man who stood in front of her today. More rounds into it's chest, and Rick shouted at Shane again. " Shane, enough!"

Shane nodded, walking towards the walkers, "Yeah, you're right man, that is enough." One more shot through the neck of the zombie, and it fell to the floor, along with a devastated Hershel.

Claire looked up as someone pushed past her, and she watched as Roman pushed through the group, walking straight up to Shane and shoving him back as hard as he could, "What the fuck Shane!"

Shane quickly pointed the gun at Roman, a crazy look in his eyes causing the whole group to gasp, "Shane, drop the fucking gun." Kira spoke from beside Claire, causing the girl to jump. When did she get here?

"No, no, no, no, no." Shane muttered, watching as Roman slowly backed up from the gun wielding man, murder evident in the tall man's blue eyes.

"Enough of this! Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!" Claire's heart broke for Carol at his words, "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! Enough! Rick it ain't like it was before!" Shane shouted, the whole group stunned to silence by the mans actions.

"Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it!" Shane was scattered, moving in spastic motions and stepping back and forth, "I'm talking about fighting right here, right now!" Shane turned around and bolted for the farm.

Rick shouted at Hershel to take the snare pole, but Hershel was silent on the ground, "Hershel listen to me, man, please!"

Claire watched in horror as Shane began to attempt to pry the barn open.

The group began shouting at Shane, who was angrily and aggressively banging on the barn doors with a garden pick.

"Don't do it!" Glenn shouted, holding a crying Maggie back. "Rick!" Lori shouted, her throat dry as she held back Carl. Claire's breath hitched as Shane pulled the wood away from the barn doors, slamming his hand on it before backing up and pulling out his gun.

"Shane, this is not the way!" Rick screamed, and Claire stepped forwards, knowing what was about to happen.

The dead began piling out of the barn, and Shane began shooting, just like that. With no other choice, Andrea ran up with her gun and began shooting alongside him, Daryl joining in.

Claire took a step forwards, taking the safety off her gun, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her, "Claire, don't do this."

Claire looked back at Roman, "They could kill us,"

"Look at Hershel, don't do it" Roman mumbled, and Claire glanced at a crying Hershel, before looking back in horror as the three shot an endless stream of walkers, T-Dog joining in with the shooting as the amount grew.

Glenn hesitated to join, but Maggie sent him a quiet 'it's okay' through her sobs.

The number of walkers coming through the barn was shocking, and had Claire glued to the ground. She watched as they walked out, then dropped after the gunfire. The amount slowed down slightly, and it was easier to see the actual walkers now.

Soon, with no help from her, the walkers were all down.

The girl sucked in a sob, causing her to hiccup, and a hand placed itself on her back. Claire glanced over at Roman, who was now standing beside her, a comforting yet protective hand on the middle of her back.

The farm fell quiet, nothing but Beth's sobs breaking the silence. Rick ran a hand over his face, sending a tired glare at Shane.

This man was not the man that Claire once knew. That is for sure.

A few seconds of silence passed, no one in the group daring to speak, when grunts and groans came from inside the barn. Claire sighed, turning on the safety on the gun and putting it in her waistline.

The group watched slowly as the figure emerged from the farm, and if it wasn't for Carol's immediate sobs, Claire wouldn't have thought anything of it. But she knew in that moment, that was Sophia.

"Sophia? Oh my god, my baby!" Carol shouted, running forwards, Daryl quickly dropping his gun and grabbing Carol, stopping her from reaching the little girl.

Tears brimmed Claires eyes at the sight of a mother mourning her daughter, and she quickly covered her sob with her palm.

Roman looked down guiltily scrunching his face at the realization that a little girl was about to be killed, just as Rick approached Sophia.

"Jesus," Roman mumbled, placing a frustrated hand to his eyes and turning around to walk back towards the house. Claire frowned, squeezing her eyes closed, flinching as the gunshot rippled through the air. Claire could picture herself in this same situation, finding Eli like that, and it made her sick to her stomach.

Carol sobbed in Daryl's arms, and Claire turned her face back to the situation at hand.

What just happened? She couldn't tell if she was angry at Hershel for risking Carl's life like that, or maybe angry at Shane, or maybe sick to her stomach at the sight of a grieving Carol.

Claire could feel it in her throat, watching as Beth approached her stepmother, who was lying on the ground in a pile of walkers.

Claire turned around, jogging away a few feet and bending over. The taste of the acid in her mouth evident as she released the contents of that morning's breakfast.

She straightened up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before turning back around. Accidentally making eye contact with Shane, she sighed, turning around and walking towards the house.

Her arms crossed over her chest as she walked, she attempted to keep her tears in. She was mourning the man she once knew. Shane used to be so good, he was amazing with Carl and Eli and was always so kind and protective. Where did that man go? The man behind her was not the man she knew. He was sporadic, insane, fucked up in the head. Maybe this world turned him cold, or maybe he was always this way, deep down. Whatever it was, Claire would miss the man he once was.

Claire found herself at the car that Roman was working on yesterday, and she sighed, placing her back on the side of it and sliding down to the ground.

There was no way Hershel would allow them to stay on the farm, which means Claire will go back to searching for Eli day and night. Maybe even not seeing Rick again. Just when she thought things could be good, it all falls apart.