TAINTED YOUTH
010 sucker punch!

lori was gone. the woman had taken maggies car and left carl in the hands of hallie. sitting by the couch hallies leg shook uncontrollably worried about the woman's whereabouts. shane had informed his daughter he was going out to locate lori and as much as hallie begged to go with him, he ordered to stay with carl.

carl was restless, his mother and father were currently out there in the dead of night and the only person he had right now was hallie. he was worried about what happened and why they were taking so long, resorting in attempting to braid hallies hair, which turned into a knotted twist.

"they'll be ok, you know?" hallie spoke confidently, looking over at the boy who was playing with a football he had found tucked away in some bush.

sitting on the porch she watched as the boy moved the football between his feet. she wrapped a blanket beth had gifted her, around her shoulders as the breeze at night was colder than she expected.

"come play, hallie!" carl yelled has he kicked the football into his imaginary goal, letting out a cheer of glee as he 'thanked his fans'.

"maybe in a little bit, buddy" hallie called back, watching as he sulked for a moment before continuing on with his game.

eventually, carl had gotten bored of the game. tucking up beside hallie as the blanket was now draped over him.

when the car pulled in, lori jumped out of it quickly followed by shane. "where's rick?" she asked, looking at the girl and her son.

"rick? is he not with you?" hallie asked, a confused expression on his face.

turning towards shane, anger filled lori. "you said he came back, you said he was here!"

"i- it was the only way to get you back" shane stuttered, attempting to excuse his lies.

"hey, lor'— he was just trying to protect you" hallie butted in, defending her father.

sighing lori turned to the girl, "hallie, honey. this is between me and your father, please take carl inside"

"i had to protect you and the baby" shane once again spoke, not realising that his daughter and carl had been stood beside them.

"your pregnant!"

"your having a baby?"

lori seemed as if she'd cry at that moment. shane rubbed his head, looking at his daughter in what seemed like embarrassment. his lips pushing against eachother, nodding his head.

that was the moment when everything came together. the times when lori and shane would disappear back at the quarry. the silent arguments, his longing stares.

shane was the father of this baby, and they had an affair the whole time they thought rick was dead.

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the group had come back, with a boy. everything was a blur. like a fever dream. not sleeping catches up quickly and as well as the new found information hallie walsh couldn't seem to grasp life in general.

"you okay?" beth greene asked, snapping the girl out of her trance.

"huh? oh yeah. i'm fine" hallie shook her head, her hands tightened around the white mug filled with caffeine.

"you look really tired" beth stated, pulling her cardigan closer around her.

"jeez, thanks beth" hallie chuckled awkwardly, leaning back against the chair. her eyes drooping, sipping on her on her coffee. hallie didn't even like coffee. in fact she hated it, it made her feel sick yet she felt the need to stay awake as if something bad would happen or she'd miss something.

"you need to sleep"

"i sleep fine" that was a lie. she slept horribly, nightmares filling up the little to none sleep she actually got.

"whatever you say, hall's"

whatever she says.

when beth walked out of the room she was met with shane walsh at the doorway she whispered an " sorry" before heading in the direction of what seems the kitchen.

"hey, sweet pea" shane nodded, from the doorway.

"dad" hallie greeted, not fully sure on why her father was there but nonetheless acknowledged his presence.

"i'm sorry"

"sorry for fucking lori when your bestfriend slash her husband was dead but wasn't actually dead or sorry that i connected the dots as if i ain't your daughter" hallie said calmly, shane could tell she was mad, resentful almost.

"im sorry you found out the way you did" he muttered, coming to sit beside his daughter.

"it felt like a sucker punch to the gut, you know" hallie began, sighing as she collected her thoughts. "i know you've had girlfriends and hookups after mom left but lori? the woman that helped raise me along with rick? like why would you do that to him.. to carl?" hallie rambled nonchalantly, refusing to look at her father.

"we were grieving. we all thought he was dead" shane defended calmly.

"dad i love you and i love lori, but that isnt grieving. if anything you took advantage of her at a point of vulnerability"

shane stayed silent. "do you hate me?" he asked.

"i could never hate you. i'm just mad"

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standing outside the barn, hallie had her arms crossed. roman walked out with bloodied knuckles and a dirty rag.

"there's a group of them. maybe thirty-ish? should've heard the sick shit he was saying" roman chuckled, wiping his hands before throwing the rag on the ground.

"his face is completely messed up. if he doesn't die from the beatings he's being given, sepsis might aswell take him"

hallie looked at roman, she couldn't really understand why he was so okay with beating a boy half to death, even if his group was a shit hole.

"are they gonna kill him?"

"probably. we talked about shooting him, maybe hanging him. they brought him out but he knows maggie. went to school with her, no way we could let him roam free to bring his group back to us"

"oh.."

"yeah. best he dies"

hallie couldn't understand what she was hearing. well she could understand the words yet she couldn't understand how they could adapt so easily. she felt like an outsider compared to others in the group.

"hey, yeah i'm gonna head over to the house.. i promised carol i'd help cook dinner" the lie flowed so easily out of hallies mouth that roman simply nodded, not realising that her and carol were barely on speaking terms at that very moment.

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abby sat in the barn looking at a bloodied randall. his face was swollen and you could barely see his eyes.

"kid, believe me when i say i do not want anything to happen to you, but we have to know what your groups like" abby attempted to bargain with the boy, but he simply began to blubber incoherently.

"i told you everything i know" he sobbed, his tears running like a red river down his face.

abby sighed, looking at him. she genuinely felt bad for the kid. he looked so tired,  she knew that feeling.

his sobs quietly stopped and sokn became soft hiccups, grabbing her water bottle she unscrewed the cap, walking over to him slowly. lifting his chin she placed the water by his mouth watching as he drank it all quicky, only leaving a small dribble in the bottle.

"i'll bring you more soon."

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lee stood with his arms crossed as he watched the group. they were deciding if randall should live or not. hallie sat quietly on an arm chair, lee couldn't help notice her leg shaking uncontrollably and the way her nails were chipped down.

"lee, you can't be siding with this. this boy is your age!" dale stressed, he was enraged.

"i need my family safe."  lee confirmed, although he didn't think it was exactly necessary for the boy to die, he would agree with whatever would keep his family safe.

"hallie?"

"do not bring my daughter into this" shane stepped forward,with a piercing stare that shot right through him.

"she's already apart of this, shane! what would you do if it was hallie in that barn, with a different group?" dale encouraged, he was lucky that shane didn't throw him in the barn and shoot him just like randall.

shaking his dale walked out of the barn.

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the group congregated around the fire, the group had failed to put down randall, the boy still being tied up in the barn.

it was silent, dale still trialing the property.

hallie had her head laid against shane's shoulder, kicking her feet in the loose dirt that left a brown sheet on her converse.

it was peaceful, but only for a second. screams soon filled the air, everyone jumping up grabbing guns and weapons.

hallie grabbed a hand gun that her father had left lying on a piece of chopped wood. checking if it was loaded she quick clicked the safety off and on before running after the group.

"dale!" carol screamed, watching as a walker laid atop of him. his screams grew louder.

daryl tackled the undead off of him, waving his arms signalling his group.

as hallie came to a stop, a gasp left her mouth as she quickly retreated slightly. his stomach was ripped open, his organs avail.

tears brimmed her eyes as hershel shook his head confirming his fate.

carl stood beside her, quickly backing away and into his mothers arms. hallie could feel bile rising in her throat as she watched rick hold a gun to his head as his groans of agony grew blubbered by the blood in his throat.

shaking his head he withdrew his gun, daryl kneeled beside the man, "i'm sorry brother"

a gun shot rang out, that was when hallie's stomach contents emptied into a nearby bush.

dale hawthorne was dead, and another peice of hallies heart had chipped away. another loss.

she begged that she wouldn't loose anyone else, but deep down she knew it was inevitable. death has been called to the earth to take the most worthy and the many she lost was a perfect example.

——— rin speaks

UPDATE WOO HOOO
sad chapters coming up, way worse that this.
enjoy comment please 🫶🏼