Chapter 8 – God and his priests and his kings turn their faces, even they feel the cold.

There was an uneasy tension across the Greene farm. It hung in the air and made the already heavy atmosphere all the more thicker. It was a bit of a mystery as to what had caused it, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what it had to do with. Too many secrets had been floating around- none of them as protected as their keepers liked to believe.

The cooler weather was beginning to draw in, bringing with it a slight sting from the cold nights. Penny was in one of the many vegetable patches surrounding the farm, pulling up some of the more mature things growing. With everything that was happening and the fact that they now had one less farm hand, the work had been getting more and more neglected. Plus they now had three times the amount of people who were eating the food, which was a definite drain on resources. Why her father hadn't just allowed Rick's group to help with the chores was beyond her. Truthfully, she wouldn't mind if they helped out a little.

It had been 4 days since the group had arrived and with them had come more problems and drama than the farm had seen in a long time. They could be rather rude and sometimes controlling but somehow, they'd managed to stick to Hershel's strict boundaries; mostly down to Rick's leadership. Penny couldn't deny that her opinion was changing slightly. Some part of her still wanted them to leave- the part that was worried about the barn but ever since the secret came out that Glenn and Dale knew too, that was changing. Maybe they could get past it.

Picking up the now full basket of vegetables, Penny began to make her way back up to the house. She was taking her time, in no real rush to get back. Having time to herself was becoming a luxury since privacy seemed to be a thing of the past now. The fields weren't far away; in fact if she looked properly, she would be able to see whoever stood on the RV roof keeping watch. This time though as she glanced briefly towards it, there was no one stood on the roof. There was always someone on watch- more often than not it was Dale.

As Penny reached the small patch of trees that the group had set camp under, it was obvious that none of them were around. Pots lay abandoned on the floor and on chairs as if they'd been forgotten about. Penny's brow furrowed in confusion as she walked past the open tents; no one was inside them either. Trying not to get too ahead of herself, she refused to jump to conclusions since there was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for why they would all just abandon their camp.

She had been just about to step onto the stairs, leading onto the porch. Something had caught the corner of her eye- a movement right beside the barn. Penny turned her head, almost instinctively to try and identify it. It could be someone from her family, she reasoned and she could have made herself believe that if it wasn't for the fact that she then focused on exactly what she was seeing. It looked like she'd found the group and from the looks of it, they were fighting over something.

-8-

"Dad?" Penny called out, almost frantically, as checked the downstairs rooms for her father. "…Dad?"

She entered the back room, where Carl had stayed, but there was no sign of Hershel so she headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Penny knocked on her father's bedroom door and there was a brief pause in which she was about to just turn the handle and go in anyway before she heard a 'come in' from the inside. She wasted no time in practically throwing open the door then and spotted Hershel placing something in a drawer. He turned to look at her, his face taking up an expression of concern when he noticed Penny's own features turned into a frown. The way she was tapping her fingernails against the door frame gave away her worry.

"The barn… they found it," Penny told him, not waiting for him to question her. Much to her surprise though, Hershel didn't seem entirely shocked by the news. He simply looked at his daughter for a moment before turning back to the drawer he had been looking in, turning the key to lock it.

"I wondered how long it would take."

Not at all satisfied with the answer, Penny stepped fully into the room so that she could close the door behind her. "Four days. That's how long it took. What are we gonna do? 'Cause you know if we don't, they will." Penny demanded.

Hershel replied calmly, "We're not going to do anything."

"Oh you cannot be serious!" Penny replied, indignantly.

"This is our farm. I imagine Rick will respect that."

"Yes, I'm sure he'll be just thrilled with the fact that his group are camping so close to a barn full of the things he despises."

"Rick is not an irrational man. He'll want to talk this over- try to reach some kind of compromise." The way her father did not seem concerned about this new development had Penny realising something.

She sighs, "Already thought this through, haven't you?" Hershel didn't answer; instead he sat down on the edge of his bed and patted the spot next to him as an indication for Penny to sit down too. Somehow she just couldn't justify sitting down to have a chat when there was a clear problem.

She shook her head. "I'm gonna go keep an eye on them, make sure-"

"Honey, sit down."

She could have defied him but for some reason Penny just didn't have it in her. Rolling her eyes at her own need to be a dutiful daughter, she walked to take a seat next to her father.

"Do you remember what you used to tell Maggie when she was… acting out?" Hershel asked her, turning slightly to look at Penny properly.

She looked confused for a moment, "To quit being a brat? Not really seeing the point…"

Hershel smiled at her, "Not that. You told her that you knew she was acting that way because she was hurting. You were right." Penny diverted her gaze down to her knees, knowing what was going to come from this.

"You're trying to protect everyone because you're hurting and that's ok. We've all lost our people, our family but you don't need to take responsibility for everything… that's what I'm here for," Hershel reached out his arm to wrap it around his daughter's shoulders, pulling her into him slightly. "Stop worrying so much."

"But how can you not worry?" She questioned but still accepted her father's embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. Despite his comfort and reassurances, she still couldn't help but feel like she was intentionally putting the responsibility on herself for a reason.

"Who said I didn't?" Hershel pulled his head back a little to look down at her. "I worry about you girls every day because that is my job. I'm your father. It's my job to do the worrying and to keep you safe so that you don't have to." Penny couldn't help but smile at him. "Now, it's your job to let me. Understand?" Penny hesitated a little but sighed, knowing it was a losing argument. She eventually nodded, resting her head once more against Hershel who placed a kiss into her hair.

For the rest of the afternoon, true to her word, she tried not to interfere. She tried to stay busy. Penny was finding herself small things to do but somehow her eyes kept drifting back to the barn where Shane had set himself up as Watchman. Penny still didn't know how she felt about Shane. She liked him for the same reason she liked Lori- there were parts that were familiar to her, that she could see in herself. That was also the reason she felt it necessary to sit on the porch with a full view of the barn.

Penny knew that she was headstrong, sometimes she acted before she thought about it and that was one thing she had in common with Shane. She'd seen the way he acted sometimes, especially with Carl, he wanted to protect what mattered to him and he would do that at any cost; that was the other trait they shared. But this time it wasn't just about his family, it was about hers too. Penny wasn't sure what would happen if they ever argued over something like this- Shane could easily take her physically but she wasn't intimidated by him and was fairly certain she could take him verbally so there wasn't really a straight answer. Pitting two headstrong, protective people against each other was never going to be simple.

She could just about make out his movements, enough for her to be able to watch what he was doing; unless he walked around the other side of the barn, which he had done a few times. He walked up to the main doors, looking as if he was pressing against them for a minute. His stance coupled with how jumpy he seemed to be made Penny slightly more nervous. Rick may tolerate the situation, simply because he wanted to stay but Shane? Penny could count the ties he had to this place on one hand. He wouldn't care if it was Hershel's land as long as his people were safe, which in his view they weren't.

Rick was a different matter though. She'd heard him speaking to her father, begging him not to make them leave. Hershel was unwavering though, he wanted them gone for reasons Penny didn't quite understand anymore. They now knew about the barn which was her biggest issue with them staying, beside the fact that they were complete strangers, but her father seemed to want them gone simply because he didn't want them to stay. She knew it was probably more than that- he didn't want to be responsible for them either.

Rick had also wanted to compromise on the barn. That wasn't about to happen and it would probably be a deal breaker if they ever entered into negotiations about it. You stay- you accept the barn and leave it be, if not- leave. The barn had to be protected which was why she was still sat where she was; once again taking it upon herself to ensure nothing happened. She wasn't sure if she was protecting the barn because of the 'people' inside though or to protect the people outside. There was no doubt in her mind that the family and friends inside that barn were dead- how could they not be? She had seen the flesh decomposing; she had smelt the stench of rot and decay. But still, members of her own family were in there and whether they were dead or not, she still loved them. They weren't hurting anyone so why should they have to be put down permanently? If they were, they would lose them all over again.

Footsteps sounded on the porch, Penny turned to see Jimmy running into the house. She looked at him, confused, but he didn't spare her a glance as he rushed inside. She followed in behind him to find Hershel and Maggie standing in the kitchen.

"It happened again," Jimmy stated.

Hershel looked from Jimmy to Penny before standing.

"How many?" Hershel questioned.

"Two," was Jimmy's reply.

Penny hated this. Pulling infected people out of river beds. She'd gone with Otis once- just the once because she could never do it again. That time there was only one so it was a relatively easy task for Otis who had become a master at it but it wasn't something she cared to see repeated.

"Are you going alone?" Penny asked her father, frowning in concern.

"Jimmy'll come," the boy in question nodded. "And maybe this would be the perfect opportunity to take Rick up on his offer for help."

Penny raised her eyebrows, she couldn't decide if it was a stupid move.

"You're gonna take Rick?" Maggie asked, shaking her head. She obviously didn't know what to think either.

"Well he wants to stay, I think it's only right he sees how we deal with things here."

But with both Hershel and Rick gone, Penny became even more paranoid about the barn. It would be down to her alone to intervene if something happened while they were away. Rick could control his group when he was there but when he was gone it was another matter.

She'd taken back up the spot on the porch. Andrea had relieved Shane from his duties and she was now doing the same checks he had done. Andrea was a different kind of person. The times Penny had seen her, she always seemed up for the action and she was top of the class at gun training. She was practically the polar opposite of the other women in the group- Lori and Carol seemed to do the washing, cooking and other typically 'housewife' things. Andrea had an almost arrogant quality. One that claimed she could take on the world. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just different.

Glenn had taken over watch on the RV again. He kept glancing in Penny's direction but when she would meet his gaze, he quickly diverted his eyes. He was probably scared she was going to flip on his again like she did the first time. She couldn't say she regretted that, it was just a heat of the moment thing. She had been furious and terrified- not a good combination for someone who tends to get worked up easily. This time though she wasn't going to go crazy but she did want to talk to him. She looked in the direction of the barn again. Andrea was leaning against the old tractor that was parked outside, in pretty much the same position Shane had been a while before. Andrea probably wouldn't start anything- she seemed to be more of a following orders type of girl rather than the instigator. If there was a time when Penny felt ok with diverting her attention slightly, it would be now.

Glenn began to fidget more as he watched Penny get closer. The hands holding onto his gun began to clench nervously.

"What're you wearing?" Penny asked him as she stopped just under him. She was smiling at him which just confused Glenn. His hand immediately flew up to touch the hat Dale had given him.

"It's erm… It's Dale's." He replied.

"Yeah I see that. Happened to yours?" She lifted her own hand to shield her eyes from the sun.

"Erm… there was an- an accident." Glenn told her. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell Penny that it was Maggie who had ruined his cap, although the knowing look on her face was enough to make him think she already had her suspicions.

"Right… listen I wanted to talk to you about-"

"This is about the barn right?" Glenn interrupted. "Look, I'm sorry but I had to say something. I just couldn't-"

"Hey, stop." Penny called up to him, halting his ramblings. "You did what you had to. I get it… I don't like it but I understand. That wasn't what I wanted to say though." Glenn's face went from confused to relieved to nervous again in a split second. Honestly, Penny was amused by the whole thing. She was pretty sure he wasn't much younger than her and Penny didn't have Maggie's height so she was shorter than Glenn too yet he was still intimidated. "I wanted to thank you," she began. "For Maggie… saving her life yesterday."

"Oh… that." He was shocked to say the least. Glenn had expected Penny to come and pull him down off the RV and feed him to the barn of walkers. He had not expected a thank you. Then again, Maggie had told him family always came first for Penny… he guessed that probably meant living ones rather than walker ones.

"Yeah, that." Penny laughed. "I think that makes us pretty even… you saving her but spilling about the barn. Just try not to mess up next time yeah?"

Glenn laughed slightly and nodded… she was teasing him. Maybe there was hope after all.

Heavy steps sounded to Penny's right and she glanced that way to see Shane storming into the RV. He didn't so much as glance at her which was a little odd. She looked back up at Glenn as she heard Shane begin to rifle through everything- she could just about see what he was doing through the net covered window. He eventually came back out and seemed to just notice Penny was there.

"You ok?" she asked him seeing how flustered he seemed. Having him agitated would not be good for anyone.

Shane didn't respond, instead turning straight to Glenn. "See where he went?"

"Who?" Glenn asked.

"Don't even try to shit me ok?"

Glenn looked down at Penny, completely confused.

"What-"

"Dale, Glenn. Did you see where Dale went?"

Penny couldn't help but hope Dale had gone far- she wouldn't want to meet Shane if he was this pissed off for whatever reason.

"He asked me to get him some water… said he'd cover me on watch," Glenn told him.

"And he was gone when you got back, huh?" Shane stated, turning to face away from the RV, clearly fuming.

"Yeah… you think he's ok?"

"Oh he's fine."

"Why'd he bail then?"

"…So you wouldn't tell me which way he went."

Glenn just became even more confused with each answer from Shane. "I don't get it."

"Nah man… you don't," Shane stated before storming off in what seemed like a random direction.

Penny watched him walk for a moment before turning back to Glenn. "Is he always like that?"

"Erm… lately? Yes." Glenn told her. "Penny? Can I ask you something?"

She looked at him curiously, "sure."

"Maggie… does she hate me now?"

Penny grinned, "There a reason you couldn't ask her that? I don't think she hates you… she's just mad you didn't listen to her."

"So, what do I do?" Glenn asked, a little uncomfortable with asking Maggie's sister for advice but he figured if anyone knew Maggie, it would be her.

"Talk to her." Penny said simply before smiling up at him once and turning back to the porch.

-8-

It started with just Penny sitting in her spot. Then Beth had joined her, eager to know what was going on. Carl had come over then, apparently stuck on a maths problem he was doing and asked for their help. Lori had wandered over to see where Carl had gotten to. After that it was like a meeting on the porch. Everyone, the Greene's and the group members were just hanging out together and Penny couldn't deny that it was kind of a relief.

Glenn had apparently talked it out with Maggie and they were sitting happily, side by side. Penny was supposedly helping Carl but she wasn't really needed since Patricia and Beth were there too. She looked around as T-Dog and Andrea came over, asking what had happened to Rick- apparently they were supposed to look for Sophia hours ago. The fact that the little girl was still missing five days later didn't look so good. Daryl and Carol chose that moment to return too and Daryl was not happy that no one was looking for Sophia.

"Dammit, isn't anyone taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail… ah here we go." He said, gesturing to Shane's return.

The group fell silent as each person spotted what Shane was carrying on his back- a full bag of guns. This was what Penny knew would happen when Rick left. Shane would take matters into his own hands. She stepped off the porch and stood slightly in front of Maggie and Glenn. With her father still dealing with the people in the river, it looked like she was in charge.

"What's all this?" Daryl asked the question on everyone's minds.

"You with me man?" Shane asked him, holding out a gun for Daryl to take.

"Yeah," he took the offered weapon.

"Time to grow up. You got yours?" Shane asked Andrea.

"Yeah, where's Rick?" She asked in return.

"He's on his way."

Shane was beginning to pick up a following as he walked towards the rest of the people gathered. Daryl, Andrea and T-Dog were cautiously following his lead.

"Thought we couldn't carry?" T-Dog questioned.

"We can and we have to," Shane answered. "Now 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… How about you man, you gonna protect yours?"

Glenn nervously glanced at Maggie before taking the gun. Penny had had enough. "What do you think you're doing?" She called out to him.

"Can you shoot?" was Shane's reply but he held a gun out to Maggie. Now Penny was furious.

"Hey," she walked forward to push the gun down and stepped in front of Maggie. "You don't get to come over here and just start handing out guns. You keep those, you leave tonight."

Shane looked down at her, an almost disbelieving smirk forming, before he simply turned away from her.

"We have to stay Shane," Carl called out.

"What is this?" Lori questioned in confusion.

"We ain't going anywhere," Shane replied to Carl but directed it straight at Penny. "Now look Hershel, he's just gonna have to understand ok… well he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia, am I right?"

He knelt down in front of Carl, holding out a small gun to the twelve-year-old.

"I want you to take this. You take it Carl and you keep your mother safe, you do whatever it takes. You know how to do it. Go on, take the gun and do it."

Lori pushed Carl behind her, clearly furious. "Rick said no guns. This is not your call; this is not your decision to make." It wasn't any of their decisions. The person whose decision it was, was currently occupied somewhere else, well Penny thought he was until T-Dog attracted everyone's attention to Jimmy emerging from the woods followed by two walkers attached to poles- Rick and Hershel holding one each.

"What is that?" Shane asked before he took off, sprinting towards the other men. The others soon followed. A string of curses and people calling for Shane to wait was heard mixed in with the sound of heavy footfalls against the dirt, Jimmy calling out to keep the walkers' attention and the groans and snarls rippling from the mouths of the things themselves.

"What the hell you doing?" Shane yelled as he reached the other side of the fence.

"Shane just back off!" Rick shouted back, too busy trying to hold onto the rather large walker.

"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel questioned, again too busy controlling the female walker he had.

"Are you kidding me?" Shane yelled again. "You see? You see what their holding on to?"

"I see who I'm holding on to!" Hershel retorted, turning slightly to keep Shane in his sights while not allowing the walker to take control.

"Naw man you don't."

"Shane just let us do this!" Rick called out, attempting to regain some form of order whilst Shane carried on circling around them. "Then we can talk."

"What d'you wanna talk about Rick? These things aren't sick. They're not people. They're dead!" Shane yelled out to the whole group as people began to line up behind him. "Ain't gonna feel nothing 'cause all they do, they kill. These things right here! These are the things that killed Amy- they killed Otis. And they gonna kill all of us if we don't stop it."

"Shane, stop!"

"Hey Hershel, man lemme ask you something. A living breathing person, do they walk away from this-"

Shane drew his gun. He fired. Three shots straight into the female walker.

"That's three shots to the chest. Someone who's still alive, could they just take that? Why's it still coming?!"

Two more shots.

"That's its heart. Its lungs! Why is it still coming?!"

Another three shots.

People were yelling for him to stop.

"Shane, that's enough!" Rick shouted over everyone else.

"Yeah, you're right man. That is enough."

He stalked over to the female. One shot straight into its head and it finally stilled, falling to the floor, taking Hershel down with it. Penny ran forward, ignoring Maggie's arm stretching out to try and pull her back. Her fury was too much. She reached her father's side as Shane began to speak again. At the mention of Sophia being dead, she snapped.

"…Enough living next to a barn full of things that are tryna kill us!"

"No," Penny screamed, walking towards Shane- again, she ignored the pleas from Rick and her family to just stay back. "Just stop already!"

"Look it ain't like it was before!"

Shane walked forward to meet her halfway, his hands held up in the surrender position but one still held his gun. Penny shoved the gun away with one hand and pushed on his chest with the other. It was a futile attempt, she wasn't thinking, she just couldn't stand back and watch him on his personal rampage. Shane tried to push her away, instinctively. Not anticipating the move or the force of it, Penny stumbled, falling back into Rick as he reached out to steady her on instinct. The pole slipped from his hands.

The walker, suddenly freed, turned with surprising speed. Its attention was immediately on Rick and Penny. The snarls coming from its mouth increased as it reached rotting fingers out to try and catch them. Penny tried to scramble back, out of the reach of the clawing hands that were approaching her but Rick was directly behind her. The pole swung wildly as the large walker attempted to move with it still attached. They had seconds before it would be upon them. Rick threw one arm around Penny to pull her out of the way while the other reached for his gun but before he could even touch the weapon, a gunshot fired from the other side and blood sprayed out of an exit wound as the walker fell to the ground.

The pair looked to the left to see Daryl lowering his gun slightly.

The unintended distraction had played to Shane's advantage though. While everyone was busy dealing with the one walker, he had turned back to the barn and began to pry open the doors. He had already pulled off the wooden beam and went to pick up a pick-axe to break apart the padlock.

People began to scream and shout at him to stop but he was too determined to notice. Rick removed his arm from Penny and began to run towards Shane in an attempt to make him stop when Shane finally broke through the metal- Rick hadn't even gotten close to him.

Everyone stepped back. The only thing between them and more than a dozen hungry walkers was a simple metal chain. It wouldn't take long to break. Shane was at the front, Rick slightly behind him, he pulled up his gone to wait for the walkers to emerge. And they did.

The scene turned into a massacre. The group members with guns began to line up as if they were at target practise. In a way, they were. Shane fired the first shot, straight into the head of the lead walker, taking it down instantly. This seemed to be the sign of permission everyone else was waiting for.

Shot after shot was fired. Blood splatter covered the ground in every direction as one by one, the walkers were taken down.

Hershel was on the ground, kneeling before it all. His eyes were wide, his mouth open slightly in a state of shock. These were his friends; his family he was watching die right in front of him.

Maggie was standing behind Hershel, tears streaming down her face. The scene was too unbelievable and horrific to even witness. Glenn looked to her, asking permission to join in. She nodded.

Beth whimpered and turned her face into Jimmy's chest as she saw the remains of her mother exit the barn only to be shot down in a rain of bullets.

They all recognised these people even in their decomposed states.

Penny stared unseeingly at the whole thing.

Eventually the bodies stopped coming. There were no more horrifying groans or snapping teeth. A silence fell upon them as each person dealt with what they had just witnessed. The dead lay in piles upon the ground, covered in blood and gore. Guns were lowered and people just looked around.

Until the growls were heard. One final walker was left in the barn.

She emerged into the sunlight and curled in on herself slightly as if protecting her eyes. Her clothes were torn and filthy. Her hair was matted with grease and dirt. Her eyes were white and glazed over. Skin covered in filth and grime. But it was the hideous wound on her left shoulder that seemed to be the focus. A patch of skin and flesh had been ripped away… eaten. Blood had trickled down and dried and infection must have set in- the surrounding area was speckled with red dots.

They'd finally found Sophia.

The small girl began to walk towards the group- the growls still emanating from her. There was a collective intake of breath as people finally seemed to recognise her.

Carol was standing at the very back but she reacted first. That was her baby girl. She ran forward, reaching out to her daughter, crying for her but Daryl grabbed her around the waist and the pair fell to their knees. Carol still reached out a hand for Sophia.

Sophia moved forward slowly, stepping over the bodies of the other dead.

"Don't watch." Lori said to her son as it became clear what was about to happen.

Rick closed his eyes, knowing he would be the one to do it. His expression was stern as he clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes, walking towards the undead child. He pulled his gun from its holster and lined up the shot.

Sophia didn't stop and when she was directly in front of him, Rick pulled the trigger. The body of the lost little girl crumbled to the ground.


First thing: NEW EPISODE! I can't even begin to describe my feelings during that. Beyond amazing.

Anyway, Barn Scene! Can't tell you how good it was the write the second half of this… the first half was a little long but hey, it happens in the episode so we have to do this stuff.

This bit is IMPORTANT if you wish for the next chapter to come out. I have the next one planned out in 2 ways and I figure I will let you help me decide where to go. As we all know, up next is when Rick and Glenn go to get Hershel from the bar, pick up Randall etc. SO 2 different scenarios-

A. Penny stays at the farm, helps with Beth and then we have a little Daryl/Penny interaction

B. Penny goes with them (overdone, maybe) but we would get to see how she reacts to situations like that… will she be a typical woman from the show or not? Then when she gets back we have Daryl/Penny interaction.

Your choice… Amy's choice. (Sorry had to slip the little DW quote in) drop me a review or pm me with your preference.

Thanks for reading (over 2000 hits YEY)/favs/alerts. Love ya.

Leg64: thank you! I'm so bad, I actually wasn't even aware that she had depth… honestly never knew what it meant before this but apparently it's a good thing so thanks!

Leyshla Gisel: I cheated and watched it on Monday so I was only a few hours behind. Thanks for reviewing!

Emberka-2012: yeah I've said before, and Rick says it in this episode actually, the Greene's are sheltered and kind of naïve about it all. Penny has seen parts of it but not as much as the group so yeah she wanted to leave for a little bit… not so sure about now though.

Padme4000: hope it lived up to expectations! I know I didn't go into reactions and things here but I will next time. This was more about the shock of it all… When I read about doing it in someone else's view, not going to lie, I panicked a little and yeah I didn't really do that either. Thank you thank you thank you!

Lucy: Okay so I told you Daryl/Penny interaction didn't I? Sorry… it was planned out that way but then it just didn't happen. I swear though, either next chapter or the one after depending on what scenario people would prefer. Thanks you for reviewing again!

DON'T FORGET TO LET ME KNOW WHICH VERSION YOU'D LIKE BETTER! Thank you.