Chapter eight.
Ellie found sleep didn't come to her easily last night, as she tossed and turned. Nightmares of dark shadows and dead hands had crept their way into her dreams and she had shaken awake, sweating and catching her breath. Luckily Daryl had been out on watch most of the night, sneaking into the tent in the early hours of the morning to catch some sleep. Ellie had pretended that she was asleep when he glanced in her direction on his entrance. She didn't feel like talking, still shaking from her nightmares.
Now though, the group were all sat around the campfire, eating the stew that Carol and Lori had made for them. It was good, and Ellie couldn't help but scoff it quickly, leaving a dull ache in her throat as it burned going down. Carol was busy by the fire pit, stirring what was left in the pot, and she had a slightly dazed expression on her face. Ellie wondered if Carol was beginning to lose hope of finding Sophia already.
It was hot again today. Not quite as sweltering as yesterday's heat, but the sun was high and blazing. The atmosphere in camp was odd, thought Ellie. There was a sense of tension between several members of the group.
Shane and Dale were avoiding each other like the plague, both moody and unsettled, and Andrea couldn't keep her eyes off Shane as she sharpened a stack of knifes. Ellie noticed that Lori and Rick were both distant, and yet wanting to be close beside each other. She wondered if Lori had spoken to Rick about their situation last night, when she had seen them in the field.
Between them, Carl looked happy as he wolfed down a second bowl of stew. Daryl sat opposite her, eyeing her occasionally with interest as she scanned the camp. She knew him well enough now to know that he would find it amusing that she was observing the group in such detail.
T dog bent low and sat down beside her, muttering a quiet hello as he began to eat. She hadn't spent much time talking to the man next to her, but from what she had seen and heard, she liked the man. He seemed gentle and quiet, and yet he looked like he wouldn't take shit from anyone.
Glenn was tense. More tense than Ellie had ever seen the poor boy. He was stood a small distance away from the camp, looking out towards the house, hands in his pockets and a concerned expression on his face. As she focused in, she saw what he was looking at. Maggie was stood on the porch of the house, her arms crossed. With a stern face, she was shaking her head slowly at Glenn.
Ellie looked up confused at him, and as he turned away from Maggie and towards her, she mouthed to him 'are you ok?' He shook his head quickly before walking towards the small circle of people.
"Um… Guys?" he began hesitantly. Faces started to look up at him. "So…"
Oh god, though Ellie. He is going to tell them about the barn. She wasn't sure that she was ready for this. A nod from Dale was all it took for Glenn to continue.
"…the barn is full of walkers." He said in a controlled, almost casual voice, as though he had been practicing.
Shock was probably the best work to describe the faces of the people in camp. Rick, Shane and T dog all stood up in an instant. Quickly followed by the rest. Questions started buzzing in the air as everyone began to talk at once. Panic spread on several faces and Lori grabbed Carl's hand tightly.
"How do you know this?" Shane questioned loudly.
"Walkers, are you sure?" Andrea's voice was high with shock.
"What do you mean full of walkers?" T dog sounded confused.
"Why didn't you tell us right away?" Lori.
"How sure are you?" Rick.
"Walkers?" Daryl.
"Glenn, answer us!" That was Shane again.
"Back off!" Ellie shouted, silencing the buzz of voices. Glenn looked half scared and half relived.
"Ellie, now isn't the time-." Shane began.
"No, I said back off. How do you expect any answers when everyone is forcing the questions down Glenn's throat? Geez." She snapped back. Glenn smiled at her in thanks.
"Ellie is right," Rick agreed. "We need to go and check it out, make sure that what Glenn said is correct."
"And then what Rick?" Shane demanded, spinning around to Rick and throwing his hands in the air.
"Then we talk to Hershel." Rick said calmly. Shane scoffed and ran his hands over his head.
"That old man has a screw lose, I'm telling ya." He shouted.
"That old man is our host, you ought to be nicer to him Shane or we'll all be out." Lori fired back before Rick could speak.
"Lori, I don't expect you to understand the situation that-." Shane began, but Lori's glare made him stop in his tracks.
"Look." Rick said, mostly to Shane. "Let's go and check it out and then we can go from there, ok?"
After a few seconds of silence, Shane calmed enough to give a nod. The group all followed after Rick as they made their way over to the barn. Ellie trailed along behind them, with Cooper at her heels, and as she walked she stared at the red barn in front.
What was going to happen now? She thought. Rick would surely wait for Hershel before doing anything. We can't risk pissing him off. If they had to go back on the road… she didn't want to think about it.
"Ya knew, didn't ya?" A husky voice said next to her, snapping her out of her daze. Daryl had joined her at the back of the line, and was walking at an angle so that he could graze his hand behind Cooper's ears.
"What?" Ellie asked, slightly shocked at the question. She hadn't told anyone that Glenn had told her.
"I said you knew. I can tell." He didn't seem too pissed, though Ellie.
"Well… yes. How did you know?" She questioned with a frown. He stared at her for a second before answering.
"Ya didn't react. When Glenn said about it, you had a blank face. Everyone else was shocked, hell scared even, except you… and maybe Dale."
"You're better at reading people that I thought." Ellie attempted at a smile to ease the tension.
Daryl nodded, "Yeah? Or ya'll just shitty actors. Why didn't ya say anything?"
Ellie felt a nudge in her stomach at the word he said. Why didn't she say anything? She didn't know. "I don't know." She answered honestly.
Daryl frowned at her slightly. "You know how much of a risk this is right? For everyone. You, and your baby." He whispered the last bit. Ellie's eyes went wide and she looked around quickly to make sure that no one had heard him.
"Please keep that to yourself! I haven't told them yet." She took a deep breath. "Yes I know how much of a risk it is. I'm shit scared Daryl! I don't know what stopped me telling everyone, I just couldn't do it. Glenn… he seemed like he needed to work something out with Maggie before telling anyone."
Daryl nodded, looking slightly annoyed as he took in what she said. "Ok. I get it, but ya'll need to tell everyone this shit quicker next time, and you need to tell them all about… you know." He eyed her growing stomach.
Ellie gulped at the words next time and nodded.
They had reached the barn now. The red paint was crusty and peeling along the wooden panes. The building was bigger that Ellie had first though. It was beautiful from across the meadow, far enough away that you couldn't see its mismatched sides and dirty door. Up close, it looked rather depressing. It seemed to be aching and old.
Everyone held their breath as Shane took a few steps towards the door, and peered through the gaps. In the silence, Ellie heard the sounds of the dead, muffled by the wood. Moaning, groaning. Shane jumped back slightly as one of the dead came towards the door, and swung around to glare at Rick.
"You cannot tell me that ya'll are ok with the Rick!?" he demanded, in a hushed but angry tone.
"No I am not, but we are guests here. It isn't our land." Rick said to the group.
"It's our fucking lives man!" Shane fired back.
A few people moved back slightly as the door creaked with pressure. Shane was drawing attention. Unwanted attention.
"Lower your voice!" Glenn and Ellie said at the same time, receiving a glare each from Shane in return.
"We can't just sweep this under the rug!" Andrea said in a whisper.
T dog nodded. "It aint right."
"Look here. We either gotta go in there and make things right," Shane began. "Or we have just gotta go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time now."
"We can't go!" Rick cut across Shane, holding his hand out in frustration.
"Why Rick?!" Shane demanded.
"Cause my daughter is still out there." Carol said quietly, looking hard at Shane.
"Ok…" Shane held his hands up to his face and took a few deep breaths. Ellie glared at him, knowing what was coming next. "I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibilities-."
"Shane!" Rick shouted, cutting the man off.
"I was just-."
"We are not leaving Sophia behind!" Rick stated, daring the other man to argue.
Daryl looked angry. "I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll a few days ago." He growled at Shane.
Shane scoffed at Daryl. "You found a doll Daryl. That's all you did. You found a doll."
Daryl looked like he was ready to jump on Shane.
"Hey, back off Shane. That's more than you have done. The doll is a great lead!" Ellie shouted in a whisper, eyeing the moving doors of the barn.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Daryl agreed, advancing towards Shane.
Ellie grabbed the back of his top and tugged lightly. Cooper was low to the floor now, snarling at Shane, ready to pounce if he came any closer.
"Look I'm just saying what needs to be said here, you giving me-." Shane started before Rick cut his off again.
"Alright, alright." Rick stood between Daryl and Shane. Ellie could hear Daryl growling low before relaxing away from the man he was so ready to fight.
"Shane stop." Rick shouted at Shane this time as the latter continued to rant about leads and forty eight hours.
Shane didn't stop. "Lemme tell you something else man!" he directed this at Daryl. "If she was alive out there, she saw you comin' all methed out with your buck knife, geek ears around your neck… she'd run in the other direction man!"
Ellie heard Carol and Lori gasp behind her. Her fingers were ripped from Daryl's shirt as he lunged forward and swung at Shane. Rick caught him before he got there, and pushed him backwards.
"You want to shut the fuck up man!" Daryl was shaking with anger.
"Alright, wait, just stop." Rick attempted to reason. Shane stomped around in a small circle, with irritation etched upon his face.
"I need to say it how it is man!" he shouted at Rick, eyeing Daryl with anger.
"You need to fuck off!" Ellie shouted back, throwing him the finger and pulling Daryl back to his original spot. "What the fuck have you ever done for Sophia except telling everyone to just give up? You have no right!"
"You want to start Ellie, huh? You aren't even part of this group. We don't even fucking know you-." Shane began, advancing towards her, causing Cooper to snap at his feet in warning.
"Just stop!" Rick cried out, putting his hands to Shane's chest. Daryl tensed at Shane's words and looked ready to murder him if he came any closer. "Calm yourself down man. Ellie, call off your dog."
Ellie stared at Rick for a second before beckoning Cooper back. "Coop."
"You want to fucking watch that dog! Don't fucking come at me man, I'll beat your ass!" Shane snapped relentlessly at Ellie and then Daryl.
"You need to back down!" Glenn shouted, standing in front of Ellie.
"Fuck, you starting something too? I'll beat your ass boy!" Shane snarled. "What about the rest of ya'll. Come on then!" he started pushing again Rick to get to Glenn and Daryl, who still looked ready to kill. Lori moved to touch Shane's shoulder and he glared at her. "Keep your hands off me!"
Everyone moved in to help Rick. The commotion was stirring more attention from the walkers and the door was groaning in protest. The noise of a dozen shouting voices was too much, just a blur in the eyes and a buzz in the ears. Ellie moved backwards, dragging Daryl with her by the scruff of his shirt, and Cooper followed. Her breaths were shallow and quick. Too quick. Daryl seemed to notice and turned to face her, his back to the uproar. Her fingers lost their grip on his shirt and instead fell to the fence behind her as she steadied herself.
"Ya ok?" Daryl asked, looking worried and taking a few deep breaths himself.
Ellie nodded slowly, catching her breath. "Yeah." She brushed her dark curls out of her eyes and put a hand on her chest, feeling her racing heart before moving it down to her stomach instinctively. "Just got a bit anxious."
Daryl nodded slowly, observing her for a few second before looking satisfied that she was breathing better now. Behind him, the commotion had died down, and an angry Shane was stood on one side of Rick, while a pissed T dog and Glenn stood the other side.
Andrea was watching Ellie with an emotion that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Standing up slowly, she and Daryl took a few steps forward to stand next to Carol.
"Just let me talk to Hershel." Rick said, loudly but calmly. "Let me figure it out."
"Well, what are you gonna figure out?!" Shane screamed at Rick, but remained further away than before.
"If we are gonna stay, If we are gonna clear this barn out, I have to talk him into it." Rick said exasperated. "This is his land."
Dale frowned before moving closer to Rick. "Hershel sees those things in there as people. Sick people. His wife… his step son."
Rick looked shocked. "You knew?" he asked.
"Yes. Yesterday. I talked to Hershel." Dale said, unashamed.
"I knew too." Ellie said quietly. She wasn't going to have them use this against her later if she didn't tell them now. She had her own secrets to worry about. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything."
Rick span around and widened his eyes, staring at Ellie. Daryl shifted next to her, and she heard several people gasp.
Shane let out a series of curse words. "And you waited the night?"
"I thought we could survive one more night." Dale stated, drawing the attention back to him. "We did. I was waiting until this morning to say something but Glenn wanted to be the one."
"This is crazy man! If Hershel thinks those things are alive…?" Shane voice got louder and louder as he spoke.
There was a big bang on the barn door and everyone jumped backwards. The dust that had settled on the door fell to the ground and everyone was silent. The moans of the dead filled the air and a hand stuck its way out of a gap in the wall of the barn. A long, boney dead hand, with skin that was decaying and grey. Ellie wanted to puke. So she did.
