Hello! Captain Shy here! SO sorry for the long overdue update, many things have been happening in life, I have finals this week... and well you know... Please enjoy~
DISCLAIMER: I dont own TWD, all I own are my OCs
-sparrow: Thanks XD
Cow-Lover2214: Yeah, we all see it now XD
She frowned at Rick, not necessarily at him, but she frowned at the situation. "Thank you" she shakily told him. He held his hand out to help her up.
"You okay?" he asked, "Shane told me he saw you go in"
Eva took his calloused hand and helped herself up, she looked at her dead friend, "How could I be okay? Tori is dead, Hershel will kick you out, and Shane told me that you guys are going to Fort Benning and he told me I couldn't go with you"
Rick had a puzzled look on his face, "He told you that?"
Eva nodded, "Yeah, it's probably for the best however" she didn't really want to air her dirty laundry. The last thing she wanted to do is create even more strife in the group.
A pause between them, Eva could hear Carol sobbing outside, she left Rick inside the barn. Everybody was looking at the carnage. Carol was running away from the massacre, she couldn't handle it. Eva saw Lori on the ground holding Carl in her arms. The whole group was reeling from the impact.
Shane for a moment looked like he didn't know what to do. Maggie stood by a kneeling Hershel, Jimmy was holding a sobbing Beth. Patricia stood awkwardly by herself. Beth pulled away from Jimmy to look at the corpses. Rick was behind Eva now, and Eva was outside the barn.
"No! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Rick tried to stop Beth from going to the corpses, Beth was having none of it. Beth zeroed in to her mother's body which was under another body. Beth pushed the body away and gingerly and lovingly touched her mother's body.
"Ma…" Beth begged, maybe that her mom would wake up. Beth looked at her mom, her mother reanimated and grabbed for Beth.
"BETH!" Eva screamed as she ran to the young girl. The whole group ran to the distressed girl. Beth was pulled off the walker by Shane and the group, and Eva kicked the arms off of Beth, and T-Dawg helped finish the walker by repeatedly kicking the walkers head. But it was Andrea who took Eva's pitchfork and stabbed the walker through the head.
Dale looked terrified, Eva went to envelop Beth in a hug along with Hershel who tried to soothe her. Rick surveyed the dead bodies, disbelief was written on his face. He looked around, breaking from his stupor. What was done is done.
Hershel gathered his girls and was walking as fast as he could back to his home, Shane decided to press his issue.
"We've been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along?" Shane asked aggressively.
"Leave us alone" Maggie hissed, clearly not wanting to deal with the aftermath at the moment.
"Hey Shane just stop man" Glenn tried to stop the impending argument. Rick tried to calm Shane with his hand.
"Get your hands off me" Shane hissed while shrugging Rick's hand off of him. He pointed an accusing finger at Hershel's retreating form, "You knew! And you kept it from us!" he growled.
Eva was following behind the small group, a lump was forming in her throat, and she desperately wanted to tell Carol earlier.
"I didn't know" Hershel retorted.
"I call bullshit!" Shane hissed.
They were at the house now, "I think ya'll knew!"
"We didn't know!" Maggie reeled back at Shane.
"Why was she there?!" Shane badgered.
"Otis put those people in there" Hershel replied looking at Shane. His foot was on the step of the house, "Maybe he found her and put her in there before he was killed"
Eva stopped behind Shane, her dad wouldn't put a wounded girl inside a barn full of dead people that would terrify a little girl.
"You expect me to believe that?" Shane pressed. Rick looked at the two disbelief was etched on his face.
He eventually intervened between the two parties by putting his hand on Shane's chest and trying to shush him and get his attention on him rather than the distraught family. Hershel was getting angry and Rick was between it. Words were thrown between the parties. "Everybody just calm down!"
Hershel was ordering Rick to get Shane off his land, and Shane defiantly told Hershel he wasn't leaving. Shane aggressively walked towards Hershel who was standing his ground. Maggie, Eva and Rick rushed to get between the two. Eva sandwiched herself between the males. Shane roughly shoved Eva aside to get to Hershel causing her to stumble into Rick's arms, "Hey! You don't touch her!" Maggie growled and slapped Shane in the face for him to break his murderous concentration.
Shane directed his focus to the elder Greene daughter. Glenn jumped in and pushed Shane away. Rick had caught Eva, she was now angry… very angry, she could feel tears brimming in her eyes, whenever she was angry she would cry, this time she would hold it back.
"Haven't you've done enough?" Maggie asked. Patricia was powerless to do anything because Beth was clinging to her in a death grip, plus Rick had an iron grip on Eva.
Hershel looked back at Shane, "I mean it, off my land, come on Eva. Get inside" Hershel ordered. Eva left Rick's side and obediently went inside the home. Eva immediately found a perch by the window to see what would happen.
Once inside Rick confronted Shane, sadly Eva couldn't hear what they were saying. The inside of the house was abuzz Patricia was by her daughters side, "Did he hurt you?" Patricia asked while prodding where both Rick and Shane had touched her.
Eva shook her head, "No, Rick caught me"
Patricia nodded, "Okay" Eva watched Shane and Rick, they seemed to be exchanging heated words, and eventually it came to Shane storming off. Eva turned away and watched the chaos inside. Beth was still sobbing, Eva stood and held Beth.
"Shhhh, shhhhh" Eva cooed into Beth's ear. They swayed back and forth. "Let's get you sitting down, relax" Eva suggested. Beth nodded into Eva's shoulder. On the way out she heard Glenn ask Maggie a question.
"Did you know she was in the barn?"
I did…. I helped dad put her in there Eva thought bitterly.
Eva didn't hear Maggie response as she directed Beth towards the parlor to the more comfy couches. That is what Beth and Eva did for an hour, sit in silence. Eva watched Beth as she cried and tried to console herself. Andrea was the one to inform them that the service would be ready. Hershel nodded and went upstairs, Eva didn't feel much like changing, most everybody didn't feel like changing.
They held a silent vigil for those they lost. The wind was whipping at their clothes, it was at one point a bright and sunny day, and it had quickly turned to overcast. One by one people left the fresh graves. Nobody wanted to stay there for long. Eva saw Carol tearing up the Cherokee roses that were out back. Eva directed Beth back inside.
Beth went to work on the dinner, it was an attempt to cope with the loss of her family. Eva stood vigilant beside her. Eva was shaking over the fact that she lost her best friend, but Beth…. Beth was a kid and she was showing no emotion right now.
"What?" Beth asked, her voice was devoid of anything.
"You okay?" Eva asked.
"No" Beth was cleaning the dished, when suddenly she fell over. Maggie and Glenn were in the other room when they heard Beth fall.
"Oh my God" Maggie gasped as she hurried to her sister.
Eva was cradling Beth's head. "I think she strained herself" Eva said in a panicked voice.
Glenn picked her up, "Where is her bed?" he asked.
Maggie directed Glenn to Beth's room which was downstairs.
As soon as the news spread that Beth had collapsed it was Lori was came to the home to check on the girls.
"Whats wrong with her?" Maggie asked, she had never seen something like this before, let alone with her bubbly sister.
"She might be in shock" Lori offered, she didn't walk into the room but kept her body outside. "Where's Hershel?"
Eva walked in past Lori and took a seat in a chair, "I looked for him, he must have left"
"We can't find him anywhere" Glenn told Lori solemnly, his arms were crossed over his chest, his expression was one of exhaust and annoyance.
There was a pause in the room, Lori couldn't believe that Hershel would have left them alone, she left to tell Rick.
Maggie picked up Beth's hand, "Hey Kiddo" she cooed, "You're gonna get better, we are gonna find Daddy and he will help"
Beth did not respond, Eva stood and patted Maggie on the shoulder, "I'll watch her, see if you can find your dad"
Maggie begrudgingly agreed with her and left the room. Glenn lingered for a moment. "Go with Maggie, I'm sure she really needs you right now" Glenn nodded and followed Maggie.
Eva sat on Beth's bed, she almost looking like a living doll except she was breathing. Beth stared silently at the ceiling, lost in her head. "You know B, you are a strong young lady, snap out of this" she encouraged, not sure if Beth was even hearing this.
While she was talking to Beth the group walked by the room, Glenn poked his head in to inform the girls they were going to town to find Hershel. Eva nodded and continued brushing Beth's hair and rubbing her arm.
With the boys gone, Maggie returned to Eva and Beth. "I'd like to be alone" Maggie said, Eva nodded and stood to give Maggie some room.
"Just keep talking to her, I'm sure she can hear us" she patted Maggie's shoulder and left the sisters alone.
She went outside, and saw Shane wetting his head, she immediately frowned. Okay, let's get to the bottom of this she thought. She walked down the porch towards Shane, he didn't see her just yet, she was going to confront him on the fact that he had shoved her enough that she could feel a bruise forming. His attention was drawn elsewhere when a large rustling was heard just beyond the trees. Eva immediately tensed up, she had no gun and no weapons to defend them. "Shane!" she loudly whispered.
His head snapped back to her for a second, acknowledging that she was in fact there, but his head quickly whipped back. He made a 'sh' motion with his lips and began to walk towards the trees, drawing his gun out to confront the noise.
What emerged from the trees was no walker, just Carol. Eva could feel her heart pounding as she took a deep breath, Shane holstered his gun again.
"Hey" he said softly to Carol, almost pleadingly "Carol?"
She ignored him and continued walking, "Carol?" Eva called to her, Carol walked by them as if they were not there.
"Hey. Hey. .Hey" Shane said, maybe this was a tact they used in the police academy or something to calm people or to get their attention, "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, blocking Carol's path, he put a comforting hand on her upper arm. "Come here" he directed Carol to the water pump. Shane was ignoring Eva, it wasn't very mature.
He began cleaning Carol's hands, almost soothingly, and for a moment Eva could see maybe how sweet Shane could have been, maybe he was just trying to cover his ass with his own group. Carol sat on the wood almost indifferent, "I want you to know I'm real sorry about your girl"
"Thank you" she replied softly, Eva stood behind Carol, her hand on her shoulder.
"We are all sorry for your girl" Eva chimed in, Carol glanced at Eva, "I wish I would have known her, she sounded like a sweet kid" I could have told you that she was dead and saved you from all the heart break she thought sourly.
"When I opened that barn I had no idea" Shane mused almost to himself, "if I did…" he scoffed gently, "Everybody thinks I'm a… I'm just trying to keep everybody safe"
Carol looked at Shane, she seemed to believe what he was saying, he looked into Carol's eyes, "I had no idea she was in there" Carol looked down broken once again.
Eva squeezed Carol's shoulder, "But now we have given her a proper burial and it is better to have closer than none"
Carol did not reply. Eventually Shane pulled Carol to her feet, "Let's get you something to eat" he suggested.
"Beth was making some tea before she collapsed"
Carol and Shane looked shocked at her, "I think it's from exhaust, we all have had a trying day"
"Let's go!" Carol suggested.
Later that day...
Lori and Shane had returned from being out, Lori was livid that Shane had lied to her about her husband returning. The group now knew that Lori was pregnant and Carl was happy that he was an older brother.
Shane was alienating himself more from the group, simply because he said things at the wrong time.
Eva listened to Shane, how he confessed his involvement with Otis's death, she choked back a sob… Shane had killed her father, she couldn't believe it. Now more than ever did she need to go see her father's body.
The men were not yet back, there was nothing anybody could do. But there was one thing that Eva could do, she left the room and went to her home to pack some things. She got a knapsack and packed a few things such as her old jacket and a gun her dad had kept hidden under the mattress, he always had one.
Her mother was in the house so she was safe from being caught. She packed her things and pulled out an old electric scooter that Maggie bought for Beth a few years ago. Beth had played with it a couple of times before Hershel got her a horse.
The whole house was interested in Lori and what not, nobody noticed that she slipped off into the night. The ride to the school was calm, she felt like a single warrioress riding into battle not but a gun in hand. There is a certain peace knowing you may die within the hour, her heart was thudding angrily in her, reminding her that she was only human.
She rode up to the school, walkers roamed around, their snarling voiced made goosebumps rise on her arms. She stashed the scooter and picked a rock and pulled the gun from her knapsack. She looked around for her dad's walker body. It was honestly hard to distinguish walkers from walkers. She squinted in the darkness, she jumped at every rustle.
Eva did a sweep of the front lawn, she didn't see her father there. She pushed further into the school to where the basketball court was, she could see the makeshift barricade that the cops used as a shelter. This is where the majority of the walkers were. She gasped as two walkers shuffled close to her. She hid behind a parked car. She clutched the revolver tight, suddenly the idea of avenging her father was much harder than she envisioned. She took the time to look around, she saw a large puddle of blood and guts a bit farther away and with it a hat…. Her father's hat; eventually the blood trail smeared closer to the large group of walkers.
She frowned as she tucked the gun into her jeans she crawled on her hands and knees to the dried blood puddle. The asphalt dug painfully into her hands, she got to the hat and picked it up, it had blood splatter on it. Dad is here she thought, this blood was his.
She continued to crawl on her hands and knees as she followed the trail, she was so engrossed with her mission that she had failed to notice she was crawling right into a large ravenous heard of walkers.
The trail took her to a gutless walker who was still crawling to some unknown destination. Eva gasped as she saw her father on the group, whatever that was left of his intestine was dragging behind him. "Daddy!" the words slipped from her mouth before she could stop them.
The walker paused for a moment and began to turn. Eva wished it did, there staring at her was the dead remains of her father, his cheek was ripped and it exposed the teeth inside. The walker snarled at her and began to turn towards her. Eva was now acutely aware that his snarl was not the only one. Eva looked up to see about 15 walkers coming at her. Her eyes opened wide as she got up on her feet. She looked at her father again and pulled out the gun she had. She never in her wildest dreams would she have killed her father, but here she was… pulling the trigger.
The sound was particularly defining. The guts spattered the ground. "I'm sorry Daddy"
Elsewhere….
On the way back to the farm Glenn heard a shot that reverberated off the trees. "Did you hear that?" He asked.
Hershel shook his head, "It's amazing you can hear that over the boy's whimpering"
"No! No, I heard it… do you think his group is around?" Glenn asked worried.
Rick looked back at Glenn, "No" was his single word reply.
Soon four other rounds went off, "We should check it out" Glenn offered. Rick frowned, he didn't really want to stop.
He stopped the car in the middle of the street, "Why? We need to get this kid to the farm"
Glenn shifted his body uneasily, "What if that person is in trouble?"
"What if we're bringing trouble to us?"
"We have a car, we can drive out of there easily" Glenn pointed out, the street to the school was about a mile up.
Hershel told them about the school, "Maybe people are there trying to get supplies?"
Rick turned off to the school, walkers were everywhere. And what the small group saw horrified everybody inside. Eva was on top of a truck walkers were everywhere grabbing for her, she had a gun in her mouth and she was holding onto the roof to keep from slipping off, the walkers were moving the truck enough that she couldn't have a strong grip. She obviously couldn't see a positive way out of the ordeal she was in, and she couldn't fathom actually letting the walkers make her a walker also
Rick immediately drove up to the distressed girl, he was livid. Glenn and Hershel had to clear the walkers from the car, "get in!" he growled, one walker was close and he pulled out his pistol and shot it between the eyes, all the firing and commotion was bringing more walkers to them. Eva didn't need to be told twice, and jumped into the back beside the wounded boy.
The ride back was relatively silent. Eva had her head tucked between her arms, she knew she was going to get it once she was back home. She had abandoned the farm to go on a reckless crusade. "Hey… hey I know you… you're Hershel cousin right?" the boy asked. Eva looked at the boy.
"Randal?"
They were not able to get home till middle of the morning. Eva helped the group haul the boy into the shed to help stop the bleeding. Eva tried to slink back into the shadows, maybe catch a quick cat nap and to reevaluate her life. For a second she did contemplate suicide, if it wasn't for Rick she may have been dead.
A strong hand caught her and held her in a near bruising force, she looked up to the owner of the hand. "Yes, Rick?"
"What the hell were you think'n?!" he hissed.
Eva tried to break from his grip, "I wasn't" she murmured, not wanting to tell him what she was really doing up there.
"That is a bold face lie"
"I don't care, my business is my business" Rick let go of her arm and cocked his head to the side, he was curious now.
"It's my business when it endangers my group" Rick emphasized, and for a second she felt that Rick was creating an 'us' and 'them' mentality with Hershel's group being a 'them', he noticed that she had a hat in one hand, "Is that your fathers?" Eva nodded, tears were welling up in her eyes, and flashes of her father's face kept going through her mind.
"Yeah" she whispered.
"So, So you went back to retrieve what? A hat?" Rick asked while clenching his jaw.
"No, I didn't get a proper closure" she shifted her body so she was hugging herself, "I overheard Dale talking to Lori… I think Shane killed my dad"
Rick frowned, "No, Shane would never do that"
"I think he did"
Thoughts while writing this:
I am so bad... I must finish this story!
Anyway, please review :)
