Heeeeeeey… So, in my defense, I did say updates would be slower, I'm just now realizing how long it's been since the last one. And it's probably gonna be that long again until next chapter.

Sorry about the depressing ending, but this is what the episode called for, and on top of that, some not so nice things have been going on with my extended family (whom I'm really close to) but I won't go into details.

Anyway, thank you all so much! Seeing how many people have fav'd and followed just makes me so happy :D

If you have the time, please review! :D

"Careful old man, you might pop your stitches." Nye joked, watching as Daryl slowly sat down on the lawn chair beside hers. She was flipped off in return.

"Do you two even realize how much you do that to each other?" Toby asked them, sitting on the ground next to Mason as they played 'Go Fish'.

And for that, they both turned to him, and in total sync Nye and Daryl both jokingly flipped him off.

He rolled his eyes, and quickly thanked Carol as she handed him and Mason some eggs.

Nye sighed and sunk lower in her chair, eyes straying to Shane. After the initial panic the night before, she realized that many bad things would come from ratting Shane out. As much as she hates to admit it, he was extremely helpful to the group with all of his experience as a cop.

That, and she was pretty sure he'd kill her if she tattled. So, he was safe, for now.

Out of complete boredom, she turned to Daryl, who looked up at her in question from his eggs.

She grinned, and promptly flung a few bits of egg at him.

He glared at her, and, once again flipped her off.

She barked out a laugh and went to fling more at him. But before she could, Glenn stood, slowly making his way over and gaining everyone's attention.

"Um, guys." He slowly started. "So…" His voice shook.

"The barn is full of walkers."

Her fork dropped down to her plate, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hear the cicadas through the ringing in her ears.

…

She tried to swallow the thick lump in her throat, but wasn't succeeding.

All of the adults stood before the barn doors, listening to the moans and growls of the undead inside.

Shane walked up to the doors, peeking in through a gap, and after a few seconds of staring at them, he was like a raging bull. He whirled around, glaring at Rick.

"You cannot tell me you're all right with this." He growled, and Rick shook his head.

"No I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land." Rick said, firmly.

Shane shook his head violently. "This is our lives!"

"Lower your voice." Glenn warned.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea voiced.

"It ain't right. Not remotely." Shane continued. He paced for a moment, before turning back to Rick. "Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time-"

"We can't go." Rick cut him off.

"Why, Rick? Why?" Shane demanded.

Nye snarled, wanting nothing more than to shoot him down and bring up Otis' gun, but it wasn't the right time, nor was she suicidal.

Carol stepped forward. "Because my daughter is still out there."

"Okay." Shane scoffed. "Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility."

"Shane!" Rick cut him off again. "We're not leaving Sophia behind."

"We're close to finding this girl. We just found her damn doll two days ago." Daryl barked at him.

Shane laughed, as if this was all ridiculous. "You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Daryl yelled, taking a few steps closer to Shane.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said! You get a good lead, it's in the first forty eight hours!"

"Shane stop!"

"Let me tell you something else, man." Shane continued. "If she was alive out there and saw you coming, all methed out with your buck knife, she would run in the other direction!"

And as Daryl lunged at Shane to hit him, Rick grabbed onto him, stopping him. But, to everyone's surprise, Shane did get struck.

Her fist slammed into the left side of his jaw, making a resounding crack through the air, loud enough to stop everyone in their tracks.

They all stared at her as she panted in rage, clenching her red knuckled fist a few times, showing off that the hit was hard enough to hurt her.

"You sick, son of a-" She started saying as he snarled at her and reached out, clearly intending to inflict some form of damage on her in return.

But before he could, Daryl was in front of her, and Rick was in front of Shane.

He snarled at them, before sharply turning and walking away.

"Now just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out." Rick called to him.

Shane whipped around. "What are you gonna figure out?!" Shane yelled.

"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land." Rick said, firmly.

Dale stepped forward. "Hershel sees those things in there as people, sick people, his wife, h-his stepson."

Nye hung her head. Of course. Dale always knows things before anyone else does.

"You knew?" Rick asked him.

"Yesterday I talked to Hershel." Dale told them.

"And you waited the night?" Shane growled.

"I thought we could survive one more night. We did." Dale turned back to Rick, continuing much calmer. "I was waiting till this morning to say something. But Glenn wanted to be the one."

"How have we not noticed them?" Nye softly asked as she eyed the barn, the shouts of the others blocking it out for the most part.

"The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or no!" Shane yelled.

And that was the finale straw, the walkers started banging on the wooded doors, making them creek and whine against the force.

All that stood between them, and the undead, was two pieces of worn wood, and a chain.

…

"Are there really walkers in the barn!?"

"Is Rick going to talk with Hershel?"

"How many are there!?"

"Is the barn secure? Can the walkers get out?"

Nye took a deep breath, keeping her mouth shut as she shuffled Mason and Toby over to Lori and Carl.

"Lori." Nye called.

Said woman looked up, and cocked her head to the side lightly.

"Uh, yeah, what's going on?" She hesitantly asked.

The two had barely spoken to each other since Lori's comment about the boys.

Nye looked down for a second, seemingly debating with herself on something. "Could… Could Ace and Smalls join Carl with homework?"

Lori looked pleasantly surprised, whereas Mason and Toby looked at her like she just declared she was a walker who planned to eat them.

"But-"

Before either boy could plead their case, Nye sent them a look, not of anger or impatience, but of exhaustion. They'd never seen the space under her eyes so dark before, and the way she was yawning every few minutes, it was clear she hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, and with the barn now a problem, the best thing they could do for her at the moment was to comply.

Even if that meant math.

They slowly nodded, and sat beside Carl, both borrowing a textbook.

Nye sighed in relief, glad to not have to have had an argument over it, and as she turned to leave, Lori stood.

"Wait."

She looked over her shoulder as Lori approached her.

"I, um…" Lori started, taking a quick glance back at the boys, who were too occupied by the homework to listen in. "I-I'm sorry."

Nye blinked.

"I should not have said what I did about Mason and Toby." Lori ran her hands through her hair. "I just don't know what got into me, I…"

Nye softened as Lori struggled with what to say. "I'm not going to say it was okay, because it wasn't."

Lori nodded.

Nye sighed. "But… We can put it behind us. Just never say anything about my boys like that again."

Lori sighed, looking as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She opened her mouth to say more, but something in the distance gave her pause.

"What is he doing?" Lori faintly asked, and Nye turned around to follow her gaze.

They watched as Daryl marched into the stable.

"You don't think he's leaving, do you?"

Nye growled under her breath.

And when they saw Carol entering the stable, where they knew an angry Dixon waited, Nye knew she was investigating.

"Watch them for me?" She quickly asked and got a nod in return, and with that, she started jogging to the stable.

Halfway there, she froze, and watched Daryl storm out, clutching his side.

Cursing under her breath, she changed course and started running up to him. It took until they reached his camp for her to have caught up.

"Tell me you weren't planning on going out." She said through clenched teeth.

Daryl chewed his bottom lip, refusing to say anything.

Nye groaned and looked to the sky. "Are you serious?!"

"She thinks the kid's dead." He growled.

Nye blinked at the sudden change of topic, and slowly looked down at him. "What do you mean…?" She slowly asked in disbelief.

He huffed and gestured to the stable. "Said she doesn't think we're gonna find 'er."

Nye sucked in a sharp breath, trying to imagine Carol talk like that. "M-maybe she's just-"

Daryl shook his head, shutting down her argument. "Ain't no excuse." He growled.

Nye glared at him. "Daryl, she's a grieving mother, give her a break."

Daryl whipped around and stared her down. "What if it were Mason or Toby?"

Nye froze, a stream of horrible images flooded her mind, and she knew she couldn't lie about her answer.

"I'd be out there, right now. Searching until I collapsed."

Daryl nodded, seeming to share her view.

…

After the homework, Nye came and got them, taking them to the Winnebago and pulling out all of Dale's board games.

"Dibs on the shoe." Nye said, as she opened Monopoly.

They both stared at her, seeing right through her attempts at distractions.

"This is bullshit." Mason stated as Nye got the game ready.

"Ace-"

"No! This. Is. Bullshit." He said and stood in his seat. "You're not telling us anything, and it's bullshit!"

But it seemed Nye was at her breaking point. "What do you want me to do!?"

They both reeled back and froze, Mason dropping back to his seat.

"The barn's full of walkers, Sophia's still missing and Carol's giving up on her, Hershel's gonna kick us off the farm, Shane killed Otis, and I haven't slept in days!" Nye panted, running her fingers through her hair. "Are you happy now? Are you glad to be caught up?" She asked, sarcastically.

Mason slumped in his chair, and Toby looked on the verge of tears.

She swallowed thickly, and as she was opening her mouth to apologize, Shane busted in.

All three of them froze, and Mason and Toby looked up at her, silently asking if what she said about Shane was true.

She gave a single nod, and they both paled.

Shane didn't pay them any attention as he ransacked the RV looking for something.

It wasn't until Shane slammed his hands down on the counter and muttered "Son of a bitch." That Nye said something.

"Ace, Smalls, go."

Shane whipped around, almost seeming to have just noticed them, and as he snarled at Nye, Mason and Toby ran out of the RV.

"Where are they?" He demanded.

Nye shook her head. "What are you talking abou-"

He slammed his fist against the wall and started walking towards her. "I know you know where they are. Why else would you be in here?"

Despite her fear, she scoffed. "We were playing board games, jackass." She gestured to the table were Monopoly innocently sat.

He shook his head, and without a word, he marched up to her and grabbed the front of her shirt, slamming her against the wall.

"What the fuck!? Dude, let go of me!" Nye struggled in his grip.

"You listen to me, bitch, you're gonna tell me exactly where-"

"The hells goin' on?" A voice at the door of the RV growled.

…

After Nye told them to go, they silently agreed that she needed backup after what she told them about Shane. And while they knew they wouldn't be able to help her fight him if need be, they knew she needed someone.

So, they ran to the person they knew could help her.

"Daryl!" Mason yelled as they ran up to his camp.

He looked up from the arrow he was making, but before he could ask what was going on, Toby was speaking.

"Nye's in the RV…" He panted with his hands on his knees.

Daryl nearly rolled his eyes, thinking it was no big deal, but then Mason finished for his brother.

"Shane's with her!"

Daryl's face fell.

…

Nye sighed when she saw the voice had come from their resident redneck, but tensed when Shane refused to let her go.

He paused and seemed to realize something. "Dale has it." He suddenly growled, dropping Nye's collar.

He marched out of the RV, glaring at Nye and Daryl as he went, but before he went out the door, he turned to Nye.

"You ever try and pull that shit again, you'll regret it." He growled, the bruise on his chin staring back at her.

The RV was silent as he walked away, and she slowly sank to the floor, hand shakily reaching up and fidgeting with her goggles.

"H-how did you…?"

"Mason and Toby got me." Daryl answered, and as if he summoned them, they ran into the RV.

When the saw her on the ground, all hell broke loose.

"Fuck! Are you okay?!"

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"If that psycho hurt you, I'll-"

"You'll what, Mason? You're not even half his size."

"Well, I'll… throw you at him, or something."

"You'd throw me at him!?"

She couldn't help it, she snorted at their argument.

Daryl shook his head at them, clearly trying to understand how this was normal behaver for them.

After Shane ran off on his search for Dale, they all left the RV and Nye told Mason and Toby to go hang out with Carl, and by the smug looks on their face's, she knew that they knew, she just wanted a minute to talk with Daryl.

"So, you gonna apologize to her, or what?" She asked him once she was calm enough after her encounter with Shane, cocking her head to the side and raising a single brow.

He sighed, giving her an annoyed look, but only because he knew she was right.

She smiled. "Question is, how are you gonna…" She paused, an idea forming in her head.

"What?" He asked, suspiciously.

She grinned as wide as the Cheshire cat. "Remember what I said," She leaned forward, as if telling him some big secret. "Chick's dig flowers."

And twenty minutes later, she smirked upon seeing him leading Carol to the Cherokee rose bush.

…

After what happened in the RV, Nye decided they'd play on the porch instead, and after some time, Mason was the first to ask.

"So, how'd you find out that Shane…?" He quietly asked, not meeting her eyes and moving his piece three times on the board.

She sighed softly. "I found Otis' gun in Shane's car. The gun Otis was supposed to have died with."

"W-well, that doesn't necessarily mean…" Toby trailed off in his defense. It wasn't for Shane, but for the sake of the group.

"I wish you hit him harder. And in the nuts." Mason glumly added, and Nye huffed a laugh.

She looked up from the board, smiling softly when she saw Glenn and Maggie sitting on the steps together

Right when Glenn stood, T-Dog and Andrea walked up.

"Do you know what's going on?" T-Dog asked.

"Where is everyone?" Andrea asked, and Nye narrowed her eyes at the lack of effort it seemed was going into communication.

"You haven't seen Rick?" Glenn asked her.

"He went off with Hershel. We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago." Andrea continued.

"Yeah you were."

Nye looked over at Daryl and Carol approaching.

"What the hell?" Daryl finished.

"Rick told us he was going out." Andrea shrugged.

Nye groaned and leaned her head back.

"Damn it. Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail." Daryl barked, gesturing towards the woods, catching sight of Shane making his way closer. "Oh, here we go." He muttered sarcastically, until he saw the bag of guns.

"What's all this?" He asked, and Shane held out a gun. It was quickly becoming clear what was happening.

"You with me, man?" Shane asked, and Nye hung her head and scowled when she heard Daryl murmur "Yeah."

So, we're just ignoring what we know he did, and what happened earlier in the RV, huh Dixon?

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

"Yeah. Where's Dale?" She asked.

"He's on his way." Shane growled.

"Thought we couldn't carry." T-Dog said when Shane handed him a gun.

Nye stepped down the porch, followed by Mason and Toby.

"We can and we have to. 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." Shane ranted.

"How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" He asked Glenn, holding out a gun, which, to Nye's shock, he took.

Shane nodded and turned to Maggie. "Can you shoot?"

"Can you stop?" She barked back. "You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight."

Nye marched up and shoved Shane back, and was extremely annoyed when he merely glanced at her like she was just a tiny inconvenience. "Dude. Stop."

Carl came down the porch steps. "We have to stay, Shane."

Then, Lori came out of nowhere, and despite their earlier truce, Nye couldn't help the scoff that bubbled up at the obvious lack of attention she gave Carl.

Hell, the kid could go out, find a walker in the woods, come back, and she'd be non the wiser.

"What is this?" The woman asked.

"We ain't going anywhere, okay? Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? He… Well, he's gonna have to." Shane continued, and crouched down in front of Carl, holding out a gun for him. "We need to find Sophia. Am I right? Huh? Now I want you to take this. You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go on, take the gun and do it."

Just when Nye was about to charge forward and intervene, Lori beat her to it.

"Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make." Lori hissed.

"Oh shit." T-Dog groaned, staring off at something on the edge of the woods.

They all followed his gaze, and all paled at what they saw.

"What… The fuck?" Nye muttered as she stared at Rick, Hershel and Jimmy leading walkers on snare polls to the barn.

"What is that?" Shane whispered as he and everyone else ran over to the scene. "What is that?"

"Shane!" Lori yelled after him.

Shane reached them seconds before the rest.

"What the hell are you doing!?" He yelled.

"Shane, just back off." Rick ordered, struggling with the male walker he had.

"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel demanded.

"Are you kidding me!? You see? You see what they're holding onto!?" Shane barked.

"I see who I'm holding onto." Hershel bit back.

Nye grimaced, feeling many things for the old man, but feeling pity most of all.

"Get your knives out." She whispered to the two boys on either side of her. They dazedly followed her order, whereas she pulled out her handgun she never returned to the bag after she found Otis' shotgun, silently apologizing to Rick for keeping her gun in secret.

"No, man, you don't." Shane yelled.

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

"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, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis!"

"We both know that's a lie!" Nye spat out, Shane making her reach her boiling point. He looked at her, and she got an acidic glare from him in return.

"They're gonna kill all of us!" He continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"Shane, shut up!" Rick yelled.

"Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane continued, much quieter. He pulled out his gun, aiming at the walker Hershel was holding onto, and firing.

"No! Stop it!" Rick shouted, but Shane wouldn't listen.

"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?" He asked, shooting it again. "That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?" He continued to shoot.

"Don't look." Nye told Mason and Toby, but they were transfixed on the scene in front of them.

"Shane, enough." Rick yelled.

"Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough." Shane said, walking up to the walker, and almost lazily, shot it in the head.

The shot rang out, bringing silence in its wake, and in that moment Nye knew there was no going back.

And when the silence was finally broken, it was jarring.

"Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!" Shane shouted, and he looked entirely deranged. "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now."

And with that, he ran to the barn.

"Shane! Don't!" She screamed, but she knew, it was no use,

Shane had lost it.

"Take the snare pole. Hershel, take the snare pole!" Rick begged the man on the ground beside him, but Hershel was in shock, everything was just white noise to him.

And if Nye hadn't been in similar shock, she would have ran up and taken it, but she couldn't seem to move her legs.

"Hershel, listen to me, man, please. Take it now. Hershel! Take it!" Rick continued to beg, and Shane slammed a pickaxe against the lock on the barn door.

"No, Shane. Do not do this, brother. Wait!"

"Don't do it!"

"Rick! Please!"

"Come on. Come on, we're out here." Shane goaded the walkers as he finally got the door open.

"This is not the way! Please!"

She couldn't breath, she couldn't think, all she could do was move Mason and Toby behind her, and shakily raise her gun.

And then, the first one came out, a man, in overalls.

But that's not right, he's not a man anymore.

The walker was shot down, followed by the next one, and the next. In all the chaos, there was no telling who was shooting down what walker, all she did know, were the ones she was dropping.

It couldn't have been even five minutes, but it felt like an hour. And as the last walker dropped, the silence rang even heavier than the last one.

She very slowly and shakily lowered her gun, staring at the carnage in front of them in horror. It was nothing compared to the CDC, but this was somehow worse.

Then, they all heard a faint growl come from the barn.

The first thing Nye saw, were the little white sneakers, then the beige pants, then the purple rainbow T-Shirt. Her mind didn't allow her to place the familiar clothing, as if it knew, if she knew who just stumbled out of the barn, she'd break. And when she saw the face, she did.

Her knees were scraped and cut against the hard ground, but she didn't notice or care. She could feel Mason and Toby trembling against her back, and she knew they were devastated just like everyone else.

That can't be her.

The walker stumbled closer.

That can't be her. We searched for her.

The walker snarled and stared them all down, almost accusingly.

That can't be her. We had a trail… We were going to find her, we were so close…

"Sophia?" Carol cried.

Tears rolled down Nye's face.

It's her.

"Sophia! Sophia. Oh no. Sophia. Sophia." Carol ran for her deceased daughter, but Daryl reached out and caught her, keeping her from getting attacked by the shell of her child.

No dared move as the walker came closer. No one, but Rick.

As It made It's way through the fallen walkers on the ground, Rick came forward, pulling out his gun, and lining it with It's head.

Even simply watching his back, Nye could see the conflict in him, but he pushed through it, and as It came to be only a couple meters away from him, he pulled the trigger.

It fell to the ground. Sophia fell to the ground.

It was all over, they were too late.