Silence met Glenn's statement before suddenly descending into chaos. Aava's mind reeled at the thought of being so close to danger, that Claire was so close to danger, during their stay at the farm. Anger instantly flared within her, Maggie must have known about the Walkers and said nothing. Aava was distracted from her rage when Claire grabbed her arm. Looking down at her daughter whose attention was focused on Shane. The cops face was turning a violent shade of red and a vein throbbed dangerously in his neck. The way his eyes danced and flashed was greatly disturbing and Aava couldn't help but think he looked a bit unhinged.

"Rick, man, we can't stay here," Shane stated.

"We can't leave," Rick replied looking torn.

"We have to take care of this," Shane pressed.

"I'll talk to Hershel," Rick answered.

"The old man is delusional. The old world doesn't exist anymore," Shane continued angrily.

"Hershel thinks the people are sick, that they need help. His wife and step-son are in the barn," Dale interrupted.

"You knew!" Shane accused.

"I thought we could survive one more night. We did," Dale defended.

Aava stopped listening. Hershel's wife -Beth's mother- was now a walker and gone forever. Not once while staying at the farm did she question where her dad's new wife was. And she knew why. A part of her, the immature, bitter teenage part of her, resented this woman for replacing her mother. Aava felt disgusted with herself. All this time thinking she had risen above those petty feelings and it couldn't be further from the truth. And now her father has lost another wife and Beth was left mourning her mother. The worst part of the situation was that Shane was right when he said her dad was delusional. There would be no cure for the infected. And her dad and Beth had yet to grieve for their lost family.

"This is Hershel's land. Whether we stay or not I have to talk to him first,"

Ricks words effectively ended the conversation but the unease everyone was feeling didn't lessen.

Claire looked toward her mother hoping she would know what to do. However her mother looked just as shaken as everybody else.

"Mom?" Claire questioned, "why didn't Maggie or Beth say anything?"

"I don't know," Aava sighed "I guess they don't know how dangerous the Walkers can be. They've been pretty isolated out here."

Although she was trying to hide it Claire could easily tell her mother was angry that she wasn't told about the danger lurking behind the barn doors.

"Are we going to leave?" Claire asked. Her mother contemplated the question for a moment and Claire feared the answer she might give.

"No, we'll wait to see what Rick's group will do. Safety in numbers Claire-bear," her mom answered ruffling her hair. Claire rolled her eyes at the pet name but was pleased with her mom's answer. Just the two of them out there was an experience Claire never wanted to repeat. Claire also didn't want to separate from the people she had met. Over the days spent on the farm the people began to feel like a family of sorts and that was something Clare wasn't willing to part with.

The day trickled by but the tension never dispersed. Aava tried to keep herself occupied by doing chores around the camp. If she was being honest it was a way to avoid the farmhouse and any interaction with her sister. Not only was she angered that Maggie hadn't told her about the danger that literally living beside her but she also felt betrayed. Being back at the farm had made her feel like she was part of the family again, like Maggie and Beth were her close sisters. Clearly that was something that she had made up and not a shared feeling among her siblings. Aava was roused from her thoughts by the sight of Shane charging towards the camp with the bag of guns in his arms. By the sheer determination on Shanes face and no Rick in sight Aava didn't know how they were going to rein Shane in.

"You in man?" Aava heard Shane ask Glenn as she approached. Before Aava knew it there was gun in her hands as Shane continued his speech.

"Stop! You do this my dad will make you leave tonight," Maggie tried to reason but Shane was distracted by the sight of Rick leading a Walker across the field.

Shane and the others charged towards while Aava considered the weapon in her hand. She knew that camping beside a barn full of the undead was a disaster waiting to happen. She knew that the people in there were not sick and there wouldn't be cure coming for them anytime soon. However her sister's family members were inside that barn. No matter how much the Walkers had to be taken care a massacre in front of them was not the way to go about it. Before Aava could even put the gun down the decision was taken out of her hands when the barn doors were flung open and she was force to shoot at the oncoming wave of Walkers.

Bullets were flying and bodies were falling to the ground. The yells of the Greene family was muffled by the gun shots yet Aava felt acutely aware of her family's pained cries. The noise slowly died down as the last Walker fell to the ground. Lowering her gun Aava observed the bodies littered across the ground and knew immediately that this was a mistake. While looking around at everybody else she heard the unmistakable sound of growling coming from the barn. A little girl made her way through the barn doors continuing to snarl. An anguished cry ripped through the air and Aava saw Carol rush forwards to be stopped by Daryl. They both fell in a heap as Aava realised that this corpse was little Sophia. She felt her heart sink and fought the urge to cry at such a cruel twist of fate. Everyone had their guns raised but nobody made to shoot the girl down. Rick moved forward and aimed his gun to Sophia's head, what a terrible burden to bare Aava thought. The shot rang out and Aava flinched as Sophia hit the ground.

An almost awkward silence descended among those who weren't grieving. Aava began to walk away from the scene when a Walker caught her eye. Its arm was bent at a unnatural angle but that's not what got her attention; it was the tattoo. A generic, tribal pattern that took up much of the forearm. She remembered that tattoo, she had been there when he got it. Aava remembered the feeling of awe at having a boyfriend with a tattoo. Before she knew it she was kneeling beside the body and rolling it over to get a good look at its face. Most of the features were indistinguishable but he still had a mop of blonde hair.

"Mom?" Claire's questioning voice pulled her out of her daze. Aava noticed that most of the people were looking at her but she couldn't focus on that. All she could focus on was the corpse on the ground and the fact that this was how her daughter was going to see her father for the first time.

"Mom? Did you know him?" Claire tried again.

Aava struggled to find the words to explain the situation but when Maggie came to stand beside them and gasped realisation began to colour Claire's face.

"Is that…" Claire trailed off staring at the mangled body on the ground.

Aava could only nod. Claire backed away from the Walker so fast she could have tripped before she ran from the sight.

"Claire! Please, wait!" Aava called after her but Claire wouldn't turn back.

"I'm sorry about-"

"Did you know he was in there?" Aava cut Maggie off.

"I didn't I swear."

"You should go be Beth, she needs you."

Maggie seemed reluctant to leave but knew that Aava was right. Turning back to body at her feet Aava felt none of the things she usually felt whenever she thought of him. Frighteningly she almost envied him for being free of this nightmare.

A/N: I know it has been forever and I'm so sorry for the wait. The next chapter will include Aava finally talking it out with Hershel and a Daryl/Claire moment. I was a bit nervous to write Aava's reaction to finding her daughter's father as a Walker. I didn't want her to seem cold but at the same time just because he died doesn't excuse the hurt he caused her. Did I do okay? Anything else you want to see happen? Thanks so much to anyone who has read, reviewed or followed/favourited this story. Seriously you guys made me want to continue it. Please review and let me know what you thought :)