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Chapter 14

Dale was gone. I still couldn't believe it. I glanced over to my right and looked at the others. They all appeared so numb, especially Glenn and Andrea. Glenn stood across from me. A blank expression covered his face as he stared down at the grave while holding Dale's hat in his hands. I stood right next to Andrea, who had cried for a long time last night. Quietly, but I could hear her soft sobs coming from the roof of the RV.

Rick was talking about Dale, what kind of a man he was, and what he had given the group. Now that he was gone, Rick was planning to prove that Dale had been wrong. "This group isn't broken. From now on we're going to do things the way Dale wanted. That is how we honour Dale." Almost everyone nodded in agreement. I didn't, I couldn't. I thought it was a very hypocritical thing to say, especially after last night.

Dale's grave was dug next to that of Emily. Stones covered the outline of his grave, as we had done with the other three. After Rick had said his words, people silently began to walk away. In my mind I said goodbye to Dale, and I thanked him for his friendship which lasted too short. Before walking back to my tent, I threw a glance at Emily's grave and noticed something peculiar. The blue velvet box I had placed beneath her cross was gone. I hadn't noticed it during Dale's funeral. No box, no ring. Somebody must have taken it, but who and why? I couldn't imagine anybody doing that. The only one who knew about the box was…Dale. Had he taken it away? If he had, then there was no way of knowing now. It wasn't that important really. It was merely an object. I shifted my eyes to Dale's grave. Of all the people to die, why did it have to be him?

A thin hand slipped into mine and I looked down to see Sophia watching me observantly," I'm sad about Dale." She said. I squeezed her hand," me too."

After Dale's funeral, Hershel invited all of us to move into the house. With the upcoming winter we could freeze outside in our tents. He felt he should have made that decision a long time ago, and he apologized for not inviting us sooner. Sixteen people were to move into the house. Sixteen! I offered to move into the RV instead, because the house would be far too crowded…too crowded for my liking. Sophia decided that she wanted to stay in the RV as well and Carol wasn't too happy about that. Since I was in no mood for an argument, I packed my stuff and was ready to move into the house.

"Come on Maddy," Sophia urged me on as she dragged my backpack through the door," Where will you sleep?"

"I don't know." I replied," anywhere quiet enough and as long as I don't have to sleep in the bath tub."

"Well…you can stay with us." She smiled," Mum and I, we got one of the spare bedrooms. So there is plenty of room for the three of us."

I very much doubted Carol would appreciate it if I spent the entire winter with them in the same room. I knew I would go mad.

"I'll be fine. You take the room together with your mother and during the days you'll find me right here." Sophia opened her mouth to protest, but immediately shut it when more people entered the living room. T-dog walked in carrying a big plastic box.

"Lori, Rick and Carl are getting Hershel's bedroom. Hershel has claimed the couch." He sounded very disappointed as he continued up the stairs.

I told Sophia to place my bag in one of the corners and that I would find a place to sleep, once the others were settled. If I have to, I'll pitch my tent up on the dining room table. I knew Sophia wouldn't let it go that easily. The day wasn't over yet, she'd probably do numerous attempts to convince me to move into her room.

::::::...::::::

Rick was planning on bringing Randall away, together with Daryl. They couldn't keep Randall here and killing him was no longer an option. This time he was set on dropping him off even further away from the farm than he had tried two days ago. Shane wanted to join him, but Rick denied his request. Also Hershel had made it quite clear that Shane was not welcome to move into the house. Shane was being excluded out of almost everything.

One of the last things Dale had said to me was that Shane was a dangerous man. Perhaps Rick and Hershel thought this too. Andrea on the other hand, thought differently about Shane. We had talked a few times the past week, and after the conflict she'd had with Lori, Andrea had shared even more with me. She told me how Shane and Lori had been an item for a while, before Rick showed up back from the dead. There were even speculations that the baby Lori was carrying wasn't even Rick's. I observed Shane closely from a distance, as he was creating his sleeping area in the windmill. Kick a dog too many times and it will bite back. That was a problem bound to happen, I was sure of it.

T-dog and I were assigned to scan the perimeter and the edge of the forest, to make sure no one was coming in or going out. We each headed into a different direction as Rick and Daryl discussed their plan of action regarding Randall. T-dog had offered me a gun, but I declined. There was no need for a gun as I long as I had my crowbar with me. Besides I wasn't planning on going too far into the woods, only until I'd reach one of the creeks, then I'd turned back again. I would still be able to see the farm from there.

Within a few minutes I spotted a Walker, standing still amongst the trees. Walkers still baffled me. Some were so incredibly driven and others appeared to be stuck in some kind of trance, until the smell of blood snapped them awake. With one quick hit against its skull it dropped to the ground. To make sure it was really dead I hit it again. The noise of a crushing skull was something I'd probably never get used to.

"Ow, ow, ow!" someone whined.

"Keep moving." Another voice said.

I jumped behind a tree and listened at the two voices. I took a quick peek and a gasp escaped my lips. It was Shane and Randall. Shane pushed the bound and blindfolded Randall to the ground. Wasn't Randall supposed to be with Rick and Daryl? Why was he with Shane in the first place?

I crouched down to the ground as quietly as possible and carefully listened to their conversation.

"Where are they at?" Shane asked Randall after he had removed the blindfold.

"Our camp is set up off the highway." Randall replied," but I don't know if they're still there."

"Take me to them."

"Why?"

"Because man, I'm done with this group…they're doomed."

"You won't kill me?" Randall asked with a frown.

"If I was you'd be dead by now." Shane assured him.

I had to concentrate really hard in order to hear them talk. Their voices were mere whispers now. Suddenly Shane pulled Randall up and they started walking again. I couldn't believe Shane was actually leaving the group. Did the others know Shane was gone? No, no, Rick wouldn't let him leave and definitely not with Randall, or was this all a plan, to actually kill Randall without the others knowing?

Shane kept looking behind him, he appeared rather nervous. I had no doubt about it. Shane planned this alone. He quickly turned around and grabbed Randall by his head. He jerked his arms, Randall screamed and a loud snap ended it.

Oh God. He broke Randall's neck…he broke his neck! Dale had been right about Shane. I had to get out of here before Shane would notice me. I was about to move when I saw Shane running straight into a tree. I let out a yelp when he smashed his face against the bark. Shane turned his head at the sound, his nose and lower face was covered with blood. I crawled backwards, scrambled onto my feet and started running back to the farm. I ran as quickly as possible, I wouldn't be able to fight Shane. Not alone.

Shane was faster, much faster. Within a minute he gained up on me and he tackled me to the ground. He quickly turned me on my back and pulled me under him.

"Well, who do we have here?" Shane said," You keep showing up at the most inconvenient times, don't you?"

"You're hurting me." I groaned beneath him. Shane added more pressure to his weight.

"Weren't you supposed to be at the farm?" He continued," I take it you saw everything huh?"

Crowbar, where was my crowbar? I moved my eyes to the right and saw my weapon only a few inches away from me. I looked back at Shane as I slowly moved my hand.

"Let's not do that." He said taking a gun from his back pocket and placing it underneath my chin," let's solve this in a civilized way, shall we?"

"T-they don't have to know." I said with a trembling voice," No-nobody has to know."

"Is that so?" Shane arched an eyebrow as he pressed the gun against my skin. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"I've nothing against you Madison, but I sort of have the feeling that that is not going to work." He licked his lips.

"They'll hear the gun." I said.

"Who said anything about shooting you?" He quickly stood up, pulling me with him," Plenty of others to do the killing for me."

He turned me around. A sudden pain shot through my skull, then nothing.

::::::…::::::

My head was throbbing. It hurt incredibly. I moved my hand and felt something wet. Immediately I opened my eyes and sat up straight. Too quickly, head rush. Dark spots clouded my sight. After they had vanished I looked around me and saw I was partly lying in water. How did I end up in water? I remembered Shane. Randall. The back of my head hurt the most, where he had hit me apparently. I glanced up at the sky and saw nothing except the light of the moon and a few stars. The sun had already begun setting when I had discovered Shane and Randall. Still, I must have been out for a while. How much time had passed? My heart began beating rapidly as I checked my body for bites and scratch marks. I had to calm down. I was still alive and obviously in one piece. No Walker had bitten me, Shane hadn't killed me. He just left me in a creek to die. Luckily only the lower left side of my body had been in touch with the water, unfortunately the rest of my body had been on the damp cold ground. My teeth were chattering anyway and I felt so cold. I had to get out of the cold and quickly, before I'd develop hypothermia or pneumonia.

Why did that son of a bitch dump me in one of the creeks?

I slowly made my way out of the creek. My entire body was trembling. I wasn't even sure which way would bring me back to the farm. I looked back at the water and at the large tree roots which were planted in the ground. It looked familiar. I wasn't sure, but if this was the place I thought it was…then I wasn't too far away from the farm. I crossed my arms over my chest and started walking.

It didn't take long for me to find someone. But when I looked closely, fear struck me as quick as lightning. A Walker, and not just any Walker… but it couldn't be. Shane had killed him, I saw him snap his neck.

"Randall?" I whispered hoarsely. I wasn't expecting a reply, I knew very well that wasn't possible, but this was different. He had not been bit. The Walker, who used to be Randall, suddenly rushed forward. Caught by surprise I screamed as I stumbled back and hit the ground. I emitted another scream as Randall landed on the ground next to me, with an arrow in the back of his head.

"Madison?"

I lowered my arms and looked straight into Daryl's face. I crawled up and immediately grabbed hold of him, not letting go.

"S-s-s-s-sh-sha-ne." my teeth were chattering so badly I couldn't manage to form a normal sentence.

"Shane?" Glenn repeated. I nodded.

"But Shane said you…why are you wet?" He suddenly questioned. I couldn't help but glare at him with my lips pressed in a thin line.

Daryl handed Glenn his crossbow, then took off his jacket and placed it over my shoulders.

"What happened to Randall?" Glenn asked looking down at the corpse, before his eyes shifted to me," Shane?"

I gave a firm nod," b-br-broke h-his nnn,-"

"Neck." Daryl finished for me. My trembling was getting worse by the minute.

"But…he's a Walker now." Glenn continued," no bite marks on his body."

I could slowly feel my focus slipping away. I leaned against Daryl so I wouldn't topple over. He moved his arm and place it around my waist," we'll figure it out, let's get going." He said to Glenn. Quietly and quickly we headed back to the house.

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