So here's the next chapter! Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! You guys are the best!
A special thanks to BreenaBelle-xoxo for keeping me motivated to doing the story and puttin gup with all of my messages! You guys have to check out her WD FF's!
Princess' POV:
We all sat around the fire, eating eggs and squirrel. I sat at Uncle Daryl's feet while he sat in a more comfortable chair. Marcus sat to my left with Carl on his other side. Rachel sat to my right, braiding her hair while T-dog tended to the fire on her other side. It was a quiet and peaceful morning, something we hadn't had in a while.
"Um, guys." Glenn said nervously. I continued to eat, glancing at him occasionally as he struggled to find his words. "So…the barn's full of walkers." I stopped mid-chew to stair at him. Marcus coughed next to me as he chocked a little on his eggs. Uncle Daryl gave him a hard slap on the back as he stood up, making the egg fly from Marcus' mouth. We immediately got up and walked to the barn. Rachel and Marcus hovering next to me in paranoia. We watched as Shane stepped forward, waiting for his confirmation. His pissed off face seemed to tell us all that we needed to know.
"You cannot tell me you're all right with this." Shane spoke to Rick, storming right past him.
"No, I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land." Rick answered, speaking lowly so as to not rile the walkers.
"God, this is our lives, man!" Shane yelled.
"Lower your voice." Glenn whispered.
"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea spoke up.
"It ain't right. Not remotely." T-dog put in as well.
"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." Shane spoke up. I felt Marcus tense up next to me at the mention of the Fort.
"We can't go." Rick insisted.
"Why, Rick? Why?" Shane asked.
"Because my daughter's still out there." Carol spoke up.
"Okay. I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility." Shane spoke up.
"Shane, we're not leaving Sophia behind." Rick snapped at him.
"I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago." Uncle Daryl spoke up.
"You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll." Shane snapped at him.
"Man, you don't know that the hell you're talking about." Uncle Daryl yelled at him.
"It's more than you've found." Rachel added. Shane glared at her as he began yelling again.
"I'm just saying what needs to be said." Shane yelled. "You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours."
"Shane, stop." Rick tried to real in his friend, but Shane was going back into crazy mode, like I had seen at the CDC when he was drunk, only this time he was sober.
"Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction." Shane yelled.
"Shut your mouth!" Uncle Daryl yelled, going for Shane, but Rick stepped between them.
"Wait!" Rick yelled as both men continued to yell at each other. Marcus moved from beside me, going in between Uncle Daryl and Rick with Glenn as everyone began yelling for the others to calm down. Everyone finally stopped yelling. "Now just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out."
"What are you gonna figure out?!" Shane yelled, getting up in Rick's face, but Lori quickly shoved him back.
"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land." Rick reasoned.
"Hershel sees those things in there as people, sick people, his wife, his stepson." Dale told us.
"You knew?" Rick asked bewildered.
"Yesterday I talked to Hershel." Dale confirmed.
"And you waited the night?" Shane accused.
"I thought we could survive one more night. We did." Dale snapped at Shane. "I was waiting till this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one."
"The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or no." Shane yelled. He really shouldn't be one to be pointing fingers at people about being crazy. The walkers in the barn started banging on the doors. Everyone froze, staring at the doors in alarm. Rachel moved back by my side, grabbing my hand and leading me away.
"Stay away from the barn until we get something worked out, alright." Rachel told me. She glanced over her shoulder as the others began to follow us. "And stay away from Shane, too." She said in a lower voice. I nodded, before running off to follow Uncle Daryl as he stormed away from the group. He glanced at me as I followed behind him.
"You can't come." He told me as I came up next to him.
"And you aren't suppose to go." I responded. "Your side is hurt. You shouldn't go alone."
"Your shoulder is hurt and your 5." Uncle Daryl responded as he grabbed the saddle. I glared at him.
"I'm 11." I said in a flat voice. He grunted from the weight in the saddle.
"Don't make a difference. Ya still a runt." Uncle Daryl threw the saddle over some metal thing that I could never remember the name of, causing him to wince.
"You can't." Carol said, causing me to spin around in surprise.
"I'm fine." Uncle Daryl snapped, quickly standing back up to start getting the horse things again.
"Hershel said you need to heal, both of you." Carol gave me a pointed look. I shifted my gaze to the floor as I scratched the back of my neck.
"Yeah, I don't care." Uncle Daryl muttered as he opened the stall door.
"Well I do. Rick's going out later to follow the trail." Carol told him, trying to get him to stop.
"Yeah, well, I ain't gonna sit around and do nothing." He responded.
"No, you're gonna go out there and get yourself hurt even worse." Carol told him. "We don't know if we're gonna find her, Daryl. We don't." I looked at Carol, who shifted a little uncomfortably under Uncle Daryl's gaze and mine. "I don't." Carol faltered, seeming to loose her nerve.
"What?" Uncle Daryl asked.
"Can't lose you, too." Carol said, her voice breaking. A few tears began to leak out of her eyes. I shifted uncomfortably, wondering if I should probably leave. Uncle Daryl dropped the reins for the horse on the ground, before angrily throwing the saddle on the ground too. He groaned in pain from the action, causing Carol and I to take a few steps toward him. "Are you all right?"
"Just leave me be." Uncle Daryl snapped at us. "Stupid bitch." He muttered under his breath as he stalked off. I paused beside Carol, whose eyes were filled with tears. I shuffled awkwardly again. I wasn't really good with tears, they made me uncomfortable.
"I think he's just scared for Sophia and doesn't know how to react to people liking him." I spoke up. Carol wiped away a tear that had fallen and nodded in response. "I'm sure he didn't mean it." It was quiet for a few more seconds before I finally decided to ask the question I had been dying to ask. "Do you blame me? For Sophia missing?" Carol looked down at me in confusion. "I wouldn't blame you if you did." I quickly looked to the floor. It was quiet for a few seconds before Carol's hand turned my face to look back up at her.
"I don't blame you. Those walkers had her spooked and she ran off from you. You couldn't have done anything to stop it." Carol told me with a sad smile on her face. I returned the sad smile before running back to camp. I spotted Rachel and Glenn on watch duty on top of the RV. I quickly climbed the ladder to join them.
"Andrea's looking for you." Glenn told Dale as he walked toward us.
"Thank you, Glenn." Dale answered tiredly.
"Any chance you got an extra hat?" Glenn asked. Dale shook his head before throwing his fishing hat up at Glenn. Rachel and I watched as he put it on. I couldn't help myself as I started laughing at him. Rachel soon joined in. "What?"
"You look like a dork." I told him, causing Rachel to laugh even harder. Glenn took off the hat and slapped me jokingly over the head with it.
"What happened to your hat?" Rachel asked. Glenn sighed.
"Maggie cracked an egg in it because I told you guys about the barn." He told us, causing me to giggle at his misfortune. "Why are women so complicated?"
"Because it makes us all the more intriguing." I answered. Rachel laughed, while Glenn chuckled and shook his head. We watched as Andrea walked out of the RV.
"You okay?" Glenn called down below to Dale.
"Yeah." Dale answered distractedly. There was a short pause. "Do you and Rachel mind running and getting me some water? I just…I need a second."
"You'll keep watch?" Rachel asked as they both got up and sat down their weapons. After a few seconds of no answer, we all looked at each other. "Dale?"
"Yeah, sure." Dale answered. Rachel looked at me, passing me her rifle.
"Just in case." She told me. I nodded, watching as they left. About a minute later, Dale came out carrying the bag of guns. He glanced around, stopping when our eyes met.
"You didn't see anything." He told me. I nodded once, watching as he trekked off into the woods. A few minutes past by before Rick, Andrea, and Marcus pulled out a map on the truck and began discussing where they were going to look for Sophia. Marcus gave me a confused look but didn't say anything.
"Rick." Hershel said as he came up.
"We just have our guns out because we're gonna go look for Sophia." Rick quickly explained.
"Before you do that, I could use your help with something." Hershel told him as Glenn and Rachel climbed back up onto the RV.
"Count me in." Andrea told him.
"Thank you, but I just need Rick...and Marcus." Hershel told them. Rick and Marcus shared a glance before following the old man off into the woods.
"How long has Dale been gone?" Glenn asked me. I shrugged my shoulders and kept looking around the property.
"Not long." I answered vaguely, handing the gun back to Rachel. We sat in silence for a few minutes.
"This is boring." I huffed. Rachel hummed in agreement.
"We could play I spy." Rachel said. I let out a groan of disapproval as I flopped onto my back. "I'll start. I spy something brown and green and…"
"Tree." Glenn and I said at the same time. Rachel glanced between us.
"…yeah." She responded in a sheepish voice. I let out a snort.
"S'up." Glenn said. I sat up, watching as a crazed and angry looking Shane stormed into the RV without another word. We could hear some rattling around beneath us as he searched for something. Shane stormed back out.
"You see where he went?" Shane asked.
"Who?" Rachel replied.
"Don't even try to shit me, okay?" Shane snapped.
"What?" Glenn said under his breath, sharing a confused look with Rachel and I.
"Dale, Rachel. Did you see where Dale went?" Shane elaborated, turning to look around the farm.
"Yeah, he asked Glenn and I to run and get him some water. He said he'd cover us on watch." Rachel told him, eyeing him distrustfully.
"And he was gone when you got back, huh?" Shane asked. Rachel and Glenn shared concerned looks.
"Yeah." Glenn responded. When Shane had this crazy look in his eye like he did today, it made him hurt people. Fear for Dale gripped me. "You think he's okay?"
"Oh, he's fine." Shane responded.
"Why'd he bail then?" Rachel asked.
"So you wouldn't tell me which way he went." Shane answered. He took a step forward but paused to turn back to me. "Princess, you somehow manage to see everything in this camp. Which way did he go?" I looked him dead in the eye as I shrugged my shoulders. Shane let out a growl of frustration and anger as he took a step forward, making the hairs on my body stand up on end. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rachel shift the gun so that it was in a lazy shooting position. Shane paused, giving Rachel the evil eye before he stormed off. We sat back down for a few minutes, not saying anything. I saw Maggie approaching from the right.
"I spy a pretty brunette." I spoke up. Glenn's head snapped toward me before looking around for Maggie. Once he spotted her, he stood up from his sitting position.
"Lose the hat!" Rachel whispered. Glenn quickly took the fishing hat off his head.
"Maggie. Hey." Glenn watched as she ignored him. He turned back to Rachel and I. We simultaneously shooed him with our hands. He nodded quickly climbing down the ladder to run after her. We watched as Glenn talked adamantly to her. When the started kissing Rachel and I let out a few cheers and catcalls, making Glenn promptly flick us off as he continued to kiss Maggie. Maggie waved us over once they stopped.
"Think it will be ok to leave?" I asked. Rachel looked like she was thinking it over. She shrugged and nodded. We climbed down the RV, running up to the couple. I jumped on Glenn's back, making him laugh as we walked to the front porch. As soon as we got there, I jumped down from Glenn's back and went to watch Carl and Patricia play checkers. I watched them make a couple of moves, trying to figure out the rules to the game. I turned when I heard the commotion as my people gather by the porch. Carol, Uncle Daryl, T-dog, and Andrea now stood with Glenn, Maggie, and Rachel. Shane was walking toward them, carrying the gun bag.
"What's all this?" Uncle Daryl asked Shane.
"With me man?" Shane asked, passing Uncle Daryl a gun.
"Yeah." He answered, taking the gun from him, no questions asked. My mind flashed to worry for Dale since Shane had obviously found him.
"Time to grow up." Shane announced to us. He turned to Andrea. "You already got yours?"
"Yeah. Where's Dale?" Andrea asked.
"He's on his way." Shane replied lowly.
"Thought we couldn't carry." T-dog replied, still taking the handgun that Shane gave to him.
"We can and we have to." Shane answered before turning to all of us. I moved to stand between Maggie and Rachel. "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. How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" Shane held a shotgun out to Glenn. Glenn glanced at Maggie sadly before grabbing the gun. "That's it. Can you shoot?" He asked Maggie.
"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight." Maggie told him.
"You gonna protect your little sister?" Shane said, ignoring Maggie as he held out a shotgun to Rachel. She wordlessly took it.
"We have to stay, Shane." Carl spoke up behind me.
"What is this?" Lori asked as she made her way over.
"We ain't going anywhere, okay? Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? He…well, he's gonna have to." That wasn't much of a defense. "Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right? 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." Shane said, kneeling in front of Carl. Lori stepped between them before Carl could take the handgun.
"Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make." Lori snapped. Shane turned to me, passing me the gun. I took it, still conflicted about obeying Rick though.
"Oh, shit." T-dog said, making us all turn the direction he was looking. We turned, watching as Hershel, Jimmy, Rick, and Marcus led three walkers out by a noose attached to a pole.
"What is that?" Shane growled, beginning the charge over to them as they walked to the barn. I broke into a run after them, wincing a little as it jostled my shoulder. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Shane, just back off." Rick yelled.
"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel questioned as the rest of us came to a halt, watching the men try to move the walkers around. Marcus glanced at the guns in Rachel's hand, and mine frowning at it. I suddenly felt sheepish and like I had betrayed him.
"Are you kidding me? You see? You see what they're holding onto?" Shane yelled while circling them.
"I see who I'm holding onto." Hershel shot back.
"No, man, you don't." Shane snapped.
"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk." Rick tried to reason, but Shane was far past reason.
"What you want to talk about, Rick? These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't got to feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis. They're gonna kill all of us." Shane yelled. He walked over, getting in Marcus' face. "Man, I thought you cared about your sisters?" If looks could kill, Shane would be dead. Marcus' face twisted in anger as he pushed back at him.
"Shane, shut up!" Rick yelled.
"I am, dumb ass. I'm making sure they can stay here." Marcus yelled back, giving him a shove so that Shane was out of his face.
"Hey, Hershel, man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane then proceeded to shoot the walker three times in the stomach. I flinched into Rachel's side, surprised by the noise.
"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?" Shane shot it two more times. "That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?" Shane fired two more times, this time in Marcus' walker.
"Shane, enough!" Rick screamed.
"Yeah, you're right man. That is enough." And with that, Shane stepped forward, shooting Hershel and Marcus' walker in the head. Marcus dropped the pole as the walker fell, looking at Shane in contempt. Hershel fell to his knees in shock.
"Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone! 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." Shane yelled. Marcus moved back to beside Rachel and I during Shane speech, standing protectively in front of us. Shane however, ran for the door to the barn.
"Take the snare pole." Rick yelled to Hershel, wanting to go and stop Shane. Hershel seemed to be in shock still and didn't respond. Shane began beating the lock off the door before finally getting it to pop off. Shane removed the piece of wood, beating on the door a few times to get the walkers out. The first walker came through, causing us to take a step back. Marcus reached down, taking the gun from me and running to the front with Rachel, Daryl, T-dog, and Andrea to put down the herd of walkers coming from the barn. I took a step forward, but felt an arm wrap around my shoulder, stopping me. I glanced behind me to find Carol holding me back. Shane finally turned around, shooting down Rick's walker. As the last of the walkers came through, Carol let go of her hold on me. I took slow steps forward, eventually coming to stand at Marcus' side. We all stared at the now dead walkers in front of the barn, a creepy calm coming over us after all that yelling. The sound of growling came from the barn again, drawing our attention. A small walker stepped out, with familiar dirty blonde hair. As it lifted its head, it revealed itself to be Sophia. You could feel the heavy weight settle on the group.
"Sophia? Sophia!" Carol began to sob, running forward to her. Daryl caught her before she could run to the walker. It's my fault. No matter what anyone says, it's my fault. I let out an involuntary whimper, causing Marcus to pull me in close to him. We watched as Sophia creped closer to us, each of us too frozen in shock to do something. Rick walked past me, raising his gun to her head. Marcus knelt down beside me, turning me so that I was facing him. His hands covered my ears as I watched only his face. But I still heard it. I flinched when the shot rang out, allowing a few tears to finally leak out.