14

The group ended up going off in different directions. Shane stayed near the barn, inspecting it. Aibileen noticed how Daryl still looked genuinely pissed off at what Shane had told him. That made her worry, he was still injured and if he got himself worked up like that, it could worsen his condition. Aibileen didn't care if the incident was only a few days ago, Hershel hadn't removed his stitches yet and there was a chance they could split if he got himself too agitated.

"Daryl," she called. He continued walking off, turning toward the stables. "Daryl!"

"What?" he snapped.

"Ya need to calm down," she exclaimed. Daryl stopped and turned to look at her. "You're still recoverin' and I don't want to see ya get hurt even more."

He snorted.

"Ya don't believe me?" she said. "Daryl, I've been worried out of my mind when ya came back to camp all..." She waved her hands, as if she could better describe it that way. "...hurt. Whether ya can get it through your stubborn head or not, I care about ya. I really care about ya. Is that too hard to see?"

Daryl scowled at her.

"Fine." Aibileen crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "Don't believe me. Ya can think I'm lyin' all ya want, but I'll always want what's best for ya. You're important to this group. You're important to me."

Turning on her heels, Aibileen left Daryl where he stood. If he could be that frustrating... Aibileen shook her head.

It's not like I'm staying or anything, she thought bitterly. She slowed down for a moment. Turning to look at where Daryl was, she noticed he was gone. Aibileen frowned. She didn't want to stay, but she didn't want to go.

Rick was willing to give her a place amongst his group, and she was beyond grateful for his hospitality. But she didn't want a repeat of what happened to her last group. Brushing some of her hair out of her face, Aibileen continued walking.

Aibileen's chest ached with a feeling she couldn't quite understand.

The day drawled on with a tension that could be cut with a knife. No one really spoke to one another. No one really wanted to spend time with each other. Glenn was keeping watch on Dale's RV, Shane was still inspecting Hershel's barn, and everyone else was mostly keeping to themselves. Daryl had come storming back to camp, holding his side with a scowl on his face. Aibileen felt that familiar pang of worry at the sight of him in pain, but made no effort to approach him on it. He made no attempt to acknowledge her, either.

Aibileen noticed Carol slowly walking back to camp a couple minutes later, looking on the brink of tears. Standing up from where Aibileen sat, she walked up to Carol.

"Is somethin' wrong?" she asked softly.

Carol wiped her eyes. "Daryl and I just got into a little fight," she said.

"A little fight," Aibileen said. "What did Daryl say to ya?"

Carol looked away.

"Carol, a little fight wouldn't have left ya in such a condition," Aibileen said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "What happened?"

Aibileen listened carefully as Carol explained what happened. A burst of anger erupted in Aibileen's chest. Giving Carol a reassuring hug, Aibileen promised to handle the situation.

Finding Daryl's tent, Aibileen walked in. Daryl jumped a little at someone intruding in on him, but settled for his signature scowl when he saw her. Aibileen knelt next to his sleeping bag, returning the look.

"Ya made Carol cry," she said in a hard tone.

"She don't think Sophia's still out there," he snapped.

"So ya call her a stupid bitch?" Aibileen glared at him. He seemed taken aback for a moment but didn't say anything. "Daryl, you've been lookin' for that little girl more than anyone here. Carol's put her trust and faith into ya findin' her daughter, then you call her a bitch because of somethin' she says."

"I...know," he muttered stubbornly.

"No, I don't think ya know," Aibileen said harshly. "If ya really knew, then ya wouldn't have said what ya did. You're hurt, Daryl. Ya got impaled by your own arrow and almost shot in the head by Andrea. What part is unclear to ya? Hm?"

Daryl looked at her for a moment.

"Do ya even realize how important ya are to this group?" Aibileen asked. She felt hot tears filling her eyes. Daryl opened his mouth to say something but immediately shut it when he saw the glare she was giving him. "Don't ya dare say it. I know I'm not apart of this group, but Rick offered me a place here and I'm still decidin' on whether I'd like to stay or not. I know ya don't like me worryin' about ya. But I can't help it. I want to worry, I want to see ya come back from your searches alive. Not..."

She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. Aibileen took a shaky breath and wiped her eyes.

"Believe me when I say I worry every single day about ya," Aibileen whispered, still wiping the tears from her eyes. "Ya mean so much to me."

"Why?" Daryl asked quietly.

Aibileen looked at him, giving him a small but sad smile. "Ya have no idea on how to read women do ya?" she asked softly.

Daryl's brows knitted in confusion.

"I've found myself steadily becomin' attracted to ya, Daryl." Aibileen felt a blush rise on her cheeks. "I know ya don't like me. I see it on your face." Aibileen gave a halfhearted shrug. "I told Rick that once Sophia's found, I'd have made my decision on whether I'd be stayin' with his group," Aibileen said. "So far, it seems pretty clear that I shouldn't be stayin' for too much longer."

Aibileen was about to leave Daryl's tent before she felt his hand grab her wrist.

"I...I'm sorry," he said softly.

"Don't apologize to me. Carol's the one who needs it," Aibileen said. Gently prying her wrist out of Daryl's grasp, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She felt his cheeks heat up before pulling away. "That was for apologizin'," she said. She lightly slapped his arm. "That was for makin' Carol cry."

After Aibileen had left Daryl's tent, she went and plopped herself down by Dale's RV. She hadn't seen much of Dale since that morning, and briefly wondered where he'd gone to.

She just settled for hanging back, just being alone with her thoughts. Out of the corner of her eye, Aibileen saw Daryl coming out of his tent. She could've sworn she saw him glance at her before walking over to Carol.

Aibileen couldn't help but smile as she saw them walking off together. She didn't know where they were headed, but she hoped Daryl was going to apologize for what he'd said.

Leaning her head back, Aibileen closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

In the late afternoon, early evening, the group kind of just decided to hang out on the porch of Hershel's home. Rick had gone off with Hershel and Jimmy; Carol and Daryl hadn't returned from whatever it was they were doing.

Aibileen had started up a small conversation with Beth and Carl, but the conversation slowly died when Andrea and T-Dog approached them.

"Where is everyone?" Andrea asked.

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

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

"There ya are." They turned and saw Daryl and Carol walk up to the porch. "What the Hell?" Daryl grumbled.

"Rick told us he was going out?" Carol asked.

"Damn it, isn't anyone takin' this seriously?" Daryl exclaimed. "We got us a damn trail."

No one said anything.

Shane walked up to the porch, holding a shotgun in one hand and the duffle bag of guns slung over his shoulder. Aibileen stood from where she sat and walked over to the steps of the porch.

"What's all this?" Daryl asked.

"You with me, man?" Shane asked. Daryl accepted the shotgun Shane handed to him. "Time to grow up. You already got yours?" Shane looked at T-Dog and Andrea.

"Shane what're ya doin'?" Aibileen asked carefully.

"Where's Dale?" Andrea asked.

"He's on his way," Shane said, almost snarling.

"Thought we couldn't carry," T-Dog said hesitantly.

Shane shoved a handgun at T-Dog. "Well we can and we have to," he snapped. "Look, it's one thing standing around and picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. Now we know it ain't." Shane walked up to Aibileen and shoved a gun into her hands. "How 'bout you, man?" he asked Glenn. "You going to protect yours?"

Glenn hesitated when Shane handed him a shotgun.

"Can you shoot?" he asked Maggie, after Glenn took the shotgun.

"Can you stop," Maggie demanded. "You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight."

"We have to stay, Shane," Carl said.

Lori stormed out from the house, looking confused and concerned at the sight in front of her.

"We ain't going anywhere, OK?" Shane looked back at Carl. "Now look, Hershel... He's just gotta understand, OK? Well he's gonna have to." Taking out a handgun big enough for Carl, Shane knelt in front of the young boy and handed it to him. "We need to find Sophia, am I right?" he asked Carl. "I'm gonna let you take this..."

Lori shoved her son behind her, talking harshly to the man in front of her. Aibileen put a hand on the young boy's head, protected by the sheriff's hat Rick had worn the first time she encountered his group.

"Oh shit," T-Dog exclaimed.

Everyone turned to see what he was looking at.

Rick, Jimmy, and Hershel were escorting two walkers onto the property.

The group ran over to where the three men were. Rick had glanced over and looked petrified when he saw them coming toward him.

"What the Hell are you doing?" Shane shouted.

Rick tried to calm him down. The walkers were reaching for them, struggling against their restraint.

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

"I see who I'm holding onto," Hershel said, trying to correct Shane.

"No man, you don't." Shane circled them, eyeing the walkers with a look of anger and disgust.

"Just let us do this, Shane," Rick cried, "then we'll talk!"

"What'd you want to talk about, Rick!" Shane exclaimed. "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! They killed your son. They're gonna kill all of us..."

"Shane, shut up!" Rick shouted.

"Hey Hershel, man, let me ask you something." Shane stood in front of them for a moment. "A living, breathing person—would they walk away from this?"

Shane pulled out a handgun and aimed it at one of the walkers, shooting the walker three times in the chest. Everyone flinched, but the walker kept trying to get to Shane.

"That's three rounds in the chest," Shane exclaimed. "Someone who's alive, could they just take that? Why is it still coming?"

Shane shot the walker two more times.

"That's its heart! Its lungs!" he cried. "Why is it still coming!"

He continued shooting at it.

"Shane, enough!" Rick cried.

"You're right, man," Shane said, walking up to Hershel's walker. "That is enough."

He shot the walker in the head.

Aibileen and the others watched in silent horror at what Shane had did. He was trying to prove something, trying to make some sort of statement. They all saw the look of disbelief and horror on Hershel's face as his walker fell to the ground.

"Enough!" Shane cried. "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 wanna live, if you wanna survive, you gotta fight for it! I'm talking about fight—right here, right now!"

He ran toward the doors of the barn.

Rick tried to get Hershel to take his walker from him. Shane was ripping apart all the locks and chains that kept the walkers inside the barn. The others tried getting Shane to stop, yelling at him to stop. The sound of the walkers from inside the barn came closer, and the moment the first walker came out of the barn, they knew it was already too late.

Aibileen and anyone else who was given a weapon, aimed it at the walkers as they stumbled out of the barn toward them. Aibileen reluctantly joined Shane and a couple others, shooting the walkers down before they got too far, becoming a big, bloodied heap on the ground. When the last walker was shot down, everyone hesitantly lowered their weapons, looking at the decomposed bodies of a little over a dozen walkers in front of the barn.

Aibileen glanced back at Hershel, who had sunk to his knees and looked at all the bodies with tear-filled eyes. Aibileen couldn't help but feel guilty. Hershel thought the walkers were still living people—sick people who would get better one day. She looked down, pursing her lips.

Aibileen's head snapped back to the barn when she heard the groans of another walker coming out of the barn. Anyone with a gun got theirs ready as the noise came closer, the walker's shuffling came to the barn's entrance. Aibileen stiffened when a walker, obviously a child before being bitten, stumbled out of the barn. She noticed how everyone else stiffened.

Is that...? Aibileen thought.

When the walker looked at the group, she heard a gasp from behind her. Realization hit Aibileen like a ton of bricks. She had only seen Carol's daughter once or twice before she went missing. Aibileen felt her heart break into a million pieces.

No one shot at Sophia. They all stood there, watching in a heavy silence as she stumbled over the bodies of the other walkers, groaning and snarling.

"Sophia!" Carol cried, running toward the walker.

If Aibileen's heart hadn't broken at the realization that Carol's daughter had become a walker, her heart would've broken at the sound of the poor woman's voice.

Daryl had caught Carol before she could get too close.

Carol cried at the sight before her. Aibileen thought she saw a lot of people trying to hide their tears. Rick walked up to where the others stood, pulling one of his guns out of its holster, aiming it at Sophia's head.

Aibileen looked away.

The gun fired and the noises stopped.

Author's Note:

Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter! Your reviews can help make this story better!

Oh, and what do you guys think of Aibileen's an Daryl's relationship so far? It kinda feels like I rushed it...I don't know.

Review please.

Thank you.

Susan Strong