Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Walking Dead series (both comic book and television), and I do not claim to own any of these characters other than my own original character. This is a story I have written and I am in no way, shape, or form making any sort of profit from it. I am poor. I might even be more so now having written this.

Chapter Twenty-One

A holler sounds from Grant as shock is replaced with body chills and pain. Lassie jumps at the noise. Her eyes are wild with fear and panic as the remaining woman is pushed away from him. She didn't mean for any of this to happen; she was going to leave before things could escalate to something like this. Lassie jumps as Grant yells with forced movement from Billy. The fellas were lining the remaining three along the wall.

"Shut the hell up," Joe barks as his eyes catch the light from the windows. "You're going to draw the biters near," he warns as he points towards the now closed door. "In your condition, that ain't something you want to do."

Lassie watches as Adrienne guides the other man away from the body of the woman. For half a second he is willing to follow until his body jolts with a last fight.

"She's dead!" he hollers as spit flies from his mouth. "She's dead!" Lassie cowards at the sudden outburst of the man; he wriggles himself left and right as Adrienne holds him steady. "You killed her!" he hollers as his eyes glare at Joe. "Just shot her right in the head—no warnin'—no nothin'!" The young man shakes his head as his eyes lower on the remains. "Rachel was a good person—she deserved better than some redneck biker shootin' her from behind—," the man's words are cut short as a fist flies into his gut.

"That's enough out of you," Joe spits as the man keels over from his punch.

"Levi, just do what they want," the woman says as she leans on the wall next to the groaning Grant.

"Lassie—," the girl turns to see Joe watching her. He nods his head for her to join his side as he had done moments after killing the woman and before shooting Grant. With her heart heavy, she leaves the two to join Joe. As she passes the young man along the wall, his eyes look down at the body below; wide and frightful.

"She's dead," he whispers before gasping for air. "She's dead," he says again as his eyes rise from the body and land on Lassie.

The girl lowers her chin as her eyes hood over. "I'm sorry," she breaths before escaping his emerald orbs.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Joe says with his back turning to her. He places a few magazines into his pack and sighs. "They made a mistake; mistakes have consequences. Some people have to learn that the hard way."

Lassie's eyes fall to the floor.

Joe looks to her and shakes his head. "There's a bigger problem that needs to be addressed right now anyway," he says making the girl furrow her brow. "What the hell were you thinkin' running into that field?" he grows lowly. "You could have died—,"

"But I didn't," Lassie squeaks out.

"That's not the point," Joe scoffs. "If you're gonna be with us, you're gonna have to start listening; abiding by the rules," he says. "I don't know how you've survived this long with the way you've been going."

Lassie swallows hard. She survived because she had her own rules; rules she had left behind the moment she saw Merle and forgot to enforce the moment she left Woodbury.

"You don't lie," Joe says with a nod as he drops another magazine into his pack. "You claim what you want—that's the only way you're going to get something." He furrows his brow deeply. "And for you—," he turns his head towards her, "—you stay at my side and only leave it when I say you can. Do you understand?" Lassie turns her head to the side as she looks to the floor again. "I ain't trying to be the bad guy here," he says with a sigh as he goes back to his packing. Lassie's lip press together tightly. He was the bad guy. "These rules are in place for a reason. There aren't many and that's to keep things simple. You follow them and everything'll be fine."

Lassie cups her hands as her hair falls into her eyes. "I don't remember any of those people lyin', Joe."

The man's back straightens. "They were going to kill you, Lassie," he says with his tone softening. "I was protecting you."

"I was fine," Lassie says with her eyes finally lifting to look back at his. "They just wanted me to leave—'n' now look at them; one's dead, the others gonna die, and two people are left to pick up the pieces—,"

"They did it to themselves." Joe shakes his head. "If they wanted to stay alive longer, they shouldn't have camped in here." He lets out a chuckle. "They were askin' for trouble, if you ask me—,"

"I didn't," Lassie spits as she turns her face away.

Joe arches an eyebrow. "Honey," he says with his eyebrows rising, "you got blood on you too." He zips his pack up and swings the strap onto his shoulder. "Like I said before; nobody's innocent anymore."

"Things could've gone differently—,"

"There were infinite possibilities on how this could have ended, Lassie." Joe shakes his head before palming his face. "In almost every single version, at least one person was going to die—more times than not it was going to be you—,"

"They weren't gonna kill me," Lassie nearly whispers.

"How thick is your skull, kit cat? They had a rifle and three pistols aimed at your cranium," Joe says with his brow knitted. "To most people that means death."

"I've had guns aimed at me before," Lassie says. "People get a certain look in their eyes when they're gonna pull the trigger…" Lassie's cheeks pinch up; Joe seemed to have that look every minute of every day. "You killed that woman… and then as if that wasn't enough, you shot the guy too." Lassie shakes her head. "Why give someone more pain than they already have?"

Joe's nose curls up as he looks back at the girl. He takes a huff of a breath and grips his shotgun. "You're right," he says with his eyes narrowing. "I did the wrong thing," he says with a nod. Lassie takes a step back. Joe brings the gun up and steps towards the wall.

"W-what are you doin'?" Lassie pulls at Joe's arm but the man jerks away. "Joe—Joe, what are you doing?" Fear makes her voice tremble and crack.

Joe looks down at Grant as his body sits heavily against the cool wall. As his eyes slowly rise to Joe, they widen and his lips part. Joe shakes his head with a side smirk. "I'm sorry but the li'l lady wants to make things right—,"

"Joe!"

Bang. It was solid; the ring only lasted a few seconds, but the screams and hollers that sound from the remaining man and woman afterwards are almost louder than the shell's blast. Lassie's knees give out below her as she looks at the remains of the man's head. Her body shakes as her eyes refuse to look away from the mess. Her legs lie bent beneath her as one hand supports the weight of her body.

"Who's next?" Joe asks as he turns to the girl and the fellas watch silently. "Hmm?" Joe steps towards the woman and grabs her jaw. "What about her, Lassie girl; are we causing her too much pain too? Does she need to be put out of her misery now—shot like a horse with a broken leg?" The woman lets out a groan as Joe holds her jaw tight.

"Stop," Lassie cracks out as her eyes close. This was too much—this was more than murder. "P-please," she struggles.

Joe pushes the woman face back as he releases her. "I have a better idea," Joe says with a grunt as he lifts Lassie to her feet. The girl fights to free herself from him, but he overpowers her with a few jostles. "Now—," Joe forces Lassie's hands onto the shotgun, "—since you're so merciful, kit cat, I'm gonna let you do the deed," he says before gripping his hand over hers on the trigger.

Adrienne takes a step forward. "Joe, that's enough—,"

"I'll tell you when it's enough, sergeant," Joe barks over Lassie's shoulder. The girl turns her head away as the two remaining people watch in terror. "That's no way to shoot," Joe grunts as he forces Lassie to turn her head back. "You gotta have an eye on your target—I thought you were a country girl," he says with a chuckle.

"No!" Lassie growls as she attempts to free herself.

Joe grunts as he holds her steady. He then smirks. "Now, who is it that seems to be in more discomfort than the other?" Lassie feels him shrug. "You're lucky you're on this side of the gun, Lassie. By all means, I think the answer might just be you," he says with a laugh.

Joe furrows his brow. "You've gotta choose because there's gonna be another death. Which one will it be; the fighting young man, or the screaming girl?" Joe aims the gun respectively. "I know," he says with a nod. "I've got a number between one and ten; whoever's closest gets to live." Tears fall from Lassie's eyes as she watches the two. "What's my number?" he asks as he looks to the woman.

"Joe—,"

"I want to know what my number is," Joe says coolly as his eyes briefly touch Adrienne and then go back to the victims.

"Eight," the man says fighting back his emotions.

The woman lowers her head and shuts her eyes tightly. The man reaches his hand out to hers and grips it tightly before the woman lets out a hitched breath. "F-four," she stammers.

Joe narrows his eyes and forces Lassie's hands to aim at the woman. Lassie lets out a scream and fights to knock the aim off, but the shell is shot too soon.

"Kendal!" the man hollers only to feel the warm crimson sprits onto his skin. As his eyes look to her, he turns away quickly with a dry heave. Lassie's legs give out again but Joe is sure to keep her propped up.

"You see what happens when we go down the merciful route?" Joe whispers in her ear. "People die. People always die."

Lassie swallows hard as she looks back at the woman. She forces herself to keep staring even when she knows the image is scalded into her mind. Hatred ruled this world; Lassie saw that now. Hatred and cruelty were the new moral code.

Lassie feels Joe release her and she stumbles.

"What about the guy?" she hears Lou ask.

"Jesus Christ," Adrienne spits.

Joe turns to his men and takes a deep breath. "I don't know," he murmurs before heading out of the building.

Lassie lowers herself to the floor as the others leave her. She wipes at her face only to find blood mixed with sweat and tears. She crawls slightly towards the man and stops abruptly as his eyes dart to her.

Lassie quickly wipes at her face as a new tears trails down her cheek. "Are you okay?" she whispers.

The man raises his chin as he pushes his head back against the wall. "Do I look okay?" he asks with disgust. He lets out something between a sigh and a sob. "My sisters and brother are dead 'cause of you." He narrows his eyes. "Excuse me if I don't really want to be spendin' this time tellin' you if I'm okay or not." The man closes his eyes and takes a shallow breath. "I feel bad for you… really I do… but right now is not the time to talk to me."

Lassie's bottom lip quivers as her eyes fall to the floor. She takes a sore breath and shakes her head. "I'm so… so sorry," she whispers. She didn't know what else to say; what else could have been said? Lassie rises from the ground and steps towards the woman's body propped on the wall. She takes a breath and begins removing her brother's sweater. "I shouldn't have come in here," she says softly before draping her sweater over the remains of the woman's head.

Please let me know what you think, how I'm doing and what I could do better :)

Reviews are much welcomed and always appreciated!

~MsBBSue