Things had gone to shit so fast, even faster than when the zombie apocalypse had fallen on their head.
Carol tried to breathe through clenched teeth, flies obscuring her sight, as she struggled with the injury she had been dealt.
Separated from her husband, her daughter, her brother-in-law, she was left alone to fight for her own life and her baby's.
She blinked again and again, but soon was out, dead to the world, maybe just dead, period.
"You're making me nervous," Michonne said.
"Something is not right," Daryl answered.
Since that evening, his gut was telling him something was terribly wrong, and he just could shake that feeling.
His family was in danger, he just knew it.
And the more he tried to follow their trail, the more he felt certain someone had gone back and erased the clues he would have found, what the fuck was going on?
He barely had time to jump when he spotted a shadow, and heard a bullet being loaded into a gun.
Beth couldn't stop sobbing, and while she understood the young girl's trauma, Andrea felt impatience toward her.
At another time, she would have felt bad for having no patience and no compassion.
In another life, she would take the girl in her arms, and hold her tight, as their world turned to crap.
This was not another time or another life, this was then and there, it was now and her.
She should have shot Shane back at the quarry, when he had tried to come between her and Merle, when they had buried Amy. Sure, it would have made little sense, but given the mess they were in right now…
She looked over to Merle, being attended by a poor disoriented Hershel. This was… This was the apocalypse squared.
She prayed silently that the vet would be able to take care of the man she had come to feel slightly interested in… Who the fuck was she kidding? The moment he had stopped being Carol's husband, her moral compass and her heart and everything that made her feel like there could still be life after Amy's passing had focused on the man, and by extension, his family. He cared so deeply for his niece and sister and law, and Andrea was ready to jill to make sure they stayed healthy.
She should have killed Shane, even when she didn't know what he would turn out to be.
Where the hell was Carol? Was she still alive? She prayed she was. She prayed they all stood a chance.
And if they didn't, she would not back down without a fight.
Maggie was reeling, so much pain rushing through her body and her soul, but she had to stand strong for the people she loved.
Patricia had died in her sleep, probably had gone to join Otis in a better world, and her body had woken up, turned into one of those other things.
Upon corralling her into the barn, Rick had confessed to Hershel and others that this was what awaited them all. Something was wrong in their genes, he had said, and even if they did not die from a bite, they would turn into a monster.
This had sent her father into a crisis of faith, about the people they were still sheltering even though they were deadly to them, and obviously contrary to God's plan for them. The more she had hung around Glenn and his group, the more it had hit home for her, and she had even convinced her father to invite Carol over one night, to discuss putting down the barn population in a humane manner.
Why Carol? She had told them stories about her husband, the hunter, who had found her despite everything, and how they would hunt for their community but never inflict more pain than what was necessary to kill an animal. Her previous bow had looked like it could the merciful tool to bring peace to all their friends in the barn who were waiting for an opportunity to move to the afterlife without having their legacy tainted by their morbidly animated bodies.
That had been the turning point and the starting point of why they were there.
When Shane had gone to kill everyone in the barn, Carol had stepped in, almost killing him with her bow, saying she had been given a mission she would execute.
She had stood in front of a barn full of people she had never known and who in their sad state would do her harm if given a chance, defying Shane to step in. When he had threatened her with bodily harm if she did not let him open the barn, the woman had simply said:
"I gave birth once, fast sure but without medicine or a doctor. I'm about to have to do it again. You don't scare me."
Upon hearing her words, Lori had come forth with a shotgun and joined Carol, arguing that she had almost died giving birth to Carl and she was not afraid of the deputy sheriff.
Sophia had stepped forth after all the adult women had joined in and said:
"I turned my mother's hair grey when she was expecting me, and I turned my pop into a pile of goo when I first held my arms to him as a baby even though he was in the throw of a PTSD attack. You really can't scare me."
And the women had stood firm, armed to the teeth, around the barn, as Shane had gone madder and madder, not understanding why his will was not the law on this land.
However, the man was and would always be a dirty man. He had disappeared for a day, and the women had stood guard, with the men bringing them food and water, anything they would need for this show of force.
Maggie knew her stepmother had died a long time ago, but she could not bear the thought of someone shooting her animated body without a care in the world. Her soul was gone, but the respect she warranted could never die.
It had been a long day, and an even longer night, where they had stood guard, after Shane had disappeared.
In the morning, when he had shown up again, he had had this look on his face, that expression which broadcasted loud and clear he had fully metamorphosed into whatever his final stage was.
He had been brandishing a strange weapon, and Maggie had spotted with him a couple of men she never thought she would see again. Randall from high school had been with him, and they had more guns that the rest of the group altogether.
She knew who they were then and now. They had joined a group of thugs, robbers, and rapists. One of them had dated Beth when she had been 13, and had come to warn them about coming to close to this group.
Apparently, Shane had bought the loyalty of the youngest who were not as much into murdering everyone and had told them about the Greene farm and the safe haven it could be.
He had been working on his alliance for a while now, and Carol standing in his way had been the moment he was waiting for to bring in his new friends. They looked uneasy yet determined.
She hated them but Maggie could not blame them. When confronted with endless violence, especially between people who had not experienced the turn, murdering a couple of people to be free could seem like a small price to pay.
Shane's men had overpowered the women and had seized most weapons on the farm. Carol had resisted till the very end.
Yet, Shane had not been done with her. He had tied Merle up and had told her that she had to pledge her loyalty to him
"I am only loyal to my husband, and my family."
"Good of you to say that. My men noticed all those little tokens you left behind for your men. Well they removed them and created another path. As we speak, he's about to be gunned down like the dog he is, running after your skirt."
Carol had clenched her teeth, holding Sophia against her but she had not let him win. Maggie had felt in awe. Maybe, just maybe, Rick had not been the real leader of this group, when push came to shove.
"Now, you must make a choice. We cannot have you delivering a little bundle of joy which will put us at risk every fucking night when crying. So you're going to go."
She had exchanged a look with Merle, but Maggie had seen Randall give a signal on Shane's cue.
Warren had shot Merle in the stomach, and hell broke loose. They had been unable to move, being threatened by too many weapons, but people had screamed for others to take care of the man, of Shane, of anybody really and try to get back a semblance of quiet to the farm.
"If you want Hershel to attend Merle, you will leave. If you don't, I will kill you both. What says you?"
Lori was helping Hershel take care of Merle, who kept murmuring about his sister-in-law.
"She's going to be fine", she told the warrior, hoping to alleviate his pain.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Shane, or whatever was left of him. This was not the man she had met in high school; this was a monster parading in his old gear.
"Carol…" Merle was asking again.
Lori exchanger a glance with Hershel and kept on lying.
"She's fine, we're going to fix you…"
The wound was deep, and Lori just did not know if fixing Merle would be efficient. Even if he did pull through, did he had any chance of not being shot again when he woke up and remember that Carol had been forced to leave the group without her bow or anything to protect her, leaving her daughter behind? How could Merle be kept alive by Shane and his goons when the tall man would remember Shane's despicable act?
As she had kissed Sophia goodbye, swearing she would be back for all of them, Shane had ordered for her to start running away. Carol had obeyed though everything in her being projected lou and clear how much she wanted him dead. Maybe that had been the reason why Shane had pointed his gun on the woman, as her silhouette ran away, he had fired, hitting her leg.
When Sophia had screamed bloody murder and promised to kill the man, he had just looked at her and said:
"Just consider yourself lucky Patrick thinks you could be his bride in a couple of months, otherwise you'd be dead already."
Oh Gosh.
As she helped Hershel work on Merle's wound, Lori couldn't help but aske herself:
Was there any point to any effort they put forward? The Dixon family was all but dead, on life support. God have mercy on their souls.