Chapter 7: Talks, Herds, and Unhinged Men

"Jake, why did you hit Shane?" Sophia asked, after twenty minutes, from her spot beside him on his cot and he could feel the young girl's eyes boring into him with curiosity. J currently sat hunched over, head in his hands. The young Peletier was the only company he had seeing as nobody had come to speak with him either because they were afraid of how he'd react to them, were giving him space, or simply just giving themselves time to process how Shane, their friend and group member, lied to them about the others who he left behind.

"He did a bad thing" the former SFC sighed before rubbing his face then turning to look at the young brunette who turned to look at the ground.

"When me or mommy use to do something bad, Ed would hit momma" Soph claimed sadly followed by a sniffle. This in turn caused Jake's heart to break and immediately pull the child into a hug where he held the child gently and kissed the top of her head.

"Oh, sweetheart it's nothing like that. What Shane did was very, very bad because he lied to us and left Bear, Glenn, Daryl, T-Dog, and Mr. Grimes in the city for the monsters to get them" he told her while also making it sound somewhat less horrific than what it really was. While yes, in her short lifetime Sophia had witnessed a great many bad things happen to her mother that had both Peletier women living in fear, so he'd take every opportunity to protect Sophia from the already horrific world they were living in becoming worse than it is.

"What are you going to do with him?" The young girl asked him while pulling back a bit and looking up at him with slightly red colored eyes and tears stains down her cheeks.

"For now, he's going to be kept away from the group and when Bear along with the others come back we're going to have a very important conversation about what he did and what's going to happen" he replies honestly, though leaves out how there was the possibility that Bear or Daryl might kill the man. Plus, even if they did let Shane go what's to say he wouldn't come back to cause trouble or Bear wouldn't just snipe him out once he was away from camp?

"Is he going to die?" She asked him while green eyes stared into his own green with grey ones with a curiousness to them.

"I, uh, I honestly don't know" he didn't want to lie to her so he told the truth, because while he was all for killing the shaggy haired male and was pretty sure Bear, Jase, Rone, and Daryl would be right there with him, the others more than likely wouldn't be. It might come down to a split decision or rather a few against everyone else.

Most would be too scared to condemn someone to such a fate much less partake in making that decision. It would more than likely end up a split decision with the Harrison sisters siding with them while Carol was unknown and everyone else more than likely saying their friend and group member deserves a second chance because he may have done it out of fear and you can't blame someone for being scared. Plus, he was one of them and what kind of people would they be if they just sent him out alone where he'd more than likely find his end?

The sound of the tent flaps opening caused J to pull himself from his thoughts and look over towards the entrance where he saw Rone standing. Once the two made eye contact the former engineering student mouthed 'he's awake' which the former SFC responded by giving the male a nod then gesturing with his head for his long time friend to go watch over Shane until he got there.

"Soph, why don't you go find your mother? I'm going to go talk to Shane" Jake tells the child and that's when he noticed the young girl was still wearing his dog tags and he had to keep a smile from making its way across his lips.

"Okay" Sophia tells him then wipes her face followed by giving the 23 year old one more hug squeeze prior letting go and exiting the tent to go in search of her mom.

Taking a deep breath and moving over towards his duffle bag he pulled out one of his spare boots knives and slid it into his boot then exited the tent himself and scanned over the camp. Everyone was scattered around either talking to others, sitting alone to think, or doing something to keep themselves busy. His eyes caught sight of Carol who was hugging Sophia then continued looking around until his gaze landed on Lori who seemed to have noticed him and was staring at him, but he immediately turned away and headed for Shane's tent.

Outside of the former deputy's tent was Jase who looked as if he were on guard, the two exchanged a nod before J walked passed him and inside only to find Rone watching the traitor, because that's what he was, who was on his knees while hog tied and gagged and glaring at the 22 year old which promised pain once he was freed.

"Hey, dickface" the former SFC called out causing the shaggy haired man to turn and look at him only to receive a punch to his cheek getting a pain filled grunt as the man fell on his side. Some would say punching someone who couldn't fight back was a cowardly thing to do, but couldn't the same be said about torture and other things people did to those who couldn't fight back or to gather necessary information? It felt somewhat satisfying being able to hit the man who thought himself King.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Ty reached down and lifted the downed man back onto his knees where the tied up male glared at person assaulting him. He then said something, but the gag made it inaudible with it sounding like nothing more than a grumble.

"What was that?" Jake asked while reaching down and removing the gag from the former deputy's mouth.

"I said, once I get out of these restraints I'm going to beat you to death" he threatened with a sneer and looked as if more was going to come out of his mouth only for the former SFC to gag him once again before receiving another punch though not as powerful as the first.

"That's possible, but first you're going to have to deal with Bear and Daryl who I'm sure are going to want a word with you in private first which will be before there's a vote on what to do with you" J claimed with a shrug as he informed him about what the others might have in store for him as well and what would be done regarding what he did. "Now, to be honest I don't want to hear your shitty excuses about why you left them behind because I'm sure I already know why" with this being said the former SFC squatted down in front of the man as an amused looked came upon his face.

"I get it, big bad Shane was mad about having to go into the city and try to rescue a prick like Merle Dixon which everyone knew you never wanted to do in the first place. Not to mention, Rick coming back meant your sneaking off to fuck Lori in the woods, which honestly I'm sure everyone knows about, was over along with all those feelings you developed would become worthless" Jake said the first sentence in a mocking tone as if he were talking to a child before letting his voice go back to normal. The kneeling man's eyes widened upon hearing that one of the men he disliked and possibly the whole camp knew about he and Lori's 'couplings', though grew angry when hearing his feelings were being made fun of.

"Face it dipshit..." Shane receives a hard open hand smack to the side of his head "she doesn't love you, never did and never will because what you don't know is that poor, poor woman was fucking you out of necessity because she felt like a debt was owed for you saving her and Carl's lives. I honestly feel bad for her, having to continuously have to touch while also being left sexually unsatisfied after every time you to were together." J knows he was getting pretty cruel attacking the man this way, that he was showing a side very few people had ever seen while twisting the imaginary knife in the pricks gut. Fortunately, Rone was one of them and he didn't have to fear his long time friend judging or thinking differently of him because of this.

Let's just say the first time TJ had seen this side of him back in high school when the Jock of all Jocks started picking on former Engineering student for being a 'nerd'. Hearts and noses were broken during that time and nobody ever messed with Ty again.

"Now, what I honestly want to know, is did you really think Lori would go back to fucking you if the husband who according to you was dead, which she's still pissed at you for lying about, were to 'die' just after being reunited while out on a run you were apart of? Not to mention, the others also 'dying' while you were somehow magically the sole survivor? It's a shitty plan if you ask me, not well thought out, and a very pathetic one if you think about it. Especially, if you thought it would work and since you did then, man, you're a fucking idiot" the former Ranger tells him while talking to the man as if he were a moron because well, he was. The angry look in Shane's eyes lets him know that the kneeling man is pissed off and if he did get free then there was no doubt he'd try to kill him or go after the people he cared about, that he was near being unhinged, a threat to the group.

They couldn't have that. Too many monsters were already roaming around and another one couldn't be afforded. So, after patting dickhead on the shoulder Jake stood up and turned to Rone who he gave a nod to before heading for the tent exit. He glanced over his shoulder in time to see Ty strike the tied up man across the face with the butt of his gun knocking out their traitorous group member once again.

Damn, maybe Lori was right, maybe he was a monster, but the only difference is he knew when to be a monster and when to be the man they all knew. J felt as if he should make some potion because that realization just made him feel as if he were Dr. Jekyll with his own Mr. Hyde inside of him waiting for the next time he would be let out.

"Dead piece of shit" Bear grumbled as he ran over his fourth walker in the last thirty minutes since they hot wired the truck they were currently using to get back to camp. He would've ran over more, but his main concern was getting back to the others and not killing undead motherfuckers. The group of five had traveled farther away from their temporary home during the time that fucking herd of walkers was chasing their asses down every street and alley they'd come across until finally receiving some luck in the form of an escape.

"What're we going to do about Shane when we get back to camp?" Glenn asked from his spot in the backseat between T-Dog and Daryl with a glock, since the MPK was kept by the Vatos. All of their bags were in the bed of the truck since it allowed for more room.

"I don't know bout y'all, but I'm gone knock his fucking teeth out" the Hillbilly biker claimed in a serious tone that let everyone know that he'd made up his mind and it wouldn't be changed. He's hated Shane since they first met and the man started treating him and his brother like pieces of shit, now he had a reason to beat the man's ass, his chance to pay him back for all the crap he'd given them and for leaving them behind.

"Nobody, and I mean nobody is touching Shane when we get back" Rick said in an authoritative tone from his spot in the passenger seat which caused the sniper to look at the man with an angry look then step on the brake causing the truck to skid across the road until it came to a stop.

"If that's your final answer then your ass better get out this truck right now and find another way back to camp before walkers show up because there ain't no way in hell I'm going to let you keep me from kicking that son of a bitch's ass for what he did. Those who agree with him can hop out as well" the former SSG claimed in a serious tone while leveling the former Sheriff's deputy with a glare that said he won't be backing down. The uniform wearing man just stared back at him with a wide eyed look at the level of anger that could be seen behind the snipers eyes.

"So, what's it going to be?" Aaron asked the other man who turned at the sound of a walker hitting his window while trying to get to him, his eyes then noticed more were starting to appear and head towards them. "Clock's ticking."

"Rick, just give him what he wants" Glenn told the former deputy from his spot when he himself began noticing the walkers closing in around them and began growing scared.

"Come on, man" T-Dog added in. The uniform wearing male looked back at the other two then to Daryl who was just looking out the window with what looked like he hadn't a care in the world what the man said because he already made up his mind and was either going to benefit from this win-win situation.

If they hopped out then who knows how long until they can get another vehicle or if they'd even survive while Bear and Daryl would make it back before they did and would ultimately get their way. Then again, if he agreed then they'd get what they wanted either way, so sending one more glance toward T-Dogg and Glenn he chose his answer.

"Fine, I won't stop you" Rick told him and that's all the former Ranger needed to hear before pushing down on the gas causing the truck to begin moving forward once again, another walker had gotten run over in the process. The Grimes male gave a sigh of both relief and defeat, he only hoped that he'd be able to forgive himself for the fate that was going to fall upon his once best friend when they got back to camp. He didn't doubt that man Jake had already thrown in his two-sense and his friend no longer looked like he last saw him.

Nobody made a sound the rest of the drive back to camp, each having their own thoughts on their mind. Two were of vengeance, one was still trying to accept what Shane had done, one realized none of this would've happened if the shaggy haired male hadn't pushed for a whole group to go into town instead of the usual Jake and Glenn, while the last wondered how safe everyone back at camp truly was with men like the two former Rangers and Daryl still apart of it.

The last man also wondered how long it may be until something else bad happens that ends with more people getting hurt, whether he could get the group to see how dangerous they were because dangerous men weren't needed but then again both had risked their lives for others of the group. The former SFC made sure those who were with him got out of the city the day before while the sniper came up with the solution to keeping them and the Vatos from creating a bloodbath. Maybe having two dangerous men willing to do what was needed for the safety and survival of the group wasn't such a bad thing. He mentally sighed at the problem he was facing.

Though all of them had one thought in common upon noticing how the city began to grow dark the longer they were on the road. They each wanted to be out of the city before night had fully set.

After arriving back at his tent Jake moved over to his cot which he knelt in front of before reaching under and pulling out a rifle case and opened it to reveal a customized tactical Marlin Model 336 with two grip rails consisting of one at the top which had an ACOG scope and another at the bottom which had a bipod grip, strap, and a full bullet sleeve on the stock. He pulled out the rifle and saw that it was still loaded from when he loaded it after everything began. Also inside of the case was a suppressor which he pulled out and twisted onto the barrel of his rifle before placing the gun down on his cot then reached back in and grabbed the ammo belt which he slipped over his shoulders.

Again J moved his hand back under the cot and pulled out another gun case though this one smaller and opened it to reveal an Uberti Cattleman along with its holster and ammo belt which he wrapped around his waist. Once that was down the 23 year old moved over towards his machete which he grabbed and strapped to his back. The group may not have wanted him to be armed, but with Shane currently tied up, Ed out of commission, and Jim somewhat still out of it the group could use all the protection it could get. Plus, he had gut feeling something bad was approaching and there was no way he was going to face it without a gun in his hand and since Bear along with the others still having not made it back yet had him feeling more uneasy.

When he was all done the former Ranger exited the tent only for everyone to once again look over at him and most of their eyes widened when they saw him armed, he could see majority of them were scared at the sight of him because of the guns, though he didn't care. Jake walked over towards the RV and made his way towards the top where he took a seat on a lawn chair and began watching over the group who after a while continued on with their day after seeing he wasn't going to do anything.

-x-

An hour later night had fallen and almost everyone, excluding Shane and Ed with Jim having cooled down and released, were gathered around the camp fires to keep warm. Meanwhile, Jake still sat atop the RV where a few minutes ago he'd been joined by Sophia who had curled into his side to stay warm while Carol sat around one of the fires where she was talking to Amy and Andrea while every once in a while sparing them a glance.

A few minutes later after Morales and Dale had a conversation regarding the older male's watch and how he set it everyday around the same time. This in turn led to the senior member of their group explaining how he once heard something regarding time which was said by some famous poet though J hadn't paid enough attention to hear the name.

After that conversation the younger of the Harrison sister got up only to be question what she was doing by her older sibling only to reply how she had to pee and was trying to keep it private before heading towards the RV leaving Andrea looking slightly guilty. For a few seconds the camp had grown quiet and Jake heard a low moaning sound that he'd heard hundreds of time before which caused him to instantly get to his feet and search the area when he saw a walker.

"Do we have any toilet paper?" Amy asked while exiting the recreational vehicle though stayed at the door when something latched onto her forearm. She immediately turned and saw what it was which caused a scream to make its way out of her throat and just as the walker was about to bite into her, but was stopped by a bullet piercing the top of it skull and blowing its brains out the back killing it.

Another scream rang out through the camp and everyone turned to see dozens upon dozens of walkers emerging from both the dirt road and tree line. Everyone quickly got to their feet and what followed was pure chaos as most of them running around trying to escape the undead while those with weapons pulled them out and began firing or ran to their tents to grab them.

"Get the kids into the RV!" Jake shouted as he aimed his rifle at another walker and blew its brains out before aiming at another and doing the same.

His gaze momentarily scanned the group and saw Jase and Rone covering each others backs while trying to make their way over towards the mobile home, the Harrison sister emerged from their tent with the weapons they'd been handed earlier, Carol knowing her baby was safe helped Lori and Morales' wife get their children to safety while both the Grimes and Peletier woman shot their guns, Jim was protecting Jacqui, Dale was using the sniper rifle which proved to be a bit too powerful for him, and Morales appeared from inside his tent with the MP5 which he began shooting at approaching walkers. Though due to their lack of training with firearms which was honestly visible because it resulted in more body than head shots, which came once in awhile, and it was a waste of ammo because not many walkers were being killed.

"Sophia, sweetheart, i'm going to need your help" Jake said to the young child while aiming at another undead motherfucker and blowing its rotten brains out. Afterwards, he looked to the child who was looking at him with wide scared eyes and while he wanted to comfort her, right now they were pressed for time, so all he did was remove his ammo belt and handed it to her which the girl accepted.

"Pull out five bullets from the belt" J instructed the 11 year old who with shaking hands quickly began doing as she was told which made it a slow process though not wanting to rush the child and scare her more and instead turned back to the chaos below and fired of his last rifle round then turned back to Sophia who had managed to pull out three bullets. "Soph, I'm going to need you to reload for me, okay?" He asked her which caused the Peletier child to look at him in shock at his instructions, but quickly nodded.

"You're going to push five bullets into this slot then hand it to me" was all the former SFC told his 'daughter' figure before handing her the rifle, which she had trouble carrying, then turning back to the fight below while pulling out his six shooter and taking aim where he took out two out of three with someone killing the third.

'Shit' the once Army Ranger mentally cursed when he missed a shot which resulted in the walker taking a chunk out a group members neck causing them to begin choking on their own blood. 'Fuck you' taking another shot at the same undead fuck he got it this time. Seeing two of them approaching Lori and Carol who were both reloading he trained the barrel on the two walkers and blew their brains outs leaving the gun empty.

"Jake!" Sophia shouted and he turned to see her holding out the rifle which he quickly took then handed the child his six shooter leaving her once again shocked that he'd given her a gun. Reaching over to the Uberti he opened up the ammo slot "face the barrel up and spin this... " he pointed to the cartridge "six times then pull six bullets from this belt" put his finger on the ammo belt he was still wearing "and put them in there then close it" once again after giving Soph instructions he turned back and took aim.

"J!" This caused him to turn away from his target and looked down to see his cousin who was being covered by Rone and gestured towards the distance which the 23 year old followed the move only to see a freed Shane making his way through camp towards the RV with his shotgun and taking out walkers.

"Right now, we have bigger problems!" He shouted back then turned and once again took aim and fired killing another walker. Lights coming up the dirt road caught his attention which caused him to look over in time to see a walker get run over by an orange truck where five people immediately piled out of and began shooting at the undead.

"Rick!" A voice that sounded much like Lori's called out, but Jake didn't pay it much mind. Just because the others were back didn't mean they were out of the woods yet and walkers still kept coming, people were shouting they were running out of ammo, and more screams of people being killed were ringing through the air. Unaware to the ex-soldier Shane had made his way up the RV ladder without anyone noticing and had snuck up behind the pair though since he was out of ammo he pulled out his knife.

Rushing forward he knocked Sophia down causing her to fall near the edge and drop the six shooter in the process though the shaggy haired male didn't pay the child any attention and instead brought his blade down into Jake's shoulder causing the 23 year old to cry out in immense pain, which was blocked out by unsuppressed guns being fired before falling down onto the RV's roof. Originally, he was aiming for the former soldiers head, but he turned to aim at another walker which threw off Shane's 'kill shot' that now became a wound maker though it would have to do.

"Told you I'd kill you!" The traitorous motherfucker shouted then reached down and twisted the blade, literally, getting another pain filled cry to tear its way past the former soldiers lips which too was covered by a gunshot before he pulled the blade out. Shane then reached down and flipped him over so that he could look up and see the unhinged look in his eyes while he raised his knife to deal the final blow.

"No!" They heard Sophia cry followed by another gunshot ringing out that had a bullet piercing through Shane's body from back to front though Jake knew it was nowhere near any vital organs. Normally, even though it wasn't a vital hit it still would've sent a person to their knees, but someone being fueled by range they wouldn't have felt it which the shaggy haired hadn't and instead turned around and struck Sophia across the face sending her down towards the roof once again.

"Little bitch!" He shouted out then kicked the 11 year old in the gut causing her to cry out in pain as she rolled across the roof until stopping and curling herself into a ball while holding her stomach as she cried. This caused a surge of adrenaline of pure rage as well as the need to protect his 'daughter' figure from suffering anymore pain and possibly death that allowed him to quickly roll over and push himself up onto his feet and charge the man.

"Motherfucker!" Jake roared in rage before literally tackling the man off the RV and cliff sending them both soaring down into the Quarry below.

"Dad!" Everyone heard Sophia cry out just as the shooting stopped causing everyone to turn away from their fallen group members and now fully dead walkers in order to scan the camp for Ed, but quickly realized she hadn't been calling for him upon remembering how she hadn't called the Peletier male that since Jake 'saved' them weeks ago. That's when they all turned and looked up towards the RV's roof where the SFC was nowhere in sight nor was the Peletier child.

"Sophia!" Carol broke from her trance and ran for the RV's ladder, but she was beat to it by Bear who without sparing Peletier matriarch a glance climbed up and quickly moved over towards Sophia who was looking down over the other side of the recreational vehicle while holding her middle.

"Soph, what happened? Are you okay? Where's Jake?" Bear quickly asked the child who turned to him and tackled him into a hug as she cried into his chest while letting out what could only be described as cries of loss just as Carol climbed onto the roof.

"Baby!" The Peletier woman called out to her daughter and kneeled down beside Bear only to have the child release the sniper and hugged her mother as she continued to cry. "It's okay, sweetheart, it's over, you're safe" she tried to sooth the child while smoothing down her hair. While Carol also wondered where J was, Sophia was her main priority at the moment.

Tearing his eyes away from the mother and daughter, Aaron turned and looked over the roof only to see his best friends lever-action and six shooter lying in different place along with a small pool of blood that had his eyes opening wide in shock and fear.

"Sophia, what happened to your face? Who hit you?" The Peletier matriarch asked in shock as she cupped her daughter's cheeks though avoided touching the girls reddening cheek and puffy cut lip. "Baby, you can tell me."

"He went over the side momma, he was protecting me from Shane" both adults heard the child say softly between between sobs from her spot nestled into her mother's chest. Carol and Aaron sent each other wide eyed looks before looking towards the edge.

Moving quickly over towards the edge once again Bear peered over the side overlooking the Quarry just as Jase climbed onto the roof. What the sniper saw down below him dropping his SR-25 and without thinking jumped down into the water below.

Jase quickly ran over towards where one of his older 'brothers' jumped off of only to fall to his knees with tears flowing down the teens face at what he saw. Other than the splash created by the former SSG who had just risen from below the water, were two motionless facing downwards figures floating with both both surrounded by blood though only one had a knife sticking out of their skull.

A/N: Here you go guys, another chapter written and uploaded. Leave a review, hope y'all didn't think it sucked.