Infected

Third POV

Carl was cradled in his mother's lap, sobbing as she comforted him. They were sitting in a chair on the porch, Toby was on the chair next to them, a small table between them. Lori was crying as well, though not as much as Carl, she was trying to keep it together for him, for Carol.

Toby wasn't crying, she was sitting in her chair, trying her best not to look over at Carl as he cried. Her expression was blank, but this time, it wasn't to hide an emotion she was feeling. She wasn't sure how she felt, maybe a little sad, but not much else. She didn't even want to be sitting there, the only reason she was there was because Shane told her to sit there while he went inside. She didn't have many other options, Daryl was digging out front with T-Dog, and she didn't want to just stand there while they dug a grave. She thought about going to hide out in Daryl's tent, but she couldn't get herself to move. So she stayed put, hoping to get some instruction from someone.

All the excitement and pride from hitting her first target had vanished, there was no point in telling Daryl, especially at that moment. Everyone was focused on Sophia and Carol. If Toby listened hard enough, she could hear Carol's loud coming from inside the house sobs over Carl's.

Meanwhile, in the house, Patricia, Maggie, and Dale were in the kitchen. Patricia and Maggie were putting food and drinks together for the others, and for Carol of course. They weren't sure what else to do and didn't want to be doing nothing. Dale was there to offer them his help, when they refused it, he returned to Shane and Rick who were in the living room.

"I can't believe this," Shane exclaimed. "Two days, he's known for two days that she wasn't going to make it. Why the hell didn't he tell us?"

"Carol knew, I suppose that's why she hasn't spoken to us. And why she hasn't left that room. It wasn't for him to tell us, and Carol wasn't ready." Dale defended as he took a seat on the couch. They could all hear Carol crying from the other room, she still wouldn't leave Sophia's side.

"The hell it wasn't his job to tell us. After me and Rick risking ourselves for the medicine and equipment to keep her going. Where is he anyhow?" Shane asked.

"Upstairs," Rick answered, "he needed a moment."

"He needed a moment?"

"He did a lot for Sophia, Shane. More than any of us could've done. He put a lot of work into trying to make her better." Dale said.

"Carl's devastated," Rick said out loud.

"He and Sophia were friends, it's expected." Dale glanced at Shane, "what about Toby, how'd she take the news?"

Shane sighed, "I'm not too sure yet. She didn't say anything but the news was a shock. I'll check on her in a bit."

"She's more likely to confide in Daryl," Dale pointed out matter-of-factly. "When he's done out there I'll ask him to talk to her."

Shane narrowed his eyes, not liking what Dale said at all. Which Dale knew, it was why he said it. Dale hadn't trusted Shane at all since arriving at the farm, he was growing suspicious of the younger man. He'd noticed that Toby had been around him more and more, and she didn't look as uncomfortable as she used to be. This bugged Dale a great deal, he wasn't able to find out exactly what had changed in Shane, that was why he wasn't comfortable with the young girl being around him. He considered going to Daryl about it, but now Sophia was dead, and they could only focus on one thing at a time.

Dale sat, While Rick and Shane stood, all in silence. They listened to the sound of Carol's cries down the hall.

"I thought . . . I was so sure she was going to wake up." Dale said sadly.

"We all were," Rick stated.

"Because that's what we were told," Shane said through clenched teeth.

"Shane," Rick warned. "Stop this. Not now, please."

Shane glanced at Rick after running a hand over his shaved head. His expression became softer, apologetic, "I know. You're right, I'm sorry. I just . . . Kept thinking we'd see her walk through that door and it would be the same as before. I feel horrible, I wished we could do something for Carol. I don't know what to say to her."

"Nothing," Dale advised, "for the time being anyway. She's a grieving mother, she needs her time and space to be just that. We'll make matters worse otherwise."

Rick nodded in agreement.

"Poor woman," Dale continued sadly. "First her husband, now her daughter. She's suffered enough losses."

"Ed wasn't exactly a loss," Shane remarked.

"Loss or not, Carol is-" Dale was cut off by a scream that pierced through the air. Without another word they ran into the hall, Carol came out of the room slamming into Shane. She was hysterical, screaming and crying. She would've fallen to the floor if Shane wasn't holding her up.

Hearing the screams, Maggie and Patricia came out of the kitchen and into the hall.

They were at a loss for only a few seconds, before seeing Sophia in the hall with them. Only it wasn't Sophia.

Sophia's skin was grey, there were dark bags under her eyes. Her teeth were bared as she snarled, trying to get to them as quick as she could, she was only slowed down by her stumbling. Her eyes were bloodshot and her irises had turned to a dull yellow colour.

Carol cried out for her daughter, her screaming and crying grew louder as Sophia approached.

All men stood there in shock, confused and a bit frightened. Rick without a doubt knew what he was seeing, he tried his best to push the shock aside and he pulled out his gun and shot Sophia.

After Sophia was down, Carol watched her body for several moments before pulling away from Shane. She continued to cry and sob as she went down to the floor and crawled toward her daughter's body.

There was loud footsteps from the floor above them, they bounded down the stairs.

"What is going on?!" Hershel was furious, he was gone for only minutes and a gun had been fired in his home.

He stopped when he saw Carol hunched over her daughter's body. Blood was pooling around Sophia's head. Hershel's fury only grew at the sight of Rick's gun in his hand.

"What did you do?! You've killed her!"

"Hershel, no-" Rick's explanation was cut off by the front door being thrown open. T-Dog and Daryl rushed in. T-Dog had dropped his shovel somewhere while Daryl brought his, brandishing it as a weapon.

"What in the hell . . ." T-Dog mumbled, seeing Sophia and Carol.

Shane heard footsteps behind him, he turned to see that Lori, Carl and Toby had left to investigate the gunshot as well. Toby was in front of both of them, like she was the first to rush in.

"Lori, get the kids out of here," Shane told her.

Lori was shocked. She wasn't sure how to put the scene together. Carol was lying over her daughter, crying out. Sophia was bleeding from a hole in her head, and her husband was holding the gun.

"Lori! Get them out!"

Lori seemed to have snapped out of it, pushing Carl away. When Toby wasn't following she reached forward to grab onto the girl's arm. Toby flinched back so much in surprise she jumped against the wall.

"Toby, go with Lori, now." Shane gave her a pleading look. Toby stared at him blankly for a few moments before her eyes went back to Sophia and Carol.

"Toby, get out!" Daryl yelled from across the hall. Toby looked up to Daryl, quickly glancing at Shane before following Carl and Lori out of the house.

Hershel had a wild and furious look on his face, "What have you done?!"

"I-I had to," Rick attempted to explain.

"You killed a child!"

Rick's expression became angry and he rounded on Hershel, "I would never-"

Dale stepped in, in hope to stop Rick from saying anything to make it worse. "-Hershel, she was dead. Sophia died. You said so yourself."

"She turned. She was one of them." Shane added.

"She's a little girl!"

"She's dead!" Rick argued.

"You murdered her!"

"This doesn't make a damn lick of sense!" T-Dog yelled out. "When was she bitten?"

Rick tore his glare away from Hershel, "she wasn't."

"Woulda turned days ago if she was, wouldn't'a lasted this long." Daryl said in a rather calm voice. He didn't see a point in adding any more to the yelling.

"GET OUT!" Hershel roared, "I want you all of out my house! Get out!"

Rick tried one more time to reason with him to no avail, Hershel continued to yell. Even Maggie began to push them out. All but Carol rushed out the back door.

"This doesn't make any sense," T-Dog said again when they were outside.

"What's going on?" Glenn wasn't that far away from the porch. Guillermo was behind him sitting on the ground. He'd heard the gunshot but hadn't gotten into the house in time.

"The hells wrong with him?" Daryl asked, motioning toward Guillermo. Guillermo was sitting on the ground, his knees up. He was holding his head as he shook it profusely.

Glenn shrugged, "I don't know, we heard the gunshot, he freaked out. It was worse a second ago, I think he's calming down. What happened? Who shot?"

"Rick shot Sophia." Daryl said.

"What? Why?" Glenn asked, confused. He knew Sophia was dead, he didn't understand why Rick would shoot her.

"She was a Walker." T-Dog said quietly, trying to figure it out himself.

"She was bit?" Glenn questioned.

Maggie walked down the porch steps toward Glenn and explained what happened. Everyone listened, even the ones who saw, as if making sure that was what actually happened.

Toby glanced at Carl as he wiped a few fresh tears from his face. She contemplated going over to him, but just ended up looking away.

"We're all infected," Rick said when Maggie was done explaining.

"What?" Lori asked, stepping forward.

"We're all infected," Rick repeated, avoiding her eyes.

"What the hell does that mean?" T-Dog questioned, "we're all infected?"

Rick rubbed his eyes, "at the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."

Shane's eyes were wide, "and you never said anything?"

"Would it have made a difference?"

"You knew this whole time?!" Shane shouted.

"How could I have known for sure? You saw crazy that mo-"

"How could you keep that from us?" Glenn stared at Rick, a look of betrayal on his face.

"I thought it best that people didn't know."

"That wasn't your decision to make!" Shane shouted at Rick's face, before stepping back and turning away from them. Those watching would've assumed he was about to walk away, but unexpectedly he spun back to Rick and punched him in the jaw.

Rick stumbled back in surprise, almost falling to the ground.

Shane had a wild look of anger on his face, he stepped forward, looking as if he would hit him again. Lori ran forward to her husband, examining his face before glaring at Shane.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"Me?" He said to Lori. "You can't tell me that wasn't something you'd want to know."

"Everyone just calm the hell down," T-Dog said. "What's done is done, no use fighting over it. And to be honest with you, think I would've rather lived the rest of my life not knowing I was gonna be one of the rotting pricks."

Lori glared at Shane, as if silently daring him to punch Rick again.

Shane turned away and walked a little. He didn't go far, he just needed to be away from Rick. He was incredibly angry, at Rick, at the Walkers, at the world.

"So it isn't the bite that turns you," Dale realized.

"Bite just kills you," Daryl said after a few moments. "Don't matter how you die."

T-Dog shook his head and sighed before turning around. He began to walk up the porch steps.

"Where're you goin'?" Daryl watched him, confused.

"Getting her out of there, bring her out front. Can't just leave her like that."

"I'll come with you," Rick said and started to follow T-Dog. Maggie rushed from Glenn to stop in front of Rick.

"You can't!" She protested. "Not you. My dad already wanted to kick you people out, if you go in there after that it's only going to make it worse. Just stay away from him."

"She's right," T-Dog said. "Besides, Sophia's little, I don't need help. Just meet me out front."

"I shouldn't have done it," Rick said as T-Dog went into the house. "I shouldn't have shot her."

"And done what?" Lori asked in a low voice. "Take her to the barn like the others? You couldn't leave her like that. Think that would do to Carol . . . to the kids. You did the right thing. If you hadn't of done it, someone else would've."

Shane looked away, much too angry to say anything. Lori's mention of the barn caused him to glance toward it, only to see he wasn't the only one eyeing it.

Toby was a few feet away, her back was to him, she was staring at the barn. At the sight of her, he felt his anger begin to dissipate. He noticed that her feet were no longer bare, instead she was wearing a pair of yellow rain boots that were much too big for her.

Shane didn't say anything as he went over to her, he stood beside her and looked at her face.

"I get scared sometimes," she confessed, not looking up at him but knowing he was there. "That they'll get out and make us like 'em. Like they did to Amy and Jim."

"I wouldn't let that happened to you. We're doing what we can to make sure they won't get out of there."

Toby didn't give any sign she'd heard him, instead she continued. "Doesn't matter I guess, if we're all sick. If we're already like 'em. Don't matter if they get out."

Shane shook his head, "we're not like them."

"But we're gonna be right? When's it happen?"

"Sophia was dead when it happened. It's only if . . ." He stopped himself by saying it would only happen if she died. "You're not going to wake up one morning and just be like them. It's not how it works."

Toby glanced up at him, her expression was sad, her bottom lip stuck out slightly as if she was pouting. "You don't know that." She looked away from him.

Shane crouched down, "hey, hey, look at me."

Toby didn't move. Shane reached forward to her cheek, turning her head so she'd look him in the eye. Surprisingly, she didn't flinch or pull away.

"It won't happen. I promise I would never let that happen to you. I'm here, I'm beside you. Remember that."

She blinked and thought it over before nodding.

"You're a decent shot now, so that door swings both ways," he forced a small smile.

Her eyebrows furrowed, "like not lettin' it happen to you either?"

"That's right, as long as we have each others backs, we'll be fine. We have a deal?" Shane took his hand from her face and held it out.

After a short hesitation, Toby grasped his hand and they shook as she nodded.

Toby looked away, back toward the barn. Shane noticed how she didn't let go of his hand right away.

"Do you think they can smell?"

Shane narrowed his eyes as the corner of his lips lifted. He wasn't sure he'd heard her right, "what?"

"The Walkers, can they smell?" she questioned, finally pulling her hand away.

He gave a small laugh as he stood up, "Uh, I'm not sure. Why would you ask that?"

"They smell really bad," she said simply. "I just was thinkin' if they knew it or not."

Shane let out a real laugh. She looked at at him with an impassive expression, as if not getting what was so funny.

"So where'd you get the boots?"

"Maggie. They're hot though." Toby thought over explaining when Maggie came to her as she sat on the porch after hearing about Sophia. But decided it would take too many words.

"In this weather? Yeah, I'm sure they are."

While the others were outside, T-Dog was in the house. Sophia's body was in the hallway still but Carol was gone. As he got closer he could hear Carol's sobs from somewhere. It sounded like she was in the bedroom.

Before doing anything, T-Dog glanced in the kitchen. He wasn't sure where Hershel was but he looked there first and found him sitting at the table.

Hershel turned in his chair, hearing his footsteps.

"I've just . . . I'm gonna take her," T-Dog stammered out. He meant to go inside and ask Hershel's permission, not wanting to cross any more lines. If that was even possible.

Hershel just nodded and looked away.

When T-Dog got back in the hallway, Patricia was there. She was holding a folded white sheet, holding it out to T-Dog. They're eyes met and both gave off apologetic expressions. It was as if Patricia was apologising for their loss, while T-Dog was apologising for how it happened. He felt bad considering how hard they worked to make Sophia better.

T-Dog took the sheet and Patricia left. A few minutes later, T-Dog had finished wrapping Sophia's body in the sheet. He'd hated all of it, staring at her body, the feeling of moving it. She was so small and frail. He took in a deep breathe, trying to suck it up. He didn't want anyone else to have to do it.

As he lifted Sophia's body, Patricia showed herself again. She didn't even glance at T-Dog as she passed him to get to the kitchen, not even noticing or caring she'd stepped in Sophia's blood and was trailing it.

"Hershel! I need you."

"Carol?" He questioned.

Patricia only nodded and Hershel stood from his seat, following her into the hall.

"What's going . . . okay then." T-Dog attempted to question what was going on, but they ignored him and hurried passed. T-Dog shook his head, cursing himself for his stupidity. Carol had just lost her daughter, and then her daughter came back to life and tried to eat her, of course something was wrong with her.

T-Dog gently lifted Sophia and began to carry her to the front yard. Rick was already out there, he had T-Dog's shovel and was digging. Daryl and T-Dog weren't finished digging when they were interrupted by the gunshot. T-Dog slowly put Sophia down beside the grave.

"I'll go get Daryl's shovel."

"Don't," Rick stopped him. He stopped digging for a moment to look at T-Dog, "I got this. If you could . . ."

"What do you want me to do?"

"The blood. In the house." It was all Rick could get out, he had the urge to go and clean it himself, Hershel or Patricia shouldn't have to be the ones to do it. But like Maggie had warned, he didn't want to agitate Hershel more.

T-Dog nodded, "I'll take care of it."

"Thank you. Did Hershel say anything while you were in there?"

"No. I let him know I was there, what I was doing. But he didn't say anything."

"This'll cost us with him. Sophia was the whole reason he was letting us stay. He wanted us gone as soon as she was on her feet. Now she's . . . he thinks I killed a child."

"We'll figure it out," T-Dog tried to assure him. "We always do."

T-Dog left Rick once he started digging again. Instead of going into the front of the house he went around, planning on meeting back with the group. Just as he reached the back, Dale walked up to him.

"How was Hershel?"

"Fine, I guess." T-Dog answered. "He didn't say anything."

"You doing okay?" Dale asked, noticing his anxious expression.

"Rick asked me to go take care of the blood. And I-I don't know if I can. Not after her body."

Dale thought it over before nodding. "I'll do it. You've done enough. Sit down, relax a minute, or try to."

"You sure?"

"Carol shouldn't have to see that mess again." Dale turned and walked up the porch steps

T-Dog sighed as he watched Dale go into the house. He was grateful that he wouldn't have to do it himself, but he also felt guilty for having Dale do it. T-Dog went over to the group, he expected them to be talking the news over, or possibly even fighting about it. But instead, they were all quiet.

He realized there wasn't much to say anyways, he definitely didn't have anything to say. The fact that no matter how they died, possibly unless it was a blow to the head, they would end up being a Walker. They were all terrified by the news.

T-Dog heard footsteps and the sound of metal clanking together. He turned to see Shane walking toward them from the direction of the cars. He was holding the gun bag in one hand and a rifle in the other.

"Whats all this?" Daryl walked up beside T-Dog, pointing at the gun bag Shane was carrying.

"Sophia just attacked her own mother. I don't know what other proof that man wants, but frankly, I no longer care. Those things are not sick," Shane held out the rifle he was holding, "you with me, man?"

T-Dog barely glanced at the rifle before taking it, "yeah."

"What about you?" Shane asked Daryl, holding out the gun bag.

Daryl thought it over before taking the bag and giving Shane a nod. They may not have been fond of each other, but they had a mutual understanding.

Daryl carried the bag over to the group before putting it down. When Daryl put it down, Shane bent over and took his Mossberg 560 out of the bag. Daryl then took another rifle out of the bag, his crossbow was in his tent, and the gun would be quicker.

Glenn looked them over, confused, "I thought we weren't allowed to carry?" Maggie was standing beside him with a frightened expression.

"We can and we have to." Shane told him. "Now look, it was one thing standing around picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe, but we know it ain't."

Holding his Mossberg in one hand, he bent over to take a handgun from the bag, holding it out to Glenn. "How about you? You gonna protect what's yours?"

Glenn looked at the gun Shane held, before glancing at Maggie who shook her head at him. Wordlessly, Glenn took the gun.

"That's it," Shane gave him a nod of approval before turning to Maggie "Can you shoot?"

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

"We can't leave!" Carl spoke up. He was sitting on the porch steps beside Lori. "We have to stay, Shane."

"Why are you doing this?" Lori asked angrily.

Shane ignored Lori, stepping closer to Carl. "We're not going anywhere, okay? Now, look, Hershel . . . He's just gonna understand, okay? He's gonna have to."

Shane went back to the gun back, bringing Carl back a small pistol. "I want you to take this, you take this and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes, you know how, now go on. Take the-"

Lori grabbed the gun before Carl could, standing up from the stairs. She was seething with anger. "Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make. "

"We're ending this, Lori."

The only ones who were disagreeing with Shane's plan were Lori and Maggie. Though Shane was sure Dale and Rick would take their side, if they were there. Shane was trying to keep himself calm, even though he was boiling with anger.

Rick had kept a secret from them all, one they had a right to know and endangered Carol. And Shane couldn't stop thinking about himself becoming a Walker, the thought made him sick. Sophia attacked her mother, there were more of these things in the barn and if they got out, nothing, except the guns they were holding would stop them. Sure, there was the chance they'd have the guns, ready for them all to break out and they wouldn't harm anyone. But what if they weren't ready? What if it was when most of them were sleeping, and whoever was on watch was killed before he could warn the rest?

No, Shane decided he was done taking chances. He had to think about the group, about Lori and Carl. And Toby. As her name echoed in his mind he glanced around, his first instinct was to look beside Daryl, who was currently telling Lori that she didn't know shit. When he didn't see Toby there he looked at Carl, she wasn't beside him either.

Shane turned himself around, searching for her small figure. He found it quickly. She was only a few feet away, once again isolated from the group and staring off into the distance. He stalked toward her in long determined strides.

Once he reached her he saw she was staring at Guillermo, who was in the same spot on the ground he was before, but instead was lying on the ground, not sitting. His hands were over his face and Shane could see his mouth was moving.

"Toby," he addressed her.

She looked up at him, "I think he's cryin' again."

Shane shook his head, "We got more important things to worry about. He's been like this before. He'll get over it. I need you focused right now, kiddo."

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"We've talked about this. I want to know if you're still in the same place. You know what's gotta be done."

Toby glanced behind Shane, seeing the others with the guns. She'd heard part of the conversation, but Guillermo's behaviour had her distracted. "The barn? You're gonna kill 'em, for good?"

"Yes, for good." Shane reached into his holster with his free hand, still holding his Mossberg in the other. Shane took his Glock from his holster and held it out to Toby.

Toby scrunched her eyebrows and shook her head.

"I want you there."

"I can't, I'll miss." Toby made her face go blank, not wanting to show how disappointed she was in herself that she wasn't going to be any help.

"I want you to take it anyway. I told you didn't I? Gotta have each others backs. Hold on to it," Shane gave her a determined expression, staring her in the eyes until she took it from him. "Safety off," he instructed before turning back to the group.

"You all ready? All right then, let's end this."

Lori kept protesting and Maggie attempted to hold Glenn back. When she did, Glenn just shook his head, "we have to do this. You know how dangerous they are. I don't want you in danger, ever."

Glenn reluctantly pulled away from Maggie and followed the group. Toby followed Shane as they all stalked toward the barn. She caught Daryl's eyes, his face seemed emotionless but he didn't protest to her being there. He pulled his gaze away from her and walked faster to walk beside Shane.

"Think we got enough people?" Daryl asked him.

Shane glanced behind him at the others, "long as we're quick and careful. They're in a contained space, it'll be easier then most times, we know what's coming out of there."

"How much did he say was in there?"

"Fourteen, then he added that other one. He could be wrong, we're about to find out. We got this, plenty of ammo."

"And if Hershel or Rick gets there?" T-Dog chimed in.

"Don't matter. We need to take care of this."

"I'm gonna get something to break the chains," T-Dog said before stirring away from them toward the shed.

Just as they reached the barn, Shane could hear Rick calling out. He turned to take a quick glance. He knew Lori would go and get Rick, but with Rick was Hershel, his two girls, along with Patricia and Jimmy.

"Shane, don't!"

T-Dog was out of the shed and making his way to the barn, he was well ahead of them but Rick had started to run and the rest of them did too. T-Dog reached the barn first, he had a rifle in one hand and a pickaxe in the other, "this'll do."

T-Dog turned around, glancing at Rick and the others. He seemed unsure, as if he was having second thoughts. Shane held out his hand for the pickaxe, it took T-Dog another moment before nodding and giving it to him.

Shane took the pickaxe and gave his shotgun to T-Dog, he'd need two hands.

"This is not the way, please!" Rick was shouting as he neared them.

"It is, Rick!" Shane yelled, "these things ain't sick, they're not people. they're dead. All they do, they kill! These things right here! They're the things that killed Amy! Jim! They killed Otis! They're gonna kill all of us if we don't kill them!"

Shane turned, striding toward the barn.

"Rick!" Lori shouted at him, she was holding Carl with her, afraid of what would happen. She wanted Rick to stop Shane.

"Shane, think about this. You can't do this!"

"Enough of this! Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! That's how you want Carl to live? What about everyone else, terrified and unprepared when the inevitable happens. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now, if you all want to live, if you want to survive it's time to fight for it! Right here, right now!"

"No! Shane! Do not do this, brother! WAIT!"

Shane had already began breaking the chains, Rick's feet pounded against the ground, pushing through the group to get to him but he'd already broken the chains.

Shane banged on the door of the barn, "come on! Come on, we're out here!"

Though Toby was a good ten feet from the barn, she still backed up, fear stirring in her stomach. She made sure the safety was off on Shane's Glock, then shifted her hands so she was holding it properly, but she didn't raise it.

Shane turned away from the barn and returned to T-Dog, taking his shotgun from him and holding it at the ready.

When the first Walker stumbled out, the gunshots started. At first, Toby concluded it was just like target practise, just a bunch of noise. But a few seconds later she disagreed with herself, it was much worse. It wasn't just the sounds of the guns firing, there was the gurgling and hissing of the Walkers, and then the sounds of their bodies hitting the ground.

Toby turned her head away after the first few moments, her ears were ringing from being surrounded by gunfire.

Rick had to stop and hold Beth back, who was crying out for her mother, trying to get to the barn. It seemed she didn't care about the gunfire and was willingly about to run into all of it. Though even if Rick didn't have to hold onto Beth, there was no longer anything he could do, so many were coming out at once they could never get them back in the barn.

Very soon the flow of Walkers began to slow, and when there was only one more in sight Shane called out, "Hold your fire!"

He said it a little late, because someone had fired, hitting it in the shoulder, but the Walker didn't stop. Everyone glanced at Shane, curious and confused at why he told them to stop. Shane watched as a second, and possibly the last Walker stumbled out of the barn's doors. The one Walker that had been hit in the shoulder, Shane quickly shot in the head and it fell.

T-Dog raised his rifle about to shoot the last one when Shane stopped him, "don't."

T-Dog furrowed his eyebrows at him, at first he thought he wanted to put the last one down himself, but Shane didn't shoot it. Instead he glanced behind him, Hershel was back a few feet on his knees staring at the barn in disbelief. His eyes fell on Toby and he stepped toward her, placing his hand on her back and pulling her over to him.

Shane quickly placed Toby in front of him, she turned to look up at him, shocked and scared. Shane stood behind her, putting his hands on either side of her, gently forcing her to raise her arms to aim the gun he'd given her.

The last Walker was still close to the barn doors, it was slowed down by all the dead bodies it had to step over.

"Shoot it." He leaned down to her head, making sure the gun was pointed at the Walker.

Toby began to sputter out words, "Wh-What? I can't! I-I'll miss, I won't kill it!"

"I don't need you to kill it, I just need you to shoot it."

"What? But-"

"-Shoot it!" He shouted, causing her to jump. Toby pulled the trigger before even looking back at the Walkers, not aiming. Her first shot had gotten it in the leg.

"Keep going," Shane said, his voice almost a growl as he stepped away from her, removing his hands from her arms.

Toby did what he said, pulling the hammer back once again and kept shooting it. She was confused and frightened, determined to make sure the Walker got no where near her. She knew there was no way she'd get a moving target, she knew she wouldn't be able to kill it. And the fact that this Walker was stumbling over the bodies of the others made the shot even more impossible.

"What do you make of that, Hershel?" Shane turned to the older man, his eyes wide and biting his lip in anger. That's two bullets in it! Could a living, breathing person walk away from that?"

"Shane, shut up!" Rick yelled at him.

Toby wanted to look back, to see what was happening behind her. But the Walker continued it's way toward her so she continued shooting, hoping the bullets would stall it.

The next few bullets went into it's chest. Toby was beginning she was getting close to her target, so she raised her aim.

"Three rounds in the chest!" Shane shouted over my shooting. "Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?!"

"Stop it!" Someone shouted, Toby wasn't sure who. She could hear plenty of people shouting behind her. But she was much too focused on the Walker getting closer to decipher the voices.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Shane, knock it off!"

"Put the gun down!"

Toby turned her head, beginning to lower the gun but Shane rounded on her fast. He had a hard, narrowed look in his eyes that caused her to cringe. He grabbed her forearm, forcing her to hold the gun up once again.

"Don't you dare stop, keep shooting it!"

Toby continued to shoot, despite the sudden trembling of her hands. The trembling caused her aim to go off to the side more.

"That's it's heart! Why's it still coming?!"

Toby could understand being afraid of the Walker getting closer, but she didn't understand her reaction. Her bottom lip quivered as her eyes watered, she did want to stop, almost no longer caring if she killed the corpse. But at the same time she was slightly afraid to stop, so she didn't. It had taken so much convincing to allow her and Carl to do gun training, and now she was being put to the test and she knew she couldn't hit it.

Toby was finally stopped by a loud gunshot to her left, the shot hit the Walker in the forehead, and it fell.

Toby looked up, Daryl was standing next to her with his rifle raised. His eyes went to her, she couldn't read his expression, but it wasn't happy. After staring back at him for a few short moments, he concluding it was anger in his eyes. She tore her gaze away, wondering if it was her she was mad at.

Toby looked back at the falling Walker, letting the Glock drop drop from her hands and onto the ground.

And there it is. I hope you all enjoyed this twist with Sophia, but I am going to warn there may be another death, one that I'm sure some of you won't like too much and I may lose reader/followers. But please, when it happens, no mean comments and hate. I'm giving a warning because I'm a bit anxious to have it happen, afraid of the initial reaction from it. But it's the direction me and Rasha007 would like to take. Again, when it happens, don't be too mad.

Also, on the 30th of July I will be taking a short road trip and staying in North bay for a week before taking another short roadtrip to newfoundland to stay with my dad for a month. I don't plan to stop writing during this period and don't plan for this to delay any updates. But the first week or so with being on the road may delay it just in the slightest.

Thank you for reading! Reviews are always appreciated

-Penn