A/N: Real talk. I did not proofread ANY of this. Like nada. Zip. I just know I haven't updated this in a while so I wanted to get it out quick and if I tried to proofread it right now it'd take a while lolol. I'm on a real Dean Winchester kick though and this is the only active story I have with him in it soooooooo….

Episode #14:

One Crazy Thing at a Time

"You know how you call a guy whose wife died a widower? Or, if your parents die, you're an orphan. You know, there's no word for someone whose kids die. Because it's like the worst thing that can happen." –The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

I woke up with a view of the neon vinyl above me, hard ground below me, and a cold chill hanging in the early morning air. With a groan, I stretched slowly and sat up in my tent. It had been a dreamless night and for that I was ridiculously grateful. My eyes drifted to the weird bracelet around my wrist then I quickly began to get ready for the day by changing into a fresh pair of clothes.

When I stepped out of my tent, I tucked my sheathed knife into my boot, then began toward the campfire where I could hear hushed conversations and smell the eggs being cooked over the open flame. Carol was the one cooking with Andrea not far away sharpening her knife. Shane was kicked back in a folding chair eating with his police ball cap hung low on his head so I couldn't see his eyes. Glenn and Dale were standing off to the side staring at the house in a quiet argument while the Grimes family sat at the table in their own soft conversation.

"Morning." I said as I stepped up to Castiel. He returned in kind and handed me a plate of food. My eyes caught Daryl's gaze, he sat on the other side of the circle eating, and I gave him a small smile that he nodded at.

"How was your night?" Castiel asked as he sat down beside me.

"Good." I grinned. "Really good. Not a single dream."

T-Dog walked into the circle with a loud yawn. I asked him to toss me a water bottle and he sloppily did so as he passed the cooler. I was halfway through my plate of warm eggs when Glenn drifted from the edge of the circle to the center. He was twitchy and nervous with a gaze that bounced from the farmhouse back to us. I raised an eyebrow in confusion and shared a confused look with Castiel beside me.

"Hey, uh, guys?" Glenn coughed out. He already had my attention, but the others began to look up from their morning routine to spare their resourceful friend a moment. Glenn cleared his throat again then blurted in one breath, "The barn is full of walkers."

The fork in my hand literally fell to the ground as my jaw went slack in surprise. You could hear a pin drop in that moment. Everyone in the circle slowly began to stiffen and grasp the weight of what Glenn had actually said.

"What—" I began to mumble, but the group was louder.

"What the fuck did you just say!?" Shane tossed his mostly empty plate to the ground as he shoved up from his chair. He stormed toward Glenn who was visibly pale.

Rick spoke up next, "Glenn?"

"I just—" Glenn began, but Shane shoved past him and made a line drive for the barn. Everyone else hurried to do the same. In one single sentence, the calm of the morning had been shattered. We converged onto the barn like a mob, and only when we got a few feet away did everyone begin to quiet.

Shane closed the space to peek through the slits of the barn door and I watched on bated breath like everyone else. The man leaned in an inch closer and a loud growl filled the air as bodies rocked the door outward. Shane stumbled back and I watched in horror as a decaying hand slipped through the crack to claw at the wood.

"You cannot tell me you're alright with this!" Shane barked loudly as he tore his hat off and threw it at Rick.

Rick clenched his jaw, trying to reign in his own temper, "No, I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land."

"This is our lives, man!" Shane yelled.

"Lower your voices!" Glenn hissed, his eyes still on the rocking door.

Andrea chimed in, ignoring Glenn's request, "We can't sweep this under the rug!"

"This ain't right. Not remotely." T-Dog crossed his arms and shook his head. He at least kept his voice at a normal speaking level. I, on the other hand, found myself speechless. Last night I hadn't had any nightmares, but it was like I woke up to one instead.

"We either go in there and make things right or we've gotta go." Shane growled. I crossed my arms over my chest nervously. It was hard to feel 100% on either side. We needed to not upset Hershel since we were still trying to convince him to let us stay, but we also couldn't live next door to a ticking time bomb like this. Shane grabbed my attention again, "Now, we've been talking about Fort Benning for a long time."

Rick threw his hands out, "We can't go."

"Why, Rick? Why!?" Shane demanded. My eyes ping-ponged between the two of them awkwardly. I knew exactly why we couldn't go. Lori was pregnant. It was dangerous enough for that scenario here let alone on the unknown road.

Carol was the one to answer his question, "Because my daughter is still out there."

"Okay," Shane scoffed with an angry laugh. He rubbed his face with one hand, "I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility."

My eyes immediately narrowed at Shane in skepticism. This was something I felt 100% on. We were not going to leave Sophia behind. As much as I hated to admit it, with every passing day the chances of finding the little girl alive were growing slimmer. Still, we couldn't stop looking. We had to find closure and not give up on that last sliver of hope. Besides, I'd never, ever say it to Carol like Shane just had.

It was devastating to her. I could see it on her soft features.

"We're not leaving Sophia behind." Rick said firmly.

Daryl shoved past Glenn, who stumbled over, to stand beside Rick and glare at Shane, "I'm close to findin' this girl. I just found 'er damn doll two days ago!"

"You found a doll, Daryl." Shane laughed. "That's what you did. You found a doll."

"You don' know what the hell you're talkin' 'bout!" Daryl roared. The redneck took a few threatening steps toward Shane who didn't cower. The tension in the air was palpable. I could cut it with a knife. Rick pulled Daryl back a few steps and I took a couple steps forward just in case. It put me closer to Shane and Castiel grabbed my wrist in concern.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said!" Shane yelled. "You find a good lead in 48 hours—"

"Shane, stop." Rick snapped with a glare.

Shane curled his lip in disdain and pointed at Daryl. "Let me tell you something else, man. If she were alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and—and geek ears hanging around your neck—she'd run in the opposite direction!"

That was the last straw. Daryl shoved past Rick, but the ex-sheriff was just quick enough to wrap his arms around Daryl and hold the redneck back. Shane took a few of his own threatening steps toward the two of them and it was pure reaction when I yanked my hand away from Castiel to move toward Shane.

I set my hands on his torso lightly, to try and keep him from storming forward, but the man didn't hesitate. He grabbed me by the shoulders and slung me to the ground. A grunt of pain left my lips when I landed on my ass roughly. Castiel was quick to my side, but the whole thing made everything worse. Daryl tore away from Rick with a feral cry of anger and swung for Shane's head. The two men got a few hits in each before everyone began to pull them away from one another.

"Stop it!" Rick yelled. Him and Glenn were holding back Daryl while T-Dog and Andrea pulled Shane in the opposite direction. Castiel tugged me onto my feet. "Back the hell off!"

Lori reached out, her hand grabbing Shane's arm, and the man swiveled to her, "Keep your hands off me!"

Shane moved to leave, and Rick followed after him, "Now just let me talk to Hershel." He spun around to glare at Rick. "Let me figure this out."

"What are you gonna figure out!?" Shane exploded.

Finally, I found my voice and leveled a glare at ex-cop, "Shane, knock it off!"

His eyes darted to mine, still burning with anger, and there was a brief pause of silence in the tension. Dale stepped forward with a shake of his head, "Hershel sees these things as people—sick people. His wife, his stepson, neighbors…"

"You knew?" Shane cried.

"Yesterday. I spoke to Hershel last night." He replied calmly.

"And you waited the night!?"

Dale held his hand out, "I thought we could survive one more night. We did." He slowly turned back to Rick, "I was waiting till this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one."

Shane let out a hysterical laugh, "The guy is crazy, Rick. If Hershel thinks those things are alive and not—"

His words were cut off when the barn doors began to rattle loudly. More walkers pressed against the wood causing the chain to bang against it. Everyone froze in fear, but after a few seconds it seemed the door was going to continue to hold. The walkers had managed to end this argument though. People began to disperse back to camp.

Shane shot me a quick glance before moving to the barn. It looked like he was circling it for weak spots and defects. I groaned and ran a hand through my tangled hair in frustration. Castiel set a hand on my shoulder in question, but I just gave him a quick nod of reassurance. He left with Glenn and T-Dog, back to camp, but I couldn't bring myself to follow quite yet. Instead, I just stood in the same spot and stared at the walked infested barn.

I wasn't scared of the walking, hungry corpses that wanted to eat every inch of my flesh. They didn't even hit my personal radar. I was scared of what they might do to my small, broken, adopted family. This needed to be solved, like Shane said, but this was Hershel's land, like Rick said.

"You alright, sunshine?" Daryl asked as he stepped up beside me.

I gave him a small smile, "Don't worry. I'm fine."

Daryl scoffed and mumbled to himself, "What kind of asshole pushes a woman?"

I chuckled and set a hand on his arm, he stiffened for a second before relaxing, "Are you okay? I mean, you should still be resting and instead you're throwing punches at Shane's head."

"Well, he deserved it, didn' he?" He replied dryly. I shot him a pointed look and he shook his head, "I'm fine. Jus' sore."

"Maybe you should take a nap." I suggested with a broad grin and I couldn't help but chuckle when Daryl rolled his eyes at me. We began to move away from the barn to the camp, but I couldn't help and give the wooden structure one last hesitant look.

Glenn peeled away from T-Dog and Castiel when he spotted Maggie at the nearby chicken coop gathering eggs. He jogged over as quickly as he could. She knew what he had done already, but he wanted to explain his actions further. The last thing Glenn wanted to do was betray Maggie's trust, but the group needed to know about the barn.

"Maggie." He called out, but she acted like she didn't even hear him. "Maggie, just talk to me." She walked out of the coop with a basket of eggs and slammed the door shut behind her. She sidestepped him entirely and he groaned, "Maggie."

She suddenly whipped around and he stumbled back in surprise, "Give me your hat." Glenn blinked in surprise and just stared. Had he heard her right? Those were hardly the words he expected to come from her. Glenn had expected a lot more yelling. "You said talk to you, I'm talking to you." Maggie held a hand out. "Give me your hat."

Glenn hesitantly pulled his baseball cap off his head and placed it in her hand. Maggie flipped the cap over, tossed one of her many eggs into it, then slammed the hat back onto the top of his head. He could feel the yolk running down his head in his hair and yellow goo dropped onto his face.

He peeled the hat off with a groan of disgust, "Why would you waste an egg like that?"

"I think it was rotten." Maggie replied and turned to leave. She didn't give him another look and Glenn was left in the dust trying to wring egg out of his hair.

Daryl parted ways from me when we got to camp, but I hadn't asked where he was off to. I didn't want to be some clingy puppy that followed him around all the time. Despite this morning's insane start, the camp went back into routine as if there weren't a hoard of walkers a stone throw away. People were a little more stiff in their chores, easier to startle, but I was probably in that same category.

I moved toward my tent and my eyes glanced over Lori and Carl who sat at a table not far off. It looked like the young boy was scribbling in his school notebook. It was nice that he still got some learning in. Lori's eyes flittered to mine, and I made the executive decision to spin on my heel and go elsewhere. The last thing today needed was an argument between the two of us.

Lori must not have had the same mindset as me though. I could hear her storming after me and it took every ounce of my being not to audibly sigh. When her steps got closer, I stopped and turned to face her. Lori's eyes were narrowed in a glare and she threw her hand out to slap me. Anticipating it, I leaned back and caught her wrist before it could make contact. Her eyes widened in shock and I tried not to be equally as surprised at my quick reflexes, "What? Surprised that I didn't let you hit me?"

"You deserve it." Lori hissed and snatched her hand from me. "How dare you?"

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck, "Look Lori, maybe I do deserve it. I feel godawful about—"

"You should! This was none of your damn business!"

"I feel terrible, but at the same time you could have avoided all of this, Lori." I tried to keep my voice as level as I could. "I'm sorry that I assumed the first person you would tell is your husband."

Lori stepped toward me, but I didn't flinch, "I wanted to tell him. I was going to." She wrapped her arms around herself. "But you took that away from me."

"Lori—"

"So I hope you're happy with—"

"Lori!" I snapped, finally losing my temper, "I don't know why you think I'm trying to ruin your marriage, but I'm sick of it. The only person ruining your marriage is yourself."

"Excuse me?" She looked appalled.

I put my hands on my hips and spoke firmly, "I am not your enemy, Lori."

"Well, you're sure as hell not my friend." She snapped then stormed away. Lori was being crazy and I wondered how much of it was from pregnancy hormones and how much was just her. I stayed in that same spot, hands on my hips, in stunned silence. Today had officially started just an hour ago and I was already ready for it to be over.

"Tori?"

I jumped in surprise at the voice and turned to see Castiel, "Jesus, where'd you come from?"

"A woman originally, I assume." Castiel answered in that same dry, matter of fact tone. I snickered at his comment. He continued, "I just thought you should know that Daryl is attempting to leave camp."

All my amusement vanished, and my eyes widened, "Leave?"

"He is going to look for Sophia."

"But he can't." I replied. "He needs to rest."

Castiel nodded, "I told him that exactly, but he told me to get the hell away from him."

"Sounds about right." I mumbled in exhaustion. "Thanks, Cas. Where is he?"

Castiel pointed me in the right direction, and I made way across camp to it. He said the stubborn redneck was at the horse barn and I shook my head the entire way there. The idiot just got thrown off a horse down into a gulley and he was already looking for more?

"Just leave me be! Stupid bitch!"

My feet stuttered to a stop. Daryl and Carol were standing at the entrance of the horse stables and it was obviously Daryl who had yelled the hurtful words. Carol covered her face and turned away as Daryl stormed toward camp which just so happened to be in my direction.

"Hey!"

"What?" Daryl said roughly. I grabbed him to pull him to a stop when he tried to pass me, and he yanked his arm away from my grasp.

"What?" I scoffed. "I came here to stop you from making the stupid mistake of going out, but I think I'll put that on the backburner for now." I pointed toward the stables. "Don't talk to Carol like that."

Daryl snorted, "You aint got no idea what you're talkin' 'bout."

"I don't?" I replied. "You called her a stupid bitch. She doesn't need that right now."

Daryl leveled his anger at me, his glare burning, "She was talkin' 'bout how Sophia might not be found. What kind of mom loses faith!?"

"The type who's been through hell." I said softly. "She doesn't want to give up, but look at what's going on? She has people like Shane telling her to give up. She doesn't need you calling her names too." I shook my head. "I think you should apologize."

Daryl scoffed, "And who the hell do you think you are, sunshine?" He took a step toward me, but I knew he wasn't a physical threat to me. The motion didn't concern me, but his words did. "You ain't the boss of me, and I don't give a damn what you think."

"Daryl—"

He threw his hands up and stormed away while holding onto his injured side. I hung my head in defeat. That could've gone a hell of a lot better. I knew how Daryl was. We had been friendly the last few days, but it didn't change the fact that he had towering walls around him and a quick temper. I should've approached this differently.

I probably needed to check on Carol, but I was beginning to realize that every conversation I was having today was ending in a fight. I walked back to camp and mentally wondered if I should just go back to my tent and hide there until the day was over. It was my turn to fold laundry though so that plan was sunk. The mind-numbing chore should be a simple enough distraction.

Unfortunately, it only took me about a half hour to fold all the clothes and deliver them to the respective tents. Though, I did make T-Dog deliver Daryl and Lori's clothes since those were two people I probably shouldn't run into quite yet. My next plan was to help Glenn with his chore of gathering water, but I paused halfway there when I noticed Maggie marching toward me.

"Hey, Maggie. What's up?"

"My dad wants to see you. He's in the house." Maggie replied. She gave me a small smile, but the look on her face told me her mind was a million miles away. I guess this was just a shitty day for everyone.

"Right. Thanks, Maggie." I nodded and change course for the house. Looks like it was time to get into an argument with Hershel now. I wasn't sure what the older man wanted to talk to me about though. Had I done something specifically to bother him? Did he need some sort of medical assistance? When I got to the porch, I paused to knock on the screen door, "Hershel? It's me. Tori."

Hershel's voice was faint but clear, "I'm in the dining room."

I stepped into the house. It was silent except for the quiet clatter of a fork against glassware. I walked through the kitchen to reach where he was sitting. The man was alone at the wooden table with a plate of food in front of him, a glass of wine, and the Bible open in front of him. Wild spread.

"You, uh, wanted to see me?" I asked.

"Take a seat." Hershel motioned to the chair beside him. Nervously, I dropped down into the wooden chair and laced my fingers together to keep them from drumming against the table. Hershel chuckled, "Don't worry. I'm just checking up on you since we last spoke. How do you feel?"

I let out a breath of relief, "Oh. Yeah, much better. I got some good sleep."

"I heard from Jimmy that you hurt your ankle."

"Hah," I glanced down at my foot then back up at him, "It was a dumb accident. Minor injury. Hardly an issue at all, but thanks for asking."

He hummed and bobbed his head. Hershel flipped a page of his Bible then took a sip from his wine glass. Hershel set it back down then glanced at me. He motioned to the good book, "Were you a church goer back in the day?"

"I—I don't remember." I answered honestly. "To be honest, I think religion was a huge aspect of my life somehow though. Gut feeling."

Our conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. I kept my gaze on Hershel as he called out for whoever it was to come in. At that point, I glanced over my shoulder in time to see Rick enter the room. He stopped to stand across from the two of us.

I shifted awkwardly in my seat, "Maybe I should go…"

"No need to leave, Tori. I'm sure this conversation will be short." Hershel replied sharply. He motioned for me to stay in my seat and I grimaced. God, this was gonna be so awkward.

Rick glanced at me then back to Hershel. He set his hands on the back on the chair he stood behind and leaned down on it, "Little light reading for lunch?"

"Been working so hard lately. I get my studying where I can."

"You know we can help you out with your work."

"It's my field to tend." Hershel replied stubbornly. An awkward silence filled the room as the two men stared off at one another. It'd be even weirder if I stood up and tried to leave now. I briefly wondered if I could crawl under the table to escape.

Rick glanced at me again and I felt even more awkward. He leveled a light glare on Hershel, "We found the barn."

"Leave it be." Was Hershel's simple answer.

"Well, I'd like to talk about it, but either way—your barn, your farm, your say."

"I don't want to talk about the barn." Hershel said firmly. "I don't want a debate."

I leaned forward, "Not a debate." Eyes shot to me and I licked my dry lips before sticking to my guns. "Just a little discussion, Hershel."

Hershel wiped his mouth with his napkin, "I need you and your group gone by the end of next week."

My eyes widened in shock, but Rick remained calm, "I spoke to Dale. You and I have our differences with the way we look at walkers. These people—they may be dead, they may be alive, but my people, us, are alive right now, right here, right in front of you." Rick shook his head desperately. "You send us out there and that could change."

"I've given you safe harbor." Hershel said simply. He motioned to me, "I saved your life. I provided water and food. My conscience is clear!"

"And we are so thankful for you opening your arms to us." I nodded. "For the food, shelter, and medical care but…"

Rick yanked the chair back and sat down in it, "This farm—this farm is special. You've been shielded from what's going on out there. Dale said you saw everything happen on the news. Well, it's been—it's been a long time since the cameras stopped rolling." Hershel scooped up all his dishes and left the table for the kitchen. Rick followed after him in determination, but I couldn't bring myself to stand. Instead, I just listened from my seat, "The first time I saw a walker, it was just half a body snapping at me from the ground. My first inclination wasn't to kill it, but what the world is out there…it isn't what you saw on TV. It is much, much worse and it changes you… either into one of them or something a lot less than the person you were. Please do not—do not send us out there again."

The house was quiet, and I buried my face into my hands.

"My wife is pregnant." There was panic and despair in his voice. "That's either a gift here or a death sentence out there. If we were to stay we could help you with the work, with securing this place. We can survive together."

"Rick, I am telling you we can't."

"You need to think—"

"I've thought about it."

"Think about it again! We can't go out there!"

I pushed myself up from the table just in time to see Rick storm out of the kitchen. Maggie was coming in as he left and I didn't think twice about hurrying after him. Maybe I should've avoided this confrontation too, but I just couldn't brush it aside. Not when I felt so at fault for some of this.

"Rick." I called out but was promptly ignored. He was halfway down the stairs when I called out again, "Rick!"

I caught up with him just as he turned to face me. The neutral look on his face made me want to blurt out 'never mind' and run in the opposite direction. I couldn't do that though. Rick was my friend and I had been at fault in what had hurt him.

"Rick, I am so sorry." I cried out. "I thought you knew, and I didn't mean to make you and Lori fight—"

His eyes narrowed in confusion, "Victoria, I'm not mad at you."

"And I—huh?"

Rick shook his head, "I'm not mad at anybody. I'm just… frustrated."

I hadn't known him long, but I could see clear as day that what he said wasn't entirely true, "Rick…"

"How long did you know about Lori?"

I groaned, "Like ten minutes before I spilled the beans. I really am so sorry."

"I knew we had problems, but…" Rick took a step closer to me, "Did you know about Shane?" My face paled and it felt like my heart had actually stopped in my chest. I had to swallow because my throat had grown so dry. He must have taken my silence as the yes that it was. He set his hands on his hips, "Yeah."

"I wanted to tell you—"

"How long?"

I closed my eyes in shame, "I figured it out at the church. I wanted to tell you Rick, I honestly did, but there was just so much going on. I thought I should've waited and then I got shot and it just—it slipped my mind."

"I'm still not mad." Rick chuckled with a tired shrug. "I just think it's funny. We had so many arguments. So many fights because she was so sure that there was something going on between me and you—" He motioned to me, "—but really it was her who…"

Rick couldn't finish the sentence. He hung his head and used one hand to cover his eyes. I reached out to hold his arm in any comfort I could offer him. Rick pulled his hand away from his eyes to look down at me. We stood there for a moment and I stared at the frustration, exhaustion, and sadness carved onto his features.

"I was dead." He said softly. "She thought I was dead. I can't blame her for that, right?

My jaw clenched in annoyance. I had my opinion on this. Personally, it didn't sit right with me. I understood that everyone went through grief in their own way. Maybe it was the time span, how quick she was to turn to Shane, or maybe it was that she had chosen his best friend. I could even understand the grief-stricken sex, losing yourself in someone physically to avoid emotional pain, but from the sound of it the two of them had created a full on relationship. Shane thought he was in love with her and a part of me wondered how Lori felt on that topic.

"You should get some rest." I said softly in hopes that he didn't see how I truly felt on this issue. My opinion wouldn't help anything.

Rick shook his head, "I still have a lot to do. Stay out of trouble, Victoria."

He reached out to squeeze my hand then turned and left. Everything was such a dramatic mess.

Rick felt like he was walking through a haze. The conversation with Victoria was still fresh on his mind as he walked across the field to reach Shane who was leaning against an orange tractor by the walker infested barn. Victoria had made him feel marginally better. Rick figured it was because she had rocketed up the list as one of the people he trusted the most here in camp. Granted, she was already pretty high. It still bothered him though that it seemed Victoria was higher than his own wife.

"What's it gonna be, man?" Shane asked. Rick came to a stop in front of him. "Which way does this thing go?"

"I don't know yet."

"Well, what did he say?"

"We're negotiating."

"You're nego—" Shane let out an angry laugh. "Clock's ticking, Rick."

"No. No it isn't, Shane." Rick snapped. He motioned to the barn beside them, "That barn is secure. We didn't even know about it 'til this morning."

Shane pushed off the tractor in anger, "We know about it now. We know there's over a dozen walkers in there. We know that it's about a stone's throw from our camp, Rick! Where we sleep! So, look, if we're not gonna go in there and clear it out then we just gotta go."

"We're not gonna clear it out, and we're not gonna go."

"We at least need our guns."

"We can't have them." Rick snapped. Their words began to overlap as they argued, "Not here."

"Why do you wanna stay here when it's not safe!?"

"We can make it safe!"

"We can make it safe?!" Shane snarled. "How are we gonna do that?!"

Rick was trying to bite back his anger, but it was getting harder, "We will, okay?"

"No, man!" Shane slammed his hand down against the tractor. "It's not okay—"

"Lori's pregnant!" Rick blurted. Shane's face fell in shock. "We need to stay."

Shane began to slowly shake his head and Rick could see the wheels turning in his brain. His old friend swallowed hard, "We need our guns."

"No. I can work this out." Rick snapped. He began to leave, but stopped and gave his friend one last glance, "You good?"

"Yeah." Shane nodded and when he spoke he sounded breathless, "Lori's having a baby, man. Congratulations."

Rick set his jaw, nodded once, and gave his thanks before whipping around and walking away. Shane watched him go, and the entire time Rick had no way of knowing that Shane stood in shock wondering whose baby Lori was actually having.

A couple hours had passed since my conversation with Rick, and now I was sitting on top of the RV with Glenn keeping watch. Technically, it was Glenn who was keeping watch and I was just keeping him company.

"You look so dumb in that hat." I laughed and reached out to slap at the edge of the bucket, fishing hat that he now had on his head. Dale had let him borrow it since the red baseball cap had gotten dirty.

Glenn shook his head, "That's an insult to Dale."

"Nuh uh. Dale can pull it off. You? Not so much."

"This is bullying." Glenn groaned.

"Don't be a baby." I leaned over to bump my shoulder into his.

A comfortable silence sat between us only interrupted with random bits of small talk. It was nice to have a moment of peace considering how crazy and hectic today had been overall. The peace was interrupted when we both noticed Shane marching toward the RV with rage on his features.

"Sup, Shane?" Glenn greeted only to be ignored. The man hurried into the RV and the two of us could feel it shake as Shane looked for whatever the hell it was he was looking for. I peered down over the edge as if I was going to be able to see anything.

"Does he seem like a crazed man on a mission or what?" I asked.

"He always looks that way." Glenn mumbled. "I think it's his default face."

Shane burst out of the RV and turned to glare up at us, "Y'all see where he went!?"

"Who?" Glenn asked innocently.

Shane pointed at him, "Don't even shit me, okay?"

"Hey!" I pushed myself up to stand with narrowed eyes. I didn't appreciate Shane taking his anger out at Glenn who hadn't done anything. "What's the big problem, Shane? Where's the fire?"

Shane scoffed, "Where is Dale? Have you seen where Dale went?"

Glenn pushed up to stand beside me. He just shrugged, "He asked me to get him some water and that he'd cover me on watch while I did it."

"Then when you got back he was gone, huh?" Shane replied.

Glenn nodded and I narrowed my eyes in confusion. That kind of behavior sent up a dozen red flags, but I couldn't figure out the reasoning why. The last time I saw Dale had been this morning when all the drama hit. Glenn glanced from me then back to Shane, "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine." Shane said in annoyance.

"Then why'd he bail?" Glenn asked.

"So you wouldn't tell Shane where he went." I said slowly as realization dawned on me. Shane's eyes landed on me, his jaw clenching, and I raised an eyebrow. Why was Dale hiding from Shane? Shane didn't hang around to talk details with us. He turned on his heel and stormed away.

Glenn turned to me, "What's going on?"

"I don't know." I replied and hopped down from the RV, "But I'm gonna find out."

I was hell bent on following after Shane, Glenn called out after me, but before I could get very far a hand snapped out to grab me. My shoulders tensed, fight or flight kicking in, but my eyes landed on Castiel who still held my arm.

"Hey, Cas," I greeted then looked around to try and spot Shane. When my eyes darted back to Castiel it was only then that I noticed the look of absolute despair drawn all over his face. Every other mission in mind fell away. "Hey, what's going on? Cas?"

"I don't know." Castiel replied. His eyes were distant, unfocused. "Something is not right. We have to do something, Tori."

I grabbed his shoulders, "You gotta tell me what's going on first, buddy."

Castiel's eyes narrowed, a crease forming between his eyebrows like he had a headache, "There's something about the town—no. Not the town. Besides the town. I feel a—a pull. Something isn't right."

There was some instinctual part of me believed him whole heartedly. I didn't need further instruction or explanation. It was like my soul knew that Castiel knew things. It made no damn sense, but it's what I felt in my gut. Not that I knew why. Not even Castiel knew what he was talking about right now.

"Hey," I said slowly and pulled him a little further away from camp just in case, "Look, things have been tense today. Maybe you're just worried about the barn—"

"I am not concerned about the walkers." Castiel replied. I crossed my arms tightly at the sentiment. It was familiar to me as well. "There is something else wrong, and I think it may have something to do with Sam and Dean Winch—"

"Don't." I said quickly before he could finish the name. Castiel gave me a hard look of skepticism. After a second, I shook my head, "Those—those guys are just a figment of my imagination."

"Both of our imaginations?" Castiel replied. I sighed and he continued, "They exist, Tori."

"Okay. Maybe." I said, happy in denial, "But my concerns are a little more solid. We have a barn full of walkers and while I weirdly am not scared of the geeks—" I shook my head, "We can't leave camp, Cas. Are you comfortable with leaving our friends here alone?"

"No." Castiel agreed with a sigh. "No, I'm not. They could need us here."

"They will need us here." I said firmly. "Let's just deal with one crazy thing at a time."

"—prius venire ad me!" Dean barked and dropped the last ingredient into the bowl. There was a puff of smoke, a flash of fire, but no angel standing in front of him. It hadn't been hard to find the ingredients here in camp, and they were his last ditch effort to escape.

Dean waited and waited and waited. He prayed for Castiel to show up, but apparently the world didn't have enough mojo in the air to do what he wanted the spell to do. The sound of a low chuckle behind him made him close his eyes in exhaustion.

"I see you found my stash." Hank called out. Dean slowly turned around, his jaw locked in aggravation. The warlock strolled forward, pushing his cracked glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Spells haven't been working the way they usually do. It's tragic really. You know what else is tragic? You still trying to escape." Hank held his hands out. "This is your life now!"

Dean took a step forward and Hank stumbled back in fear, "Can you make it work!?"

"N—No." Hank shook his head. The warlock was weasely and sheepish. Easy to scare. Hank shook his head again, "Don't make me get Ryan."

Dean's hand snapped out to grab the warlock by the throat and pushed him back until he slammed into the wall. Hank gasped for breath and Dean leaned in with a glare, "What is Ryan going to do to me, you piece of shit, wanna-be Harry Potter?"

"N—Not you. Ask what he'll do to—to your brother." Hank choked out.

There it was. His leash. Dean could only do so much, push back so far, before Sam's life hung in the balance. He was trapped in a bloody trap with no escape. Every day he was in some kind of fight and he was surrounded by monsters he wasn't allowed to kill. Not if he wanted Sammy in one piece. Calling for Castiel had been a last ditch effort.

The act of a man desperate to find more of his family.

And it had failed.

Glenn was still on watch, but now he was alone. Dale was still MIA and after Tori had run off he hadn't seen her since. He readjusted the rifle in his arms, letting his eyes trace over to the camp, and he noticed Maggie walking down the road towards the farmhouse. Glenn ripped Dale's hat off, tossing it aside, and then left the rifle on top of the RV before jumping down.

"Maggie!" He yelled and sprinted after her. She ignored him, unsurprisingly, but he didn't stop, "Hey! Maggie! Just—Just stop for a second."

"You talked about it. You told Dale, fine. I asked you. I told you. I just asked you for one thing. One thing!" Maggie snapped.

"I couldn't do it!"

"My dad is gonna kick you guys out now. He told me."

Glenn shook his head, "No. Rick is gonna work something out with your dad. Okay? I had to tell them."

"You did not!" Maggie whirled around to yell at him.

"No. I did." Glenn said firmly. He grabbed her arm to keep her from running from him, "I wanted to. Listen, I forgot, okay? I forgot or I—I stopped thinking about it or maybe I didn't want to think about it." He squeezed her arm. "I let them lower me into that well like it was fun. Like I was playing a video game. And then the pharmacy happened yesterday and…and I realized something."

"You—"

Glenn cut her off, "I forgot that they're dangerous. I don't care if they're sick people or dead people. They are dangerous. And then I realized something else. That I don't want you in danger, ever." He let go of her. "So, I hate to blow your dad's big secret, but I am sick of secrets. Secrets get you killed, and I'd rather have you pissed off at me and alive than liking me and dead. That's why I told him."

He gave her one last nod, happy to have that off his chest, and then turned to leave. Glenn only got a few steps away when he heard her voice.

"Hey, walker bait."

Glenn slowly turned around with a sigh, "Don't call me that."

"Okay. Glenn." Maggie replied and closed the space between them. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him down to press her lips against his. Glenn was happily surprised and didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her and pull her closer. All the fears and worries that Maggie had been holding on so tightly to seemed to slip away in his arms.

"Go fish." I hummed and motioned to the deck of cards sitting between Castiel and I.

He glared at the cards in his hands, "I still do not understand how the concept of this game involves fishing."

I chuckled to myself as he drew a card. The hope had been that this would distract him from whatever it was he was worrying about earlier this afternoon. It was mostly working. We sat on the front porch with some of the others. Glenn and Maggie were curled up with one another on the stairs, I assumed this meant they were no longer fighting, while Carl, Beth, and Patricia sat around a table off to the side.

"Anyone know what's going on?" T-Dog asked. I looked up to see him and Andrea walking toward the porch.

"Where is everyone?" Andrea added.

Glenn stood up, "You haven't seen Rick?"

Andrea motioned behind her, "He went off with Hershel. We were supposed to leave to search for Sophia a couple of hours ago."

"Yeah, you were!" Daryl's voice barked out. He came up with Carol, "What the hell!?"

"Rick told us you were going out." Carol said softly.

The two of them stood side by side as well so I jumped to my next assumption that Daryl had apologized for what he said earlier. I smiled to myself at it. Daryl was angry about something else now though, "Damn it! Isn't anybody takin' this seriously!? We got us a damn trail!"

Castiel and I stood up when everyone noticed Shane marching toward us with a very familiar bag wrapped around his shoulders. I tensed in anticipation. This was bad. Things were about to get worse.

"What the hell is all this?" Daryl turned as Shane arrive.

Shane pulled out a rifle and offered it to him, "You with me, man?"

"Yeah." Daryl replied and took the gun. He began to check the barrel and load it.

"Time to grow up!" Shane barked.

T-Dog shook his head, "I thought we couldn't carry."

Shane handed him a gun, "Can now. Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daises when we thought this place was safe. Now we know it ain't."

"Shane." I said in a warning tone and stepped off the porch. Castiel remained one step behind me the entire time.

The man turned to Glenn, "What about you man? You gonna protect your own?" Glenn glanced from Shane to Maggie before hesitantly taking the gun from his hands. Shane nodded once with a tight smile. He turned to Maggie with a nod, "Can you shoot?"

"Can you stop!?" Maggie snapped.

I crossed the space quickly and stood in front of Shane, "This is getting out of hand. Shane, you have to stop."

"My dad is gonna make you leave tonight if you do this!"

Shane ignored Maggie entirely, pulling out a pistol, and holding it out for me to take, "I saw you at shooting practice at the end there. You can shoot. Take it."

For the briefest of moments, I wanted to take the gun from him. I wanted to have that feeling of security that came with wielding a gun. The fear of my past though, the vision/nightmare I had at practice, stopped me short though. I didn't want to fall any further into who I used to be. Especially since it was looking like who I was wasn't very great.

"This," I said firmly, eyes meeting Shane's, "This is not the right move, Shane. Rick is—"

"Doing nothing." Shane spat at me. For a second, the two of us just held glares at one another. Shane expected me to cave, expected me to be intimidated, but his glare did nothing to me.

Carl's voice was what separated us, "We have to stay, Shane! We can't do this!"

Shane's attention shifted to Carl and he tried to hand gun to him instead of me. Lori slid in his way quickly and the two began to argue. Hearing Shane and Lori felt a lot like listening to static on a television. I glanced over at Daryl who caught my gaze with his own. His shoulders tensed and he straightened his posture.

"Oh shit!" T-Dog yelled.

He was pointing out onto the field and we all followed his line of vision to see Rick, Jimmy, and Hershel coming out of the forest line leading two walkers out with the kind of long canes that were used on wild animals. Shane took off toward them and that set off a chain reaction where everyone else raced to follow.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Shane screamed.

"Shane, back off!" Rick barked back.

Hershel struggled with the walker he tried to lead, "Why do your people have guns?"

"Are you kidding me? Do you see?!" Shane yelled. He was circling Hershel and Rick like a shark. The group kept their distance away from the walkers just in case. Shane made it around them a full time, "You see what they're holding onto?"

"I see who I'm holding onto!" Hershel replied.

Shane scoffed, "No, man, you don't."

"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk." Rick tried to compromise.

"Talk about what?" Shane roared. "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!"

Rick was aggravated but he couldn't lose focus of the walker he was holding onto, "Shane, shut the hell up!"

"Hey, Hershel, man, lemme ask you something." Shane stopped in front of them and pulled a handgun from his waistband. "Could a living breathing person—could they walk away from this?"

Shane fired his gun, startling everyone, and the bullet hit the walker in the chest. Fury and panic washed over me. This was not the way this should be going, but I was stuck with no way to stop it. Shane fired three times while Rick screamed for him to stop. Hershel's face was distressed.

"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive—could they just take that!? Why is it still coming?" Shane fired two more rounds, "That's it's heart, it's lungs… why is it still coming!?"

The look of terror and disbelief hung on Hershel's soft features. He looked devastated. Rick tried to rush forward, to stop Shane, but his hold on the walker prevented him from being able to do so. Rick snapped, "Shane, enough!"

"Yeah, that is enough." Shane scoffed. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone! Enough living next to a barn full of things trying to kill us! Enough! Rick, it ain't like it was before!" He nodded once. "Now if you wanna live, if you wanna survive, you gotta fight for it. Right here, right now."

I watched Shane turn and move to the barn door and my eyes widened. Rick was begging Hershel or the kid to take the snare pole holding the walker, but both of them stood in a daze. Shane grabbed a pickaxe and began to try and break the lock on the barn door.

"No, Shane, brother! Don't do this!"

Glenn gasped, "Don't!"

Lori pulled Carl back, "Rick!"

That was enough to snap me out of my trance. I sprinted forward to stop Shane, but I didn't even get close. T-Dog grabbed me, wrapping his arms around me, and yanked me back. Without thinking, I slammed my elbow into T-Dog's diaphragm, and it was enough for him to drop me. I stumbled but pushed forward. This time Castiel was the one to grab me and no matter how much I struggled I couldn't break his grip on me.

It didn't matter though.

The metal on the door was broken.

Shane dropped the pickax and then pulled the wooden block off the barn door. Everyone froze in silent terror as the doors swung open. Nobody moved. Hell, nobody even breathed. Then slowly, the sounds of moans filled the air. Those with the guns stepped forward and as pale faced geeks stumbled out the air was filled with gunfire. Maggie was holding her father as she cried. Jimmy was holding Beth and shielded her from seeing what was happening as she sobbed. Castiel pulled me back even farther despite my struggles, and I was startled by how strong he was.

Movement stopped and so did all the gunfire. Around a dozen walkers laid dead in front of the barn in heaps. The only thing that could be heard was crying and slight shuffling. Shuffling? I narrowed my eyes in confusion and Castiel's arms released me. I slowly stepped forward to try and see what we were missing.

The others began to notice and gazes drifted back to the barn. One last walker stumbled out. Small in stature. A child. A familiar child. I gasped, hand coming up to cover my mouth, as my knees went weak. Sophia. The young girl's skin was an ugly, splotchy pale, her eyes sunken in, and there was a ghastly wound at the crook of her shoulder. A bite mark.

"Oh my God." I breathed.

"Sophia? Sophia!" Carol screamed and she ran past me. I didn't even think to grab her, still too frozen, but Daryl managed to stop her before she got any further. He had tossed the gun aside and the moment he grabbed her she collapsed in hysterical sobs.

I wrapped my arms around myself in horror. This was the worst case scenario. This was beyond the worst case scenario. Sophia continued to stumble forward, but nobody raised their weapons to stop her. It. Not even Shane. I watched painfully as Rick pushed forward with his python revolver in hand. Rick's shoulders were stiff, but his hand was steady.

Rick raised his weapon and the tiny walker with the purple rainbow shirt took a few more shambling steps forward. I closed my eyes, and a single gunfire rang through the air.