Thank you again for the reviews! I'm working long hours this week but I'll try to get another update up soon. Thanks for reading! :)
"Am I interrupting... again?"
"No Glenn."
"Well, at least it's just me." He cleared his throat once. "I just wanted to apologize."
"For what?" I asked. "You took all the blame. I should be thanking you."
"Yeah, but that's after I yelled at you. I'm sorry. Can we just go back to being buds? And go back to pretending I didn't just see you two being all..." Glenn stopped talking abruptly and was staring at Daryl who had a scowl on his face.
"Why don't you go talk to Maggie?" I suggested. Not only so Daryl can stop scowling but maybe Glenn would be in a better mood. He was so snappy and annoying ever since Maggie stopped talking to him.
"Yeah, why don't ya?" Daryl said. I elbowed him quickly and stood up to walk closer to Glenn.
"Go talk to her," I told him again. "She's going to have to get over it. All you did was tell us their secret. You haven't pulled the trigger yet."
"Yeah, but it's only a matter of time, isn't it?"
"No it's not," I told him. "Everyone wants to stay here right?" Glenn nodded his head. "So, they're going to have to ignore it. Or at least try to. Let Shane sleep outside that barn all day and night, it's his choice." I looked behind Glenn's shoulder and noticed Dale was sneakily trying to grab the bag of guns under the table. I pushed Glenn aside and looked at Dale. "What are you going to do with those guns?"
He held the bag close to him and started inching towards the door, "Can one of you kids keep watch?"
"Dale, what are you doing?"
"The right thing," he said firmly.
"You leaving us completely unprotected?" Daryl asked. "That ain't a smart move, old man."
"Your father went to talk to Hershel about allowing us to stay here," Dale said. "Having these guns around is going to provoke Shane to use them to kill all of those walkers. I can't have that."
"Where are you going to hide them?" Glenn asked. "Can't you at least leave one behind?"
"There's a rifle on the roof and I know there's at least three handguns floating around." Dale quickly walked out of the RV door.
"Should we stop him?" Glenn asked.
"I don't even know why you're asking that," Daryl snapped. "That wrinkly old goat is taking our guns." He pushed his way past Glenn.
"I thought you don't even use a gun," he said. "Don't you only use that bow and arrow of yours?"
"Just leave it alone Daryl." I wrapped my hand around his bicep. "Please?"
"It ain't just the walkers y'all need to be afraid of," Daryl said. "We need those guns back."
Daryl walked out of the RV and Glenn and I followed. Dale was long gone and Daryl stood at the far end of the campsite looking out in all directions.
"What's he mean we don't have to just worry about the walkers?"
"No idea," I lied to him as I noticed Shane was stalking over towards us. "Go talk to Maggie, Glenn." I started inching my way towards where Daryl was still standing. "You're not going to find him."
"I'm gonna put a gun to his head when he comes back. How am I supposed to keep anyone safe with just a crossbow?"
"You've been surviving so far," I reminded him. "Just drop it with the guns. Or let someone else deal with it. You don't have to take over everything."
"He just took 'em right in front of us. You really want me to forget about it? Nah, he probably went that way. I'm gonna go get 'em back."
Daryl started walking down towards the field and right when I turned around I almost bumped right into Shane. "Where the hell is Dale?"
"Dunno."
"Goddamn it, that's some bullshit. Everything that comes out of your mouth is nothing but lies."
"Then why are you even asking?"
"Those guns were there this morning," Shane said raising his voice, "And you were in there and now they're gone. So either you did something or Dale did."
"Yeah, I took all the guns and threw them into the barn. Oh wait; you've been sitting outside the barn for the last half hour, haven't you? It's hard keeping all these lies straight."
"Where the hell did Dale go?" Shane shouted.
"I don't fucking know," I shouted back. "Why don't you go follow the redneck?" I pointed with my thumb at Daryl. I started walking closer to the RV so I can get as far away as I could from Shane when I felt him tug on my arm as hard as he could. "What is your problem?" I tried prying his hand off of my arm but it just caused him to squeeze harder. "Let go of my fucking arm." I dug my nails into his arm and he still held on. "Shane, stop it."
"Yo, what the hell are you doing?" T-Dog said out loud. I hadn't seen T-Dog around in so long that I had almost completely forgotten about him. But at this moment I could practically kiss him.
Shane finally released his grip on me and looked down at his hand. "Sorry Liv."
"You're not sorry you piece of shit," I shouted at him.
"I am," he said again. He turned around and took off after Daryl, most likely looking for Dale.
"Shit, what was that all about?" T-Dog asked. "You good?"
"Thank you."
"Yeah, no problem," he said. "Shane's been an asshole ever since we came here. If he was a woman I'd blame it on PMS but I really don't know what to blame it on. Maybe that shit that went on with him and the dude that shot your brother. I'd be in daze too if I saw someone go down like that."
I smiled at him and leaned over to hug him. "He just hates me so of course he's always yelling at me and shit."
"Your dad doesn't know?"
"He probably doesn't care."
"Nah, girl. I'm sure he cares. I've never seen a grown man that's a police officer cry when you weren't around."
I had to bite down on my lower lip to prevent myself from laughing. "I'm sure he was crying over Carl more than me."
"It was probably for you too," T-Dog said. "So why is he looking for Dale?"
"He, um… took the guns."
T-Dog's eyes grew big. "Shit, what for? Now we got all them walkers in there and no guns?"
"There are a few guns," I reminded him.
"Yeah, but none of that heavy shit, like the shotguns and stuff. There's a few dozen in there. What if they, you know, get hungry and break out?"
"Then we hop in the RV and get the fuck out of here," I told him. T-Dog let out a laugh but he still looked worried. "I'm sorry we told you like that."
"Nah, don't worry about it. At least y'all said somethin'. I would have hated to have been sleeping and get eaten alive like what happened at our last place."
"Do you like it here? I never really asked you."
"It's a good place," he said. "Water, food and until earlier it was a walker free place. I almost want to thank you and Sophia for running off like that."
"Or you could always thank Otis for shooting Carl," I brought up. T-Dog narrowed his eyes at me and shrugged.
"He's looking good. Glad to see him outta bed for once."
"I think he still needs to rest still," I told him.
"I could tell you the same thing." He pointed his finger up to my head and pursed his lips. "That shit looks painful. Shouldn't it be covered up?"
"The bandage was annoying me," I said. "Maybe some southern air will do it good."
"Or maybe it'll get more infected," T-Dog said. "You been taking some of Merle Dixon's clap pills?" I let out a loud laugh and nodded. "Did you know Daryl got some meth in there as well?"
"Really?" I asked. I didn't see Daryl as a meth head. If T-Dog really saw what he saw, the meth had to have been Merle's. "Is it bad if you try it once? Doesn't it fuck up your teeth?"
"Yeah, but not the first time. I've never tried it but I'm pretty sure trying it now wouldn't be smart. Anyways, you wanna go get out of the sun? You still don't look all that great." He put his hands up quickly in defense, "Not that you look bad, I just mean you should be sitting down or something." I nodded my head and we both started walking towards the Greene's home. "Oh shit, I forgot you hurt your leg. I can walk slower or do you want a lift or something?"
I shook my head and laughed. "I can't baby it all the time otherwise I'll never get better."
"Yeah, but walking on it when it's hurt ain't smart," T-Dog said. "I'm gonna lift you up, you're not gonna scream are you?" I shook my head again and T-Dog hesitated but crotched down instead. "Hop on."
"God, what is with you and Glenn offering piggy back rides?" I asked. I eventually gave in and hopped onto his back. He held on to my legs and started walking towards the house. Glenn and Maggie were both sitting on the front porch while Carl was sitting at a table with Beth and Patricia.
"Looks like y'all made up," I commented as T-Dog put me down. I saw Glenn look away, most likely blushing and that made me laugh.
I sat on the stoop next to Glenn and turned my head towards Carl. "Did Dad come out yet?"
"He went with Jimmy and Dad," Beth replied. She glanced over at Patricia and then looked down. "They should be back soon."
"Where'd they go?" Carl asked.
"My dad's allowing y'all to stay," Maggie said, "If your dad helped him out with something. They're doing a perimeter check, to make sure we're still okay."
"He could have asked more of us to go with him," Glenn said. "We'd all do anything if he lets us stay here."
"Yeah, let your Dad know we'd do anything to help out," T-Dog said. "It's the least we can do."
We spent the next ten minutes talking. Andrea, Carol and Sophia all joined by now. Patricia seemed to be in a better mood and was even making plans about when it becomes winter time that our group was going to need to come inside. She started talking about having to rearrange the furniture in the living room so we could all squeeze in there. Maggie had mumbled something that only Glenn and I heard about being glad Patricia was going to find things to keep her busy.
All the chattering silenced once Glenn and Daryl had both made their way up towards the house. Shane had gotten his way and was clutching the gun bag. Daryl was holding onto a shotgun and I looked at him disappointedly.
Maggie had quickly gotten up and walked up to Shane. "What are you doing with all of those guns?"
"Protecting ourselves," Shane replied. He looked over at Glenn and had a gun in his hand, "You know how to shoot, right?" Before Glenn could answer Shane had thrown a gun in his direction. He handed T-Dog a gun as well.
"My dad is going to kick you guys out," Maggie told Shane. "Don't be stupid. Put the damn guns away."
Shane completely ignored her and walked up to Carl who was standing next to me. He held out two handguns and looked down at Carl then back up at me. "I want y'all to take these. I want you to protect each other no matter what."
I shoved the guns away. "Carl doesn't even know how to shoot. What's he going to do with a gun?"
"Take it Liv. Take it and protect him then."
"Stop being an idiot Shane. Nobody wants to leave here and you're going to send us back out there at this rate."
"You wanted to leave," Shane reminded me. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
"Hershel was kind enough to let your bitch ass stay here. You're not going to shoot up his family and friends just because you're uncomfortable with them being there."
"They aren't his family and friends anymore Olivia! They're not even alive." He grabbed Carl's hand and handed him the gun. He looked at me and waved the gun in front of me. "Take the gun."
"Or what? Are you going to put your hands on me again?"
"Oh, shit." Everyone turned their heads to T-Dog and looked beyond at what he was looking at.
Up ahead we saw two walkers being led by Hershel and my dad with another young man walking behind them.
Shane had dropped the handgun at my feet and already taken off for them. I picked it up as the group started running after them. Daryl was the only one who hadn't taken off and was trying to find a way to help me out. I kept walking towards them, one step at a time. I tried to keep my grunts and complaints to myself.
"Lemme just help you," Daryl said. "Come on, you can't be pissed off at me for taking a gun."
"That's not why I'm upset. You're siding with Shane of all people."
"I ain't siding with him. He's got a point though."
"He has no point," I said rolling my eyes. "He's just pissed that he didn't know and that he feels like his life is in danger."
"Because it is…in a way." He finally reached over and wrapped his arm around my waist, guiding us towards the group. Shane yells were echoing and even though we weren't near him the entire time we knew exactly what he was barking about.
"—because they ain't sick! They're dead! These are the things that killed Amy, Otis. They bit Jim. They aren't human anymore!" Sophia ran over towards where Daryl and I stood and squeezed my hand.
I looked down at her and all I saw was fear all over her face. She squeezed again and I looked down at her. "Do you want to go back in the RV?"
She shook her head and kept looking at the walker Hershel had a grip on. "It's him."
I looked at the walker Hershel was holding onto. His back was turned to me but he was wearing a tank top that used to have been white at one point. His back was covered in blood. Shane was circling the walkers and they kept reaching out for him.
Shane walked closer to us and it gave me the chance to look at the walker Sophia was talking about it. "Hershel, lemme ask you somethin'. Can a livin', breathin' person walk away from this?" He raised his gun and shot at the other walker in her chest three times.
Everyone was in shock at what Shane had just done but I kept staring at the walker Hershel was trying to guide away from Shane.
I looked at the walker and noticed the front of his tank top was completely covered in blood. I tried looking for a gunshot wound and tried talking myself out of it but the walker looked exactly like a dead version of the man from the woods.
"Shane! Stop it!" my dad yelled out.
"Can a normal person survive that?" Shane shouted. "That's three shots to the chest. Not a single living person can survive that. So tell me why it's still coming?"
I stopped holding Sophia's hand and started walking towards the walker. Nobody bothered paying attention to me. They were all focused on Shane, not sure of what he was going to do next.
"Shane, enough!"
I looked at the walker and he kept reaching out for me, snarling and growling. I had a better look of him now. Below his neck he had a single knife wound and that alone almost knocked me off my feet.
Another gunshot rang out but this time it wasn't Shane who was firing the shots. Without realizing it I had raised my gun and shot the walker in his head. The look on my dad's face was enough to make me feel guilty but I had no emotion for what I just did. Despite the man he was when he was alive he was now a walker. I shouldn't feel guilty. I should feel relief.
"Finally, someone else is thinkin' straight," Shane said. I heard another gunshot and assumed Shane had shot down the female walker. I heard the poles fall to the ground with a thud.
I finally started feeling something. I felt sick to my stomach staring down at the lifeless walker. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to get bitten and come back to haunt me all over again. I leaned over and felt the bile crawl up my throat and spew out of my mouth all over him.
"I'm tired of doing things your way Rick. You just want to please people, but the hell with that. Those aren't people we need to be protecting."
"Shane, just stay away from the barn. You've done enough."
"Enough? I haven't even begun." Shane darted towards the barn door with my dad in tow yelling after him still. Shane had managed to get the chain off while keeping my dad off of him.
Carol had grabbed Sophia and Carl and held them behind her. Shane had managed to get all of the protection that was on the barn door and started stepping back. My dad moved back and stepped next to Carol like he wanted nothing to do with what was about to go down.
Shane was in front of everyone, gun drawn, waiting for the walkers to come out. The first one came out and Andrea and T-Dog both ran next to Shane. He had already shot it down when another one came out and soon more started pouring out.
I caught a glance from Daryl and turned my head to Glenn who was holding up his shotgun unwilling to move. The three of them started shooting but there were too many walkers for just the three of them to put down.
I heard sobs coming from Patricia, Beth and Maggie. Hershel was on his knees, powerless to do anything. Daryl gripped his shotgun and I could see his resistance to shoot. Glenn called out for Maggie and she nodded her head. He rushed forward aiming at one; he shot it twice before it finally went down. I walked next to Glenn and raised my gun to the walkers.
I aimed at the closest one and watched it fall. I could still hear the quiet sobs behind me over the gunshots and stopped shooting. This family had let us into their lives and we pay them back by slaughtering the people they cared about. These people were their family members and friends and they believed they were sick.
I lowered my gun as Daryl came running over and started shooting at the walkers. Over a few dozen walkers later, they were all dead and nothing else came out of the barn. Nobody had moved and all that could be heard were the sobs from the Greene family and Patricia.
Beth ran over towards the bodies and bent down and started touching one of them. Nobody minded her until she let out a scream as the walker started pulling at her hair, trying to bite her. Maggie ran over to her sister while Shane shot the walker.
Everyone started walking away. Maggie held onto her sister and followed her father back towards their house. I walked backwards until I reached the first walker I shot. I looked down at him and my eyes went back towards the knife wound. When I crotched down I noticed the gunshot wound.
"What are you doing Olivia?" I looked up at my dad. The usual emotions were all over his face when it came to me: anger, disappointment, loathing, bitterness, tiredness. "He's dead. You don't need to examine him. Get off the ground."
I ignored him and wondered where he had been bitten. His top off looked bite-free, it was just bloody from the wounds I gave him. I looked down at his feet. He was still wearing both shoes and his jeans weren't torn.
"That's not possible," I whispered to myself. I started looking more closely at his body. I remembered what I saw on the news. They reminded us not only avoid getting bitten but we couldn't be scratched by an infected person. I looked up and down his arms looking for scratches of any kind and found none.
"Olivia, stop." This time he crotched down and started pulling me off the body.
"No. I have to see," I said more to myself than to anyone else. "I didn't mean to do this. It was his fault. I didn't want this."
"What do you mean?" he asked. He turned my head with both of his hands and looked me in the eye. "Olivia, tell me what you mean. You didn't cause his death. You only shot him down after he was already dead."
"No, he doesn't have any—"
"Come on honey." He grabbed me by my shoulder and picked me up to my feet. "Let's get you out of here."
"No. Just get Carl out of here," I told him. "I'm fine, really."
He led us back towards the camp. Without saying a word he walked towards the house. It wasn't going to do him any good. We might as well just pack of shit and take off now.
I sat down on one of the chairs and Daryl came to occupy the chair next to me. "What was that about back there?" He leaned over and nudged my knee. "Hey, was that the guy? That's what the girl meant, wasn't it? He's the one, isn't he?"
"I caused that," I said in a low voice. Nobody else was around but I couldn't speak above a whisper right now. "I made him like that."
"He was gonna kill you," Daryl said. "All you did was wound him. You didn't turn him into a walker."
"No, he…he. I did that." I looked over at Daryl and he shook his head.
"It's not possible for your bullet to turn anyone into walkers," he told me. "He musta ran into one after y'all took off. You shot down those walkers in the church. Maybe one of them did it to him."
"Yeah." I nodded my head. "You're right. I'm being delusional for nothing."
I was now lying to Daryl and it hurt more than every lie I've ever told my parents. I knew there was something different, off, about the man from the woods. Was there something else we were missing about walkers? Did we only have to be bitten or scratched to turn into one or was there something more? I flashed Daryl a reassuring smile and leaned back in my chair.
At this moment I wish I had opted out with Jenner.
As you can see I really like messing around with Shane's character making him nice one second then a jerk the next. I see his jerk qualities as almost redeeming though. "He cares" lol
