Hey guys! So this is it! The end of Their King County Past! I'm so glad I wrote it and who knows? When season three comes along I may just write a sequel (Wink Wink). It's so weird that this is ending! I've put so much time into it and I loved writing it! Thank you for all the views, favorites, follows, and reviews! I love hearing from you guys so don't be shy to leave a review. Thank you and as always, Happy Reading!

Chapter 22: Their King County Past

It was earlier the next morning, before the sun was up in fact. Brooke was in Daryl's arms but she knew he was upset about the other day. She held him closer and he sighed.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I failed Brooke." He said.

"Who did you fail?" she asked.

"Everyone." He replied. "I looked for her everyday and we found her in the barn. If I had looked a little longer I may have found her in time."

"You didn't fail anyone. You made everyone proud and grateful that you're here." She said and put her face above his so he would look at her. "You made me proud and I know you made Sophia proud. She's really lucky to have someone like you who cares about her so much." Daryl sighed and Brooke kissed him. "You're a great man. Don't ever forget that." The next couple of days went by as usual. Glenn, Rick, and Herschel came back and took care of Beth. Daryl made sure that Shane wasn't anywhere near Brooke but Shane was able to get her alone.

"Brooke, I'm so sorry!" she could see tears in his eyes. "I never meant to lose my temper, especially like that."

"I forgive you but you can't imagine how angry I am with you." She said.

"I know that you're pissed at me, but I need your advice." He said and Brooke nodded. "Do you think Lori loves me?"

"Shane, honestly, no." she began.

"What if-"

"There is no what if! There's nothing you can do about it. She loves Rick and Rick loves her. Rick has always been like a brother to me." Except for that one time. "I will protect him just like I protect you. I'll make sure that you don't do anything to hurt Rick." Brooke warned and walked away. She heard Shane growl and walk away. Shane was way more distant after that. He didn't even bother talking to Brooke. Almost a full week after that Dale and Shane decided to talk over their differences. Brooke was with almost everyone outside when they saw Shane storming to the camp. He had a bloody nose and he had pure hatred in him.

"Dale attacked me!" Shane said. Brooke stood up and ran to him. He was still her brother and she still loved him no matter what he did.

"Why?" she asked.

"I was beginning to talk and he hit me in the face with the butt of his gun! He took off runnin' in the woods!" he explained. Daryl grabbed his crossbow, Glenn grabbed his Hatchet, Brooke grabbed her bow and arrow, and Rick grabbed a knife. Daryl and Glenn went into the woods while Shane led the other two into a field. There was nothing in the field and Brooke got a sinking feeling in her stomach. She saw Shane pull out his gun.

"So this is where it ends?" Rick asked.

"I'll just say that Dale snapped and killed both of you." Shane replied. "Don't worry Rick, Lori and Carl have gotten over you before. They can do it again." He looked at Brooke. "Daryl will just off himself and save me a bullet." Brooke looked at Shane in disbelief.

"Why?" Brooke asked.

"You two are the only things standin' in my way to have Lori." He said. "When you two are gone, I'll have them free and clear."

"Shane, I know you won't do this. Killing me in cold blood." Rick said.

"He will, he killed Otis." Brooke said trying to bring the attention off of Rick so he could escape. Shane raised his gun at Rick. Brooke lunged and knocked the gun out of his hands. "Rick run!" she yelled and he bolted. Shane looked back up at her and she walked backwards away from him. She saw him reaching in his back pocket and she knew what that meant. "SHANE, IT'S ME! BABY GIRL , LITTLE WALSH!" She yelled.

"That don't matter anymore! All I want is Lori and you're not going to stop me!" Shane pulled out a knife. "You know, your little boyfriend was going to kill me with one of these." She tried to run away but he slapped her to the ground. She tried to get away but he sat on her stomach.

"PLEASE SHANE! PLEASE, I'M YOUR LITTLE SISTER! PLEASE!" she screamed. He positioned his knife with both hands up in the air. She closed her eyes knowing she would die and wept. "I'm about to be killed by my own brother." She mumbled. She suddenly felt a huge amount of weight on top of her body. "Am I dead?" she thought. "Is this what being dead feels like?" She felt her body being dragged from under the weight. She opened her eyes and was staring into Daryl's bright blue ones. She looked over and saw that Shane had an arrow through his heart. She cried harder into Daryl's chest. They heard a moan and they saw that Shane had been turned. Without being bit. A knife was thrown into his head by Rick. The rest of the group was behind him.

"He killed Dale and Dale reanimated without bein' bit." Daryl said.

"Then it's true." Rick said.

"What's true?" Lori asked.

"We're all infected." He said and everything grew silent.

"You didn't think about telling us?" Glenn asked.

"Well I thought it was best if people didn't know." Rick sighed. He was calm but Brooke could see sadness in his eyes. No matter what Shane had done, he was Rick's best friend, and Brooke's brother.

"So when we die, we turn into one of those things?" Andrea asked.

"Yes." People started to freak silently. All except Brooke who walked over to her brothers body. She closed his eye lids and said a quick prayer. She took the 22 off of his gold necklace and added the pendant next to her star and cross.

"Was that what Jenner whispered to you?" Daryl asked and everyone grew silent. All eyes were on Brooke.

"Yes but he told me something I only needed to know." She said. People gave her confused looks and Daryl had a concerned one. She had to come clean, now. "Everyone is infected." She breathed. "Except me." There was another silence.

"Why except you?" T-Dog asked.

"I'm the only one with an O negative blood type." She said. "For some reason, the virus does not affect O negative blood. I can get bit but that doesn't mean I can't die from it. From all the blood loss I could easily die from those things. I just can't turn into one." Everyone looked at her astonished. She could tell some were about to give her a piece of their mind but they would look back at Shane and shake their heads. She thought either they felt sorry for her or they were afraid that she would become the new Shane. She felt her arm being pulled on and away from the group.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" he asked.

"I knew that the whole we're all infected thing would start a panic through the group. The fact that I'm the only one who's not, I thought that may be too much at one time so I decided to stay quiet. I didn't even know to believe Jenner. He had gone crazy and I didn't know what to believe." She explained. She expected for Daryl to walk away but instead he crashed his lips into hers.

"I'm so glad you can't be one of those things." He said. "I'm sorry about Shane."

"Thank you." She said. "Thank you for protecting me." They kissed again. "I love you so much Daryl."

"I love you too Brooke." He replied. Would it be hard to get through this? Yes. Would they need each other every step of the way? Absolutely. They had each other and that's all that mattered. They had their King County past.