"Drive faster!" Glen was yelling from the backseat.
"No back seat driving." Charlotte said mindlessly, picking at the fray of her pants.
"Didn't you hear them?" he almost shouted. "Those bandits are headed straight to the farm."
Charlotte turned around and looked at him. "We would have passed them on the way down here if they were headed toward the farm."
Glen chewed on his lips. "This isn't the way tot the farm."
"I know." Rick said. "I'm following these car treads."
"We're going toward the Crawford people?" Glen asked. "After all they just told us about them? They'll kill us and take Charlotte."
"I can't find the treads." Rick said. "They disappeared." He added, glancing at Charlotte. She knew what he was thinking.
"We need to get Daryl." She said.
"Can I just ask why we need to find these people?" Glen asked. "We haven't run into them now… Well, most of us haven't." Charlotte gave the boy an amused look in the rearview mirror. "If we just leave them alone, they'll leave us alone."
"It doesn't work like that." Charlotte said. "We leave them alone, they don't know we exist. Then if they blow through the farm…" she gestured with her hand, and then looked to Rick. Her voice was low as she asked, "Why are we going to them? They outnumber us, they have a whole town."
Rick was quiet for a moment. "I don't know. I figure if we pick them off when they are in small groups, we'll have less to worry about."
Charlotte didn't respond. She didn't know if Rick had ever 'picked off' a person other than a Biter. She knew Rick was a leader, but it took a lot to kill a person.
"Look at this." Tanner said, holding up a snow globe. Charlotte laughed. It had Micky and Minnie mouse holding each other and a dancing pose.
"It's cute." She commented, holding it in her hands.
Her and Tanner were on a run at a town they never had a problem with bandits in. Charlotte was collecting sweatshirts for the kids for when it started to get cold outside. She remembered last winter it snowed quite a bit, who knew if it would snow in Georgia again this year.
"How about these?" Tanner asked. He was holding up a pair of purple snow boots with a Disney princess on it. "Ruth's favorite color is purple."
Charlotte smiled, examining. "They're a little big."
"Kid's grow constantly. I figured she wouldn't outgrow them this year."
"Good thinking." Charlotte commented.
The air got thin and Charlotte immediately drew her weapon, Tanner doing the same. They heard footsteps coming toward them. They pointed their weapons toward the door. Two men walked through, a larger one and a thin one. "Well well, it's been a while since we've seen other people." The skinnier one said, a sick smile on his face. "Especially one so pretty." He winked at Charlotte, she didn't lower her weapon. She stared him down, her bangs failing into her eye.
He held up his gun, a sign of peace. Tanner looked to her and she lowered her gun, still holding onto it. "I'm Alex." The man said. "You guys have kids with you? I haven't seen a kid in over a month." He grinned to his friend. "Where are you guys held up?"
"We aren't accepting any new tenants. Sorry." Tanner said.
The men looked at one another and were chuckling. "So untrusting. We're nice guys, aren't we Damo?"
"We sure are." The other man grinned.
"See, Damo says so." Alex took a step toward Tanner. "Do you have more pretty women on you? Cause I've been getting real lonely." Neither replied. "No? Just her?" he looked Charlotte up and down. "I'll take what I can get." He picked up Tanners backpack which was full of food. "And we'll take this, if you don't mind."
"We do mind." Charlotte said.
"She speaks!" Alex raised his arms up, smiling. Charlotte made eye contact with Tanner, he nodded to her.
"Put the backpack down, turn around, and leave. No hard feelings." Tanner said. Alex reached for his gun.
"See, I don't think so. We're going to take your stuff, and you guys are gonna come with us." He unholstered his gun. "And I can't wait to get you back to my place." He grinned at Charlotte. Tanner went to grab his gun and Alex raised it to point at him and before he could Charlotte sent a round in his chest, another in his shoulder. He dropped. Before his friend could draw Tanner shot him in the head.
Alex withered on the ground. Tanner stood over him, grabbing his gun. "I'm gonna' take this, if you don't mind." Another shot to the head and Alex was gone. He looked to Charlotte. "Sorry, I didn't want to risk him escaping and finding us."
She nodded. "I understand."
Charlotte made her way toward the tent and checked in on Daryl. "How's it going?" she asked him. He stared at her through narrowed eyes, not answering. She sighed and sat next to him. "We went to a town, about an hour from here."
"Guessing you weren't lookin' fer' Sophia." He said. "Liar."
"We got some information on Crawford." She went on. "They're worse than we originally thought."
"I don't want you going after them guys anymore." Daryl said.
"I can't just stay behind. I'm the only one who personally have run into them."
He rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Then stop going without me." He looked at her. "At least compromise with me."
She smiled. "All right."
The next morning, Charlotte convinced Daryl to leave the tent and join the group for breakfast. They sat side by side and he had one hand on her leg, the other maneuvering the fork into his food. The air around the group was tense, Rick looked far away, Lori trying to pull him back. Glen was pacing around, looking around like he was paranoid. Andrea and Shane kept side looking at each other.
Daryl leaned over and talked to her in her ear. "What the hell is going on?"
"I know right?" she said quietly.
Charlotte at her food and waited, something was bound to give. Glen stepped up to the m middle of the group. "Guys." All eyes were on him. "There are walkers in the barn."
Everyone made their way toward the barn. Shane was the first one to reach it, peering inside. "You alright with this?" he asked Rick.
"Of course not, but we're guests here. This is Hershels land."
"That's bullshit!" Shane yelled.
"Keep your voice down!" Charlotte hissed at him.
He whipped around and pointed his finger in her face. "Don't ever tell me what do."
Her hand smacked his a way and got closer to him. "Don't put you fucking hands in my face."
Shane got way too close for comfort; he was in her space, towering over her. He was trying to intimidate her. "Don't put your hands on me." He warned. She shoved him as hard as she could to get him away from her. Rage filled his eyes and he went to go toe to toe with her again but Daryl was in the middle; he was Shanes height, Shane couldn't tower over him.
"Back off." Daryl warned. Rick intervened and grabbed Shane. Shane ripped his hand away and started to pace.
"This ain't right." T-Dog said, gesturing toward the barn. "We can't just ignore this."
"We either got to go in there, make things right, or we just gotta go." Shane said, looking at Rick. "What about Fort Benning?"
"We can't go." Rick hissed at him.
"And why not?" Shane asked.
"Because my daughter is still out there." Carol spoke up.
"We aren't going without Sophia." Charlotte said to assure Carol.
Shane almost laughed in frustration. "Alright, we need to start thinking of the other possibilities."
"Leaving Sophia is not an option." Rick interrupted.
"We're close to finding this girl!" Daryl said. "I just found her damn doll a few days ago."
This time, Shane really did laugh. "That's what you found man, a damn doll."
Daryl froze for a moment before he started to walk Shane. "Man, you don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Rick put an arm out between both men.
"Alright, alright." Rick tried to interrupt.
"I'm just saying what needs to be said here!" Shane said. "If you don't get a good lead in the first 48 hours the chances of finding her are gone." Charlotte came up to Daryl's side; Sophia going missing had taken him personally, and if Shane crushed this for him, she's probably kill him. "And let me tell you what man." Daryl paced on both feet, staring at Shane.
"Enough!" Rick was saying, looking Shane in the eye.
But he didn't stop. "If she was alive out there, saw you comin', all methed out with you buck knife, geek ears around your neck, she'd run away in the other direction."
Daryl took a step forward, yelling, "Shut your mouth!" at Shane as Rick strained to keep them apart. Daryl was trying to get around Rick, to get at Shane. When Shane started to fight back Charlotte got in front of Daryl, pushing him away.
"Daryl!" she yelled as he struggled against her.
"Come on man let's go!" Shane was yelling. "Trying to come up on me!"
"Fuck you!" Daryl spat.
"Daryl, that's enough!" Charlotte said, using all her strength to fight against her husband.
Shane started to pace again. "Just let me talk to Hershel!" Rick shouted to him.
"What is there to say!" Shane yelled, walking toward Rick. Lori shoved him away.
"Stop!" she yelled at him.
"If we are going to clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land."
Dale spoke up. "Hershel thinks these are people! Sick people!" he looked to Rick. "His wife, his step son, people he knew are in there."
Charlotte stared at Dale. "You knew?"
"Yesterday. I talk to him about it." Dale answered her.
"And you let us sleep through the night not knowing." Shane scoffed.
"I thought we could survive one more night." Dale answered harshly. "We did. Glen wanted to be the one to say something."
Shane started yelling to Rick, but stopped when they could hear the moans and hisses' from the barn as the doors shook. Charlotte shot a look at Shane. "I told you to keep it down."
"What do ya think?" Daryl asked her.
They were walking through a camp, and she shook her head. "I don't like it. I just don't feel safe."
He nodded. "I don't like them bein' so close." He threw an arm around her shoulder.
"They're dangerous. Whether they're people or not, they are still dangerous."
"That old man is crazy." Daryl said, referring to Hershel. He glanced back to the barn, where Andrea was guarding it. "If they had gotten out, it would have been a massacre here."
"What are we going to do until we figure out what we are doing about them Biters?" she asked.
"I'm not gon' be able to sleep until we take care of 'em." He answered. "But for today, I'll just worry about looking for Sophia."
"Are you sure you're up to it?" she asked. "You haven't givin' your body a lot of time to heal. We barely got you back in one piece last time."
"I'm going out with Rick later. I'll be fine." He said shortly, not pleased with the idea that she worried about him. He'd be fine, damn it.
It was later in the afternoon, Charlotte was playing a game with Carl on the porch of Hershels house. Glen and Maggie were getting cozy on the steps, talking quietly. She looked up to see Daryl walking toward the house, and she smiled at him. He smiled back, walking up the steps. "Want some lemonade?" she asked, holding her cup up for him.
"Yes ma'am." He said, taking a couple of large drinks. "Have any of ya' seen Rick? We are supposed to head out hours ago."
Andrea and T-Dog were walking up now. "He went off with Hershel a while ago." Andrea answered. "He should have been back by now."
"Isn't anyone taking this seriously?" Daryl asked, stepping off the porch again. "We got's a damn trail!" he gestured to the general direction. "Oh, here we go."
He was referring to Shane walking up. He took a few steps toward Shane, red bandana hanging out. Daryl slowed to a stop when he saw Shane holding a bag of guns.
A feeling sunk into Charlotte's stomach and she stepped off the porch. Shane came up to Daryl. "You wanna protect your women?" Daryl stared at him for a small moment, then nodded. "Then you with me?" he held out a shot gun to Daryl.
Daryl nodded again, "Yeah." Daryl took the shotgun and looked back at Charlotte. She was staring Shane down. He looked to T-Dog and Andrea.
"You got yours?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah. I thought we weren't allowed to carry?" Andrea asked.
"We can if we have to." Shane said. "It was one sittin' around and pickin' daisies when we thought this place was safe. Now we know it ain't." he nodded toward the barn. He walked up to Glen. "How about you man? You gonna' protect your own too?" Glen hesitated, glancing at Maggie. He reluctantly took the gun. "How about you? Can you shoot?"
"Can you stop?" Maggie asked. "My dad see's you passing out guns and he'll make you leave tonight."
"What is going on?" Lori asked, coming out of the house.
"We can't leave Shane." Carl said.
"We ain't going anywhere. Now Hershel is just gonna' have to understand." He got on one knee to be eye level with Carl. "Now take this, and protect your mom, all right? You do what it takes."
Lori pushed Carl away from Shane and looked him in the eyes violently. "Rick said no guns. This isn't your decision, you don't get to make this call." She was patronizing, talking down to, Shane.
"Oh shit." Daryl said. Charlotte in the others turned to see Rick, Hershel, and Jimmy come into view with Biters on a leash. Shane started to sprint off toward the field and Charlotte was first to sprint after him.
"Shane!" she called out, trying to stop him, but he wouldn't stop. He was on a mission.
"What the hell are you doing?" Shane yelled as he came up to Rick.
"Shane, back off!" Rick warned.
"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel asked, struggling as the walker he was leading fought against him.
"Are you kidding me? Do you see what they are holding on to?" Shane asked.
"I see who I'm holding on to!" Hershel yelled to him.
"It's bullshit!" Shane said. "These things aren't sick, they aren't people. They are dangerous! These things right here kill. They killed Amy!" he said to Andrea, she nodded. Charlotte rolled her eyes because she knew Andrea would agree to anything Shane said. "They'll kill all of us unless we do something!"
"Shane, shut up!" Rick held the Biter away from him. He couldn't control Shane and a Biter at the same time.
"Hershel, let me ask you something man. Could a person, a living breathing person-" Shane pulled out his gun.
"Shane, don't!" Charlotte yelled. She agreed that he Biters had to be taken care of, but not like this.
"-Could they walk away from this?" he shot a round into the biters abdomen. "That's three rounds to the chest! Could someone alive just take that?" he fired another round. "That's its heart! Why is it still coming?"
"That's enough!" Rick yelled.
"You're right man, that is enough." Shane fired a round into the head, the biter dropping to the ground. Hershel was in shock.
"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! If you want to live, to survive, then you got to fight for it! Fight, right here!" he ran to the barn, everyone started to yell, Charlotte couldn't concentrate on the words. Shane took a pick axe to the barn doors, ripping off the lock and attracking all the biters. He took a step back as the door opened. One by one, they started to come out.
"Charlotte!" Daryl called looking around.
"Daryl." She called back.
"Stay back!" he said, running next to Shane and joining in the fire. Andrea and T-Dog joined them. Charlotte was frozen, the gun shots rang in her ears, the biters dropped one by one. Rick was yelling, Carl was crying.
The herd started to slow, until there was nothing left. The air around them seemed to still, time had stopped. Daryl lowered his gun, surveying the bodies before looking back at Charlotte. She just stared back, she knew he was looking for a sign of approval, that she wasn't mad, but she didn't know what she felt. For a few moments, it was silent.
But then they could hear tiny moans coming from the barn. They picked up their weapons, aiming. A little girl emerged, shielding her eyes from the light, then looked up. She was a biter.
Charlotte's heart ached, but when no one fired she became confused. In fact, they lowered their weapons, staring at the turned little girl. It wasn't until she heard Carol that it clicked. "Oh god." She said. "Sophia. Sophia!" Carol started to run but Charlotte grabbed her, causing them to tumble over. Carol struggle a little, tears falling down her face. "Oh God, no!"
Sophia, as Charlotte realized, stated to make her way toward the group. No one knew what to do, they just stood there. Rick looked around, and took a step forward. "Don't look." Charlotte said to Carol. The older women sobbed into the red heads shoulder. Charlotte's body shook as she heard the gun fire, Carol sobbed harder. She pulled away and ran toward the house. Charlotte stood up, looking to Daryl. He was walking toward her, but he didn't stop and went past her. She reached out for his arm but he shook it off, and kept walking.
"Daryl." She called out. "Daryl!"