Chapter 6

Three weeks had passed and everyone was well adjusted to their new life on the farm even though they knew it wasn't permanent. Susan had healed well and was walking around just fine. The group was grateful for Hershel's helpful hand and hospitality. The Greene family had provided the survivors with food, water, and basic necessities that kept the group feeling sane and human. Glenn and Hershel's eldest daughter Maggie had become close and were spending a lot of time together, sneaking off when no one was looking. Lacy, Daryl and Merle had set up camp further away from everyone else, preferring to be on their own. The three of them got along nicely and the two brothers didn't mind having some female company. They hunted their own food as well, not wanting to depend on Hershel's family for survival.

Shane had helped Susan every step of her recovery. He would bring her food and sit at her bedside until she was able to walk around on her own, but he would always be close behind. Shane had also been keeping an eye on Rick. He knew that Rick still harbored feelings for Susan and he wanted Rick to keep his distance. Susan and Shane had grown a strong relationship and he didn't want Rick to ruin the progress he'd made. Shane knew that if it had come down to it, Susan would choose Rick over him any day—which made him hate Rick even more.

Lacy and Daryl had just finished polishing both Merle and Daryl's motorbikes with a bit of shoe grease that Hershel had lying around the house.

"Hey Lace, what do ya think of Shane? He's been actin' kinda strange lately…" Daryl asked while glancing over at Shane having a conversation with Rick and Lori in front of the Greene house.

"I don't know… I'm pretty sure he's just jealous of Rick's leadership since he, Susan and I joined our group—considering he used to be the one in charge." She paused while looking in the same direction of Daryl. "I'll just ask Susan later on… She'll probably know."

"I can't believe Susan's even with that guy." Daryl said while shaking his head and preparing his cross bow before going to hunt. "I'm tellin' ya, he ain't a good guy. I just know it." He and Lacy both sighed while Daryl picked up a couple of extra arrows. "Anyway, I'm gonna go get us some dinner. I'll be back inna bit."

"Sounds good." Lacy replied while standing up and fixing her navy blue t shirt. As Daryl walked into the forest, she watched Merle approach her with an odd expression on his face.

"So I gotta little question for ya, Miss Lacy." Merle said while leaning against a large oak tree and playing with his pocketknife. Lacy stared at him and waited for what he was about to ask. "You and Susan ever have some pillow fights in a couple of sexy nighties?" he grinned slyly and awaited her response.

"What the fuck are you talking 'bout?" Lacy asked with a disgusted tone and glared at him with angry eyes—not liking where the conversation was leading.

"I'm just curious what two beautiful young ladies got up to late at night. Your friend there's a fine piece of ass and I'd love to have a go with that." He said while raising an eyebrow and winking at her.

"You're a fuckin' pig. Stay away from her, Merle." Lacy said through gritted teeth—defending her best friend. He glared at her and bit his lip before replying.

"Oh don't you worry, sunshine. I'll get her eventually… I always do." He chuckled and spit on the ground before turning around and settling his gaze on Susan sitting alone in the long grass away from everybody else. "And now's the perfect time for me to get things started." He grinned and looked back at Lacy to view her reaction.

"Think again." She said while pointing toward Shane who had ended the conversation with Rick and Lori and began walking in Susan's direction. Merle sighed in frustration.

"Fucker." He whispered under his breath.

For the first time in a couple of months Susan couldn't stop thinking about her family and what had happened to them. She dozed off and replayed most of the entire encounter for the thousandth time. After finding Mr. Norris on top of her mother, her father jumped on the man and pinned him down onto the ground. Her mother winced in the amount of pain she was in and cried uncontrollably while lying on the kitchen floor. Susan and her siblings rushed to her side not having any idea as to how they could help. Seconds later, their father screamed out in pain as he himself had gotten bitten by their once friendly and innocent neighbour. Susan's little sister Emily was only six and screamed at the top of her lungs because of what she'd just witnessed. Susan acted quickly and aimed the gun at Mr. Norris before pulling the trigger and sending a speeding bullet out of the .22 and inside of the dead man's skull. Her siblings automatically covered their ears and dropped to the ground on their knees in unison. Both of their parents lay suffering together on the ground and eventually, their time to go had come. Susan now felt an immense amount of pressure, for she had no idea how she would be able to protect herself and her siblings with just one gun and no experience.

"Hey good lookin'. What're you doin' over here all alone?" Shane said while staring down at her with a huge smile planted on his face. Susan came back to reality once again and looked up at Shane.

"Hey you. Uh, I guess I'm just getting some alone time… thinking about random things," She gazed at him and smiled. "Come sit beside me." she instructed while patting the ground beside her. Shane glanced around the area before responding, meeting eyes with Merle who was glaring at him from afar. Shane winked and looked back down at Susan. He knew what Merle thought of Susan but would never let him come close enough to her to try anything—which is mainly why he never let her out of his sight. That, and of course his worries about Rick trying anything as well.

"Yeah sure, I was gonna practice some shooting with Andrea but this may be a little more fun." he grinned while taking a seat beside her. "How've you been feeling lately?" he asked Susan while she rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his muscular arm around her toned body.

"I've been feeling much better actually. How about you?"

"Exhausted. And honestly," he shook his head angrily before speaking again. "I'm getting real sick of Rick and his whole bullshit leadership. Before he showed up people put their trust in me. They came to me when there were issues and everybody just had a little goddamn faith in me." He sighed and shook his head again while releasing his arm from around Susan as his anger built up. "I mean, don't get me wrong—he is my best friend and I'm happy he's alive… but he's just taken a lot from me. And it's just… it's fucking annoying is what it is." Susan hesitated before speaking—looking for the right words to comfort him.

"I understand what you're feeling. I don't understand why everyone automatically goes to him for help either. I mean, you're just as responsible and as strong as he is. I guess… I guess that's just the way it goes. I still think you're the best though." She smiled while looking at him and leaned in for a kiss. Shane looked away from her and stood up.

"Piss off Susan. Don't lie to me." He hissed, looking down at her with anger in his eyes.

"Excuse me? How am I lying to you?!" Susan asked, insulted. She stood up quickly and faced him, a confused look on her face. Why did he think I was lying?

"Fuck off. I'm not in the mood to hear you give fake sympathy to me. I'm tired of it!" He quickly turned away to walk back toward the house.

"Fuck you Shane. Get your fucking issues sorted out." She brushed passed him, knocking his shoulder. While Susan stormed back toward the house, everybody on the farm heard a terrified scream. They all instantly knew that the scream came from Carl and watched as he ran toward Rick from the barn beside the house. People ran from all over the property to see what was wrong.

"Carl?! What happened?!" Rick yelled, running toward his son. He had a knife ready in his hand when he arrived, looking around for the threat.

"The barn! It's full of them. Full of walkers! I was just exploring and I went up to the hay loft, there's a whole bunch in there, dad!" Carl explained with a panicked expression etched onto his face.

"What in the…HERSHEL! HERSHEL GET OUT HERE!" The group had gathered around the front of the barn and shared panicked whispers, grabbing any nearby weapon.

"What's the commotion out he—" Hershel stopped short when he stepped onto the porch and saw everyone standing at the barn. "Y'all weren't supposed to know about that." He said slowly, holding his daughters behind him as they came outside and shaking his head.

"Do you mind explaining why there's a whole barn full of walkers?" Rick asked, trying to stay as calm as possible. A few gasps were breathed within the group and some lifted their weapons. Daryl had returned from his hunt and, noticing the confrontation, ran towards them.

"What in the hell is goin' on here?" Demanded Daryl as he looked over the scared faces of his peers.

"The barn is full of walkers." Andrea answered.

"It ain't what you think. Those are our friends, our neighbours… our family. What if there's a cure? They could still be in there somewhere. My wife and son are in there." Hershel explained, hugging his weeping daughters closer.

"They aren't themselves anymore, Hershel; the people they once were are gone. You have to understand that they are a danger to us all. I have a responsibility to keep my people safe. We have to get rid of them." Said Rick, walking toward the barn doors. Hershel's daughter Beth screamed, and buried her face in her father's chest, not wanting to watch what was about to happen.

"Rick, stop!" Shouted Susan. Rick froze and turned towards her, a look of confusion on his face. "You can't do this! Hershel's family is in there, it's not right. This is their farm; it's not fair for us to make decisions for them. You've never had to kill your own family. It's the hardest thing a person can do! I would know." She wiped a solitary tear from her cheek and looked to Andrea, who nodded solemnly and lowered her head. Everyone turned their heads in Susan's direction and seemed shocked at the discovery that Susan had been forced to kill her family. Andrea then spoke up to comfort Susan.

"She's right, Rick. You can't do this to them." Andrea complied. Rick sighed and looked to Hershel and his family, feeling ridiculous for even thinking of that solution. He couldn't imagine having to shoot Lori or Carl and he didn't know how Susan, Andrea or anyone else for that matter had pulled through with it. He lowered his weapon and nodded, starting to walk away.

"Are you kidding me? You're gonna put all of our lives in danger? Fuck that!" Shane shouted, storming towards the doors of the barn. He shot the lock off the chains and opened the doors, backing up and readying his rifle. Andrea, Susan, Lacy, Daryl, and Rick quickly raised their weapons. Glenn hesitated before lifting his rifle, giving Maggie an apologetic look; she nodded hastily with tears streaming down her face before she buried herself in the comfort of her fathers arms, and he quickly joined the action. The walkers filed out and they shot them down as they stepped out into the Georgia sun.

After a couple more minutes had passed the gun shots had stopped and a large pile of walkers lay down in front of the barn. There was a moment where the only thing that was heard was the sobs from the Greene family.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Shane?!" Lacy raged while everyone stared at him with disappointment. Shane ignored her and looked at the pile of walkers lying in front of him. Susan couldn't believe what had just happened, walking angrily over toward Shane and glaring at him with tears forming in her eyes. She slapped him across the face with force and he stared back at her with hurt in his eyes, automatically raising his right hand up to his face.

"How could you Shane?" Susan's voice broke while wiping away the tears that had begun falling one after another.

"I…" Shane couldn't think of anything to say. The rest of the group all shook their heads as they walked away and gave the Greene's their sympathy. Susan shot a venomous look and turned away from Shane.

"I swear to God Shane, I should just kill you right here. Get your head out of your ass. Why don't you ever think before you act?!" Lacy hissed over her shoulder, following Susan back to the camper.

"Why am I the bad guy here?! I did what was best for the group! I saved everyone's asses! What if all of 'em walkers busted outta the barn and killed some of us? Huh?!" Shane shouted while throwing his gun on the ground in front of him in frustration. "I did the RIGHT thing here!"

"Not right by them." Dale replied while gesturing toward Hershel and his two daughters. "You really upset a lot of people just now."

"Shut the fuck up ya old man." Shane kicked the ground and headed toward the camper. He burst through the door and glared at Susan. "Come here." Shane instructed while pointing in front of him.

"Piss off Shane. You really think she's in the mood to go with you?" Lacy . interrupted.

"Was I talking to you, redneck?" He spat. "Susan, baby, please come with me. I need to talk with you. Please." A moment later Susan sighed and stood up, sharing a look with Lacy as she headed out the door. Shane led her away from the peering eyes and into the woods, walking fast.

"Why are you taking me here? This is pretty far from the farm..." She pointed out. They had gone farther than usual and he was fuming; it made her feel uneasy.

"I just... I needed to get away from everybody... Away from Rick. I'm sorry I did what I did but you know we couldn't have that many walkers in there; the door wouldn't hold forever."

"I understand, I just think you could've been a little more considerate. Rick was trying to-"

"RICK! Rick, Rick, Rick! That's all I ever hear! WHO MADE HIM LEADER?! Whatever happened to me, huh? I was a great leader! And YOU! I can tell you still have feelings for him, goddamn it! Don't you dare lie to my face again." He seethed. Susan just stared at him in awe and said nothing; she knew that whatever she said would only make it worse. He looked deeply into her eyes, trying to decipher her thoughts. He searched but found nothing; her gaze stayed strong and unrevealing. In aggravation he grabbed Susan and pushed her against a nearby tree, his hand firmly surrounding her throat. "Why won't you answer? Is it 'cause you're afraid you'll get caught up in your lie? He doesn't want you anymore, honey. He's a married man. Get it through your head AND GET OVER HIM."

"Let me speak for myself, Shane." He turned to face the person he least wanted to see. Rick stood behind the pair, a gun pointed in Shane's direction. "Let her go."

"What, you gonna shoot me? After all these years, everything we've been through, are you really gonna shoot your best friend?"

"My best friend died a long time ago; I don't know who you are anymore." Shane felt as if he had just been slapped across the face for a second time. He released his grip on Susan and stepped away, a pained look in his eyes. Silence lingered between the three of them for a long moment.

"I don't know who I am anymore either, Rick. I'm sorry to both of you." He gave Susan a pleading glance. He stared back at Rick while speaking again. "Just don't take away the one thing I have Rick, I need her." Rick stared at his partner in silence for a couple of minutes, collecting the right words. After almost losing Susan he had realised that he loved her more than he'd ever loved anyone—even Lori. He couldn't let this chance pass and figured he was in the proper position to express his feelings.

"I can't promise you that. I love her, Shane." Shane and Susan looked up at him in shock, their mouths hanging open as his words sunk in.

"Excuse me?" Lori gaped, having hear the exchange; she had come into the forest to collect firewood. Rick hadn't seen her and turned slowly, hating himself for saying what he just confessed. She crossed her arms, "You better not be talking about that bitch." She nodded her head in Susan's direction.