I had made my way back up to camp some time later. I didn't see Daryl on the way, only assumed that he was back in our tent. Dale greeted me at the RV, a bag in his hand. I stopped, looking down at it, and realized it was our weapons. I raised an eyebrow at him and he did the same to me.

"What are you doing?" I questioned him. Dale sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked at me, gesturing for me to join him as he walked. I did as he asked, following the older man.

"I'm taking the guns and I'm putting theme where only I know." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Why?" Dale looked at me pointedly and I nodded, thinking back to the conversation yesterday with Shane. I swallowed, walking next to him in silence.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"If I had to, I suppose." Dale looked at me unsure as we made our way across one of the fields. The grass was tall, but we got through it quickly, trekking into the forest. I hesitated at the tree line, looking up into the dark woods.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to. I'd like for you to stay so you don't see where I put them." I gave him a bitch face and he shrugged at me.

"Don't use guns Dale, besides, I'm not letting you go in there alone. Rick's orders." I swallowed, following the old man into the tree's. We hiked for about fifteen minutes before we came to part of the creek. It was surrounded by marshland and dale glanced around.

"Here seems good." He said plainly, wading through the grassy area. I glanced around nervously, my hand attached to the knife at my hip. Dale unfurled a garbage bag, preparing it for the guns he was going to place inside.

"Man this is a good hiding place." I jumped, startled by the sudden voice and turned. My heart sank as Shane stood across the way. I eyed him warily, as did Dale, and he continued to pack up the guns. "Aint been in the swamps much, huh?"

"Imagine if you applied your tracking skills to finding Sophia." Dale called over to him. Shane began to make his ways towards us and I backed up to Dale, standing in front of him. Shane slowed as he approached me, chuckling when he saw my hand on my knife.

"Don't make me lay you out again girl." Shane eyed me, looking me up and down, but I stood firm. The man glanced over my shoulder t Dale, then back to me. "How about you both just hand over the bag."

"I'm not gonna do that." Dale said to him, turning from his work with the guns. Shane chuckled, sniffing his nose and crossing his arms.

"Yeah you are, Dale." Shane continued, this time more amused than before. "Unless, well, you do have that Rifle over your shoulder."

"What, are you gonna shoot me like you did Otis?" Dale's words cut deep and Shane faltered. I watched him cautiously, ready to pounce if need be.

"Think you can make up another story, Shane?" I egged him on, daring him to do something. Again he chuckled.

"No man, But I mean, when you really look at it, cold light of day, you're pretty much dead already." I narrowed my eyes at him. Dale went silent, nothing to say. Shane's words concerned me, and I was unsure of their meaning. "Just give me the guns, Dale. Do it now."

"You think this is gonna keep us safe?" Dale asked pointing to the bag.

"Just shut up and give me the guns." Shane demanded, taking a step to the side, towards Dale. I stepped with him, again blocking his path. I was determined to stay between the men, even though I knew how dangerous it could be. I heard a gun cock behind me and I turned, watching as dale rounded on him with the rifle. Shane took this opportunity to toss me aside. I hit the ground hard, knocking the wind from me, and I turned to watch the men.

Dale aimed the rifle at Shane pointedly, daring the deputy to move again.

"Am I gonna have to shoot you?" Dale asked quietly. Shane looked from the gun to Dale, to me, then to the guns behind him. He was calculating whether he could get out of here unscathed. I got to my feet slowly, drawing my buck knife as I did so. "Is that what its gonna take?"

Shane chuckled, looking at each of use in turn. His mouth was open in some form of amused shock and he shifted his weight from one side to another. He took another step forward and then another, challenging Dale, until his chest was up against the barrel.

"Yeah, that's what its gonna take." We stood quietly in the clearing, none of us moving an inch. We had a Mexican stand off on our hands and I knew if Shane got his hands on those guns we were both dead. Dale eyed the man at the end of his barrel fearfully. The old man glanced at me, dropping his gun to his side.

"This is where you belong, Shane."

"How's that Dale?"

"This world, what it is now. This is where you belong." Dale shouldered the rifle again, turning his back to Shane. "And I may not have what it takes to last for long, and that's okay, but she does." Dale gestured to me with his head and my heart dropped. Shane looked at me, grinning evily. "You can kill me now, but Beau is stronger than you. She can say that she didn't change when the world went to shit. Which is more than you can." Dale thrust the guns into Shane's waiting hands.

"Fair enough." Shane chuckled, turning to walk away. he stopped in front of me, staring me down before he looked at my knife. "Better put that knife away, before you get hurt, darlin." I swallowed, glaring at him and he brushed past me, knocking my shoulder as he went.

We both watched him leave, and once he was out of sight Dale collapsed on the log next to him, breathing heavily. I rushed to him, crouching beside him, placing my knife on the ground.

"Are you okay?" He asked me shakily. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"I feel like I should be asking you that." I said quietly, helping him to his feet.

"I'm fine. But something needs to be done about Shane." I nodded my head in agreement, looking off into the tree line where the deputy walked off to.

We followed shortly after Shane and as we broke the tree line we saw him heading across the field back to the house, guns in tow. I broke into a sprint after her, seeing him hand a rifle over to Daryl. Dale was falling behind, but he gestured for me to run ahead.

"Look it was one thing sitting around here, picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe, but now we know it aint!" I heard Shane called as I exited the field.

"Shane stop!" He turned to me menacingly, his gun pointed at me. I froze as all eyes were on me. Daryl stepped forward a few paces and Shane turned around looking back at the group.

"How bout you man, you gonna protect yours?" Shane asked Glenn, handing him a shotgun. Glenn gave one look to Maggie, before reaching out and taking the weapon. I shook my head, wondering how this got so out of control so fast.

"Can you stop?" Maggie asked him, her temper clearly rising. "You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight!" She offered, trying to make him see reason. Shane was having none of it and he turned, handing out the rest of the equipment.

"We aint goin anywhere. Now look. Hershel, he's just gotta understand." Shane looked at Carl, walking over to him and kneeling. "We gotta fine Sophia, am I right?" he ask the little boy. "Carl nodded and Shane held the gun out to him. "Now I want you to take this. You take this and you keep your mother safe, alright?"

"Rick said no guns, this is not your call." Lori stepped in, shoving Carl behind her. "This is not your decision to make." She spat venom at him.

"Oh shit." T-Dog called from a few feet away. I looked over at him where in the distance I saw Rick, Hershel and Jimmy exiting the tree line, two walkers in tow. My mouth dropped in shock, as I'm sure most everyone else's did.

Shane took of running and the group diligently followed. I glared at the deputy's back as he ran, pistol in hand, trying desperately to keep up with him.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Shane yelled at the top of his lungs, kicking open the gate.

"Shane just back off!" Rick reasoned with him, but I knew there was no more reasoning. Shane rounded on him and Hershel. I could hear the walkers snarling at us as we entered the gate.

"Why do your people have guns?!" Hershel commanded, staving off the walker at the end of his pole.

"Are you kidding me?!" Shane asked angrily. "You see what they're holding on to?!"

"I see who I'm holding on to!" Hershel snapped back. The walker clawed for Shane and I gasped, bring my hand to my mouth.

"No man you don't!" Shane had completed a full circled around the Hershel and his walkers, ending in front of the group again. He paced back and forth, angry and fuming.

A walker flailed for us at the end of a stick and Daryl held up his rifle, ready to fire.

"Just let us do this, then we can talk." Rick ordered, struggling with the walker at the end of his pull. Rick tugged on the pole, pulling the walker away from where we all stood. He snarled again, snapping his jaws at us.

"What do you wanna talk about, Rick?" Shane hollered at him. The fight was getting out of control and the closer the walkers came to the barn, the tenser our situation grew. The screaming match continued as Shane rattled off the names of those that had fallen to the zombies.

"Hey Hershel, let me ask you something. Could a living, breathing person walk away from this?" Shane held up his gun, point blank, and aimed it at the Walker on the end of Hershel's pole. He fired three bullets into her chest in rapid succession. I jumped at the sound of it, covering my ears.

"NO STOP!" Hershel demanded.

"Three point blank rounds to the chest. Could someone that's alive sit there and take that?!" Shane asked the old man. I took a shaky breath, realizing how dangerous the situation was. I realized now that Shane was a psychopath and in his hand was a very dangerous weapon. He could hurt someone. "Why is it still coming?!" he asked again, bringing his weapon up, firing two more shots. "It's heart, it's lungs, why is it still comin?" Two more rounds. I whimpered, bringing my hands to my ears and shaking my head. Daryl turned briefly to look at me, concerned. I dare not look up at him.

"Shane enough!" Rick yelled, pleading with his deputy.

"Yeah, you're right man. That is enough." Shane walked briskly up to the Walker, pointing his gun for a final time, lodging the last round in her skull. The shot resonated even louder than the rest and I watched, almost in slow motion, as the walker hit the dirt, unmoving. Hershel sat on the ground, looking at the monster almost pained. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone. Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough! It aint like it was before Rick!" I now saw what was happening. Shane had lost it, somewhere between now and the CDC Shane realized he was done following Rick's orders. He was challenging Rick's authority and no one dared stop him while he waved his gun around.

Rick sat quietly, glaring at his once best friend, watching him as he lost his mind. I hugged myself tightly, my eyes finding Daryl, his rifle still trained on the final walker.

"Now if ya'll wanna live, if you wanna survive, you gotta fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now!" Shane yelled loudly, spitting as he spoke. He looked at each one of us before finally glaring at me. I shivered at the sight, shying away from him.

Shane turned, running full speed at the barn. Lori screamed, ushering Carl away and back up the hill. Rick pleaded for Hershel to take the snare pole from him. Hershel sat broken, quiet on the ground while Rick begged. I sat watching, completely helpless as Shane began to take a pick axe to the lock.

Maggie yelled from behind me, but all I could do was stare at the mental collapse that was once Deputy Shane. He hammered away, none of us moving to stop him, all of us still to shocked.

"Shane, do not do this brother!"

"Don't do it!" Glenn yelled, but it was too late. Shane had broken the lock and removed the wooden slat keeping the door closed. I watched in horror as the door heaved under the Walkers weight, giving way, releasing them.

The walkers sprang forth, mobbing deep and with renewed vigor, ready to tear at our flesh.

"Oh god!" I yelled, putting a hand to my mouth. Andrea ran forward, gun drawn and began firing off rounds with scary accuracy, her a Shane dropping them one by one. Daryl moved up next, pointing his shotgun and aiming down the sights, firing round after round. The others soon followed, all except for me, and I hung back, watching the massacre.

Too many had appeared from the barn, more than we had thought and it looked as if they would be over run. I spied the gun bag next to Maggie and Hershel and I ran to it, timidly grabbing a shotgun. I looked at the farmer's daughter and she nodded her head, still crying as I picked it up, joining my fellow survivors. I hadn't fired a shotgun in years, so I braced myself for the inevitable kickback before I let a round of buckshot fly dropping one of the dead nearby.

Another walker emerged from the barn and I dropped that one too. In front of me, Shane turned, pointing his gun straight for me, or so I thought. He fired, dropping the Walker that Rick held at the end of his pole. I flinched, watching that one fall as well, symbolizing the end of their friendship.

"Beau!" Daryl's voice rang out. I turned and a walker dropped immediately in front of me, Daryl's gun trained on it. I nodded at him weakly, returning to the fight, taking out another zombie.

The gunfire died away, and the Walker train ended as Shane dropped the last one. The field grew silent as we all dropped our weapons. I went to walk away when another snarl could be heard. I stopped cold, turning around to look at the dead walkers that lay around me. None of them moved, and then I realized it was coming from the barn.

The growls grew louder and I steeled myself, raising my shotgun for what was hopefully the final time. This walker was shorter, smaller than the rest and I swallowed hard. I felt nauseous and I gagged, unable to take my eyes away from the thing.

Sophia stepped out of the barn, only it wasn't the little girl we'd grown to love and care for. She was dead, her skin an ashen grey. She chomped at us menacingly, hungry for our flesh, staring us down. If hadn't known any better I'd swore it was recognition in her dead eyes, but I did know better, and I knew that that look was hunger.

I heard Carol hit the dirt behind me, letting out a guttural moan. I sniffed, running my hand down my face and dropping my gun. I couldn't kill her, somebody had to do it but it wasn't going to be me. I heard Carol weeping behind me and I turned to walk away, throwing a glance up at Daryl as I left.

I refused to stay and watch as they killed her, even if she was a walker, she was still Sophia. I was making my way back up to the house as the shot rang out. Carol wailed even louder and I shuddered, sobbing harshly. I broke off into a sprint, running quickly, past the farmhouse, past all of our tents, out into an abandoned cornfield where I hit the dirt.

Away from everyone, away from the prying eyes, away from the danger, I finally felt comfortable enough to weep. I wept for Sophia, I wept for Carol. I wept for Hershel as he sat there silently watching a madman slaughter his family. I wept for my friends that I had lost, for all of my fellow survivors.

I sat out in the field for what felt like eternity. The sky grew dark above me, rain was coming, but I still sat there, letting it drizzle down on me. I watched out in to the trees quietly, watching them rustle in the breeze. I sniffed, a chill setting in as the rain fell.

The grass crunched behind me, but I didn't bother turning. At this point I didn't care who it was. It could have been Shane coming to put me out of my misery and I would have continued to sit there.

Someone sat beside me and I watched them out of the corner of my eyes. It was Daryl. He didn't look at me and I didn't want him to. We sat quietly for a while, the rain had passed and we were both soaked, but it didn't bother us.

"I'm sorry for this mornin," Daryl finally spoke up. he looked at me sadly before continuing. "Ya don't deserve that." I still didn't speak, barely looking over at him. "You were right."

"Nothings right anymore, Daryl." I said cooly, picking a few pieces of grass from beside me. "Nobody is right about anything." The worlds flowed surprisingly easily from my mouth, almost taking me by surprise.

"Don't say that. You aint allowed ta say that." Daryl's words were quiet and finally I looked over at him. He watched me intensely, his blue eyes boring into mine. "I aint letting this life take you too."

"It's too damn late for that, don't you think?" I stood, turning to leave, but he stopped me. I growled, turning back to him, wrenching my hand away. "All I ever did was be there for everyone! Help everyone! And what do I get in return? Shane wants to kill me and Andrea nearly did while I was searching for a little girl who has been dead this whole time!" I growled, frustrated, stomping at the ground. "My whole life it's been just me. I'm a fucking survivor Daryl! I survived my father, I survived the infection and here I am, out-living a child who, in life, had so much ahead of her! I'm tired of doin this, I'm tired of surviving!" I paused, sobbing again. Daryl watched me quietly. I felt words forming behind my teeth, ones that came out before I could stop them. "I wish you woulda just left me to die that day in the damn creek bed!" I cried, bringing my hands to my mouth.

Daryl shifted, his face growing angry, unbelieving what I just said.

"And what would the fuckin point of that been, huh?" He gestured widely, his arms outstretched. "Tell me a single thing that woulda acomplished'n I'll end ya damn sufferin right now!" Daryl yelled at me. I flinched, his words were harsh and he realized to late what he had said. "You may regret me finding ya in tha woods that day, but I don't. I don't now and I wont ever!" He screamed. Daryl paused, the weight of his words sinking in. I swallowed hard, not taking my eyes off of him. "And I don't give a damn what you say, because there is nothin in this world that will change my mind about that." His voice broke, an unknown emotion flooding us both.

I could feel myself growing hot and Daryl dropped the rifle he'd been holding into the dirt. I ran at the man, jumping desperately into his arms. He caught me and our lips crashing together in a frenzy. He held me close, hands on my backside as I wrapped my legs around his abdomen.

We fell, still interlocked, into the wet field below, Daryl climbed on top of, and I let out a moan as he pressed his body to mine. We kissed passionately, one of his hands knotted in my hair, while the other roamed my body. He quickly found the button to my shorts and I didn't stop him as he undid it, pulling them down to my knees.

Sorry guys xD i wanted to take their relationship to the next step but i don't write lemons. Worst writer ever.

which i feel like i made up for by writing a nearly 4,000 word chapter. My fingers are bleeding. Lol jk. no but seriously.

Reviews, pls, they keep my motivated!

Stay Beautiful!