"Dad?" We both turned at once, my blood running cold. Rick stood speechless as his son stood out in the field. Carl looked us both over once before his eyes trailed to Shane's dead body. Rick helped me to my feet and we both started walking towards him.
"Carl," Rick said calmly to his son, approaching him slowly. I trailed behind a ways, letting Rick have time to talk to his son. The conversation had apparently not gone well and Carl raised his gun at his father.
He fired and I flinched, closing my eyes. I watched as Rick still atood, a thud instead coming from behind me. I turned slowly, finding Shane on the ground only a few feet away from me. The man had turned in the moments between his death and now. I gasped, looking into his glassy, dead eyes.
"Oh god…" I breathed, backing up to the sheriff and his son. I had backed into Rick and he steadied me, placing two hands on my shoulders. We both looked at Carl, who was panting heavily, and he looked at us fearfully, lowering his weapon.
Carl ran to his father, hugging him tightly and I could feel myself finally able to breath again. Rick pushed him off, gently, walking over to inspect his fallen comrade.
"We have to get back to the house." He gestured towards the house, which sat inconspicuously on the horizon, and immediately we took of running.
As we ran I could hear the faint sound of snarling behind us and I stopped, turning to look. Out of the trees came and hoard, and I screamed, again running after Rick and Carl.
"What?!" Rick yelled back to me. He went to turn but I shook my head at him.
"Don't look!" I told him, continuing our sprint. My bullet wound was a distant memory, the aching finally growing numb. We jumped a broken fence, finally reaching the field closest to the house.
Another hoard made their way out of the trees next to us and we stopped, crouching behind an old hay roll. I spied the barn a few feet to our left and gestured to it alerting Rick. He nodded turning to Carl.
"Stay close." Rick told him. We sprinted off, dodging walkers left and right. Thankfully the barn door was open and we ran into it, Rick shutting it behind us. He latched the door with a pipe as the walkers began to beat on it. My heart was pounding and I desperately tried to catch my breath.
Rick looked over to me and Carl before his gaze drifted to the rafters above us. We were all tired from sprinting and none of us could do it again right now. The walkers tore at the walls, the door still slamming loudly behind us.
Rick reached for a few cans of gasoline and he began to dump them across the ground. He gestured towards the Hayloft ladder and I turned to walk away when he grabbed me, handing me a lighter.
"Drop it when I say." I nodded at him grabbing Carl and leading him to the ladder, letting him climb up first. "Carl," Rick called from the barn door. "I love you." Before I knew what was happening Rick had opened the doors and the walkers came barreling in. Quickly he climbed the ladder and I watched in horror as the barn filled wall to wall with them. "Beau! Now!"
I nodded, flicking the lighter open. It burned hot and I gave one more wary look to Rick before I dropped it into the Horde. They went up instantly, the heat hitting me in a wave. I gasped, watching them burn and Rick grabbed my arm pulling Carl and I to the window behind us.
Gunshots could be heard outside and I turned to look. The others had pulled up to the barn and had opened fire on the roaming walkers. The smell of burning, dead flesh hit my nose and I grimaced. Jimmy pulled the RV up to the barn beside us and we ran across the awning, hopping onto it's roof.
Rick led us to ladder and down the back of the RV. I heard screaming from inside and I sobbed, knowing Jimmy had fallen. Rick kicked a walker, turning to help me and Carl down. He popped off a few rounds into the nearby zombies, leading us around to the front of the RV, behind the barn.
All hell had broken loose on the farm and I could barely hear myself thinking over the snarls, the gunshots and the roaring fire of the barn. I grabbed my hunting knife, gripping it tightly as we ran. We dodged more walkers and Rick pointed to the tree line.
"There! Head for the woods! As fast as you can." Carl and I did as we were told and we sprinted into the forest. To our luck the walkers had cleared out into the fields and only a few had followed us, which Rick took down easily. I could hear distant screams and I turned looking at where Hershel's farm once was.
"Daryl!" I yelled, turning to run back. Rick grabbed me around my midsection and I struggled against him.
"No! STOP!" he commanded. I fell limp in his arms, sobbing, knowing that he was right. I stared numbly at the Light that was filtering through the trees and Rick released me. "We will get back to them!" Rick scolded me. My face was wet with tears and he frowned at me, hugging me tightly. "We have to go around, circle back to the house." He said quietly.
I followed him slowly, not taking my eyes off of the farm. Like he'd said, we'd circled around. I heard the sound of a shotgun as we exited the tree line and Hershel stood facing a horde of them, firing blindly.
A walker was making his way behind him and Hershel stopped to reload, not realizing it was there. I ran out towards him, knife in hand, Rick and Carl behind me, and I stuck the walker in the back of the head. Hershel turned around to look at us.
"Lori? Did you see Lori?" Rick asked. Hershel shook his head.
"No, I don't know what happened Rick, they just keep coming! It's like a plague! They're everywhere!" Hershel yelled.
"We have to go!" Rick ordered him.
"It's my farm!" Hershel argued, not moving. Rick grabbed his arm, pulling him after us.
"Not anymore!" He yelled running for the truck behind us. Hershel let out a few more shots, screaming defiantly, but letting Rick drag him all the same. We piled into the red pick up, and I threw Carl over the divider, into the back seat, following him.
Rick and Hershel slammed their doors shut, locking them and Rick turned the engine over, throwing her into gear. We pulled off down the driveway but I turned in my seat, staring desperately out the window for a sign of anyone.
All I could see were walkers far and wide and I began to cry loudly. I didn't care if the whole car heard, or if they felt awkward, because I wasn't ashamed. My heart broke with every second we drove away and silently I begged that Daryl was safe somewhere.