Chapter Seven: Dead

Rick's grip on the wheel tightened and his knuckles went white. He hissed under his breath. "Shit." Raven resisted bolting out of the car and slicing all of their heads off where they stood. There was no turning back now; one person caught sight of their red car. Rick pulled up on the opposite side of the gate's driveway road as close to the gate as possible.

Carol turned to him. "What should we do?"

He unbuckled his seatbelt. "Don't pull out any weapons yet, but have them ready." He commanded Carol directly. "Take Judith and make sure she's hidden." Carl let her take Judith. She had been taking care of her for weeks; naturally she'd be the better 'mother'. "Stay with these three," he pointed at Raven, Carl and Beth, "and Lyra. Don't come out until I say so." Before any of them could object, he shut his door. The others followed shortly after.

Everyone still in the car shifted to the left side to see what was going on. The voices were muffled and Raven couldn't understand a thing. By the low volume, she figured nothing too bad was happening. Soon, five more people spilled out of the van. The guy with the blue cap, standing closest to Rick and was the person speaking so she assumed it was their leader, folded his arms and had a twisted look.

Raven was trembling with anger. She wasn't about to let anyone else into her home. Her fervor of driving them off made her stand up. She was going to slaughter all of them. Carl quickly took hold of her and sat her back down. She was glaring at him, but in a few seconds, she was grateful he'd stopped her.

The leader's voice rose to a shout. His face turned red momentarily, but it passed. Raven could tell that this guy was unstable and he and his people won't leave unless they get something in return. Still she sat listening as their conversation led to an argument. Suddenly, it went quiet.

The blue cap man whipped out a gun and shot at Rick. Raven and Carl jumped at the sound. He ducked in time for the bullet to fly past. And there were shots fired on both sides. The invaders hid behind their car as Rick yelled something in Raven's direction.

Taking the cue, she hopped out of the car and plucked up two stilettos from her boots. Before one person could pull his trigger, Raven flung her knives. They struck his knuckles and pierced through them and his gun fell to the ground along with himself. A white blur rushed past her. Lyra pounced on one of the gun men and dragged her claws over his eyes. She pinned him to the ground and tore at his face. Raven sped to the gates and quickly began unlocking the padlocks.

The whole group formed a semi circle around her as she undid them. She tried ignoring the thundering shots behind her head. With sweaty and shaky hands she finished the last lock. She thrust the gate open and shouted. "Get in!"

Not turning their backs on the enemy, they backed onto the house property. When everyone was in, Daryl quickly reclosed a lock and they scurried for cover behind the front porch.

Rick shouted at Tyreese, Michonne and Daryl over the gun fires, "Get the second car ready." Without hesitation, they sprinted for the garage. Raven didn't like that command. She wasn't leaving here. Rick jabbed a finger at her and Beth. "You two, take Judith and Lyra and find weapons, as much as you can. They have reinforcements and they'll be here any second." Beth took a crying Judith from Carol and ran inside. Raven took a quick glance at Carl, who was shooting at the invaders and ducking behind a porch brick pillar. Their eyes met for a split second before she went into the house.

Beth's footsteps were upstairs, probably rummaging through Rick's stuff to find his duffle bag of guns. Raven ran to her room and paused in front of her second closet that she hadn't opened in months. She swung the door open and piles of weapons were revealed. She shoved everything she could into bags and her eyes rested on a weapon she knew as 'Last Resort'. She'd never thought she'd need it.

Meanwhile, Carl was reloading his gun as quick as he could. The bullets were aimed towards his group, but occasionally they'd stray and shatter a window. He cocked his weapon and whipped around, daringly lifting his head over the brick cover. He fired and saw his target spurt out blood. He saw Carol give him a fearful look as he shot more.

Two trucks pulled into the clearing. People's heads stuck out of the windows and fired at the house. The deafening sounds of guns became even louder. Carl noticed that more bullets were flying towards the gates rather than his group. He screamed across the porch to his dad. "They're aiming for the lock!"

Carol and Rick noticed and were trying to figure out what to do. They knew they couldn't keep up protecting the gates forever. Beth ran up to Rick with a bag of artillery. Carl saw her and stopped firing. "Where's Raven?"

"Upstairs." She answered. A crackling boom came from above and a chunk of the front lawn blew up. The invaders yelled in confusion as another shot came down and struck a guy in the chest.

Raven took her eye out of the sniper lens to blink. She rested the rifle on the edge of her bedroom window, a perfect spot on the third floor. She was getting the hang of it. It put a bit of pressure on her, just learning to use it now. More trucks were flooding into the area. She began shooting again, every other bullet hitting someone. A cloud of dust was forming at the gates and she saw the busted lock fall to the ground.

Oh God, this isn't happening. Voices of panic filled her head. She shot blindly at the trucks and people who were inching closer. The invaders crashed through the gates and fired at the porch. Carl and the others were still there. Raven gritted her teeth and pointed her gun downwards, raining bullets on the windows of the trucks and the people's heads.

Someone pointed a finger in her direction. The guns sent bullets at her. She jumped from the window as glass shattered down. She heard buzzes fling past her ear and a sudden searing feeling grazed her shoulder. Raven fell backwards onto the floor, her left arm burning up as if it was touching hell itself. She screamed and scrunched her shirt up with her right hand, not that it released the pain. She examined her arm sleeve and red began to spread in a circle. Blood dripped from her mouth, where she'd bitten her lip. She heard stomps running up stairs and she rolled behind her bed.

She watched the still figure standing in the middle of her doorpost. The boots slowly came closer towards the broken window, which was in front of her.

He stopped and reached over to pick up the rifle. When he'd come close, he noticed two drops of blood on the wooden floor. He picked his head up slightly and saw a slit-eyed girl crouching beside the bed.

Raven rammed him into her banister, knocking down the lamp and mirror. The man came down on her head with the butt of the gun. She backed up and the floor shook beneath her. His foot connected with her chest and she slammed into the wall. He flung himself at her, just as she pulled out a stiletto. She drove it into his skull and his immobile body collapsed on her. Raven barely managed to drag herself out from underneath his weight.

When she stood, another person stood in the doorway. He saw his friend's blood sprayed all over her shirt. "Bitch!" He charged towards her. She felt her back press against the wall.

His head dropped to the ground, followed by his body. Michonne shook the blood off of her sword and took hold of Raven's hand. Michonne scooped up the sniper and impatiently tugged her out of the room. "C'mon, we need to get out of here."

Raven jerked away. "What? No! No, I'm not giving up- I'm not leaving."

Michonne was not kidding around. She strutted towards the girl. "We need to leave!" Michonne lurched to take hold of her, but Raven ducked under her, ready to continue fighting. Michonne latched onto her backpack and clutched her shoulders violently. "Wake up!"

Raven gasped in pain and she hastily released her. Her hands came back wet with blood. Her left shoulder was bleeding through her shirt. Michonne's tone changed slightly. "Your arm… You can't fight like this-"

Raven drew her two blades. "Watch me." She sprinted from Michonne and jumped down the stairs.

Beth was struggling with a man who had a knife to her throat. She was using all her strength to keep the sharp point away from her skin. A knife stuck his wrist and he doubled over in pain. While he cursed and yelled, Beth retrieved his fallen knife and dug it into his neck. She rarely caught a glimpse of Raven, who ripped out her stiletto from his hand. She passed right by her and ran towards the front door. Lyra, whose white coat of fur was splattered red, joined her side.

She jumped over the broken would and specks of glass. She reached the porch and saw dusty air hovering over the battlefield. Carl and Rick were still holding off as many people as they could, but at opposite sides of the porch.

Why had they not realized people entering the front door? And where the hell was Carol? Her grip on her knives hardened. She whistled a note and Lyra snarled her teeth. Raven dove into the dust cloud. Her eyes would only be open for a few seconds before they teared up.

Lyra's thunderous bark rang in her right ear. Immediately, Raven lunged right. She smacked into a woman and they pummeled each other to the ground. Her two blades pierced into the woman's eyes. Raven was on her feet again, not the slightest bit phased. Lyra's barks sounded again. Raven charged at whatever she saw first, which happened to be legs. She cleanly sliced them off and the guy screamed in a hoarse voice. She quickly plunged a blade into his forehead to end his misery. Maybe I should've left him, so that he could suffer along with me. Her conscience whispered.

The barks were ringing for a while, but she didn't hear it. What snapped her out of it was the sight of Lyra dragging her jaw into a crying man's face. She ran over to her dog when something latched onto her hand.

Raven stumbled backwards and shook her hand violently. Then she saw it was a boy wearing a sheriff hat. "Carl…" She whispered with disbelief. She couldn't believe he'd stepped over the porch. His face was now sliced up and dirty.

He tugged her hand along with him as they and Lyra ran back into the house.

"Carl, let go. I need to get back there." Raven pleaded. "They're gonna destroy this house if I don't stop them." Her voice cracked and she tried planting her feet.

For a second they stopped moving. Then the realization hit her. She looked into her living room, the couches were toppled over and the piano was cracked in two. None of the windows had glass anymore. Several bodies piled up in every room. Her knees watered and so did her eyes.

"I'm so sorry." Carl's voice said softly, his head pressed onto hers. Raven's knives almost slipped out of her grip. She felt like her pre-apocalypse self resurfacing. She was lost and terrified. She was losing a part of her life right before her eyes.

Carl pulled her down the stairs and Lyra raced with them. A man was breaking down one of the doors, when he heard them coming down the stairs. Carl buried a bullet into his brain. It was as if Raven hadn't heard a thing. He quickly led her to the garage door. He rapidly tapped the door in a certain rhythm.

Tyreese opened the door and shoved them inside. "Go, go, go!" They scrambled towards the car. Daryl and Rick were completely focused on the hood of the blue truck. Carol and Michonne were passing tools left and right. Beth opened the door and motioned for Carl and Raven to get in. Carl helped Raven into the car first.

Carl noticed with a pang in his chest. "Where's Judith?" Beth pointed to the front seat, where the baby sat. He felt cold relief after seeing his sister.

Suddenly, the hood of the car was shut. The group was piling into the car. One invader found his way into the garage. Daryl's arrow struck his head before he could do anything. Rick started the car and Daryl yanked the garage door up. Rick backed up fast, causing all of the passengers to lurch forwards. Bullets were already hitting the car.

As soon as the car was out, Daryl hopped into the truck. He was helped over by Beth as Rick spun the truck around. Tyreese put the barrel of his gun outside his window and fired at the invaders, trying to make a path for them to escape. Carl, Carol, Beth and Daryl did the same, struggling to aim while the truck rocked back and forth.

Suddenly the bullets ceased from the attackers. Raven glanced past Carl's window and saw the walkers wandering into the area. They surrounded the whole plain on all sides. The invaders began to retreat towards their vehicles, shouting obscenities.

An unfamiliar shaking of the ground arose. Beth braced herself against her passenger door. "Earthquake?" She breathed heavily with panic.

The tall, thick pine trees in the far distance tumbled over in a jagged line. A horrifying uproar, ten times the volume of Lyra's bark, echoed amongst the trees. The birds that had hidden in the forest for years fled in fear.

An eight foot tall monster was charging on all fours. It unknowlingly trampled over walkers, sending some flying. Its feet stomped over the invader's trucks and the blood of the squashed people sprayed outwards. The thudding of the earth shook everything and Rick slammed his foot on the gas.

They sped out of the gate a second before the monster knocked it away. Raven stared with horror as it picked up human bodies, dead and alive, and ripped their flesh in its teeth. It couldn't be…another kind of infected. Raven couldn't get the thought out of her mind. It doesn't even look human!

Someone inside the car was sputtering curses, but Raven didn't turn to see who it was. She was watching her home, now chipped and shattered, getting further away. She was watching the walkers tear people to shreds on her front lawn. She watched the giant walker crushing the invaders in its palms. Several remaining invaders ran into her home to protect themselves from the hordes. The pack of bodies trampled through the windows.

Everything that Raven never thought would happen happened.

Before they got too far, Raven rummaged through her backpack. She plucked out her Last Resort. It was a loaded grenade launcher. She rubbed her finger over it and took a deep breath.

Abruptly, she busted a car door open and rolled out, feeling a tear in her shoulder.

She ignored Carl's shouts as she aimed at the biggest herd of walkers. She squeezed the trigger and the first grenade exploded along with a truck. Blood rained over the plain and the crumpled, flaming car rolled on top of more walkers and humans. The large walker let out a screech and angrily charged in her direction.

She aimed her second grenade at the body of the monster. The next thing she knew bits of its meat dispersed in midair. It collapsed onto the ground, immobile at last.

Raven exhaled a breath she held in for a long time. She got up and thought about leaving right then and there.

But for a moment, she watched strangers die and get torn apart on her own property. Her house was in shreds, tiny flickering flames becoming visible, and her iron fence was lodged into the top floor.

This was the last time she'd be able to see her house. And this was how she saw it. If she'd ever pass by again, she didn't want to see a single block of wood standing. She couldn't quite grasp the reason why, but the working part of her mind told her to do it.

For the last time, she pointed the launcher at her home. Raven's memories of family that hadn't crossed her mind in forever were already beginning to overwhelm her. But she pulled the trigger anyway.

And in that second, the Shiva house was no more. Ashes of pictures, furniture, clothes, flooring- everything was in the air, making it hard for Raven to breath, see and think. She watched through slit, red eyes as her house crumpled to the ground. Her body was numb and she found herself kneeling on the ground.

A walker dropped beside her head, a bullet hole in its ear. How she wished that bullet hit her's. Arms scooped her up and carried her back to the car. More hands dragged her into the car and she felt her face press against someone's shirt as the cark jerked forwards. The barks of a dog at her side were all she heard before she fell into a black void.

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That's a wrap on the Shiva house, folks. Next chapter will be the last one. I'm still debating on whether I should continue the story, but I have an ending planned out. Thanks for reading and reviewing as always :)

~Beanie Wayland