++++++ I do not own the Walking Dead or any affiliated characters apart from my OC's ++++++

Thirteen

I was having an insanely fantastic dream when I was woken up by two screaming children. Rubbing my eyes I sat up to see Sophia and Jade shaking me and screaming for me to get up, that something was wrong.

Grabbing my sidearm, I headed outside with the girls, my first stop was the Jeep where I loaded my rifle. When I saw the group armed and all assembled around near the barn and Shane was heading towards Rick and Herschel. The two men had two walkers chained like pets-stupid I know-but the way Shane was holding himself-something bad was gonna happen.

"Sophia, Jade, get Carl and you run into the house," I ordered them. I knelt down in front of the girls. "You find somewhere to hide-the attic-somewhere high and you come out for nothing except me. Jade?"

"Three knocks, Aunty Jay," she answered me.

I patted her head and they took off running towards the house.

A gun shot rang out across the farm and eight years of instinct and training kicked in. I bolted across the field towards the men and got there just as Shane shot at the walker a second time. He shot the walker in the head, killing it. Shane was preaching some shit about a living breathing human not being able to walk away from being shot.

A living breathing human wouldn't be able to walk away from his knee being injured either. I struck Shane in the side of the right knee and kicked the back of left sending him to the ground. Kicking his sidearm away, I held the Winchester up against his head and stared down the barrel. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Walsh?" I asked him.

"You best not be pointing that Robin Hood shit at me," Shane growled.

"I'm not," I sneered. "It's a rifle, a Winchester Model 70 actually. You're a cop, you should know these things."

Shane lashed out but I managed to jump away in time. "You're dead!" he warned me, not caring of his surroundings any more.

I reserved a special place in hell for people who try and add witty remarks into combat. This is a fight, not a national debate. Yes I had done it with Rick yesterday but we were mucking around. I raised an eyebrow at him and waited for his supposed life ending move.

"PJ what are you doing?" Rick asked me.

"I was just as pissed when I found out there were walkers in the barn," I answered, not taking my eyes off Shane. "But this is Herschel's place and it's up to him. I'm not saying I agree but we're guests on this farm. Shane, take you're king of the hill attitude somewhere else. Or are you just trying to prove yourself a better leader to get back forbidden fruits?"

Shane lunged at me-I admit that I did indeed provoke him with that last forbidden fruits comment but I was in a bit of a mood. I knocked Shane in the chin with the butt of the rifle and swung it around to point it at him once more.

"PJ! Shane! Stop it!" Rick yelled at the two of us.

Neither Shane nor I wanted to listen.

"You're gonna regret that," Shane warned me.

I held my ground.

"You were out there for two months on your own!" Shane argued with me. "Zero tolerance for walkers! You of all people should know that. You've been here for three days and you wanted nothing to do with the group, suddenly you're stepping up and being part of the group." He shook his head, "if you want to be a part of this group than maybe you should think about what those walkers will do when they get loose and rip apart the people you care about! It will be your fault if Ebony and Jade die! You can help us!"

I punched Shane in the face and he just went for me. There was no fluidity to his movement, just wild punches, like he wasn't even thinking about what he was doing. The look in his eyes was that of a wild man-he wanted to hurt me.

I was down with that.

I dropped my weapons and struck Shane in the back where his left kidney was. Shane groaned and stumbled forwards. He punched me in the ribs, knocking the wind out of me, I felt my stitches pull and gritted in pain. I grabbed his arm and elbowed him in the face before kicking the back of his knee. Shane fell to the ground, I whipped out a knife in my boot and held it up against his throat.

"See now we know what kind of man you really are," I whispered in his ear. I looked up at Herschel, "you're misguided, keeping walkers in the barn, thinking that it will keep you safe. It won't. I have half a mind to give Shane my gun and let him take them all out. I'm a soldier, that's in my nature to kill. It's in your nature to heal and you think you can heal them. But you can't." I stepped back, giving Shane the opportunity to get to his feet. "Herschel, take a look at what you are doing…those walkers in the barn have got to go. You want them to get out? Because if they do it's not a simple bite. Beth, Maggie, Patricia-they will be ripped apart. Ebony and my rabbit are here and if anything happens to them, I will break your legs and feed you to the walkers like you've been feeding them chickens."

Shane stood up. "Rick-you can't be trying to save them just because Herschel says so. Look at what happened to Amy, to Jim…walkers killed them, they could have killed Sophia. They're not ill-they're dead."

"They're infected," I whispered. I shook my head, "think of it as a swarm of ants, devouring everything in its path. Herschel, the way this group is going-it's not going to be long before the fuse is lit and there will be no way to stop it. Kill the walkers now whilst we have the ammo."

"My wife and my son are in that barn," Herschel objected.

"They're dead," Shane reminded him. "When they came back they probably tried to take a chunk out of you or the girls. It's time to end that." Shane spun around and walked off towards the group, picking up his gun on the way through.

I stared at Rick and Shane. "Shane's going to rile everyone up, but he's right. The walkers are a threat." I grabbed my weapons and followed Shane, Rick yelled at Herschel to take his walker, possibly to try and stop Shane. The group looked on, not knowing what to do. Ebony and Carol were searching for Jade and Sophia, I pointed to the house and they mouthed their thanks at me.

Shane had a look in his eyes that I'd seen any times before, and that was the look of a man who was about to do something really dumb. "Enough risking our lives living next to a bran of things that are trying to kill us!" he yelled, rallying everyone up. "Enough! Rick it ain't like it was before!"

Rick glared at Shane.

"Now if you want to live, if you want to survive, you have to fight for it!" he shouted at the collective. "I'm talking about fighting! Right here! Right Now!"

"Herschel! Herschel, take the stick!" Rick yelled as Shane ran to the barn. Shane found an axe leaning up against the barn wall and started striking at the lock. "Listen to me man please! Take it now!"

Herschel was frozen in place, he had been the whole time.

"Shane that's enough!" I yelled at him. Not know what to do. All I could do was aim at him and hope to god I didn't have to fire. Ebony had never seen me kill a human being before and I hoped that she would never have to.

Everyone was shouting as Shane struck at the lock. Over and over again he hit until everything started to give way.

Eventually the lock gave way.

Shane through the wooden slat aside and hit the top of the door a couple of times before walking away from the door. He pulled his gun out and aimed it at the door.

I turned the riffle away from the back of Shane's head and trained it on the door. "Ebony, Carol! Go to the house with the kids! Take Lori!" I roared at her. Behind me I heard them take off towards the house.

All the rest of us did was wait for the first walker to emerge from the barn.

I glanced at Shane as I advanced forward, Andrea, Daryl and T-Dog joined me.

Then all hell broke loose.

Honestly, it felt like I was back in Afghanistan with my unit, fighting our way through some of the more dangerous desert regions.

We continued firing until there wasn't a walker standing, all you could hear…was silence.

Awkward, uncomfortable silence.