Wellll, here we go. Where it all kicks off. This one is gonna be a long one!
Callie's POV
The group has arrived back from the shooting range, Carl and Maya are looking in good spirits, Lori and Rick were having a heated conversation. Harriett and Summer were looking nervous.
Dale approaches her. "Can we talk for a moment?" He asks her and she notices Shane look at Dale with a deadly look. He notices her watching him before he stomps off.
She nods her head and they go a little aways from the group. "What's happened with Shane?" She asks the man who looks at her curiously.
"What do you mean?" He skirts around the question and she gives him a look.
"Well, he was looking at you like he'd kill you. So what's he done that made you confront him?" She knew Dale wouldn't be an asshole for no reason. He always has a voice. She it means Shane has done something that upset Dale to confront him about it and now Shane looks pissed off.
"I believe that he sacrificed Otis." Dale announces and Callie blinks at him. It was something that she believed before, he turns up with the dead guy's gun. And Rick's gun, the colt that Rick gave Otis. If they were really down to pistols, why would Shane have the pistol that Otis was using?
"And you confronted him about it." Callie states and Dale looks at her dumbfounded for a moment before he put it together.
"You know? You know that Shane sacrificed Otis?" He asks her, hope in his eyes. She guesses that Dale wants Shane to leave the group.
"I worked it out. He shows up with Rick's pistol that he gave to Otis. I remember that. He couldn't get his story straight at the funeral and he had a look in his eyes." She explains to Dale who looks thoughtful. "I know it's not a lot to go by but-
Dale shakes his head. "No, it's not. It's enough. We just need to tell Rick. But it needs to come from you."
Callie blinks at him. "Why me? He's not going to believe me. Shane is his best friend."
"If we don't do something, Shane is going to do something else, and it'll get someone hurt or worse." Dale reminds her and she nods in agreement.
"I'll keep an eye on him. But I'll think about. If he gets out of hand, I'll tell Rick then." Callie promises Dale who accepts the answer.
After Dale leaves, she almost cries out in frustration. What the hell is she suppose to do? Shane knows that Dale is onto him? But what else does Dale know to get Shane to threaten him?
"Hey." A voice breaks her out of her thoughts and she sees Rick. She sits down by the tree and he gestures to the ground next to her. "Can I?"
She nods her head and he smiles.
"Did you know we have another brother?" He breaks the silence and she looks at him, seeing tears in his eyes.
"His name is Jeffrey. The middle child. I haven't seen him in years. We had an argument a while back, because he wanted to travel around the world before he settled down, but I didn't agree with it. Dad didn't agree with it. I told him he'd never be able to afford a life if he travelled. But he did anyway, he went to Europe. Spain, I think. But now I wish I could see him." A few tears fall down his face. "I wish I can apologise to him about the things I said."
"Do you think he's still alive?" Callie asks him. In a way, she hoped to meet him, but that was very slim.
Rick wipes his eyes, drying them. "I hope so."
They sat in silence, watching the camp not far away, she could see Lori watching them.
"I'm sorry." She sobs and she feels his eyes on her. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. Or actually speaking during that phone call 5 years ago. We could have met a lot sooner and have a life together."
"I don't blame you." He says but she still cries. "Hey, look at me. I don't blame you, Callie." His hand was on her shoulder, rubbing soothing circles. "I blame mom and dad. They should have told me years ago. Maybe we would have found each other a lot sooner. But, I guess this road was the one that fate decided on."
Callie snorts. "It's a shit road."
"Yeah."
It was the next day, they survived the night from the walkers in the barn. Her and Rick were on good terms, and he was trying to find a way to tell his family about her. Jeremy was happy that the pair of them made up.
Rick and Lori were having a hushed conversation, her hands were all over him and her eyes connect to hers. She narrows her eyes and Callie almost laughed. She finds it funny that Lori thinks she's after her husband, even though they're brother and sister. Yeah, she didn't know. But it was ironic coming from Lori, who has cheated on her husband.
"Um, guys." Glenn speaks and Callie pales knowing what he's going to say. Oh for the love of god
A few people look at him curiously but majority are still eating.
"So..." he pauses and looks at the farm, where Callie could see Maggie, then to Dale who nods his head, then he turns to her, she nods her head. They need to know this. "the barn is full of walkers."
The group stills and there was a mixture of emotions, scared, sickened, horrified, and most importantly anger. Well, from Shane.
"What?" He hisses and Glenn looks nervous.
"The barn is full of walkers." Glenn repeats and the group hurriedly gets up.
"Show me." Shane growls and they hurry to the barn. It was like a horde of walkers, all of them moving, except they were running.
Shane approaches the barn while the rest of them kept a distance between them and the barn. He looks inside for a few moments before he jerked away.
He gets in Rick's face. "You cannot tell me you're all right with this." He points at the barn and Rick glares at him.
"No I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land."
"This is our lives!" Shane snaps and Callie glares at Shane.
Glenn hisses. "Lower your voice."
Andrea shakes her head. "We can't just sweep this under the rug."
Amy scoffs. "Why? You want to shoot all of 'em? Your gun skills have been amazing so far." She hisses.
"Shut up, Amy." Andrea scowls at her sister.
Jeremy stands by Amy. "Andrea, please."
"Enough." Callie tells them and they quieten down.
"It ain't right. Not remotely." T-Dog puts in.
Shane starts to pace which makes Callie anxious. Her and Jeremy meet eyes.
He turns to Rick and herself. "Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go."
"Are you serious?" Callie gives him a look. They've still got to find Sophia.
"Now, we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time-
"We can't go." Rick interrupts him.
Shane snarls. "Why, Rick? Why?"
"Because my daughter is still out there." Carol voices. They almost forgot she was there because of how quiet she is. She's like a mouse.
"Okay." Shane breathes, covering his mouth to pause. It almost sounded like a laugh coming out. "Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility-
"Shane." Jeremy snaps, cutting him off. This was not the time for that discussion.
Rick had a crazy look in his eye. "We're not leaving Sophia behind."
Daryl steps in. "I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago."
Shane starts laughing. "You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll." He puts emphasis on the word.
Daryl looks pissed. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about." He snaps.
"I'm just saying what needs to be said here." Shane starts to yell and Rick and Callie start to step in. "You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours." He starts looking around at the group, she guesses he was trying to rally them.
Lori was staring at Shane like he was insane. Josie was holding tightly onto Maya and Connor was looking concerned. Carol was starting to look upset. Damien was holding Daisy, Richie was holding Harriett. Tabby and Glenn have backed up a little away from the man. Dale, however, was staring at Shane the exact same way. Callie met his eyes. He was right. He's gonna do something and it will get someone killed.
"Shane, stop." Rick demands, but it fell on deaf ears.
Shane whirls back around to Daryl, causing Callie to back a few steps since he was in her face. "Let me tell you something, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction." He yells.
And that's when Daryl lunges and Rick pushes him back.
Callie pushes Shane back as he goes to lunge. "Shane, stop!" She shouts.
It all blurred together, the yelling, the fighting.
"Get off!" Shane roars and pushes Callie away from him, she falls to the floor.
Rick gives one final push to Shane. "Back off!" He roars.
Jeremy grabs her hand and hoists her up. She glared at Shane, who looked slightly nervous for a second before Lori pushes him again.
"Get your hands off me." He hisses, pointing a finger at her.
Rick breathes deeply. "Now just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out."
Shane whirls around again and Jeremy steps in between the pair. "What are you gonna figure out?!" He roars.
"Stop!" Jeremy yells, pushing him back.
"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land."
"Get off me." Shane sneers at Jeremy and Jeremy steps forward.
"Make me, rapist." He hisses back and the group falls silent.
Rick looks at Shane. "What the hell is he talking about?"
Callie sees Lori looking uncomfortable and about to start crying.
Shane almost looks frightened. "I don't know, man." He almost smiles which scares Callie.
Dale took that as his queue. "Hershel sees those things as people... sick people... his wife, his stepson."
Rick turns to him. "You knew?"
He nods his head. "Yesterday, I talked to Hershel."
That was not the answer Shane would have liked. "And you waited the night?"
"I thought we could survive one more night. We did. I was waiting till this morning to say something but Glenn wanted to be the one. Callie wanted to say something yesterday." All eyes went to her.
"Callie?" Rick looked at her betrayed.
She nods her head. "Yeah. I wanted to say yesterday but Dale wanted to wait."
"He gambled it. And he was right." Harriett speaks out and they all looked at her.
Okay, she didn't know that she knew about it.
"Great, does everyone know about it?" Shane scoffs. Shane begins to laugh. "The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or no." He shouts and that's when the doors of the barn start to move.
They heard them and the group backs away nervously.
Tabby's POV
She didn't know what to do. On one hand, she really liked it at the farm, she could heal people. And between her and Hershel, everyone will be fine. Hershel offered her a place to stay since she's not a loose cannon or have gotten into anyone's business. She earned her place. But on the other hand, she really likes the group, she's got a place in the group as their doctor. Should she stay at the farm and leave the group when they get kicked out? Or will she go with them? And be at risk of getting killed but being there to save the group if one of them gets hurt.
Andrea was looking through the gun bag to find her gun.
"Are you okay?" She asks her, noticing her silence.
She nods her head. "Yeah. I hope we are able to stay here."
Andrea smiles. "Yeah. Me too. But the barn is a danger to the group."
Tabby bites her lip. "Yeah."
"Well, you're close with Hershel. Maybe you could persuade him that we can clear it out." Andrea points out to her but she shakes her head.
"No, I'm not doing that. He sees those things as people. His family is in there. He would think we're trying to murder them."
Andrea scoffs. "No, you don't want to risk your chance of staying here. Let me guess, you have a cushioned seat and open arms welcoming you while you do nothing. However, people like me, Shane, Rick and hell even Callie are doing everything for the group and we don't get anything."
"I haven't got a cushioned seat." She repeats, but lies about it. She knew Andrea could tell she was lying by just staring at her.
"Yeah, right."
Tabby falls silent in guilt. It was true. She does have a seat at the Greene's table. But her doing nothing? She helped operate on Carl, helped stitch T-Dog, Connor, and Daryl. All Andrea has done is argue with everyone and shoot Daryl, and sitting on the RV all day looking for walkers.
"Andrea's looking for you." She hears Glenn say.
"Thank you, Glenn." Dale responds. Great, another person Andrea will argue with.
It falls silent for a moment. "Any chance you got an extra hat?"
"Nope."
Andrea manages to find her clip for her gun and cocks it, while a hatless Dale walks in the RV. He gives Andrea a look.
"Going off with Rick, Callie, and Jeremy to find Sophia." Andrea explains herself.
"I thought he was talking with Hershel." Dale mutters.
Andrea nods her head. "He is. We're gonna go after." She tucks her gun in the waistband of her jeans. "I'm headed to the barn in the meantime. Shane wants a watch duty down there."
Dale narrows his eyes at Shane's name. "Does Rick and Callie?"
Andrea gives him a look. "Why wouldn't they?"
"Are you only taking yours?" Dale skirts around the question and Tabby narrows her eyes at him. What was he up to? "I don't know what's going on with you and him."
Andrea raises her brow. "Him?"
"Shane." Dale answers.
"Dale." She shakes her head, flabbergasted.
He raises his hands. "It's not my business. All that matters to me is that you..." he pauses and she stares at him. "You May not really know him."
"We don't need to do this. You and I are finally...
"It's important." Dale interrupts her.
"I get it. You don't like him." Andrea says.
Dale shakes his head at the girl. "It's not that."
Andrea fully turns to him at that. "Then what is it?"
Dale falls silent for a moment before his voice turns low. "Is that how you want to be? Like him?"
Andrea pulls a face. "He's not a victim."
"You don't know him."
"Dale, I need you to stop. You spend so much time watching me and Amy, looking out for the both of us."
"You want to beat me up anytime I show any concern." Dale finishes for her and she stares at him dumbfounded. "Go ahead. I'm done."
"I don't beat you up, Dale." She denies and Tabby pulls a face. "I'm okay, really. Things are... different."
Andrea takes her leave and Tabby couldn't believe Andrea. Dale seems really worried about Shane.
It falls silent for a moment.
"You okay?" Glenn calls down and Tabby laughs at her best friends antics.
Dale swallows hard. "Yeah. You mind running and getting me some water? I just... I need a second."
"You'll keep watch?" Glenn asks.
Dale just stares at the bag of guns, he hasn't even noticed her at all. That was normal. No one ever noticed her except for Glenn. She does like Glenn, he's cute, funny, hot. Wait, what? No she couldn't have a crush on Glenn. He's her best friend. They know things about each other. She knows he likes pickles on their own, he would like to take them out of his burger to eat as a side snack. He has two sisters, Angela and Marie. Marie was the oldest, she was 25, then Glenn at 23, then Angela at 21. The three were inseparable, playing games at a young age, playing Dungeons and Dragons for hours on end, drinking red bull to help them function. Oh fuck. She has a crush on Glenn.
"Dale?" Glenn calls out and Dale snaps out of his trance.
"Yeah."
That's what he needed because they heard Glenn climb off the RV and head towards the house.
"You don't want a glass of water, do you?" She asks and Dale jumps.
"How long have you been there?" He asks her.
She shrugs. "The whole time." She sees him eyeing the bag of guns and she knew what he was up to. "I want to keep the peace between our group and Hershel. If we hide them, maybe Hershel would reconsider us staying?" She offers and he nods his head.
They both quickly left the RV with the bag of guns.
Callie's POV
Her and Jeremy were by the truck, looking over the map before Rick and Andrea came over.
"Anything?" She asks Rick who shakes his head. Well talking to Hershel was a bust.
"What have we got?" Rick asks the pair, who have been there for 10 minutes going over the routes that Sophia could have taken.
"Well, she could have gone north to the house that me and Daryl found, then towards that little creek where she dropped her doll and it was brought down current to here." Callie explains to them.
She looks to Jeremy who nods. "Or. She could have walked down to the area herself, dropped her doll across and could have gone a little west." Jeremy explains to them.
"Towards the town?" Andrea asks.
He nods his head. "Yeah. We could search it today. You and Shane searched the housing estate East and came up with nothing."
Andrea looked slightly mad so Rick pointed at another area. "Also shows she could be moving this way South. If Sophia kept in that direction, she might have gotten out of the forest and into the farmland."
Callie sighs. "It gives us more grids to search if she went that way. Maybe she would have holed up in one of them. They would still have food there too."
Rick nods his head. "Yeah. So we take 74 up to Ivy Road, then push down South on foot through the forest till we hit Christopher, go East a couple of miles and then double back." He explains to them and they nod. It sounded like a solid plan.
"Rick. Callie." Hershel says and they turn to him.
"Hershel. We just have our guns out because we're gonna go look for Sophia." Rick explains to him.
He nods his head. "Before you do that, I could use both of your help with something."
"Count me in." Andrea says.
Hershel shakes his head. "Thank you, but I just need Rick and Callie."
Andrea knew not to argue and looked at the two leaders. "I'll be down at the barn keeping watch until you're ready."
The three were walking in the woods, following Jimmy. They had only been walking for a short amount of time, she hopes it will be worth it though, because they're losing light and they have a plan to find Sophia.
"Here we are."
They came through the clearing to a creek, and two walkers stuck in the mud. Holy shit.
"The silt on the bottom is like glue. You just sink in." Hershel explains to them and notices the looks on their faces. That's when she puts it together with the tools that Jimmy has.
Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me.
"That's Lou Bush."
"You knew him?" Rick asks him.
"Lou as in Louise. She has a farm up the road. Sweet corn mostly. Worked at Hapman's bar on weekends. The man, I don't know him, but the coveralls, I've been to where he worked." He explains to them and finally looks at them. They were just staring at the walkers. "How many have you killed?"
"Too many to count." Rick answers.
"I lost count a long time ago." Callie says honestly and Hershel nods his head.
"Can you stop?" He asks them but they remain silent. "There are people out there who haven't been in their right minds, people who I believe can be restored."
"You're not talking about the walkers, are you?" Rick asks him but Hershel stays silent, giving them the answer. He sees them as killers, not the walkers.
Callie feels sorry for the old man, not seeing the world like they do.
"It doesn't matter if you see them as human beings anymore. But if you and your people are going to stay here, that's how you're gonna have to treat them." Hershel states. "My farm, my barn, my say."
And there it was. Their ticket to stay.
"We're taking them to the barn, aren't we?" Callie dreads the answer and Hershel nods.
"Yeah."
"Can I ask why?" She needs to know before they agree on staying.
"For when the military comes, when we have time for a cure. They'll be cured, and my wife and step son will come back home." Hershel says hopefully and Callie looks at Rick.
"Okay. We've got a deal." Rick smiles and for the first time today, Hershel looked happy at the pair.
Tabby's POV
Her and Dale took turns carrying the bag of guns. They have been in the forest for a little while and finally came to a good spot.
"Here." Dale says and she drops the bag. They used garbage bags to protect the guns and was planning on hiding it in the shrubbery. They were tying it together when they hear someone.
"Man, this is a good hiding place." They both turn to Shane, who looked menacing around 10feet from them. "We ain't been in the swamps much, huh?" Shane cockily says and Tabby takes a step back terrified. She's never seen this side of Shane. His eyes fall to her. "I didn't expect this pussy crap from you. You're sly aren't ya? Getting Hershel on your side, play the dead parents card, the orphan card, getting what you want. Getting your place to stay here. Yet, you turn your back on the group by hiding stuff that will help save them."
There were tears in her eyes.
Dale takes a step in front of her. "Imagine if you applied your tracking skills to finding Sophia."
That seems to distract Shane from her and Shane gives him a look. "How about you give me that bag, huh?"
"I'm not gonna do that." Dale argued and Shane clenches his jaw.
"Yeah, you are, Dale." Shane pauses before continuing. "Unless, well, you do have that rifle over your shoulder."
Dale puts a hand on his gun and Shane narrows his eyes.
"Dale, this is going too far." Tabby says.
Shane laughs. "I would listen to the girl."
"You gonna shoot me like you did Otis?" Dale asks and Tabby looks between them confused. "Tell another story?"
"What is he on about it?" Tabby asks Shane. Shane killed Otis? She couldn't believe it. Shane is a good man. It has the apocalypse changed him already?
Shane chuckles, ignoring Tabby. "No, man. Hell, when you really look at it in the cold light of day, you're pretty much dead already. Just give me the gun. Do it now." He demands, getting closer to the pair.
"You think this is gonna keep us safe?" Dale asks, gesturing to the gun.
Shane nods. "I know it is."
"Rick is trying to get Hershel-
"Dale, shut up. Just shit up and give me the gun." Shane demands again.
"Am I gonna have to shoot you? Do I have to kill you? Is that what it's gonna take?" Dale grabs his gun and points it to Shane.
"Dale, please lower the gun." Tabby begs him.
Shane steps in front of him then, the barrel of the gun touching his shirt and he presses into it. Tabby was sure Shane has gone insane. He chuckles. "Yeah. That's what it's gonna take."
Dale realises that Shane is completely honest and lowers the gun. "This is where you belong, Shane."
Shane was amused by him. "How's that, Dale?"
"This world, what it is now, this is where you belong. And I may not have what it takes to last for long, but that's okay." He stops and grabs the gun bag. "'Cause at least I can say when the world goes to shit, I didn't let it take me down with it." He practically shoves the bag into Shane.
Shane smiles. "Fair enough."
He takes the bag and walks away leaving them in the forest.
They both stood there, a little shaken and she bursts into tears.
Jeremy's POV
"We're never gonna find her, are we?" Amy asks and Jeremy sighs. They were slowly walking around the property and coming to the end of it. He hopes he's not late for the run to find Sophia. But he wanted to talk with Amy. He feels like he can't breathe when he's not around her.
"Hopefully we will." Jeremy responds.
He could tell something was on her mind.
"What's on your mind?" Jeremy asks, pulling them to a stop.
"What are we gonna do about the barn?" She asks him, her arms circling her stomach.
"We do nothing. It's not our call. Rick and Callie are talking to Hershel." He tries but realises it's not getting through to her. "Hey, we'll be okay. We'll be safe."
She looks back at him with tears in her eyes. "The last time I thought we were safe, Aubrey died. I can't go through that again."
He pulls her into a hug.
Callie's POV
After some time, a lot of swearing by Callie and Rick much to Hershel's dismay. They managed to wrangle one loop around the walker, but the walker was agitated, and it got loose. Hershel had his a while ago. He was just there. Jimmy was, well he was enjoying the show.
"You just need to loop it around its neck." Hershel says, a little struggle in his voice wrangling the female walker around.
"Yeah we know." Rick and Callie respond grumpily and Callie slips in the mud. Rick bursts out laughing at her.
"Oh fuck off." She tells him before they carry on.
They wrapped it around its neck and tightened it.
"There that's it! Now lead it."
She turns to him and quickly scurries out of the mud away from the walker. "What?"
"Lead it. Follow what Jimmy's doing." Hershel instructs and she sees Jimmy keeping at a distance but clapping to get his walker's attention.
She mimics his actions, and the walker that Rick's holding lunges and he tenses, his hands tightening around the pole as he is lured out of the mud.
"This feels a lot like the Pied Piper." Callie says and Rick nods in agreement.
Jeremy's POV
Jeremy approaches the house, to check in with Josie about Connor's leg, apparently it was in good condition but he still has to be off it for another couple of weeks.
That's when he notices everyone looking worried, and people approached him and Amy. Andrea noticed the pair gilding hands but this time, Jeremy doesn't let go or run away from her. He's a big boy now.
"What's all this?" Daryl asks, pointing at the bag of guns, Shane is carrying. A shotgun already in his hand.
"You with me, man?" He asks quickly and Daryl nods before taking the gun. "Time to grow up." He goes to Andrea. "You already got yours?"
She narrows her eyes. "Yeah, where's Dale and Tabby?" She asks.
"He's on his way." Shane responds vaguely and Jeremy's brows raise at that. "Thought we couldn't carry. We can and we have to. Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was suppose to be safe. But now we know it ain't." He looks at Glenn. "How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" He holds out a gun to him.
Glenn looked conflicted for a second but one look at Maggie and he grabbed the rifle.
"That's it. Can you shoot?" He looks at Maggie and Noa.
"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight." Maggie warns him.
"I can shoot." Noa speaks up and Shane grins in response before handing out a gun. She was always having arguments with her father. Callie did tell him that she did shoot a few walkers, which her father thought she killed people. She must be fed up of the circus.
"Noa." Maggie whispers, looking upset at her sister.
Carl steps in. "We have to stay, Shane."
Lori approaches the group. "What is this?" She asks and looks at Jeremy who shrugs.
"What's going on?" Josie asks, Connor was only on one crutch, and Maya was running next to Carl.
Shane kneels down in front of Carl and Maya. "We ain't going anywhere, okay? Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay, he... well he's gonna have to."
"Shane stop this before Hershel sees." Jeremy tries to step in but Amy holds him back. He turns to her wild eyed.
"He's right." She mutters and he lets go of her hand.
"Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right? Huh? Now I want you both to take a gun." He pauses and Carl looks hesitant but Maya backs away from Shane, clearly giving him the message. "You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go on, take the gun and do it."
That's what makes Lori pull Carl behind her, putting herself between him and Shane.
"Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make." Lori hisses at him. Shane looks ready to explode which makes Jeremy take a step.
The moment is broken when T-Dog blurts out. "Oh shit." They all turn to what he was looking out. That's when they see Callie and Jimmy luring walkers, with Hershel and Rick holding them. What the hell was Callie doing?
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." He murmurs. His sister, is a maniac.
I want Callie to make some sort of mistake, which waiting to tell Rick about Shane is definitely one. One of the group should have told Rick long before the crazy Shane got loose. But I loved writing the convo between Rick and Callie, it was just wholesome. But also found it stupid that Dale hid the guns, imagine if Shane didn't find him?