Code: Survival, Season One

by I heart Lyoko

The Lyoko Warriors take a vacation to the United States when a mysterious disease suddenly brings the dead back to life. Can the group possibly hope to survive in what remains of our civilization? Or will they fail and join THE WALKING DEAD? (OC/OC J/A U/Y O/S) *Story is currently under rewrites to eliminate old writing errors*

35. Shane's Solution

(Anne Marshall belongs to AquaDestinysEmbrace!)

(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko or any kind of names or brands that appear in this story. I do own all OCs unless specifically named as they appear above this message.)

(Thanks to AquaDestinysEmbrace for helping a bit with this chapter! You're awesome! :))

---

"Hey, fuckfaces! Any of you got my food yet or not?!"

The day after Aelita, Lee, and Rick had confronted Hershel in his home, everyone was still very much on edge about the walkers Hershel kept over in the barn. Not only that, but tensions between Shane and pretty much everyone else (especially with Yumi) were growing practically by each passing hour. Many people in the camp had lost count of how many arguments they've heard between Shane and Rick or Yumi over the last 24 hours. It was getting hard to keep Yumi and Shane from coming to blows.

Of course, the still-tied up Josh picked up on the newfound anger and tension that everyone felt, and being the psycho he was he kept trying to raise it as much as possible.

"Yo, assholes! I'm hungry!" Josh barked out loudly towards the camp before he started listing out his 'order.' "I want a number nine, and a number nine large!" he called out. "I want a number six with extra dip! I want a number seven, and I want two number forty-fives! One of them with cheese, and-"

Josh stopped yelling for food when he finally saw an angry Yumi approaching from the camp. She was holding a bowl of fresh soup in her hand which was so hot that it was almost boiling. Yumi was still incredibly pissed about that stuff which Shane said yesterday, she was still very furious and upset that she hadn't found Hiroki yet, so she was simply not going to deal with this psychopathic monster on top of all of that too.

Josh saw how angry Yumi looked, and foolishly he decided to try to egg her on as she approached him.

"Fucking finally. About time you showed up, woman." Josh grinned as the Japanese teen stopped and glared down at him. "So, you finally got me my food... any chance that you'd give me a bit of 'dessert' too?" Yumi watched him as he eyed her up, studying her curves. "Tell me, chink - do you come from the country that gives 'happy endings' to old white guys at the massage parlor, or do you come from the country that-"

Wordlessly, Yumi interrupted Josh by pouring the very hot soup straight onto his head. The psychopathic teen began to scream in agony as the extremely hot contents coated his face, head, and body, but Yumi didn't stay to watch the show. As Josh wailed and thrashed against the tree, Yumi walked back to camp as if nothing had happened. A few people here and there saw what had happened and they watched in a stunned silence.

Anne cringed deeply as she watched Josh wail and thrash, his whole face feeling like it was on fire thanks to what Yumi did to it. Anne didn't bother attempting to help her old childhood bully, and soon she left the camp so she could try to make herself useful somewhere on the farm. Anne really wanted to continue to contribute to the group even though she was supposed to try and take it easy after the search in Greenville put plenty of strain on her healing shoulder wound.

Lots of people have been trying to keep themselves occupied after they discovered what Hershel was hiding inside the barn. It was probably just some peoples way to cope with this horrible new danger until it could be dealt with. Anne was pretty certain that most of the people in the camp haven't slept too well since Glenn had told them what he found. She certainly knew that she hasn't...

When Anne saw some of the group busy moving crates around, she went to try and help them out. She picked one of the crates up, wincing a bit as she felt her wound act up again. She ignored the pain and she started to follow Dylan to where the crates were being dropped off as she tried holding onto her own crate. The thing was heavy as hell... what was in these things, rocks?

Dylan brought his crate out to where it needed to go. When he turned and saw Anne with another heavy crate, his eyes widened.

"Annie, what the hell are you doing?!" Dylan gasped, immediately feeling concerned.

"... Lifting a crate?" Anne paused, blinking as she turned her head towards him.

"But your arm! You can't be lifting heavy stuff like that! Carlos and Hershel said so!" Dylan protested to his friend.

Before Anne knew it, Dylan had already walked over and he took the crate from her hands. Anne's jaw fell from how overconcerned he was being right now, and a part of her couldn't help but feel a little bit insulted by what her best friend was doing. She didn't want to be treated like she was some helpless thing, she wanted to help the group!

"I'm fine, Dyl! I did okay on that supply run!" Anne protested.

"Yeah, but you didn't put any strain on your gunshot wound, did you?" Dylan retorted as he walked to set her crate with some others.

Anne's face fell as her hand went up to her shoulder wound, gently rubbing it. "Well... sure, it may have ached then and there..." she muttered. "But I don't think I did?"

Dylan deadpanned at her response. "Annie, just go sit down somewhere. We've got enough hands here."

"Dylan and I can handle this, Anne." Ulrich interjected into the conversation as he passed by them with a heavy crate.

"Yeah, you don't wanna risk hurting your arm." Odd agreed with his best friend as he helped Alex lift another crate nearby.

Anne sheepishly shrugged at his words. "... technically it was my shoulder, not my arm."

"You know what I mean." Odd deadpanned as he and Alex walked away, bringing the crate to where it needed to go right now.

As the others kept working, Anne walked with Dylan as he went to take a break for a few minutes. Having lifted ten or eleven of these crates which were so heavy that Dylan could only assume they were filled with a bunch of goddamned bricks, the break was well-earned. With Anne following close behind him, Dylan went back to the camp to get himself a bottle of water, and then he walked over to an overturned log nearby and he sat down against it to rest.

Feeling so overheated by the work combined by the muggy Georgia air, Dylan reached down and he took off his shirt in a desperate attempt to help cool himself down. Anne's eye widened and she blushed a deep red when she saw Dylan's chest muscles and his abs in the sunlight, but luckily her long hair helped hide her reaction pretty well. Anne looked away and tried to appear as casual as possible when Dylan turned his head to look at her.

Luckily, Dylan was so tired from the work that he didn't notice her reaction. "Annie, I get you want to help, but your shoulder is-"

"I'm fine, Dyl, seriously. I can help." Anne insisted again.

"But what about your shoulder wound?" Dylan asked with an expression of concern.

Anne looked determined to help regardless of her shoulder. "I can handle it."

Knowing that Anne wasn't going to drop this, Dylan reluctantly nodded at her and he gestured over to the crates, as if to say 'knock yourself out.' As Dylan finished up his rest and stood up to resume moving the crates, Anne bent down and picked one up. When Anne lifted the crate off the ground, she triumphantly turned to face her best friend and show him that she indeed could still be helpful despite her-

Ow.

... OW.

... FUCK, THAT STINGS.

Anne hissed as she felt a sudden pain shoot through her shoulder, causing her to immediately set the crate back down on the ground below. Anne grimaced and she rubbed her now-aching shoulder wound as Dylan approached her again, deadpanning after he witnessed what had happened to her.

"See what I mean, Annie?" Dylan said with a flat tone as he gestured up to her wound.

"... okay, you got me." Anne finally gave up, slouching her shoulders a bit while she held her throbbing one.

Dylan nodded, his face falling a bit as he saw how disheartened his friend was right now. "Annie, I know you want to help, but you just have to let your shoulder heal up first... Aelita's making progress but she's still healing up too, y'know."

Anne let out a sigh as she realized that Dylan had made a good point. She wouldn't be of much use to anyone on the farm if she didn't let her gunshot wound heal up the way it needed to. It was best to help in lesser ways until she could get back to stuff like heavy lifting again. Sensing that Anne had accepted the need to heal, Dylan smiled at her and he pulled her in for a tight hug. Anne blinked with surprise, and soon she returned it.

"Dyl, you know you're still shirtless, right?" they could hear Chase ask from close by.

Dylan and Anne's eyes widened as they hurriedly pulled apart from their hug, their faces both pale from shock and embarrassment. Anne's brain practically short-circuited as she realized how she had nuzzled against Dylan during their close hug, honestly having forgotten that he was shirtless. How the hell did she forget he wasn't wearing a shirt?! She felt like she should just dig a hole and hide in it for eternity until this feeling blows over.

All the while, Chase belly-laughed at her reaction and at Dylan's too, having seen his brother freeze up like how Jeremie used to do back at Kadic Academy. Anne squeaked when she could hear Rebecca herself laughing off in the distance, but as embarrassing as that was she was comforted to know that at least Dylan's girlfriend seemed to be taking what they just did in stride...

Eventually, Dylan and Anne calmed down, though their faces were still pretty red. Plus they knew that they'd have to relive this moment over and over again in the future since Chase would definitely joke about it. Go figure.

After the hilarity of the hug situation finally died away, Chase spoke up about Anne's desire to help out. "I know how you feel when it comes to your shoulder situation, Annie. Trust me." Chase smirked as he playfully held up the stump where his hand used to be. He then gestured over to the RV where his sister was right now. "'Y'know, Lita and I could use a little help with sorting through the ammo in the armory if you'd like to do that." he kindly offered.

Though she initially hesitated at the offer, Anne soon nodded in acceptance. "Yeah, I think I can lend a hand." she told him.

" ... was that supposed to be a bad pun or something?" Chase deadpanned, gesturing at his own lack of a hand again.

Anne cringed and she slapped her own forehead after she realized what she had said.

"Sorry..." Anne mumbled as she almost wished for a walker to take her out right now. Between what happened with Dylan and what had now happened with Chase, she certainly wouldn't be looking back on this day with any sense of fondness.

Luckily, Chase took her misspoken words in stride, and soon the two friends left Dylan and they walked off towards Dale's RV together. Dylan was relieved since he knew Anne couldn't hurt herself while sorting through ammo with Aelita and Chase. He just hoped that sorting through ammunition would be enough for Anne for now...

As Dylan turned to get back to moving crates, he finally saw that Rebecca had sneaked up on him while he was distracted and that she was now only a step or two in front of him. Dylan's eyes widened as his girlfriend stared him down, her arms crossed and with a very amused smirk on her face.

Rebecca struggled not to break out laughing. "So... you enjoy that hug, sweetie?" she joked.

---

"How the hell did this happen?"

Lori was pissed. Very pissed.

Earlier, Carl had gone into Dale's RV with the claim that he was looking for something for his mom. It seemed innocent enough to not be suspicious, but not long after that Carl asked Shane to teach him how to use a gun. Shane didn't want to teach him without permission from Rick and Lori, but he quickly noticed that Carl had a revolver on him. A stolen revolver which belonged to Daryl. When Lori found out, she was absolutely livid.

Right now, Lori kept the stolen gun close to her person as a reprimanded Carl sat only a short distance away. Some of the adults and some of the Lyoko Warriors were talking about it with her. Dale sighed at Lori's question and he gestured at himself.

"Well, it's my fault. l let him into the RV." Dale admitted to the worried mother. "He said he wanted a walkie, that you sent him for one."

"So on top of everything else, he lied." Lori shook her head in disbelief. "What's he thinking?" she wondered aloud.

Shane raised his hand to get her attention. "He wants to learn how to shoot. He asked me to teach him..." Shane told her and the others. "Now it's none of my business, but I'm happy to do it. It's your call." he offered.

Lori seemed incredulous at the suggestion. "Well, I'm not comfortable with it." she told him.

Though everyone at the camp could understand the concerns of a worried mother, everyone knew that Carl and the other children were going to need to learn to shoot sooner or later. With the world the way it was now, it was practically suicide if they didn't. Walkers didn't differentiate between adult meat and child meat, and Carl and the other kids wouldn't be able to defend themselves if a walker came for them. They needed training.

Rick sighed as he listened to his wife, remaining silent. His silence and the silence from Shane surprised Lori greatly. Her sheer worry for Carl blinded her to the possibility that they might have a legitimate point here about gun training...

"Oh, don't make me out to be the unreasonable one here..." Lori sighed before she turned to her husband. "Rick?"

"I know..." Rick said, understanding her worry. "l have my concerns too, but-"

"There's no 'but'! Two girls were just shot and he wants a gun?!" Lori interrupted him, incredulously.

"Lori, its better than him or the other kids being afraid of them. You know what things are like these days." Yumi stated to the mother.

"Yeah, exactly." Ulrich agreed with his girlfriend. "There are guns here in this camp for a reason. I know that you're concerned about your son, but Carl has to learn how to handle them safely. All of the kids need to." he reasoned.

Lori went silent for several moments as she crossed her arms, deep in thought. On one hand, Carl was her precious little boy. He was the person who she's dedicated her life towards keeping safe, healthy, and as happy as possible even in a world as terrible as this one was. And that was even before the end of the world. Carl was the person who she and Rick would gladly die for to ensure his safety, along with the new baby growing in her belly right now.

But on the other hand, those walkers out there didn't distinguish between adult meat and child meat. Even if they manage to convince Hershel to let the groups settle here on the farm permanently, she knew deep down that if Carl didn't learn how to keep himself safe, he'll die. Carl needed to learn how to shoot a gun, and Lori simply couldn't get those terrible scenarios out of her mind of him accidentally shooting himself or him fooling around with a loaded gun..

Sighing, Lori's fears about her son overtook her once again. "l don't want my kid walking around with a gun." she simply said.

"How can you defend that? You can't let him go around without protection." Rick stated logically.

"He's as safe as he'll ever be right here." Lori sternly dismissed her husband's concerns, though her face fell moments later. "Look, everything you're saying makes perfect sense... It just feels wrong." she conceded

"He's growing up, thank God." Rick praised the lord which he once coldly tried to ignore. "We've got to start treating him more like an adult."

"Then he needs to act like one. He's not mature enough to handle a gun." Lori retorted with another concern.

Suddenly, Carl sat up from where he was sitting and he walked back over to his parents and the others.

"I'm not gonna play with it, Mom." Carl assured his mother. "It's not a toy. I'm sorry l disappointed you... l just want to help defend our camp, but I can't do that without a gun."

Everyone listened to Carl as he spoke, and it was clear that the boy was being honest. The boy knew that guns weren't things to play with, that they were as dangerous as they were necessary. He like the other children had learned from what had happened with Aelita and Anne the consequences of not properly using a firearm. Lori was still concerned, but she was slowly starting to see things from the point of view of the others.

... maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing, so long as Carl took his own words to heart.

"Shane's the best instructor l know. I've seen him teach kids younger than Carl." Rick told his wife. Shane nodded at his best friend's words, remembering all of the children he used to teach how to use a gun before the world ended. It wasn't difficult so long as the kids listened and gave their guns respect.

"So long as your son treats the gun the way it should, he'll be fine." Jennifer assured, having been firing guns since she was only four. Her father was a great teacher.

Lori finally relented to the idea of her son using a gun. But she still had to make things clear to her little boy before he'd start firing off rounds...

Walking over to her little boy, Lori gently grabbed his cheeks and raised his head so he'd look her in the eye. "You will take this seriously and you will behave responsibly." Lori told her son. "And if l hear from anyone in this camp that you are not living up to our expectations-"

"He won't let you down." Rick sternly told his wife, knowing that Carl had gotten the point already.

"Yeah." Carl nodded in confirmation.

Reluctantly, Lori finally accepted that her precious little boy would receive some weapons training from Shane and Rick. Likewise, Carol went to find Sophia, Carlos went to get Sarah, and Lee went to go get Clementine since they would all have to learn just like how Carl was going to. The Lyoko Warriors still had many untrained people in the group too, so they and a bunch of people in the other two groups would need to prepare too.

What they would learn soon would prove to be invaluable in this new world.

---

*BANG!**POW!**BANG!**BANG!**POW!**POW!**BANG!**POW!**BANG!**BANG!**POW!**BANG!**POW!**POW!**POW!**BANG!*

On the outskirts of Hershel's property, the untrained people from the camp had all gathered to learn from Rick and Shane how to shoot a gun. The untrained people were the children such as Carl or Clementine, but most of the Lyoko Warriors were there too. Many of the teens may have already used guns against the walkers in the past, but they were welcome to whatever tips the former deputies could give them. Even though Yumi was still feuding with Shane, she admitted that there was still some stuff he probably could teach her... provided of course he kept his stupid mouth shut about her brother and the other people from Kadic.

Nick and Pete were also giving some good pointers here and there since they had experience hunting together. Chase and Dylan also helped a little bit as well since they both knew how to shoot their family heirloom. A short distance away from the six teachers and their many students was a fence that had dozens of old glass bottles propped up as their targets. Some people were doing very well at hitting those targets, others... not so much.

Among the people doing badly was Beth's boyfriend Jimmy, who for some reason decided to hold his pistol sideways like he was in a gang or something. T-Dog saw this, and he rolled his eyes out of disbelief. "Hey, come on, man. Don't give me that gangsta shit." he scolded the teenager.

Jimmy awkwardly turned his gun right-side up, and he also put his other hand on the grip too. Now he was holding it like he should.

"Attaboy." T-Dog praised as he kept watching the teen fire on the bottles.

Rick and Shane watched as the people fired off round after round. Though the noise of all these gunshots could be a concern because of the risk of drawing in walkers, they took the risk because these people desperately needed to learn. Clementine was using Lee's Glock and he was covering her ears for her as she practiced hitting the bottles. Sarah underwent the same treatment with Carlos, as well as Sophia with Carol.

The two men noticed that Andrea and Odd seemed to be pros. They were both hitting their targets very accurately. At first, Rick and Shane thought that Andrea missed her targets, but they soon noticed that she did nail three shots inside the letter 'O' in an old "No Trespassing" sign hanging close to the bottles. Odd, likewise, nailed his shots inside the letter 'P' in the same sign. His time firing off laser arrows at XANA's monsters in Lyoko seemed to improve his targeting in the real world. Yumi, who by now had become used to firing her AR-15, was a great shot too.

It seemed that both Odd and Andrea were pretty much ready for what Shane liked to call the 'advanced class.' Andrea took up Shane's offer, but Odd politely declined.

"Don't be discouraged, everyone." Shane said to all of the shooters who weren't doing so good. Rick went to help Carl practice firing shots at the bottles.

Nearby, Aelita was practicing shooting at a distant scarecrow with a snub-nosed revolver. Out of six shots fired she scored three hits. It wasn't bad for a beginner, but she still needed to improve her accuracy much more before she could take on walkers again. Ammo is also more valuable than gold these days, so Aelita and all of the others just simply couldn't afford to waste a single shot.

Aelita reloaded her revolver and she prepared to fire again, but she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned and saw Chase was holding out his trusty M1911 for her to use.

"Here, try this." Chase offered her the Enheart family heirloom to practice with. "It's heavier. Better balance... Plus it's got a few extra rounds compared to that revolver."

"I haven't fired this thing in a long time..." Aelita smiled as she accepted her brother's gun. She had on occasion been loaned this ancient gun whenever the need arose, such as during some of the really dangerous XANA attacks during the last few years. Luckily, however, Aelita's never really been forced to use it to defend herself... But given what the world has become, she was more than certain that she'd have to sooner or later.

The practice Aelita got from Chase and Dylan was long ago and she was very rusty. Chase watched as Aelita raised his pistol and aimed down its sights. When she pulled the trigger, a bottle exploded on the fence. Aelita was surprised by how strong the gun's recoil was compared to the gun she normally used. Aelita pulled the trigger again, and another bottle exploded. She aimed and pulled the trigger a third time, hitting her next target - the raggedy hat on the scarecrow, which then flew off to who knew where.

By then, some of the others had gathered close by to watch the pinkette shoot her targets. For someone who was on death's door just a short time ago, Aelita turned out to be a very good shot. Aelita seemed to be nearly on par with Andrea and Odd, and with luck she'll end up just as good at shooting as they were, if not better.

After Aelita fired off the last four rounds at four other bottles, she handed the empty gun back to her impressed brother. "Not bad, Princess. Not bad at all." Chase praised his sister as he examined the gun to ensure all the rounds had been fired.

"Yeah, you did very well, Aelita." Jeremie likewise praised his girlfriend.

"Thanks, guys." Aelita smiled at them and the others who had come to watch.

After he reloaded his gun with a fresh magazine, Chase handed the weapon back to Aelita so she could keep practicing with it. Aelita seemed to enjoy firing Chase's M1911 far more than her old snub-nosed revolver. Both he and Jeremie made some mental notes to try and find another one or at least a weapon that was very similar whenever either of the teens goes out on a supply run again.

Both boys glanced at each other and they both knew that they were thinking the exact same thing: 'Maybe something in pink?'

Aelita fired four more rounds with her brother's pistol and she hit four more targets, causing her to grin with pride in herself. She also got a lot of praise from the other Lyoko Warriors before they all went back to target shooting with their own guns. Aelita grinned at Chase as she gestured to the gun in her hand.

"I promise you that this thing will be mine one day." Aelita joked to him.

Chase snorted from amusement. "Ha! Over my dead body, sis." he morbidly joked back.

The brother and sister laughed together before Aelita went back to shooting with Chase's gun. Jeremie stayed to watch her, but Chase went with Dylan to try and help some of the others like how Rick and Shane and Nick and Pete were doing. Soon, everyone, even the children, would know at least the basics of firearm shooting. What they were learning here right now was going to go a very long way towards keeping them all alive in the future.

*POW!**POW!**BANG!**POW!**BANG!**BANG!**POW!**BANG!**POW!**POW!**BANG!**BANG!**BANG!**POW!**BANG!**POW!*

---

A day after the groups practiced their shooting, something weird was going on and Patrick and Verity were... confused.

Earlier, the couple were busy helping chop up wood with Miranda, but then Dale came to them and asked them to help him with something. Patrick and Verity initially thought that Dale wanted their help for a chore. Something like fixing up that damn RV for the millionth time... But instead, Dale asked them to carry a few bags with him and he led the two teens out into the woods, not too far away from the farm. They did so since Rick had gone out to help Hershel and Jimmy with something. They figured that they would tell Rick about this whenever they saw him next.

The two Lyoko Warriors could feel a lot of guns through the fabric of the bags. Dale wanted to hide the group's guns out in the forest...? Both of the teens had no clue why he wanted to do such a thing, but as they started to hide the bags they soon got their answer.

"Man, this is a good hiding place..." they suddenly heard a voice say. "We ain't been in the swamps much, huh...?"

Patrick, Verity, and Dale turned to see that Shane was close by, having apparently followed them into the forest. Patrick and Verity both set down their bags of guns as Shane slowly approached the three would-be gun hiders, but Dale didn't pay the former deputy much mind right now. Dale opened up an old garbage bag so he could put the guns in it and protect them from the elements.

"Imagine if you actually tried to fix the barn problem instead of trying to make it the next Saint Valentine's Day massacre..." Dale retorted, not even looking at him.

"How about you just give me that bag, huh?" Shane said, his tone making his request sound very like a demand.

"We ain't giving you these guns." Verity protested. "Shane, you're going to get us kicked off the farm if you keep this up. Look, I don't like those walkers being in that barn any more than you do, but you need to think this through and you need to-"

Shane held up his hand to the raven-haired girl, rudely silencing her. "I'm talking to Dale, Ver. So you kids just stay out of this for your own good..."

Patrick frowned at the disrespect shown toward his girl and he started walking towards Shane to confront him about it, but Verity stopped him before he could. Though Verity was very unhappy about Shane's attitude, she didn't want him and Patrick to get into a fistfight. Besides... there was something very off about Shane right now. Like he was full of a hell of a lot of pent up anger and looking for a reason to unleash it or something. In her mind, it was best that they didn't give him it.

Dale was surprised at how Shane was acting. This was a bit much even despite how he usually was these days. He finally stopped what he was doing and he turned to face the man who followed them into the woods.

"We're not giving you these guns..." Dale said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, you are, Dale. Unless, well..." Shane trailed off before pointing at the bolt-action rifle which Dale currently had slung on his shoulder. "You do have that rifle over your shoulder..." he pointed out, inferring what had to be done to keep him from taking the bags of guns.

Verity and Patrick glanced at each other as they listened to Shane and Dale's exchange. Dale didn't look very fazed by what Shane had said.

"What...? You're gonna shoot us like how you shot Otis? Tell another lie?" Dale challenged Shane's prior claims about Otis right then and there.

"Nah, man..." Shane replied. He suddenly started to chuckle. "Hell, when you really look at it in the cold light of day... you're all pretty much dead already..."

Because of that statement, the two teens and Dale all started to worry for their own safety. Realizing that Shane was starting to get unpredictable, and now believing without any doubt whatsoever that Shane had some kind of a direct role in how Otis lost his life at the FEMA facility at that high school, Patrick protectively moved himself in front of Verity so that he would be standing between her and Shane.

Patrick didn't take his eyes off the man for a single moment as he gently ushered Verity a few steps back. All Patrick knew right now was that Verity's safety was paramount to him above all else, even his own. If Shane actually dared to try and lay even a finger on Verity, Patrick would fight until either he or Shane were laying dead on the muddy ground they now walked on. It was as simple as that. No one would hurt Verity on his watch.

Silence fell upon the three nervous people as they and Shane stared at each other, contemplating what was happening right now. After a moment or two, Shane was the one who broke the silence again. "Just give me the guns. Do it now." Shane demanded.

"Do you really think that'll keep us safe?" Dale bluntly asked as he gestured at the gun bags.

Shane impatiently nodded. "Mm-hmm. I know it is."

"Rick is trying to get Hershel to let us-"

"Dale, just shut up." Shane interrupted Dale this time. "Just shut up and give me the guns..."

Realizing that mere words wouldn't be enough to get Shane to back off this time, Dale sighed and he raised his rifle after setting his bag of guns aside. To the shock of both Patrick and Verity, Dale loaded a round into the chamber as if he was fully prepared to shoot Shane right then and there. Shane's mouth fell slightly agape, as if he couldn't really believe what he was seeing either.

As the two men stared each other down, Patrick and Verity glanced over at their bags of guns which were close by. The bags had a little bit of ammo in them, so the two Lyoko Warriors had at least some option to defend themselves in case guns began to be fired...

"Do I have to shoot you...? Is that what it'll take...?" Dale challenged as he aimed the rifle at his fellow survivor.

Shane stared at the older man for a moment or two, but soon he began to chuckle from... amusement? Annoyance? It was hard to tell. Regardless, Patrick and Verity backed out of Shane's way as he slowly began to walk towards Dale, totally ignoring the fact that he had a loaded rifle being aimed at him right now. Shane didn't stop walking until the barrel was pressing against his chest, right where his heart was. Dale's eyes widened as he saw that crazed look in Shane's eye, and he realized something...

... he was prepared to kill all three of them to get those gun bags if that's what it took.

Sensing that Dale really wouldn't shoot him, Shane fearlessly stared him down. "Yeah... That's what it's gonna take..." he was either going to leave with these guns in hand or he would leave as an undead corpse. Shane was confident in his guess on how this was going to end.

And Shane was proven correct when Dale slowly lowered the rifle, unable to pull the trigger. Dale simply couldn't take a living person's life, even if it was someone like Shane Walsh. So, reluctantly, Dale went to grab the bags of guns to hand them over to what he now truly believed was a crazy man. He just prayed to himself that that whatever Shane did with the weapons, it wouldn't cause any serious consequences with Hershel. Verity and Patrick simply watched all of this happen in complete silence, hoping that soon Shane will just turn around and leave.

"You know what, Shane? This is where we belong..." Dale observed as he gathered up the bags.

Shane deadpanned. "How's that, Dale?"

With the bags in hand, Dale walked back to the former deputy and he set them down in front of him. "This world... is made what it is now, only for the worst of the worst..." Dale looked him in the eye as he spoke. "Yeah... I think me and you fit perfectly here..."

Shane was silent as he glanced down at the bags of guns. Dale continued to sarcastically, pessimistically speak to him. Dale realized that this terrible new world wasn't for good people anymore... but he was still going to try not to change into a worse kind of man regardless.

"At least we can say that when the world went to shit, that we didn't let it take us down with it..."

After it was clear that Dale said what he felt needed to be said, Shane simply shrugged and he picked up the bags of guns. Shane smirked at the two nervous teens before he turned his attention back over to the older man who had confronted him, chuckling at everything he had said. Maybe Dale had some valid points to make right here and now, maybe Dale didn't - Shane didn't give it too much thought. He just wanted these guns.

"Fair enough..." was all Shane said, a smug grin on his face.

With that, Shane finally left the three alone and he headed on back towards the farm with the guns. Dale, Verity, and Patrick were all stunned by what had just happened and they all suddenly didn't feel so comfortable being back at the farm with that psycho...

As Dale lingered behind with only his thoughts to keep him company, Patrick and Verity reluctantly began to head back to the farm, though they kept a very very far distance from Shane. They already had a suspicion about what he wanted these guns for, and they wanted to go and help deal with whatever kind of fallout it would bring upon all the groups back at camp. Both of them hoped that by some miracle Shane would see reason, but they doubted he would.

Hopefully cool heads will prevail over Shane's madness...

---

Later that afternoon, the Lyoko Warriors aside from Patrick and Verity were all hanging out by some trees near the camp, enjoying the shade as they talked about their current situations.

The Lyoko Warriors knew that Shane was becoming more and more of a hothead with each passing day, and they were already well aware of his tensions with Rick. He was going to become a problem sooner or later. And then of course there was the mess with the walkers in the barn... Though some of the teens like Ulrich or Alex for instance agreed that the walkers had to be taken out no matter what Hershel or his family thought, others believed that they had no right to force such a thing to happen. After all, Hershel and his family still viewed the walkers as just sick people, not monsters.

They all worried about what killing those walkers would mean for themselves and for the groups. If the walkers were killed without Hershel's permission, they'll very likely be forced off the farm. They'll leave this safe place and go back out into that terrible world again. If that happened, they all knew that they'll very likely die sooner or later. There just didn't seem to be any safe places out there anymore...

All of the teens were beginning to feel a little overwhelmed by everything that's been happening in the last several weeks. William's death, the quarry attack, the CDC blowing up, Chase losing a hand, Patrick nearly losing his life, Aelita and Anne being shot by Otis, that walker in the well, Josh showing up and raising all kinds of hell, and everything that had happened to the teens during their search missions across what felt like half the state by this point...

What they all wouldn't give just for one day of peace and quiet.

At least some bit of good news the group shared was that Aelita's recovery was still going great. Though the pinkette was still walking with that old cane, Aelita seemed to be getting stronger with each passing day. Carlos and Hershel were optimistic that soon she'll not need any aid whatsoever to walk normally again. Not too bad for a girl who's life was literally hanging in the balance just weeks earlier...

But that was really the only good news the teens had right now. Their concerns about Shane and the barn and Hershel and their other problems outweighed all else right now.

"I'm convinced that that man is losing his mind." Jennifer stated about Shane. She knew that Yumi, Ulrich, Patrick, and Verity all had his suspicions about that man ever since Otis's memorial service. Jennifer herself didn't think anything was suspicious initially, but lately, with how Shane's been acting, she started to doubt.

Odd lowered his gaze and he spoke. "Honestly, guys, I'm getting worried being near him... Mark my words: he's going to get people killed sooner or later."

The Lyoko Warriors all could agree with Odd's worries. Shane was a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off in their faces.

Aelita, who was sitting in a chair and sharpening a knife as she listened to everyone, set it and her sharpening stone aside for the moment. "He's definitely a concern for all of us, but there's not much we can do about him at the moment." Aelita logically reminded the others. "As worrying as he's been lately, hopefully Rick can get him to calm down. I think we should all just try to ignore Shane and keep focusing on finding everyone from Kadic first and foremost."

"That, and convincing Hershel to let us keep staying here." Jeremie added.

With all the problems that the group has faced lately, with all the struggles they've been forced to go through, they all honestly came to a conclusion that none of them ever would have thought before the end of the world - they'd rather be fighting off XANA attacks again.

Charles nodded his head in agreement after hearing what Jeremie said. "... I seriously think that we should think of a plan to leave the farm quickly and quietly should we ever need to. Whether its because of Shane or walkers or any other reason." Charles hesitantly told the others what he thought.

When he saw the looks of surprise on everyone's faces, Charles hurriedly clarified what he said. "What I mean is that I don't want to leave Hershel's farm and I don't think we should have to. But if we ever do go for whatever reason, we should have a plan to meet somewhere, y'know? Otherwise we could all get separated from each other forever."

The Lyoko Warriors took in Charles's suggestion and they all shared a look with each other as they thought on it. It... wasn't the worst idea that they've ever heard. The teens hoped that Hershel could be convinced to let them all continue stay here regardless of if they ever found the Kadic people or not. Maybe they'd succeed at convincing him to let them make the farm their home, maybe they wouldn't. But if they ever had to leave the farm in some kind of chaotic situation, they simply could not allow themselves to ever get separated from each other. They were a family. They've all already lost too much.

Inspired by Charles's suggestion, Aelita and Jeremie began to silently think of an evacuation plan in case they ever needed it. They'd share it with the others whenever it was finished. In their minds, it was better to have a plan and not need it than to need it and not have it.

"It can't be getting as bad as we think it is, right?" Rebecca asked in an attempt to be optimistic.

As if on cue, the teens suddenly noticed that a lot of people had begun to gather at the front porch of Hershel's farmhouse. Even worse, the teens could see Shane coming out of the woods and walking towards the farmhouse as well. The former deputy had some bags in his hands which were filled with what they could clearly see were the guns that were supposed to be stored in the armory in the RV. Far behind him were Verity and Patrick, who seemed to be keeping their distance.

Something was clearly going on or was about to happen over at the farmhouse, so the Lyoko Warriors all hurried over there to find out exactly what. The teens stopped by all the people who gathered there as Chase went towards Shane to confront him.

"What's going on here?" Chase asked the man as he approached him.

"Move." Shane ordered, elbowing his way past the one-handed teen.

Chase stumbled back a couple of steps after Shane shockingly pushed his way past him. The boy was outraged by this undeserved treatment and so was all of the other Lyoko Warriors. Not paying these foolish kids any mind at all, Shane continued to walk until he reached all of the others who were by the front porch. In his mind, Hershel and Rick were acting like complete idiots and now was the time to get shit done no matter what happens.

"What the hell is this...?" Daryl asked with confusion as he saw all the guns.

"You with me, man?" Shane asked, offering a shotgun to the redneck.

Daryl looked at the shotgun and then back at Shane. After realizing exactly what Shane was planning to do, Daryl nodded and he took the shotgun into his hands. It was about time that the barn situation was going to be dealt with once and for all...

"Yeah." Daryl said, signing himself up for a mass pacification of walkers.

Satisfied that he would have at least some supporters towards doing what had to be done, Shane started to hand out weapons to everyone no matter if they agreed with what he was about to do or not. Whether or not they did, he knew that they'll all be needing to fire these guns pretty soon if they wanna stay alive...

Shane looked at the others who had gathered there and he frowned. "Time to grow up..." he told them all.

"What the fuck are you doing...?" Robert demanded to know.

"You'll see..." was all that Shane said in reply.

Robert threw up his hands in frustration as Shane walked right past him.

"Where's Dale...?" Andrea inquired as she started to walk with Shane, having seen the two teens following him but not her friend.

Shane frowned as he remembered that stupid old man who tried to stop him. "He's on his way..."

As Shane handed out more weapons to everyone, Verity and Patrick finally caught up and they hurried to rejoin their friends. The Lyoko Warriors all saw how worried both of the couple appeared to be right now. Clearly something serious had happened wherever they went with Shane and Dale, But before any of the Lyoko Warriors could ask their two friends about it, a very nerve-wracked Verity spoke up first.

"The guy's lost his fucking mind, guys!" Verity told her friends.

"He practically threatened to kill us out there!" Patrick added, gesturing over at the former deputy himself.

"WHAT?!" Yumi's jaw dropped along with everyone else's at the news. That monster threatened their friends?! Threatened teenage kids?! What the hell was Shane doing?!

Aelita's face paled when she noticed that Dale wasn't there with Patrick, Verity, or Shane. Could Shane have actually...

"Where's Dale? Is he okay?!" Aelita asked the couple.

Patrick nodded, but he still looked very concerned. "He's fine! But Shane's gonna try to open the barn!"

Though initially they were relieved that Dale was okay, that feeling was quickly replaced with shock and worry towards what Shane was about to do. He was going to open up the barn to kill those walkers?! If he did that without Hershel's permission then it'd probably result in the whole group getting kicked out on their asses! What in God's name has gotten into him?!

Meanwhile, Shane continued handing out weapons until his bags were empty. As Shane handed T-Dog a pistol, he was met with a confused expression.

"I thought we couldn't carry?" T-Dog asked with surprise after he was given this gun.

"We can, and we have to." Shane told his fellow survivor.

Shane then turned his attention back over to everyone who was at the front porch. He felt satisfied that pretty much everyone from the camp had gathered here now, even the children. They all had to see what would happen soon even if they didn't agree with it. "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 ain't..." Shane told them all.

Alvin stepped forward towards him. "Shane, I think you need to take a deep breath and think about this. You're going to get Hershel-"

"Hershel isn't the problem, Al. It's the walkers." Shane interrupted Alvin in mid-sentence, a deep scowl on his face. Alvin, realizing that Shane was not going to let anything come between him and killing those walkers, wisely went quiet.

Happy that Alvin had shut his mouth for now, Shane walked over to the front porch with another shotgun in his hand. Shane walked up to Maggie and Glenn and he held out the weapon to Glenn, ignoring the angry look on the farmer's daughter's face. Maggie held the same view as her father when it came to those walkers held in the barn, and she was completely against what Shane was trying to do here. She hoped he'd back down, otherwise she might never see Glenn again...

Shane frowned at the Korean man and kept holding out the shotgun. "How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" Shane asked him.

Glenn looked at the shotgun and then at Maggie, judging what her reactions were right now. Reluctantly, Glenn took the shotgun from Shane.

"That's it." Shane praised after the gun was taken. "Can you shoot...?"

"Can you stop?" Maggie demanded. "If you do this, if you hand out these guns, then my dad will make you leave by tonight!"

"We have to stay, Shane!" Carl said from up on the front porch.

Everyone heard footsteps on the porch. It came from Lori, who was hurrying over to see what was going on right now. Seeing Shane acting angrier than usual coupled with the sheer amount of guns present amongst the groups gave Lori a feeling of great alarm. She knew Shane was going to do something terrible soon.

Lori looked at her husband's best friend with bewilderment. "What is this...?"

"We ain't going anywhere, okay?" Shane assured the woman he secretly loved. Shane could see much of the groups were still very much against what he wanted to do, or at least the way he wanted to do it. He sighed in frustration. "Now, look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand, okay? He, well... he's just gonna have to..."

"And if he doesn't understand? Then what?" Jeremie challenged the words which he and everyone else was hearing.

Jeremie's words were completely ignored by Shane. It was clear that the man who all of the Lyoko Warriors now saw as crazy simply wasn't going to entertain anything that conflicted with what he believed was the right thing to do. Those walkers which Hershel seemed to love hoarding in the barn were a major threat to each and every person who was in this farm right now, and Shane was determined to eliminate them - whether the people agreed with him or not.

Pulling a small snub-nosed revolver out of his waistband, Shane walked up to Carl and he offered the weapon to Rick's boy. Carl's eyes widened as he saw the gun and how serious Shane was acting towards him now. The man acting like this wasn't the Shane he knew...

"Now I want you to take this..." Shane sternly told the child as he crouched down in front of him and held out the gun. "You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how." he frowned. "Go on, take the gun and do it!" he urged Carl to take it and keep Lori safe for when shit hits the fan.

Before Carl could say or do anything in response, Lori hurried over to stand in front of him and she gently push him a few steps back. Shane wasn't going near her little boy...

"Rick said no guns, this is not your call! This is not your decision to make!" Lori glared at her former lover.

Kyra's eyes widened when she saw something off in the distance, off in the treeline. Her jaw fell wide open when she realized what it was. "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" she loudly sounded the alarm for everyone there. "GUYS!" she shouted at them and she pointed at what she was seeing.

Everyone turned their attention over to Kyra, and then they looked to see what she was trying to show them. When they saw what was out there, horror and shock filled each and every person of Rick's group, the cabin group, and the Lyoko Warriors.

Coming out of the trees were Rick, Hershel, and Jimmy, who were coming back from whatever they left the farm to do. Rick and Hershel didn't tell anyone where they were going or why they had to leave, but now it was abundantly clear to all. With these three men were a pair of walkers who were being held by nooses attached to the ends of some metal rods. Hershel was going to add more walkers to the barn, and Rick was helping him!

Within seconds, almost everyone started to run out to meet the three and their 'new friends'. Even Aelita hurried as quickly as she could despite being limited by her wounds and her cane, though Jeremie and Yumi helped her as best as they could.

As they ran, the Lyoko Warriors couldn't believe what they were seeing right now. First Shane went crazy, has Rick and Hershel gone and lost it too now?!

"What in Christ's name are they doing?! Has Rick lost his mind?!" Rebecca was desperate for any answer that could help her make sense of this insanity. None were provided.

"Suddenly I don't feel safe here anymore, guys!" Charles told the others as nervousness overtook him. Kyra grabbed hold of her friend's hand tightly to help calm him down.

"They're crazy!" Odd said to his friends with total disbelief.

"Eti chertovy idioty! (Those damn idiots!)" Alex cursed in his native language, utterly baffled and angry at what the three adults were doing.

Rick, Hershel, and Jimmy escorted their two newly-captured walkers through a field and towards the barn, hoping to get them inside with the others as safely and securely as possible before anyone could see them. When Rick saw that the groups were running towards them from the farmhouse with Shane already in the lead, he cursed to himself. He knew that helping Hershel with this task was as crazy as it was stupid. It was a bad idea which he hoped would've helped him get on Hershel's good side...

Shane kicked open a gate which led into the field, hurrying as fast as he could towards the three walker catchers.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Shane roared at the top of his lungs as he and the people approached.

"Shane, just back off!" Rick demanded as he kept a firm hold on the noose that his struggling walker was connected to. For being a rotting corpse, this walker had a surprising amount of strength still left in it.

Hershel cringed as the walker he was holding onto tried to lurch towards the smell of the nearby humans, though he kept a good hold on it. Hershel saw all the guns that the groups were holding and he suddenly felt concerned. Were they here to do what he'd worried they'd try to do...?

"Why do your people have guns?!" Hershel turned to Rick and appealed for an answer.

"Are you kidding me?!" Shane exasperated as he took in the situation. It was official in his eyes - Rick's fucking lost it.

As Hershel and Rick bickered with Shane over this new situation, Ulrich kept a firm hold on his revolver and he made sure to keep a good distance from the captured walkers. He just couldn't believe that Rick would actually go along with something as crazy as...

... wait a second.

... did one of those walkers look familiar...?

"Wait... is that...?" Ulrich muttered to himself, his eyes slowly widening as he recognized one of the walkers that the three were bringing in.

The creature immediately turned towards the Lyoko Warriors upon hearing Ulrich's voice. It snarled at the teens as it reached out to try and claw at them, and it was clearly desperate to eat some fresh meat for the first time in God only knew many weeks. When the teens got close enough to see the undead person's face for themselves, the teens all realized like Ulrich that they really did know who this person used to be before becoming a walker.

Though they had no clue who the walker that Rick was holding onto was, the walker that Hershel was holding onto with his noose was clearly Ms. Hertz - their missing science teacher. She was one of those undead monsters now...

Ms. Hertz... she was gone. By the look of the unhealed burns across her arms and legs, she must've died either around the time Atlanta was firebombed or shortly after...

" ... no ... " Aelita whispered in horror, her lip trembling as she struggled to hold in her emotions. Anne's eyes widened when she saw this reaction from her pink-haired friend and from many of the others too. She picked up pretty quick that this must've been one of the Kadic people that they were looking for.

Shane didn't notice the reactions of any of the Lyoko Warriors when they saw this walker. The former deputy was very enraged by what he and the groups were seeing right now. What the fuck was Hershel thinking?! What was Rick thinking?! Shit like this was what'll get every single last one of the people in the camp killed! What kind of leader would allow a danger like this to keep going, let alone help make it worse?!

"YOU SEE?! You see what they're holding onto?!" Shane pointed out to all the others. Daryl was aiming at the walkers with his shotgun.

"I see who I'm holding onto!" Hershel protested as he held onto Ms. Hertz with his noose.

"No, man, you don't!" Shane fired back.

Rick was struggling to hold onto his walker, which had a surprising amount of strength despite the fact that it's been dead for a long while. Rick saw how bad Shane was reacting to this and he just wanted to try to calm his friend down before anything bad could happen.

"Shane! Just let us talk about this!" Rick implored.

"What you want to talk about, Rick?!" Shane had sheer venom and rage in his voice. "These things ain't sick! They're not people! THEY'RE DEAD! Ain't got to feel nothing for them cause all they do, they kill!" he was seemingly out for blood now as he pointed at the undead. "THESE THINGS! RIGHT HERE! They're the things that killed some of our people! They killed Otis! THEY'RE GONNA KILL ALL OF US!"

"SHANE, JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Dylan yelled at the guy causing so much trouble right now. All the shouting drowned out the snarls and growls from Ms. Hertz.

To everyone's alarm, Shane suddenly pulled a pistol out from his waistband and he cocked it. It didn't take a supergenius like Aelita or Jeremie to guess what was about to happen. "Hey, Hershel, man, let me ask you something..." Shane suddenly sounded a bit calm. "Could a living, breathing person... could they walk away from this?"

Aelita screamed as Shane raised his handgun and fired off three shots into Ms. Hertz's chest. The walker stumbled for a moment, but then it tried to reach out to the former deputy who had shot her. Ms. Hertz was much too far from Shane to grab him, but the imagery of such a terrible scene happening was making many of the people watching afraid, upset, angry, or a combination of all these emotions. Many started to think that Shane Walsh has officially lost his fucking mind.

If that was horrifying to the teens, they haven't seen anything yet. If only they knew what was about to unfold before their eyes...

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, SHANE!!! STOP!!!" a furious Miranda screamed so loudly at the cop that she nearly lost her voice. That monster just shot her teacher!

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!" Odd shouted, never feeling rage like this before.

"That's three rounds in the chest!" Shane shouted at the Hershel, letting out all his frustrations as he ignored the shared rage of Odd and Miranda. "Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?!" he shouted at the farmer some more.

Ignoring everyone who was either angry or horrified or both all around him, Shane raised his gun again. "Why is it still comin'?!"

The next two rounds which Shane fired hit Ms. Hertz in her chest again, right where her heart and lungs were. The walker seemed to be unaffected entirely by what Hershel and his family knew should have been several fatal gunshot wounds.

That wasn't right... If this really was just some poor infected person and not a monster, then this woman should have instantly fallen dead to the ground after getting shot in the chest like that... so why didn't she do that? Was this woman really just an undead monster now like how Rick, Aelita, and their people have been trying to tell him? Was there really no hope at all for curing any person who suffered from this terrible illness...?

Was Hershel really wrong this entire time? Was he just keeping a bunch of walking corpses in his barn and not some poor people who needed his help? If that was the case, then his wife... his step-son... his nephew... they all were really gone, and this whole time he'd have just been denying them and the other walkers the rest which they all deserved...

... Oh God ...

"STOP THE FUCKING SHOOTING!!!" Patrick roared at the man who was firing shots at the former Kadic teacher. He was ignored.

Shane gestured over to Ms. Hertz. "That's its heart! Its lungs! WHY IS IT STILL COMING?!" In his eyes, Shane was trying his hardest to get Hershel to see reason, even if what he was doing was horribly drastic. How could Hershel not see that these things were monsters and not people?! How could Rick abide by this bullshit?!

"JUST STOP SHOOTING HER!!! PLEASE!!!" Aelita pleaded to the cop at the top of her lungs. Seeing Ms. Hertz as a walker was horrifying enough, but Shane shooting her teacher over and over again was just too much for Aelita to bear!

Shane ignored the protests of the pinkette and the other Lyoko Warriors while he fired three more rounds into Ms. Hertz's stomach. The walker who used to be the beloved science teacher for the teens stumbled back for only a moment or two, but soon she was again trying to reach any of the others close to her as if she hadn't just been shot several times. Hershel and his family could only watch all of this with horror...

This person took eight shots to the chest and stomach and she... it... didn't seem fazed at all. This wasn't just an illness that'll be overcome like other old diseases. Hershel and his family finally realized that this was something that was so much worse...

"Shane, enough!" Rick demanded his best friend to cease his actions. If they wouldn't get kicked out of the farm because of all of this mess then it'll be a miracle.

"Yeah, you're right man..." Shane frowned as he stormed towards Ms. Hertz. "That is enough..."

Before anyone could do anything, Shane had already raised his pistol and he fired off one last shot into Ms. Hertz's head. The now-pacified Kadic teacher collapsed down onto the ground as a disturbed Hershel let go of his noose, the Lyoko Warriors watching all of this happen with sheer terror in their eyes. Seeing poor Ms. Hertz laying there as her putrid blackish blood poured out from her head, chest, and stomach wounds immediately burned into their minds as a traumatic memory.

With tears in her eyes, Aelita silently walked with her cane to her former teacher and she reached down to shut her eyes, allowing Ms. Hertz to finally rest forever. She and all the other Lyoko teens couldn't believe what that monster Shane had just done to their teacher... Ms. Hertz needed to be put down, that much was clear to the teens. But what Shane just did went way too far.

After he euthanized Ms. Hertz, Shane looked at everyone who had gathered there and he gestured back towards the barn.

"Enough risking our lives for a buncha strangers who're already gone!" Shane announced to everyone, much to the anger of all the Lyoko Warriors. "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! ENOUGH!" Shane had clearly reached his boiling point about the barn situation. Not only that, but many weeks worth of pent up anger and frustration towards the way Rick was leading the group was finally reaching a head. Not to mention his secret resentment about not having Lori for his own...

Hershel still couldn't believe what had just happened with the walker, nor could he handle the realization which had just hit him like a freight train. He simply fell to his knees next to the corpse of the former Kadic teacher, staring down at it with regret. Rick looked on very angrily towards his best friend for the needless risks he was bringing to the group, while Shane thought that Rick still couldn't see reason even now. It enraged him.

"Rick, it ain't like it was before!" Shane tried one last time to convince his friend to go along with what needed to be done, then he turned to the rest of the group again. "Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fightin'! RIGHT HERE! RIGHT NOW!"

And Shane was going to put his words to action.

Right here, right now.

Before anyone could stop him, Shane had already turned and started running straight for the barn doors. Realizing that him opening those doors would inevitably lead to the walkers all being killed and the group more than likely being kicked off the farm, Alex and Ulrich rushed to Shane in a desperate attempt to stop him. Shane saw them both coming for him, and he didn't hesitate to fight them off despite the fact that they were just teens.

Alex was hit so hard in the jaw that he nearly lost consciousness, and one of his teeth also flew out of his mouth and landed near Verity's foot. Ulrich got kicked so hard in the stomach with Shane's boot that he was flung a few feet away, much to his sheer pain. Shane was blinded by rage and he just wasn't going to be stopped now no matter what happens.

"SHANE, STOP IT!" Yumi growled at the deputy who just hurt the boy she loved. Ulrich was tough, and he could definitely take a punch. But Shane hit hard.

A trembling, pained Ulrich managed to get back up on his feet and he walk back to the others with his arms wrapped around his stomach. Alex, who was dazed and who could barely keep his eyes open now, had to be dragged away by his arms thanks to Jeremie and Anne. The other Lyoko Warriors would've tried to stop Shane or to at least try and get vengeance for what he just did to Ulrich and Alex, but this man was clearly unpredictable. Who knew if he'd try to kill one of them next time they rush at him.

Shane didn't respond to Yumi's demand. He instead picked up a pickaxe which was laying near the door and he started to violently hit the lock on the door to break it wide open. Rick pleaded with Hershel to take his noose and control his walker so that he could go stop Shane himself, but Hershel was still too dazed to do anything but stand there on his knees next to Ms. Hertz's dead body.

Desperate, Rick called out to Shane to try to get him to stop. He was going to get them cast out to their deaths if Rick didn't stop him!

"Shane, don't do this, brother! Wait!" Rick pleaded to his best friend. "Don't do it! PLEASE!"

Some of the cabin group and some of the Lyoko Warriors joined in with Rick, but soon it was too late. The lock on the barn doors fell to the ground with a clank. Satisfied that the doors were not a problem anymore, Shane started to loudly bang his hands against the doors to get the walkers attention.

"COME ON!!!" Shane shouted at the top of his lungs, already hearing the walkers inside snarling at his noises. "COME ON, WE'RE OUT HERE!!! EAT UP!!!"

"Dammit, Shane, just stop! This isn't the way!" Rick shouted, knowing what will happen once those doors open.

"You fucking psychopath!" Robert shouted, already readying his gun for what was coming.

Shane didn't listen to Rick or Robert. He backed up and readied his pistol after he flung the doors wide-open. Everyone knew exactly what was going to happen next whether they agreed with it or not, so they lined up and they prepared to open fire on any creature that dared to step out of the dark and into the sunlight. The Greene Family could only watch helplessly as all of this unfolded outside their control.

After making sure that both Ulrich and Alex were okay, they along with the rest of the Lyoko Warriors readied their own weapons and they aimed at the barn doors. The teens all believed that they were ready for anything that would come out and face them. Or so they thought...

At first, only a single walker stumbled out towards the people outside the barn. Rick's group and the cabin group all readied their weapons, but it was the Lyoko Warriors who all stepped forward to deal with this threat. The teens realized that now the walkers had to be dealt with regardless of whatever Hershel or his family thought, as Shane had forced everyone's hand now. Besides, the Lyoko Warriors all figured that the walkers who were in there would be easy pickings...

But when the first walker stepped out, nothing less than sheer horror filled each and every one of the teens...

... the walker was Jim Morales, the Kadic P.E. teacher.

The Lyoko Warriors all watched in a stunned horror as the creature that used to be their beloved P.E. teacher began to stumble towards them, hungry for their flesh. All of the teens were simply so shocked to see him in such a state that they couldn't even fire their guns. Jim was nothing more than a cannibalistic monster now...

Jim... was he was in that barn this whole time...?

The P.E. teacher was a horrifying sight to see. Not only was Jim's entire left arm simply missing, but he was also covered head to toe in a great many bites and scratches from walkers, and his left leg was crooked very badly as if he broke it while alive and it never got a chance to heal correctly before he died and reanimated. Jim very likely went out fighting for his life. If that's how he died then it wouldn't have surprised anyone at all, but the events which got Jim killed will never be known for certain. All that the Lyoko Warriors could hope for was that his demise wasn't as painful as it looked... though deep down they knew otherwise.

The sight of Jim like this was horrifying to the Lyoko Warriors, and none of the teens could believe what they were seeing right now. Though they were still mired down by the tragedy of Jim's death, each of the teens knew that this discovery raised a legitimate yet horrifying new question...

If Jim was in there... and if Ms. Hertz was found not far from the farm... was there some others from Kadic in the barn too...?

Unfortunately, the Lyoko Warriors got their answer immediately after that. After Jim more and more walkers stumbled out of the barn, one after another. Each walker used to be a person they knew from Kadic Academy... these walkers were all locked in the barn by Otis and Hershel, who had found them all out in the wilds over the last couple of months. There were some other walkers coming out too, but the group didn't recognize any of them.

Jim came to within a few steps of Odd, who was still frozen from horror. Odd forced himself to get out of such a trance since he knew this was a life or death situation, and on sheer instinct he raised his gun and he fired off a single round. Jim's body then crumpled down into the dirt, and Odd simply stared at the corpse with wide eyes as if he couldn't understand what he had just done. It took a harsh slap to Odd's face from Ulrich to snap him out of it. Even so, Odd couldn't believe that he really had just shot Jim even if he had become a walker...

The Kadic walkers stumbled towards the Lyoko Warriors like how Jim did. Only the original five warriors had their weapons out right now, as the other Lyoko Warriors were all simply either too stunned or too horrified by what just happened with Jim to even try to take down their former friends and teachers. Devastated as they were by everything that was going on now, the original five warriors had no choice but to just stand their ground and do what had to be done.

Jeremie took out Principal Delmas with a bullet through the left eye, putting down their beloved school headmaster for his own good.

Ulrich used his revolver to blow Milly's brains out, pacifying the girl who had the biggest crush on him before this terrible new world.

Odd shot Brynja, the gorgeous woman who he thought he loved and who he almost sacrificed his friendships for in a foolish mistake.

Aelita put a bullet right in the center of Taelia's face, taking down her doppelganger who nearly blew Lyoko's existence to the police.

Yumi aimed her rifle and she fired on Tamiya, euthanizing Kadic Academy's poor cameragirl so she wouldn't have to suffer any longer.

One by one, the original five Lyoko Warriors kept taking down all of their former teachers and fellow students who they had searched for all this time. One by one, the teens put them all down like the animals they now were. These creatures used to be the students they all cared for and the teachers who they all looked up to. These were the people who they admired, the people whose lives the Lyoko Warriors saved time and time again when XANA launched his attacks...

But not this time.

Those people from Kadic Academy were gone. Mindless walkers were all that remained, and the teens did what needed to be done. Bullet by bullet, they pacified the walkers.

Emily... Mrs. Meyer...

Matthieu... Caroline...

Johnny... Thomas...

Mr. Chardin... Magali...

Jean-Baptiste... Julien...

Tania... Mr. Riley... Maïtena...

Claire... Mr. Fumet... Romain...

It seemed as if most if not all of the students and teachers of Kadic Academy had been held in that terrible barn... the group was putting down their friends.

As everyone else watched what was unfolding, the Lyoko Warriors continued to open fire on all of the creatures who used to be the people they loved and cared for. Gradually, the others all began to realize that these walkers were in fact the same people that they were helping the teens look for all these weeks. All this time, those people from their school were in that barn... The Kadic people were practically right under their noses ever since Jeremie brought in Aelita after she was shot.

Shane either didn't notice or he simply didn't give a shit how devastated the Lyoko Warriors were right now. In fact, as the teens were euthanizing the Kadic walkers, Shane turned and he looked Rick in the eye as he shot the walker who he was holding onto with his noose. After that walker fell dead with a bullet in its rotten brain, an angry and worried Rick simply dropped his noose to the ground in resignation since he didn't have a reason to hold onto it now.

For better or for worse, regardless of whatever will happen to the groups living on the farm now, Shane got exactly the kind of solution he wanted. And of course Shane didn't even try to hide his feelings to Rick and the others.

"THEY WERE DEAD THIS WHOLE FUCKING TIME!!! WE ALL RISKED OUR LIVES TRYING TO SAVE WALKERS!!!" Shane loudly called out to everyone.

"JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP, SHANE!!!" Anne growled at the cop who she now viewed as completely insane.

Shane continued to call out to all of the others as if Anne never said a word, much to her fury. How dare he do this shit when her friends were going through something that was as truly horrific as this! The Lyoko Warriors were putting down their own people!

As Anne kept yelling at Shane, the teens kept shooting anything that came out of the barn. The faces that they put bullets in would haunt them for the rest of their days.

Jeremie's eyes fell upon another walker that was coming out of the barn, and his heart stopped once he realized who it was.

"OH PLEASE, GOD, NO!!!" Jeremie screamed, tears falling down the sides of his face when he noticed his own cousin was among the herd of walkers. Though devastated at yet another loss, Jeremie didn't hesitate to aim his pistol at his cousin's head and pull the trigger. That thing that came from the barn wasn't Patrick Belpois anymore...

"WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Odd panicked as he saw an undead Yolande stumbling towards him, her milky-white eyes staring deep into his soul.

Odd's first shot at Yolande missed her head and it only hit her in the lower jaw, destroying it and making much of the bottom part of her mouth hang loosely from her face like a flap. Odd gasped with horror at such a nightmare-inducing image, and he rectified that terrible mistake and he put their school nurse down for good moments later. Though he couldn't forgive himself for making such a mistake in the first place...

... he hoped the walkers didn't feel any pain ...

"NO, NO, NO, NO!!!" Aelita screamed as she shot Heidi, her body collapsing down mere inches in front of the terrified pinkette.

"JESUS!!!" Ulrich shouted moments before putting a bullet in an approaching Theo's left eye, causing blood and brain matter to splatter from out the back of Theo's head. Some of it landed on the face of Jeremie, who then vomited from disgust and horror when he realized what had just happened.

The teens fired so many bullets at the walkers that their eyes burned from the gunpowder. The foul blood from their dead friends ran out into the dirt so much that they could taste the iron in the air. These terrible memories would stay with them for the rest of their lives... So many walkers came out of that barn that the rest of the Lyoko Warriors and lots of people from the other groups had to come in and help the five put them down. The Greene Family watched helplessly as the walkers, including those that used to be Greene's themselves, were put down.

Eventually, the walkers, including the ones from Kadic, were all taken down for good. The Lyoko Warriors could only contemplate what had just happened in silence, what they had just been forced to do to so many people who they cared about... The teens were upset. The teens were devastated. Many of the Lyoko Warriors broke down into tears as they gazed upon the corpses of their dead friends, teachers, and fellow students.

But some of them, like Miranda for instance, directed all they were feeling right now towards the bastard who hurt their friends and opened the barn doors in the first place...

"I SHOULD FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING MOTHERFUCKING FUCKER!!!" Miranda roared at the man who caused all of this, wanting to literally rip open Shane's neck so she could pull his tongue out through the throat hole. The enraged teen was barely being held back by Dylan, Patrick, Kyra, and Jennifer. If they lost their grip on Miranda then she'd gleefully commit murder right then and there. "LET ME AT THAT FUCKING MONSTER!!! LEMME AT HIM!!! I SWEAR I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE, WALSH!!!"

Shane didn't respond, and he didn't seem to even hear Miranda. The former deputy just kept staring down at those dead walkers which Aelita, Odd, Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and everyone else all just pacified. It seemed like the threat in Hershel's barn was finally over and done with... maybe they really were safe now...?

A final, pitiful growl from the barn made all of the Lyoko Warriors aim their guns at the doors again, even if they weren't prepared to euthanize yet another person who they knew. Everyone else also turned their attention to the barn doors to see who (or more accurately what) was coming out of there now. After several seconds of very anxious waiting, the Lyoko Warriors could see a figure slowly start to come out...

Yumi's eyes widened. It seemed as if the entire world stopped for a just few brief, traumatic moments as she recognized the person who was coming out of the barn...

... Hiroki.

Dropping her rifle to the ground below, a devastated Yumi tried to run to her dead brother as she wailed loudly from utter horror. Ulrich suddenly grabbed Yumi and he held her back for her own safety despite how hard she started to thrash in his grip. He knew that the creature wasn't Hiroki anymore... even Yumi herself realized it despite how hard she didn't want to. Her worst nightmare had come true...

Yumi eventually ceased struggling as she sobbed intensely in Ulrich's arms. Her little brother was gone...

"NO!!! NO!!! NO!!!" Yumi wailed over and over again, unable to look away from the walker that used to be her brother.

Hiroki stumbled out of the barn towards the people out there. Shane nearly raised his pistol to deal with the undead boy, but a firm hand from Rick pressed against the gun's barrel kept him from trying anything else. He's done more than enough damage to these kids and to the rest of the group today...

After taking only a couple of steps out into the light, Hiroki collapsed onto the ground and he then started to slowly crawl towards the closest Lyoko Warrior - it happened to be Yumi. God, seeing him like this was worse than any nightmare Yumi has ever experienced... Finally freeing herself from Ulrich's grip, Yumi slowly started to walk forward towards the walker. Hiroki crawled further towards her as she watched in utter despair and horror.

Her little brother was just a monster now.

"I- I'm so, so sorry, Hiroki..." Yumi cried as she stumbled towards what used to be her little brother. "I- I tried to find you... God, I tried! I tried so hard! I swear I did!" she pleaded to him for a forgiveness that she simply would never receive.

The traumatized teen stopped in front of Hiroki, allowing him to crawl up to her. Yumi broke down even harder as she watched Hiroki try to sink his rotten teeth into her boot. Yumi didn't try to stop him as she kept trying to refuse the realization that Hiroki really was gone. He was right there... he couldn't be gone. Not after everything that she and the others went through to try to find him...

Yumi's heart shattered when she noticed that her little brother was merely skin and bone. Hiroki must've been without food for a long time before he died... he suffered.

"Hiroki, its me! Yumi!" Yumi almost screamed at him, trying to get him to speak to her. She was seemingly in denial about his demise. "It's me! Your sister! Please, god, just say something to me, Hiroki!... Goddammit, say anything! PLEASE!!!"

The weak walker reached up and grabbed her pant leg, but the only sounds that escaped his lips were snarls and growls. Hiroki now only saw his older sister as a fresh meal, no more, no less. Everyone could only watch as Yumi fell to her knees and sobbed loudly at the loss of her brother. Andrea wiped away some tears as she watched what was happening, as she of all people knew too well what it's like to be in Yumi's shoes...

Despite the danger, Yumi pulled Hiroki to her and she cradled him in her arms. 'Luckily' for her, Hiroki was too weak to actually raise his head to bite her. From her angle, Yumi could see the deep walker bite on his neck which sealed his fate. She tried not to think of how terrified Hiroki must've been when the walkers got him...

"Ulrich!," Yumi choked out as her boyfriend approached them. "I- I don't know what to do! Ulrich, I- I don't know what- what to do... W- What do I do?!" she was panicking.

Wordlessly, a heartbroken Ulrich held out his revolver by the barrel, offering the gun to the girl he loved. As tragic as everything that happened today was for all of the Lyoko Warriors, Ulrich still realized that there was simply nothing that could be done for Hiroki anymore... nothing except giving him a peaceful rest like he deserved. The poor boy couldn't be allowed to suffer like this any longer. He needed to be taken care of...

Ulrich set the gun in Yumi's hand, gently wrapping her fingers around the grip for her. With that act, Yumi understood what Ulrich was asking her to do right now. She didn't want to. Lord, she just didn't want to... but if anyone had to put Hiroki to eternal rest, it just simply had to be someone who was close to him. That person would have to be Yumi - his big sister. It wouldn't be right for some stranger or even one of the other teens to do it for him.

Yumi felt Ulrich pat her on the back supportively, and she also felt him give a loving kiss to her forehead for a long time before he finally backed away to rejoin all of the other Lyoko Warriors. Yumi had the space which she both deserved and needed now, and the others nearby would ensure that no one, especially anyone like those pricks Shane or Josh, could make what was easily the worst moment in Yumi's life any more worse than it already was. Now all that was left for Yumi to do was to say her last goodbyes to Hiroki. And after that...

Yumi lovingly brushed some hair out of her brother's face, ignoring his weak attempts to claw at the skin of her arm through the fabric of her shirt.

"I... I'm so sorry, Hiroki..." Yumi apologized once more to her undead little brother. "I- I don't know if you can hear me, but I am so, so sorry... I wish... I- I wish I found you sooner..." Wiping away her tears after telling him this, Yumi took a deep breath to force herself back together, and she tightened her grip on the revolver. "... but I can a- at least make sure you won't suffer any longer."

Whether Hiroki understood what Yumi was saying or not cannot be known. The walker child who she cradled in her arms seemed to just be ignoring everything she said, but Yumi prayed that Hiroki was still there somewhere inside this rotting corpse that used to be her brother, and she hoped that he was able to hear her and understand... and hopefully forgive.

"I- If you see m- mom and dad wherever you go... t- tell them that I love them and that I miss them, okay...?"

Mom and dad... now Hiroki... in a few moments, Yumi would be the only Ishiyama left. It shattered her to think that she was going to be alone in a few moments.

She couldn't stop all the memories from pouring in alongside a flood of emotions. Hiroki's first steps... his first words... Hiroki's first time riding a bike... nine good birthday parties... his first day as a student at Kadic Academy... even his first crush, which for all Yumi knew Milly never got to hear Hiroki admit to her before they died. It was too bad, as Yumi always thought that they could've had something wonderful together like how she and Ulrich did... now Hiroki never even got the chance to grow up...

Finally accepting what had to be done now, Yumi glanced down at the gun in her hand and forced herself to regain any semblance of composure she once held. "I- I guess... I guess there's no reason to keep pushing this off any longer... right...?"

Yumi took a deep breath and tried gathered herself together as she raised the barrel of the revolver to the side of Hiroki's head. There was just one bullet left in the weapon but it was more than enough. Close to breaking down completely right then and there, Yumi looked at her little brother in the eye one final time before she turned her head away from him. She didn't want to watch what was about to happen in a few short moments...

Gathering her final bits of resolve, Yumi managed to say one final thing to her little brother before... before he had to go...

"... I love you ..."

Yumi then shut her eyes tightly and she pulled the trigger. The gunshot reverberated in her ears as she pacified her little brother once and for all. Hiroki's lifeless rotting body fell down to the ground with a thud, and Yumi likewise allowed Ulrich's empty revolver to fall out of her hand. After a moment where everything went so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, Yumi opened her eyes and she made herself turn to look at Hiroki so she could make sure that the deed was done.

For several moments, Yumi simply just stared at the corpse of her brother who she had failed to find and protect from this terrible new world. Initially, Yumi couldn't believe Hiroki was really gone forever... she just couldn't believe that the last person she had in her family was dead. But eventually, the harsh reality set in...

Finally fully realizing what had happened to Hiroki and what she just had to do for him, Yumi could only wail in despair as she buried her face in her hands. Her mom and dad were gone. Most of her friends were gone. And now her precious little brother was gone too...

She failed... all of the Lyoko Warriors had failed...

The people from Kadic Academy were long gone.