Death and All His Friends

Shane had completely lost it at this point, there was no stopping what was about to unfold. Herschel was on his knees in complete shock, staring at his dead friend. Beth was in tears from watching her first walker be killed, she didn't understand, she had been sheltered from it for so long.

"Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone! Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! Enough!" Shane was making his stand, once and for all. We all just stood back in silence, watching. "If y'all want to fight to survive, then we're doing it right now!" he turned and ran towards the barn, picking up an ax that was laying in the grass and he hacked it against the chain wrapped around the door handles.

There was no stopping this, I grabbed my Glock from out of its holder attached to my belt and readied it. My heart speed at a million miles a second, I wasn't ready for the twenty-plus walkers that were about to charge at us, but I had to force myself to be. The thought of it was reminding me of that day up on the rooftop with Ben. I swallowed hard and breathed in deep, trying to rid my mind of it.

"Shane! Do not do this brother, please!" Rick shouted, but it was too late. Shane got the chain off and whipped open the doors, freeing the dead from inside. Rick immediately dropped his snare pole, starting by shooting the walker he held onto. We all stepped forward with our guns. I had Daryl to my left and Glenn to my right. I'd die myself before I let one of these walkers get to them.

The first walker stumbled out, followed by a train of them. A chorus of gunshots began to go off, all of us taking one by one out as they ran for us. My hands shook as I set the first shot off, missing the walker and hitting it in the shoulder. Glenn covered me and got its head. I could hear Beth and Maggie screaming as we killed what they thought to be their family. We were all focused now, and the walker body counts all piled up at the entrance. The amount that stumbled out from the doors began to slow as we were nearing the end. I then shot what we thought was the last walker, a large burly man wearing a mechanic's uniform. The walker dropped to the ground, revealing a fragile little girl, it was Sophia. She was in there the whole time. I snapped my head around to the sound of Carol screaming out.

"My little girl!" she cried, falling to her knees as she watched Sophia limp towards us.

I think I could speak for the group when saying that our hearts collectively sank. All this time we really were chasing a ghost. I looked over at Daryl, and he could barely make eye contact with her, he had tried so hard to find her. I watched as he took a deep breath and stepped up towards Sophia, he was making the decision that he was going to put a bullet in her head before anyone else. The roaring gunshot echoed in all of our ears as Sophia's small body dropped to the ground. There was silence among us. Then we heard it, the sound of one more walker's deep groans from inside the barn. I wiped the tear from my eye and raised my gun waiting for it to come out. The large walker pushed open one of the swinging doors, making its way into the sunlight.

"No!" I screamed, running forward towards it. Those piercing blue eyes staring daggers into me. Daryl quickly turned and grabbed me before I could make it any further. "Roy!" I cried, watching my brother stumbled over the bodies that littered the ground. It was like the world was moving in slow motion. His body was covered in dirt, he was wearing the same outfit that he wore the day I saw him, his backpack still strapped on tight to his body, he probably died not too long afterward. There was a bite mark on his right arm where his sleeve was all ripped up and I wondered if it was a walker from that same herd that had got a hold of me. My body was shaking as I was trying to get Daryl off of me, but there was no use, he held on tight so I couldn't do anything stupid. Rick stepped forward for me, staring at my brother with his gun held to his head. I took in one last glimpse of him before I closed my eyes and listened for the sound of his gun. It rippled in my eardrums and I cried harder, I never got the say goodbye. Daryl grabbed my hand as I sat there in tears, bodies surrounding us. He then gave back to me what I had given him not even a day before.

"I'm sorry," he said, placing Roy's cold little dog tag in my hand.

-----

Carol and I sat alone in the campervan in silence, staring out the window. We were both going through the same emotions. At the moment the rest of the group was preparing their funerals, digging holes so we could bury them properly.

I twiddled my thumbs together, "I'm sorry," I said, breaking the uneasy silence. She looked at me. "You were relying on us to find her."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for," she spoke quietly. "You and Daryl and Rick were out there every day looking for her, risking your lives, because all this time I thought she was crying herself to sleep at night or going hungry," she paused, looking out the window again. "But she wasn't, she was in there," she stared at that God awful barn. "I should be saying sorry to you when you could have been out looking for your brother who we knew was alive." Guilt washed over her face. I just sank my head, thinking about it. I knew I was a stronger person than Carol though, and at this moment as much as I wanted to break down, I knew I had to be brave enough for the both of us.

"You ready?' Lori asked as she approached the campervan door with Daryl.

Carol shook her head no, "That's not my Sophia, Sophia died a long time ago."

Lori just nodded her head and took it, leaving Carol to mourn how she pleased. I could see Daryl was mad though, expected more from Carol, but you couldn't blame someone on how they choose to grieve.

"That isn't Roy either," I told Carol, standing up from my seat. I spoke softly to her. "But we owe it to our loved ones to at least put them to rest, the one way we know how before all of this," I said, reaching out my hand to her. She looked over to me, contemplating what she wanted to do. After some thinking, she reluctantly placed her hand in mine and I smiled, "come one, as hard as it is, it's time to move on."