Ellie Dixon

Another Dreadful Night

Me and Sophia had headed downstairs, but Carl stayed upstairs. Me and Sophia were sitting on the sofa, waiting for everyone's safe return. "I'm going after them." Andrea finally said after we'd all been sitting in silence for about thirty minutes.

"Don't, they could be back any second and if Randall comes back, we're gonna need you here." Lori replied.

Just like that, the door opened and in walked my dad and Glenn. "Daddy!" I yelled, running up to him. He put down his crossbow and picked me up.

"Hi, babe... Rick and Shane ain't back?" Dad asked.

"No." Carol responded. Sophia got up off the sofa, passing my dad with a smile on her face, he smiled back at her, tapping the back of her head as she walked over to Carol.

"We heard a shot." Glenn pointed out.

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori suggested.

"We found him." Dad answered.

"Is he back in the shed?" Patricia asked.

"He's a walker, ma'am." Glenn shook his head.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked, referring to the dead as a walker for the first time.

"No, weird thing is that he wasn't bit." Dad answered.

"But..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say. "How could he be a walker if he wasn't bit?"

"I don't know, princess. But his neck was broke." Dad informed the group.

"So, he fought back." Maggie crossed her arms over her chest.

"Thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him." Dad responded.

"They were together?" Sophia asked.

"That's what it looks like." Dad looked to Sophia with a nod.

Lori walked over to dad. "Would you please just get back out there and look for Rick and Shane to find out what the hell is going on?" Lori requested.

"You got it." Dad nodded.

"Thank you." Lori smiled, touching dad's arm.

Dad put me down, squatting down in front of me as he grabbed his crossbow as well. "I'll be back soon, honey. Stay with Sophia and Carol, okay?"

I nodded. "Be careful."

"I promise." He winked before kissing my forehead. He turned to Sophia and Carol. "I'll be back."

"Good luck." Carol smiled.

"Remember to go for the brain." Sophia pointed out.

Dad smiled and laughed a little. "I will." Then dad left again, and I walked over to Carol and Sophia. Carol put her arms around me and Sophia and hugged us close.

"Oh my god." We heard Glenn say from outside, we all made our way onto the porch and noticed a couple hundred walkers heading across the field, towards the barn and eventually over to us.

"Patricia, kill the lights." Hershel said. She nodded and headed inside.

"I'll get the guns." Andrea agreed.

"Maybe they'll just pass like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?" Sophia asked.

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about." Dad shook his head. "A herd that size will rip the house down."

"Carl's gone." Lori said coming back outside.

"What?" I raised my eyebrows.

Lori put her hand over her heart. "He was upstairs, I can't find him anymore."