rag doll | TWD

[11] beside the dying fire

house of the rising sun ---  the animals

♮♮♮
[POV]

Things were eerily still at the farmhouse. Andrea debated with herself about going out to look for the others when Daryl and Glenn bust in the front door. 

Daryl looked around, "Rick and Shane ain't back?"

"No."

"And JJ?" The group shook their heads to Daryl's question. "She was with us, but took off. Haven't seen 'er since."

Lori's eyebrows knit together with worry and confusion, her gaze flickering between the others in the group. 

Maggie showed her concern as well, "What do you mean, she ran off?"

Glenn shrugged, "She was just gone."

Daryl continued, "We heard a shot."

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori posed.

"We found him." Daryl informed. 

Maggie perked up, "is he back in the shed?"

"He's a walker."

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel placed his hands in his pockets. 

Glenn chimed in, "no, the weird thing is, he wasn't bit."

"His neck was broke."

"So, he fought back." Patricia assumed. 

"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. They were together."

"Would you please get back out there, find Rick, Shane and JJ and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori asked Daryl. 

"You got it."

♮♮♮
[JJ]

I walked behind Rick and Carl, feeling as though I were in a trance, or caught in a crazy nightmare. Either way, both of the men who had wronged me were now dead.

"You two bit too?" Carl asked his dad. 

Rick looked back, checking on JJ, "No."

"Shane was."

"That wasn't Shane, you know that."

"Used to be." Carl sighed, before asking the million-dollar question. "What happened? You three attacked? I mean, I- I heard a gunshot, but I didn't see any walkers nearby. How did Shane die?"

As Rick paused to respond, I folded my arms and scanned our surroundings, spotting a herd of walkers approaching along our trail, their moans growing louder.

"Shit." I breathed, "Rick, we gotta go." 

My brother and nephew looked up to the sigh that I had spotted, and the three of us began rushing to find cover.

We paused, hunkering behind a tree while figuring out what our options were. 

"We- we gotta get to the house, t-tell the others." Carl panicked. 

"We'll never get through that. Can't go around. Carl, JJ, stay close. Go!" 

The three of us sprinted to the barn, and I hastily shut the doors behind us. It was clear they wouldn't hold for long; the number of walkers outside was overwhelming.

I looked around, trying to figure out what our next plan was. Eyeing two gas cans next to the unused tractor, I motioned for Rick to help me. 

We spread the gas throughout the hay.