Cowboy

18) Dont Watch

Alicia was walking around the farm when she noticed Daryl going off into the woods. "Daryl!" She yelled, running up to him. "You can't."

"I'm fine." He sighed, looking down at her.

"Hershel said you need to rest." She scoffed, I putting her hands on her hips.

Daryl led a small smile slip. That's cute.

He shook his head, the smile disappearing. "Yeah, I don't care."

"Well I do." Alicia grabbed his arm. "Rick's going out later to follow the trail."

"Yeah well I ain't gonna sit around and do nothing." He snapped.

Alicia's sighed. "No, you're gonna go out there and get yourself hurt even worse. We don't know if we're gonna find her, Daryl. We don't...I don't."

"What?" Daryl faltered.

"Can't lose you too." She mumbled, dropping hand back to her sighed.

He seemed to think for a moment before sighing. "You ain't gonna lose me." He said, kissing her quickly.

She sighed, kissing him back. "You won't go?"

He shook his head. "Naw... Hershel said I need to rest."

—————
Alicia walked down to the little circle of tents. Apparently nobody could find Rick.

"We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago." Andrea said, looking around the group.

"Yeah you were. What the hell?" Daryl scoffed.

"Rick told us he was going out."

"Damn it. Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail." He stopped noticing Shane walking up with a bag full of guns. "Oh, here we go."

"What's all this?" Alicia asked, skeptically.

"You with me man?" Shane looked to Daryl.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Time to grow up."

They walked down to the barn, Alicia trying to get Daryl's attention the whole way. He finally turned to her when they stopped.

"This isn't right." She hissed. "We can't do this."

"We got to." He said sharply, turning away from her again.

"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 looked to Jimmy. "How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" He handed him a gun. "That's it. Can you shoot?"

"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight." Maggie protested.

Alicia looked around at the group. It looked like everyone was torn on what to do or not.

"We have to stay Shane."

"What is this? We ain't going anywhere, okay Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand.
Okay? He... Well, he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right? Huh? Now I want you to take this. You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes." Shane handed a gun to Carl, patting his head.

"Rick said no guns." Alicia stepped up, walking close to Shane. "This ain't your call. It ain't your decision to make."

"Oh shit!" Alicia turned her head, looking to where Jimmy was pointing. She watched as Rick and Hershel walked back with two walkers.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shane walked up to Rick.

"Shane just back off." Rick warned.

"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel asked, looking around.

"Are you kidding me? You see? You see what they're holding onto?" Shane looked bewildered.

"I see who I'm holding onto." Hershel nodded.

"No man you don't."

"Shane, just let us do this, and then we can talk." Rick said calmly.

"What you want to talk about, Rick? These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't gonna feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they k*ll! These things right here, they're the things that k*lled Amy. They k*lled Otis. They're gonna k*ll all of us." Shane ranted.

"Shane, shut up!"

"Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane pulled out his gun, shooting the walker in the chest.

"No! Stop it!" Rick yelled.

"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?" Shane continued to shoot it. "That's its heart, its lungs. Whys it still coming?"

"Shane enough." Rick ordered.

"Yeah you're right man. That is enough." He shot the walker in the head. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone! Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to k*ll us. Enough. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it!"

Alicia watched as he began to break open the barn. "Shit." She looked to Daryl who just look back. She almost laughed at how done he looked.

They all watched as Rick tried, and failed, to get Shane to stop. Eventually he got the barn door opened, and the walkers began to pile out.

"Cmon." Alicia sighed, pulling out her gun. She and Daryl walked to the front line, taking out walkers as they kept coming.

When the last one came out, Alicia's heart stopped. "Sophia." She breathed.

She turned to look at Carol, rushing over to the older woman. "Sophia? Sophia! Oh no. Sophia." She sobbed.

Alicia sank to the ground with her, letting Carol cry into her arms. "Don't watch." She whispered, flinching as the gun fired.