A Broken World

Thirty-One

Daryl and I walked back to the farm together after our talk. He went up to Carol and asked her to walk with him back to the pond. While we were there we spotted more Cherokee Rose's. He wanted to show Carol; help her to keep her hopes up about finding Sophia.

It was hard not to look at the barn knowing what was inside. Rick had talked to Hershel but got nowhere. I stood on top of the RV with Glenn, keeping watch. The farm seemed so safe with it being so remote. The closest neighbor was a mile down the road; the city was even further. The walkers in the barn were people the Greene's knew. Hershel's wife and step-son were in that barn. “Where is he?” Glenn and I looked down to see Shane coming out of the RV. “Who?” I asked. Shane clenched his jaw and let out a long announced sigh. “Dale! Where is he?” I shrugged, “I don't know. Why?” That just seemed to piss him off more and he stormed off.

All hell broke loose after that. Wherever Dale had gone, Shane found him and returned with the bag of guns. He went on some Kong speech and started handing out guns. He tried to hand Carl one but Lori stepped in front of him and took it. He shoved my gun at me, forcing me to take it. He was still going on about how we needed to protect ourselves when T-dog pointed to the edges of the woods. Rick, Hershel, and Jimmy were all coming out of the woods with walkers on poles. “What is that? What is that?” Shane hissed, running towards them. The rest of us followed, running down to the barn.

It got even worse when Shane shot the walker Hershel was handling. I mean, I understand what Shane was trying to do. Hershel sees the walkers as sick people. He thinks they're just sick and that there will be a cure; a vaccination to help them. There was no reasoning with him about that never happening. Shane Out a few rounds in the walker and she still came at him. “Shane, that's enough!” Rick yelled. Shane simply nodded. “Yeah  man, that is enough.” He shot the walker in the head then went over to the barn, broke the lock, and opened the doors before backing up towards the group.

Hershel was on his knees, Maggie behind him with her hand on his shoulder. Walkers slowly started to stumble out of the barn. I flipped the safety off my pistol and brought it up, aiming it at a walker's head. Shane was the first one to shoot and the rest of us followed. Rick was yelling at Shane to stop what he was doing but Shane just turned and shot the walker Rick had a hold of. Rick let go of the pole and watched as T-dog, Glenn, Shane, me, Andrea, and Daryl all took out the walkers. There were more in the barn than I thought there would be.

But the last one to walk out through the doors had us all taking a step back in shock and disbelief. Little Sophia stumbled out, stepping over the walkers we had just killed. There was a chunk of flesh taking out of her left shoulder. Her eyes were a milky white and skin pale as death. “Sophia? Sophia!” My heart broke hearing Carol calling for her little girl. Daryl stopped her before she got to close, falling to the ground with her. None of us could move as we watched her come closer and closer. Rick was the one to step forward, raising his python, and shooting her.

Carol pushed Daryl off of her and ran off towards the house. Lori had Carl turned away from the aftermath. Nobody else moved until Beth stumbled forward, tears running down her cheeks, calling for her mother. Hershel had her believing that she was just sick and that there would be a cure to help her. The poor girl knelt down and pulled her mother onto her lap. Her mother's rotting hands came up and grabbed a hold of her, trying to pull her closer to her gnashing teeth.

Beth started screaming and several of us ran over to her and tried to pull her away. Andrea was able to grab a scythe and put it through the head of the dead woman, stilling her and releasing Beth from her grip. Jimmy helped her stand and began walking her back to the house, Maggie doing the same with their father. That's when Shane took the opportunity to jump on Hershel's case, ask8ng if he knew Sophia was in there. He tried to explain that he didn't have any idea that the little was in the barn but Shane kept pushing and pushing until Maggie slapped him.

After the shock wore off, Andrea, T-dog  Daryl, and I all started to take care of the bodies. Sophia, along with Hershel's wife and step-son would be buried while the rest of the bodies would be burned. Lori claimed she was helping but the only thing she did was stand around. We gathered the bodies, threw them in the bed of Otis’ truck, put them on a pile, and burned them. We dug three holes under a large oak tree and buried Sophia, Shane, and Annette that evening.

Carol refused to go, which upset Daryl. But it was completely understandable. She just found out her daughter has been dead this whole time. She even said that the little girl that came out of the barn wasn't her daughter; that her daughter is safe from this world now. It was heartbreaking and discouraging to know that we were basically chasing a ghost. We all had such high hopes of finding Sophia alive. Daryl was probably more hurt than the rest of us, besides Carol that is. He packed his things up and moved as far away from the house and the camp as he could while still being on the property. That's how he deals with his grief; he pushes everyone as far away as he can.

I went to my tent and laid down on my cot. Thinking about everything that has happened since the world turned upside down. I even found myself wondering if my father was still alive. I wonder if he and my step-mother made their way to the city like everyone else. I wonder if he even thought about me or thought about finding me. I wonder if they're dead, walking around somewhere or rotting in their house. I shook my head and stood up, walked out of the tent, and headed up the hill through the field towards Daryl.