Down by the water • TWD

Found Her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shane approached Rick. 

"Shane, just back off." Rick spat.

Avery stood off to the side of everyone holding the gun with both of her hands. She didn't want to help with this, she wanted to help with anything but this. She liked Hershel, Maggie, Beth, and everybody who lived on this farm. She couldn't go through with this. So she just acted like she wasn't there. She was only ten, she was too young for this. She was drowning out all of the arguing, and the yelling. She could feel her heartbeat through her fingertips, she was blinking rapidly. She didn't know what to do. She was tired and wanted to nap. She didn't want to use this gun today.

She didn't know someone in particular was watching her react like this. Avery felt a hand grab her shoulder gently. 

"Give me the gun Avery, you ain't gotta do this. You're just a kid" Daryl looked her in the eyes. She slowly handed him the gun her breath steading. Daryl slid the gun into his back pocket and aimed the shotgun he was holding at the Walker Rick was holding. How can he agree with this?

"Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" 

Pop. Pop. Pop

Shane shot the Walker 3 times in the chest. It was still alive. He was proving a point.

"No!" Rick yelled.

"Stop it!" Rick was screaming now.

"That's three rounds in the chest." Shane provoked. "Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?" No. "Why is it still coming?" Stop. "That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?" Avery's never been this scared.

"Shane, enough." Rick was pleading.

"Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough." All Avery heard was Shane shooting the walker in the head. Dead. She wanted to curl up in a ball and hide away from the world. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!" Does he ever stop? "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us." Avery hated yelling.

"Enough!" Rick kept trying.

"Rick, it ain't like it was before!" Yelling. "Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it!" Screaming. "I'm talking about fighting right here, right now."

Fighting.

"Take the snare pole. Hershel, take the snare pole." Hershel couldn't move. "Hershel, listen to me, man, please."He tried. "Take it now." Avery couldn't either. "Hershel! Take it!" He wanted to stop Shane. "No, Shane. Do not do this, brother. Please!"

"Don't do it!" Pleading.

Avery watched as Shane broke open the barn doors. Taunting the walkers to come out. He wanted to show us what the new world was.

"Come on. Come on, we're out here."

"This is not the way! Please!" Rick kept begging.

"Come on." Shane Provoked once again.

"Maggie." She noticed Glenn asked for permission.

"It's okay." Was it okay?

Avery didn't move a muscle as Shane, Glenn, Andrea, Daryl, and T-dog killed every single walker that came out of that barn. So many gunshots she felt like her ears were going to explode. She watched as Beth collapsed along with Jackson. She felt a tear stream down her face as she watched Jackson tug at his hair from the roots. Did he know somebody in there?

That's when she saw it. When everyone saw it. They all watched as a little girl with a blue t-shirt with a rainbow on it slowly exited the barn. 

Sophia.

She placed her hand over her mouth in shock. All that time and effort for her to be in there the whole time?

"Sophia? Sophia!" Carol, oh poor Carol, Avery thought.

She hated listening to Carol sob and plea. She bit her lip to hold back her tears. Why is she always so emotional? She watched as Daryl comforted her. She wanted to be comforted like that, she needed it too. But Carol needed it more at the time.