Amber Grimes

Twenty Two

We buried Dale that morning, everyone felt tense as Shane got more heated about the walkers in the barn. Dad told Shane to calm down, that he would talk to Hershel and handle it.

Dad walked into the house with Hershel to talk while everyone else went back to their usual chores. " Shane, I'm getting worried" I said honestly. " I fear the farm isn't going to last long.". " Why would you say that?" Shane asked irritated. " This whole scenario just reminds me of the mountains. We were safe and out of the way, then one walker came from no where, then suddenly we were overrun with a herd. I'm just worried."

" Hey, you ain't got nothing to worry about okay? I'll protect you." Shane gave me a small smile, " Like I always do.". I gave him a soft smile " Yeah" I gave him a soft kiss. " So, when is the next search for Sophia?" " That is what I'll be discussing with Rick when he comes back. So, want to entertain me while I wait?" He asked with a smirk " I cant, Hershel said no sex.". I sighed, turning to walk away.

" Hey!" Shane grabbed my arm and pulled me in close " I can be slow, I don't gotta be rough" " Shane-" " Come on now, you really expecting me to go almost a year to sleep with you?" " Yes, that was one of the rules.". " No ones gotta know. Come on" Shane said, pulling me towards our tent " Shane no, please." " Stop making this difficult.". He snarled, pulling my arm harder.

I pulled my arm free " Stop it!" I yelled, " Stop it!" " Hey!" Daryl yelled, running over and pushing Shane away, giving himself enough space to get between Shane and me. " You want to take a step back" Daryl spat, " What? You her knight in shining armour now?" Shane chuckled " This ain't got nothing to do with you man, so why don't you stay out of it.".

Shane glared at hard, but Daryl wasnt backing down. " I promised Amber I wouldn't let anything happen to her. That includes not letting you push her around.". " Yeah?", " Yeah" Daryl nodded as Shane and Daryl started squaring up to each other.

" Daryl-", " No" Daryl cut me off " No more of this bullshit where you tell me its okay, cause it ain't!" Daryl yelled, slowly catching everyone's attention. " I know what this dick does. I know what he's doing to you and I ain't standing back and watching it happen again.". I slowly glanced around, noticing Maggie, Beth and our group slowly surrounding us.

" Daryl please " I begged with a whisper. " Please don't do this in front of everyone.". Daryl turned his head slightly towards me, " Sorry Amber, but I ain't standing to the sidelines while you get hurt, no more.". " Amber what's Daryl talking about?" Mom asked. " Nothing, Shane and I are fine.".

" Stop lying, you ain't convincing anyone!". " Daryl please.". " What's happening baby? Talk to me" Mom spoke up. The whole situation was getting so tense when T-dog suddenly stepped forward " The hell?" He asked, making everyone turned their heads to see what he was looking at.

Everyone froze at the sight. Dad was coming out of the woods with Hershel and Jimmy, holding a walker with a catch pole people used to catch stray animals. " What is that?" Shane spat, his mind completely forgetting the situation he was just in.

Shane suddenly started running towards dad " Huh? What is that?!" He spat, stopping dad and Hershel before they got to the barn. " Shane stop!" I yelled, the group standing a few feet back as Shane stood his ground. " This is Hershel's land! We don't have a say in how he deals with walkers!" Dad argued.

" We believe we can cure them, if we feed them a human diet" Jimmy spoke up. " Cure them?" Shane asked, pulling out his handgun and letting off shot after shot into the walkers. " If they're human then why ain't they going down?" Shane spat, " If they're human, how are they still coming?!" He yelled. " Shane that's enough!" I snapped. " You know what darling, you are right. That is enough." Shane nodded before shooting both walkers in the head.