Shoot Or Run

Chapter 3

  I sat by the ashes of our fire from last night, my eyes drooped from exhaustion but I was too scared to close them. I watched Mom staring down at Aunt Amy's body. I know why Mom is waiting. She wants to shoot Amy when she comes back as a walker.

Then I watch as Daryl takes a pickax to the dead bodies so they won't reanimate and Glenn and T-Dog drag the walkers to the fire, burning them. Lori went over to my mom to talk to her. When Rick tried to go over to her, she pulled her gun out and pointed it at him. Rick slowly backs away and mom went back to look at Amy's body.

I looked up and see Daryl and Morales dragging a body of someone from the camp over to the fire. Glenn starts yelling at them, "We don't burn them! We bury them!" He said, pointing to where ever our people were suppose to go. I can see the anger look on Daryl face as they put the body down. "Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this coming!" He motioned at the disaster before storming off.

I sighed quietly and looked down on the ground. After a few seconds I saw a shadow beside me. I lifted my head up and saw it was Rick. He sat down beside me, "I'm sorry about your aunt," He said. "Thanks," I whispered. "Lori spoke with your mother," He said and I looked at him.

He looked at me, "She told Lori that is Amy birthday," He said. I looked down and I nodded my head. I looked at him again. I saw he was looking at the ground. I know what he thinks. "It's not your fault," I said. He looked at me, "How did you know I think of that?" He asked with a small smile. I smiled a little, "Because if I were you I'd think so too. But it's not your fault," I said and he nodded.

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!" I heard Jacqui voice. Rick and I hurried alongside the others. "I'm okay. I'm okay," Jim whimpered. Daryl had the pickax in the hands and marched over to Jim. "Show it to us," He ordered, causing Jim to back away. Shane and Rick walked up to Jim, while the others backed away from him like he's a monster. Jim picks up a shovel. Shane and Rick shouted at Jim lower the shovel.

T-Dog grabbed Jim from behind, Daryl lifts Jim's shirt up. Right there, on his stomach, was a bit mark. "I'm okay. I'm okay," Jim said over and over again.

Jim sat on a crate by the RV, while the adults gather around the campfire and I listened to their conversation. "I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it," Daryl said. "Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane asked. "Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it," Daryl snapped. "I hate to say it- I never thought I would- but maybe Daryl's right," Dale said.

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog," I spoke up and they looked down at me. "I'm not suggesting we kill him," Dale said. "If we go down that road where do we draw the line?" I asked as I looked at Rick and Shane, who nodded in agreement with what I said. "The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be," Daryl said.

"She's right, we can't just kill a person, it isn't human," Rick said. "What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure," Rick said. "I heard that too." I looked up at Shane. "I heard a lot of things before the world went to hell," Shane said. "What if the CDC is still up and running?" Rick asked.

I went to stand next to Jacqui. She put her arms around me, "You did a good job," She whispered. I smiled a bit at her and she smiled back. "You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do," I look up and see Daryl backing up to Jim. "Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" He lifts the pickax up, getting ready to hit Jim. But Rick pull his gun out and held it to Daryl's head. "We don't kill the living," Rick threaten.

Shane was standing in between Jim and Daryl. Daryl looks at Rick and puts the pickax down. "That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head," Daryl said. "We may disagree on some things, not on this. You put it down. Go on," Shane ordered. Daryl puts the pickax down and walks away. Rick goes over to Jim, "Come with me," He said. "Where are you taking me?" Jim asked, scare. "Somewhere safe," Rick replied and takes Jim to the RV.

I sat next to a big tree, I watched my mother was still with Aunt Amy's body. I saw Dale came up to mom and talk to her. I sighed softly and closed my eyes. I opened my eyes when I heard footsteps approaching me. Rick. He bend down in his knee, "I need someone to watch over Jim. You want to do this?" He asked. I nodded my head and got up. Rick put his handgun into my hands.

The weight felt heavy in my hands but I quickly grew use to it. I nodded and then walked over to the RV. I went to the RV and saw Jim on the bed in the back. He looked tired, he sent me a small smile and I returned. "Hey," I whispered as I went to sit next to him. "Hey," He whispered. "Does it hurt?" I asked.

"Not in the way you'd expect it to hurt. It's more like the feeling of it moving inside me that hurts. It's like the day before you catch a cold. I can feel it coursing through my veins and it feels like my body is already beginning to shut down," He said. "You could by fine though. Maybe you're just tired," I insisted. He nodded, "I'm really tired," He said and then began to start coughing.

I felt like I should pat his back but I chose not to. Instead I just studied my gun. It wasn't really my gun but maybe it would someday. Then a gunshot rung out. Jim and I looked at each other confused and then we went to the RV door. I looked around and then my eyes were locked on mom. She was still leaning over Amy but this time there was a gun in mom's hands and a bullet hole in Amy's head. Amy was gone for good.

I looked at the ground. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw it was Jim. "I'm sorry," He whispered. Jacqui came over to us, "I can take it from here honey. Thank you," She said and then began leading Jim back towards the RV.

I sat next to the big tree again. After a few minutes, Carl walked towards me. "Ready for the funeral?" He asked sadly. "A funeral?" I asked. "Yeah we're having a service I guess. Just to honor their memory. Your aunt and the others," He said and then glanced down at the gun in my hand. "Whoa! Where'd you get that?"

I held the gun up and Carl stared at it in amazement, "Your dad gave it to me but I think he's gonna take it back in a little while. I was only given it to take watch but now that's over," I explained.

We walked down the dirt path and I saw everyone was already there waiting. All the bodies were in graves. I slipped my gun in my waistband and fell silent beside Carl and my mom.

The service was short, only because we don't know any of these people, and we walked back to the camp. Mom and I walked to our tent. We sat on our sleeping bags. I looked at Amy's side. I felt my eyes fill with water when I think of all the good times I had with her.

"Elena," I heard my mother's voice. I looked at her, she took my hand and looked at me, "I'm sorry," She whispered, then continued, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you and for Amy. I promise I will not leave you."

It made me smile a little. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. She hugged me back, "I love you," She whispered in my ear. "I love you too, Mom," I said. We got out of the hug and she wiped my tears away. "Let's go outside," She said, and I nodded. I went first and mom went after me.

We gather around on of the fire pit. I settled on a log with Mom. Lori was sharping a stick, when she looked up to see all the guys walking up. "I've, uh-" Shane was the first to speak, "I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Now look, there are no- there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first to admit that. I've know this man a long time," He said, looking at Rick. "I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?"

Mom looked at me, "Let's start packing things," She said as everyone started to move to their tents. I nodded and we went to our tent. When we entered the tent, I took out the gun. Mom looked at that, "Where did you get that?" She asked. "Rick gave it to me. But I think I should give it back to him now," I said. "Keep it," She said and I looked at her. She spoke again, "Rick gave it to you, he wants you to keep it and so am I."

Night was already beginning to fall as stuffed my clothing into my small duffel bag. Mom and I driving with T-Dog. Mom took down the tent and I took our bags over to T-Dog's car and I tossed them inside.

I sat down under a tree. Carl sat down beside me. "Hi," He said softly, offering a piece of jerky. I took a bit of it and passed it back to him. "Thanks," I said quietly.

He remained silent and I rested my head on his shoulder. It wasn't the best pillow but I would take this better than the ground. Carl's head fell on mine and it was perfect silence aside from the talk of the adults. I fell asleep on Carl's shoulder.