My Secrets In The Apocalypse

Chapter 16

Riley made her way across the camp looking for Rick. When she didn't find him she decided to check around the house, thinking he might still be talking to Herschel. As she got closer to the house she noticed Rick, Andrea and T-dog standing near a truck, huddled around a map.

"Hey," she said catching their attention.
"Hey Riley," Andrea said.
"Are y'all planning another search?" she asked pointing to the map.
"Yea, we were," Rick said nodding.
"I'm going too. I wanna help," she said.
"You sure?" Rick asked skeptically.
"Yea. We need to find Sophia," she said seriously.
Rick nodded knowingly and began to explain the plans to Riley, pointing to places on the map that they had already searched and where they were planning to search next.

They were just about to leave when Herschel had come to them, asking Rick for help with something. Seeing an opportunity to try and smooth things over, Rick told the three that they would put the search for Sophia on hold until he got back. Andrea and T-dog needed to go take care of some other things around the camp so Riley decided to sit on the porch and wait for Rick to finish helping Herschel. She made her way up the steps and sat in one of the rocking chairs along the porch. Glenn and Maggie had come out of the house not long after and decided to join Riley.

"Hey guys," Riley sighed.
"Hey, what're you doing out here all alone?" Maggie asked.
"Just waiting for Rick. He's helping your dad with something right now. We're going back out to look for Sophia when he gets back," Riley replied.
"Oh, ok," Maggie said with a smile. Glenn moved to sit in a chair near Riley and Maggie sat next to him. They fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the beautiful day. The weather was nice and warm, the sky was a beautiful blue and a few fluffy white clouds were floating overhead. Riley watched the clouds float by, silently picking out different shapes she saw in them.

It had been a while, Riley was starting to wonder what Rick and Herschel could possibly be doing that would take so long. She saw movement from the corner of her eye and looked over to T-dog and Andrea who were coming over.

"Where is everyone?" Andrea asked.
"Rick still ain't back?" T-dog asked.
"No, I was just wondering what could be taking so long," Riley replied.
"There y'all are." Daryl's gruff voice came from the side of the house as he and Carol came walking up. "What the hell?"
"I thought you were going back out?" Carol asked no one in particular.
"Damn it. Isn't anyone takin this seriously? We got us a damn trail!" Daryl said angrily. Riley couldn't help but feel guilty, she had promised Daryl that she would help search for Sophia today, but she just ended up lounging on the porch for most of the day.

Suddenly Shane walked up to the porch with a determined look on his face. He was holding a shot gun in one hand and had the large bag of guns hanging on his other shoulder.
"What's all this?" Daryl asked
"You with me man?" Shane asked holding the shot gun out to Daryl. He looked him over quickly before grabbing the shot gun.
"Thought we couldn't carry," T-dog said as Shane handed him a gun as well.
"Well we can. And we have to," Shane said angrily. "Look, it's one thing standing around picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. Now we know it ain't," he said holding a gun out towards Riley. She looked at the gun in his hand hesitantly before taking hold of it.
"What about you man?" Shane asked holding a gun out to Glenn. "You gonna protect yours?" Glenn seemed unsure but took the gun from Shane's hand anyway.
"Can you shoot?" he asked Maggie.
"Can you stop?" Maggie said angrily "If you do this, my dad will make you leave tonight!"
"We can't leave until we find Sophia!" Carol said getting upset. The door to the house suddenly opened and Lori stepped outside looking at Shane angrily, Carl trailing not far behind her.
"We ain't going anywhere, ok," Shane said to Carol "Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand, ok? He's gonna have to."

"Oh shit," T-dog's voice caught everyone's attention. They all quickly looked where he was looking.
Rick, Herschel, and Jimmy were heading to the barn with two walkers. Rick and Herschel were holding the walkers secure with catch poles that were usually used by animal control to catch dogs, while Jimmy was walking in front luring them in the right direction.
Shane instantly started toward them angrily, the rest of the group following him. Riley felt her palms begin to sweat with nervousness. She wasn't sure what was about to happen, but Shane was already on a war path and this wasn't helping any. Shit was about to hit the fan.
"What the hell is this!?" Shane yelled as he approached Rick and Herschel.
Rick was desperately trying to calm Shane down while still keeping a steady hold on the pole as the walker tried lunging for Shane. He was only getting more agitated as Rick and Herschel tried reasoning with him.
"These things ain't sick!" Shane yelled "They're not people! They're dead!" he yelled gesturing to the walkers angrily.
"Shane! Shut up!" Rick yelled at Shane while still struggling under the strain of the walker on his pole.
"Hey, Herschel, let me ask you something. A living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane asked pulling out a hand gun and aiming for the walker he was holding, shooting it three times in the chest.
"That's three rounds in the chest! Could someone who's alive take that?" Shane yelled at Herschel. "Why's it still coming?!" he yelled before shooting the walker two more times. "That's its heart! Its lungs! Why's it still coming?" he yelled before shooting the walker a few more times.
"Shane! That's enough!" Rick yelled.
"You're right man," Shane said walking up to the walker Herschel was holding. "That is enough," he said before shooting it in the head.