VITRIOL | Shane Walsh

𝐕𝐈𝐈

Despite a coordinated search party for Sophia heading out early this morning, the small groups returned disappointed and empty-handed. Dad was still grumpy and his constant glaring was beginning to piss me and Shane off. If I was wrong for trying to fix my relationship with the father of my child then give me a pitchfork, red horns and call me the devil.

"Did I ever tell you how much I liked your arms?" I asked looking down at the one casually wrapped around my waist. We took refuge from the sun under the trees and he stood behind me as we watched the other group members catch a rare moment of relaxation.

"Yeah, and I told you how weird that was every single time, baby," he teased, squeezing me even closer to his bare chest. Unfortunately, our moment of peace didn't last very long because today's lookout, Andrea, shot up to her feet and looked through her binoculars.

"Walker!" she shouted and picked up the sniper rifle next to her "I bet I can nail it from here."

Instantly the group sprang to life. Shane grabbed his blue shirt, police hat and snatched the pickaxe that was previously discarded on the floor.

"Best let us handle it," he advised whilst dashing towards the inbound threat. It was smart to try and limit noise, save ammunition and send a small unit to kill it with minimal fuss. 

"Shane hold up, Hershel wants to deal with walkers." Rick protested causing Shane to stop and look at me for approval.

"It's my farm too- I say it's fine." 

That was the only confirmation he needed to ignore my dad's wishes...again. As he ran off to deal with the walker, I stayed by the caravan with Dale and Andrea. The older man was perched on the ladder when he noticed the blonde raise the rifle's scope to her eye.

"Andrea don't-" 

"-Back off Dale" she snapped before lowing her body rest flat on the roof.

"Don't be a bitch. Put the god damn gun down." I ordered but she continued to ignore both me and Dale. Frustrated with her defiance, I barged past the older man and climbed up onto the roof to stop her. However, my presence only seemed to pressure her into firing the gun. 

A smug smirk spread across Andrea's face as she hit her target but it soon disappeared when I slapped the straw hat off her head and yanked the rifle out of her arms. The gunshot wouldn't only ring the dinner bell for other walkers but it would signal to Dad that they hadn't stuck to his terms.

"Hey, I did you a favour!" She yelled as she shot back up to her feet. Our face to face confrontation was soon cut short as our heads snapped towards the panicked shouts coming from the group. When the penny dropped and we realised how much she had fucked up, her face dropped in distress.

"You should've fuckin' listened" I seethed before rushing down the ladder, forcing the gun into Dale's hands and running to meet the boys halfway. 

Daryl was passed out and had arms slung over Rick and Shane's shoulders when I arrived. They stopped as soon as I was close enough to examine the gunshot wound and I immediately gave orders for them to drag him to the house.

"What the hell happened? He's wearing ears" Glenn said in a panic. I looked down at the redneck's chest and saw them chained up on a string. Glancing up at Rick, he seemed to read my mind and tore them off so that this would remain between the few members here.

"Guys isn't this Sophia's?"

- - -

When the chaos settled, Carol and Lori offered to cook as a thank you for our hospitality. I welcomed the idea with open arms and even volunteered to help out in the kitchen but as expected, Dad hated the idea. He thought they were trying to distract him from the fact we had to break into our antibiotic supply to fight Daryl's infection. I don't know why he was bothered as he wasn't the one scavenging them anyway.