Claimed

Chapter 16

•{[Beth]}•

I walk hesitantly toward the barn door, my heart pounding. How the hell did walkers get in there? I hear Carl's footsteps close behind me. I stick my arm out and stop him.

"Stay here." I say.

"But-"

"I don't want you getting hurt, ok?" He nods and I advance, Daryl by my side. I come to the door. It's shut and locked up tight.

"How do you think they got in here?" Daryl asks, staring at the lock.

"No. They didn't get in here. The barn is completely secure, there's no way they could've gotten in. Someone put them in here and locked the door. Someone wants them in here..." I say. I examine the lock, and take a peek inside. A walker meets me and I jump back, Daryl catching me.

"But who?" He says, helping me to my feet. That's when all the puzzle pieces come together.

"Hershel." I say.

"What?"

"Hershel put them in here. He thinks of them as sick people. Killing them would be like a murder. These must be people he knew. He's waiting for a cure that isn't coming."

"That's insane. We have to do something about it!"

"We can't. This is Hershel's property, we can't just barge into his barn." I say.

"Well I don't know about you, but I don't feel safe sleeping next to a barn full of walkers!" He yells. The walkers get more riled up by the noise.

"Would you keep it down? Listen, I get it. I don't really want to be living by walkers, but we can't do anything about it right now. I'll bring it up with Rick later, and he'll decide what to do. But until then, we say NOTHING to anyone else. Got it?" Carl and Daryl nod. "Let's go."

•••••

"Have you found a good one yet?" Carl searches the bookshelf, trying to find a book he likes.

"No. There's nothing here I'd like!"

"Well keep looking..." I look at all the pictures of the Greene family hanging on their wall. I smile and try to think about how they used to be, before all of this.

"Is War And Peace good?" He asks. I laugh.

"You wouldn't like it." I say laughing.

"Ok I'll keep looking." I walk over to the bookshelf where Carl is. "What about this one?" He holds out a copy of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. I smile.

"You'll like this one." He laughs and jumps on the couch in the living room. I sit next to him and open the book.

(From the actual book by Charles Dickens)

"Among certain public building in a town, which for many reasons it will be prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to which I will assign no fictitious name, there is one anciently common to most towns, great or small; to wit, a workhouse; and in this workhouse was a born; on a day and date which I need not trouble my self to repeat, inasmuch as it can be of no possible consequence to the reader, in this stage of business at all events; the item of mortality whose name is prefixed at the head of this chapter."

I continue reading, remembering when I was small and my mom read this to me. After I finish one chapter, I look over to Carl, who is fast asleep on the couch. I grab a nearby blanket and put it over him. I fold over the page like a bookmark, so I remember where to start tomorrow. I give Carl a kiss on the forehead when Rick and Daryl barge in.

"Get down!" Rick whispers. That's when bullets fly through the window, the glass shattering. I pull Carl off the couch and duck. Rick starts loading his gun.

"The others!" I say, my heart racing.

"Shh!" Rick says.

"We can't just leave them!"

"We don't really have a choice right now!" Suddenly, the gunshots stop. A voice pierces the air.

"Come out little brother! And give your old pal Merle a nice big hug..."

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A/N

Ok yay! So first off, I want to thank all you peoples for 2k+ reads! It's really awesome and I was NOT expecting to get past, like, two. And thank you to those who vote and comment and stuff! Yeah! And also, my other book. I sorta think that's gonna be almost like a side project if I ever get stuck on this. So don't expect updates from that one very often. So yeah!

Bai!!
\(^-^)/