Fighter

A/N: Okay, so I know I “posted” this earlier, but I decided to add a little more to it at the end. I didn’t end right with me so I fixed it. Hope you enjoy. R&R!

Thanks

:) Biles

!@#$#@!

Hours had passed and Daryl hadn’t returned from wherever he was to yell at Isabell about the barn full of walkers. Sure, she was worried about what trouble he had gotten himself into, but Daryl was going to do whatever he wanted. Isabell couldn’t control him even if she wanted to. She groaned, waking up from her sleeping state. Isabell had fallen in and out of consciousness throughout the day, just trying to pass the time. There hadn’t been much going on during the day while Rick had been trying to figure out what to do about the walkers in the barn.

Isabell pushed herself off of the cot and left her tent, stretching her arms over her head. She took a look around the camp, seeing Carl, Beth, and Patricia sitting on the porch and Glenn and Maggie sitting on the porch steps. Isabell climbed the few stairs onto the platform and stood behind Carl. “How ya doin’, bud?” she asked, looking over at his game of checkers with Beth. “Are ya winnin’?”

“He’s doing pretty good.” Beth bragged smiling at him.

“It’s only checkers.” Carl said, waving it off.

Isabell laughed at his dismissal, and sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe one day we can work you up to chess, huh?”

Carl nodded.

Isabell looked out into the land seeing Andrea and T-Dog come from one direction and Carol and Daryl come from another. She studied Daryl for a moment, he looked better so that put Isabell at ease. Carol must have gotten through to him.

“Do y’all know what’s goin’ on?” T-Dog called from his place.

Isabell furrowed her brow and moved to step off the porch. “What do you mean?”

“Where is everyone?” Andrea asked.

Glenn stood from the steps with Maggie. “You haven’t seen Rick?”

Andrea shrugged. “He went off with Hershel. We were supposed to leave a couple of hours ago for a search.”

“Yeah, you were.” Daryl said, moving to stand next to Isabell. “What the hell?”

“Rick told us he was going out.” Carol added.

Isabell scoffed. “So no one knows where Rick is and no one went out to look for Sophia?” She asked.

“Dammit,” Daryl cursed. “Isn’t anybody taking this seriously? We just got us a damn trail.” Daryl turns in his spot to see Shane come from the tree line with the bag of guns. “Oh, here we go.” As Shane gets closer to Daryl, Daryl, looks slightly confused. “What’s all this?”

“You with me, man?” Shane asked, handing Daryl a shotgun.

Daryl looked at the shotgun for a moment before realizing what he was trying to do. “Yeah.” he said.

“Daryl, wait.” Isabell said, signifying that it was a bad idea to start siding with Shane, especially over this. She tried to continue, but Shane shoved a gun into her hands. “Shane, stop!”

“Time to grow up!” Shane pressed, before looking to Andrea. “You already got yours?”

“Yeah.” Andrea responded. “Where’s Dale?”

“He’s on his way.” Shane said, then handed a gun to T-Dog.

T-Dog looked down at the gun in his hand. “Thought we couldn’t carry.”

“Yeah. We can and we have to.”

“Shane, we can’t do this.” Isabell said, walking after him.

Shane ignored Isabell, addressing what little of the group was there. “Look, it was one thing sitting around here, picking daisies, when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. But now, we know it ain’t.” Shane stood in front of Glenn, offering him a shotgun. “How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?” he asked, referring to Maggie.

Glenn looks to Maggie momentarily before deciding to take the shotgun from Shane.

“That’s it.” Shane encouraged. “What about you? Can you shoot?” The deputy asked the oldest Greene daughter.

“Can you stop?” Maggie countered. “You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight.”

“We have to stay, Shane.” Carl whined.

“Carl’s right. We haven’t found Sophia yet. This is the safest place to stay while we look for her.”

Lori rushes from around the house, hearing the ruckus from the fight. “What is this?” She asked.

“We ain’t goin’ anywhere, okay?” Shane promised the child. “Now, look, Hershel, he’s just gotta understand. Okay? He - well, he’s gonna have to.”

“Except that he won’t!” Isabell insisted. “The old man is stuck in his ways and will make us leave. You can’t do this!”

“We need to find Sophia.” Shane said, kneeling down in front of Carl. “Am I right?” he asked.

Isabell scoffed at the deputy. “This morning you were damn sure that she was dead.”

Shane shook his head. “Now, I want you to take this.” He said, holding out a handgun for Carl to take. “You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how.” Shane paused while Carl hesitated to take the weapon. “Go on, take the gun and do it.”

Lori steps in front of her kid so that he couldn’t take the gun from Shane. “Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make.”

“Oh, shit!” T-Dog exclaimed.

Isabell turned her head towards T-Dog, seeing him stare off behind the group, into the trees. She saw Rick was coming from the path with Jimmy and Hershel. They both had a couple of walkers on a leash.

“What is that?” Shane asked, seeing the exact same thing. Shane took off running at Rick, wondering what the hell was going on.

Isabell scoffed and rolled her eyes before she noticed Daryl take off after him. “Daryl, stop!” She said, hurrying to him. “You shouldn’t be running.” As she approached Hershel, Rick, and Jimmy, Isabell almost couldn’t believe what was right in front of her. She saw it, but it was all wrong.

Daryl quickly raised the gun he had, aiming it at the walker that Rick had.

“What the hell you doin’?!” Shane asked.

Rick shook his head. “Shane, just back off.” he pressured still holding onto the walker.

The old man looked around. “Why do your people have guns?” Hershel asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Shane asked. “You see? You see what they’re holding onto?”

“I see who I’m holding onto.”

“No, man, you don’t.”

“Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk.” Rick promised.

“Rick, even I’ve got to admit this is… This is so wrong.”

Daryl steps forward as Isabell does, making sure that he always puts himself between the walkers and Isabell.

“What you want to talk about, Rick?” Shane asked. These things ain’t sick. They’re not people. They’re dead. Ain’t gonna feel nothing for them ‘cause all they do is kill. These things, right here,” he gestured to the walkers. “they’re the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis. They killed your kid.” He said, pointing in Isabell’s face.

Isabell pursed her lips and tightened her grip on the gun in her hand. For the second time, she had the urge to punch Shane.

“They’re gonna kill all of us.”

“Shane, shut up!” Rick ordered.

“Hey, Hershel, man, let me ask you something.” Shane reached for his handgun in his waistband. “Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?” Shane shot the walker Hershel was leading three times.

“No!” Rick shouted. “Stop it!”

“That’s three rounds in the chest.” Shane clarified. “Could someone who’s alive, could they have just take that? Why is it still coming?” Shane shoots the walker twice more. “That’s its heart, its lunch. Why is it still coming.” There were three more shots to the walker.

Rick looks to Shane. “Shane, enough!”

“Yeah, you’re right, man.” Shane said, walking towards the walker. “That is enough.” The deputy shot the woman walker in the head, point blank.

Isabell jumped at the sound of the gun. Her and everyone else were bewildered. They all knew that Shane was seriously out of line.

“Enough risking our lives for a little girl who’s gone!” Shane shouted.

Isabell’s eyes shot to Carol as the other woman took a step away from the group. The blonde shook her head at Carol.

“Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! Enough! Rick, it ain’t like it was before!” Shane preached. “Now, if y’all wanna live, if you want to survive, you gotta fight for it. I’m talking about fighting right here, right now.” Shane turned and ran towards the barn, ready to break it open.

“Take the snare pole!” Rick shouted to Hershel. “Hershel, take the snare pole.”

Hershel ignored the man, staring at the dead walker in front of him. In absolute shock over the occurrences, the old man had fallen to his knees.

“Hershel, listen to me! Man, please, take it now. Hershel, take it now!”

Shane picks up a pickaxe leaning against the barn and uses is as a lever to break the lock off of the hinge.

“Wait!” Lori shouted.

“No, Shane.” Rick shouted, not letting go of the walker he held. “Do not do this, brother. Wait!” He begged.

“Don’t do it!” Glenn shouted.

Isabell looked to Daryl on right. “Daryl, we have to do something. We have to stop him. We - we have to stop this.” Isabell noticed Daryl’s eyes glance towards her quickly before landing back on the walker Rick held.

“Rick!” Lori shouted.

“Please!” Rick begged, wanting the madness to end.

Shane pulls the wood plank holding it closed from the door, letting both barn doors swing open from the walkers pushing on it. Shane smiled, evilly. “Come on. Come on!” He called to the walkers. “We’re out here!”

Rick still tried to plead his case. “This is not the way. Please.”

Isabell looked around at the group surrounding her. Hershel and his family were devastated watching as their safe haven fell apart around them. Glenn tried to comfort Maggie to the best of his abilities. Carol was standing alone, holding a hand to her chest, nearly in tears, afraid. Lori held onto her own child, wondering how Rick was supposed to stop Shane.

Shane stood in front of the doors. He cocked his handgun and aimed it at the bar as the walkers poured out.

Isabell looked to Daryl. “Daryl!” She shouted, pulling him from his trance.

The man took a step forward, finally moving towards the barn to stop the walkers that were piling out of the barn. Daryl helped Shane in shooting all the walkers down as they came out. Andrea and T-Dog move to do the same.

Isabell watches on, wishing there was something she could do to calm the people around. She looked to her right, watching as Glenn asks Maggie for permission to help bring down the walkers.

Shane looks back at Rick and the walker that he was holding onto and aimed his gun, shooting it in the head.

Isabell swallowed her pride, and stood in the line next to Daryl to help with the mob. She shoots down a couple before they all started to slow. Isabell keeps firing even in the midst of Rick telling them to stop. It’s too late now anyway.

Daryl shot the final walker and the entire group takes a breath.

Isabell looked to Daryl and bites her lip, closing her eyes. She had no words for the situation. Isabell opened her eyes and looked to the barn when she hear more quiet snarls coming from inside. Her grip hardens on the gun in her hand and she raises it, poised to shoot. A little girl stumbles out from between the barn doors. The tiny person is nearly unrecognizable, but Isabell knows the shirt. She knows exactly who it is. Isabell drops the gun from her hands. “Sophia?” She whispered as a trembling feeling came over her and a lump formed in her throat. “No, Sophia…” She says looking back at Carol.

“Sophia?” Carol questioned, taking a few steps forward before breaking into a jog, realizing that it is Sophia. It is her daughter. “Sophia!” Carol cried.

Isabell hurries to grab Carol before she can get to her daughter. Isabell caught her and held her tight, the two of them falling to the ground, kneeling.

Carol tried to reach out to her daughter, crying and sobbing for her. “Oh, no, Sophia!”

Isabell held onto the other woman tightly, so she couldn’t get away. She knows that she is crying, too, and she knows there’s nothing that she can do. Isabell takes a deep breath. “Oh, god.” She cries out, trying to stop the tears.

Sophia takes a few steps towards the group over the bodies of the fallen walkers. She’s growling.

Isabell looked up at Daryl. “Daryl, do something!” She screamed at him, only he didn’t move.

Daryl joined Isabell kneeling next to her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

Isabell groaned. “Somebody fucking do something!” She shouted, angrily, tears still staining her face.

Rick squares his shoulders, taking angry steps around the front line, raising his gun to the little girl. He hesitates, wishing that he wasn’t seeing what was in front of him. He wished the child in front of him could be anybody else but the little girl that had the group holding onto so much hope.

This was it. Sophia was gone. The little girl that Isabell had grown to love and care for like she had her own daughter was one of them. She was a walker. Isabell blamed herself for not being able to find the girl before she became something she swore to herself Sophia would never become.

Isabell takes in a breath, preparing herself for Rick to fire his gun. When he did, she jumped.

Carol’s head fell into Isabell’s lap as her sobs deepen for the loss of the last person in her family to survive.

Isabell draped her own body over Carol’s hiding her face and crying into the woman’s shirt. “I’m sorry.” Isabell whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Daryl had overheard her and pushed her into a sitting position. “Don’t look.” Daryl said to Isabell.

Isabell quickly pushed Daryl away from her. “The hell do you think you’re doin’?” she asked.

“‘M tryin’ ta help now get off yer ass.” Daryl ordered. For some reason, Isabell listened. Daryl grabbed Carol from under her arms and pulled her up, making her stand. “Don’t look.” He said to her, making her face away from Sophia’s dead corpse. He led Isabell and Carol back to their camp circle.

As reluctant as Isabell was, there wasn’t much else she could do but listen to him. Everything was lost. Sophia was gone. Harley was gone. There wasn’t much else for her to live for.

Daryl stopped at the RV, leading Carol into it and making her sit at the table inside. She had stopped crying and instead was just staring out. “Iz, c’mon inside.” he called softly.

Isabell shook her head, leaning against the RV with her elbows on her knees in her head in her hands. “I’m good.”

“Izzy, come on.”

“I said no, Daryl.” She snapped. Isabell stayed like that for a while as Daryl sat on the counter inside. She opened her button down shirt and wiped her face with the tank top she had on underneath. Isabell took in a shaky breath. She was still having a hard time believe it was true. Isabell wasn’t sure how long had passed when Lori came walking towards her.

Lori put a hand on her shoulder for comfort, but Isabell just shied away from it. “I’m sorry.”

Isabell stood up straight, shaking her head. “Don’t be. Wan’t my kid.”

Lori nodded anyway. She knocked on the RV door, climbing up the small stairs. Lori hesitated before speaking, looking between Daryl and Carol. “They’re ready.” She said, looking out to Isabell through the window.

Carol shook her head.

“C’mon.” Lori urged.

“Why?” Carol questioned.

“‘Cause that’s your little girl.” Daryl said plainly.

Carol looked up at Daryl, shaking her head slightly. “That’s not my little girl. That’s some other… Thing.” Carol paused, looking back out the RV window. “My Sophia was alone in the woods. All this time I thought…” Carol shook her head, crying. “She didn’t cry herself to sleep. She didn’t go hungry. She didn’t try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago.”

Lori stayed for a moment longer before deciding to take her leave.

Daryl clenched his jaw and nodded at Carol before leaving as well. He stormed off towards the burial site.

Isabell shook her head, watching him leave. She held her hands together tightly, almost hurting herself before she couldn’t hold back. Isabell burst into the RV, frightening Carol. “I know you’re grieving Carol, and I’m so sorry that we didn’t find her in time.” Isabell said, feeling the tears sting her eyes again.

Carol studied Isabell wondering what she was getting at.

“But walker or not, that little girl was your daughter at one point. You raised her and hugged her when she was sad or scared. You tucked her in every night. You protected her from your jackass of a husband. Sophia was and is your daughter. I’ll tell you right now, I would give anything to have had the chance to bury Harley. To put her to rest and put my heart at ease.” Isabell took a deep breath, noticing that she was starting to make Carol cry. “But instead I have a hole. And it hurts so much.” Isabell shook her head and wiped the tears rolling down her face. “You might not be able to handle seeing her like this and I get that. I just hope you realize that soon you’re going to wish you were there for your daughter like you had been her whole life.” The blonde quickly left the RV slamming the door behind her. She followed Daryl’s path to the place where they had planned on burying the three loved ones. Isabell stood at one end of Sophia’s body. “Daryl, help me.” she said, and he complied.

“Where’s Carol?” Andrea asked.

“She’s not coming.” Isabell answered. She and Daryl each gently grabbed an end of the little girl and lowered her into the grave that had been dug for her. Isabell grabbed a shovel and decided to fill up the hole on her own.