Wake the Dead

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkqngdLLIcg&list=PL12iJ-96MtapPjTKB-gFAo901MYuUtVRL <--- Link to song for the Dale scene.)

I always seemed to run faster when I was running to save someone else. Maybe it's because I have come to care about these people and some of them I would even die for.. But, as I approached him, I was too late.

"Dale!" I heard screams in the distance. There was a walker on top of him trying to bite his neck, but instead ripped open his stomach. Daryl ran past me and tackled the walker off him, then stabbed it repeatedly, but I just fell to my knees by Dale.

"HELP! OVER HERE!" Daryl screamed to the rest of the group that was farther back. "HELP! RUN!"

"Dale stay with me." I said as I put my hands on his face, not looking at his torn apart stomach.

"Hang in there." Daryl said kneeling down across from me.

Everyone came over now and saw Dale laying there, torn apart. I moved so Andrea could stay with him, they where closer. "HERSHEL! WE NEED HERSHEL!" Rick yelled as he moved to the other side of Dale.

I heard cries from the rest of the group and Dale looking around with wide eyes as Hershel finally came over.

"Can we move him?!" Rick asked frantically. Hershel looked over Dale's stomach. "He wont make the trip."

"Okay, we'll do it here! Glenn go back to the hou-" Rick was cut of by Hershel putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking his head no. Andrea's cries got louder along with the other members of the group. "NO!" Rick yelled in anger and sadness.

I felt sadness spark throughout my bones as I saw Dale cry out in pain. I hadn't noticed, but I had made my way over to Daryl, who was now standing over by Rick.

"He's suffering. Do something!" Andrea cried out.

Rick had sadness glazed over in his eyes as he pulled out his gun. He hesitated, but pointed it at Dale's head. He just was staring at him with broken eyes, not pulling the trigger. Rick couldn't do this, he was already falling into that dark place and everyone could tell.

I took a deep breath, summoning my strength, and walked over, taking the gun out of his hands. He looked at me and I reassured him with a nod, then he handed it over and stepped aside.

I locked eyes with Syd as I got down on my knees, but I looked away as I aimed the gun at Dale's head. I heard Andrea mumble something to him, but I ignored it as he raised his head up to the top of the gun, wanting this. "I'm sorry." Was the last thing he heard before I pulled the trigger, sending the deafening noise through all of our ears.

All I could hear where cries all around me from the group as I sat looking at Dale. I had taken care of Sophia and now I just had taken care of Dale, it was like my job. My job making sure our leader didn't break..

I stood up and handed Rick back his gun, then walked over to my sister, who had tears all over her face, and hugged her. "I love you, Syd." I said to her. "I-I love you, Fi." She choked out into my shoulder.

We hugged for a while, but then broke apart when everyone started to leave. "I think I'm gona stay with Andrea tonight... Ya be with Daryl?" Syd mumbled to me.

"Yeah. I'll be alright." I kissed her forehead and she walked off with everyone, besides Rick, Shane, and T-dog who where carrying Dale's body. Daryl walked over and looked at me with hard eyes that still held worry. "Come on." He said as he started to walk to his camp.

It was definitely cold tonight, so I was glad that I went on that run as I wrapped my jacket around me. We got to his camp and we immediately went into his tent and zipped it up. He set down his crossbow by the bed, not feeling very safe after the encounter with that walker. My gun was still in here from when I left it a few days ago, so if I needed it I would have it.

Daryl climbed into his makeshift bed and laid down on his back, signaling me to come over. His bed was surprisingly big enough for both of us, so I laid down on my back next to him. He sighed and unexpectedly pulled me into his chest.

He wasn't really one for cuddling because he wasn't used to being touched, but maybe it was because of the cold night or the fact that I just shot Dale, he didn't seem to mind.

I curled into his arms and put my hands on his chest, trying to keep them warm. His arms wrapped around me provided the most comfort and protection I have ever felt before and I never wanted to leave them.

I couldn't fall asleep and I knew Daryl wouldn't be sleeping at all tonight because he had his guard on, so I looked up at him. "That walker could have wandered off from a horde, like the one at the camp that one time." I said to him, remembering the first few days I was with this group.

He looked down at me, his bright blue eyes searching mine as he talked. "I know." He said, obviously worrying about it. I started to get my self worked up with worry, but it was better than sadness... I am just waiting for this place to get overrun, it's too good to be true.
Daryl saw the look on my face and sighed. "Stop worryin about it. Nothin we can do right now."

I snuggled into his protective arms more and rested my head on his shoulder so I could get a better look at him. "I'm tired of killin people." I said to him.

He shifted a little so he could get a better look at me. "I know, Fi. I know."

I sighed and put my head back down on his chest. I felt him tighten his grip around me as I shut my eyes, trying so hard to fall asleep and leave reality.

*

I was sitting in the back of a truck, looking over the farm that was crawling with walkers. Every walker that came near me was somebody from our group; Sophia, Dale, Glenn, Andrea, T-dog, and Rick. But, I took my gun and shot them all. I searched frantically for Syd and Daryl, but didn't see them anywhere, until I heard a bloodcurdling scream that I knew was Syd's. I ran over and saw Daryl taking a bite out of Syd's neck. "NO! NOO!" I screamed, but he just continued to take bites out of her.

I felt hands on my shoulders, that had woken me up. I shoved them off of me and kicked, then searched around for my knife. "FI! FI! Calm down, it's me!" I heard that familiar southern drawl that snapped me back into reality. I slowly looked over to see Daryl who was crouched over a little because I had kicked him. "Sorry." I mumbled and sat up straight on the bed. "Bad dream." I ran my hand over my face and through my hair.

He sighed and then stood up straight. "We're about to have a service for Dale." He told me.

I realized that the sun was orange and up high in the sky, I had slept in. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?" I asked him, remembering that I should have snuck back to camp by now.

"Thought ya needed to sleep." He said awkwardly. "C'mon." He left the tent.

I sighed and followed after him, going over to where the other graves are. Everyone was already in a line looking at the new grave. Daryl and I stayed back a little, but Rick saw us come and started his speech. Dale was pretty much the wise grandfather of the group... He always had advice and wanted to do the right thing, like with Randal. At least his last wish had come true.

Everyone had sadness all over their faces, losing Dale was huge, especially for Andrea and Glenn.. This is why its better to be alone... you don't have to worry about losing anyone. But, it was too late for me, I already cared about this group more than I ever intended to.

Rick finished up his speech and we all slowly walked away, but T-dog came over to us. "We are goin to look for any weak spots in the fence, could use some help."

Daryl and I both agreed and then walked with him over to Otis's truck. Shane was already in the drivers seat, ready to go. I grabbed the fence wire and T-dog grabbed the tools, then we hopped into the truck and drove off to the fence.

I grabbed the wire and hopped out of the truck, none of us saying a word to each other. Shane walked along and pulled at the fence, testing it's strength. There was a little bit that we had to fix back up, but the strength of the rest of the fence was satisfying.

I put the rest of the wire back in the truck and took out the baseball bat for a weapon as we headed to look for tracks. Daryl went into his tracking mode and found some walker footprints in the ground before I had even completely looked around.

We ran back and jumped into the car, driving over to where we spotted walkers. I had to admit, it was hot when he tracked... hell, it was hot when he did anything, he was fucking delicious.

I snapped myself out of my thoughts as we approached a small group of walkers eating a cow. I grabbed a pitch fork instead of the bat because I didn't feel like getting covered in brains right now, and walked over with everyone else.

Each of us picked a walker that was coming towards us and went over to it. I shoved the pitch fork right through the bottom of a walkers head, damn that had to have hurt... If this thing even felt anything...

I moved on to one the was eating part of the cow and hit it in the face, causing it to fall back. I always seemed to take all my worked up anger out on these things... I shoved the pitch fork right through the top of the walkers head and watched it's eyes go blank.

There was one last walker and we all went up to it and started to kick the shit out of it in anger. But, once we were done, Shane came up and hit the top of its head off with a shovel.

We got back into the car, still not saying a word to each other and drove back to the farm to see Rick and Hershel who were talking about moving everyone inside the house. "Alright, lets move the cars over towards the house and set up a look out on the windmill and the barn. That should give us sight lines on each side of the property." Rick said to us as we got out of the car. "T-dog I need you on the perimeter, keep track of everyone comin and goin. I'll also need you and Daryl on double duty for look out." Rick was definitely letting the leader shine out of him right now.

Daryl nodded and then shifted his crossbow on his back, lifting up his shirt a little bit. I sighed, what was I going to do while Daryl was on watch? Especially when all I wanted to do was jump his bones.

I pushed the thoughts into the back of my head and made a mental note to talk to Rick about taking watch, I wanted to start pulling my weight in the best way I could.

I walked over and helped Syd pack up our beds, then take down the tent. I slung my backpack over my shoulders and then threw the packed up tent and beds into the back of Otis's truck. I saw Daryl on his bike and tried so hard to keep my thoughts under control and remind myself that this wasn't the time for dirty thoughts.

"Fiona." I heard Rick call out from behind me. I stopped walking for him and Hershel to catch up. "Daryl and I are gona go out to drop off Randal, will you stay back and keep an eye on things here? Shane has a way of letting stuff get out of control..."

"Not a problem." I said, not needing to hear more, I knew Shane was crazy. I walked up to the house and noticed the trees around it where losing it's leaves, it was definitely fall.

I helped Lori bring inside all of her stuff and then all the other random things. The men where staying in one room and the women the other, which means no more secretly sleeping with Daryl. I let out a breath, dropping a big box of someones shit and then walked over to Syd who was setting up our beds.

I knelt down next to her and took my bag off my shoulders, remembering something. I dug through my bag and found the book that I had grabbed for her at the store. "Picked this up for you, thought ya might like it." I said as I handed it over to her.

She smiled and gave me a tight hug, I was glad I could make her smile. We broke the quick hug and I noticed Rick standing on the porch alone. "Do ya need any help?" I asked Syd.

"Na, almost done." She said to me as she put the book over by her bag.

"Alright, I'm gona go talk to Rick." I said as I stood up.
"Have fun." She said sarcastically as I walked out onto the porch.

"Hey, Rick." I called out as I walked over to him and sat down on the ledge of the porch.

"Fiona." He said with a nod.

"I'd like to help with watch or running patrol." I said to him.

"I think I could manage getting you in on the shifts." He said as he looked down at me. I gave him a weak smile and a nod, then looked down at my feet.

"About what you did last night.." Rick said, not looking over at me.

"Jus' lookin out for ya, Rick." I said, looking back up at him and receiving a nod. I saw Shane drive up in the distance so I put my hand on Rick's shoulder then walked off. I walked past the barn that Randal was staying in and was headed towards the stables to see if Hershel was in there and needed any help.

I was walking by when I heard a lot of rustling and noises coming from the woods. I slowly walked over, pulling out my knife to check it out. Maybe it was just another walker, or if I'm lucky it's a deer or somethin. I walked further into the forest, taking quiet footsteps and hiding behind trees to make sure if it was dangerous, it didn't see me.

I peeked around the tree I was behind and saw Shane following Randal into the forest. What the hell? I snuck forward, but stopped dead in my tracks when Shane moved up behind Randal and snapped his neck. I let out a small gasp of shock because of what I just saw, and I accidentally caught Shane's attention.
He stalked over to me, with a dark, murderous expression on his face. I gripped onto my knife tighter and backed up. "Now you weren't supposed to see that." Shane said in a creepy voice as he got closer.

I took a few more steps back, but he didn't stop approaching me. I wasn't looking where I was walking, so I tripped over a log and fell backwards, dropping my knife. Shane used this as his chance to lunge at me, but I was faster than him, so I quickly moved and shot up, running away.

I heard him let out an angry grunt and then his footsteps chasing me. I was running further into the woods, away from the safety of the group and I had no weapon. Shit. I ran fast, my feet carrying me deeper into the forest as the light started to slowly slip away.

As I ran Shane's footsteps grew quieter and then just stopped all together... I think I either lost him, or he gave up. I leaned against the closest tree and wheezed a little, trying to catch my breath while I listened around me for any signs of danger. It was starting to get dark and I had no idea where I was right now... What the hell is going on?

I pulled out the small kitchen knife that I kept in my boot and started to quietly walk back the way I came, trying to see my trail, but failing. I was on high alert and listening to all the sounds around me; the wind, branches getting blown, my footsteps, moaning... moaning? Shit.

I spun around and was greeted by two walkers stumbling towards me with their arms out. I mumbled a few curse words under my breath as I took a few steps back, then charged. I kicked one of them in the chest, causing it to fall over, and then ran towards the other one and shoved my knife in between it's eyes multiple times. I felt blood splatter all over my face and neck as I destroyed this walkers brain.

I pulled the knife out of it's head and it went limp and fell next to the other one that was still moaning and trying to get my legs. I quickly moved over to it's head and repeatedly stomped on it until the head was completely smashed. The anger was burning in my veins, I was going to kill Shane when I got back.

I continued to quietly walk along, holding my knife out, it was completely dark now... I heard yells and struggling in the distance, so I quickly looked around and ran over. I saw a walker was on top of someone, trying to bite them, and then off to the side was.. Glenn? I didn't hesitate after that to run up and kick the walker off of who ever it was, and then Glenn ran up put his machete right through the walkers head.

I looked over to see it was Daryl on the ground and then to the walker, it was Randal. "Fi?" Daryl asked as he stood up. "Holy shit.. What the hell is going on!?" I yelled in a hushed voice, not wanting to attract more walkers.

"What are you doing out here?" Glenn asked me, with fear in his voice.

"Shane, that's fuckin why!" I snapped quietly. "I saw him take Randal out here and then snap his neck.. He saw me and chased me all over the damn place." I said again, but then realized something. "He snapped his neck, but he's a walker..." I looked up at Daryl who had a angry and confused expression on his face.

"How is that possible?" Glenn asked.

No one said anything, we just looked at each other for a second, then started to head back. We got into the clearing of the farm and I sighed in relief that we where back, but then I spotted Shane and Rick across the field. "Go back tell everybody what ya found, I need to go get Rick." I told them as I started to walk away.

"Fi! Go to the house! It's too damn dangerous to be out here right now!" Daryl yelled at me.

"It's fine, Rick's right over there, now fuckin go!" I hissed at him. I was going to beat the life out of Shane.

"Whatever! Stupid bitch." Daryl said as he started to walk away in anger. I didn't have time to let his comment get to me because I started running over, my eyes on Shane the whole time. I got closer and realized something was wrong, Shane was pointing his gun at Rick... Fuck.

I ran more, but before I could get there Rick had managed to tackle and stab Shane, killing him. I saw Rick was holding his body, yelling. His voice was hoarse from him crying. "NO! Son of a-" Rick cried out.

I ran over and slid down next to them. "Rick. Rick." I said as I pulled him off Shane. "This was you! Not me!" He yelled at Shane and then jerked back, standing up. He just paced around, looking at Shane. This was it, he was breaking.

He knelt down next to Shane's body, looking at it, like he was waiting for something. I crouched down across from him. "Rick, look at me." I said as Rick looked around, freaking out. He then looked into my eyes and I saw what I had been trying to help him avoid. His eyes had lost their brightness, their hope... They where dark now, broken.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frNLYB6dUb4 <---- first 2 minutes of song for next scene)

"Dad?!" A voice snapped us out of the gaze. It was Carl, he was crying and holding a gun. "Carl.. No. You should be back home with mom." Rick said as he stood up and walked over towards him. Carl pointed the gun at him and Rick took a step back and gasped.

I stood up and walked over to the side, watching them, not knowing what to do. "Just put the gun down, please." Rick begged, with tears in his eyes. I heard a gun shot ring out from the gun and I gasped, instantly running over to Rick, but he was fine.

I looked behind us to see Shane had made his way over, he had turned. Was he bit?

Carl had tears and sadness all over his face as Rick walked over to make sure Shane was dead. I was completely shocked and confused about what the hell has just been going on, but when I looked up I completely freaked.

There was a massive horde of walkers coming toward us, ready to rip this barn to shreds.