In the Sound

Shane pushed back the sheriff’s gun bag until it was swaying on his right hip.

The tops of the thin black guns were gleaming under the sunlight with every move he made. The members of the group were scattered around the Greene porch steps. Most of them watching Shane ranting, and some of them bickering back in harsh tones. Kit’s ears kissed the pads of my palms, his brushy tail curled around the back of my leg.

My gaze flickered onto Daryl.

A large black gun was perched over Daryl’s shoulder, with the end pointed straight up to the sky. His squinted eyes were watching over the forest line. I could tell he wanted to be back in there. To look for that little girl with everything he had. To help her. Why would that hick want to help anybody but himself? Something swirled in my stomach at the thought of it. Something I didn’t want to feel.

Suddenly, his face spun around until those dark eyes landed on me. Both brows furrowed for a moment. “What?”

I blushed. My grip on the top of Kit’s head tightened.

“Nothi-”

“Oh shit,” intercepted the dark guy. Heads turned one after another. Attentions focusing. We followed his gaze to the barn. Soft groans carried with the wind.

In the brim of my vision, I could just make out a small crowd of people. Rick, Herschel, and Jimmy, were leading two dead people. The dead ones were struggling against their leads, clawing at the sticks the three men were manning. Teeth gnashing and chipping. Their cold eyes never left the flesh of their prey.

In that second I knew.

The world was infested by the dead. They walked the earth, destroying every glimmer of life they spotted. Herschel trapping them in the barn like they deserved some respect and peace. Like they deserved it more than whatever was left in the world. And now Rick, Rick was helping him. I couldn’t help but feel myself torn from the inside out. My heart was drumming like thunder on my chest. I wanted to believe in Rick. But this was wrong.

Shane was the first to move. He broke into a steady run, thick combat boots digging into the mud and kicking it up behind him.
Kit straightened, and hunched over. Ready to follow. The vicious growl setting into his lip already. If I didn’t hiss at him in warning, I knew Kit would have bounded down there and happily helped Shane tear them apart. He was as good as a cop as any. Thought like one. Moved like one. And loyal to them.

I bet he could smell the cop on Rick and Shane. Just like they could probably smell it on him too.

Maggie was next, she passed by me in a desperate attempt to catch Shane. Her cries were softly muffled by the bounce of her run. And before long, the entire group had broken out into a huddled race. My fingers strayed from the top of Kit’s head as my own pace quickened. That was all Kit needed to pad along in front of the rest of us. We were all like a tidal wave crashing down the hill together.

The second Shane reached them, he was bellowing at Rick. A mad dog barking offense. Rick battering each of his comments back. Kit paced between them irritably, paws digging into the mud every now and again.

He snarled at the dead ones, who struggled on their leads.
Hungry for us.

I reached the barn last, just skimming the edge of the group’s scattered circle.

A crackle ripped across my ear drums. I was frozen in the sound. My lids glazed over at the shock, making me shake my head so I didn’t feel so dizzy.

The gun was still gripped by Shane, who was looking around at the group furiously. The dead woman that Herschel was manning didn’t fall to the ground. Her chest was smoky from the bullet Shane just emptied in there. Her dress tattered by the dirt and blood soaking the cloth. But she struggled as she always did, always hungry. Always groaning.

“That’s three rounds in the chest. Someone who’s alive, can they just take that?” Shane thrust his thick finger up and pointed it at the dead lady. She shook her ratty hair around and groaned louder. “Why is she still comin’?”

Two more shots.

She flopped back a little before steadying herself. Clawing at the air, probably imagining her nails digging into Shane’s neck before her teeth did.

A shiver tickled up my spine.

“That’s it’s heart, it’s lungs, why is it still comin’?” Two more.

“Shane! Enough!” Rick screamed, his throaty gruff. The dead man he lead was swinging around at the end of his stick.

“Yeah you’re right man,” Shane grumbled wildly, ambling over to the lady he was shooting. All eyes watched him. Horrified. “That is enough.”

One more fire. Her head rocked in spasms before she flopped to the ground. Dead for good.

I brought my palms to my mouth and stressed them over my lips.

“Enough riskin’ our lives for a little girl who’s gone. Enough livin’ next to a barn full of things that are tryin’ to kill us. Enough! Rick. It aint like it was before. Now if ya’ll wanna live, if ya’ll wanna survive? You gotta fight for it!” Shane was raving now. The veins in his neck popping out like hell. His beady eyes were wild and swollen. Arms throwing down viciously. “I’m talking ‘bout fight! Right here. Right now.”

And with that, he turned to unlock the barn. The group erupted in another explosion of protests and screams. The women backing up in horror, the man tightening their grips over their guns. Rick struggling against the walker, pleading for an escape. I felt a hand snake around my wrist, pulling me back towards it. Jumping a little, my eyes darted back to whoever was behind me.

Daryl held his rifle in one hand, and my wrist in his other. His eyes fixed on the barn, expression focused. He stole a glance at me for the briefest of moments, meeting my eyes.

“Ya don’t wander far from me,” he mumbled cautiously.

Puzzled, I shook my wrist, trying to rattle it free from his gasp. Daryl held tighter, and almost pulled me right into his chest. Bulbs full of something I could never read. “Please,” he whispered awkwardly.

I eyed him strangely. He hated me. He hated my guts more than anything. But still. That feeling. The warm feeling of his hand around my wrist was different now.

For the first time since the new world took over, I felt safe.

Daryl released me from his grasp and bounced the gun in his hands until it was aimed on the doors of the barn. The ones that Shane had thrust open.

Death slipped through.