In the Very End: Book One

Chapter 12

*WARNING: Please be advised that this chapter contains mature content and strong language.*

Chapter 12
Quinn's POV

I quickly jogged to catch up with Shane who was holding the bag of guns. Dale gave in and wouldn't let me shoot him. He said Shane would get what's coming to him. I wasn't too happy about it.

"What's all this?" Daryl asked, pointing to the guns.

Shane shoved a gun at Daryl. "You with me, man? Time to grow up. You already got yours?" he asked Andrea.

"Yeah...where's Dale?"

"He's on his way. Look, it was one thing to be sittin' around here pickin' daises when we thought this place was safe, but now we know it ain't." Shane walked over to me and looked me in the eyes. "How 'bout you? You gonna protect your own?" he asked, shoving a gun in my direction.

I looked at Maggie who was standing next to me and she gave me a nuetral look. I grabbed the gun. If this was going to happen, might as well get it done without any other deaths.

"Can you shoot?" Shane asked Maggie.

"Can you stop?" she spat. "You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight."

"We have to stay, Shane," Carl added.

"What is this?" Lori asked, walking out of the house.

"We ain't goin' anywhere, okay? Hershel, he's just gotta understand. He's gonna have to." Shane pulled a gun from his belt and walked towards Carl. "Now, we have to find Sophia, right? I want you to take this, Carl." He handed Carl the gun.

Lori stomped down the steps, making her way towards him. Bribing Carl with Sophia? Lori was not having it.

"You take it and you keep your mother safe. Go on, take the gun and do it."

Lori yanked the gun out of his hands. "Rick said no guns. This is not your call, this is not your decision to make."

"Oh shit," T-dog exclaimed.

"What is that?" Shane asked, running towards Rick, Hershel, and Jimmy who were dragging two walkers into the fences.

I ran after them, the rest of the group following.

"What the hell are you doin'?" Shane asked.

"Shane, just back off," Rick ordered, trying to control the walker in his hands.

"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel asked, focused on taming the walker at the end of the pole.

"Are you kiddin' me?" Shane yelled. "You see? You see what they're holdin' on to?"

"I see who I'm holding on to," Hershel corrected.

"No, man, you don't."

"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk," Rick reasoned.

"What you wanna talk about, Rick?" Shane shot back. "These things ain't sick, they're not people. They're dead. All they do; they kill, these things right here. They're the things that killed Amy, they killed Otis, and they're gonna kill all of us! Hey, Hershel, let me ask you somethin'; could a livin', breathin' person, could they walk away from this?" Shane drew his gun and shot the walker in the chest three times. "Three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive just take that? Why is he still comin'?" He shot it again. "That's its heart, its lungs. Why is he still comin'?"

He shot it once more before Rick yelled, "Shane, enough!"

"Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough." He walked up and shot the walker in the head before heading towards the barn.

Hershel let the pole fall from his hands. He dropped to his knees, disconnecting himself from what was going on. He stared at the walker on the ground.

"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!" he yelled. "Rick, it ain't like it was before. If y'all wanna live, if you wanna survive, you gotta fight for it! I'm talkin' fight! Right here, right now!" Shane ran towards the barn.

"Hershel, take the snap pole!" Rick yelled. "Hershel, take it! Hershel, listen to me, man, please. Hershel!" He turned his attention back to Shane. "Don't do this, brother!"

Shane beat on the lock with a pickax until it broke and then he lured the walkers out. They filtered out one by one. I stood up with the others, shooting round after round, but they just kept coming, like it was never going to end.

After we had shot the last one, everyone was silent; either pissed at Shane or at a loss of words for what just happened. I was about to show Shane a colorful use of words when the sound of feet scuffing cut me off. I turned back towards the barn.

Sophia.

"Sophia!" Carol yelled. Daryl caught her and held her back.

Lori held Carl in her arms. I was holding tears back. All of our hard work, and Hershel and his family knew this whole time. Rick stepped by me and aimed his gun. He waited. When she got close, he pulled the trigger.

The only sounds that occured were Carol's sobs and Carl's cries. Silence had filled the spaces between us.