.・゜-: ✧☾　☽✧ :-゜・.

𝐒 𝐓 𝐄 𝐋 𝐋 𝐀

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐒 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘. She was slightly disappointed that they couldn't sleep in a bed but after sleeping in a tent for months, you get used to the feeling of having rocks and sticks poking you from under the sleeping bag.

Carol had cooked breakfast for the group. Stella sat with her book in one hand and the plate of eggs in her lap. Next to Stella sat Levi and Carl, intensely interested in the Batman comic they were reading. They had borrowed it from Ellie.

"I thought you were more of a Spider-Man kind of guy." Stella smiled.

"Yeah, well you take what you can get. But Spider-Man is top." Levi returned her smile.

"Spider-Man is the best." Carl filled in.

"Hell yeah!" Levi high-fived the boy.

"Hell yeah!" Carl said.

"Carl!" Stella exclaimed. "You're not allowed to use words like that!"

"You and Levi do it. Why can't I?" He frowned innocently.

"Because, you're a child! Those are grown-up words."

"You're not a grownup." Said Carl.

"I'm blaming this behavior on you, Levi."

"Wha—" Levi said in pure shock. "How is this my fault?"

"You're the one who swears the most out of us." Stella shrugged.

"Says the person who somehow manages to get twelve 'shit' in one sentence."

The two laughed before returning to their books.
She hadn't read in a while. Too much had happened. But now, things were finally normal. Well, nothing was normal in the apocalypse. But Stella felt happy. A bright smile was plastered on her lips. Carl was okay, they finally had a place to stay, Levi was there and they had found their first sign of Sophia.

Little did she know, her happiness was going to be short-lived.

"Um, guys.." Glenn said nervously as he stood before the group. "So... the barn is full of walkers."

Stella's gaze flashed from her book and up at Glenn. Her eyes were wide and her lips parted.

Soon after, the group stood in front of the barn. Shane was first and peaked into the barn that held the dead.

"You cannot tell me you're alright with this," Shane growled, storming back to the group.

"No, I'm not," Rick said. "But we're guests here. This isn't our land."

"This is our lives!" Shane yelled as he walked on and off, repeatedly running his hand over his shaved head.

"Lower your voice," Glenn whispered.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug," Andrea said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "It ain't right. Not remotely."

Stella wasn't sure how to feel. She hated the risk of the walkers getting out. The memories of the night Amy died, replayed in her head. She never wanted that to happen again. But then again, they were guests.

"We've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go," Shane said. "Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time."

"We can't go," Rick argued.

"Why, Rick why?"

"Because my daughter is still out there," Carol spoke up.

"Okay." Shane took a deep breath. "I think it's time that we all start to just consider the possibility."

Stella's face hardened and she shot Shane a warning look.

"We're not leaving Sophia behind," Levi said.

"I'm close to finding this girl," Daryl spoke. "Levi found her damn do two days ago."

"You found her doll, Daryl." Shane scoffed. "That's what you did. You found a doll!"

"You leave then! If you wanna leave so bad then go ahead!" Stella spat at him surprised by the found confidence in her tone.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said."

"Shane, stop it!" Rick said reaching out his arm for him.

"Let me tell you something else, man," Shane said, pushing his arm away. "If she was alive out there and she saw you coming, all merged out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction."

A loud fight broke out between the two men. Rick quickly stood between them, using his arms to push them away from each other.

"Stop!"

"Shane! Back off!"

Lori grabbed hold of Shane's arm but was immediately pushed back. Shane pointed his finger in her face as he spoke. "Keep your hands off me."

"Let's talk to Hershel," Rick said as the man walked away. "Let me figure it out."

"What are you gonna figure out?!" Shane shouted as he spun around and walked aggressively towards Rick. Stella's mother pushed him back shouting, "Enough!"

The loud shouting had caught the walkers in the barn's attention, making them bang and groan loudly against the barn door. The group's heads spun around and stared in fear as the door was pounded against. Carl's arms were wrapped around his older sister's legs as she held him close.

"𝐈𝐅 𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄, 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑?" Stella said, reading from the math book in front of her.

When her mother had asked her if she could watch over Carl, this was not what she had in mind. Math was always her worst enemy. She studied and studied but always ended up getting a bad grade.

"Okay so...eleven times two is... twenty-two," Carl said to himself. "And eleven plus twenty-two is thirty-three."

"Good job!" She smiled as the boy wrote down the answer in the notebook in front of him.

"Does Shane think Sophia's dead?" Carl asked after a few moments of silence.

Stella was quiet for a moment as she pondered what to say. Her parents and Levi were always quick to answer the questions Carl asked. And they always said the right thing.

"Shane's just scared."

"Of the walkers in the barn?"

"Yeah," Stella nodded.

"Stella," Carl began. "I'm not leaving until we find Sophia. And I don't want to go even after that."

"Carl, baby, we're not leaving." she tried to assure him.

"I think she's gonna like it here." He looked up at her with his big blue eyes. "This place, it could be home."

Stella pulled the boy into an embrace. She held him tight, kissing the top of his head. "I'm sure she'll love it here."

𝐄 𝐋 𝐋 𝐈 𝐄

"𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈 𝐖𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍!" Levi cheered as he used his bishop to take out Carl's king.

Ellie was surprised that Carl lasted so long. During the game before, it only took Levi thirteen moves to beat Ellie.

"I'm gonna beat you one day. When I'm older like you and Stella are. I'm gonna beat both of you." Carl spoke.

"You're gonna need a lot of practice to beat me." Levi grinned proudly, leaning back in his chair, resting his head in his arms behind his head.

"Oh please," Stella scoffed. "You're challenging a twelve-year-old. "

"You beat me then, I'd like to see you try," Levi smirked.

"Oh, you're on!" Stella said as she sat down in the chair in front of the chess board.

"Now, no hard feelings when I win, alright?" Levi said as he began to sort out the black and the white chess pieces.

"If. If you win." Stella squinted her eyes and smiled.

A small crowd had formed around them, intrigued by the game. Carl and Beth stood around them as Ellie and Patricia sat on two chairs on each side of the table. Maggie and Glenn sat on the porch steps flirting as usual.

But their game didn't even start before it was ended by Andrea and T-dog rushing over.

"Do you know what's going on?" The man asked Glenn, making Ellie tear her gaze from the game.

"Where is everyone?" Questioned Andrea.

"You haven't seen Rick?" Glenn asked.

"He went off with Hershel. We were supposed to leave a couple of hours ago." The blond woman explained.

"Yeah, you were. What the hell?" Daryl said as he and Carol approached the group.

"Rick told us he was going out," Carol spoke.

"Damn it!" Daryl cursed. "Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail! Oh, here we go." He said as he spotted something approaching them.

Shane, the buzz-cut man, walked angrily over to them. On his left shoulder hung a big bag of guns. Not small ones, the big ones, shotguns and rifles. Ellie knew that her father would be going crazy if he saw it.

"What's all this?" Daryl asked.

"You with me, man?" Shane said, shoving a shotgun at him. "Time to grow up!"

"Where's Dale?" Andrea asked.

"He's on his way," Shane muttered, before handing T-dog a Glock.

"Though we couldn't carry?" He questioned as he hesitantly took the gun.

"We can and we have to."

Ellie and the rest stood up and stared at the ongoing scene in front of them. Ellie wasn't sure what to say or do. She had to admit that the man scared the living hell out of her. But she couldn't just sit and watch as they went against everything her father had said.

"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." He shouted, before turning to Glenn. " how about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" He held out a rifle.

Glenn hesitated as he looked at Maggie before unwillingly taking the gun from his hands.

"Can you shoot?" The Walsh man turned to Maggie.

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

"We have to stay Shane," Carl spoke.

"What is this?" Lori said as she came into view.

"We ain't going anywhere, okay?" Shane said. "Look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand.  Now, we need to find Sophia. Am I right?" He kneeled before Carl. "Huh, now I want you to take this." He held up a gun to the small boy.

The blond Grimes girl stepped between them quickly stopping her brother.

"Shane, this is not your call!" She shouted. "You better stop this shit, right now before you get out all kicked out!"

"Oh, shit!" They all turned to the sound of T-dog cussing. Ellie's head spun around, watching as Jimmy, Rick and her father led two walkers out of the woods.

"What is that?" Shane began sprinting towards them, followed by the others. "What is that?!"

"Shane!" Ellie shouted, trying desperately to stop the man.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Shane shouted as they ran through the fence.

"Shane, just back off!" Rick said.

"Why do your people have guns?" Ellie's father asked.

"Are you kidding me? You see what they're holding onto?!" Shane said as he walked closer, still keeping a distance between himself and the dead.

"I see who I'm holding onto," Hershel said.

"No, man you don't!"

"Shan just let us do this and then we can talk." Rick tried.

"What do you want to talk about, Rick? This things ain't ,Rick. They're not people. They're dead! Ain't got to feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy! They killed Otis! They gonna kill all of us!"

"Shane, shut up!"

Ellie stood near her mother and sisters a few yards away from the chaos. She recognized the walker her father was holding. Her name was Louise Bush and she used to have a farm up the road from their house. She grew sweet corn. When they were younger, the Greene siblings would play hide and seek in her field.

"Hey, Hershel, man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person walk away from this?" He asked as he picked up his gun and fired multiple shots into one of the walker's stomachs.

"No!"

"Stop it!" Rick shouted.

"That's three rounds in the chest! Could someone who's alive just take that?! Why is it still coming?" The Walsh man lifted his gun once more and fired two more shots into the dead, which still stood in its feet.

Ellie grabbed Beth's arm, terrified by the man's actions.

"That's its heart, it's lungs. Why is it still coming?!" He fired another shot into its chest.

"Shane, enough!"

"Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough." Shane rushed over to the walker placing his gun to its head before pulling the trigger. The dead's head flew backward and blood spattered from the back of its head. Ellie gasped gripping Beth's arm harder.

"Enough risking our lives from a girl who's gone! Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! Enough!" Shane spat out his rage freely. "Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, If you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting here, right now!"
Shane rushed up to the barn door and began pounding on it with his pickaxe.

"No, stop!" Ellie pleaded.

Rick shouted and begged for him to stop, but the Walsh man continued like he didn't hear him. Soon, the barn door was open and Shane rushed back to the group, lifting his gun, aiming it at the doors that slowly opened as the dead began to pour out. The pale, bloody, and skinny faces of people she'd known were being shot at. Gunshots rang in her ear and her eyes began to gloss.

Her legs gave way and she fell to the ground as her eyes met her mother's. But now, she could finally see what Shane had been talking about because those eyes weren't her mother's. Those eyes belonged to a flesh-eating monster. They were not the eyes Ellie would look into as her mother sang bedtime songs, stroking her hair until she fell asleep. The eyes she looked into when they would play and laugh when they helped out with the farm animals.

Her eyes misted over and she cried loudly as a shot was fired into her mother's head, blood splattered on the ground.

Soon, the gunfire stopped and everyone lowered their weapons. The ground in front of the barn was covered with scattered bodies.
Ellie gripped onto the grass, trying to steady her breathing as her sobs filled the air.

A groaning sound was heard from inside the barn, causing every head to look at the slightly opened door. Every adult gripping their guns once again, slowly lifting them to the sound. A small figure appeared in the gap between the doors. The figure slowly limped out into the light. A child.

Ellie, along with the rest of the group, wore a shocked expression.

"Sophia? Sophia!" Carol shouted as she ran to her daughter. Daryl grabbed her and they both collapsed to the ground as Carol cried into his arms.

Ellie looked into Sophia's eyes. Even though she only had seen her face in a picture before, she knew that those weren't her eyes. Her eyes weren't looking around in excitement or any kind of emotion like a child's would. They looked around at the people from her group, looking at them as a meal. She limped over the scattering bodies on the ground, groans and moans escaping her lips.

Ellie heard as Carl broke down behind her, sobbing in his sister's arms.

Rick walked up to the girl, aiming his gun between her eyes. And with one shot, the young girl's life was over, officially over.

_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____
𝟐𝟔𝟐𝟓 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝐫𝐝
𝟑.𝟏𝟐 𝐀𝐌
_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____

𝐀/𝐍

this was so sad I cannot. Sophia deserves so much better<3 I actually cried while writing this but just wait until the next chapter it's so so sad 😔

anyways thanks to my fav people who help and inspire and motivate me every day<3

vote if you miss Sophia bc I know I do😔