The group moved in a tight formation towards the Greene house, weapons in hand. Dirt crunched under boots. Guns glinted in the early light. Tension rode on every step.
Maggie stepped outside the house, alard by the sudden movent. Beth and Patricia followed closely behind her.
Maggie's eyes imdiately went to the rifles and pistols in everyone's hands.
"What the hell is going on?" she said sharply, voice rising. "You know you ain't supposed to be carrying weapons around the house. If daddy sees this, he's not gonna be happy."
Glenn stepped forward, about to say sothing, but Shane cut in fast.
"We're doing what's necessary to protect everyone."
Maggie's eyes locked on Glenn, searching his face, trying to figure out if he was really going along with this. He didn't say a word, just gave a small, reluctant nod.
That was all she needed.
"You can't be serious," Maggie snapped, turning her anger on Shane. "If you do this, Daddy'll kick you off this farm. You know that, right?"
Behind her, Lori stepped forward, marching towards Shane, eyes blazing.
"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, scanning the group. Her voice cracked at the edges, sowhere between fury and disbelief. "You don't get to decide this."
Shane t her gaze, unfazed.
"I'm doing what has to be done for everyone's safety."
"You don't get to make that call!" Lori snapped. "This is Rick's decision. Not yours."
Shane stared at her for a beat longer, jaw tight, then turned slightly.
"Fine," he muttered. "Then let's ask soone Rick actually listens to."
He looked towards Itachi.
Itachi t her eyes, gave a faint, mocking smile, tilting his head slightly, like her outrage was the best entertainnt.
"This involves everyone's safety," he said, calmly trying to mask his amusent, and it only made Lori seethe more. "It's safer if they're gone."
Lori's hands clenched into fists at her sides, seething as her eyes burned holes through him. She opened her mouth, about to explode—
"Oh, shit," T-Dog muttered from the side.
Everyone turned to where he was looking, and saw Rick, Hershel, and Otis erging from the forest, dragging three walkers behind them with snare poles. As Jimmy walked in front of them, guiding them.
Shane was the first to move, breaking into a run. The others followed behind him, weapons in hand.
He didn't slow as he neared.
"What the hell are you doing!" Shane shouted.
Hershel glanced at the ard group, his eyes flicking straight to Rick. "Why do your people have guns?"
Rick's glare hit Shane like a punch.
"Back off!" he snapped.
But Shane wasn't stopping. His voice climbed higher.
"Are you kidding ? You see what they're holding onto?!"
Hershel fired back, just as loud.
"I see who I'm holding onto!"
Jenner finally snapped.
"Just look at them!" he shouted, stepping forward.
"Look at their rotting faces, their limbs! How could you think they're alive?! All of them are fatally injured! You said you were a veterinarian, of all people here, you should know no one can survive injuries like that!"
So of the group turned towards Jenner, stunned by his outburst. It was the first ti he'd raised his voice since joining them.
Shane didn't hesitate. He raised his pistol and aid it directly at the walker Hershel was holding.
Otis stepped forward, trying to intervene.
"Hey, now—"
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three shots to the chest. The walker barely twitched.
"Stop it!" Rick yelled.
Shane ignored him, still staring at Hershel.
"That's three rounds to the chest! Could soone who's alive, could they just take that?!"
Rick shouted again.
"Shane, enough!"
Shane turned slightly, raising the pistol to the walker's head.
"Yeah, you're right, man," he said. "That is enough."
Bang.
The walker dropped.
Hershel stood frozen, just staring at the corpse.
Shane turned back to Rick with a glare.
"Enough! Rick, it ain't like it was before. Now, if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you've got to fight for it!"
He spun around, marching towards the barn doors. He grabbed a nearby pickaxe and drove it into the chains holding the door shut.
Rick stepped forward, still holding the walker.
"No, Shane! Do not do this, brother! Wait!"
Shane didn't even glance back and continued striking the chances. The chain clanging under each strike.
Rick's eyes jumped to Itachi and Daryl, looking for help, for soone to intervene. But both stood still, watching Shane with approving expressions.
He turned desperately towards Hershel, who had collapsed to his knees.
"Take the snare pole," Rick said, urgency creeping into his voice. "Hershel, take the snare pole!"
Hershel didn't move.
"Listen to , please," Rick tried again. "Take it now. Hershel!"
But Hershel was gone, just sitting there, stunned with a blank expression.
CLANG.
The chain snapped.
Shane quickly stepped back as the barn doors groaned open.
The group moved in quickly, raising their weapons.
Daryl glanced to his side, where Itachi stood, near Amy, a hand resting casually on the Glock tucked into his belt.
"You gonna go Western-style with a Glock?" Daryl muttered, eyes on the door.
Itachi didn't look at him.
"No. If I join in, there might be nothing left for you."
Daryl scoffed, smirking.
"Wanna bet on it, princess?"
Itachi finally glanced back at him, a small grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Not this ti. It's a good chance for Amy to get real practice."
That made Daryl pause. His smirk faded into a slight frown.
"Then what the hell's that smirk for?"
Amy, standing next to Itachi, stiffened imdiately, catching Daryl's attention.
Daryl looked from her to Itachi, then muttered under his breath.
"I got a bad feelin' about this..."
The conversation was cut short as the barn doors finally gave way, swinging open.
The first walker stumbled into view.
Then another.
And another.
The group imdiately opened fire.
Gunshots echoed across the farm as bodies fell one by one.
Beth was crying, her shoulders shaking as she clung to Jimmy for support. Maggie knelt beside Hershel, arms wrapped tightly around him, tears running down her face.
Patricia stood nearby, frozen, hands trembling, mouth slightly open, eyes locked on the carnage unfolding in front of her.
As the number of walkers began to thin out, Shane suddenly turned and fired two rounds into the heads of the walkers that Rick and Otis had still been holding on to.
Rick then quickly shifted back to check on Lori and Carl, making sure they were still safely behind the group.
Satisfied, he pulled out his Python and moved into the line, raising his weapon and joining the others as Otis rushed to Patricia's side.
As the final walker dropped to the ground, Beth imdiately started walking towards her mother's corpse, sobbing.
Rick tried to stop her, but she ignored him and kept moving forward. Itachi broke away from Amy and followed closely behind her.
She found her mother lying on the ground with another dead walker slumped across her. Beth shoved the body aside and knelt down, tears rolling down her cheeks.
As she reached out to touch her mother's face, the walker's eyes suddenly snapped open—and with a growl, it lunged at her.
Beth scread, stumbling backwards, but Itachi grabbed her by the collar and yanked her out of reach. Without hesitating, he slashed both of the walker's arms open with his kunai, disabling it instantly, then stepped forward and pressed his foot down on its chest, pinning it in place.
Everyone rushed over. Amy raised her gun imdiately, aiming for the walkers head ready to finish it off, only to be stopped by Jenner's voice cutting through the chaos.
"Wait!"
Jenner ran over, slightly out of breath from the short sprint.
"Keep it alive! It's not normal."
Shane glared at him.
"The hell do you an, keep it alive?!"
Jenner tried to explain, speaking fast before Shane acted on impulse.
"It's not normal. It just laid there… waited until soone got close. I need to understand what's going on."
Shane looked ready to argue, but the wet sound of tearing flesh cut him off.
He turned towards the noise and saw Itachi crouched down, calmly slicing the walker's jaw and teeth out.
Beth cried out at the sight of her mutilated mother and started gagging. Itachi didn't spare her a glance as he looked over at Shane and Rick.
"There. Now it's harmless. Let him study it, and you can kill it later."
Jenner nodded quickly.
"Yes. Just give a day, that's all I need."
Shane finally gave a reluctant nod while Rick hesitated, looking between them and the Greene family, torn.
"That's their family. We shouldn't be deciding this on our own."
Jenner stepped in again.
"I won't cut it open. I'll just observe. We'll kill it either way, but this might uncover sothing new that we don't know."
Rick eventually gave a slow, unsure nod.
Itachi interrupted their little exchange without looking up.
"Grab so chains or rope. I'm not planning to hold it down all day."
Jenner nodded again and rushed off to find sothing to restrain the walker.
Itachi and Jenner dragged the restrained walker back to the barn. Without a word, Itachi broke every remaining bone in its limbs and removed what little was left of its teeth, making sure it couldn't harm anyone, even by accident. Once the chains were secure and Jenner was satisfied, they stepped away and rejoined the others as the group began walking back toward the house.
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🧪 Author's Note:
Thank you all so much for the support — we've officially passed 900 power stones!
Hope you enjoyed this one! Let know what you thought of the story and the character interactions in the comnts — I love reading your reactions.
Thanks again for reading 🖤
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