Chapter 24: The Barn Opening
The next day, as the midday sun beat down on the farm, Shane put his plan into action. With a determined, angry expression on his face, he began walking toward the barn, rifle in hand. Andrea, T-Dog, and several other members of the group followed him. It was a riot.
"Shane! Stop!" Rick shouted, trying to block his path. "What are you doing?"
"I'm doing what must be done, Rick!" Shane roared. "What you don't dare do! I won't let monsters live on this farm within ten yards of our children!"
Hershel and his family had also come out of the house at the commotion and watched in horror. "This is my property! You have no right!" Hershel shouted.
But Shane wouldn't listen. He was driven beyond reason. He was making a display of power, fueled by anger and jealousy. Despite Rick's pleas, he reached the barn door and broke the padlock with a crowbar. Then, with all his strength, he threw open those big red doors.
There was a moment of silence. Then, from the darkness, the first walker stumbled into the sunlight. Then another. And another.
Rick's group's instincts took over. Years of survival prevented them from thinking. Gunfire erupted. Andrea, Daryl, T-Dog, and even Shane began picking off each walker as they emerged from the barn, one by one. This wasn't self-defense; it was a massacre.
Hershel and his daughters watched, frozen, as the lifeless bodies of their neighbors, friends, and family were riddled with bullets. Hershel's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. It wasn't just the walkers' deaths, but the death of his faith and hope.
Jayden stood a short distance from the scene. He held his bow, but he didn't fire a single arrow. He refused to be part of this. He simply watched as the tragedy unfolded, just as he had predicted. With each gunshot, he felt another piece of the group's future shatter.
As the walkers fell one by one, the moment came when everyone held their breath. A final figure emerged from the barn. Slowly, staggering. Jayden, watching the show, knew this last walker had to be Sophia. But Sophia was alive, hiding behind her mother, watching the events unfold in fear.
So who was she?
The last walker to emerge from the barn was Annette Greene, once a beautiful woman, now with gray skin, empty eyes, and a slack jaw. Hershel's wife. Maggie and Beth's mother.
The agonized screams from Maggie and Beth's mouths echoed even louder than the gunshots. Hershel howled like an animal as he stared at his wife's dead body on the ground. Rick, Shane, Andrea… they all froze. To them, she was just another walker. But to the Greene family, it was their worst nightmare. This was an even worse outcome than Sophia leaving the barn. Because this time, Rick's group wasn't innocent. They had violated the sanctity of their host home, destroying a family's last shred of hope in the most brutal way. They weren't heroes slaying monsters; they were murderers who had shot a father's wife right before his eyes.
When the guns fell silent, all that remained was the smell of gunpowder, blood, and a shattered silence. Shane looked around triumphantly. But Rick's face held the horror of a man who understood the enormity of what they had done.
The tenuous bond between the two groups was completely severed in that moment. They were no longer allies, but enemies sharing the same territory. Standing amidst the rubble, Jayden felt the system's notification.
[Intragroup Conflict Averted! +500 EXP]
[EXP: 2180 / 2000]
[LEVELED UP!]
[Level 3 -> Level 4]
[All HP and STA fully restored!]
[You Gained Assignable Stat Points: 1]
Jayden had leveled up. But he had never felt so defeated.