The Walking Dead: Top 5 Heartbreaking Moments

Sophia on The Walking Dead (Photo: AMC)

3. Sophia, as a zombie, shambles out of the barn

Early into Season 2, Carol’s daughter Sophia is chased away from the group by walkers. She ends up lost in the woods, and everyone’s efforts to find her come up short. Shane realizes she’s likely dead and that they should move on, but others like Rick and Daryl insist on keeping the search going.

As time goes on, hope dwindles. Daryl manages to find Sophia’s doll, but no other remnants of her at all. But it seems strange she would just completely vanish. With as much ground as they cover, shouldn’t they find some sort of sign of her?

It turns out that there’s a reason they couldn’t locate her. She was at the farm the group had been staying at the whole time. Hershel’s family had been keeping reanimated walkers in his barn until a “cure” could be developed to save them. Otis had apparently captured a zombified Sophia after she had turned and placed her in there. His death soon after meant nobody else knew about it.

That is, until the group learned about the barn full of walkers. Shane busts the door open so the group could lay waste to all of the zombies inside. But heartbreak strikes when the final walker comes out. It’s Sophia, now a zombie, making Carol collapse on the ground as her heart shatters.