digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Guts Part 2

   Glenn leads the group, minus Merle and T-Dog, down to the basement where there is a ladder that goes further down, presumably into the sewer system. The group looks over the railing, Morales starts to speak, "This is it? Are you sure?"
"I really scoped this place out the other times I was here," Glenn replies, "It's the only thing in the building that goes down. But I've never gone down it."
"I don't blame ya, I wouldn't go down there if I had a choice." Winona tells him.
"Yeah, who'd want to, right?" They all look at him, he realizes what that means, "Oh. Great."
"We'll be right behind you." Andrea says.
"No, you won't. Not you," Glenn counters.
"Why not me? Think I can't?" Andrea debates, upset.
Winona rolls her eyes at this, "He doesn't mean it like that."
"So what does he mean?" Andrea crosses her arms, awaiting a response.
"I wasn't—" Glenn starts but can't seem to gather his words.
"Speak your mind," Rick encourages.
"Look, until now I always came here by myself— in and out, grab a few items— no problem. The first time I bring a group— everything goes to hell. No offense." He looks down the ladder, "If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine— but only if we do it my way. It's tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me getting me killed. I'll take one other person— not you either," he says pointing at Rick, "You've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store watching those doors, covering our ass. Andrea, you've got the only other gun— other than Winona— so you should go with Rick," he explains. Glenn turns to Morales, Winona, and Jacqui, "You be my wingman. Jacqui and Winona stay here, Winona has her own gun. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry."
"Okay," the women nod, complying.
"Okay, everybody knows their jobs," Rick says, patting Glenn on the back. Glenn and Morales begin their journey down. Rick and Andrea leave to go to the front of the store, leaving Jacqui and Winona to keep watch.
——
Jacqui begins to speak, "So, Winona, you and Officer Friendly a thing?"
"What?!" Winona asks as she starts to laugh, "Oh... no. No. He's my fiancé's best friend, who just so happened to be in my ward of the hospital right when shit hit the fan, so I stayed back to make sure he stayed alive."
"Ohhh that makes more sense. No offense, but your fiancé sounds like a real piece of work, just up and leaving his woman like that," she says shaking her head.
"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot," Winona says sighing. They end the conversation and continue to keep an eye out.
——
Rick and Andrea head to the front of the store. At the doors, they see a large group of walkers just waiting to get in and devour the group inside. Andrea starts to apologize, "Sorry for the gun in your face."
"People do things when they're afraid," Rick puts calmly.
"Not that it was entirely unjustified. You two did get us into this."
"If I get us out, would that make up for it?" Rick asks, standing next to the jewelry case.
"No, but it'd be a start." They look towards the walkers banging against the doors.
"Next time though, take the safety off. It won't shoot otherwise," Rick advises.
"Oh."
"Is that your gun?"
"It was a gift, why?"
Rick holds his hand out asking to see her gun, she hands it to him, "Little red dot means it's ready to fire. You may have occasion to use it."
"Good to know," Andrea says, Rick walks away.
——
Back on the roof, T-Dog is still trying to contact the group outside the city, "Anybody out there? Hello? Anybody read? I'm hoping to hear somebody's voice 'cause I'm getting sick and tired of hearing mine."
"Yeah, well, that makes two of us. Why don't you knock that crap off?" Merle says, "You're giving me a headache, boy." He spits on the ground.
"Why don't you pull your head out your ass? Maybe your headache will go away," T-Dog jokes, "Try some positivity for a change. Damn."
"I'll tell you what— you get me out of these cuffs and I'll be all 'Sammy Sunshine' positive for you," Merle responds, "Hey, see that hacksaw over there in that tool bag? Get it for me, hmm? Make it worth your while. What do you say, man? Come on. Get me out of these things," he tries convincing T-Dog.
"So you can beat my ass again? Or call me [redacted] some more?" T-Dog wasn't having it.
"Come on now. It wasn't personal. It's just that your kind and my kind ain't meant to mix. That's all. It don't mean we can't... work together, parley, as long as there's some kind of mutual gain involved. So... about that hacksaw—"
"I guess you want me to get that rifle over there too so you can shoot that cop when he comes back up, huh?" Merle scowls and says nothing.
——
In the tunnels, Morales and Glenn are continuing on past all the rats, they get to a barred hole leading into the sewers, Morales begins to talk, "Yeah, we've got ourselves a sewer tunnel. Jacqui was right."
Glenn starts to pull on the rebar, "Can we cut through it?"
"If we had a blowtorch and half a day, sure. Dale's hacksaw sure as hell won't do it." They start to hear cracking and a chewing noise, Glenn shines his flashlight down and sees a walker snacking on a rat. It sees them and starts growling, trying to grab the men. They jump back, startled. The walker's face and hands are covered in blood and the rat is almost in two pieces.
——
Andrea is looking at a mermaid necklace and Rick notices and walks over to her, "See something you like?"
"Not me, but I know someone who would— my sister. She's still such a kid in some ways. Unicorns, dragons— she's into all that stuff. But mermaids— they rule. She loves mermaids," Andrea explains.
"Why not take it?"
"There's a cop staring at me," Rick chuckles, she continues, "Would it be considered looting?"
"I don't think those rules apply anymore. Do you? And if they did, I would've had to arrest Winona, she's already grabbed a bunch of supplies and clothes, putting them in her backpack." They start to laugh.
"Speaking of her, is she your wife? You two seem awfully close."
"Oh no, nothing like that, she's my best friend's fiancé who took care of me in the hospital at the start of this. I'm looking for my family and she's looking for her fiancé, and making sure we get there in one piece; she tries her damnedest to keep us out of trouble, it seems I don't listen that well," he explains. Rick then starts to laugh and mock Winona, "She loves to lecture me, 'Don't do this.' and, 'Don't do that.' She's always asking, 'What did you expect would happen?' She's great though, I owe her my life for all the things she's done, not just for me but my family, too," he tells the blonde.
"Ah, she seems like a really good person, I think her and my sister would get along well, Amy always does that with me." Andrea smiles and grabs the necklace to put in her pocket. The glass of the first set of doors starts to break, the walkers are getting closer to breaking into the department store. Rick runs forward with his gun aiming at the doors to make sure none get through, Morales, Glenn, Jacqui, and Winona come up beside them. Rick can tell Glenn looks petrified and Winona is doing her best to comfort him.
He turns to Morales, "What did you find down there?"
"Not a way out."
"We need to find a way... and soon," Andrea states. Everyone nods.
——
The group is up on the roof, Rick is looking through binoculars, "See anything, Cowboy?" Winona asks after a few minutes.
Rick turns to face her and the others, "Yeah. That construction site, those trucks— they always keep keys on hand."
Morales looks through the binoculars and after he looks down to the street below, "You'll never make it past the walkers."
Rick turns to Glenn, "You got me out of that tank."
"Yeah, but they were feeding," Glenn says.
Winona cuts in, "They were distracted, Sheriff."
"Can we distract them again?"
"Unless you want to sacrifice Dixon over there, I have no clue," Winona says, resulting in a chuckle from T-Dog and a glare from Merle.
"I'm choosin' to ignore that, Princess, but the cop's right. Listen to him. He's onto something," Merle says. Winona sticks her tongue out at him, but he continues, "A diversion, like on 'Hogan's Heroes.'"
"God. Give it a rest," Jacqui says, fed up with the man.
"They're drawn by sound, right?" Rick asks.
"Right, like dogs. They hear a sound, they come," Glenn continues.
"What else?" Rick pushes.
Morales starts to speak, "Aside from they hear you? They see you, smell you and if they catch you, they eat you."
"They can tell us by smell?" Rick asks, dumbfounded.
Glenn butts in, "Can't you?"
Andrea adds on, "They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct." Rick glances over to Winona, she knows what he's thinking and shakes her head, not agreeing with it, but he's stubborn.
——
The group starts to grab coats, gloves, face shields and Glenn starts to speak, "If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold."
"I agree with Glenn, this is a terrible idea, Rick. I still need to get you back to your family in one piece," Winona says.
Morales moves over to Rick, "They're right. Just stop, okay? Take some time to think this through."
"How much time? They've already got through one set of doors, that glass won't hold forever," Rick impatiently tells the man, he throws a coat to Glenn.
——
Rick and Morales run out to the alleyway where Winona and him first came in. They start to drag one of the dead walkers into the store. Rick sighs, putting on a face shield and breaks the glass containing an axe.
The group stands around the walker, Rick raises the axe but stops right before and puts the face shield and axe on the floor. He bends down and starts to go through the walker's pockets, pulling out a wallet, "Wayne Dunlap," he states, "Georgia license. Born in 1979." He hands the I.D. to Glenn, who begins to look at it. "He had $28 in his pocket when he died... and a picture of a pretty girl. 'With love, from Rachel,'" Rick quotes, "He used to be like us— worrying about bills or the rent or the Super Bowl. If I ever find my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne." He puts the wallet back and picks up the face shield and axe.
Glenn speaks up, "One more thing— he was an organ donor." Winona holds a chuckle in when she notices no one laughs. Rick starts to dismember the corpse, everyone gasps, Morales says a prayer and Rick continues chopping.
Rick groans, Winona steps over, stopping him, "Hey, easy Cowboy, don't you dare open that wound, I can take over."
"You're right. Keep chopping." He hands the mask and axe to Winona.
Glenn starts groaning, "I am so gonna hurl."
"Later," Rick tells him. Winona continues chopping, the body squelching with every hit of the axe. "Everybody got gloves?" he asks, Winona takes off the face shield. "Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes," Rick tells the group, they bend down and start to grab organs and blood from the corpse, lathering Rick and Glenn.
Glenn looks like he is two seconds away from puking, "Oh God. Oh jeez. Oh, this is bad. This is really bad."
"Think about something else— puppies and kittens," Rick tries.
T-Dog cuts in, "Dead puppies and kittens."
That was Glenn's last straw, he turned away and threw up, Winona went to rub his back. Andrea starts to speak to Rick, "That is just evil. What is wrong with you?"
Jacqui also turns to Rick, "Next time let the cracker beat his ass." Winona chuckles at that.
Rick turns to Glenn, "I'm sorry."
"You suck," He says.
"Do we smell like them?"
"Oh yeah," Andrea answers the cop. "Glenn," she says handing him her gun, "Just in case." She lifts the coat and tucks it into his waistband.
"If we make it back, be ready," Rick tells them.
"What about Merle Dixon?" T-Dog asks. Rick starts to dig into his pocket, pulling out the handcuff key, tossing it to T-Dog.
Rick puts his gloves on again, "Give me the axe. We need— we need more guts." And once more he hits the corpse.
After he finishes, Winona steps in front of the two, "Be safe out there. That's an order. I still don't agree with this plan but I trust you, Rick."
Glenn nods, "Yes ma'am."
"I'll try my best," Rick says and gives her a salute, she returns it.
——
The two walk out into the alley covered in the rotting guts of Wayne Dunlap. They start to act like walkers by limping, Morales shuts the door.
As they continue to limp, two walkers sniff them but let them pass. The rest of the group runs up the stairs leading to the roof. Rick and Glenn crawl under a bus that blocks the alley, the reach the other side and none of the walkers bat an eye towards them.
——
The group opens the door to the roof and Dixon starts to yell, "Hey, what's happening, man?!"
Morales ignores him, "Hey T-Dog try that C.B."
"Hey, come on. Talk to me, Y'all," Merle says again.
T-Dog speaks into the radio, "Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me? Can anybody out there hear me?"
Morales looks through the binoculars, scanning the dead filled street, "There." He points out where Rick and Glenn are. They hear thunder rumble, Winona starts to get nervous.
"That asshole is out on the street with the handcuff keys?" Merle asks, pissed off. T-Dog sets the radio down and pulls out the key, waving it in front of the man.
T-Dog tries the radio again, "Hello? Can anybody out there here me? Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me?"
The radio crackles and an older man's voice comes through, "Hello? Hello? Reception's bad on this end. Repeat. Repeat."
T-Dog cuts in, "Shane, is that you?"
Winona halts at this name, "𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐩," she tells herself, dishearteningly.
T-Dog keeps talking to the group, "We're in some deep shit. We're trapped in the department store. There are geeks all over the place. Hundreds of 'em. We're surrounded." No response from the camp.
——
Rick and Glenn are still out on the street, no walkers have stopped. Thunder rumbles again, Glenn starts to whisper, "It's gonna work. I can't believe it."
"Don't draw attention," Rick warns. A walker comes behind them and starts to look at Glenn, he starts to mimic the noises it makes, and it continues to walk past.
——
Andrea looks through the binoculars and hands them back to Morales, just as she does, it starts to pour down rain. Winona starts to pace, biting her nails, she sits down next to T-Dog, "Shit, I knew this was going too well." T-Dog tries to comfort her.
"Oh man," Morales says, and he looks through the binoculars again. "It's just a cloudburst. We get 'em all the time. It'll pass real quick," he explains.
——
Glenn is glancing around, he getting anxious, the walkers start to sniff around them more. Glenn looks at Rick, "The smell's washing off. Isn't it? Is it washing off?!" He starts to panic.
Rick tries to insist they're okay, "No, it's not." A walker smells him, "Well, maybe." One runs up but before it can chow down on the cop, he hits it in the skull. The others start to notice this, "RUN!" Rick yells to Glenn. The walkers start to chase them.
The group is watching this unfold on the roof, Winona is panicking, Morales is trying to cheer them on, "Come on, come on, come on."
Rick and Glenn make it to the fence and toss the weapons over and climb it, they strip out of the coats and gloves. The walkers start to climb the fence and Rick begins to shoot them.
Glenn grabs the keys to the truck, "Rick!" He tosses it to him and he catches them. A walker gets over the fence and Glenn hops in the truck, just in time, "GO GO GO GO!" Rick reverses, and the fence falls down, all of the walkers running towards them. He spins the truck around.
"They're leaving us," Andrea says, watching the truck leave.
"What? What?" Merle asks.
"No no, come back," Andrea says in disbelief.
"No, Rick wouldn't do that, he wouldn't leave us. There's probably a reason he's going that way," Winona defends.
——
The truck breaks through the other fence, Glenn is freaking out, "Oh my God. Oh my God. They're all over that place."
"You need to draw them away. Those roll-up doors at the front of the store— that area? —that's what I need cleared. Raise your friends. Tell them to get down there and be ready," Rick commands.
"And I'm drawing the geeks away how? I— I missed that part."
"Noise."
——
Rick uses the crowbar to break the window to a red Dodge Challenger, causing the car alarm to blare— creating noise. Glenn is covering his ears and glancing around for any walkers. Rick opens the door, and shoves a screwdriver in the ignition, allowing Glenn to drive and attract the walkers, elsewhere. Glenn radios the group, "Those roll-up doors at the front of the store facing the street— meet us there and be ready."
——
The group is rushing to gather their things, Morales shouting, "Come on! Let's go, let's go!"
Merle is getting upset, "Hey, you cant leave me here! I'm not fooling, man! Morales! Hey, man! Don't do this!" he pleads.
Winona grabs his rifle, he starts to thrash, "Hey, that's my gun! You can't leave me! Don't leave me here, you guys."
Andrea screams as they run down the stairwell,"MORALES, COME ON!"
He yells back, "I'm coming! We've gotta go!" He says to T-Dog.
Merle is still pleading, "Morales! You can't leave me like this, man! Hey, T-Dog. No, man. You can't leave me, man! You can't leave me here— not like this. You can't, man. It's not human. Come on, don't do this." T-Dog is having a hard time deciding. "Come on, T. Come on!" Just as he starts to go back, he knocks over the bag of tools, "That's it! Yes!" Merle starts to exclaim. T-Dog trips and the key falls right into a drain, Merle was going to be stuck up there.
——
Morales, Jacqui, Andrea, and Winona are all running to the doors just as they hear the glass crack, the walkers were about to be flooding in.
——
"Son of a bitch! You did that on purpose!" Merle blames.
"I didn't mean to!"
"You lie! You did it on purpose!"
"It was an accident!"
"Don't leave me, man! Don't leave me!" Merle starts to thrash against the cuffs, desperately trying to break them off the pipe.
"I'm sorry. Man, I'm sorry." T-Dog is about to run down the stairs but stops to chain the door, making sure the geeks can't get to him. He begins to run down the stairs, "Here I Come! Don't leave me! Don't leave!"
Andrea opens the door to the roll-up doors and grabs on to the chain, Winona does too. Morales shushes them, hearing the car alarm.
"What is that?" Andrea questions.
——
Glenn drives the car down a road and stops, "Come on. Come on." He was luring the walkers in, "Get closer. Get closer. Come on. Come on." He backs up and turns the car around, the walkers chasing him.
As T-Dog makes it to the first floor, the geeks break through the glass of the storefront. They begin to rush into the store. "Hey wait for me!" He runs into the room where the group is, "They're here! Let's go! They're in here!"
Rick pulls up to the door of the truck and bangs on the metal door, signaling the group to open them. Everyone starts tossing the bags in, Rick holds out a hand and helps Winona up into the truck, he climbs to the driver's seat. She helps the rest of them in, they shut the doors just as the walkers were getting close. Winona moves to the passenger seat, "Good to see you in one piece, Cowboy."
"Me too. And I'm glad to see you in one piece," he says driving away from the store.
Rick looks to the group, they all look at T-Dog, "I dropped the damn key."
They stay silent, until Andrea asks, "Where's Glenn?
——
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