digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Tell it to the Frogs Part 4

While Rick goes to change, Winona decides to follow Daryl, even with Glenn's protests. He stops by a truck, "Look, Lady. I don't know what you want, but I'm not helping you."
"Daryl, right?"
"Yeah that's me. What about it?"
"I'm a nurse, so I'm coming over to make sure you're alright."
"Why don't you go check on your boyfriend, Rick?"
"One, wrong cop. Two, he wasn't in a chokehold for over a few minutes."
"Oh great, so you're dating that douchebag who thinks he runs the place."
"I guess so. Now let me check you over, or else I won't stop pestering you until you let me."
Daryl groans, "Fine. If it makes you stop bothering me."
Winona nods, and starts to check the man over, bruises already forming around his neck. "How about when Shane tackled you? Do you feel any sharp pains in your abdomen?"
"No," he huffs, moving away, "Are you done?"
"Yeah, but if there's anything concerning, please come to me."
"Yeah, yeah whatever." Winona figures this meant Daryl was done talking so she decides to head over to Glenn.
"How's Daryl?"
"He seems to be okay, just bruising from what I could see."
"It's shocking, that's the most he's let someone help him, other than his brother, that is."
"I feel special," Winona chuckles.
"Anything happen with Shane?"
She sighs, "No. He hasn't said anything or even picked up on me ignoring him. He probably doesn't care."
"I'm sorry, Winona, I wish I had better advice. Maybe you should talk to Dale, he's good with stuff like that."
"You think?"
"Yeah. I'll let you go so you can talk to him."
"Thanks Glenn," she says hugging him.
Winona starts wandering around the camp, looking for the older man, she spots him working on the RV alone, "Hey, Pops. You got a moment?"
Dale stops and wipes his hands off, going to sit down on a nearby rock, "Of course, what's troubling you?" He pats the rock next to him, gesturing to Winona to take a seat, she complies.
"Alright, so you know how I'm engaged to Shane? It just seems, he doesn't feel that way anymore. Even before all this happened. He got really close with Lori when Rick was in a coma, he barely debated me staying back to take care of Rick, and never even looked for me when I didn't arrive at the time I told him. Not to mention there was a suspicious bruise on his collarbone last night. I just feel like I might be overthinking things, you know?"
"Hmm... that's tricky, Winona. I can see where you're coming from. I can tell you firsthand that Lori would always go into the woods shortly after Shane, she would always ask me to watch Carl for her. Everyone knew what was happening. You're not overthinking things. I see how frustrated you are with both of them. I assume Rick knows nothing?"
"No. Not at all. I don't want to tell him in case I'm wrong or he doesn't believe me. I don't want to lose him."
"You care a lot about him, don't you?"
"Of course I do, I took care of him for months."
"Mm-hmm." Dale says giving Winona a look she couldn't decipher, "Anyways, I assume you've been ignoring Shane, and he hasn't noticed?"
"Yeah, I don't know what else to do."
"Maybe you should be up front with him, tell him you know what went on with him and Lori. If you still want to keep the relationship, maybe that'll whip him into shape. Or this could also be where you end things for the better."
"You're right Dale, I think I'll talk with him. Thank you," the woman says giving him a hug.
"Anytime."
——
Rick changes into his uniform and is walking up to Shane, "So that's it, huh?" Shane asks, "You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?"
"I'm not saying to hell with anybody— not you, Shane; Lori least of all."
"Tell her that," he replies as Rick walks away.
He turns back around, "She knows."
"Well, look, I— I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just— could you throw me a bone here, man?" They make it up into camp, everyone turning their attention to the men. Winona doesn't know what they're arguing about, she walks over to Glenn to see if he knows. "Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon."
"Oh shit..." she whispers to Glenn.
"Hey, choose your words more carefully," Daryl cuts in, defending his brother.
"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant," Shane says turning his attention to Daryl, but immediately turning back to Rick, "Merle Dixon— the guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."
"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst— me."
Winona speaks up, "Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."
"Yeah, what Winona said. It's inhumane."
"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori incredulously asks.
Rick turns to Winona and Glenn, Glenn sighs, "Oh, come on."
"You know the way. You've been there before— in and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair for me to ask— I know that— but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too," he says pointing towards Lori. "And Winona, you're a nurse, if Merle is sick from exposure, you're probably the only one who knows how to help. You also think quick on your feet and keep me out of trouble."
"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, and my fiancée?" Shane questions.
T-Dog cuts in, "Four."
Daryl scoffs at this, "My day just gets better and better, don't it?"
"Daryl, at least he wants to help bring him back, even after Merle beat him to a pulp." Winona tells the redneck.
"Yeah, yeah whatever."
"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog says, Winona watches as Shane starts to pace, infuriated.
"Why you?"
"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."
"That's five— including Winona," Rick says.
"It's not just five. You're putting every single one of us at risk." He turns to Winona, "Don't even think you're going, Win, because you're not."
She rolls her eyes at this, "Why not? It's not like you cared before, whether I was alive or not, that is."
"We'll talk later," her fiancé commands, turning back to Rick. "If you go, you'll put the group in danger, just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."
"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns," Rick states.
Glenn and Winona gasp, "Right, the guns."
"Wait. What guns?"
"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. Winona and I cleaned out the cage back at the station before we left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when we got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."
"Ammo?"
"700 rounds, assorted." Winona peeps in, "I packed them."
"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori questions.
"Dad, I don't want you to go."
"To hell with the guns. Shane is right."
Winona scoffs, "𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭."
"Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." She stands up and Rick walks over, "Tell me. Make me understand."
"I owe a debt to a man Winona and I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken us in, we would've died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. And Winona to Shane. They said they'd follow us to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap we did if I don't warn him."
"What's stopping you?"
"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."
"These our walkies?" Shane asks.
"Yeah."
"So use the C.B.. What's wrong with that?" Andrea inquires.
"The C.B.'s fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap— date back to the '70's, don't match with any other bandwidth— not even the scanners in our cars," Shane explains. Lori is debating it in her head, Winona can tell.
"I need that bag." Rick squats down to Carl, "Okay?" The young boy nods, "All right." He ruffles his hair.
——
Winona is getting ready for the trek into the city, Shane comes into the tent, "We need to talk." She ignores him and continues to gather her weapons. She took the axe from Dale and still has her gun, which she was currently checking to make sure it was all good. "You are not going into the city. I can't lose you again— not after I just got you back."
"What is there to talk about, Shane? You cannot control what I do and don't do. I'm not letting a man die on a roof like a caged animal, and I'm definitely not letting a father bring his son into a walker-infested city."
"Why are you so adamant about this?! Why can't you just be selfish for once, goddamnit?!"
"Maybe it's because I actually care about people and don't want to just strand them with nothing."
"Oh, is this your way of pay back for me because I left you at that hospital? Mind you, that was 100% your decision and you were the one who suggested it!" A bitter chuckle rumbling from the man.
"No. It's not payback. I know it was my decision, but you didn't even come back for me!" Her voice starts to crack as she chokes back tears, "You never looked for me! Never told Lori the truth that we were still out there!"
"You know for a fact, Winona, that if Lori knew you or Rick were alive, she never would've left!"
As she fills with rage, a trembling sigh escapes her, "Oh ho oh! Don't think I didn't notice how you were so quick to get them out and leave me behind! Or how you barely even tried lifting Rick when everything first went down! It's pretty shitty when I found out that a middle-aged father— who definitely wasn't as competent as a fit policeman— could lift an UNCONSCIOUS RICK!" She's getting gradually more upset as the argument grows. "Maybe, you were waiting for me to offer the suggestion that I would stay back with Rick, just so you could be with Lori and not have to worry about Rick or I! You wanna know something Shane? I tried so hard to look past all those glances and whispers and jokes you and Lori had in the hospital, I would make excuses for you!! 'Oh he couldn't possibly do that! That's his fiancée's best friend and his best friend's wife!' Don't even get me started on how I felt like a third wheel when I was around you two! Or when I would walk in to check up on Rick and the tension was so thick, I could practically cut it with a knife. But no... my fiancé, Rick's best friend, would never do that. He loves me too much. Or at least I thought you did," she finishes her speech, sobbing.
"Oh so you want to accuse me of something that you have no proof of? Alright I see how it is, two can play that game. All of sudden, you show up with Rick, after I hadn't seen you in weeks. You're wearing his hoodie, you've gotten extremely close with him that you even have inside jokes?! Oh and the nicknames... THE NICKNAMES! Or how you and Glenn are? You wanna talk about cheating? Maybe you should look in the mirror and realize that maybe it's the guilt that makes you accuse me," Shane crosses his arms, pissed off.
Winona freezes and starts to laugh, tears rolling down her face, "No. You know why I'm so close with Rick? It's the fucking fact that he was only one I had after you left me! I had no one! NO ONE! I could only talk to myself or a literal comatose Rick! But, oh, I guess you consider that cheating! And the accusations towards Glenn? I had to find a new friend after my last one decided to sleep with my fiancé. And I do have proof, I've heard from multiple people around camp that they'd see you go into the woods shortly after Lori and you would come out together, or vice versa! I know what you're going to say, 'Those are just coincidences.' Then why the FUCK did I see a hickey on your collarbone the other night?! How do you explain that?" His eyes widened, she didn't stop, "You know what? No. Don't explain. We're done," she says, taking off her engagement ring. "You can have this back. I won't be needing it." Handing it back to a shell-shocked Shane, she grabs her stuff, and as she's about to leave the tent, she turns back to the silent man, venom dripping from her words, "And just for the record, Rick doesn't know anything about you and Lori because I have some decency and won't ruin a marriage like you." She turns back to the flap and walks out, her face red and tear stained.
Shortly after, Shane comes stumbling out, "Win! Baby! You're not thinking straight! Don't do this!" She continues walking, ignoring the pleads. Everyone was staring at the both of them.
Glenn sees her and flags her down, she goes over to him, "What's all that about? And have you been crying?"
"I'll explain later. But, um, I have a favor to ask."
"Yeah what's up?"
"Can I stay in your tent for the time being?"
"I assume this has something with the helpless Shane back there and your teary eyes?" he says, wiping the tears that were rolling down her face.
"Yeah..."
"Alright go throw it in. I think Rick's almost ready to go."
"Thanks, Glenn, this means a lot," she says, giving him a hug. She goes to his tent and puts her stuff away. She hears the van honk signaling that Daryl was getting impatient. The two head towards the van, hopping in. Glenn goes in the drivers seat and Winona sits in the passenger seat. She could hear Rick asking for bolt cutters from Dale.
T-Dog and Rick start to walk over and Shane starts to speak, "Hey, Rick, got any rounds in the Python?" He sounded completely normal, like he hadn't just had a fight with his fiancée. T-Dog gets in the van.
"No."
"Last time we were on the gun range, I'm sure I wound up with a few loose rounds of yours."
Rick chuckles, "You and that bag— like the bottom of an old lady's purse."
"I hate that you're doing this, man. I think that it's foolish and reckless. But if you're gonna go, you're taking bullets."
"I'm not sure I'd want to fire a shot in the city, not after what happened last time."
"That's up to you," Shane says, finding the bullets, "Well... five men, five rounds— including Win— even though she's not a man." His chuckle comes out as bittersweet, maybe he was still upset at their earlier fight, Winona just ignores it, however her eyes start to water. "What are the odds, huh? Well, let's just hope that— let's just hope five is your lucky number, okay?" Shane hands the bullets to Rick, who accepts them, grateful.
Rick walks around to the passenger side door where he sees Winona in the seat already. She notices and somberly says, "Oh, sorry Cowboy. I didn't realize you were gonna sit up here, I'll move to the back." Before Rick can reply she already up and moving her stuff to sit across from Daryl and next to T-Dog.
Rick, confused at her lack of energy, looks towards Glenn, "Is she alright?"
"I don't think so. She had a fight with Shane earlier, but that's all I know," he answers, shrugging his shoulders. Rick starts worrying, wondering what could've happened between the two, he also realizes that he hasn't talked with Winona in awhile. He misses the nicknames she has for him, the jokes she'd make, and her sarcastic replies. He looks back at the girl and see her resting her head on T-Dog, he could see she was still upset and probably didn't want to talk.
Rick turns back to the front and loads his Python with the five bullets, Daryl shuts the back of the van, and Glenn starts to drive away from the safety of camp.
——
Pulling up to the city, Daryl turns to T-Dog and a sleeping Winona who was still lying her head on his shoulder. He begins to speak, "He'd better be okay. It's my only word on the matter."
"I told you the geeks can't get at him. The only thing gonna get through that door is us."
T-Dog's voice awoke Winona, who looks around groggily. Rick sees this, "Ah, did Sleeping Beauty finally awake?"
"Yeah, yeah, Grimes. Are we there yet?" the girl asks, drowsy from the nap.
Just when she asks the question, Glenn turns the van off, putting it in park, "We walk from here."
"I guess that answers that," she says to herself, getting up and grabbing her weapons and backpack. Everyone starts to get out of the van. She packed her bag with medical supplies and water for when they get to Merle, her gun was then shoved into the back of her waistband and she carried the axe from Dale. T-Dog had the bolt cutters, Glenn had his bag, Daryl: his crossbow, and Rick had his Python.
Glenn holds open a cut in the fence for the group to get through and Rick asks, "Merle first or guns?"
"Merle! We ain't even having this conversation," Daryl demands, obviously worried for his only family.
"We are," Rick states to the redneck. Turning his attention to Glenn, "You know the geography. It's your call."
"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first," Glenn answers.
The group jogs through the city, careful to avoid any walkers. They reach the department store where they had been trapped in only a few days before. There seems to only be one walker that Rick points out. Daryl stealthily walks over to get a clearer shot, "Damn. You are one ugly skank." Winona stifles a laugh. The walker notices him and starts to move but before she can, Daryl shoots her right in the head— killing her. He walks over and pulls out his arrow.
They make their way to the stairs and start to run up them. Daryl is getting more and more impatient as the time goes on. The door is still chained shut when the group reaches the top, T-Dog cuts the chain and Daryl kicks open the door.
He starts to call for his brother, running over to the pipe he was handcuffed to. Daryl's voice cracks with sobs, "No! No!" He shouts, not believing what laid in front of them on the ground— a bloodied hacksaw and the amputated hand of Merle Dixon, the handcuffs still hanging, intact, on the pipe.
——
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