GENESIS | THE WALKING DEAD • OC X OC | ON HOLD

✥Nineteen✥

Genesis' View

It was time to head to the Greene family's farm, so we left a note for Sophia and some food and water, just in case she went back to the highway.

We drove down the dirt pathway of the farm, Daryl leading on his bike with me following behind him, with the car Shane was fixing up behind me, and then the RV.

We parked in front of the house, and we all walked up to Rick and Lori.

"How is he?" Dale was the one to ask.

"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people." Lori started.

"And Shane. We'd have lost Carl if not for him." Rick said, and I looked over at him, and he had a guilty look plastered onto his face.

"How'd it happen?" Dale asked again.

"Hunting accident. That's all, just a stupid accident." Rick said, and the family continued with the memorial for their man, Otis, who had died while getting the stuff with Shane.

The youngest Greene, Beth, had put a small rock on top of bigger rocks for Otis, while Hershel read from a Bible.

"Blessed be God, father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis. For his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in grace." Hershel spoke fluently. "Shane, will you speak for Otis?"

"I'm not good at it. I'm sorry."

"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning." Patricia cried.

"Okay. We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We've got to save the boy.' See, that's what he said. He gave me his backpack. He showed me ahead. 'Run,' He said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.' And when I looked back..." Shane started limping over to the rocks, "If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive. And that does for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both." He placed the rock down and turned to Patricia. "If any death ever had meaning, it was his."

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"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asked.

"This will be day three," I answered.

"County Survey map. Shows terrain and elevations." Maggie rolled out a map, and put rocks on the edges.

"This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams." Rick said.

"Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." Hershel said to Rick. "And your ankle, push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody." He turns to Shane.

"Guess it's just me and Gen. I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there." Daryl traced his finger along with the map.

"I'll go with you, and work my way whatever direction you don't go," I said, and Daryl nodded.

"I can still be useful. I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back." Shane spoke.

"Alright. Tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right." Rick nodded.

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them." Shane looked over at Rick.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp." Hershel spoke.

"All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here..." Shane started.

"Look, we're guests here. This is your property and we will respect that." Rick set his gun down, followed by Shane. "First things first, set up camp, fund Sophia."

"I hate to set the mood and be the one to ask this, but what do we do if we find Sophia, and she's already been bit?" I asked, crossing my arms. "I think we should all be clear on how we handle it."

"You do what has to be done." Rick looked over at me.

"And her mother? What do you tell her?" Maggie asked.

"The truth."

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off-site. I do request one rifleman on lookout." Shane said.

"Dale's got experience," I added for him.

"Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." Rick joined in. Hershel silently nodded, "Thank you."

I walked away from them while Maggie was still talking, and Sierra came up to me.

"Are you going to look for Sophia?" Sierra asked.

"Yes, honey. And so is Daryl." I ruffled her hair.

"I wanna come with you. To find Sophia." She looked up at me. I thought for a second, before answering.

"Let me talk to Shane and Rick while you go ask your father," I said, and she ran off. I walked over to where Rick and Shane were and Shane had the huge bag of guns on his arm.

"What's up, Gen?" Rick asked.

"Sierra wants to come with me to find Sophia. I wanted to see what you two would say before I just pulled her from camp." I explained.

"Do you think it's a good idea?" Shane questioned.

"I think it's a good idea for her to come with me so if we do stumble upon geeks, she'll know how to properly take care of them without being scared," I answered. "And if we do stumble upon Sophia, she might be scared of me with weapons attached to me. She'll see Sierra, who's her friend, and find it safer."

"If you think you can handle her, looking for Sophia, and walkers, go ahead. Of course, with permission from her father." Rick suggested.

I nodded, and walked towards her Richard and Kaden were with Sierra.

"You'll watch over her, right?" Kaden looked at me.

"Of course, I will," I said, and Kaden nodded. He pulled his knife and handed it to Sierra.

"Only use it if you have to," Kaden said, and we started walking. Daryl was already walking away from the land, so we followed behind him.

Only to get stopped by Glenn. "Hey, before you leave. Can I ask you something?"

"What's up?" I asked, and handed me a piece of paper. I opened the paper to see the words TrueBlue Digital Pregnancy Test

"I'm only asking you because I know you wouldn't ask who it was for, and you would get right to the point." Glenn started.

"Try the uh, feminine hygiene section," I said, and Maggie approached with two horses. "Good luck, cowboy." I joked, and Sierra and I walked off towards where Daryl went.

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From: Season 2 Episode 4: Cherokee Rose (Pt. 1)

Words: 1182