digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Bloodletting Part 2

Wading through the tall grass, Lori speaks up, "How much farther?"
"Not much. Maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies," Daryl answers.
"Too bad we're not crows," Andrea mumbles. The group continues walking Andrea hasn't noticed she veered off course. She walks into a cobweb swatting it away. "As the crow flies, my ass." A walker appears and begins to go after her. She screams, gathering the attention of the group. Andrea stabs the walker in its chest, not even slowing it down. She stumbles backwards and falls on her back. Trying to keep the walker away from her.
Appearing out of nowhere, Maggie comes riding on a horse, she smacks the walker in its head with a bat. She begins to call out, "Lori? Lori Grimes?"
The group runs over, Lori answering, "I'm Lori."
"Rick sent me. You've got to come now."
"What?"
"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot. He's still alive but you've got to come now. Rick needs you. Just come."
Lori begins to take her backpack off, Daryl stopping her, "Whoa whoa woah. We don't know this girl. You can't get on the horse."
"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl? He said there's a lady named Winona and she's a nurse and that she could help?"
"Uh-huh," Glenn says in awe.
"Backtrack to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. The name is Greene." Just as quickly as she arrived, Maggie raced away.
They all stand in shock. The walker grumbling as it was getting back up sincr the hit didn't put it down, "Shut up," Daryl says as he shoots it.
——
"Shot? What do you mean shot?!" Winona asks, pacing and anxiously biting her nails.
Glenn hops over the guide rail, "I don't know, Wi. I wasn't there. All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."
Dale looks at Daryl, "You let her?"
"Climb down out of my asshole, man. Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name and Carl's and Winona's," Daryl explains.
"I need to go see if they're alright. I need to help them," Winona says worriedly.
"Nona, relax. Gather yourself, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Dale speaks softly, attempting to calm the woman down.
"You're right... but I still think we need to go." Andrea steps over the guide rail, Dale's attention focuses towards her, "I heard screams. Was that you?"
Andrea walks away, not giving the older man a response. "She got attacked by a walker. It was a close call," Glenn clarifies.
"Andrea, are you alright?"
Sighing, she turns around and shakes her head, walking into the R.V.
Winona steps over to Carol, sitting next to her, "I know this isn't much, but I found this book you might like. I'm sorry, we'll find her. I know we will." She hugs the older woman.
"Thanks, Winona, I appreciate it."
The younger woman nods and goes over to Glenn, "Dale found a guitar for you, and I found..." she digs in her pocket, pulling out one of the corded bracelets, "...this! I thought you might like it. I found three others so that you, Daryl, Rick, and I could match."
He looks it over and puts it on, "Sweet! Thanks, Wi. I love it."
She smiles, "I'm glad."
   He hesitates before he speaks again, "Wi... I- uh- overheard something when we were out looking for Sophia. It's about Shane. He's planning on getting the hell out of dodge- just leaving without saying anything. Lori seemed upset."
   Winona rolled her eyes, "Of course she would be upset, her 'side-piece' is leaving. If it's true, maybe it's a good thing... he's getting unpredictable, I'm scared to be around him."
   Glenn chuckles at her dig at Lori, "You know, you're right maybe it will be a good thing... but that also means Lori will go back to making Rick her priority."
   "Well she is his wife, it's about time," as the words came out, Winona felt a twinge of jealousy, she squints her eyes toward the man, "I know what you're getting at, and I'm gonna leave before you say anything else."
   "Okay okay," he chuckles.
She shakes her head, walking away as she looks for the redneck she considered a close friend. Finding him she calls out his name, "Daryl, I found some cool things for you."
He lets out a chuckle, turning to face her, "Oh did ya now?"
"Yup. I found some bolts for your crossbow," she says handing the quiver containing them over, "And I found a few really cool bracelets, here." She gives Daryl his and puts the last one on her wrist, "Look now we match. They're pretty handy since they're corded bracelets, you could take 'em apart and have a good bit of rope. The fact it looks super cool, is also a plus."
"Thanks Wi, that's real cool. The bolts will help plenty," Daryl says.
She grins, "Great."
——
Rick stumbles out onto the porch of the farmhouse, lightheaded from giving blood. Hershel steps outside shortly after, going to stand beside Rick out looking the land. Rick looks towards the older man, "This place is beautiful."
"Been in my family 160 years," Hershel replies.
"I can't believe how serene it is. How untouched. You're lucky."
"We weren't completely unscathed. We lost friends, neighbors. The epidemic took my wife, my stepson."
"I'm sorry."
"My daughters were spared. I'm grateful to God for that. These people here, all we've got left is each other. Just hoping we can ride it out in peace. Till there's a cure."
Rick shakes his head, "We were at the C.D.C. It's gone now. There is no cure."
"I don't believe it," Hershel smiled, "When aids came along, everyone panicked. One boy in town came down with it and some parents pulled their children from school so they didn't have to sit in the same room."
"This is a whole other thing," Rick turns to man, trying to explain.
"That's what we always say— 'This one's different.'"
"Well, this one is."
"Mankind's been fighting plagues from the start. We get our behinds kicked for a while then we bounce back. It's nature correcting herself, restoring some balance."
"I wish I could believe that," Rick says back. Looking off to the field, they see Maggie and Lori riding towards the house. Rick goes over to them when they arrive, and begins to hug Lori.
Reaching the room where their son lies, Lori continues to break down, Rick whispering apologies. Lori lays down next to an unconscious Carl, "My boy. My baby boy. It's okay. Mama's here. You're gonna be okay. We're gonna make you okay."
——
A little later on, Patricia comes back in to take more blood, and Hershel takes Carls blood pressure. Rick tries getting up immediately after drawing blood, but gets dizzy upon doing so. Lori reaches a hand out to steady him, "Slow. Slow. How many transfusions?"
"Two," a pale Rick answers back, "Only two."
"He wanted to do the same when you were in the hospital. Winona had to talk him out of it," Lori chuckles.
——
She helps Rick walk towards the dining area, Hershel hands him a glass of orange juice to get his blood sugar back up. "Thank you," Rick says, sipping on the juice.
Lori looks at Hershel, "Okay, so I understand, when Shane gets back with this other man—"
"Otis," Hershel interrupts.
"Otis. The idiot who shot my son."
"Ma'am, it was an accident."
"I'll take that under advisement later. For now he's the idiot that shot our son."
Rick tries to calm her down, "Lori, they're doing everything they can to make it right."
Lori ignores him and looks back at Hershel, "Okay, as soon as they get back you can perform this surgery?"
"I'll certainly do my best."
"Okay," Lori nods, "You've done this procedure before?"
"Well, yes, in a sense."
"In a sense?"
"Honey, we don't have the luxury of shopping for a surgeon," Rick reminds her.
"No, I understand that. But I mean you're a doctor, right?"
Hershel slowly nods, "Yes, ma'am, of course. A vet."
"A veteran? A combat medic?" Lori asks hopefully.
"A veterinarian," he corrects.
Lori looks at Rick in disbelief, and then turns back to the older man, "And you've done this surgery before on what? Cows? Pigs?"
Rick starts getting woozy again, reaching for the chair, "I— I have— I have to sit."
Lori helps Rick after he stumbles sitting down, she shakes her head at the doctor, "Completely in over your head, aren't you?"
"Ma'am, aren't we all?"
——
Otis and Shane reach the highschool. Crouching behind the cars, Shane whispers, "Okay, let's take a look." When the pair looks over the cars, they're met with a hoard of walkers, littering the FEMA camp.
Otis catches his breath, "You see that big mobile medical trailer across the way?"
Shane checks, seeing that it was basically smack down in the middle of the undead, "That's where we got to get to?"
"Yeah."
Shane sighs, wondering how he got into this predicament.
——
Back on the highway, Winona was pacing back and forth. "We need to go, I need to see if Carl is alright. We can't... I can't stay here any longer," she says, emphasizing that she needed to leave.
"I know, Nona, but we need to figure something out," Dale said
Carol spoke up, "I won't do it. We can't just leave."
Dale looks towards her, "Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak."
"What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen."
Andrea turns to face Dale, "If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful."
Daryl nods, "Okay. We got to plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold her tonight, stay with the R.V."
"If the R.V. is staying, I am too," Dale states.
Carol smiles, "Thank you. Thank you both."
"I'm in," Andrea adds.
"Well if you're all staying then I'm—" Glenn starts.
"Not you, Glenn. You're going. Take Carol's Cherokee," Winona says, as she stops pacing.
"Me? Why is it always me?"
"If it wasn't obvious, Glenn, I'm not staying here. We have to see what's going on with our group. I need you to come with me and help me bring T-Dog. His cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. We need to get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics. Because if not, T will die, no joke."
As Daryl was listening to Winona, he walks over to his bike. Pulling out a bag of pills. He walks over throwing Dale his rag back, "Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle. Come on, Wi, why'd you wait till now to say anything? Got my brother's stash." They all walk over, mouth agape at all the opiates. Daryl starts listing them, "Crystal, X. Don't need that," he then pulls out a bottle tossing it to Glenn, "Got some kick ass painkillers." He pulls out another bottle, this time tossing it to Winona, "Oxycycline. Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion."
Winona smirks and begins walking over to T-Dog.
——
Shane starts to move to the door of the police car they were hiding behind. Opening it slowly, cautious not to make any loud noises. When he pops the trunk, it creaks upon opening, Otis cringing at the noise. Shane shuffles back to the trunk, chuckling when he finds flares. Sparking them, the two begin to toss them away from the trailer to draw the mob of walkers away from the point of interest. As the walkers walk towards the bright flares, Otis and Shane make a break for the trailer. They manage to sneak inside, undetected.
——
On the farm, Hershel checks Carl's blood pressure, "Pressure's dropping again," he informs, "We can't wait much longer."
Rick walks forwards, holding out his arm, "Take some more. Whatever he needs. Then I'm gonna go."
"Go? Go where?" Lori questions.
"He said five miles. They should be long back by now. Something's gone wrong."
"Are you insane? You're not going after them."
"Rick, listen to your wife," Hershel adds.
"If they got into trouble—"
Hershel cuts him off, "You're in no condition to do anything about it. You've given too much blood. You're barely on your feet. You wouldn't make it across the yard."
Rick continues, ignoring him, "If something happened, I have to go."
Lori shakes her head, "No, your place is here. If Shane said he'll be back, he'll be back. He's like you that way."
"I can't just sit here," Rick says, frustrated.
Lori snaps, "That's exactly what you do! If you need to pray or cry or tell God he's cruel, you go right ahead, but you're not leaving, Rick. Carl needs you— here. And I can't do this by myself. Not this one. I can't. I can't."
——
Inside the trailer, Shane starts looking through the medical supplies, not really knowing the specifics, "Is this it?" he asks Otis.
"Yeah, three. Three," he confirms. Shane proceeds to put three of the canisters into his bag. Otis is packing supplies into his own bag, Shane squats next to him. "Oh, here," Otis says removing the flashlight from his mouth to talk clearly, "Endotracheal intubator, baby, for my new respirator."
Shane pats his back, "Attaboy. Come on." As they go to leave, Shane swings the door open, gaining the attention of the walkers. "Goddamn it." They start to run, attracting more of the undead, "Come on! Stay with me!" Shane yells.
Running, they reach a turn, as Shane goes to take it, he is cut off by more walkers. "No— no no no no!" He kills it, taking a path leading deeper into the school. The two keep getting cut off by groups of walkers. Shane tries the doors, unfortunately they're locked, but as he realizes they are surrounded, he shoots the glass, allowing for access inside. He pulls a shutter across the broken doors, locking it in place with a screw. Shane and Otis look at the hoard in front of them, Otis cowering in fear and Shane fueling with anger. Decaying hands reaching out for the two living men.
——
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