digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Save The Last One Part 1

  Sitting by Carl, Rick looks up to Lori, "Lori, did you... I mean, it was legendary. Did you ever hear about the time Shane store Kingsley's car?"
   "Yeah," she responds.
   "The principal's car right out of the teacher's lot in the middle of a school day. Shane steps out of lunch and makes a beeline to Kingsley's Hyundai..." he chuckles telling the story, "wires the  ignition, peels out, drives down Dylan Drive to that chicken farm out there. You've heard this before, right? So he pulls it into one of the big holding pens. Kingsley, he waxed that thing every month; had the auto shop vacuum it out every week. Shane, he parks it in the huge pen with a couple of hundred Rhode Island Reds. He busts open bags of seed in the back seat, rolls down all the windows, and then starts sprinting back to school. It's three miles away easy. He's back in time to finish his sandwich before the bell. And then the bell rings. Shane gets up and when he runs into Kingsley in the hallway he looks out the window and says, 'Principal Kingsley, your coupe's gone.' Coupe, like chicken coop," Rick finishes chuckling.
   Lori lets out a soft chuckle, "I get it."
   "Of course you do. You've heard this story a thousand times. What you said before, you're right. Shane's gonna make it back with what the doctor needs. He'll make it back."
   "Hershel said you need to eat."
   "Carl's gonna be alright."
   "Please, for me. You've got to keep your strength up." Rick nods and grabs the sandwich that was on the bedside table.
——
   On the highway, Carol was crying in the R.V. and Andrea was cleaning her gun, leaving Daryl unable to sleep. He gets up, gathering his bow, "I need my clip now," he says at Andrea. She hands it to him. "I'm gonna walk the road, look for the girl." He nods towards Carol and begins to walk out of the R.V.
   Andrea follows, "I'm coming too."
   Daryl looks up at Dale, "I'm going for a walk. Shine some light in the forest. If she's out there, give her something to look at."
   "You think that's a good idea right now?" Dale argues.
   "Dale," Andrea says stopping him. The two start to walk away from the R.V. in search for Sophia.
——
   Shane and Otis were huddled on top of the bleachers, walkers surrounding the edges. Shane points across the room, "Those windows, what's on the other side?"
   "About a 20-foot drop with nothing to catch, you maybe some bushes, then the athletic field," Otis informs.
   "We just need enough time. We got to get up there. We got to get 'em open and get out."
   "Not me. Maybe you."
   "Hey hey hey."
   "Come on, man, look at me. You really think I can squeeze through one of them tiny windows? They'd be all over us. Look, we lay down some fire to get a head start. You stay here. I hop down and draw them away. That gives you the chance to get up the bleachers and out a window," Otis strategizes.
   "And where do you go?"
   "Locker room down those steps."
   "Looks like a good way to get trapped."
   "It's got windows too, and more my size. I get out through one, I double back, we meet up out on the field."
   "You're a crazy son of a bitch, ain't you?"
   "Just trying to do right for that boy."
   "You take three shots and you go. After that I fire. I'll lay down a cover for you. I'll get you a lead."
   "Alright."
  They begin their plan, Otis shooting at a few walkers below, allowing him to drop down and distract the group. One walker grabs his leg, Shane shooting it in the head. The plan begins to fail, as Otis is struggling to get up. He hobbles towards the locker room, Shane shooting at the walkers that get too close to the heavier set man. Shane then drops down on the opposite side to reach the windows, gaining attention of two walkers. Shane knocks out the window with the butt of his gun. He shoots the first walker in the chest, knocking it back and the other over the railing. He drops the bags out the window, then his gun. Catching his breath, he sits on the windowsill, before lowering himself so that he would fall for a shorter distance. However, since he hadn't killed the walkers that were chasing him, one suddenly grabs his arms. Trying to get away, Shane begins to punch at its head. He pulls out the pistol he had tucked in his waistband, and shoots it. Causing the walker to let go and for him to fall, landing on his ankle. Hearing gunshots, he realizes Otis is still alive and he grabs the bags, following through with the plan.
——
   "Shit, I'm really worried, Glenn," Winona says as they approach the farmhouse.
   "Wi, I know, this is like the 10th time you've said so in 5 minutes. They'll be okay." Glenn parks the car, and begins to get out.
   Winona rushes to help T-Dog, "T, careful. Lean on me, okay?" He weakly smiles back and she wraps the blanket on him. Glenn grabs their supplies and heads towards the porch. Winona looks in amazement, "Woah, this house is gorgeous."
   They walk toward the steps, noticing drops of blood staining the brick. It takes a lot for Winona not to rush into the house. Glenn looks up, "So do we ring the bell? I mean it looks like people live here."
   T-Dog pulls away from Winona, "We're past this type of stuff, aren't we? Having to be considerate."
   As they walk up, Winona steadying T-Dog, she hears an unfamiliar female voice, "Did you close the gate up the road when you drove in?"
   She looks over to find a brunette sitting in a rocking chair, "𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭," she thinks to herself.
   "Uh, hi. Yes, we closed it. Did the latch and everything," Glenn chokes out. Winona snorts at his antics, Glenn quickly glaring at her before turning back to the lady, "Hello. Nice to see you again. We met before briefly."
   Winona chuckles before speaking up, "Sorry for him. What he's trying to say is that we came to help. I'm a nurse, is there anything we can do?"
The girl stands up approaching the three, and notices T-Dogs arm, "It's not a bite. He cut himself pretty bad and I didn't have enough supplies to properly stitch him."
   "We'll have it looked at. I'll tell them that you're here."
   Reaching into the bag Glenn had on his shoulder  Winona talks, "We have some painkillers and antibiotics. I already gave him some. If Carl needs any."
   "Come on inside. I'll make you something to eat."
——
   The lady leads the three into the room where Carl was at. They look in shock, and Winona starts to silently tear up. Glenn takes off his hat, "Hey."
   "Hey," Rick replies weakly.
   "Um, we're here, okay?"
   "Thank you," Lori says.
   "Whatever you need," T-Dog adds.
   Rick nods rubbing his head and Maggie leads the two out of the room, Winona stays.
   "I can give blood, I'm O negative," she suddenly says. She sees an older lady and doctor look up at her, "I'm also a nurse, so anything you need I'm here."
   The doctor smiles, "Thank you. That will be greatly appreciated."
   "Of course," she turns to Rick and Lori, "I'll— uh— I'll be right out here."
   Rick gives her a weak smile and she steps out of the room.
——
   Hershel removes the blanket and examines Carl's stomach, "They don't get back soon, we're gonna have a decision to make."
   "And that is?" Rick asks with a raspy voice.
   "Whether to operate on your boy without the respirator," Hershel answers.
   "You said that wouldn't work," Lori mentions.
   "I know. It's extremely unlikely. But we can't wait much longer," Hershel explains causing Lori to get up and leave. Before Rick could stand, Hershel stops him, "Now that lady before, she said she was a nurse. Do you know what kind?"
   Rick's eyes widen and then he exhales, "Winona? I believe she worked in trauma for a few years and then stayed with coma patients. She did a great job with taking care of me right when this whole thing happened." Hershel nods, taking in the information, and after Rick sees Hershel go back to tending to his son, he gets up to find his wife.
——
   A flashlight and the dim moonlight were the only things allowing for Daryl and Andrea to have some visibility while they search for Sophia. The two had mainly been walking in silence, not wanting to gain attention from anything out there. Andrea spoke first, "You really think we're gonna find Sophia?"
   Daryl shined his light in Andrea face while shaking his head, "You got that look on your face same as everybody else. What the hell's wrong with you people? We just started looking. It's like me and Wi are the only ones who still give a shit, other than her mom."
   "Well, do you?" Andrea asks again. "And do you really think Winona cares all that much? I mean she was leaping at the chance to leave... she seems to have her priorities set on one kid, " she spoke the last part under her breath.
    "I know Winona cares, she's just worried for Carl, she worries for everyone- that's just who she is. And it ain't the mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia. She could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost and they survive. It's happens all the time."
    Andrea decides to drop the topic on Winona, focusing back on Sophia, "She's only 12."
   "Hell, I was younger than her and I got lost. Nine days in the woods eating berries, wiping my ass with poison oak."
   "They found you?"
   "My old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doing another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. Except my ass itched something awful."
   Andrea tries to contain her laughs, however, a few ended up slipping out anyways, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, that is a terrible story." Daryl ends up chuckling, too.
   "Only difference is Sophia's got people looking for her. I call that an advantage."
——
   Rick walks out onto the porch, where Lori was pondering. He walks up behind her, and she begins to speak, not looking at him, "Maybe this isn't a world for children anymore."
   "Yeah well, we have a child. Carl is here in this world now."
   "Maybe he shouldn't be," Lori cuts him off and faces him, "Maybe this is how it's supposed to be."
   Rick bites his cheek, replaying her words in his head, "You can't mean that." Lori only looks at him, not responding. "Okay. Alright. I can understand that thought crossing your mind."
   Lori again cuts him off before he can continue, "It didn't cross my mind, Rick. I can't stop thinking it. Why do we want Carl to live in this world? To have this life? So he can see more people torn apart in front of him? So that he can be hungry and scared for however long he has before he..." Lori stops, tears threaten to spill, "So he can run and run and run and run and then even if he survives he ends up— he ends up just another animal who doesn't know anything except survival? If he— if he dies tonight, it ends for him. Tell me why it would be better another way."
   Rick turns around, "What changed?
   "What?
   "Jenner offered us a way out. You asked him to let us keep trying. You begged him.  'For as long as we can,' you said. What changed?" Rick questions, anger rising each second.
   "There was a moment the other day— it was just a second but I forgot Jacqui was dead. I turned around, I wanted to tell her something. I almost said her name. It was just a second and then I remembered. But then I realized she didn't have to see any of it," Lori explains, Rick looks in confusion, "The highway, the herds, Sophia, Carl getting shot— she didn't... she doesn't have to be afraid anymore. Hungry. Angry.  It hasn't stopped happening, Rick. It's like we live with a knife at our throats every second of every day. But Jacqui doesn't. Not anymore. And then... I thought 'Maybe Jenner was right.'"
    Rick rubs his forehead in disbelief, "I don't accept that. I can't accept that. That man surrendered. It doesn't matt— it doesn't matter what he said. None of it. You really think it would be better if Carl—" Rick looks towards the woman, tears about to fall, "If we just gave up?"
   "Tell me why it would be better the other way," Lori says again, shaking her head, "Please."
   Rick opens his mouth but says nothing.
——
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