digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Save The Last One Part 3

Panning around the highway that was littered with abandoned cars, Dale continues to walk further away from the RV. He stops next to the guide rail, glancing down towards the forest where Daryl and Andrea had ventured into.
——
In the bedroom, where Carl lies unconscious, Winona is slowly drifting into sleep in a chair that was next to the young boy's bedside. Lori sits on the floor on the other side of the bed, Rick sat facing his wife. He notices Winona nodding off and lowers his voice to a whisper, "Before it happened, we were standing there in the woods and this deer just crossed right in front of us. I swear it just planted itself there and looked Carl right in the eye. And I looked at Carl looking at that deer, and that deer looking right back at Carl. And that moment just..." Rick sighs as tears begin to form, "... slipped away. It slipped away. That's what he was talking about when he woke up, not about getting shot or what happened at the church. He talked about something beautiful, something living. There's still a life for us, a place maybe like this. It isn't all death out there. It can't be. We just have to be strong enough after everything we've seen to still believe that. Why is it better for Carl to live even in this world?" Rick asks, "He talked about the deer, Lori. He talked about the deer." Lori's eyes widen and she looks back at Carl, allowing her husband's words to slowly sink in.
——
Adrenaline pumping, hearts racing, as Shane and Otis continue to try and find a path out of this death trap they had found themselves in. "Oh, shit," Shane exclaims as his bad leg gives out beneath him. He falls to the ground bringing Otis with him.
The heavier man groans, "Got to get to the street, double back to the truck."
Shane's frustration kicks in, "Look, we ain't gonna make it, okay?"
"Got to try, man," Otis says, encouragingly, "Come on, get up."
Shane begins to take the backpack off, "You're gonna take these bags and you're gonna go."
"I ain't leaving you behind."
Smacking the ground, Shane lets out, "Okay," as he pushes himself to get back up. He glances to the approaching hoard of walkers, "How many more rounds you got left?"
"Four. You?"
"Five and one in the pipe."
As the walkers gain closer, they pull each other up and continue pushing forward, shooting at the ones that get too close.
——
Winona is awake when Hershel comes back in to check Carl's vitals. The doctor looks at the boy's parents, "He's still losing blood faster than we can replace it- even with two donors. And with the swelling in his abdomen we can't wait any longer or he's just going to slip away. Now I need to know right now If you want me to do this, because I think your boy is out of time. You have to make a choice."
Winona realizes this is probably a good time to leave the room, she exits and leans against the wall outside the room. She hears Lori, "A choice?"
"A choice," Rick responds, "You have to tell me what it is. You have to tell me what it is."
Winona hears Lori voice break as she decides, "We do it."
Hershel rushes out of the room grabbing his medical supplies, Patricia helping. "Winona, I'm going to need as much help as I can get, is that all right with you?"
"Of course, just tell me where you need me."
"Okay, get the corner of that bed. Let's get the sheets down. Get the I.V. bag on the sheet. Okay, on three. One, two, three," Hershel commands the room as they lift the boy onto a metal table. Patricia grabs a lamp, taking the shade off for more light.
Winona starts to put gloves on and notices Rick and Lori still in the room, "Rick, Lori, you might want to step out."
Just as Hershel is about to proceed with the first incision, they hear a car approaching the house, Rick peaks through the curtain, "Oh God," and he and Lori rush out.
Hershel looks at the woman, "You stay here with him, Winona with me." Patricia nods and goes back to tending to the boy as much as she could. Winona takes her gloves off and follows.
Rick rushes outside, seeing the blue truck stop in front of the farm house. The others behind him, pilling out the door. Shane steps out of the truck, Winona immediately notices his limping gait. "Carl?" he lets out in a breathy question.
"There's still a chance," Rick answers.
Hershel practically rips a bag out of Shane's hands, Glenn and Winona grabbing the others. The other man looks behind Shane and then back at him, "Otis?
Shane hesitates briefly looking towards Winona and then lowers his head, "No."
Maggie's eyes start to water and Hershel seems to be in shock before he gains his voice back, "We say nothing to Patricia. Not till after. I need her. Winona can you look over Shane?"
Winona pauses, her heart dropping, "I thought you needed me with Carl?"
"If I do, I'll get you. Right now I want you to keep an eye on him, his leg doesn't look so good."
"Oh... okay."
"Thank you," Hershel speaks, turning to rush inside.
Winona stays outside, handing the other bag to Glenn who takes it inside. She watches as Rick pulls Shane into a hug. Shane makes eye contact with her and then pulls away from the hug with Rick, "They kept blocking us at every turn," he explains, "We had nothing left. We were down to 10 rounds. Then he said— he said he'd cover me and that I should keep going. So that's what I did. I just..." he looks at Rick, breaking down, "I kept going. But I— I looked back and he—" Winona consoles Maggie as Shane continues, "I tried."
Rick grabs Shane's shoulder, "He wanted to make it right." Shane rubs his face, looking past Rick to see a crying Maggie.
——
Dale eventually went back to the RV, sitting on the roof while Carol stands. They see Andrea and Daryl coming back from their search without Sophia, causing Carol to cry once more. She turns to leave and go inside the RV. Dale stands and smiles when he sees the flashlights shining his way. He hops down the ladder and watches as a distraught Carol goes inside. He looks towards Daryl, who says nothing and heads inside. "Andrea. Wait."
She pauses, facing the older man, "What do you want, Dale?"
"To give you this," he says pulling out her gun, "I care about you so I made a choice for you— choices. I know why I did it, but this is not my gun. And the choices I made for you were not mine to make." Her face softens slightly as she grabs her pistol. Dale continues, "But I can still ask, and this is not to make you guilty or put me ahead of you, but I can still ask, please... don't make me regret this."
Andrea hesitates before speaking, "I'll take watch." And she walks past the man.
He turns, "So do you forgive me for—" she stops, "Do you forgive me?" he asks again.
She turns to face him, "I'm trying."
——
In the kitchen, Maggie was crying and Glenn was doing his best to console her. "I've known Otis since I was a kid," Maggie states, "He's run this farm since before my mother died."
Glenn steps away from the wall and walks towards the photos on the fridge, "Who else? Who'd you lose?" Maggie looks up at the man, confused. Glenn pushes on, "You told me I had to make it okay somehow. That's what you've been trying to do, right? Which ones?"
Maggie gets up, sniffling as she goes over to the fridge. She points to a photo of an older woman sitting in a rocking chair, "Stepmother." Then she points to a young man with a denim shirt on, "Stepbrother."
——
Rick anxiously waits outside with Lori, sitting on the steps. T-Dog sat in one of the rocking chairs, and Winona had stayed outside observing Shane. Hershel steps outs, wiping his hands off on a towel, "He seems to have stabilized."
Rick lets out a breath of relief, "Oh God." He walks up to Hershel and hugs him.
Lori cries joyful tears, "I don't have words."
Winona nudges Glenn, mumbling just so he could hear her, "It does wonders when you don't second guess him so much." The man does his best to not let out a chuckle, stifling it.
"I don't either," Hershel responds, "Wish I did. How do I tell Patricia about Otis?"
Everyone's face drops, seemingly remembering the incident. Rick looks at Lori, "You go to Carl," he looks at Hershel, "I'll go with Hershel."
They all head inside the house. Lori sees Rick with Hershel and a hysterical Patricia. Shane limps in behind her, Rick shakes his head at him, signaling him not to come over.
Lori is already at Carl's bedside sobbing. She looks up when she hears someone enter, that someone being Shane. He looks like he's debating in his head. Lori speaks up, "Stay."
He nods and exits the room, almost bumping into Winona, "Sorry, Win."
"It's fine, you're just the person I was looking for, I need to check you over."
"I'm fine, Win, just a few cuts."
"Yeah, exactly. And a potential sprained ankle, come on."
Winona carefully helps Shane into a spare room and gently sets him down on a bed. She grabs her bag and begins to look him over. Winona notices he was in a daze, so she waves in front of his face, "Earth to Shane?"
He flinches at first but relaxes, "Sorry. I'm just thinking."
"That's a first," Winona chuckles and Shane gives a small laugh, "Are you alright?" She takes some hydrogen peroxide and a cotton ball and begins blotting some minor cuts he had on his arms.
Shane lets out a sigh, "Yeah, nothing to concern you with."
She stops what she was doing and looks at him, "Shane. You just had to experience a pretty traumatic thing, it's going to concern me. Even though we haven't been good and we're not together, I still care about you just as much as I did when we were."
"I know, Win, that's why I love you. I'm sorry for being such a douche and for what happened between Lori and I. I know you won't believe me but I really do regret it. Do you think we could ever work things out?"
Winona falters as she goes to cleans a different cut, "No... I'm sorry, Shane. You don't love me, not anymore, at least. You left me behind in a new broken world, expecting me not to live so you could get a happy ending with Lori."
"Win, I—" Shane tries speaking.
Winona shakes her head, not stopping, "But, I still had hope you were going to come back for me, hope you weren't having an affair, hope..." her voice is raw with emotion as tears threaten to spill, "I had hope that you still loved me, that there was still a piece of you that loved me and only me. I loved you with everything I had, everything," she pokes his chest, "And you knew that, and you still left," tears were now flowing, "There will always be a part of me that will love you forever, but I can't do this any longer." Looking up at the man she once saw herself growing old with, she gained the courage to tell him the truth, "You scare me, Shane. You scare the living shit out of me now. I never thought I could be scared of the man I saw myself having a family with. You've grabbed me, you've slapped me, you've threatened me, you've assaulted me. I've been harassed by you, and I can't keep dealing with it. I feel like I'm only a prize to be won with you. I never told Rick the truth, and I don't plan to. I wish none of this had happened. I guess what I'm trying to say is; I—I miss who you used to be. I'm sorry, Shane, but I can't work anything out with you because there is nothing to be worked out. I've said I'm done multiple times and I mean it. I love you, Shane, I always will, but you don't love me the way I loved you," she concludes her speech, wiping away stray tears that were cascading down her face, "Now, please, let me wrap your ankle."
Shane stays quiet, tears silently rolling down his cheeks, he nods, letting the woman he, too, once loved finish her job.
——
After finishing up, Winona excused herself from the room. Shane stayed, processing the words Winona said to him. He felt stupid, stupid for the things he did in what he thought was "heat of the moment," stupid for treating Winona like she was oblivious, stupid for choosing Lori over what he once saw as the love of his life. He held his face in his hands, cursing himself for being so foolish. He knew she was serious now, there was no getting her back like he had thought. He wipes off the last few tears that escaped his eyes and begins to leave the room.
Maggie catches him, holding a pile of clothes, "The bathroom's upstairs. Sorry, I know Winona just wrapped your ankle. Anyways, I brought you some clothes."
"Thank you."
"They won't fit well. They were Otis's," she reveals and walks away.
He goes to the bathroom, preparing for a shower. He looks over his body seeing all the cuts and bruises that littered his skin that Winona had gingerly attended to. Looking at a scrape on his shoulder, he notices a patch of his hair missing on his head. Memories of the night begin to replay in his head. He scrounges around the medicine cabinet, then the drawers of the vanity, finally finding an electric hair trimmer.
The events were replaying over and over in his head, "Down to my last," Otis had told him.
"Me too," Shane revealed. He looked over to the unsuspecting man, "I'm sorry." Otis gave a look of confusion and Shane shot him in the leg, crippling him. He tried to rip the bag off of Otis, "Will you give it—" Otis had pulled him down, grabbing Shane's legs. Shane began kicking at Otis's leg to make him let go. The man fought back, reaching up and ripping out the chunk of Shane's hair. Shane kept fighting to get Otis to let go, eventually taking the gun out of his hand and beating Otis with it. He let go of Shane and Shane left the man for dead, hearing the screams while he got eaten alive.
Shane begins to shave his head, erasing any evidence or suspicions of foul play.
——
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