digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Cherokee Rose Part 1

    Hershel's family and Rick's group begin to gather rocks for Otis's grave. They stop when they hear a motorcycle approaching. Winona smiles and nudges Glenn, "Daryl's here!" They watch as the last of their group arrive.
——
   Rick and Lori are at Carl's bedside still and Hershel checks on him, "Fever's gone down," he informs.
   Carl begins to move. Lori hops up, "Baby?"
   "Carl?" Rick asks as the young boy opens his eyes.
   "Sophia?" was the first word to leave Carl's lips, "Is she okay?"
   "Fine," Rick lies, "She's fine."
   "Rest," Lori states, "We'll be right here, okay?"
   "Okay," he says closing his eyes.
   Winona gleefully walks in, "They're here!" Rick smiles at her and begins to head out to greet the rest of the group. Winona watches as Daryl pops out the kickstand of his bike and looks at her. Dale approaches Rick, "How is he?"
   Lori cuts in before Rick could respond, smiling, "He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people. And-"
   "And Shane," Rick interrupts, "We'd have lost Carl if not for him." Winona glances back to see Shane dressed in Otis's clothing noting that he is now adorning a freshly buzzed head.
   Dale pulls Rick in for a hug, Daryl hesitating before pulling Winona in for an embrace. "Aw did someone miss me?" she grins cheekily at the embarrassed redneck.
   "Shut it, Wi," the man huffs out.
   Carol grabs Lori for a tight hug, "Thank God. We were so worried."
   "How'd it happen?" Dale asks.
   "Hunting accident," Rick responds, "That's all— just a stupid accident."
——
   The group gathers around the makeshift grave made for Otis. Hershel begins the prayer while members of his group place rocks, "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. Shane, will you speak for Otis?"
   Winona looks over to see a spaced out Shane who quickly snaps back when he hears his name, "I'm not good at it," he excuses, "I'm sorry."
   "You were the last one with him," Patricia croaks out, "You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning."
   Shane looks in shock, "Okay," he whispers, seemingly gathering the words in his mind, "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 shoved me ahead. 'Run,' he said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.' And when I looked back..." Shane pauses, Winona looks around at the group's expressions she notices Dale with a confused face, almost as if he wasn't believing the story Shane was spinning. She then watches as Shane limps to pick up a rock, "If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both," he looks at the widow of Otis, "If any death ever had meaning, it was his," he finishes and places the rock on the memorial.
——
   After the small memorial service for Otis, Winona went inside to check on Carl. Hershel had told her that since she worked as a nurse for coma patients, this would be more her forte. Carl wasn't in a coma but he was still in and out of  consciousness from his body needing to heal. He was stable from what she could tell without any electronic vital monitors. She does her baseline readings, just like she had done with Rick a few weeks prior. She changes his dressing for the day and cleans the healing wound. Finishing up, she sits in the chair next to the bed and grabs her backpack that sat beside it.
    "Jesus... when did this get so heavy? I guess Daryl was right when he said I had a ton of junk in here," she says out loud to herself. Rifling through her belongings she finds stuff she had put in her bag that she had forgotten about. Winona comes across all the comics she had scavenged for Carl. Rediscovering some clothes as well, she smiles when she fishes out the jacket she's finds so much comfort in and puts it on. Then, like a light bulb went off in her head, she remembers the things she found for Rick and begins quickly searching for them. She chuckles as she pulls them out of the backpack— a kid's sheriff badge and the final corded bracelet.
    Hearing the porch door open and someone walk into the room, she looks up, expecting Hershel, but is greeted with Rick. "What do you got there, Graves?" he asks intrigued, seeing the smirk on her face.
   "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes, Grimes? It's just some stuff I found," Winona replies showing him the comics first, "I found these for Carl back on the highway, they should help with his boredom when he wakes up. I hope he likes them, it's not much of a comic book store out there," she laughs.
   Rick chuckles, "I'm sure he will," he pauses looking her over, "I was beginning to think you had gotten rid of my jacket. I'm glad you didn't."
   She looks down at the zip-up and shakes her head, "I don't think I could get rid of it, it's nice as hell. I didn't want it getting ripped during the whole CDC situation so I put it in my bag and kinda forgot about it, but that being said, I also found you something when I was on the highway."
   Rick's raises his brow in question, "Oh yeah?"
   Winona nods a hum. She stands, walking over to him she removes his deputy badge and pins the fake sheriff badge on his shirt, "I'm officially promoting you. You are now, 'Sheriff Rick Grimes.'"
   Rick chuckles loudly, looking into her eyes, he sees a playful sparkle as she starts to laugh with him. He stops, "Thank you, I've missed this."
   "Cowboy, I know the badge looks awfully convincing, but don't let it get to your head."
   "No, Winona, I meant you."
   Her faces flushes red, "O-oh?"
   "Yeah, I've really been needing some Graves times recently, you always know how to make me smile. It felt like you had been avoiding me these past few days."
   She lowers her head, "I'm sorry. I wanted to let you spend time with your family, I didn't want to overstep. Especially with everything that happened with Carl."
    He guides her face so she's looking at him, her heart flutters, "You're not. You won't ever be. Carl loves you, you and Lori are close, You and I are, too." Taking his deputy badge out of Winona's hand he pins it onto her jacket and he steps back, crossing his arms, as if admiring his work, "Besides, who else is supposed to be my deputy?"
   She lets out a sweet laugh, "You're right. Someone's got to keep you in check." She walks back over to her bag, digging out the last item, and goes back over to Rick, "Hold out your wrist."
   "Yes ma'am," he chuckles.
   Putting the bracelet on his wrist next to his watch, she looks up at him with a smile, "I found one for me and each of my favorite guys; You, Daryl, and Glenn," she says showing her bracelet, "Now we all match. Plus, they're useful if we need any cord." Winona glances back towards Carl, "Funny how just a few weeks earlier, it was you in this situation. I've been the nurse for both of the Grimes boys."
    Rick nods, "I wouldn't want it any other way. You're a damn good nurse. The reason I'm here today is because of you, so I'm glad you're also the one to take care of Carl."
    "Anytime, Grimes. Let's just try to stop the pattern with gunshot wounds, okay?"
    "Yes, Doc," he jokingly salutes her, "Anyways, the real reason I came in here, other than to check on Carl, was to get you, we're about to plan a search for Sophia."
   "As long as you're not going out, and don't try to debate me."
——
   Gathering around Carol's suburban, Andrea, Daryl, Shane, Winona and Rick fill Hershel in.
   "How long has this girl been lost?" the older man asks.
   "This'll be day three," Shane replies.
   Maggie walks over and lays out a large map, "County survey map. Shows terrain and elevations."
   "This is perfect," Rick speaks, "We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams."
   "Not you. Not today," Hershel says, "You gave three units of blood."
   "I told you, Cowboy," Winona says, smugly, "I'll go."
   "Not you, either. You gave two units. You both wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." Hershel looks over at Shane, "And your ankle— push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody."
   "Guess it's just me," Daryl announces, "I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there."
   "I can still be useful," Shane argues, "I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back."
   "Alright, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right," Rick states.
   "That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need gun training we've been promising them," Shane mentions.
   Hershel speaks up, "I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp."
   Shane removes his hat and straightens his stance, "All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here..."
   Rick interrupts him, "Look, we're guests here," he turns towards Hershel, "This is your property and we will respect that." Rick takes his gun out and puts it on the table, Winona and Shane following. "First things first: set camp, find Sophia."
   Shane bites his cheek, "I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to. What happens if we find her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."
   Rick lowers his gaze, "You do what has to be done."
   "And her mother?" Maggie cuts in, "What do you tell her?"
   "The truth," Andreas says.
   "Even if it's difficult," Winona adds with a frown.
   "I'll gather and secure all the weapons," Shane plans, "Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off site. I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience."
    Hershel stays silent so Rick adds on, "Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." The older man nods an approval to which Rick thanks him.
    The group begins disbanding. Winona calls out for Daryl, gaining the attention of the redneck and the others, "Hey, be careful out there, okay?"
   He looks around and then back at her, "Yeah." She mouths a thank you and he nods, leaving to grab supplies before heading out.
   Maggie turns her attention towards Rick, "That stuff you brought, got more antibiotics, bandages, anything like that?"
   He signals towards Winona, Maggie looking towards her, "Just what you've seen. I've gone through a majority of what I brought from the hospital, so what I gave you was pretty much it."
    Maggie nods, facing her father, "We're running short already. I should make a run into town."
   "Not the place Shane went?" Rick asks.
   "No, there's a pharmacy just a mile down the road. I've done it before."
   Rick nods turning around, "See our man there in the baseball cap? That's Glenn, our go-to-town expert. I'd ask him along just to be cautious." Hershel nods. Winona grinning at the matchmaking that Rick was unaware he was creating.
——
    Shane stumbles out of the RV, his ankle still affecting him. Lori stands outside and he awkwardly stares before he speaks, "I hear he woke up."
    "Yeah. He's in and out, but yeah. He'll be alright," Lori smiles.
    Shane lets out a small chuckle, "That's good." He begins to walk past her but stops, turning around, "Did you mean it?"
   "What?"
   "You said stay. Did you mean it? Look, if you didn't just say so. But do it now. I need to know."
   "I meant it."
   "Alright then," he says, going to walk away.
——
    Winona leans against one of the trees and she laughs while watching Glenn struggle with setting the tent up. He looks up at her, "You know you could help?!"
    "Yeah but this is entertaining," she laughs. Her eyes land on Maggie approaching, Glenn notices Winona's line of sight and stops. He turns around and sees Maggie.
    "I hear you're fast on your feet and know how to get in and out," the girl says.
   Glenn looks at her and then to Winona with confusion on his face. Winona snorts, "Don't look at me!"
   Maggie continues, "Got a pharmacy run. You in?"
   "Uh..." Glenn reaches for the words.
   Winona assumed he was probably still in awe over Maggie, causing her to have to stifle her laughs, "That means yes," she says answering for him.
   Before Glenn can debate, Dale interrupts, "Miss, what's the water situation here?"
   "Got five wells on our land. House draws directly from number one. Number-two well is right over there," she says pointing in the distance behind Dale, "We use it for the cattle but it's just as pure. Take what you need. There's a cart and containers in the generator shed behind the house," she looks at Glenn, "I'll go saddle your horse then."
    "Horse?" Glenn asks Winona, making her laugh once more.
——
2324 words