Hero

t h i r t e e n

Lenora stared at the wall above Lori's head, waiting for what felt like forever for Rick to come out of the room with news about Daryl. She could hear the redneck speaking, and let out a breath she was holding, thanking whoever was above that the man was alive. She couldn't imagine Daryl dying. If he did, she imagined she'd be left all alone. Straight back to that forest floor again. 

She shuddered at the thought. Lenora never wanted to get back to that place in her life again. Just thinking about what her parents did made anger bubble in her stomach. The shock of being left on the ground like an unwanted animal when she woke up, she could never have imagined ever feeling that until it happened. 

The door to her right opened, Rick and Shane coming out. The two females in the hallway stood up. Lenora wiped the sweat from her hands onto her jean shorts and looked at them expectantly. Rick looked at her with sympathy before nodding, she quickly rounded the corner going into the bedroom in which Daryl was currently occupying. 

"He'll be alright." Rick told Lori who nodded graciously.  

"I hate to say it, but I'm with Hershel on this one." Shane spoke. The air grew tense around the three adults. Lori looked between the two men awkwardly, knowing she was the reason for the rift between them. "Can't keep going out there, not after this."

"You'd quit now?" Rick asked the bald man. He was baffled at Shane's train of thought.  Why would he risk letting a little girl no older than his son, who he knew Shane cared deeply about, run around the woods lost and looking for her group? He wondered if the tables would be turned if it were Carl they were looking for. "Daryl just risked his life to bring back the first hard evidence we've had."

"That is one way to look at it." Shane spoke, not necessarily disagreeing with Rick but certainly not agreeing with him either. That seemed to be their relationship these days. They never saw eye to eye. "The way I see it, Daryl almost died today for a doll." 

"Yeah, I know how you see it." Rick spoke tensely. He looked towards Lori as he walked away, who patted him on the stomach. 

"I'm not out to be a hard case, just being realistic. He's just got to start making the tough calls. You know I'm right." Shane told Lori.

"I may not agree with all of his choices," Lori spoke up, her first real conversation with Shane in a long time. Her motherly intuition felt for Carol and Sophia, knowing that a lost child is something she never hoped to experience. Especially in a world where the dead walked. "But, I respect him. I know yours and mine, and your way isn't harder. It's the easiest thing in the world to cut our losses and to not help. You keep telling yourself you're making the tough calls. You're really just trying-" 

"The only thing I care about now in this world is you and Carl." Shane spoke the words that proved he would never lead this group. He was only looking out for his own interests, never the groups. "So I apologize if I appear to be insensitive to the needs of others, but you see I'll do whatever it takes to keep the two of you safe."

"Even abandoning a lost child?" Lori whispered in disbelief. "Really?" 

"Yeah." Shane nodded. 

"My son and I are not your problem anymore. Or your excuse." With that Lori walked away from the man who was left alone in the hallway. Inside, Lenora looked at Daryl's body with hesitation. He looked like hell. The man was caked in his own blood and dirt and a bandage was wrapped around his head and side. Despite that, he had a shit eating grin on his face.

"I was wondering when you were gonna wander in here." He spoke, patting the bed. Lenora was standing there staring at him like a deer in headlights. More like a little doe, considering her size and the way her big eyes stared at him. "Come on kid, stop staring at me. You're freaking me out."