digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Triggerfinger Part 2

    Sitting by a small fire, Daryl cooks his game. Hearing fast approaching footsteps he glances up to see Carol running over. "We can't find Lori," she says slightly out of breath, "And the others aren't back yet either."
    "Yeah. That dumb bitch must've gone off looking for 'em," Daryl replies.
   Carol stops,  "What?"
   "Yeah, she asked me to go. I told her I was done being an errand boy," he explains.
   The woman's eyes scan over the man, "And you didn't say anything?" Daryl stays silent, prodding at the fire in front of him. Carol turns and walks away, before facing and moving back to the redneck, "Don't do this. Please. I've already lost my girl."
   That struck a nerve in Daryl. He rose and faced the older woman, "That wasn't my problem neither," he drops the stick and stomps away.
——
   The group gathers around the tents. Shane marches over, "She's not at the barn."
   T-Dog jogs over, "I checked the yards."
   "Well, where is she?" Carl worriedly glances between the men.
   Carol rushes over, "She asked Daryl to go into town. Must've gone herself."
   Carl whimpers, Andrea attempts to comfort him. But he quickly runs away, "Carl."
   Shane walks up to Dale, "Did you know about this?"
   He shakes his head, "No."
   "Look, just— did she take a gun?"
   "I don't know. I wouldn't let her go out there alone."
   Shane rushed towards the Hyundai, immediately starting it up and driving away from the farm.
——
   As Rick checks his bullets, they fall on the floor, and he hurried to put them in his shirt pocket, "Hey! We all know this is not gonna end well! There's nothing in it for any of us! You guys just— just back off, no one else gets hurt!" Rick reloads his revolver.
   They hear the sound of bottles clattering in the back. Rick nods towards Glenn, the younger man runs over to the door that led into the back. Winona looks at Hershel, "Stay here," she whispers before following Glenn.
   "Graves!" Rick harshly whispers.
   Winona ignores him and follows after the younger male. She slips through the door and Glenn hastily turns around before letting out a sigh of relief seeing it was only her. She nods as Glenn begins to descend down the stairs. The old wood was not in their favor as the stair boards creaked loudly each time they would walk down.
   Making it off the stairs, Glenn took the left side and Winona— the right. The pair hear more bottles, "Shit!" a voice whispers. Glenn cocks the shotgun, Winona switches the safety off hers. They aim towards the back doors where the silhouette of a man could be seen through the glass. The white knob began to turn and they wasted no time firing a round, shattering the glass and killing the man.
   "Winona! Glenn!" The two heard Rick yell.
   "I—I'm all right. I'm alright," Glenn calls back.
   "Graves, answer!"
   "I'm okay, Rick!" she yells back, wary of the men still outside.
   Glenn takes one side, cocking his shotgun again. Winona crouches on the other side, aiming towards the broken window. Adrenaline coursing through their veins.
——
    Shane speeds down the empty road, eyes landing on the wrecked vehicle. He slams on the brakes and gets out to investigate. He walks over to the dead walker, kicking it to make sure it was dead. He walks around to the front where the other walker hung limp in the windshield. After assessing the damage and not finding Lori, he walks out further down the road. In a sharp whisper, he calls out to the woman, "Lori!" Getting no answer, he runs back to the car.
——
    Using a shelf for cover, Rick whispers to Hershel, "I'll hold 'em here you cover Glenn and Winona. See if you can make it to your car. Tell him— tell him to pull up back. We'll run for it, get the hell out of here. We can come back for Daryl's bike tomorrow."
   The old man looks at Rick, "You want me to cover Glenn and Winona?"
    "Winona can cover him, but she needs someone to cover her. Whatever she says, do not let her go in place of Glenn. You missed all that gun training. It could've come in handy now."
    "Nah, I can shoot. I just don't like to," Hershel declares waking towards the back of the bar where the others were.
——
    Winona and Glenn keep their sights on the back door, hands shaking from adrenaline. Hearing footsteps from behind, Glenn whips around aiming his shotgun at the suspect. A surprised Hershel raises his hands and pushes the barrel away from his abdomen. Glenn sighs, "Sorry. Sorry." Winona pats his shoulder in comfort.
   "Rick wants you to try for the car. We'll come back for Daryl's bike."
   "Try?" Glenn asks.
   "You'll try and succeed. Winona will cover you; I'll cover Winona."
   "That's a great plan," Winona sarcastically speaks up, seeing the danger they're about to put her friend in, "I can go. I have a smaller stature than him and I'm lighter on my feet. It's dark they won't see me."
   Hershel shakes his head, "Rick was adamant about Glenn being the one."
   Glenn shuffles to the door, "It's fine, Wi. I can do this. You'll be covering me anyways."
   Winona gives a concerned glance at the younger male but, reluctantly, she nodded. Glenn pushes the door open, a creak sounding from the old hinges. Glenn glances outside before cautiously walking out. Winona follows shortly after, taking cover behind some crates at the bottom of the stairs. Hershel staying in the door frame.
   BANG
   Gunshots sound out from behind. Winona whips around quickly shooting the enemy and Glenn searches for cover. The man cries out in pain as her shot wasn't a killing one. Hershel and Winona look to Glenn last whereabouts, only seeing his legs peeking out from behind a dumpster. Her heart stops, was she too late? Had the shooter managed to hit Glenn?  Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the man still crying out in pain. The gunshots brought Rick, "What happened?" he asks Hershel while making eye contact with the woman outside.
   "He fired," Hershel explains, "He must've hit Glenn before Winona hit him. He's behind the dumpster. Doesn't look like he's moving."
   The stranger calls out for help while Rick exits heading towards the dumpster. "You hit?" he calls out to Glenn. Not receiving an answer, Rick sticks to the walk to get closer, "Are you hit?"
   Glenn grips his shotgun, "No. No."
   Rick looks back towards the stranger on the ground and nods to Winona, who immediately rushes over to Glenn. Rick sits on the opposite side of him and Winona squats across from her friend. Her eyes quickly scan for any injuries, seeing none, she lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Rick looks at Glenn, "It's alright. The car's right there. We're almost home. You good?"
   Winona cuts Glenn off before he can speak, "Rick let me do it. We don't need to force him to run through bullets when I'm volunteering."
   Rick shakes his head but Glenn talks first, "I'm good. I can do it."
   The groaning of the enemy continues, "I should've aimed higher, dammit," Winona grumbles, annoyed from all the noise the man was making.
   Rick grabs Glenn's arm, "Let's go." They begin to leave their spot between the dumpsters. Shots begin to ring through the air, stopping them abruptly. "Get back," he orders, "Graves, can you see them?"
   "There's a guy on the roof, he looks like a kid, from what I can see," she informs. The sound of tires squealing draw her attention to the street to see a truck quickly pull up, "Let's get out of here!" they yell, "Roamers all over the place! Hurry up! We gotta get out of here!"
   Rick and Glenn peek their heads out at this commotion. The guy on the roof begins to shout down, "What about Sean?" Winona assumes he was the guy she shot.
   "They shot him. We gotta go. Roamers are everywhere," the man confirms her suspicions.
   "We're leaving?"
   "Jump!" Winona grimaces, knowing that was a stupid idea. The man in the truck continues to shout, "Hurry up, jump already!"
   They watch as the man jump off the two story building to a lower roof where he falls backwards from the impact. The man begins letting out painful screams. Glenn whispers, "Dude didn't make it."
   The man continues screaming, "Help me!"
   The one in the truck begins to leave, "I've gotta go. I've gotta go. I'm sorry!"
   "No no, don't leave! Help me! No! No!"
   "Get Hershel, Graves with me," Rick commands, pulling Winona up and running towards the man.
   Glenn stands, "Hershel!" They turn to see the walkers moving in, beginning to eat the first victim, Sean. Hershel shoots at the walkers but his efforts were fruitless as more kept limping closer. They watched as the man began to be torn apart. Hershel stood frozen, watching the walkers tear into the man. "Hershel, come on!" Glenn calls out, breaking the older man's stare. Hershel continues to watch as he walks backwards towards Glenn, "Hershel. Hershel."
   The older man snaps out of it, "The gunfire must've attracted the walkers. Where's Rick and Winona?"
   "They— they ran across."
   "Well, hell, we can't go without them." Hershel begins to jog over to the alleyway, "Rick!"
   "Winona!" Glenn calls.
   They make it over to see Rick and Winona holding the man's leg that was impaled from the fence. "We have to go now," Hershel declares.
   "No!" the man, who looked to be early twenties, cried out slamming his fist in the dumpster that he laid upon.
   Winona shushes him. Hershel grabs the intact leg, "I'm sorry, son. We have to go."
   The kid sits up, Winona starts to feel pitiful for him, "No no, don't leave me please."
   "We have to go," Hershel says toward Rick.
   "We can't," Rick demands.
   Glenn throws his hand up in disbelief, "He was just shooting at us!"
   "He's a kid!" Rick yells back.
   "Please help me," the boy pleads.
   Winona turns to Rick, "Grimes, this place is crawling with walkers!"
   He turns to her, "We can't leave him!"
   Winona stomps towards the fence and points at it, "The fence went clean through. There is no way we can get the leg off in one piece, Rick."
   Hershel begins to try and move the leg off the fence causing the boy to yell out in pain. "Shut up!" Rick yells, "Shut up or I will shoot you!"
   "That may be the answer," Winona says. She grabs Rick's attention, "We're not gonna get that leg off without tearing the muscle to shreds. He certainly can't run. He may bleed out."
   Glenn readjusts the guy's leg causing another cry, "Shut up," but he quickly adjusts his attitude, "I'm sorry. Sh-Sh— shut up. Shut up," he says gently.
   "Maybe we should put him down," Hershel speaks, surprising the man, "I don't wan to see any more killing, but this is cruel."
   "Can't we just take the leg off?" Glenn questions.
   They all pause. Rick looks towards Winona, "You still have that hatchet?"
  She shakes her head.
   "No no no! Don't cut my leg off, please. Please not my leg," the boy pleads.
   Winona flicks out her knife, "Will this cut through  the bone?"
   "I'll have to sever the ligaments below the kneecap, cut above the tibia. He's going to lose his lower leg," Hershel explains as the boy continues to disagree, "When we get clear of here, we're gonna have to find some tinder, cauterize the wound so he doesn't bleed out."
   "Alright, no choice. Hurry up," Rick says.
   Hershel walks over to the fence and Rick holds the boy down. "No!" the stranger yells out.
   "Hand me that stick," Hershel commands Glenn.
   "Here," Glenn gives the stick to the man and he turns back to the road, "Guys, walkers."
   Winona rushes over to Glenn, standing guard with him, "Hurry up!" They begin to pick off the ones close.
   Rick shushes the boy, holding his hand over his mouth. He looks back at the end of the alley, eyes widening at the sight, "Oh God. They're everywhere." Rick goes to clear the ones getting too close for comfort, "Hershel, how we doing over there?"
   "I need more hands!"
   Winona runs back, "Easy easy," she starts to help the older man.
   The boy pleads towards her, "No, don't don't don't cut my leg off please."
   Glenn begins to yell, "Come on, we gotta go! I'm almost out of ammo! We don't have much time! Come on, we've gotta go!"
   "Can't hold 'em off! Hershel do it now!"
   Winona was panicking, looking between Rick, Glenn, and Hershel, "We gotta pull him off it! There's no time to cut!"
   "Hershel, come on!"
   "Please don't leave me! Please! No!"
   Winona stays as Hershel backs away, the boy still pleading. She shares a glance with Rick and nods, the two rip his leg up and off the fence. Freeing him, but at what cost?
——
2193 words