digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Triggerfinger Part 4

If the apocalypse wasn't occurring, the morning at the farm would've been beautiful for anyone to witness. But due to the world ending, mornings only brought anxiety and fear. The missing still hadn't been found and the group was becoming seriously concerned. Lori had been mulling over Shane's words the whole night, wondering how he could admit something so hurtful like that. Had he really only saw Winona as a distraction to keep him entertained because he couldn't have Lori? Was anything he said true? Lori felt sick thinking about how long he thought about her like that.
——
Andrea steps into the bedroom, "How is she?"
Patricia hovers above the catatonic Beth as Maggie sits at the girl's feet, "Dehydrated," the older woman answers, "I'll set up an I.V. Best I can do without Hershel, or Winona for that matter."
Patricia leaves the room and Maggie scoots closer to her sister, "Hey."
Andrea sits at the foot of the bed now, "Can I get you anything?"
Maggie shakes her head, "Nah, I just wish my dad was here."
"She'll be okay. You just need to be strong for her."
Maggie smiles down at her sister, "I was just reminding her about— never mind."
"No no. I— I'd love to hear."
"My dad would die if he heard this. My first summer back from college, I drove home, dumped my stuff off, went straight out to the stable for a ride. My family comes back from church and Beth grabs my things and starts unpacking my stuff upstairs."
"That's sweet."
"Yeah, until this one here starts rifling through my backpack. She finds this little plastic container with these pink and green candies inside. She didn't even know I was on the pill. She was so freaked out by the idea of me, boys and sex that she runs outside and chucks them in the duck pond. And I ride up, I see this, I'm screaming. She's crying and Shawn runs outside, thinks one of us is drowning. Soon as he figures out what's going on, the jerk busts out laughing so loud that my horse tears up and gets mud all over the three of us. My dad comes out, 'What the heck is going on out here?!' And she turns around, bats her eyelids and says, 'We're just swimming, daddy.'" Maggie pauses as she sadly looks down to her unresponsive sister, "In her Sunday dress, all covered in snot and mud."
"Rick and Glenn will get your dad back. Same with Winona," Andrea comforts.
"Glenn's a good guy."
The blonde smiles, "Yeah. He is."
——
As the afternoon rolls in with no sign of the four who were missing, the group gathers a a search party to go into town. Shane tosses the duffle bag of guns in the back of the car as Daryl preps his firearms. Andrea walks out of the RV, Dale in tow, "Are you sure you wanna risk it? You might not make it back," he asks the woman.
"I'll be fine," she assures.
"And with Shane at the helm, I wouldn't be too sure. He's lost people before."
Andrea wastes no time to defend the man, "And he's had my back. What are you insinuating?"
"He doesn't want Rick or Winona back, or Hershel. With them gone, he's got everything he wants and no one to tell him otherwise."
"Shane has done more to keep this group alive than anybody, including Rick."
Dale squints in disbelief, "You can't possibly believe that."
Andrea shrugs, "I do." She marches over to the group of Shane, T-Dog, and Daryl, "Guys." But before she can say anymore, the loud sound of a motorcycle and a car speeding down the dirt road could be heard. Daryl smirks seeing Winona riding the bike.
The vehicles pull up to the front of the house, Winona turns off the motorcycle and props the kickstand, Daryl walks over to bring her in for a quick one-sided hug, "You miss me, or something?" she asks with a wide smile.
Daryl rolls his eyes with a huff, "Wipe that shit-eatin grin off your face, or next time you won't get a hug."
Rick shuts off the SUV and gets out, Carl immediately running to hug him, "Dad!" Lori pulls Rick for a hug next, Shane watching.
Hershel gets out next and Maggie makes a beeline for Glenn who stood directly behind him, "You're okay."
"Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery," Hershel commands."
Lori looks over Rick, "Are you hurt?"
"No, but what happened to you?" Rick questions, holding her face as he looks at the cuts that littered her skin. Winona's heart ached as she watched from a far, but she quickly distracted herself and went back to talking to Daryl.
"I was in a car accident," Lori says regretfully.
"Accident? How?"
"I went looking for you."
"Snuck out on her own. Brought her back," Shane calls the attention to himself.
Rick begins to lecture his wife, "Are you crazy? You could've—"
T-Dog cuts him off, eyes landing on the back of the car, "Who the hell is that?"
Everyone looks in confusion at the boy in the backseat. "That's Randall," Glenn answers nonchalantly.
——
"We couldn't just leave him behind," Rick explains to everyone around the dining table.
Winona speaks up, "He would've bled out, if he lived that long," she says the last part under her breath. She didn't really agree with saving the kid but Rick was adamant about it.
"It's gotten bad in town," Glenn declares. Maggie looks at him with worry dancing across her features, he looks away.
"What do we do with him?" Andrea asks.
Hershel walks in, "I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage. Won't be on his feet for at least a week."
Rick cuts in, "When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way."
Daryl walks in and Winona makes eye contact and nods at him. Andrea raises a good point, "Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?"
"He'll have a fighting chance."
It's Shane's turn to speak, "Just gonna let him go? He knows where we are."
"He was blindfolded the whole way here," Rick defends, "He's not a threat."
"Not a threat. How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gonna come looking?"
"They left him for dead, Shane. No one is looking," Winona crosses her arms.
"We should still post a guard," T-Dog suggests.
Winona nods, "Yeah, even though he can't walk, I don't trust him."
"He's out cold right now, will be for hours," Hershel states.
"You know what? I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy," Shane scoffs, "Look at this, folks— we back in fantasyland."
Hershel gets upset at Shane, "You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet. Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all— this is my farm. Now I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor— keep your mouth shut." Shane stood there silent, at that, Winona had to cover her mouth to herself from laughing. Shane sighs and walks out of the house.
Rick begins to talk, "We're not gonna do anything about it today. Let's just cool off." Everyone departs from the dining room. Leaving Maggie and Glenn alone, "Can I talk to you?" she asks, leading him to the kitchen. "What's going on with you?"
Glenn sighs and leans against the archway, "Winona saved my life today. And Rick saved all of us. And I— I froze."
"Well, you were being shot at."
"I know, but—"
"You don't have anything to prove," Maggie comforts him.
"All I've done, then this— okay. It's because of what you said."
Maggie's eyebrows scrunch together, "That I love you?"
Glenn nods, "Yeah. A bullet hit the wall behind me and I— I thought of you— losing me, hurting. And I couldn't take it, so I hid to stay alive."
Maggie gives a smile as she goes in for a kiss, "Glenn."
"No no no," he pulls her hands away, "No, you don't get it. Rick, Wi, your dad— they were counting on me and I— I only thought of myself." Glenn turns to exit the room, leaving Maggie alone.
——
Winona looks over Beth, checking her I.V. as Hershel sits by the bedside. The older man begins to speak, "What made you become a nurse?"
Winona paused for a second, not anticipating questions, "I, uh, I wanted to help people. I grew up with a sick father and throughout school I watched my mom take care of him, the duty falling on me when she would work. I practically grew up in the hospital— all the nurses knew my family. After my dad passed, it felt weird not taking care of someone. I felt like becoming a nurse would be my best option. I guess I chose to specialize with comatose patients because I felt like they were always forgotten about. I would always try to treat them as if they were awake and care for them whereas most people quickly get the work over and done with." The woman looks down at Beth, "She'll be okay, she's a strong one."
Hershel give a small nod, pulling out an old pocket watch, "Thank you." Maggie then enters the room, "Has she eaten?" he asks his daughter. Maggie shakes her head.
"I'll give her a sedative— stop her body from working too hard," Winona states. She sees a look on Maggie's face that tells her that she needs to talk to Hershel alone, "I'll be back."
The two watch as Winona exits the room. Maggie quickly snaps at Hershel, "You were drinking."
"That was the least of my worries," he responds.
"You left and I didn't know what to do!" Maggie cries, leaving the room.
——
Departing from the shed, Shane is approached by Andrea, "Want me to take watch?"
He sighs, "Yeah. Relieve T in a few hours. I'm gonna take the graveyard."
"Then what? We just send him on his merry way?"
Shane scoffs, "According to Rick and Hershel."
"If he finds his people and leads them here, we'll have a war on our hands."
"You know you're preaching to the choir, girl."
Andrea halts, "You ever consider a lighter touch? Abandoning the search for Sophia, taking out the walkers in the barn, lying to Lori today— those were all the right calls. It's your presentation that leaves something to be desired."
His eyebrows pinch together, "Dale send you?"
He begins to walk away and Andrea follows after, "I see you pushing everyone away. For what? They need you."
That causes him to let out a low chuckle, "I'll always be the odd man out— the same as you."
"I've made my peace," she denies.
"Have you?" he spits back, "The way I see it, you and me, we— we're treated the same way. Everyone's always trying to take the gun out of your hand. These folks— they want to play house. They wanna pretend that Rick and Hershel— they know what they're doing. Lemme tell you something— they bound to get us all killed."
Andrea's brows raise, "Then we have to stop that."
"They don't listen. They're gonna give this kid a care package. They're gonna send him on his way. And you right, that's gonna bring on a war or something worse, and we just gonna— we're gonna sit here and wait for it. But you and me, we— we're the only ones who see it coming. I should've left with you when I had the chance." Finishing his speech, Shane walks away, leaving Andrea to ponder his words.
——
Unbuttoning his shirt, Rick groans, "Oh man."
Lori helps him slide the garment off, "Come here."
"Thank you," he sighs a chuckle escaping both their lips. The two were exhausted from the previous events. He turns around to see Lori struggling with her own shirt.
"Need your help," she mumbles.
"Come here," he helps remove her shirt, just as she did his. "We're like a couple of old people," Rick jokes, making himself laugh.
Lori continues to change, "We need to talk about Shane."
Rick sighs, "What's he done now?"
"He thinks the baby's his." Rick looks at Lori, irritation lurking under his gaze. "No matter what, it's yours."
Rick sighs once more and nods, "He'll accept that," he sarcastically says.
"You're gonna have to make him. He won't listen to me. He's delusional and he's dangerous. When I went looking for you, he came after me..."
"Well of course he did."
"...And lied to me to get me back here, said you were already back," Rick just shakes his head, "You saw what he did at the barn. He's threatened Dale and Hershel. He's scaring people and he's scaring me. And I think he killed Otis. I think he left him behind and I think— I think he did it not just to save Carl but because he loves me..." Lori confesses.
"But you don't know that," Rick declares.
"...And he thinks that we're supposed to be together. No matter what."
Rick messes with his hands, anger seeping through his body, "Well what about Winona and him?"
Lori shakes her head and hesitantly speaks, "He said she was just his distraction. He never wanted to marry her, he just wanted to be close to me."
Rick's jaw tenses, more rage running through his veins. He feels outraged for Winona, how could Shane say that? He tries to calm down, "Those gunmen left that kid behind today. I killed two people myself because of you, Carl and the baby. It was gonna be me and not them no matter what."
Lori comes up behind Rick and hugs him, "You killed the living to protect what's yours?"
"That's right," he says.
"Shane thinks I'm his. He thinks the baby's his. And he says you can't protect us. That your gonna get us killed. He's dangerous, Rick, and he won't stop." Rick stares off, a new fire burning inside him.
——
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