The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon X OC Reader (Season 1)

Chp 19: Tell It to the Frogs (Part 3)

In the Survival Camp, later that night, Rick and Rose is sitting down with the group around a fire camp.

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion... all those things but..... Disoriented comes closest." Rick says out-loud to everyone.

"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short." Dale states.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever." Rick says.

"Mom said you died." Carl tells Rick.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it." Rick tells his son.

Rose couldn't help but feel like something is out of place, she looks at Lori who seems to have a anxious look on her features. Rose looks at her in confusion but shrugs it off.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened." Lori tells Rick.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." Rick admits to her.

"Yeah." Lori mutters out.

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." Rick says.

"It sure was." Rose says, agreeing with Rick.

"You were there with my dad?" Carl asks Rose.

Rose chuckled at the boy and nodded.

"She was, I'm glad that I did." Rick says, giving a small smile towards Rose with Rose doing the same.

"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?" Shane says out-loud to Rick.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." Rick tells Shane.

"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things." Dale says.

Nearby, Ed puts another log on his fire.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane tells Ed.

"It's cold, man." Ed stated.

"The cold don't change the rules,does it? Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?" Shane tells Ed, with a look of, 'you better listen'.

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once." Ed says with a grunt.

Shane gets up and walks over to Ed's fire.

"Hey, Ed.. Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" Shane kinda threatens.

"Go on. Pull the damn thing out. Go on!" Ed demands.

Carol, his wife, pulls the log out of the fire. Their daughter, Sophia, watches as Carol pulls the log out.

"Christ." Shane mutters.

Shane stomps the flames out.

"Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?" Shane asks the two.

"Fine. We're just fine." Carol answers.

"Okay." Shane says.

"I'm sorry about the fire." Carol apologizes.

"No no no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?" Shane tells the two.

"Thank you." Carol thanks him.

"I appreciate the cooperation." Shane states.

Shane than rejoins the other group.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." Dale asks, worried about what will happen when Daryl Dixon finds out about his brother.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me." T-Dog says, taking ownership.

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine."

"I'm the one that helped with Rick cuffing him so it's also on me." Rose states, looking ashamed of herself a bit.

"Guys, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy and white woman." Glenn says, trying not to offend anyone.

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him." T-Dog says.

"We could lie." Amy suggests.

"Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary along with brunette woman. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's." Andrea speaks up, with Rose slightly nodding to her statement.

"And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise.. We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt." Dale says, looking a bit shocked.

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog admits.

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea says questioning T-Dog.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that... Not that chain, not that padlock. My point... Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." T-Dog explains himself with Rose nodding in agreement, her head down in shame.