Down by the water • TWD

I Understand.

Avery stayed lying on the ground to make sure it was safe. Shane thought she was dead. She wasn't. He didn't even hit her, he missed and she tripped over a rock. Her head was pounding. The only reason he thought she was dead was because of the blood spilling from her head. When she tripped she smashed her head on a log. She was grateful for this, better than being dead. But it still hurt like a bitch. All she wanted to do was return to the farm and fix her head, but she knew that wouldn't happen.

---

"Rick! Rick!" Shane screamed as he emerged from the woods with a bloody broken nose. Everyone's head shot towards him in concern.

"What happened, we heard shots!?" Lori asked walking towards him.

"He's armed! He's got my gun!" Shane informed them while still walking towards the group in a rush.

"Are you okay?" Carl spoke up in care towards him.

"I'm fine. Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face." Shane is still speaking in a tone of rage. "I think he got Avery." He took a deep breath trying to sell the part. "She was out there. He fired at her. I looked for her but couldn't find her." Shane glanced up at everyone's faces. They had loss, hurt, and pain written all over them. He didn't feel bad, not one single bit. 

"What?" Daryl asked in disbelief. Shane just looked at him. "God dammit!" Daryl turned his head aggressively in anguish. 

"All right, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house," Rick ordered. "Glenn, Daryl, come with us." He pointed at those two still shocked by the news Shane dropped. "Let's go, guys! We will find her. Alive." Rick tried to snap them out of it. He hoped they would find her, alive. 

"T, I'm gonna need that gun," Shane asked T-dog knowing his gun was only a few feet away buried in leaves. 

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?" Carol brought up the initial plan in hopes of keeping them safe.

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Rick spat. 

"Don't go out there. Y'all know what can happen." Carol tried again.

"Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!" Rick said not looking back at the group, making his way to the woods. He had a bad feeling about this.

"I saw him head up through the trees that way after Avery before I blacked out." Shane lied through his teeth easily. "I'm not sure how long." He was walking fast leading the group through the woods.

"He couldn't have gotten far. He's hobbled, exhausted." Rick put it into perspective.

"And armed," Glenn added.

"So are we." Rick reminded him. "Can you track him?" He asked pointing at Daryl.

"Nah, I don't see nothin'," Daryl responded scanning the grounds for any footprints.

"Hey, look, there ain't no use in tracking him, okay?" Shane said in an instant. "He went that way. We just need to pair up." He suggested not wanting them to look too much into it. "We spread out, we just chase him down. That's it." He pointed them toward the opposite way Avery was.

"Kid weighs a buck-25 soaking wet." Daryl looked at Rick suspicious of Shane. "You trying to tell us he got the jump on you?" He asked Shane with a hint of accusation. 

"I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?" Shane defended himself.

"All right, knock it off. You and Glenn start heading up the right flank." Rick broke them up initiating a plan. "Me and Shane'll take the left." He told Daryl. "Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there." He said reminding everyone to stay safe. "Keep an eye out for each other."

---

Avery still lay there with her eyes shut, breathing in and out slowly. She was tired. Her head was still pounding but had stopped bleeding. It was quiet now. It was dark. She knew she had to get up. She couldn't stay down here forever, a walker would find her. She didn't want to be hit with the pain if she tried to stand up. She knew she had to suck it up, so she did.