(season 2, episode 8)
sophia's body was now on the floor.
"Don't look, don't look." daryl says to carol as he picks her up of the floor, "get off me!" carol runs off sobbing.
Gracie wants to chase after her but then hears beth cry from behind her, beth runs up to her mother's dead body in the pile of walkers.
"beth, beth?" gracie whispers as she barges past rick and to her mother. "ma..." beth cries as she rolls her over.
Gracie stands weakly and watches beth, she's never seen her cry before, it was scary.
Then beth's mom's corpse grabbed her and started growling and snarling at her. "beth?!" gracie yells and everyone attention turns to the blond, she tries to keep up with the others running to beth but she couldn't, she fell. "beth!? you okay!?" gracie yells but no answer, everyone was screaming around her, rick, shane glenn and others held beth while andrea slammed a shovel through the walkers corpse.
Gracie tries to stand but she wobbles and falls down again, so glenn runs up to her and helps gracie stand, she chuckles weakly, "well...happy fricking birthday to me." glenn looks to her,"it's your birthday?" , "yep 14...yay." she sarcastically laughs.
"gracie nows not the time to be laughing." lori says from in front of her, "i'm sorry i just can't help it" she hestiriciy giggles. "gracie?" glenn says concerned at the troubled girl, "what?" she continues to laugh so hard that they have to stop for a moment.
"oh my god" gracie huffs as she tears roll down her face, "what happening here?" dale walks up to them. "gracie literally won't stop laughing." glenn turns to dale, who's kneeling to get to her level, "gracie?" "gracie?!" dale says waving his arms infront of the girls face.
"come here..." dale envelopes her in to a hug, where the laughing turns into crying.
Gracie doesn't know what to do, or how to react. Why didn't I try harder? Why didn't I look for her more? The questions loop endlessly, each one making her feel more helpless, more at fault.
She clings to Dale, her hands gripping his shirt as if it's the only thing anchoring her to the ground. The sobs come heavy and unrestrained,she buries her face against his chest, letting all the pain and guilt pour out. Dale says nothing, just holds her, one hand rubbing slow circles on her back, steady and comforting.
"It's okay, Gracie," he murmurs softly. "It's okay to let it out." His voice is gentle, full of understanding, and somehow, it makes her cry even harder. In his embrace, she feels a sense of safety she hadn't realized she needed, a reminder that, even in this broken world, someone cares enough to hold her while she falls apart.
As the minutes pass, her sobs slowly quiet, but she doesn't pull away. She stays in Dale's arms, exhausted, feeling a little lighter and a little less alone. But the weight of her guilt isn't gone, it's festering.
glenn and dale help the drained 14 year old into the house on the sofa. After the incident with sophia, gracie feels completely lost, like she's drifting in a fog, every thought, every emotion is tangled, heavy, and impossible to navigate. She feels like she should be doing something, anything, to make sense of it all, to feel in control again, but her mind keeps returning to Sophia's empty eyes and the sound of the gunshot. She has no idea how to move forward from this.
Then, almost without thinking, a single thought pops into her head: Dale's night watch. The idea feels like a lifeline—small, straightforward, and something she can do now, without needing to untangle the sadness and guilt pressing down on her.
She waits untill dawn and without a second thought, she grabs her jacket and heads to find dale, he'll be setting up to watch the farm soon.
When she finds Dale at the edge of the farm, she stumbles through an offer, her voice shaky but determined. "I'll... I'll help with the night watch. I'll keep you company." She doesn't explain that she's afraid to sleep, or that the silence is too much right now, or that she just can't be alone with her thoughts.
Dale studies her for a moment, sensing the turmoil beneath her calm mask, "sure kiddo", patting the spot beside him. Gracie sinks down beside him, hugging her knees close, feeling just a little bit more grounded.
"i heard you say it was your birthday." dale asked and sat next to her. "yes" she replies and looks to dales watch. one,two,three.
She thinks back the beth from a hour before, she tried to get through to her but she was just frozen, cold. Gracie knows that look she has, the one of utter desperation to get out. To go.
"you know what gracie." dale taps his leg brining her out of her thoughts. "come up here with me."
He lifts her up being carefully with the gunshot wound. "you okay!" he yelled from down below. "yeah.", "will you be okay getting up?" gracie smiles, "you don't think i'm that old..do you? cee?" he laughs as he climbs up.
"so what are we doing up here?." she asks as dale sits down next to her on the top of the RV. "look up" dale smiles. "i heard you at the camp in Atlanta, teaching carl and sophia about the stars...i thought because i don't have a present for you, you can wish on a star and hope i hear it." he says as he lays down.
Gracie laughs and lays down next to him, "you know that's not possible right?" , "dead people are walking...anything's possible." dale says as he outstretches his arm tracing the outlines of the stars.
"thank you so much, dale" she closes her eyes and wishes on a star.
She wishes to become a fighter, a warrior, a leader. and most importantly she wishes to be the one to kill shane.
YOU ARE READING
Shadows
Fanfiction"you think i don't know how to survive!?!" "well think again..." a girl stumbles across rick and his group seasons 1-3
