Disarm ⋙ Shane Walsh ⋙ The Walking Dead

Something in the Way ⋙ s i x t e e n

Katherine followed Sophia back to camp. Katherine's eyes immediately landed on Andrea. She was still cradling Amy's body. It was a heartbreaking sight. Kat looked down and saw that Sophia was soaking in the scene as well. Kat ruffled Sophia's hair and smiled down at her. "Why don't you go find Carl? You two should go play. Y'all aren't old enough to have to work yet." Sophia giggled at Katherine and Kat winked at the young blonde. "Yes, Ma'am." After Sophia's departure, Katherine walked up to Lori. "Hey, Mom." Lori smiled at her daughter. "Hey, Baby. Where have you been?" Kat bit her lip at the question. "I needed a breather." Lori nodded, understanding her daughter's need for escape. "How has it been here? I'm not really sure how long I was gone." Lori sighed. "Well, Carol destroyed Ed's corpse." Katherine nodded. "I hope she feels better. I would have done that shit waaaay before the world ended if I was her." Lori let out a slight chuckle at her daughter's statement. "Oh, Honey. I raised you to be so strong." Katherine smiled at her mom. Who knew that the apocalypse would heal this deeply damaged relationship? Before the duo could continue talking, Andrea's sad voice rang out through camp. "Amy. Amy, I'm sorry." Katherine and Lori looked at each other for a split second before taking off to see what was going on. When the two made it over to Andrea they saw Amy reach a bloody hand up to Andrea's face. Kat felt herself tear up at the sight. Amy, well, this form of Amy was staring up into her sister's eyes while making completely inhuman noises. The movement didn't stop Andrea from speaking. Her love for Amy was so deep that she had no fear of the consequences of being so close to a walker. "I'm sorry for not ever being there. I always thought there'd be more time. I'm here now, Amy. I'm here. I love you." Katherine was crying at this point. Andrea pressed her lips to her sister's forehead and raised her gun, blowing out her brains. She bent down over her sister one final time and cried. Lori tossed her arms around Katherine and pulled her close. Today was a hard day.

xxx

Lori and Katherine decided it would be best to get away from camp for a little bit. When Daryl came back, the mother-daughter duo helped him load some bodies into the bed of his truck and then hopped in. When the two got to the area that held the mass grave, they jumped out. Lori and Kat walked over to Shane and Rick, obviously interrupting a heated conversation. "Say it." Both of the men looked annoyed. Lori assumed it was about Rick being gone for so long yesterday. She wasn't wrong, but she wasn't completely right. The two men were still fighting for dominance over Katherine, but both of them had the sense to keep it private for the time being. "Okay. I'm thinking if you'd of stayed here, if you'd have looked after your own... Instead you went off. You took half our manpower with you. I'm thinking maybe our losses wouldn't have been so bad." Rick took a step towards his former partner after this statement. "If we hadn't gone off and brought those guns back when we did, I think our losses would have been a lot worse. Maybe the entire camp." Shane rolled his eyes at Rick. Both men were visibly pissed. The conversation died down for a second and Daryl decided to speak. "I still think it's a mistake not burning these bodies. It's what we said we'd do, right? Burn 'em all, wasn't that the idea?" Shane nodded. "At first." "The Chinaman gets all emotional, says it's not the thing to do, we just follow him along? These people need to know who the hell's in charge here, what the rules are." Rick just looked at the redneck for a second before speaking. "There are no rules." Lori decided that it was time to say something. She didn't want this to turn into another issue within the group. "Well, that's a problem. We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do." Lori sent a final look to her husband before she turned to walk away. Katherine just stood there, not sure if it was okay to speak. She lifted her golden eyes from the ground and they locked onto Shane. He looked back at her and it made her heart stop. Kat bit her lip and tore her eyes away from him before looking at her dad. He looked at her, disappointment all over his face. He knew. He knew everything. He knew about whatever was going on between her and Shane, and more importantly, he knew that she lied to her. "Katherine, will you come talk with me for a second?" Kat took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, then nodded. His tone was harsh. It wasn't a request, it was a command. "Yes, Sir." Rick walked up to his daughter and grabbed her wrist, pulling her away from the group. This didn't sit well with Shane. While the other were mulling around, he stomped up to Rick and Katherine. Shane grabbed Rick's arm and pulled it off of Katherine. Now, Rick had never hit his daughter before, he was far from that kind of man, but she knew that she had crossed a line. "Don't you dare grab her like that, Rick." Rick whipped his head around to look at his former partner. "You don't tell me what to do with my daughter." Shane was seething now. "She 18, Rick. She's not a fuckin' child anymore!" Rick rolled his eyes. "She's MY child." Kat took a step back, slightly shaken from the situation at hand. "She's MY child." Rick repeated. "You best keep your damn hands off of her." This set Shane off. He walked up to Rick and pushed him. Katherine was thankful that the trio was out of sight of everyone else, but this was not a good situation. Rick shoved his partner back. "I can't believe you would prey on my child." After this, Rick cocked his arm back and swung at Shane. Rick's fist made contact with his jaw which just set Shane off even more. Before Shane could get a hit in on Rick Katherine shoved her way in-between the men. Kat placed her hands on Shane's chest and pushed him back. His jaw was already swelling and it looked painful. Rick had a fire burning in his eyes. Shane took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around Katherine. "Did he hurt you?" Shane's voice had a serious edge to it. Rick couldn't believe the question that just came out of his best friend's mouth, Katherine couldn't either. "Shane, are you fuckin' serious? You know better than anyone that dad would never hurt me!" She pushed herself out of his arms and backed away, looking at both her father and Shane. "Shane, I'm furious that you would even ask that question. Dad, I'm so sorry, but don't tell me how to handle this. You were gone! I thought you were dead. Shane kept me safe. Fuck, Dad, even before the world went to shit he was there." That last statement cut deep for Rick. "Kat, you know I was in the hospital." Kat was crying at this point. "Yeah, Dad, I know. But you missed so much." Rick crossed his arms and Shane rubbed his head. Shane knew that this was something that needed to be talked about in private. "Look, Rick, I'll talk with you about this later, you have my word, but you two need to figure this out." Rick nodded. Kat bit her lip as the tears streamed down her face. Shane walked up to Katherine and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back. Shane leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Baby Girl, I'm sorry. We'll talk later." She nodded her head into his shoulder and he planted a kiss on her head before pulling away. He sent a final look at Rick and stalked off to camp.

Rick walked over to his daughter, not sure what to say to her. "Baby, I'm sorry." "Dad, it's not your fault that this happened. I just, Shane did so much when you were gone." Rick nodded. "Baby, I know he did. I will forever be in debt to him for keeping you, Carl, and your mama safe. But you need to understand that he's not good for you. I know how he treats women. YOU know how he treats women." Kat nodded. "I do, but, I-." Before she could continue, Rick cut her off. "Baby, I want you to think about this. You've always made smart choices. I need you to make one now." Kat looked up at her father with tears in her eyes. "I'm not going to tell your mama about this. But I need you to do something for me." Kat swallowed and sniffled. "What?" "Don't let him hurt you." Katherine nodded. "I love you, Dad. I'd love you no matter what, but, please, PLEASE, trust me." Rick sighed. "I do trust you, Baby. But I don't trust him." Kat sighed and looked down. "If he hurts you, I will fucking kill him. But for right now, you have my permission to see where this goes." Katherine nodded. "Thanks, Dad." "Keep it private."