Disarm ⋙ Shane Walsh ⋙ The Walking Dead

Breaking the Same Old Ground ⋙ s e v e n t e e n

The walk back to camp with her father allowed Katherine some time to think. She knew that the conversation she just had with her father was not all that it seemed. Katherine was very aware that her father had not given her 'permission' to be with Shane. This was a tactic Rick had often used with his daughter. If Rick truly thought that Katherine was making a poor choice, he would give her 'permission' to do whatever it was she wanted to do. Normally, Kat would then realize that what she was doing wasn't going to work. It was an interesting way of teaching. Despite this, Kat was dead set on proving Rick wrong this time. The silence was broken by Rick. "So, what happened to your mouth?" Katherine rolled her eyes. "Ed hit me yesterday." Rick grimaced. "Why?" "He was talking shit and I was trying to stand up for Carol." Rick nodded. "What happened after that?" Kat sighed and touched her mouth. Her lips were still slightly swollen and the bruise was gonna last for a good long while. "Shane beat him into the ground." Rick nodded. 

The rest of the walk back to camp was silent. Lori and Carl greeted the two when they arrived back to the group. "We're about to go bury Amy." Lori said it as quietly as possible. Kat and Rick nodded. Kat scanned the camp for Shane. She wanted to talk to him. She needed to talk to him. When her eyes finally landed on him she felt a wave of relief. He looked at her and nodded. The two needed to resolve this. 

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Finally putting Amy to rest was a difficult experience. Everyone lined up and watched as Andrea tried her hardest to drag her sister's lifeless body into the grave. Dale was right there trying to help her. Dale and Andrea's relationship was beautiful to Katherine. Dale was truly a father figure to Amy and Andrea. Andrea needed that guidance more than ever now. Kat was once again tucked safely in-between Rick and Shane. Shane kept glancing down at her. He wanted to make sure she was okay. Finally Kat looked back up at him. She gave a weak smile and leaned her head on his shoulder. She wrapped her arms around Shane's arm and he grabbed her hand. He didn't want to let her go. Kat took a deep breath as she turned her attention back to Amy and Dale. Dale was still trying to help, but Andrea wasn't having any of it. "I can do it. I can do it. I can do it! I can do it." 

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After the emotional burial the group began to go back to camp. Kat unwrapped herself from Shane's arm and hung back with her family. Rick was the first of the Grimes family to speak. "Burying other people is bad enough, but the thought of one of us..." Lori looked up at him and shushed him. She didn't want Carl, or Katherine for that matter, to hear Rick speak like this. Carl had a tight grip on Katherine's hand. He was scared and Katherine didn't know how to protect him. Despite the fact that they argued frequently, Katherine would go to bat for him in a heartbeat. Carl couldn't keep his question inside any longer. "Are we safe now, dad? Now that we're together?" Lori had come up behind Katherine and Carl. She was fussing with Carl's messy head of hair. He was too focused on Rick to care about it. Rick dropped down to his knees to be level with Carl. "I won't leave again. I promise you that. Not for anything. Now give me a chance to discuss some things with your mom and sister, okay?" Lori and Katherine exchanged a look before turning their attention back to Rick and Carl. Carl nodded headed back to camp. 

Rick squeezed his way in-between Lori and Katherine, grabbing their hands in the process. Kat looked up at her father, unsure of what was about to be said. Was he going to out her to Lori about Shane? He promised me he wouldn't. Katherine's fears were crushed when Rick began to speak. "Shane blames me for not being here. Do you two?" Rick stopped and looked to both his wife and his daughter. Lori looked up at him, he face betraying what she wanted to say. Katherine shook her head. She could never blame her father for doing what he thought was right. Before she could speak, Rick cut her off. "We got guns now. We're stronger." Lori nodded, but Katherine knew that this wasn't going great. "And we have fewer people. That makes us weaker. You want me to say I think you were right? I understand that. All I can say is that neither one of you is entirely wrong. It's the best I can do right now." Rick bit his lip and nodded. He looked at his daughter. "Kat?" Katherine sighed. "Daddy, you left to try and save a man. You came back with weapons. You were doing what you thought was right. Maybe the losses wouldn't have been as bad with more people at camp, but you brought back a new level of safety. I can't blame you, but mom does have a point. Now that we have less people, we are at a disadvantage." Rick nodded and looked down. "What about the C.D.C.?" Lori sighed and looked away. "Rick, this is home now." Before Rick could speak, Katherine interjected. "Mom, this was home. But after what happened, it'll never be the same." Rick looked at his daughter and nodded. "We're at the ragged edge here. We need relief and we got a sick man who needs help. I don't know why people can't see that." Both Lori and Katherine were tearing up at this point. "Well, look at their faces. Look at mine. We're all terrified. If one of us suggested, based on a hunch, that we head toward that city, you'd have no part of it. Tell me something with certainty." Rick took a second to breathe and look around him before speaking. "I love you. And I love Carl. And I love Katherine. That's all I got." The three of them were crying at this point. Lori spoke first. "I love you too." The couple embraced as Katherine felt tears pour down her cheeks. Rick pulled away and looked at Kat. "You know I love you, Daddy. I'll always have your back." Rick tossed his arms around her daughter and pulled her into him.