Ever the Survivor

Another update within a day? What is this, right? My weekends are basically Sunday's and Monday's so I was bored last night and today. So enjoy another chapter :) xo

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"Rick, just...you've gotta keep your strength up." Lori said. Rick was sitting in his chair next to Carl's bed, holding the plate of food Hershel had given him, but not eating it. Lori was sitting on the bed, facing Carl, his hand in hers.

"Lori, did you...And I mean, it was- it was legendary. Did you ever hear about the time Shane stole Kingsley's car?" Rick asked her as he set the plate of food on the end table behind him.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"The principal's car right out of the teacher's lot in the middle of a school day. Shane steps out of lunch and makes a beeline to Kingsley's Hyundai." Rick chuckled. "Wires the ignition, peels out, drives down Dylan Drive to that chicken farm out there. You've heard this before, right? So he pulls it into one of the big holdin pens. Kingsley, he waxed that thing every month; had the auto shop vacuum it out every week. Shane, he parks it in this huge pen with a couple of hundred Rhode Island reds. He busts open bags of seed in the back seat, rolls down all the windows, and then starts sprinting back to school. It's three miles away easy. He's back in time to finish his sandwich before the bell. And then the bell rings. Shane gets up and when he runs into Kingsley in the hallway he looks out the window and says, 'Principal Kingsley, your coupe's gone.'" Rick laughed a little while he shook his head. "Coupe, like chicken coop."

"I get it." Lori sadly smiled as she looked at her son's hand in hers.

"Of course you do. You've heard this story 1,000 times...What you said before, you're right. Shane's gonna make it back with what the doctor needs. He'll make it back."

"Hershel said you need to eat." Lori said as she stared at her son's face.

"Carl's gonna be all right." Rick said as he looked at his wife. She looked over at him, her cheeks still moist from the tears that had been flowing minutes before.

"Please, for me." Lori said as she tilted her head to the plate behind Rick. "You've gotta keep your strength up."

Rick nodded and leaned back in his chair. He turned around and picked up the plate, bringing it to his lap. Lori watched him as he finally took a bite of the sandwich that had been sitting there for a while.

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Kat had grabbed her sleeping bag and put Kaleb, Sam and Dylan in her car for the night to let them sleep as her and Daryl were walking up and down part of the highway. They were just making the rounds, making sure there were no Walkers hidden behind the cars that no one could see from on top of the RV.

Glenn had left for the Greene's farm with a much better looking T-Dog a little bit ago. The antibiotics Daryl had given Dale for the man had started lowering his fever as soon as the drugs got into his system. His veins around the gash had been looking a lot better as well when they left. Dale still urged them to go, hoping the people at the Greene's household would be better equipped to help him, as the gash was still open and vulnerable.

Kat and Daryl had reached a part of the highway where it was completely blocked from guard rail to guard rail with cars when they decided to turn around and head back to the RV. Daryl decided he was going to sleep in there tonight instead of a car's hood again. Although he'd liked the company, he almost felt like he could've gotten a better night's sleep in a tree, he had before. He didn't want to come right out and ask her to stay in the RV with him, so he had asked if she was going to sleep in there tonight. She got the subtle hint, which was why she had her sleeping back tucked up under her arms now as they made their way back to the RV.

"Good thing Merle slept around, I guess. He wouldn't have had those antibiotics to share with T-Dog...Indirectly, anyway." Kat said as they walked.

Daryl nodded. "Coulda been fucked otherwise." He said. He chuckled a bit after a second, when he realized his choice of words.

"Pun intended or no?" Kat smiled, noting the word play.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe."

Kat was a little curious, now. He was Merle's brother after all and the older Dixon seemed to have had a leash on him. She'd seen it herself from Merle before. And from Kat's experience when it came to older siblings, it could be one of two ways: Avoid the same things at all costs. Or monkey see, monkey do. "He ever have to share em with you?" Kat had a smile on while she bumped into his arm with hers, she watched his face.

He looked down at her quickly. He didn't want her to think of him that way. Having the same sexual tendencies as his brother. "No. Merle was too stupid to wrap it up." Daryl said as he looked ahead of them.

"And you weren't?" She asked.

"No." He said, then cleared his throat. He wasn't going to tell her he had hooked up several times with a few girls at Jake's, but he was always careful about it. He didn't want to end up like Merle, catching venereal diseases like Pokémon. Hell, Daryl could count the times he'd had sex in his whole life using a hand and a half. Pathetic for someone in his 30s. He could hear Merle say in his head. His interest perked a little, though. "You?" He asked, before he could stop himself. Really? Did I just ask that?

"Nope. Never been dumb enough." She said as she looked over at him, a smirk still on her face. She was a little surprised, herself, that he had turned her question around.

He looked at her face before turning forward again, his cheeks reddened a little at the path this conversation had taken. They stopped at Merle's bike so Daryl could grab his sleeping bag.

Kat smiled again seeing that she was making him uncomfortable. It didn't take much, she was finding out. "Well, at least you're clean." She looked at the side of his face then made her way down his arms and clothes. He was covered in dirt from head to toe. "In a sense." She let out a laugh. Daryl looked down at himself as he saw her doing the same. Seeing the mess he was, he smiled.

Kat waved up at Dale on the RV as she and Daryl made it to the door and walked into the cramped space. Carol was laying on one of the small couches in the far back, crying, and Andrea was sitting at the small table looking out the window.

Daryl stood at the counter in the small kitchenette next to the door while Kat walked to the closet and grabbed the bag of weapons. She was going to fill the clips Rick had asked her to do that morning. She turned around and walked back, sitting in the seat across from Andrea as she put the bag on the table. The older blond woman turned to look at her, giving her a small sad smile.

"Wanna help?" Kat asked, quietly, tilting her head to the clips she laid out on the table while she grabbed a couple boxes of ammunition.

"I don't know how." Andrea said, letting a small laugh out.

Kat smiled. "I'll teach you." She said as she grabbed one of the clips and started showing Andrea how to load bullets into the magazine.

Daryl walked to the table and set his crossbow on the seat next to Kat, propping it up against the wall, blocking her in. He walked in front of the bathroom and laid his sleeping bag out on the ground next to it. He was blocking the path to the back of the RV as he laid in the small walkway between the small kitchen area and the front of the Winnebago. He laid on his back and had his his hands linked together under his head. He bent one of his knees up and swayed his leg back and forth as he closed his eyes.

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Daryl wasn't sure how long he was laying there, but between the sounds of metal clinking as the bullets were being loaded into the magazines and Carol's constant crying, he wasn't going to go to sleep any time soon, no matter how tired he was. He used his hands to hold his head up as he looked ahead of him, seeing Carol's body shaking from her sobs. Daryl looked at her, rolling his eyes and sighing before laying back down. Cryin ain't gonna do nothin. He tilted his head so he could look behind him while still lying down. He saw Andrea facing him from her seat at the table, still loading bullets but couldn't see Kat, she was blocked by the wall. Daryl looked back up at the ceiling of the RV.

Kat sighed. She felt for Carol, but she'd taken as much crying as she could. Knowing what the woman was thinking; her daughter out there, not knowing if she was safe from the horrors walking around- it made her think of her brother. She needed to get out. "You good?" She quietly asked Andrea as she pointed to the last couple magazines. Daryl tilted his head back towards them at Kat's voice. Andrea nodded as Kat grabbed Daryl's crossbow, picking it up so she could scoot out from behind the table. "I'm gonna..." She gestured towards the RV's door with her thumb as she got up from the seat. She turned around, putting the Horton back down, leaning it against the wall and walked to the door.

At the RV's door closing, Daryl looked at the ceiling again. He groaned as he sat up, looking towards Carol before turning his eyes to the ground. He turned around, getting to his knees while he grabbed his pistol he had laying on the ground next to him. He grabbed onto the door frame of the tiny bathroom to help himself up as he got to his feet. He walked to the table Andrea was still at and set his handgun down on the table while he grabbed his crossbow. He glanced back at Carol as he swung the Horton around his back, resting the strap against his chest. "I'ma need my clip now." He said as he looked at the table. Andrea put the last bullet the magazine in her hand needed and handed it to him.

He took it from her and loaded it into his gun. "I'ma walk the road..look for the girl." He told her.

Carol stopped crying at his words and looked back towards the front of the RV at him. He gave her a nod, tucking the handgun into the back of his pants and turned to the door, walking outside. Andrea looked ahead of her towards Carol.

Dale pointed down the highway as soon as he saw Daryl walk outside.

Daryl whistled loudly as soon as he saw her. She was walking through the cars again, like they had been doing before they went into the RV. She turned around and headed back towards him when she saw he had a flashlight and his crossbow on his back. He kept walking until he heard someone coming down the RV's steps. He stopped and turned around.

"I'm coming, too." Andrea said as she got to the ground. She had another flashlight in her hands as she closed the RV's door.

Daryl looked on top of the RV at Dale, who was wondering what was going on. "I'm gonna go for a walk. Shine some light in the forest. If she's out there, it'll give her somethin to look at." Daryl said as he started walking towards Kat again.

"Do you think that's a good idea right now?" Dale said, looking down at them as Kat met up with Daryl.

"Dale." Andrea rolled her eyes as she walked past Daryl and Kat. They looked up at Dale one more time before they turned and followed Andrea to the part of the guard rail they had been using to go back and forth into the forest.

Dale stood up from his seat in the camp chair they had on top of the RV with a sigh as he watched the trio walk away.

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The high school had been overrun, just like it had the last time Otis had seen it. Shane and Otis had gotten what they needed but not before being chased into a gymnasium when they were blocked from all sides by Walkers. The two men had made their way to the top of the folded up bleachers and were pressed against the wall as the Walkers tried to grab at their feet, though they were a few feet out of their grasp.

Shane shined his flashlight around the darkened room. "Those windows, what's on the other side?"

Otis looked to where he was shining his light. "About a 20-foot drop, nothin to catch you, maybe some bushes- then the athletic field."

Shane looked down at the big group of Walkers at their feet, still trying to grab at them. "We just need enough time. We gotta get up there. We gotta get em open and get out."

"Not me. Maybe you."

"Hey, hey, hey."

"Come on, man, look at me. You really think I can squeeze through one of them tiny windows? They'd be all over us." Otis said. He looked back down at the Walkers. "We lay down some fire to get a head start. You stay here. I hop down and draw them away. That gives you the chance to get up the bleachers and out a window." Otis said as he pointed back to the windows on the second level on the other side of the large room.

"And where do you go?" Shane asked.

Otis grabbed the flashlight from him and shone the light on the other side of the gymnasium. "Locker room, down those steps." He said, turning back to Shane and handing him the flashlight.

"Looks like a good way to get trapped."

"It's got windows too, and more my size." Otis said as Shane turned the light off. "I get out through one, I double back, we meet up out on the field." He said as he handed the bag of equipment he had to Shane.

"You're a crazy son of a bitch, ain't ya?" Shane asked as he slung the bag over his other shoulder.

"Just tryin to do right for that boy." Otis said as he raised his rifle.

Shane nodded. "You take three shots and you go. After that I fire. I'll lay down a cover for you. I'll get you a lead."

"All right." Otis breathed as Shane grabbed his Mossberg and tilted his head at Otis.

Otis aimed his rifle at one of the Walkers in front of them, there were plenty to choose from. He pulled the trigger, sending one to the ground before doing the same thing two more times. They took a few steps towards the end of the folded bleachers they were on top of as Shane brought the Mossberg to his shoulder.

Otis made the 10 foot drop to the ground, landing on his feet. But the weight of his body put too much strain on his ankles as he fell to his knees. He started screaming as a legless Walker that was on the ground grabbed a hold of his ankle. He tried scooting away but the thing had a good grip on his foot and was simply being dragged along. Shane aimed carefully with his shotgun, trying not to hit Otis as he pulled the trigger. As soon as it's head exploded, the Walker's grip loosened on Otis's ankle. The other Walkers in the room were now interested in all of the commotion that was going on on the floor. They all started coming towards him as he got to his feet. Shane aimed the Mossberg again, dropping a few undead bodies closest to Otis as he made his way towards the locker room, the Walkers right behind him.

Once Otis had disappeared after the stairs to the locker room, Shane turned around and made his way to the other side of the wooden, folded up bleachers he was still on top of. He hopped down, landing on his feet more gracefully than Otis had, and ran up the stairs in front of him. A few Walkers at the back of the group who had gotten bored when Otis disappeared from sight, turned around, seeing Shane running up the stairs and headed for him. Shane got to the second level of the gymnasium and ran to the first window as the two Walkers started wobbling their way up the stairs. He threw one of the bags off his shoulder and under the window as he brought the stock of his shotgun against the glass, breaking it to pieces. He hit the remaining pieces, still stuck in the frame, several times before the window was mostly free of glass. He turned around seeing the Walkers now at the top of the stairs. He aimed at the one in front of him and pulled the trigger, hitting it in the chest. The force from the shotgun round sent it flying backwards and knocked it into the Walker behind it, sending that one flying over the railing and onto the gym floor below.

Shane picked up the bag he'd thrown down and leaned out the window, letting it fall to the ground below. Otis was right, it was a long way down. The bag landed on a few bushes that lined the building. He took the other bag from his shoulder and did the same, letting it fall on top of the first one. He held his Mossberg and dropped it out the window, not bothering to put the safety on before he let it fall to the ground below. He wasn't worried about it miss firing. He sent his last loaded round into the Walker behind him.

He sat on the window sill as he swung one leg through the opening. He sat there for a second, finally realizing how far below the ground was. He let out some quick, deep breaths as he brought his other leg through the window. He turned around, holding onto the bottom of the window, and let himself dangle on the side of the building. He was trying to get himself as close to the ground as he could before he let go. He looked back down at the ground below him, about to let his hold on the window sill go as the Walker he'd shot in the chest leaned through the window and grabbed at his shirt. Shane let go with one hand as he grabbed the Walker's shirt. He brought his hand back, forming a first and punched the Walker in the face a couple times. It was completely unfazed as it pulled at his shirt, chomping it's jaws at his face. Shane reached to his hip where his sidearm was as he grabbed his gun from it's holster. He aimed at the Walker's head and pulled the trigger at the same time he let go of the window with his other hand. He fell to the ground, landing on his ankle the wrong way. He heard a snap and prayed it wasn't broken as he grabbed for his foot. He groaned out in pain as he looked around him quickly, making sure there were no Walkers in the immediate area. He heard a few gunshots, then. He made it. Shane thought as he got to his feet. There weren't any broken bones, but he was pretty sure he tore two of the tendons in his ankle.

He grabbed the bags and swung them over his shoulders as he picked up his shotgun.

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Glenn pulled Carol's Cherokee up the driveway to the Greene's house. He and T-Dog were taken aback, seeing that they still had power. The place must have ran on a gas powered generator. They looked at the house in front of them, what looked like the entire first floor had the lights on, as Glenn put the car in park. He and T-Dog got out of the car and walked towards the house. Glenn swung his bag over his shoulder and held a shotgun in his hands. As they got to the brick steps leading up to the porch, Glenn looked at the stairs. There were still drops of blood leading to the door.

"So do we ring the bell? I mean, it looks like people live here." Glenn said, looking to T-Dog before looking back at the windows, seeing the light shine through.

"We're past this kinda stuff, aren't we? Havin to be considerate." T-Dog said as they walked up the stairs. He was feeling a lot better, but still had the blanket draped over his shoulders. They got to the door as soon as someone interrupted them.

"Did you close the gate up the road when ya drove in?" Maggie asked. She was sitting on the porch in a chair off to the side of the entry way, in the shadow of the wall, making them miss her as they came closer to the house. She had her feet up on the seat with her knees pulled to her chest as she rested her arms on top of them.

"Uh, hi." Glenn said, looking in the general direction of her voice. "Yes, we closed it. Did the latch and everything."

She let her feet back down to the floor as she sat forward in the chair, leaning into the light coming from the window. She rested her arms against her legs as she looked at them.

"Hello. Nice to see you again." Glenn said once he recognized it was the same girl that had come to get Lori. "We, um, met before briefly." Glenn shook his head slightly, almost a little nervous.

"Look, we came to help. There anythin we can do?" Said a tired T-Dog as Maggie got up. He groaned, as he felt his arm throb again. Maggie opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she looked down at the bloody bandage he had taped to his arm. "It's not a bite. I, uh, I cut myself pretty bad though."

"We'll have it looked at. I'll tell them you're here." Maggie said as she walked over to them.

"We have, uh, some painkillers and antibiotics." Glenn said as he reached into the bag he had and pulled out the antibiotics Daryl had given them earlier that evening. "I already gave him some. If Carl needs any."

"Come on inside. I'll make you somethin to eat." Maggie said as she opened the screen door, she held it for them as they made their way inside.

Back in the bedroom Carl was in, Lori, Rick, Patricia and Hershel sat around the room. Hershel was taking the boy's blood pressure again as Maggie showed Glenn and T-Dog to the room. Glenn looked between Maggie and T-Dog when he laid eyes on the unconscious boy. They didn't know how bad the situation was until then.

Glenn took off his baseball hat. "Hey." He said, causing Rick and Lori to look at them.

"Hey." Rick said back to him before holding his head in his hand again and looking back to his son.

"Um, we're here, okay?" Glenn said as Hershel stood up and took the two new arrivals in.

"Thank you." Lori nodded to them from her spot in the chair next to Rick.

"Whatever you need." T-Dog added. Rick and Lori both nodded as Rick covered his eyes.

Glenn and T turned around and walked out of the room with Maggie behind them as she pointed them to the dining room. Rick looked back at his son as they walked out.

Hershel grabbed the blanket that was lying over Carl from his chest and down. He pulled it back, revealing the boy's swollen stomach, almost twice it's normal size. Lori grabbed onto Rick's shoulder as he put his hand over hers.

"They don't get back soon, we're gonna have a decision to make." Hershel said as he looked at Carl's parents.

"And that is?" Rick asked.

"Whether to operate on your boy without the respirator."

"You said that wouldn't work." Lori said.

"I know. It's extremely unlikely. But we can't wait much longer." Hershel said as he glanced down at Carl's stomach before looking back to Rick.

Lori let go of Rick's shoulder and got up from her chair, leaving the room. Hershel put the blanket back over Carl's stomach as Rick slowly got up from his chair and followed her, still light headed from the blood he'd given all day.

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Kat, Daryl and Andrea had made their way into the forest and were walking in that order, on a path they hadn't gone yet.

"You really think we're gonna find Sophia?" Andrea asked from the other side of Daryl. She kept her eyes on the ground.

Daryl shined his flashlight from the path in front of them to the side of her face for a second. He scoffed a little before returning the flashlight to it's previous position. "You got that look on your face same as everybody else..What the hell's wrong with you people? We just started lookin."

"Well, do you?" Andrea looked at him.

"It ain't the mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia." He said as he looked over at her. "She could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost and they survive. Happens all the time."

"She's only 12." Andrea said in a condescending tone.

"Hell, I was younger than her an I got lost." Daryl said. Kat looked at him then. She couldn't imagine him being lost in the woods, but this was a man standing next to her now, not a child. "Nine days in the woods eatin berries, wipin my ass with poison oak."

"They found you?" Andrea asked as the tree continued walking, shining their lights around.

"My old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doin another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone." Daryl said. Kat looked at him out of the corner of her eye at this new information. Younger than 12? How could a man leave his child home alone for nine days and not even know he's gone? "I made my way back though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. 'Cept my ass itched somethin awful."

Andrea let out a laugh as Kat tried to hold her's in, but couldn't help the smile on her face. Daryl looked at Andrea, where the noise had come from.

She laughed again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, that is a terrible story."

Daryl looked over at Kat who pressed her lips together but burst out laughing as soon as he looked at her. He looked down and laughed a little, himself, with the two women. He stopped as he looked back up again. "Only difference is Sophia's got people lookin for her. I call that an advantage."

"Well, I hope you know the difference between poison oak and bigleaf aster now." Kat said very nonchalantly, once she could keep a smile off her face.

Daryl looked at her but she kept her face straight ahead, though he saw the corner of her mouth try to pull up into a smile. "Smart ass." He smirked as he shook his head.

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Lori was standing out on the front porch as Rick made his way outside. She stared out into the darkness, listening to the frogs while she let the thoughts in her mind run wild. She hugged herself as she heard Rick's footsteps come up beside her.

"Maybe this isn't a world for children anymore." Lori said.

"Yeah, well, we have a child." He said as he looked around. "Carl is here in this world now. So-" Rick started as Lori cut him off.

"Maybe he shouldn't be." She said as she turned her head towards him but didn't look at him. "Maybe this is how it's supposed to be."

Rick looked away for a second before looking back at her face. "You can't mean that."

Lori looked at him, not saying anything. Rick nodded after a few seconds. "Okay. All right. I can understand that thought crossin your mind."

"It didn't cross my mind, Rick. I can't stop thinkin it." She said as she faced him fully. "Why do we want Carl to live in this world? To have this life? So he can see more people torn apart in front of him? So that he can be hungry and scared for however long he has before he..." Lori looked out into the night again, trying to hold back a sob. "So he can run and run and run and run and-and then even if he survives, he ends up...he ends up just another animal who doesn't know anything except survival? If he..If he dies tonight, it ends for him." Lori brought her hand up to her mouth as Rick turned away. "Tell me why it would be better another way. I-"

Rick turned back around after a couple seconds. "What changed?"

"What?"

"Jenner offered us a way out. You asked him to let us keep trying. You-you begged him. 'For as long as we can' you said. What changed?"

"There was a moment the other day-" Lori said as she raised her hand in the air while she talked. "It was just a second, but I forgot Jacqui was dead. I-I turned around, I wanted to tell her somethin. I almost said her name and it was just a second and then- and then I remembered. But then I realized she didn't have to see any of it...The-the-the highway, the-the herds, Sophia, Carl getting shot- sh-she didn't-" Lori brought her fingers to her lips then gestured in the air with her hands, trying to find the words. "She doesn't have to be afraid anymore..Or hungry. Angry. It hasn't stopped happening, Rick. It's like we live with a knife at our throats every second of every day. But-but Jacqui doesn't. Not anymore. And then...I thought, 'Maybe Jenner was right.'" Rick turned away again, frustrated. She was really talking about just giving up. Letting their only child, just die.

"I don't accept that." He said, shaking his head. "I can't accept that. That man surrendered. It doesn't matt- it doesn't matter what he said. None of it." Rick said. A big part of him was the father just wanting his son to live. A small part, was that he didn't want to know if what Jenner had told him was true. Either way, he couldn't let his son just slip away without a fight. "You really think it would be better if Carl-" He turned and looked at Lori's face. She was covering her mouth with her fingers again as she looked at him with a pained expression. She looked away. "If we just gave up?" He asked.

"Tell me why, it would be better, the other way." She said slowly to him. "Please." She stared at him as he looked back at her. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't find the words. Lori nodded her head as if she had proven the point she was trying to make. There was nothing in this life for anyone anymore.

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"Man, I thought I'd lost you." Shane said as Otis walked to him, taking one of the bags from him and swinging it over his shoulder. Shane had been backed up against a chain link fence, Walkers pushing towards him from behind it, and Walkers coming at him from in front when Otis showed up and helped him off the three that had been about to take him down. Otis shot one in the head as Shane used his last two shots from his shotgun he had loaded to take out the others.

"That was my last rifle round." Otis said as he and Shane both started limping away.

"Mine too."

"Come on. Come on. Come on." Otis urged him as they both walked out onto the athletic field so they could make their way back to the truck.

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Lori and Rick were both sitting on the floor outside of the bedroom Carl was in. Not looking at each other and not talking. Rick sat, leaning against one corner of the wall, while Lori was on the other. Catty-corner to each other. They sat there in silence, each having their own thoughts running through their heads, but both shot up instantly at the sound of coughing from the bedroom. Lori burst in through the cracked door and knelt down next to the bed as Carl woke up. Hershel, who was still in the room stood up from his seat next to the boy's bed.

Lori and Rick both looked relieved as the boy took quick breaths, looking around the room. "Where are we?" He asked as he looked around the room, his parents and Hershel.

"Hey, little man." Rick said at he patted his son's leg. He followed his son's panicked eyes to the smiling old man standing over him. "That's Hershel. We're in his house. You had an accident. All right?"

Carl coughed again as Lori ran her hand over his head. "It hurts, a lot." He said as he looked down at his stomach.

"Oh, baby, I know. I know." Lori said, her and Rick both getting upset at the thought of their child in pain.

"You shoulda seen it." Carl said as he looked at his mom.

"What?" She asked as she looked back at his face.

"The deer. It-it was so pretty, Mom. It was so close. I've never..been..." Carl let out a shaky breath as his eyes went out of focus. He stared at the ceiling but wasn't seeing anythin.

"Carl?" Rick said. He patted his son's leg but the boy didn't move.

"What's happening?" Lori asked as she stared at her son's face.

Carl started grunting as his little body started to convulse and shake the bed. Lori and Rick both went to grab him when Hershel stopped them.

"Don't. It's a seizure." Hershel said as he turned the boy on his side and moved the pillows out of the way as he continued to shake. "If you hold him down, you could hurt him."

"You can't stop it?" Lori looked at Hershel, horrified.

"He has to just go through it."

Lori stood up and grabbed onto Rick as he wrapped his arms around her. She started sobbing as she watched her son's body seize and shake with a mind of it's own. After a few tense seconds he finally stopped moving as he limply fell onto his back again. Hershel grabbed his wrist to take his pulse as Lori knelt back down beside him. Hershel opened the boy's closed eyes to look at his pupils.

"His brain isn't getting enough blood." He said as Lori looked up at him. "His pressure is bottomin. He needs another transfusion."

"Okay, I'm ready." Rick said.

"If I take any more out of you, your body could shut down. You could go into a coma. Or cardiac arrest."

"You're wastin time." Rick said as he held out his arm to the man.

Hershel turned around and grabbed the transfusion kit as Rick sat down in the chair next to the bed.

"Baby." Lori said, as she stood behind Rick, putting her arm on his shoulders. Rick's eyes filled with tears as he looked at his son.

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Dale was standing on top of the RV, his rifle slung over his shoulder by it's strap as he looked out over the cars and into the trees ahead of him. He pulled the pack of cigarettes T-Dog had found earlier out of his pocket. He brought the pack to his nose and breathed in the sweet smell of the tobacco. He hadn't had a cigarette in years. He dropped the pack on the roof of the RV as he heard a clinking noise behind him. He turned around only to see Carol making her way up the ladder to the RV's roof. He bent over to retrieve the pack of smokes he'd dropped and returned them to the front pocket of his shirt.

"Cant sleep?" He asked as he took a few steps towards her once she climbed up. He looked back out onto the highway.

She shook her head as she walked closer to him. "I'm gonna wait for em to come back...You can go down and sleep if you want to."

"No," He said as he looked at her, "we can keep watch together."

She nodded as they looked out beyond the cars to the trees. He walked back over towards his chair with her following him.

"Which way did they go?" Carol asked. Dale held his arm out and pointed his finger in the direction where Kat, Daryl and Andrea had disappeared into the woods.

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The three of them were continuing along the path they had been walking when they heard something more than the light shuffling their feet had been making. Daryl and Kat were first to react as they both quickly turned towards the sound of the rustling leaves and branches creaking. Daryl held his crossbow to his shoulder, holding his flashlight under it, aiming into the dark. Kat held her serrated Ulak out in front of her as she shined her light all around the trees she was facing. Andrea stood behind the two looking out into the forest. No one made a sound as they waited for something to come out of the trees.

Kat nodded at Daryl when he looked at her. He in turn looked behind him at Andrea as they started to make their way towards the sound. Andrea, hanging back a couple feet from the two in front of her.

They made their way further into the forest and came upon a small clearing soon enough. There was a small campsite with a tent once they got to the area the noise had been coming from. They shined their flashlights around the tent to make sure nothing was going to pop out at them before they looked to the source of the noise.

Kat brought her eyebrows together with her mouth slightly agape as she looked into the tree at the sight before them.

"What the hell?" Daryl said as he lowered his crossbow a little.

There was a Walker up in the tree. A man who had hung himself. That's new. Kat thought as she stared at it. Not for Daryl. He'd seen a Walker strung up the same way in a church he had come across on his and Merle's way to Atlanta.

This one was dangling from a rope around his neck as he hung from one of the branches. Growling and moaning, he reached his hands out for them. Daryl walked closer to the trunk of the tree, seeing a note stuck to it with a knife. Andrea just looked up at the Walker as it helplessly flailed around while Daryl got closer.

"Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit." Daryl read from the note. "Dumb ass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head. Turned himself into a big swingin piece of bait. And a mess."

Andrea groaned and looked at the ground away from the Walker as she brought the back of her hand up to her mouth.

"Ya all right?" Daryl asked as he looked back at her.

She put her hands on her knees as she bent over. "Trying not to puke."

He looked back to the Walker. "Go ahead if you gotta."

"No, I'm fine. Let's just talk about something else for a moment. How'd you learn to shoot?"

"Gotta eat. That's one thing these Walkers and us have in common. I guess it's the closest he's been to food since he turned..Look at him, hanging up there like a big piñata." Daryl said. Kat looked between the two of them with a smirk. He was just instigating now.

Daryl turned to his side so he could point out something else to Andrea. He held his arm out with the flashlight and pointed to the Walker's legs, that were mostly just bones. What little muscle was left was bloody and rotten. "The other geeks came and ate all the flesh off his legs."

That did it. Andrea coughed, vomiting anything she had in her stomach, up. Daryl turned around and looked at her. "I thought we were changing the subject." She said as she stood back up, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Call that payback for laughin about my itchy ass." Daryl said with a smile as he looked back at the Walker.

Andrea smiled a little as she wiped her hand on her pants. "There wasn't a lot that came up."

Daryl looked at the Walker in the tree another second before he turned around. "Huh. Let's head back." He said as he walked to the tent to see if there was anything useful inside.

"Aren't you gonna..." Andrea shone her flashlight to the Walker as Daryl walked between her and Kat and towards the tent's door.

He turned around, looking at her before shining his light on the Walker. "No. He ain't hurtin nobody. Ain't gonna waste an arrow either. He made his choice. Opted out. Let him hang." Daryl turned back around and took a few more steps towards the tent, but stopped and turned around when he heard Andrea walking away. She walked closer to the swaying body, making it more agitated the closer she got.

Daryl walked a few steps towards her. "You wanna live now..or not?" She turned around and looked at him then to Kat. "It's just a question." He said.

She looked back into the tree for a second before facing him. "An answer for an arrow. Fair?" She said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Mm-hmm." Daryl nodded.

"I don't know if I wanna live...or if I have to or..if it's just a habit."

"That's not much of an answer." Daryl said as he brought his Horton to his shoulder, lining up the Walker's head in his sights. He pulled the trigger and sent the bolt right into the middle of it's forehead. "Waste of an arrow." He said as he turned around and walked over to Kat. They started walking away as Andrea turned around to follow them.

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Dale was standing on top of the RV while Carol sat in his chair. They both looked out over the cars and trees. Dale was obviously worried about them being out there in the dark. More specifically, Andrea.

"You don't need to worry. She's with Daryl. If somethin happens, he can protect her. You hear what I'm sayin?" Carol said as she looked up at him.

He looked down at her before turning back to the woods. "Sorry, all I heard was if something happens."

They were both quiet for a moment, until Dale took his rifle off his shoulder. "You mind keepin watch?" He said as he held the rifle out to her.

"I don't know how to use that." She said as she looked from the rifle to him.

"I won't be gone long. If you see anything, call out. I'm not goin far. I'll hear ya." He said as he held the rifle in his hands and started walking to the ladder. Carol stood up and looked out onto the highway.

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"You got here right in time. This couldn't go untreated much longer." Patricia said as she sat at the dining room table with T-Dog and Maggie while she stitched the cut on T-Dog's arm. Glenn stood in the doorway as Maggie held T-Dog's arm to the table. Patricia glanced up at the pill bottle on the table after she pulled another stitch through T's arm. She looked at the label. "'Merle Dixon.' Is that your friend with the antibiotics?"

"No, ma'am. Merle's no longer with us." Glenn said from the doorway as he held a cup of coffee in his hands. "Daryl gave us those- his brother."

"Not sure I'd call him a friend." T-Dog groaned as Patricia pulled another stitch through.

"He is today. This doxycycline mighta just saved your life. You know what Merle was taking it for?" Patricia looked at Glenn briefly before going back to her task.

"Clap." Glenn said. Maggie looked at him. "Um..venereal disease. That's what Daryl said."

"I'd say Merle Dixon's clap was the best thing that ever happen to you." Patricia looked at T-Dog.

"I'm really trying not to think about that." He said as he groaned again.

Glenn took his cup and walked past them towards the front of the house as Maggie watched. He needed some air.

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Glenn pulled the chair Maggie had been sitting on earlier further out onto the porch as he leaned his arms on his knees. He stared down at the cup in his hands before looking out over the darkened fields ahead of him. This week just keeps getting worse and worse.

Maggie opened the screen door as quietly as she could, letting it rest against the door frame instead of closing it as she walked outside.

Glenn put the cup in his hands down by the chair as he leaned forward again. He linked his hands together and closed his eyes.

Maggie walked a few feet closer and leaned against one of the white wooden beams that held up the ceiling of the porch while she looked at him. "Are you prayin?"

Glenn opened his eyes and looked over at her. He was so lost in his own head he hadn't heard her approach him. He ran his hand over his head. "Why do you sneak up on people so much?"

"You're easy to sneak up on." Maggie smiled as she walked closer and took a seat on the wooden railing, leaning her back up against the beam she'd been leaning against a few seconds ago. She brought her legs up and rested her feet on the railing.

"I was praying." Glenn said as she got comfortable. "I was trying to."

"You religious? You pray a lot?" Maggie asked as she played with the frayed fabric from the hole in her jeans.

"Actually, uh, this was my first try." Glenn squinted at her with a sad smile.

"Ever?" Maggie looked at him as he nodded his head. She smiled. "Wow. Sorry. I didn't mean to wreck your first time."

"God probably got the gist."

Maggie went back to her jeans. "Prayin for what?"

"My friends. Looks like they could all use a little help right now." Glenn said as he looked down. He took a deep breath. "You think- you think God exists?"

Maggie looked at him as she leaned her head back against the wooden beam. "I always took it on faith." She looked out at the yard. "Lately I've wondered. Everything that's happened, there must've been a lot of prayin goin on. And, it seems quite a few went unanswered." She looked back at him but he wasn't looking at her.

He nodded his head. "Thanks. This is really helping."

Maggie smiled again. "Sorry. Go ahead. Really."

Glenn closed his eyes again for a second before he turned and looked at her. "You gonna watch?"

Maggie swung her legs from the railing and stood up, walking over to him. As she got closer he sat up in his chair. She bent over to pick up the cup at his feet. "I'll get you a refill instead." She turned and walked away as Glenn leaned forward, elbows on his knees again. Maggie turned around. "I know it's not my business, and feel free to believe in God, but the thing is you've gotta make it okay somehow no matter what happens."

Glenn looked at her, not saying anything while she turned around and walked to the door. She looked at him once more before disappearing into the house.

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"Before it happened, we were standin there in the woods, and this..deer just crossed right in front of us." Rick said. He was sitting in the chair next to Carl's bed while Lori sat on the floor in front of him. Resting her arm and chin on his knee. Rick was holding onto her arm with his free hand, the tubes for the blood transfusion leaving his other unusable. "I swear, it just planted itself there, and looked Carl right in the eye. And I looked at Carl lookin at that deer, and that deer lookin right back at Carl. And that moment just..." Rick sighed as Lori looked at him as he replayed what happened in his head, "slipped away. It slipped away." He said as he tried not to let the tears in his eyes fall. "That's what he was talkin about when he woke up...not about gettin shot or what happened at the church. He talked about something beautiful, something living. There's still a life for us, a place maybe like this." He said as Lori started to cry. "It isn't all death out there. It can't be. We just have to be strong enough after everything we've seen to still believe that." He patted Lori's arm. "Why is it better for Carl to live even in this world? He talked about the deer, Lori. He talked about the deer." She laid her head back down on his knee.

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"Oh, shit." Shane said as he tripped and fell, bringing Otis down with him as the man was holding onto his shoulder. Otis groaned.

"Gotta get to the street, double back to the truck." Otis said. His rifle empty, he had gotten Rick's magnum out and was now holding it in his hands.

"Look, we ain't gonna make it, okay?" Shane said, frustrated, lying on his stomach on the ground.

"Gotta try, man." Otis said as he started getting up. "Come on, get up." Otis had hurt his ankles too, but not as bad as Shane had.

"You're gonna take these bags and you're gonna go." Shane said as he looked up at the man as he started taking the bag off his shoulder.

"I ain't leavin you behind."

Shane took a few breaths and slammed his fist into the concrete ground. He pushed himself up. "Okay." They both got to their knees as they looked behind them. The Walkers that busted through a fence they had been running, or hobbling, away from, were getting closer to them now. "How many rounds you got left?" Shane asked as he ejected the magazine from his handgun to count the bullets. Otis popped out the cylinder of Rick's gun to do the same.

"Four. You?" Otis said as he snapped the cylinder back in it's place.

"Five and one in the pipe." Shane said as he shoved the magazine back into his gun. He looked back at the Walkers, their snarling and growling coming closer.

The men helped each other off the ground as they stood up. They still had a long way to go to get to the truck. And the small herd that was following them wasn't letting up. They were a little faster than the two injured men.

Otis turned as they limped away and took a shot at one of the Walkers advancing on them. Shane did the same, the Walkers dropping to the ground, causing a few behind them to stumble over the fallen bodies as the men tried to get away.

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Hershel had his hand on Carl's wrist and was watching his pocket watch as he checked the boy's pulse. He looked over at Rick and Lori. "He's still losin blood faster than we can replace it. And with the swellin in his abdomen we can't wait any longer or he's just going to slip away." Lori walked a few feet from Rick's side, further into the room. Rick stood up from his chair. "Now I need to know right now if you want me to do this, because I think your boy is outta time."

Rick stood next to Lori as they both looked down at Carl.

"You have to make a choice." Hershel said to them. His voice dripping with urgency.

"A choice?" Lori looked at him.

"A choice." Rick turned to her. He brought his hand up, moving it as he talked. "You have to tell me what it is. You have to tell me what it is." He said quietly to her.

She looked at him for a second before she brought her hand to his cheek. "We do it."

Rick pulled her into him as they hugged. Lori watched Carl over his shoulder as he rocked her back and forth.

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Patricia and Hershel were wheeling a metal table into the room they were going to use to put the boy on. They positioned it at the edge of the bed.

"Okay, get that corner of the bed. Let's get the sheets down, everybody." Hershel said as he made his way to his side. "Get the IV bag on the sheet." He pointed to the bag as Rick grabbed it and put it next to Carl. He grabbed the pillow from under the boy's head and gently removed it, throwing it on the ground. "Okay, on three." Hershel said as he, Patricia, Lori and Rick each grabbed a corner of the sheet Carl was laying on. "One, two, three." They all lifted at the same time, bringing the boy off the bed as they moved to the metal table.

Patricia grabbed a tray with Hershel's surgical tools and put it on the table next to Carl's legs as Lori and Rick stepped back. Hershel started putting his gloves on while Patricia went to the corner of the room and grabbed the floor lamp. She took the shade off the top and pulled the thin chains, turning the light bulbs on. Hershel picked up his scalpel as Patricia dipped several rags into warm water.

"Rick, Lori, you may want to step out." Hershel said as he looked to the parents.

Just then, they could hear a vehicle's engine approaching and tires on the driveway outside. Hershel looked towards the window as Rick made his way over to it. He pulled the curtains back and glanced outside, seeing the blue truck Shane and Otis had left in that evening, pull up.

"Oh, God." Rick breathed. He and Lori started for the front door.

"You stay here with him." Hershel said to Patricia as he took his gloves off and followed them.

Shane pulled the truck up to the house, put it in park and turned off the engine as he got out of the truck. He reached back in to grab for the bags as Rick, Lori and Hershel walked outside. Glenn, T-Dog and Maggie followed, seeing them rushing to the door and finally hearing the truck.

They all made their way down the steps towards Shane who had both bags of equipment over his shoulders. Only Shane.

"Carl?" He panted as he walked closer to them.

"There's still a chance." Rick said as he reached him.

Hershel quickly grabbed one bag from him as Glenn grabbed the other. The missing man was only a second thought. He turned back around, looking behind Shane at the truck before back to his face. "Otis?"

Shane looked around. "No." He shook his head. "He.."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Tears forming in Maggie's eyes. Otis had been like an uncle to her.

Hershel turned to look at the house before back to the others. "We say nothing to Patricia. Not till after. I need her." Hershel quickly walked back up the steps to the house with Glenn as they both carried the bags.

Rick walked up to Shane, bringing the man to him for a hug. He pulled away and looked at him after a couple seconds.

"Th-They kept blockin us, man, just every turn. We had nothing left. We was down to 10 rounds. Then he said- he said he'd cover me and that I-I should keep goin. So that's what I did. I just...I kept going. But I-" Shane was breathing heavy. He almost looked on the verge of tears. "I looked back and he- just- I tried." He said. Lori walked to Maggie, putting one hand on her shoulder and rubbed her back with the other.

Rick put his hand on Shane's shoulder. "He wanted to make it right."

Shane looked at him, wide-eyed, before shaking his head. He ran a hand over his mouth as he looked over Rick's shoulder at Maggie and Lori.

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Dale did as Daryl and Kat did earlier that night. He was walking through the cars, looking around, as he made his way over to the guard rail. He stopped and looked out into the trees, looking for the brightness of their flashlights in the dark, but seeing nothing. He turned back to the RV and started walking towards it.

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Carol stood on the RV looking out on the highway with Dale sitting in his chair behind her. She saw the shining lights before she could make out the bodies. Daryl, Kat and Andrea were back.

"Oh." She sobbed as she only saw the three of them. Her little girl nowhere in sight. She turned around and headed for the ladder.

Dale stood up and watched her walk away before he turned back and looked at the three approaching figures with a smile, glad Andrea was okay. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and headed for the ladder. Carol ran to the RV's door and went inside, slamming the it behind her. She went back to the couch and laid down, crying quietly into her pillow. Dale came around from the back of the RV as they walked up.

Kat grabbed the door to the RV and walked inside over to the table. She sat down and put her arms on the table, laying her forehead on them. Daryl turned to Dale before he looked down, shutting the flashlight in his hands off before he reached up to grab the door handle and go inside. He let the door shut behind him. Kat turned her head to look at him as he walked in, her head still lying on her arms. She was exhausted from the long day they'd had. He set his crossbow down in the seat across from her as he turned down the small walkway. He made his way over to his sleeping bag that was still on the floor and laid back down. He saw Carol's shoulders shaking, but she was quiet about it this time. He put his hands under his head and closed his eyes.

"Andrea, wait." Dale said outside, before Andrea could walk in the RV.

"What do you want, Dale?"

"To give you this." He said as he reached behind him. He pulled out her hand gun from the back waistband of his pants. "I care about you so I made a choice for you- choices. I know why I did it, but this is not my gun. And the choices that I made for you were not mine to make." He held the gun out to her as she looked at him, listening to his apology.

She stepped forward and reached out, taking the gun from his hands.

"But I can still ask, and this is not to make you guilty or put me ahead of you, but I can still ask, please...don't make me regret this." He said as he motioned towards the gun in her hand.

Andrea looked down at the gun for a second before she looked back up. "I'll take watch." She said as she started to walk by him.

"So do ya-do you forgive me for-" Dale said, holding his arms out to his sides as he watched her walk past him. "Do you forgive me?"

She stopped walking at the back of the RV and turned around. "I'm trying." She looked at him for a second before she disappeared around the corner and started climbing up the ladder.

Kat reached under the table and grabbed her sleeping bag. She unsnapped the button that kept it rolled up and laid it on the floor behind Daryl. She got down on the ground and spread it out as he tilted his head up to look at her. A quick smile played on his lips before he faced the ceiling again and closed his eyes. She laid down in the walkway, the top of her head and Daryl's almost touching. Their bodies forming a line from the back of the RV to the front. She spread her legs out, her feet reaching the floor by the seat she'd just been sitting at as she got comfortable. She heard the door to the RV open and looked up to see Dale walk in. He nodded at her as he walked to the front seat and sat down.

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"I've known Otis since I was a kid." Maggie was sitting at the table in the kitchen, crying. "He's run this farm since before my mother died."

Glenn got up from his position, leaning against a counter top and walked closer to her. He stopped in front of the table and looked at the refrigerator. "Who else?" He asked. "Who'd you lose?" He said as he looked at the different pictures held to the refrigerator's front with magnets. Maggie looked up at him and to the pictures as she sniffled, her stuffy nose blocking the air she tried to get into her lungs. "You told me I had to make it okay somehow." He said to her. She looked down as she nodded her head between sobs. "That's what you've been trying to do, right? Which ones?" He tilted his head towards the fridge as he rested one of his hands on it.

Maggie got up from her seat and walked around the table. She stood next to him in front of the refrigerator as she pointed to a picture of a middle-aged woman. "Stepmother." She said as she laid her finger on the photo. She pointed to another. "Stepbrother." She let out a shaky breath.

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The rest of the group was sitting outside, their makeshift waiting room, on the porch. Rick and Lori were holding each other on the steps while T-Dog was sitting down in the chair Glenn had been on earlier. Shane was sitting on the ground in front of the truck.

Glenn and Maggie looked up as they heard the door to Carl's room open. Hershel tilted his head to the front, asking them to follow him, and they did.

Hershel finished wiping his clean, wet hands off with the cloth he had as he opened the front door. Everyone outside got to their feet quickly as they turned around and looked at the man when he came outside onto the porch.

"He seems to have stabilized." Hershel said as he looked down at Rick and Lori. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, God." Rick said as he let out the breath he was holding as soon as he saw the man. Lori brought her hand up to her mouth as she smiled. Hershel returned it with one of his own as Rick walked up the few steps to the man. He grabbed him and hugged him as Hershel patted him on the back. Rick pulled away and stepped back down towards his wife, never taking his eyes off Hershel.

"I don't have words." Lori cried with a smile.

"I don't either. Wish I did." Hershel said as he looked down at the towel in his hands. He looked back up at them. "How do I tell Patricia about Otis?"

Shane looked at the ground as everyone got quiet. Rick looked at Lori. "You go to Carl..I'll go with Hershel." Rick said as she nodded. He looked back at the man, giving him a nod. Hershel turned around to open the door as he followed him inside. Maggie, Glenn and T-Dog followed in after him, Lori hanging back to shoot a look at Shane. She nodded her head once to him before she walked up the steps. He leaned off of the car and started limping towards the door.

Lori walked inside, not seeing where Glenn and the others had gone. She walked further into the house, stopping in the dining area as she looked across the room into the kitchen. Hershel and Rick were helping Patricia get to a chair as she started to sob uncontrollably. Lori brought her hand up to cover her mouth as she turned around. She glanced at Shane as he opened the front door and she turned to go to Carl's room.

Shane walked into the house, looking into the kitchen, seeing Hershel and Rick looking back at him. Patricia was crying as she leaned against the table, resting her head on her arms. He looked towards the bedroom and started slowly making his way there.

Lori was kneeling down next to Carl's bed, tears of joy coming down her face as she sobbed. He was still out from the anesthetic, but she could already see the color coming back to his pale cheeks. She ran her hand over his head as she leaned closer to him. She grabbed his hand with hers as Shane walked into the doorway. He looked at her briefly before looking at the boy. Lori brought her son's hand to her mouth and rested it there for a few seconds. Shane looked between the two before he turned his eyes to the ground. Lori kissed Carl's hand before she looked back at Shane. "Stay." She nodded her head as she smoothed Carl's hair with her other hand. She was thinking back to their conversation at the highway and church, when he said he was leaving the group.

He looked at her, nodding his head slightly before looking at the ground again. Lori looked at him and nodded, kissing Carl's hand as she looked back down at him and started playing with his hair. Shane took a breath as he looked at them before he walked out of the room. He wasn't sure where he was going but he needed a little time to himself for a few minutes. He kept walking, but stopped when Maggie came out of a room to his right.

"The bathroom's upstairs. I brought you some clothes." She said as she handed them to him.

"Thank you." He said as he took them from her.

"They won't fit well. They were Otis's." She gave him a sad smile as she turned around and walked away.

Shane looked around for a minute. Ironic. He thought as he made his way up the stairs.

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He leaned into the shower to turn it on as he laid the clean clothes on the floor and stripped down, lying the dirty ones over the toilet. He put his pistol down on his pants and turned to look at his bare body. His ankle was still killing him and starting to swell. He had little cuts and scrapes all over his arms. He turned in the mirror to look at a cut on his shoulder when he noticed his head. There was a small patch of hair missing, little dabs of blood on the surface where the follicle was ripped out from the roots. Shane panicked, not wanting to be asked what happened. Everyone had been too busy worrying about Carl to pay him any attention before, but now...He quickly opened the medicine cabinet not seeing what he was looking for. He knelt down on the ground in front of the sink, opening drawers and cabinets. In the bottom drawer he finally hit pay dirt; A pair of electrical clippers. He plugged them into the outlet in the wall and turned it on as he replayed what happened in his head.



"How many rounds you got left?" Shane asked as he ejected the magazine from his handgun to count the bullets. Otis popped out the cylinder of Rick's gun to do the same.

"Four. You?" Otis said as he snapped the cylinder back in it's place.

"Five and one in the pipe." Shane said as he shoved the magazine back into his gun. He looked back at the Walkers, their snarling and growling coming closer.

The men helped each other off the ground as they stood up. They still had a long way to go to get to the truck. And the small herd that was following them wasn't letting up. They were a little faster than the two injured men.

Otis turned as they limped away and took a shot at one of the Walkers advancing on them. Shane did the same, the Walkers dropping to the ground, causing a few behind them to stumble over the fallen bodies as the men tried to get away.

They continued firing shots as they made their way back towards the truck.

"Down to my last." Otis said as they looked back at the Walkers.

"Me, too." Shane said. There was no way they were going to make it out of here..Not without a distraction...

They walked a few more steps before Shane stopped, making Otis come to a halt next to him. Shane looked at the man. "I'm sorry." He said. Otis looked at him, confused. Shane raised his gun and pointed at Otis's leg, pulling the trigger.

Otis screamed and reached for his leg as he fell to the ground. Shane tucked the gun into his pants as he bent over, trying to pull the bag from Otis's shoulder.

"Will you give it- ah!" Shane yelled as he pulled on the bag. He fell onto his back as he tried to pull the bag from the man. "Give it!" He yelled, but Otis wouldn't let go. Shane kicked at the gunshot wound he had just given the man, making him scream. He kicked again and Otis loosened his hold, allowing Shane to pick up the bag.

Otis turned over. "I'll kill you." He groaned and grabbed for Shane's head, a small fist of his hair now in his hand. Shane screamed as Otis pulled on him.

Shane punched the man repeatedly as he tried to get him to let go, but he wouldn't loosen his hold. He still had Rick's gun in his hand and fired the last shot blindly, hitting nothing but the clouds overhead. Shane groaned as he reached for Rick's gun, prying it from Otis's fingers. He bashed the man in the face with the metal of the gun several times. "Let go of me! Let go!" Shane yelled, pulling away as he felt Otis loosen his grip a little. Though, not enough, as he ripped the tuff of hair he had in his hand from Shane's scalp.

Shane got to his feet with Rick's gun and the bags as he turned and limped away as fast as he could on his injured foot. The Walkers were mere feet from them now, but ignored Shane, seeing Otis down and bleeding on the ground. They piled on top of him in seconds, sinking their teeth into various places on his body and ripping the flesh from him. Shane turned around and faced the cars as Otis started screaming. He turned back for one last look as he hobbled away, seeing the Walkers eating the man alive.



Shane brought his head up to the blurry image of himself in the mirror as the last of his hair fell into the sink. He wiped the steam from the glass and looked at the man staring back at him.