A/N: Trigger warning: Will Dixon's pedophile potential is mentioned in discussing Ellie and Daryl's past.
July 19, 2010
It takes them until an hour before dark to bury the dead properly. The task is made easier when Daryl borrows the farm tractor and uses the blade to carve shallow indentations to serve as graves. With no scavengers that will feed on the transformed remains, the bodies don't have to be buried six feet down. Otis paints wooden crosses for the friends and neighbors, admitting he never brought home any strangers.
The two Greene family members are buried closer to the farmhouse, under the shade of a large tree. Those graves, the men dig by hand, and deep enough to resemble a traditional burial. Jacqui leads several of the women in sewing shrouds for Annette and Shawn from sheets provided by Patricia. These two graves get painted stone at the head of each instead of wooden crosses.
Carl is moved with his father and Morgan's help from the farmhouse to the camp. The RV will serve well enough as a bedroom for him tonight. Andrea and Amy don't mind ceding their sleeping spaces to the boy and his mother. The boy may be mobile by Ellie's own encouragement, but he tires easily and will for weeks.
Other than Otis and Patricia, he's seen none of the other farm residents. Jimmy disappeared into the house after Beth and Hershel.
As for Maggie, the young woman is sleeping soundly in Ellie's tent, sedated after she couldn't stop weeping.
"How's she doing?" Shane asks as he drinks the bottle of water Ellie hands him. The day's been so busy, even before Maggie's trip into the barn, that he hasn't been able to spend any time with her today.
"I think once the reality sets in a bit better, she'll be fine. Today, she was in shock, once the full scope of what she did sank in." Ellie leans into his side, fingers resting lightly against the small of his back despite how sweaty he is from his turn at the shovel.
"Think she'll wake for the funeral? Patricia sent a change of clothes out for her." He indicates the bag that Jacqui set outside Ellie's tent when the other woman brought it over with the sheets.
"The meds have worn off by now. It's just exhaustion left to keep her sleeping. I'll wake her."
He feels the loss of her touch as soon as she starts to move away. "Hey, Ellie?" he calls softly.
"Yeah?"
"We're still… us?" Shane has no idea if what they started last night is something she intends on pursuing immediately, back among their people.
But it seems she understands the unvoiced part of his question. She smiles, eyes going speculative. "Yes."
Whatever else might be said is left for later, because Glenn's calling his name. The Korean's sharp gaze catches their exchange, but he doesn't say anything about it.
"There's a field of wildflowers down near the woods, Daryl said. I thought I would take the kids down there and let them gather some."
Shane looks toward the indicated treeline and nods. It's not out of sight of camp. "Take a shotgun."
Screw the old man's firearms rule, all things considered.
Glenn gathers up the kids, all of them except Merry, and leads them away to where Shane can see splashes of color among the high grass. He watches until the group is on the way back with armloads of blooms before going to fill one of the buckets with water to wash up the best he can. Even if he doesn't know the folks, it doesn't feel respectful to show up dirty for whatever closure the family needs.
In the end, when the farm residents make their way across to the two graves, most of Shane's people stand calmly as a group at a distance. Ellie leads Maggie over, one arm tucked comfortingly around her shoulders, just as Patricia has Beth. Shane, Jacqui, and Dale walk behind Ellie, although Hershel pays their presence no mind.
He does look at the brightly colored wildflowers strewn across the graves and reaches down to lift a yellow one. The old man is quiet for a moment, before he repeats a Bible verse Shane doesn't recognize and replaces the wildflower. Then he turns and makes his way back to the house without ever interacting with anyone.
When Beth kneels next to the graves, Maggie joins her, allowing Ellie to back up next to Shane. Her fingers link with his, and her hand is distressingly cold for a hot July evening. It reminds him of what the last funeral she attended probably was, not even a full year ago. He rubs his thumb against her skin, hoping it comforts her.
Patricia offers them a sad smile as the sisters cling to each other. She eases them back to their feet, obviously intent on taking them home. "I'll look after them."
With the quiet dismissal, Shane and the others head back to their camp. Ellie doesn't let go of his hand until she has to, accepting a bowl from Carol with a quiet thank you. She settles into a camp chair and makes a quiet hum of enjoy. "Gumbo?"
"Patricia gave me some sausage and vegetables before everything went chaotic. It seemed like a good mix."
Ellie takes another bite. "For something cooked outdoors, this reminds me of meals from restaurants back when Daryl and I lived in Louisiana."
"You lived in Louisiana?" Dale asks, looking curious as always. Shane supposes everyone is curious for more tidbits about the Dixons because they already know most everything about each other.
Ellie gives her bowl a stir, glancing to where Daryl is glaring at his food more than eating it. She frowns a little, but looks back to Dale. "When I was twelve, for a year. We also lived in California a little while and Texas."
"Was thirteen when we lived in Louisiana. Was after California and Texas," Daryl corrects. He's looking up now, his expression unsettled, and Shane figures out the issue when Daryl looks between Shane and Ellie. Her uncle is decidedly unhappy about the change in their relationship from fake to real. "And you forgot Colorado."
"That was just for the summer harvest, when we moved from California to Texas. Not really long enough to count. Mountains sure were pretty, though."
"What was your favorite place outside Georgia?" Jacqui asks. "Never been further than our neighboring states myself."
"California, I think. We were there the longest. Two years." She bobbles a spoon at Daryl. "I liked watching him surf."
That gets a lot of curious looks turned on Daryl, who seems like the antithesis of the type to surf, especially in California. The man grimaces. "Been a long time since those days."
"Were you out in California, too?" Carol asks Merle.
The big man shakes his head. "Nah. Was back in the days before I straightened up. Was doing a nickel at Burress Correctional."
Shane is a little surprised at the open admission of time served, but then again, Merle doesn't seem to care about whitewashing his past. It's a refreshing honesty Shane didn't really expect.
"Got out and couldn't find hide nor hair of Daryl or Ellie. The old man barely seemed to know they were gone. Was starting to wonder if maybe…" Merle clears his throat, and Shane remembers the scars the Dixon men bear. He can fill in the blank that Merle thought they might be dead at his father's hands.
"But found someone that said Daryl snagged Ellie up and hightailed it out of Georgia. Stayed gone til the old bastard kicked the bucket."
"Should've done away with him, not run away and lived like we did." Daryl stands, passing his empty bowl to Carol with an abrupt thanks. He strides off to his tent.
Ellie sighs, handing her own bowl over and standing. "He always forgets we did pretty well for ourselves those years, compared to all the ones before." She follows Daryl, leaving Merry with Merle.
"How old were they, exactly?" Jacqui asks, voice soft and kind as she eyes Merle's mournful expression.
Merle glances around the group, taking note the kids are clustered together far enough away they're ignoring the adult conversation. "Ten and fifteen. The old bastard never got violent with Ellie, just us boys. But I wasn't there when she hit puberty kinda early. Daryl saw what kind of monster Will Dixon was, and he took Ellie and ran til they hit ocean."
"Jesus Christ." Shane's blood runs cold at the thought. "Did he?" He can't even complete the sentence.
"No. Daryl was a better man than me at only fifteen and smarter. I bailed on them both, mix of juvie, military, and jail. But he never wavered. Worked all the sorts of crap ass jobs available to a teenager who needed to stay off radar. Stayed out of jail, too, and kept Ellie in school even if he couldn't finish."
Merle glances toward the two other adult Dixons, jiggling Merry on his knee when she gets restless. "Only found them again after Daryl made the news working with the fire department in Atlanta. Buddy back home saw the story. Ellie was sixteen by then."
Every new bit of information Shane learns further reinforces the intertwined relationship of Ellie and Daryl. If they lit out of state when Daryl was still a teenager, they would have been made further reliant than just growing up in an abusive home would entail. Seems like the man served as parent and sibling all in one, despite being only five years older.
Daryl's disapproval of Shane being close to Ellie seems a lot more important than it did before. Thing is, he can't really figure out why, because the man always seemed friendly enough since they left the quarry. Although if he's really honest, there's a difference in friendly leadership and ignoring his past with Lori, versus ignoring it where Ellie is concerned. Shane should just volunteer for whatever shovel talk the man might deliver.
Merle's unease with the conversation shifts it finally to anything other than the darker past of his family. Shane lets the chatter flow around him, feeling relieved when Ellie returns to her seat next to him. The idea that she might change her mind about him unsettles the hell out of him. Once Ellie is back, Merry settles in her lap, sprawling to play with Shane's fingers.
Slowly, everyone drifts away to their tents, even Ellie off with Merry toward the Dixon tent. Shane sighs, knowing he's going to miss Ellie's presence next to him tonight. It's not just the potential for what they started, but the companionship and sweet affection he is craving.
He pushes away the disappointment and gets to his feet. Morning will come early enough, and they have orders to leave. Shane reminds T-Dog to wake him for watch at four. He's had time to settle down for bed when his door is unzipped to admit Ellie with the baby, a bag, and that collapsible playpen.
She smiles at him as he gets up to take the playpen and unfold it. Merry is sound asleep, not even rousing when she's laid down.
"Where's Sadie?" He knows the teen stayed with Carol and Sophia last night, so he isn't surprised when Ellie confirms that's a repeat.
"I think she's really tickled pink about having a friend her own age. She's been lonely."
That makes Shane feel a little ashamed, remembering the quarry and how he ignores the careful exclusion of the Dixon teenager from activities with the younger kids. He hasn't spent a lot of time with the girl himself, but from what he's seen, she's a social butterfly.
"Probably does Sophia a world of good, too." The shy little blonde seems a lot happier, and it can't all be because Ed Peletier is dead.
Ellie wraps her arms around his waist and promptly muffles a yawn in his chest. Shane laughs, tilting her face up for a kiss not intended for passion.
"You got even less sleep than usual last night, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I'm hoping Merry sleeps good tonight."
Shane motions toward the air mattress, drawing her after him. She yawns again as they settle down. He finds he doesn't mind that they have a lazy repeat of last night's make out session once they're prone with no intention for more. While this sort of affectionate bed sharing isn't something he's really done before, he finds he likes it.
He lies in the dark with her head on his chest, reveling in the contact between them. Ellie is asleep too soon for him to ask if she's settled whatever Daryl's issue is. Maybe it'll have to wait until they get settled somewhere safe, but he knows it has to be sorted out. The man needs to know he isn't going to regress to his affair with Rick's wife in any way.
Shane can't see any hope of a relationship happening if Daryl Dixon remains truly opposed to him being a part of Ellie's life. He just needs to prove he's committed.
A/N: Ellie and Daryl's years outside Georgia will come up in more detail later.
They aren't leaving the farm just yet, I promise, and poor Shane. One very big issue is about to hurtle a wrench into the works... Hello, Judith, right?