Chapter 2-Grief
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl and T-dog follow Shane through the woods. Nobody has said anything since they left the highway. They stop when they see a walker coming towards them. "Have fun," Daryl says as he stops beside T-dog. Shane doesn't say anything as he pulls his knife out and walks up to the walker. He stabs it in the top of the head and drops it to the ground. He turns around and looks at Daryl and T-dog. "Let's make something clear here if you decide to kill me. Don't shoot me in the back like a coward. Make sure you kill me while looking me in the eyes," Shane tells them before he turns around and continues to walk. Daryl and T-dog start to follow him.
"You don't seem too worried about him killing us," T-dog says to Daryl.
"He gave us the chance to kill him if he thought about killing us. He would have left after he killed Rick," Daryl says. "Shane may have killed Rick, but that doesn't change anything between us,"
"He killed Rick," T-dog says.
"Yeah," Daryl says. "After the school, it was only a matter of time. I feel bad for the kid. Rick was a good man. We can't change what happened, but Shane knows what this world is. He would be better off without all of them," T-dog doesn't say anything as they continue to walk through the woods.
Glenn's P.O.V
Glenn drives the car heading for Hershel's farm once again. Maggie looks at Glenn, who hasn't spoken since they left. "You okay?" Maggie asks him.
"Rick was my best friend. But he treated me well and was always nice to me," Glenn says. Maggie lays her hand on his shoulder. "A part of me wanted to grab Rick's gun and shoot him,"
"I think we all thought about it," Maggie says to him. "We need to forget about what happened for a minute and worry about getting the supplies," Glenn nods as they pull up to the farm. They see walkers around the house. Glenn gets out of the car and pulls his machete out. He slams it down on the first walker's head and pulls it out. Maggie pulls out her knife and stabs a walker as Patricia's walker comes towards them. He goes to the side of the car and grabs her from behind. Maggie stabs her in the head. Glenn drops her to the ground. Glenn and Maggie kill two more walkers as they make their way to the door. They shut the door as more walkers start to hit the door. "We'll have to go through the window on the way out," Maggie tells Glenn, who nods. Glenn and Maggie grab bags and go downstairs to the basement, where they start to put supplies in the bag. Maggie and Glenn could hear the walkers hitting the door upstairs. "Where are all the guns?"
"I don't know. If Andrea is alive, maybe she has it," Glenn says as he finishes putting food in a bag. Maggie puts water and medicine in her bag.
"How long do you think this will last?" Maggie asks.
"I don't know, but we can search some of the cars on the highway," Glenn says as he goes upstairs. Glenn goes to the window in the back and opens the back window. He drops down and stands back up. He pulls his machete back out and kills a walker as Maggie drops down. Glenn cuts off another walker's head as they run for the car. Maggie stabs a walker before she climbs into the passenger door. Glenn climbs into the driver's side and starts the car. He backs up as the walkers on the porch move towards the car. Glenn drives away from the farm heading for the highway again.
Lori's P.O.V
Lori was looking through a car on the highway. She had left Carl with Beth and Carol. She looks at Hershel as he walks over to her. "How is he doing?" Lori asks him.
"Beth is distracting him. How are you?" Hershel asks as he stops beside her.
"I'm trying to keep my mind off it. Our marriage wasn't perfect, and we had our problems, but I loved him," Lori says to him.
"You should have your time to grieve. Both you and Carl should, and I wish you could, but I don't think we will have that time," Hershel says.
"His body is out there, Hershel. We can't leave him out there," Lori says.
"We'll bury him before we leave," Hershel tells her. "I think Shane wants to bury him," Lori shakes her head.
"He isn't going anywhere near him," Lori tells Hershel. "We should throw him on the side of the road and leave him,"
"Carl and Shane are the only two who know where the body is. And I don't think you want Carl seeing that," Hershel says.
"He shot him," Lori says, almost in tears. "Carl told me what he did. He had to shot his own father as a walker,"
"Rick turned?" Hershel asks him. Lori nods slowly. "Shane killed him,"
"He wasn't bit," Lori says, realizing.
"Let's wait for the others to get back. Let's make sure nothing happened before. Shane will know. Let's keep ourselves busy getting supplies," Hershel says. Lori nods as they start to look through the cars.
Shane's P.O.V
Shane and T-dog stood behind Daryl as he looked at dead walkers, one of them missing their heads. "Is it her?" T-dog asks.
"There are four sets of footprints leaving. The strange thing is two of them look more like walkers," Daryl says.
"So, what do you think?" Shane asks.
"We have been walking for about two hours, and we haven't seen anything. I don't know. There's a chance," Daryl says. "These footprints are fresh. It can't be more than three or 4 hours old," Daryl says as he starts to follow the footprints. Shane walks up beside him. "Are you going to leave after this?"
"Do you want me to?" Shane asks him. Daryl glances at him.
"You may be a dick and just killed your best friend. But you know what you are doing, and besides Glenn and T-dog, I know you know what you're doing," Daryl says.
"What about Andrea?" Shane asks.
"I don't know if she's alive," Daryl says. "Everybody back at those cars is going to need to pull their weight. I don't like what you did, but they need you," Shane nods as they come into a clearing and see a house. "That is where I found that blanket,"
"Tracks lead to it," T-dog says. Daryl, Shane, and T-dog move towards the house. Daryl pushes the door open and looks around with his crossbow raised. Shane and T-dog raise their guns around the house.
"Andrea," Shane says. They all look at the stairs as they hear footsteps. A woman stood at the top of the stairs with a gun in her hands.
"Who are you?" The woman asks.
"We are just looking for our friend," Daryl says.
"Is she blond and has a sheriff bag?" The woman asks. Shane nods. "She's sleeping. I found her as one of them almost took a bite out of her,"
"Can we see her?" Daryl asks the woman, who nods as she lowers her gun. She motions them to follow her upstairs. They walk into the room and see Andrea lying on a blanket. T-dog looks at a closet where he could hear walkers.
"Ignore them," The woman says. "I'm Michonne,"
"Daryl, that's Shane and T-dog," Daryl says as he bends down. He shakes Andrea's shoulder. "Andrea," Andrea opens her eyes and looks at. Andrea wraps her arm around Daryl. Daryl slowly wraps his arms around her. She looks at Shane and T-dog.
"What the fuck happened to you?" Andrea asks as she stands up and hugs T-dog.
"I killed Rick," Shane says.
"What?" Andrea asks.
"Rick and I got into a knife fight. He's dead, and I'm not," Shane says. Andrea slowly nods.
"Who else is dead?" Andrea asks.
"Patricia and Jimmy," Daryl says. "Glenn and Maggie went back to the farm to get supplies, and Beth, Carl, Lori, Carol, and Hershel are on the highway," Andrea nods. Shane looks at Michonne.
"You want to come back with us?" Shane asks.
"You don't know me," Michonne says.
"I'll add you to the long list of people who don't trust me right now," Shane says.
"Safety in numbers," Andrea says to her. "Just leave the walkers," Michonne looks at them for a moment before she pulls her katana out.
"Can you open that?" Michonne asks Andrea, who nods as she opens the closet door. Michonne stabs the first walker through the mouth and cuts the other's head off. Michonne puts her katana away and goes into another room. She grabs the gun bag and comes back out.
"Glad you found that," Shane says. "Come on if we go back now. We should get back before evening," The other four nod as they follow Shane out of the house and head for the highway.
The highway
Daryl, Shane, T-dog, Michonne, and Andrea walk onto the highway and over to the group. "Oh, thank god," Carol says as she runs over to Andrea and hugs her. Andrea smiles as she hugs the woman.
"You found her. Good job," Hershel says as he walks up to them. Andrea lets Carol go and hugs Glenn. "Shane," Shane looks at the older man. 'Was Rick bit?"
"No," Shane says. "Carl told you, I'm assuming," Hershel nods. "Yeah, Rick turned,"
"So did, Randall, and you said you killed him," Daryl says. "It doesn't matter how you die. You still turn,"
"We're all infected," Shane says. "We'll turn regardless unless we destroy the brain,"
"It makes sense. It explains how so many people turned so fast," T-dog says.
"Glenn, what time is it?" Lori asks. Glenn pulls out Hershel's watch.
"3:00 P.m," Glenn says.
"Grab a shovel," Lori says to Shane. "We are going to bury my husband,"
"I want to come," Carl says. "He's my dad,"
"I'll help," Daryl says. "You guys can stay here and search the cars. We'll leave tomorrow," The group nods as they go to the blue truck where Lori put two shovels she had found in some of the cars.
"Stay close," Lori says to Carl, who nods. Daryl grabs a flashlight, some water, and granola bars and puts them in a bag. He throws the bag around his bag and follows the other three into the woods.
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl hung in the back of the group as they walked through the woods. Shane was in the front by himself and Lori, and Carl was in the middle. He looks at Carl as he steps back and falls into step with him. "My Dad was a piece of shit. Beat Merle and me," Daryl tells Carl, who looks at him. "This ain't fair to you, kid. You shouldn't be walking to your Dad's body. You should be in school and being a kid. But right now, your Mom needs you, and so does the group. Will you be there?" Carl nods.
"Yeah, I'll be there," Carl says. Daryl nods. "Sorry about your Dad,"
"Sorry about yours," Daryl says as they arrive in a field.
"Are you two sure you want to see this?" Shane asks Lori and Carl.
"Where is he?" Lori asks Shane, who nods as he leads them to Rick's body. They could see Hershel's farm. Lori gasps when she sees Rick's body. She goes up to Rick's body with Carl behind her.
"Come on," Shane says as he leads Daryl away as Lori and Carl stay by Rick. Shane and Daryl start to dig Rick's grave. Daryl and Shane could hear the two as they sobbed behind them. Daryl and Shane dig for about two hours. They finish the grave and move towards Rick's body. As they get close, Lori grabs Carl's gun and turns around, aiming the gun at Shane, who stops. "Do it," Lori's hands shook as she held the gun. She lets out a cry before she drops the gun. Lori falls back to her knees, and Carl hugs her. Shane and Daryl walk to the body, and Shane bends down beside his dead best friend. He pulls off Rick's gun belt.
"What are you doing?" Carl asks. Shane pulls out Rick's python and puts it in the holster. He sets it down beside Lori. Daryl and Shane pick Rick up.
"Wait," Lori says. Shane and Daryl set Rick down. Lori pulls Rick's ring off his finger and nods to the two men who pick him back up and take him to the grave. They put Rick in the grave and start to shovel the dirt into the grave. By the time the two finished the grave, the sun was almost down.
"Come on. We should get back," Daryl says. Lori nods. She now had Rick's gun belt on with his python. Daryl and Shane start to walk back, with Lori and Carl following them.
The Highway
It was dark as the four people arrived at the highway. Daryl shines his flashlight as they walk back onto the road. They walk up to Glenn, who was sitting on the truck. "Get some sleep," Daryl says to Lori and Carl, who nod as they walk away. T-dog and Hershel walk over to the three men.
"So you're staying?" Glenn asks.
"Yeah, I'm staying," Shane says.
"So what is our plan? We can't stay here. Another herd is bound to come through here," T-dog says.
"So, what do we do?" Glenn asks.
"I don't know about you. But I'm sick of this place, Georgia in general. I say we get on the road and find someplace somewhere else," Shane says.
"I don't see why not," T-dog says.
"We'll talk with the group tomorrow," Daryl says. Everybody nods as they go to bed.
"Go, I'll keep watch," Shane tells Glenn, who nods as he walks away. Daryl climbs into the cab of the truck and lays down as the group goes to sleep.
Thanks for reading. Now we move on from the highway and Hershel's farm. Do you want the group to go to the prison Not to stay but to save the prisoners like Oscar and Axel? Let me know if you want to see that. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.