The events that followed were the kind that, had you told her this morning what would happen, she never would have imagined possible. Fast forward to that evening, and it was frankly hard to believe they made it out at all.
Well, not all of them had.
She didn't exactly have 'Merle gets handcuffed to the roof and abandoned in the middle of a swarm of walkers' on her bingo card for today's trip. Nor did she expect 'Rick returns from the dead—alive' or 'covering self in walker guts hides you in plain sight'. She liked the term that Rick coined for the undead—walkers. Seemed fitting.
But now, in the van on the way back to camp, she couldn't predict how this reunion would go. One thing was for sure. It would not be pretty.
She tried over and over to imagine Shane's reaction, and failed. It would ruin him. She had a feeling that Lori would change her tune about Rick once she saw him standing there.
Over the months since Rick had been shot—even before the Outbreak, while he was just in the hospital—Lori had confided some pretty dark secrets in Nicole.
Secrets like: Lori had been contemplating divorcing Rick for a long time. Secrets like: she felt obligated to stick with him at first only for Carl's sake, then out of pure guilt once he was shot on duty. She couldn't very well leave him when he was laid up in the hospital in a coma. What kind of person would that make her?
Everything happens for a reason. That's what Lori eventually said about Rick, in her darkest moments, and only ever to Nicole. Except possibly for Shane. She might have also said it to him.
But what would Lori do when she saw Rick, back from the dead, having gone through hell to get back to them?
Nicole thought she might know what Lori would do. And it would not be good for Shane.
At the same time, it ate Nicole up inside to not warn Rick. But she couldn't be positive about what would happen, and for now, it felt wiser to just not say anything at all—to handle things as they happened.
She supposed, worst case scenario, she and Shane would do okay on their own. If necessary.
But would it come to that?
"Look! Up ahead. Isn't that Shane's jeep?"
Nicole's heart jumped in her throat. Of course, he would come for her.
She was caught in a whirlwind, feeling whiplash from conflicting emotions. Warmth, because despite how insistently he claimed that going to Atlanta was dangerous and pointlessly reckless, the minute he found out his sister was in true danger, he didn't hesitate. Of course.
But at the same time, her heart ached for her brother. She glanced at Rick. The object of her confliction. Shane's newfound role in life was rapidly drawing to a close, and he didn't even know it yet. She clenched her jaw, eyeing the jeep that came to a stop and flashed its headlights at them to signal them to stop.
She had hoped to use the time on the ride back to camp to devise a way to break the news to him gently. Or, knowing that there was no good way to break news like this, to brace herself to be the support system he would need.
But of course, he would come to save her from Atlanta. Of course.
She reached over and grabbed Morales's shoulder and squeezed. "Pull over," she told him, her voice low and uncharacteristically somber.
The brakes squealed as the vehicle rolled to a stop on the road. Nicole cleared her throat and wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. She turned to Rick without meeting his gaze. "Let me go first," she said.
The excited expression on Rick's face froze. He looked at her and she tried to school her features.
"It's just—what they said on the walkie," she reminded him. "He knew I was with them, and they told him we were trapped. He's gonna panic."
Rick, without saying anything, nodded. But he looked less excited now. She wondered if he'd somehow figured it out already, but thought that it was unlikely. He couldn't know. Could he?
But as she climbed out of the van and onto the road, all thoughts of Rick's feelings melted away. Shane was out of his car and bounding across the blacktop toward her. "Nicole!" he shouted, hurrying to grab her arms and check her over for injuries. "What the hell happened?"
She shook her head and pushed him off, taking him by the elbow. When their gaze met, he froze.
"Shane…"
He straightened up, mirroring her tone. "What?"
She looked away, unable to look him in the face as she delivered the blow. "Shane, something happened in Atlanta."
"I know—"
"No." Nicole squeezed his elbow. "Just let me finish. We picked someone up."
His eyes flashed in frustration. "Are you for real? Another person? Nicole, I thought we all talked about this! We—"
"Shane." Something in her tone stopped him in his tracks. He frowned at her in confusion. "It's Ri—"
Her brother's gaze caught on movement over her shoulder. She cursed under her breath and turned to see Rick emerge from the van. He was looking past them hopefully, as though he might have expected to see Lori and Carl—though why he might have thought Shane would bring them on a potential rescue mission to Atlanta was beyond her.
Shane's hands fell away from her and he staggered back as though he had taken a physical blow to the gut. "Rick—" he breathed.
Shane suddenly glared down at her with bewilderment, borderline accusatory. Having spent a lifetime reading his many facial expressions, she knew exactly what he was thinking. Had she told him? Did Rick know about Lori and Shane?
Nicole shook her head almost imperceptibly at him. Then she turned to wave Rick over. "Come here! Come on over. Surprise is ruined now!"
As Rick approached, Nicole tilted her head at him with a strained smile. "I thought I asked you to give me a minute with him."
Rick looked back at her, seemingly clueless. "I thought I did—I'm sorry—"
"Nah, it's fine. Come here, man!" Shane drew his best friend into a hug and clapped him on the back, and Nicole was relieved to see how readily affectionate he was with him. "Can't believe you're alive! No—you don't understand—I saw you."
"So I've heard," Rick said, pulling away. "I was in the hospital all alone. No doctors. No nurses. No one! No one alive, anyway. The whole place was overrun. So, I got out of there and went to the station to suit up. Eventually made my way to Atlanta, ran into Nicky here. And now…" He put his hands up and gestured at Shane. "Look at you, man! You look good."
"Me?" Shane shook his head and glanced at Nicole from the corner of his eye. "Nah, you should see Carl. Think he sprouted 'bout three inches since you last seen him. He's growin' like a weed, man."
Rick's eyes misted longingly. "We should go. I can't wait to see them."
"Yeah, yeah—uh, hey Nicole. Wanna ride back with me? Come on."
Notably, Rick was not included in this invitation. He didn't seem to question it though, assuming that they might need a private moment after Shane had panicked that the worst had happened to Nicole. He merely nodded to them and jogged back to the van.
Wordlessly, Nicole and Shane fell into step and headed to the jeep.
A long time passed in silence on the ride back. It was nearly impossible to keep from peppering him with questions about how he was feeling, what he was thinking.
He hadn't even asked what happened. Where Rick came from. How they found each other.
Nicole pressed a fist to her lips and kept her gaze averted out the passenger window to keep from forcing him to speak. A lifetime with Shane meant that she knew better than to force him to do anything.
About halfway there, Shane spoke for the first time.
"What am I supposed to do?"
She turned away from the window to look at him. He looked like he was in physical pain, jaw clenched tight enough to crack a molar. Eyes bright and slightly unfocused on the road.
For a long moment, she just let the question hang. Her heart still ached, and her throat felt raw. She didn't exactly understand her brother's decision to get with Lori—but he was content. Happy, even. It was the first time in a long time she had seen him genuinely happy, in fact.
It wasn't fair.
She looked straight ahead. Her voice barely above a whisper, she said, "We can just keep driving."
Shane's gaze snapped to her, shocked. He looked at the road and then back at her again in disbelief. "What?"
"I'm just saying—no matter what happens… I have your back. And if you don't want to go back at all, we don't have to."
Shane clenched his jaw tight. A muscle in his cheek jumped and he breathed in through his nose for a long moment, processing her suggestion, turning it over in his mind. She could practically see the wheels turning. His hands gripped the steering wheel tight. Finally, he shook his head. "I can't do that to her."
She wanted to comment on that. To point out that Lori wasn't… who he thought she was. But what did Nicole know, really? Maybe she was wrong.
Nicole turned back to the window. "It was just a suggestion."
The silence fell between them again and after a moment he said, "So what do I do, Nicky?"
She kept looking out the window, watching the trees pass by. Her heart felt heavy in her chest. "I don't know."
Shane parked his car right in front of the van. He got out as Andrea darted past him to catch her sister and spin each other around in joyous relief. The others followed soon after.
"Shane!" Carl cheered, running behind one of Morales's children to greet them.
Shane caught Carl as he jumped but a smile couldn't quite reach his face. "Hey, bud," he grunted under his weight.
Lori noticed the oddly tense expression on his face right away. She turned to Nicole, alert. "What? Did something happen out there?"
Nicole opened her mouth and then just shook her head, turning to look back at the van and wait for the last reveal. Lori, confused, followed her gaze and then froze when Rick stepped into view.
Carl backed away from Shane and fumbled half a step towards Rick. "Dad—" he gasped in disbelief, and then, "DAD!"
He rocketed down the hill to Rick, who had already dropped to his knees and opened his arms. "Carl!" He swept the boy into his arms. He held him tight with his eyes shut as he murmured things to Carl that they couldn't hear.
Lori looked like she was in shock. She stood, rigid, her face the same pallor quality of chalk. Tears pooled in her eyes. She blinked them away rapidly and, mouth agape, ripped her gaze away long enough to look at Shane, who just stood with his hands on his hips and monitored her reaction carefully.
Nicole moved closer to her brother as Lori staggered down the hill and broke into a run towards her family like she was in a daze. She fell into the Grimes boys and wrapped her arms around them. "Oh, my God!"
Nearby, Dale turned around and shrugged askance at Nicole. "So, you had an eventful trip, I take it?"
"Fruitful," she nodded with a small smile. Shane choked on an ironic laugh, though it sounded hollow to her.
Shane reached out and patted her shoulder. She leaned into his side, sensing that he might need some strength right about now.
Dale studied the joyous family at the bottom of the hill. "I'll say," he thoughtfully mused.
Carl spent the whole evening giving Rick the grand tour. He took him around all the points of interest—the campfires, the Quarry, the camper, their tent—all the way down to the spot in the grass he liked to watch the clouds the most. They all laughed when he passed the table with his schoolwork he'd been forced to do each day with nary a glance, giving it only a cursory mention.
The family's relief and joy was contagious. Despite having trapped Merle on a rooftop in Atlanta, the mood around camp was light. Hope had never felt higher. A large part of that was probably also due to the fact that Daryl was gone on an apparent overnight hunt. They had yet to have to deal with any real fallout over the loss of Merle. The consequences of their actions.
T-Dog did look kind of somber, but Shane was the one who stood out the most. At least in her mind, though she might be the only one who noticed since evidence of his despair was hard to spot. He followed the Grimes around like a ghost on their tour at Carl's behest, since the boy insisted on his help to explain each thing he pointed out to Rick in grand detail.
Night fell and they all gathered around embers and tried to huddle for warmth. Nicole felt exhausted. Drained, mentally and physically. She sat beside Shane with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, her eyes drooping more and more often.
Rick regaled them softly with the tale of his quest back to them. Nicole was admittedly impressed to hear how sure he had been that not only was his family alive, but that he would find them. He had confessed that he wasn't so sure about Nicole, since he knew she worked downtown, and he'd seen how decimated it was before he left.
A few feet away, Ed stood up and tossed a log on his fire pit. It crashed into the pit and sent sparks flying high into the sky. The fresh wood hissed from the heat, and some of the embers crackled and popped loudly. She shifted and felt Shane tense up beside her.
He was already on a short fuse, his nerves scraped absolutely raw from the day's revelations and keeping a mask tightly in place through Carl's endless tour all evening—and now this.
"Hey, Ed," Shane started. "Wanna rethink that log?"
"It's cold, man," Ed grumbled back dismissively.
"Cold don't change the rules, does it?"
Nicole felt the tension crank up a few notches. The others began to shift and look around uncertainly, waiting for the conversation to escalate. Shane continued. "Ain't we talked about this, man? We keep the fires low—down to embers, so they can't be seen from a distance."
"It's cold," Ed said again, unmoved by Shane's logical appeal.
Shane glanced at Nicole in irritation, and she gave a subtle shake of her head, moving to stand. He touched her arm to keep her in place. "Ed. Come on."
"I said it's cold. Why don't you mind your own business for once?"
"Okay." Nicole stood and angled herself in front of Shane deliberately as she passed, giving him a firm look. He glared up at her with barely contained rage. "Actually, you know what? I'm kind of warm, and we found these extra blankets in Atlanta today. You can borrow this."
She crossed into their circle and Ed made no move to acknowledge her, showing zero interest in accepting the peace offering. Nicole decided to ignore him in return, and laid the blanket nearby. She turned her attention to Carol. "Hang on—I'll go grab some more."
"Thank you," Carol said, her voice all but inaudible. She kept her gaze affixed on the growing flames of their fire and her head down. Sophia mirrored Carol, her back rigid and face red. "We appreciate that. It's very kind of you."
When Nicole brought a few more blankets over, she handed two to Carol and caught her gaze meaningfully. She jerked her chin towards Ed and Carol reluctantly reached out and took the blanket from her and cleared her throat.
Carol stood as Nicole went to knock the extra log from the fire. Sophia watched every movement, tracking both her and her mother.
"Damn, I really have to repeat myself again?" Ed said, his voice rising. "Don't take that damn log, woman! Don't care what that damn brother of yours thinks—you don't come into my—"
But he got no further. By that point, Shane had already stormed over and grasped Ed's shoulder tightly in his hand, his grip punishing.
Ed snapped his gaze up to glare hatefully at Shane. "It would be wise of you to take those blankets, Ed. And to apologize."
"Sorry," Carol quickly interjected. "We didn't mean anything by it. We took the log off. Sorry."
Shane barely spared her a glance. "That's all right," he said, his eyes locked with Ed's. "See, we don't mind cooperating with you. All in the spirit of having a safe camp, right? Making sure we all live to see another day. Ain't that right, Ed?"
Ed let Carol drape the blanket around his shoulders, brushing Shane's grip from her husband as she did so. "Mmhm," he grunted, and said nothing more.
Nicole rolled her eyes at it all and winked at Sophia, who quickly looked away. She sighed and went back to take her seat again. As she sat, Lori passed her the long-sleeved plaid shirt she had been wearing earlier, a knowing glint in her eyes. Nicole accepted it without fanfare and Lori tucked back into the warmth of her family's little huddle.
Shane planted himself next to her again. "You okay?" He asked, and she flashed him a reassuring grin.
"Yep."
He made an unhappy face and shook his head, glowering in Ed's direction. "Man's a hazard to his whole family," he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. "And I'm just about sick of 'em."
Nicole raised an eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder, wrapping the plaid shirt Lori had given her tighter around her. Shane eyed the garment dubiously and briefly locked eyes with Lori before he looked away and focused on the fire again.
"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" Dale tentatively asked, drawing everyone's attention. "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."
Shane took a breath and shook his head, unsure of what to say.
"I dropped the key," T-Dog offered, staring pensively in the middle-distance. "I'll tell him. I dropped the key, it's on me."
Nicole rubbed her face tiredly, listening to the chorus of crickets and frogs around them and dreading the thought of an angry Dixon storming their camp in the morning. "I cuffed him," Rick said. "That makes it mine."
"And I'm the one who asked him to go on the roof in the first place," Nicole countered. "What's your point? It's all of our faults, but it's no one's fault as much as it is his own."
"That's great," Dale snorted unhelpfully. "Tell him that, then. We'll see how that goes over."
Nicole turned to look at the older man. "Dale, I tell you what. No one here in this camp is under any illusions about what kind of man Merle Dixon is, how hard he is to get along with. How easily he makes enemies. Least of all Daryl." Dale opened his mouth, but she spoke over him "You ever had a brother? No?"
Dale pressed his lips together as he considered her words, his thick brow furrowed.
"Okay, that's what I thought. Trust me. It don't matter what we say, he's gonna be mad. There's no way to strategize an approach to avoid it. Daryl will blame us, and in a lot of ways he won't be wrong."
"I just can't accept that," Andrea bitterly interjected. "I take no responsibility for what happened to him, and neither should any of you. Especially not T-Dog, not after what he said to him."
"Yeah, plus—however we decide to say it..." Glenn started, looking at T-Dog as well. "It might sound better coming from a white guy."
T-Dog looked like he swallowed a lemon. Like it pained him greatly to say the words, but he felt he had no choice. "I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from it."
Andrea's sister, Amy, shifted as she tentatively spoke up. "We could lie…"
"No." Nicole shook her head and blew a stray hair away from her face. "We aren't lying to him. Out of all of us, I've had the most interaction with him. Dale's right. He's going to be irrational. Any one of us would, if it was our brother. Fact is, he's going to head back to Atlanta and look for him. I can guarantee you that."
"Well, good luck to him. I'm not going back," Andrea grumbled. "Sounds like suicide. And Merle's not worth it."
"He's not your brother," Nicole pointed out.
"Thank God," Andrea muttered, causing Amy to smirk.
Nicole shook her head at them and turned her gaze skywards, watching the stars twinkle.
"I doubt anyone here disagrees with you, Andrea," Shane said, his eyes on Nicole. "No way we're going with him."
Nicole pressed her mouth into the back of her wrist where it rested across her knees and didn't respond.
Early that morning, before anyone one else was up, Nicole climbed out of her tent. She already knew Shane was up because his sleeping bag was empty. Had been all night, actually. He had claimed he would come to bed at some point, but she knew he didn't.
She found him sitting by the fire where she left him, the embers long since having burned down to smoking ash. The sky was a gentle grey and the crickets had finally quieted. The only sound came from a few chirping birds and some really intense snores in various spots throughout the camp.
Shane sat staring off in the distance, an elbow propped on his knee where he rested against a log. He twirled the stem of a leaf back and forth in his fingers.
He glanced up when she approached. He looked like shit, with dark bruised circles under his bloodshot eyes. "Mornin—" he tried, but his voice was too hoarse. He cleared it and tried again. "Mornin'. Sleep okay?"
Nicole shrugged a shoulder and settled beside him. Leaning back against the log, she stretched her legs out and shook her hair off her shoulders. "Could use a bath after yesterday, I think. It's always hard to wash the smell of the city off."
He hummed and sighed deeply. The kind of sigh that you felt deep in your belly. "Was gonna go grab some water from the Quarry, if you wanna come with. You can wash up there. I'll stand watch for ya."
"Can I drive?" she asked, side-eyeing him. "No offense, but you drive like the devil himself is chasing you and it's too early in the morning for all that."
Shane snorted and a lopsided smirk tugged at his lips. "No shot."
She nudged her shoulder against his. "Brat."
He huffed a laugh. "How can I be the brat? I'm older."
"It's your attitude that makes you a brat," she informed him. "Not your age."
"Oh," he nodded, trying not to give that same lopsided smirk again. "Okay, that makes sense then."
"Mhm."
He stood up and offered her his hand. "Come on, daylight's burnin'."
"The suns not even out yet."
"Just a figure of speech, sis."
"Mhm."
Nicole sat on the shore of the Quarry and watched Shane carry the largest water cooler into the water. He waded a few steps in, then submerged it just far enough for it to start to fill. Once it got going, he stood up straight and rubbed at his neck.
She twisted her hair into a knot at the top of her head and stabbed a stick through it, brushed off her pants, and stood. "Well, guess we should have that talk now, huh?"
Shane half turned to glance at her, then went back to watching the sun rise over the cliff of the Quarry. "What's that?"
"I think you should talk."
"Really, now? 'Bout what?" He asked, a warning in his tone. He didn't bother to turn around.
Nicole let her head fall back and she sighed up at the sky. "About Lori, Shane."
"What about her?" Agitation rolled off him in waves.
"Oh my god," she muttered. After a moment, she closed her eyes in resignation and headed back to the jeep. "Fine. Forget it."
"Ain't nothin' to say," Shane called after her. Then, more so to himself, he said it again. "Ain't nothin' to say."
Nicole grumbled under her breath and climbed back into his jeep. "I'm going back to Atlanta today," she called out, ignoring him when he turned around to gawk at her. "Just so you know," she added without looking up.
He scoffed loudly at her. "Over my dead body—"
"That was not me asking for your permission," she said. "I don't need your permission, in fact. You're so worried about me, you are more than welcome to join. As always."
Shane reached up to scratch at his ear, looking incredibly annoyed and unsure of how to talk her out of it. He put his hands on his hips and looked away, a smirk playing at his lips, though she knew he was far from amused. "What's the point, Nicole? Hmm?"
She did look up, now. But she let him continue, because at least he was talking to her now, even if he was pissed off.
Shane waded out of the water, taking big wide steps to make the trip as loud and short as possible. He shook his foot out to spray water in her direction, showing his irritation with her. "Gonna go save Merle Dixon?" He mocked. "God, what a waste of time. I cannot imagine—"
"I know you don't understand, Shane," she cut him off. "To be perfectly honest with you, it ain't even really about him. I like going. I feel like I have a purpose for once in my life. For me."
He outright laughed at that, and when she shot him a dirty look, he shrugged mockingly. "What? That's funny!" He dropped the smile and his steely face looked pale, grim. Strained. "That has to got to be the funniest damn thing I heard all week. You finally found your purpose? Now?"
She sat up straighter and leaned forward. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means—it means how many times over the years have I tried to help you do just that?" He spat, pointing his finger at her for emphasis. "Do I need to remind you? Obviously I do, so I will. Who filled out those college applications for you?"
"I never asked you to do that!"
"Yep. That's right! You didn't have to ask, know why?" He pointed to his chest, tapping it angrily. "Because I love you. Because I want the best for you," he said, his nostrils flaring and eyes bright with anger. "I want you to have purpose!"
Just because she knew it would bother him, she laughed loudly and derisively and threw herself back into the seat, crossing her arms. "Well rest easy, brother. I found it!"
He threw his arms up in disgust and turned around, dismissing her. She watched him stomp-wade back into the water and yank the huge water cooler out. Then, without asking for help, he dragged the sixty-pound cooler back to shore.
"Yes sirree," she continued, bouncing her knee. "I found myself a purpose. Go back to Atlanta and retrieve Merle Dixon." She nodded to herself, and Shane practically growled as he shook his head like he was sickened. "Hell, maybe I'll fuck around and marry him—"
"All right!" Shane cut her off, his hand up as he glared at her. "That's enough. So that's your righteous purpose? You want to lead a parade back to the city for that asshole?" He made a face at her but shook his head, spreading his hands out. "Fine. I'm done arguing with ya 'bout it. You go on. And when he blows up camp again because he just can't help himself, high out of his goddamn mind—I don't want to hear a fuckin' thing from you if I have to kill the bastard."
She blinked and faced forward in her seat with her arms crossed. "Don't be ridiculous, Shane."
"Why not?" He asked smartly. "You are."
She scoffed and shook her head, and he mimicked her scoff as he climbed into the driver seat and started the engine.
"Fine," she spat. Be that way.
"Fine," he spat back.
They didn't speak for the whole drive back.
Shane sped into camp and slammed on the brakes hard enough to kick up a cloud of dust around them. Everyone looked to be awake by now, even Rick—who stood nearby talking with Lori.
"Water's here, y'all!" Shane informed them. "Just a reminder to boil before use."
He jumped down from the vehicle and headed around the back to start handing it out. Nicole took a second to scratch the back of her head, her hair still wet from her short bath.
When she climbed out and circled around to start helping, Shane shoulder checked her on his way past. She gritted her teeth and tilted her head, drawing in a deep breath. Counted to five. Andrea cocked an eyebrow at her and exchanged a wordless glance with Amy, who raised her eyebrows cluelessly.
Andrea looked back and opened her mouth—but before she could get a word out, a scream came from somewhere in camp.
"Mom!" Carl called out.
Shane and Nicole's gazes locked, and in the next breath they moved.
"Carl?" Lori yelled.
Nicole's shoes pounded dirt as she rushed to catch up with Shane, who passed her a shovel he'd found God knows where. They took off to follow the others, everyone scrambling to get to the children.
Their screams came from somewhere beyond the tree line at the edge of camp—an area which, as far as Nicole could recall, had been explicitly off limits for the children. She didn't have time to wonder how or why they were out so far, though.
She just followed everyone leaping through the trees, ducking limbs and dodging roots on the ground as they went.
"Carl!" Lori called as soon as the boy was in sight. He was near the edge of camp, where a length of string had been tied with tin cans attached to it to serve as a makeshift alarm system for walkers. It was a contraption that Shane and Nicole had set up themselves, actually, and it was most certainly out of bounds for the children.
She could only hope that Lori would interrogate her son—for now, Nicole continued past them with Shane, running with the men to where Dale called out. "Over here!" He waved his arm some ways up the road where there was a clearing.
Then they saw it. A walker hunched over a what might have once been a deer, prior to being shot full of arrows that she instantly recognized and torn open by the walker in question. Everyone froze, gathered around at a distance and unsure exactly what to do.
She raised the shovel in her hand as the walker realized that it was not alone and turned around. Its face looked horrifying—as usual—its decayed skin grey and bloody, missing in patches that exposed bone. Its clothes hung in drapes over its body and was stained with both old brown and fresh crimson blood stains.
It roared at Rick, spittle flying from its mouth, and looked ready to lunge. Rick lifted the metal pole in his hand and bashed it into the thing's head, knocking back a step. It hunched with blood dripping from its face where he struck it, and Shane took the opportunity to crack his pole across its back.
Morales joined in and struck it again with his bat and finally knocked the thing to the ground. From there, it turned into a bit of a free-for-all, with each man taking turns raising their weapon high and bringing it down wherever they could reach, beating the walker until they ran out of breath.
They used poles, bats, shovels and even a pitchfork. They struck its legs, its back and the back of its head—but nothing stopped it. It just kept struggling, kept trying to push itself up.
"Guys!" Nicole called. "Step back for a second! Get back!"
Morales and Rick easily complied, panting as they looked at her and waited to see what would happen. Shane looked more annoyed at the interruption than anything, and Dale swung his ax high over his head and chopped the thing's head off.
It rolled away from its body across the ground, and Nicole sighed loudly. She shot Dale a bland, unimpressed look, then stepped around him to drive the sharp edge of the shovel through the skull, splitting it open.
"Ugh! My God! Isn't that overkill?" Amy asked from the sideline where she clung to her sister, their faces twisted with revulsion.
Ignoring that, she turned to Shane. "Recognize those arrows?"
"What?" Rick frowned.
"Arrows? What arrows?" Shane asked, looking closer at the walker. "Don't see no arrows."
"In the deer." She pointed down at the arrows protruding from the deer carcass behind them. Each man turned as though just remembering its existence. Then, rustling came from the depths of the woods just beyond it.
"And that'll be Daryl, right on cue." Nicole gestured a hand at him as he emerged.
The others relaxed minutely, but Shane remained tense as the hunter circled them with a wide berth, his gaze flitting from them to the walker on the ground, to its severed and demolished head—and finally, to the deer carcass on the ground.
"Son of a bitch!" he swore, making his way across the clearing to join them and glare down at the ruined carcass. "That's my deer!"
He continued past the deer and came to a stop in front of the walker, a look of pure loathing on his face. "Look at it—all gnawed on by this filthy—" he spat, kicking the walker's body for emphasis, "disease-bearin'," kick, "motherless," kick, "poxy BASTARD!" kick.
"Calm down, son," Dale advised with a shake of his bucket-hat-covered head. "That's not helping anything,"
Daryl swiveled his glare Dale's way and strode toward him intently. "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond!?"
Before she could stop herself, a snort burst from Nicole's mouth. She wasn't personally too fond of Dale, and she found Daryl's insult rather fitting. Shane sent her a withering glare and Daryl turned on her, next.
"Hey, what gives?" He asked her as he gestured angrily down at the deer. "You couldn't stop the bastard from ruining weeks' worth of food?!"
"It was already done when we got here," Shane answered for her, drawing Daryl's ire his way instead.
"Was I talkin' to you, officer?"
Nicole smacked her face in exasperation as Shane's chest puffed up and he took a step towards the shorter man. "What'd you say to me?"
"Wow," Nicole interrupted. "Every day I find myself amazed by the sheer volume of toxic testosterone flying through the air. And every day I say—pfft, no way they can top that tomorrow. Surely we've reached the cap." She wagged her finger at them. "But you guys just find ways to prove me wrong."
Daryl, apparently not knowing how to respond to that, went to start pulling his arrows out of the deer carcass. "I've been tracking this deer for miles," he told them. "I was gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison!"
He leaned down to gesture at the gaping wound the walker had left behind. "What do you think? You think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"
Shane shook his head skeptically. "Man, I wouldn't risk it."
The others murmured their agreements and Daryl scoffed loudly. He looked ready to head back towards camp, having retrieved all his arrows, but Nicole stepped forward and flagged him to stop. "Hey, uhh—Dixon—why don't you stay back a minute? Like to speak with you."
Rick looked at Shane curiously, who just rolled his eyes and stormed off, shaking his head and muttering unfriendly curse words about her as he went. Reluctantly, Jim and Dale trailed after him. They shot each other inquisitive looks. Jim just shrugged.
Once they were alone, Daryl frowned. "Whaddaya want?" He stood with his crossbow held in one arm and a string of squirrels hanging over his other. "Gotta get back to camp, clean these squirrels."
She pursed her lips in disgust. "Yeah. Okay, well I'll cut to the chase, then. I need you to go back to Atlanta with me this afternoon."
He snorted and turned away. "I told y'all I'm not interested in goin' to that city! Hated going there before all this kicked off, sure as shit ain't goin' out of my way to ruin my day there now."
Nicole crossed her arms and moved to block his path back to camp, her gaze fixed on the ground. She ignored the way his face darkened at her. The man hated being trapped, anyone with eyes could see that. "Yeah, well, things changed."
"That so?" He mocked. "How do you figure?"
"Something happened while you were gone. Something with your brother."
His face shifted from dark to dangerous, and he gripped the crossbow in his hand tightly as he glowered at her. Daryl's voice was deceptively calm as he said, "Excuse me?"
"Your brother is stranded in Atlanta."
He snorted impatiently. "Stranded? Whatchu mean he's stranded? Merle don't get stranded."
"He did," Nicole insisted. "He was high or something—it doesn't matter, honestly," she rushed to add when he took a threatening step toward her. "The point is, he did some stupid racist shit, pissed everyone off—pulled a gun on T-Dog. I knocked his ass out, Rick cuffed him to the roof to cool down—we were gonna unlock him! But then, things… went to shit."
"Oh, then they went to shit?" Daryl snarled. "Unlike Merle I'm all about equality, so I ain't afraid to knock you on your ass right here'n'now!"
"Yes, well—be that as it may, that would be stupid."
"How'd you figure?" He snorted.
"Because I want to lead you where he is," She said. "Lead you to him so we can go get him, bring him back."
"Naw—" Daryl pointed right between her eyes, poking her forehead to push her back a step. "Don't need you to escort me. Don't want you to make up for shit or whatever. Just tell me where he is, so's I can go get him!"
She turned on her heels and headed back towards camp. "Nope! Come on, daylight's burnin'. Let's go if you're comin'."
"Woman!" He snarled. "Better tell me where you left him!"
She didn't say another word to him, just tried to keep one step ahead of him until they made it back to camp with him cussing up a storm the whole way back. He was inches from making a grab for her by the time they got back, and their entrance drew a lot of attention.
T-Dog dropped the logs of firewood he had been carting back to camp when he saw Daryl and heard what he was hollering about. Rick and Shane hurried forward as well, and everyone else stood up to watch what would happen next.
"Enough!" T-Dog yelled. "Stop yelling at her! Be pissed at me, if you want to blame anyone. I'm the one who dropped the key!"
"Oh, you'll get yours, don't you worry—gonna have to wait your turn—"
She stepped around everyone and went to her tent. Daryl dogged her every step and continued to bark in her ear, but she just ignored him and retrieved her gun. She checked her ammo and stuffed an extra box of ammo in her pocket, then strode to the van.
"Nicky!" Rick called, pushing Daryl aside to catch up to her. "Where are you going?!"
"Atlanta."
T-Dog and Glenn erupted with protests behind her. Daryl had finally stopped yapping at her and gone to retrieve a few items from his tent. He had dumped the string of squirrels by a campfire.
She turned around with her hands on her hips.
"So you and Daryl?" Lori unexpectedly spoke up from where she crouched by the fire. "That's your big plan?"
Nicole tilted her head and looked back to T-Dog. "You comin'?"
He looked at Daryl, who was barely paying anyone any mind. After a beat, he grunted. "Yeah."
Nicole turned back to Lori with her eyebrows raised. "See?" She said, just to be smart. "T-Dogs comin' too."
Rick stepped forward and Lori looked skyward as if she had just been waiting for that to happen. "I'll go with you," he offered. "Need all the help you can get. Woulda suggested it myself, if you hadn't volunteered first."
"Great," she said with a fake smile and swept a hand around the crowd. "Anyone else?"
Rick looked pointedly at Glenn. "Oh, come on!" The younger boy whined.
Nicole lifted a hand and shook her head. "No, if he doesn't want to go, he doesn't have to. We ask enough of him."
Rick nodded placatingly at her but raised a hand to silence her, then turned back to Glenn. "You've done this a hundred times before, in and out. You said so yourself. But you saw the way the city was. We need to be smart about this, which means we need your help."
Glenn glared at him for a long moment, then tossed his head back to groan. "Fine!"
Nicole called Glenn's name to catch his attention, and he turned his discontented expression her way. She raised her eyebrows at him. "You sure?"
He heaved a great sigh and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah," he drawled. "I guess."
She wouldn't ask again. "Fine."
"That's just great, now we're riskin' four members of the group for this asshole."
"Five," Nicole reminded. "Daryl's going too."
Shane scoffed but the others frowned at his exclusion. "It's not just five," he said. "You're puttin' every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Nicole."
"Hey—" Rick said, trying to get between them.
"Yeah, yeah, just let him be dramatic," she reassured with a wave. "He's going to throw his fit one way or another."
Daryl huffed from where he waited impatiently by the van. "My day just keeps gettin' better and better."
"My fit, huh?" Shane scowled. "Sure, okay. You go on, I'll stay back like always and do the responsible thing, and protect the camp."
"Oh, okay. I see. So every time I've gone out to Atlanta, it was irresponsible?" Nicole pointed around camp. "Every piece of clothing, every blanket. Each piece of food I've brought. That was me being irresponsible?"
"No, not every time," Shane allowed. "Just this one."
"How?!"
"What are you going to bring back?" Shane asked, his eyebrows raised. "Huh? Merle? That's what the big risk is for this time?"
"And guns," Rick added, catching Nicole off guard. She blinked and then regarded him with surprise, and Rick nodded at Shane, who was also studying him. "What this camp could really use is more guns. More ammo. Right? We'll bring back guns."
Andrea's curiosity was piqued, along with several others. She suddenly looked convinced that the trip might be necessary after all. And she wasn't alone. Shane turned around, fed up but resigned, and went to sulk in their tent.
Lori carried on arguing with Rick about how he just got back and how unfair it was for him to leave again so soon, but Nicole was through listening. She headed to the van and Daryl followed closely behind her, clearly uncaring whether anyone else bothered to come or not.
"Bout time," he muttered once he was within her ear shot. "Merle's prolly gonna keel over and die of exposure before we get there at this rate."
"Doubtful. Man's like a feral dog. He'd probably chew his own arm off and drink his blood before he'd die of dehydration."
"At least he'd be free, then."
"Sure," she mocked. "And free to bleed out in the process."
"Hmph." Daryl sat back in his seat and crossed his arms, proceeding to ignore her. "Whatever."
A shadow fell across her lap and she turned to see Shane standing there, stiff lipped and unwilling to meet her gaze. He pushed a bag into her hands. She looked down at it as he stepped away. "Your Deputy bag?"
"Got a few extra rounds in it," he muttered, putting his hands on his hips. "Pair of binoculars. Hey, look at me. Don't die for that asshole, you hear me? Or I'll kill you myself."
Nicole chewed the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. "Apology accepted."
Shane scoffed and strode away. "Fuck off," he said over his shoulder, causing her to laugh.
"Y'all sound like me and Merle," Daryl mused to himself. "Except for the apology part."
Nicole's smile waned at the thought, and she looked down at Shane's bag. "Oh, god."