Chapter Text
The Greene family stumbles their way up towards their home. Grasping tight to each other as dry cries hiccup from their mouths. Beth is the worst of the family, the young girl had gone after her fallen mother but she wasn’t dead- the walker had grappled to get a piece of flesh from its, once, daughter.
But the family can’t mourn… not as Shane trails after them with others trying to pull him away, “We've been out. We've been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along?” He shouts at Hershel as he holds onto Beth. “ You knew.” He accuses with a sharp finger pointing their way.
Maggie turns her head, “Leave us alone.”
“Hey, Shane, just stop, man.” Glenn tries grabbing at the man’s shoulder but he’s brushed off as quickly as he comes.
“Get your hands off me.” Shane growls and continues alongside the family. “You knew and you kept it from us.” He calls again angrily.
“I didn't know.” Hershel tells honestly. The family hadn’t known, they had opened their home to the Atlanta group because they wanted to help- they didn’t know.
But Shane… Shane doesn’t believe a word that comes out of their mouths. “That's bullshit. I think y'all knew.” He spits.
“We didn't know!”
“Why was she there?!”
Hershel turns to the group, leading Beth up the stairs alongside Jimmy who grabs the girl quickly. “Otis put those people in the barn.” He tells the small group of men that were gathered. “Maybe he found her and put her in there before he was killed.” He offers painfully.
Shane steps forward, “You expect me to believe that? Do I look like an idiot?”
And Hershel takes a step in turn, unfrightened by the crazed and angry man in front of him, “I don't care what you believe!”
Rick moves quickly between the two, “Everybody just calm down.”
“Get him off my land!”
Shane moves forward, “Let me tell you something-”
“Hey!” Maggie shouts and delivers a swift smack to Shane’s face. “Don't touch him!” The man steps back- the hit hadn’t hurt one bit but it had taken him by surprise. The farmer’s daughter had a swift tongue when she wanted to but she had never been so forward. “Haven't you done enough?” She spits before turning around and ascending the stairs.
“I mean it…” Hershel tells them. “Off my land.” And they watch as the whole Greene family disappear into their house.
The door snaps closed and the air heats everyone’s skin, the adrenaline of the massacre diluting in their veins. Shane turns and stalks off back towards the barn. Rick moves quickly at Shane’s side. “What are you doing?” Shane doesn’t turn and Rick grabs his shoulder whipping the man around to face him. “Hey, what are you doing?” He hisses.
Shane gets close to the sheriff’s face, “Daryl almost died looking for her, Rick. Any one of us could have. I'm gonna tell you right now…” He points at the house in disgust. “That son of a bitch, he knew.”
“He didn't know. He's not like that.” Rick responds in disbelief. “He opened his home to us.”
“He put us all in danger. Man, he kept a barn full of walkers.”
Rick raises his eyebrows and his hands around to the situation that now surrounds them, “So you just start an insurrection, hand out guns and massacre his family?”
Shane’s mouth pulls tight, “His family's dead, Rick.”
“Well, he doesn't believe that.” He shoots back quickly, “He thinks you just murdered them in cold blood.”
“No, man, I don't care what he thinks.” Shane dismisses the man that is begging him to understand the gravity of the thing he’s done.
“I was handling it, brother. I was handling it and you just…”
Shane pushes finger into Rick's chest, “You had us out in those woods looking for a little girl that every single one of us knew was dead !” He spits without care, a flare of heat coursing through his chest at the flinch Rick lets slip on his face. “That's what you did. Rick, you're just as delusional as that guy.” He huffs a laugh and walks away, “You're handling it, huh?” He continues laughing in disbelief.
And the group starts to clean up the mess.
There are two dozen rotting corpses that filtered out of the barn and now layed dead, finally dead, on the dirt ground, seeping diseased blood into the earth. Few words are shared about the Atlanta group as they begin separating bodies best they could… people they, and the Greenes, cared for and the strangers.
Andrea pulls a blue pick-up truck around to the barn entrance to pile the bodies in. Lori had led Carol away from the scene, releasing her into the RV- the mother insisted she be left alone.
Back at the barn, living bodies grapple at the dead ones, picking up the pieces and throwing them into pills. Bella and Carl had found their way inside the open barn, the area double checked by Daryl and T-Dog before they entered.
The duo drifts around the area, looking around at everything inside in relative silence. “I really thought I’d be the one to find her…” Carl says into the air. From across the barn, Bella turns her head and drifts over to the boy as his hand picks a tool hanging on the barn wall, “hiding in a tree or a cave, maybe.” Lori listens from the barn opening… she watches as the two stand side by side. “Shane did the right thing… I just-” He tells his friend. “I would’ve done the same thing as dad.” Lori can’t stop the shock that draws across her face at her son’s revelation.
Bella doesn’t seem shocked like the woman, more… conflicted. “She doesn’t have to be afraid anymore, Carl.” She tells him.
They share a look, one they have shared more than once, a look of peace and security. The kids had been together since their beginning, they’ve experienced many difficult situations together- none as difficult as this- but it doesn’t matter because they're together. That’s all that matters.
The day continues on as the smell of decay turns sour under the beating sun, even with the season turning to fall the open field was not kind when the sun was above. The group holds a ceremony, the Greenes and the Atlanta group gather together to mourn the losses, a sour tension in the air… Carol isn’t there, neither is Daryl.
The mismatched duo had a tension between them; Daryl had tried so hard to find Sophia, like she was his own, and Carol… Carol wished so badly to find her daughter. But they found her corpse. A corpse that had turned… a corpse with its shoulder ripped open by a bite. It wasn’t Sophia… it wasn’t Carol’s little girl. Not anymore. Carol accepted that but Daryl couldn’t.
Leaving the small ceremony, the group tries going back to chores. Beth stands inside the kitchen rubbing a damp dish cloth over a plate as Glenn and Maggie converse silently in the living room. The crash and shatter of the ceramic dish causes the duo to jump and look over to watch Beth fall to her knees and collapse.
The air goes frantic as they bring Beth to her room, the girl stuck in a catatonic state, her skin pale and dewey, eyes glassy. The house is torn apart looking for Hershel, the doctor the only one that can help the girl. But he’s gone.
Left into town without telling anyone, all to go find a drink.
“Rick? You want to have a conversation about this before you leave?” Shane questions Rick as the man and Glenn prepare to go after the doctor. “So you're seriously gonna go after this guy with everything that's going on, huh?” He asks.
Lori stands to his other side, hand touching Rick’s chest as a sign to stop for just a moment. “He's right. This is not the time to head off, not today.”
“I'm not arguing. It's the least I can do for Hershel after we…”
“What?” Shane cuts off, “After we, what?”
Lori’s face turns sour in pain, “Carl said he would've shot Sophia himself.” She tells him seriously, “That's your son. He's getting cold. He's growing up in a world with…” Lori’s breath shakes for a moment. “He's growing up in a world where he needs a father like you… Around, alive, not running off, solving everybody else's problems.”
Rick pulls close to Lori, others of the group slowly approaching the trio. “It's not just his problem I'm trying to solve. We need Hershel for the baby.” He tells his wife, “I'm going after him.” He finalizes to everyone and Shane’s scoff is the only thing that is heard in response.
Shane storms away before Rick and Glenn can even leave, pacing the border of the farm deep in thought. His eyes connect with the well pump in the hidden corner he’s in. Approaching, he pumps the lever hard to pull the hidden water to the surface- thankfully this pump is hidden in the ground so the risk of another walker tainting the water is close to zero… hopefully.
The water bursts from the paint chipping pump in strong bursts. Shane cups his shaking hands underneath to poorly catch the cool water and with his hands filling quickly he splashes the water at his face, rubbing the cold into his burning head.
Bent down at the pump, Shane rests in thought, so deep in thought he doesn’t know how long he’s rested there- not long based on moist water marks on the ground- nor does he realize the small cracks and russles coming from the woods.
His eyes catch the sight of a body pulling themselves tiredly out of the woods. Shane’s head jumps up quickly tracking the body as his hand touches his gun in reflex.
But the body isn’t a rotting corpse or a enemy of any kind; it’s Carol.
The mother drags herself painfully out of the trees, her clothes are covered in dirt and her fingers are tainted as well. Dirt stuck so deep underneath her nails it must be painful. And Shane feels a twist in his chest at the sight.
He could be grieving like Carol is now. His little girl could’ve been in that barn too. “Carol?” He calls gently as he raises to his feet. The woman barely raises her head in response, she just continues her unsteady walk. “Carol. Hey hey hey… are you alright?” Shane grips softly at the mother’s shoulder, soft but firm. “Come here.” Shane’s face twists in concern as he leads her over to the well pump he just sat at. Moving the wooden bucket upside down, Shane motions for Carol to sit, she thumps down in exhaustion. Carol’s eyes drift in a different world as Shane pumps the lever once more and gathers water in a second bucket. Kneeling infornt of Carol, Shane holds the woman’s hands and slowly rubs water on the dirt that clings to the woman. “I want you to know that I'm really sorry for your girl.” He says.
“Thank you.” Carol slowly comes back with the pressure of Shane’s hands and the coldness of the water.
Shane can barely look into her eyes as he speaks, his hands merely continue their job of washing the dirt from Carol’s. “When I opened that barn I had no idea. If I did… Everybody thinks that I'm a…” The man takes a deep breath as Carol’s eyes burn a hole into his forehead. “I was just trying to keep everybody safe. I had no idea she was in there.”
Carol nods and grasps tightly at Shane’s hand for a moment, “It’s okay… I needed to know.”
Shane can’t stop his head from shaking back and forth. “Not like that- never like that… if it was Bella…” The man’s voice cracks painfully at the thought of his daughter’s corpse stumbling out of the barn instead of Sophia. “You’re strong- stronger than me. I don’t think anyone’s ever told you that.”
The woman smiles painfully at him, “I’m grateful that one of our daughters survived.”
“It should’ve been both.”
Carol nods painfully in agreement as a tear slips down her cheek. Her daughter was gone, dead- probably dead the day she was lost… and she was rotting in that barn. But Carol… she can’t help but be happy… happy to know her daughter wasn’t afraid anymore; afraid, cold, hungry… she didn’t have to be scared anymore.
“Daddy…” A small voice calls out breaking the parents from their small silence. Bella drifts forward as they raise her head to the girl. Grasped tight in her hands is a bundle of random flowers. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Carol…” She speaks towards the woman. Her hand, dirty like Carol’s, hands the flower bundle to the grieving mother. Carol’s hand quivers as she accepts the offering. “I wish I could’ve- could’ve done something… more.” Bella says quietly.
Carol smiles down at the flowers- she had just destroyed an entire meadow of flowers but these… she won’t destroy these. “You did everything you could, sweetie.” Her voice is gentle and Bella offers her a grateful smile.
With Carol’s hands clean, the father and daughter lead the woman back towards the camp. They walk in comfortable silence as they move. Carol gives both of them a tight hug and kiss to the cheek in thankfulness as she walks into the RV, the flowers in her hands dropped into a plastic cup of water quickly.
Shane closes the door behind the mother and grabs underneath his daughter's arms picking her up swiftly. Bella fights gently in suprise but relaxes as her dad leads her towards a more secluded tree.
Underneath a large weeping willow, Shane sets Bella down gently and he drops to butt to lean against the tree’s roots. Bella copies her dad easily and they stare into the farm’s fields. “I don’t know what to say…” Shane starts carefully, “I’m- I’m sorry, Princess… for everything.” He peaks a glance towards his little girl only to find her already starring at him.
“It’s fine, daddy.”
Shane shakes his head harshly, “No, it isn’t. And we both know it.” Bella’s eyes drop with barely visible agreement. Shane laughs as his hand finds her hair, tied messily into a bun. “You’re such a smart girl… and I forget it all the time.” The air around the pair quiets as he speaks, “I love you… so much. You are everything to me, my sweet girl. And I don’t tell you enough.” He tells her. “The rest of them… they- they don’t matter to me. Just you .” Both hands find Bella’s face and he turns to fully face her, “And I won’t leave you… ever .” He promises strongly.
And he waits.
Because Bella is just staring at him, her eyes and face telling him nothing of what she was thinking.
His heart drops as she stands up, his hands falling to her forearms in barely concealed terror.
Bella gives him a bright smile and she dives into his chest in a tight hug, tighter than she’s ever clinged to him. “I love you too, daddy.” She speaks into his neck.
Shane grasps at the back of her head and buries his own face into her shoulder. “I’m so sorry I hurt you, Princess.” He tells her before pulling them apart enough for him to look down. “I’m going to make this right, I promise.”
“I believe you, daddy.” She goes back to his chest. “As long as you're here with me.”
Shane rests his cheek against the top of her head, “I won’t ever leave you. I’ll make sure of that.”
Bella can’t help but listen to the steadiness of his heart as he speaks.