Forfeit ~Shane Walsh/OC~

Chapter Ten

The next morning, after setting up a spot for Sophia, we all headed to the farm. As soon as we arrived, I dove out of the Hyundai and ran to Rick as he walked toward us. I pretty much jumped into his arms and wrapped him in a hug, which he returned.

“How’s Carl?” I asked immediately.

“He’ll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people,” Lori said, eye balling me funny. I let go of Rick and took a step back with a smile on my face.

“And Shane. We would’ve lost Carl if it weren’t for him,” Rick added. I searched for Shane but almost didn’t recognize him. He had clothes on that were twice his size and he had shaved his head.

“Oh, my God, Shane!” I walked over to him slowly and reached for the top of his head. He bent over slightly so I could reach it. “What happened to you?” The rest of the group exchanged hugs and asked Rick and Lori questions while Shane and I spoke quietly.

“Well, the guy who accidently shot Carl, his name was Otis, he and I went on a supply run for surgical supplies at some high school. The place was over run and Otis told me to go ahead and he would back me up but uh… he didn’t make it,” Shane said with a sad tone in his voice. “These are his clothes.” After we all got better acquainted with the Greenes, they held a funeral service for Herschel that we all attended. I stood close to Shane, knowing it must be hard for him. It’s my job to at least try to comfort him. Hershel read from the Bible and gave a little speech as the family all placed rocks on a mound for Otis.

“Otis, who gave his life to save a precious child’s, now more than ever, our most precious asset. He died as he lived, in grace,” Hershel spoke. I could tell it was getting to Shane as his face twisted with guilt. I reached over and leaned my head on his shoulder as I squeezed his hand. “Shane, will you speak for Otis?” Hershel asked him and he snapped out of his daze.

“I’m not good at it. I’m sorry.”

“You were the last one with him,” a woman, who I later learned was Otis’s wife, told Shane. “You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning.” She cried as she pleaded with Shane and he easily gave in.

“We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up,” Shane spaced out for a second again and squeezed my hand to a point where it hurt but I didn’t flinch. I just watched and listened to him as he spoke. “‘We’ve got to save the boy.’ See that’s what he said. He gave me his backpack and shoved me ahead. He told me to run. He said ‘I’ll cover the rear. I’ll cover you.’ And when I looked back…” Shane’s voice started shaking so he paused for a moment. He let go of my hand and limped over to the pile of rocks. “If not for Otis, I’d never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl, too.” He picked up one of the rocks from the wheel barrel. “It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his,” Shane told Otis’s wife quietly before placing a rock on the pile. We all did one at a time. Even though I never met the man, I teared up as I placed a rock in the pile because I knew this man saved two of the most important people in my life.

*****

“How long has this girl been lost?” Hershel asked the group of us who were organizing the search for Sophia. Daryl, Shane, Rick, and I all stood at the hood of Carol’s Cherokee with Hershel and his daughter, Maggie, who was the woman who we met in the woods.

“This will be day three,” Rick answered the old man’s question. Maggie unrolled a map in front of us so we could have better knowledge of the area.

“Perfect! We can finally get this thing organized,” I said as we all over looked the map.

“We’ll grid the whole area and start searching in teams,” Rick told us but Hershel disagreed.