Serpents Tongue, The Walking Dead

xx. liars

"He gave us his backpack and he shoved us ahead,"

"I'm sorry..." The words that left her lips rang in her mind as she snapped out of the frozen state of shock and rushed over to the two men. Wrapping her hands around Otis's vest, she tired to pull him away from her husband - kicking her boot into his back with broken sobs.

"Run, he said. He said, I'll take the rear, I'll cover you."

With one hand wrapped around Shanes sprained ankle and one clawing at her skin, Adeline Grimes slammed her boot into Otis's face - a sickening crack causing her to stumble back and away from the scene.

"And when we looked back..." Shane trailed off, taking his faded away eyes off of his wife and limping towards the barrel of rocks. Curling his fingers around one, he moved closer to the grave. "If not for Otis, we'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl, too. It was Otis. He saved all three of us." He lied - turning to look at the woman he made into a widow, "If any death ever had meaning, it was his." He stated, placing a rock onto the grave of the man he killed.

One by one, the group, who had now merged with the Greene family, made their way back to the farmhouse. Hershel allowed the group to set up a temporary camp in his front yard, giving his knowledge of the area to help with the ongoing search for Sophia. Feeling unbelievably grateful towards the family, Adeline was smothered by an overwhelming amount of guilt every time a small smile or thankful nod was sent her way. Every time she received one of the two, memories of what innocence remained being stripped away flashed around rapidly.

Begging her mind to not let herself reveal the truth, she stayed quiet to protect Shane. After everything that had happened - no matter the anger that was directed towards him, she still found her mind to be deeply in love with him. He was her first for everything, every little experience or memory she shared - they almost all included him. Every surge of happiness, everything reminded her of him. The man she loved, the man she killed for. There was a little part of her that noticed the changes in his actions, the way the light he once in his eyes slowly started to fade away; she noticed.

Pulling her out of the state she was in was Hershels voice, several people leaning against the hood of a vehicle. Adeline stood across from Shane, most of her weight put onto the car and off of her sore ankle. "How long has this girl been lost?" The elder questioned as his daughter laid out a map against the flat metal of the hood.

"This'll be day three." Rick was quick to answer him, eyes glancing at the vet who stood next to his sister. The three on the other side of the car (Daryl, Shane, and Andrea) stood quietly and examined the map Maggie laid out before them. "County survey map. Shows terrain and elevations." She informed - placing flat stones on each of the corners.

Leaning closer, she stayed off of her ankle and moved her mind to finding Sophia, tucking them guilt away for later. The nagging feeling was constantly there each time she looked to the Greens, but Adeline pushed through it the best she could. "This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized." Her brother spoke, examining the map.

"We can start searching in teams," The Grimes sister spoke up, crossing her arms over the hood. Rick nodded in agreement - ready to speak once again until Hershel cut him off. "Not you two. Not today." He stated, looking to the man dressed in his police uniform, "You have three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out."

Turning to Adeline, he motioned to her uncomfortable stance due to her ankle. "And you. You shouldn't even be standing right now, push it more than you already have and you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody." Hershel reminded before glancing to Shane - "Same goes for you." He advised in a strict yet kind tone.