𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 » shane walsh

twenty two. fallen deep

"At the moment, with you, I've never felt happier. But out there will be a different story. Sooner it happens, the sooner the others can move on."

Athena furrowed her brows together but still kept a soft expression before removing herself from the man and grabbing her clothes. "Come on, we better get going. The others are probably waiting for us."

The two gathered up their things, quickly slinging on their clothes and tidying themselves up before exiting the tent. The warm air hit Athena's skin and the breeze flowed lightly through her hair as she glanced around at her surroundings. The farm looked even more beautiful in the daylight, she could see the land for miles and was filled with warmth inside. That feeling of home hitting hard.

Despite her desire to reminisce on good times, she forced herself to focus on the problem ahead — Otis' funeral. Shane hadn't said much since he returned by himself last night, giving short and brief answers whenever Athena asked about what happened. Continuously he would brush it off and change the subject so eventually Athena decided to leave it altogether, putting it down to trauma and giving him time to heal. Still, she was desperate to know exactly what happened, whether it was for his sake or hers.

The group gathered large rocks from the land to create a mount above his grave that was built up and unique for the man, each person having a rock they would place on top to give as a sign of their respects. The rest of the group from the highway had arrived a little earlier and Athena had never been happier to see them. Once everyone had been informed, they all gathered to give Otis a proper send off.

"Blessed be God. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Hershel read aloud from the bible as people picked up the collected rocks from the wheelbarrow and placing them like a shrine for the fallen man "Praise be to him for the gift of out brother Otis. For his span of years. For his abundance of character. Otis, who gave his life to save a child's. Now, more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you god for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived. In grace."

Athena latched onto Shane's arm the whole time, keeping him grounded as much as she could. He needed her touch to stay calm. Suddenly she felt him tense up and glanced to him worriedly, eager to know what was wrong. He stayed tensed for a brief second before Hershel spoke up. "Shane, will you speak for Otis?"

Shane shook his head uncomfortably "I'm not good at it. I'm sorry."

Athena began to rub his arm in comfort.

"You were the last one with him. Will you share his final moments. Please." Patricia begged through her sobs. "I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning."

"You can do it, Shane."

"We were about done. I almost shot at him but we were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up." He paused in deep thought. "We got to save the boy. See, that's what he said. He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. Run, he said. He said I-I'll take the rear. I'll cover you. And when I looked back — if not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive." Shane detached himself from Athena's grip and hobbled over to the wheelbarrow. "And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his."

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

As misery and grief began to settle in the air and Otis' closest friends and family tucked away their losses in order to move on, the rest of the Atlanta group had bigger problems to deal with. Sophia's disappearance. They had wasted far too much precious time so the need to set up search parties was urgent. Athena tucked her flannel hem into the waist of her jeans as she strolled over to the farm truck where a map was spread of the entire layout of the surrounding areas. Process of elimination. It was the last resort to finding Sophia.