Rory had just finished eating her breakfast with Maggie when they heard it, the rumbling of an engine. Rory almost choked on her last bite of cereal as she shot up from her seat and dashed to the window.
"They're here!" The girl yelled excitedly, having seen Daryls motorcycle, followed by the RV and a few cars. Maggie came up behind her and led the girl outside at the same time that Rick and Lori made their way out too.
Rory stood in the middle of Maggie and Beth as her eyes scanned the small crowd for her father. She had a little disagreement when she had seen him for the first time that morning. She had a shock when she had walked into the kitchen to see her dad had shaved off all of his hair. Why he did it, she didn't know, but she made it clear that she didn't like it.
"How is he?" Dale asked Rick grimly as he stepped forward.
"He'll pull through." Lori nodded with a smile on her face. "Thanks to Hershel and his people and-"
"And Shane." Rick interrupted. "We'd have lost Carl if not for him." It was all quiet for a moment before Dale stepped forward and hugged Rick. Rory looked up to see Carol approaching her.
"Thank god you're okay." She whispered into the girls hair as she hugged her. Rory wound her arms around Carol and hugged back. "We we're so worried." They both pulled apart as Maggie came a little closer to Rory.
"Sophia?" Carol questioned. Rory just shook her head grimly, slightly guilty that she hadn't seen the other girl.
"How'd it happen?" Dale questioned, referring to Carl.
"Hunting accident." Rick clarified. "That's all. Just a stupid accident."
•••
When everyone unpacked, Shane gave his daughter her backpack back. He also gave her his necklace. Why? Rory had no clue, but she wore it with pride. After he had walked away, she reached into the bottom and fetched out her knife holster and slipped the knives inside before strapping it around her leg. Luckily, her shirt was long enough that it was covered.
•••
"Blessed be god." Hershel read. "Father of our lord, Jesus Christ." People began putting stones into Otis's grave. "Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis."
Rory leaned against Rick as she lost concentration on Hershel's speech. She never liked funerals. Despite the fact the only one she had been to before the world flipped was one that her father and Rick had made in their back garden for Rory's pet goldfish, but it was a funeral non the less.
"Shane." Hershel spoke, Rory's head popping up at the mention of her father. "Will you speak for Otis?"
"I'm not good at it." Shane denied immediately. "I'm sorry."
"You were the last one with him." Patricia cried. "You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear... I need to know his death had meaning."
Shane stuttered for a moment before he spoke. "We were about done." He started. "Almost out of ammo, we were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up." Rory scrunched her face at her dads words and looked up only to meet eyes with Daryl, who held eye contact before scoffing and looking away.
Rory looked down and leant more onto Rick, who gave the child a hug from the side. She didn't listen to her fathers words, but looked up as he limped forward to the wheel barrow. He picked up a stone and placed it onto the grave.
"If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too." Shane stated. "It was Otis. He saved us both.. if any death ever had meaning, it was his."
Rory closed her eyes and breathed out softly as she came to the conclusion. She hated funerals.
•••
"How long has this girl been lost?"
"This will be day three." Rick confirmed as Maggie and Rory walked up to the little group around the car.
"County survey map." Maggie announced as she placed a huge map onto the hood of the car with help from Rory, who squeezed in between Maggie and Andrea. "Shows terrain and elevations."
"This is perfect." Shane praised.
"We can finally get this thing organised." Rick agreed. "We'll grid the whole area. Start searching in teams."
"Not you." Hershel scolded. "Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out. And your ankle." He directed towards Shane. "Push it now, you'll be laid up a month. No good to anybody."
"Guess it's just me." Daryl sighed, standing straighter. "Im gonna head back to the creek. Work my way from there."
"I can still be useful." Shane offered. "Drive up to the interstate. See if Sophia wondered back."
"Alright." Rick sighed. "Tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right."
"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives." Shane said. "We need the gun training we've been promising."
"I prefer you not carrying guns on my property." Hershel asked. "We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp."
"All due respect." Shane started. "You get a crowd of those things wandering in here..."
"We're— we're guests here." Rick defended the older man. "This is your property and we will respect that." With that, Rick laid his python on the car, followed by Shane and his gun. "First things first, set camp. Find Sophia."
"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to. What happens if we find her and she's bit?" Shane asked. "I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."
"You do what has to be done." Rick responded grimly.
"And her mother, what do you tell her?" Maggie questioned from beside Rory.
"The truth." Andrea stared.
"I'll gather and secure all the weapons." Shane announced. Rory sighed softly and tuned out the conversation.
"That stuff you brought. Got more antibiotics, bandages, stuff like that?" Maggie asked nervously.
"Just what you've seen." Andrea clarified as people began to walk away.
"We're running short already." Maggie stated to her father. "I should make a run into town." Rory's head shot up in a panic.
"Not to the place dad went?" Rory stressed.
"No, honey. There's a pharmacy just a mile down the road. I've done it before." Maggie told the young girl, who visibly relaxed.
"You should take Glenn." Rory offered, looking to Rick who nodded at his pseudo daughter.
"You see our man there in the baseball cap?" They all turned round as Rick gestured to Glenn. "That's Glenn, our go to town expert. I'd ask him along just to be cautious."
•••
The next few hours were spent with Rory visiting Carl. He wasn't awake at the time she went to see him, but she had lent a book off of Maggie, and she read the entirety of the novel to Carl as he slept.
Hershel came to check on Carl a few times, often explaining things to the girl when she asked questions. He said that Carl should be up again soon, so Rory was excited ti have her friend back.
She still couldn't believe her friend was shot.
•••
"How long do you think he's been down there?" Glenn asked as the group gathered around a well, with a walker inside.
"Long enough to grow gills." Rory joked.
"We can't leave it in there." Lori stated. "God knows what it's doing to the water."
"Yeah, we've gotta get it out." Shane agreed.
"Easy." T-dog uttered. "Put a bullet in its head. I'll get a rope."
"Whoa, whoa, guys." Maggie expressed with a frown on her face. "No."
"Why not?" Glenn whined like a child. "It's a good plan."
"It's a stupid plan." Andrea scoffed. "If that thing hasn't contaminated the water yet, blowing its brains out will do the job."
"She's right. Can't risk it." Shane sighed.
"So it has to come out alive." T-Dog confirmed.
"How do we do that?" Rory quizzed the adults.
•••
"He's not going for it." Dale observed, looking to the end of the rope where they had tied a piece of ham.
"Maybe because a canned ham don't kick and scream when you try to eat it." T-Dog sassed.
"He's right." Lori spoke. "There's a reason the dead didn't come back to life and start raiding our cupboards."
"We need live bait." Andrea concluded. Everything went quiet for a few seconds before Rory looked up, only to sigh in defeat when all the adults were looking to her.
"Oh, come on."
•••
"Have I mentioned that I really like your new haircut?" Rory rambled to her father as he tightened the rope around her waist. "You have a nice shaped head."
"That's not what you was saying before." Shane laughed at his daughter.
"Yeah, we'll before I wasn't about to be dangled from a well!"
"Don't worry about it, bud." Shane smiled as he finished tying the rope around his daughter. "Hey, we're going to get you out of here in one piece."
"Living piece. The living part is important." Rory stressed as the group began to work the rope. "Please go slow."
"We got you." Andrea assured the child.
"Oh, you people are crazy." Maggie breathed out, glancing nervously to the young girl being lowered into the walker infested well.
"You want to get it out of your well or not?"
"Give us an eye there, Maggie." Dale asked. The woman strode over to the well and poked her head over, looking to Rory.
"Doing okay?"
"Yep. Doing great." Rory breathed out shakily, clutching the rope and flashlight in her trembling hands. "Living the dream." The girl could no longer make out what Maggie was saying to the others as the echoing gurgles of the monster below her rang in her ears. She braced her feet on the slippery walls each time she was lowered.
Rory yelled as out of nowhere, she was dropped a considerable amount and she heard a racket of yelling from above her, but only she couldn't focus on it. The only thing she could focus on right now was not being eaten alive by the walker that was pawing at her shoes.
"No! Dad! Get me out of here!" Rory screeched as she fumbled with the rope and kicked her feet at the monster, giving into her panic. "Get off me! Get off me!"
In her panic, she dropped her flashlight into the water and used both her hands on the side of the well to try and get more balance. "Oh my god. Oh my god!" It felt like she had spent a lifetime in the well, kicking at the ugly walker below her. "Get me out of here!"
Her body began to lift as the others above her began pulling on the rope to get her out. As she reached the top, she frantically climbed her way out of the well and clung onto Lori who ran over to help her out.
"Hey, are you okay? Are you okay baby?" Lori panicked, checking the young girl over as she panted on the ground.
"Back to the drawing board." Dale sighed.
"Says you." Rory breathed as she stood up, handing Dale the rope and walking towards Maggie, who helped her get out of the ropes. She looked behind her to see the adults laugh at the walker who was now tied in the rope.
"If you was my kid, I would never had allowed that." Maggie said quietly before bringing Rory in for a hug.
In the end, all of Rory's hard work had been proven pointless as they ended up sealing off the well anyways. They had tried pulling the walker out, only for it to split in half and fall right back into the water.
•••
"Hey." Rick greeted his wife as he walked into Carl's room, seeing both Rory and Carl asleep on the bed. "I'll sit with them."
"He was awake earlier when you were gone. He asked for you." Lori told her husband before kissing both children on the head and walking away.
A few hours later, both children had woken up and Rory left the room to try and find something to do as Rick wanted to speak with Carl. After not being able to find her father, she made her way outside in the dark and walked towards the RV.
However, she spotted Lori walking towards the field, Rory followed quietly behind her and hid behind a tree. She thanked her father for feeding her carrots so that she could see in the dark and her eyes widened at what she saw. Without making a noise, she ran back into the house in shock.
Lori was pregnant.
•••
Wee woo wee woo another chapter woooo
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