"Dale could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare. And brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us. The truth. Who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside out differences and pull together. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale."
•
A day went by. Most of the time was spent preparing for the winter. The weather was getting colder each day, and Rosie was now grateful that Daryl got her warmer clothes from Maggie.
Speaking of Daryl, Rosie hadn't spent much time talking to anyone but him, not that she said much to him anyway. She was unusually quiet, but it was to be expected after everything that went down. She spent most of her time following Daryl around until he wouldn't let her anymore. After he got sick of her, she'd just go back to the tent. It was easier to hide in there than to look around at the group that was now missing her dad, Amy, Jim, Jacqui, Sophia, and Dale. People just kept dying.
The smaller the group got, the harder it was to look at any of them. Which was why Rosie was feeling very anxious and frustrated as she listened to Rick and Hershel discuss everyone staying in the farm house together over the winter.
"Gonna be tight," Rick was saying, "15 people in one house."
"Don't worry about that," Hershel insisted. He'd become a lot less grumpy ever since he got back from town with Rick and Glenn, and was being even more nice after what happened to Dale. "With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up..."
"With 50 head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringin' the damn dinner bell," Maggie said, her arms crossed.
"She's right. We should've moved you in a while ago," Hershel agreed.
"Alright, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors facing out toward the road," Rick ordered, using hand gestures to try and show what he was talking about. "We'll build a lookout in the windmill and another in the barn loft. That should give us sightlines on both sides of the property. T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house. Keep track of everyone coming and going."
T-Dog glanced over at Rosie, who was sitting on the truck bed, looking down at her boots, then he looked back at Rick. "What about standing guard?" he asked, referring to the fact that Randall was still locked up in the shed.
Rick glanced over at Rosie for a moment, too, then over at Daryl. "I need you and Daryl on double duty," he answered. T-Dog nodded and left to continue helping.
"I'll stock the basement with food and water, enough that we can all survive there a few days if need be," Hershel said as he carried a crate towards the truck. Rosie slid off of the truck bed, stepping out of the way. Hershel gave her a nod and a friendly smile, which she opted out of returning.
"What about patrols?" Andrea asked.
"Let's get this area locked down first. After that, Shane'll assign shifts while me and Daryl take Randall offsite and cut him loose," Rick said, avoiding Rosie's eyes. It was very obvious that she didn't want Randall to go. She hadn't gone back to see him again, not wanting to get into anymore trouble, but she did tell Daryl that she wanted Randall to stay, which Daryl then told everyone else. Randall was better off dead than out there in the winter on his own, Rosie knew that. She just didn't understand why they wouldn't even give him a chance.
"We're back to that now?" Shane asked, an irritated quality to his voice. He wanted Randall dead. It wasn't hard to tell.
"It was the right plan first time around, poor execution" Rick replied, looking down as to not look into Shane's eyes. They weren't getting along well anymore. They used to be best friends, and now they couldn't even look each other in the eyes without burning hatred.
Shane chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, that's a slight understatement," he said.
"You don't agree, but this is what's happening. Swallow it. Move on."
"You know that Dale's death and the prisoner- that's two separate things, right?" Shane asked him. Rick gave him a strange look, but Rosie couldn't tell if he was confused or annoyed at what Shane said. "You wanna take Daryl as your wingman, be my guest."
"Thank you," Rick spat before walking away.
"You got it," Shane muttered in response.
Rosie walked away, too, following the group to the house. Daryl had already taken down the tent, so she couldn't just go hide in there. She couldn't follow behind Daryl, either, because he was moving his motorcycle up to the house. So, Rosie resorted to walking a few steps behind Rick and Hershel as they neared the farm house.
"I see why you're not taking Shane with you," Hershel said to Rick. "Just know, I've got no more patience where he's concerned."
"He's turning over a new leaf," Rick replied.
Rosie furrowed her eyebrows. "What's that mean?" she asked.
Rick turned around quickly, looking a little surprised, as if he didn't know Rosie was there. "It means he's changing, for the better," he explained simply. Rosie nodded, although still unsure of whether or not she believed him. Rick jerked his head forward a bit, silently telling Rosie to catch up, so Rosie hurried her steps for a moment until she was walking by Rick's side. She was a bit confused when Rick placed his hand on her shoulder as they walked, but she didn't say anything about it, trying to ignore it.
•
Daryl was on the roof of the shed, nailing boards over the opening that Carl and Rosie had climbed through. Rosie had offered to help, but Daryl said no because she wasn't allowed near the shed anymore. So, Rosie busied herself with helping the others carry their stuff into the house. She was following Glenn inside, carrying his orange sleeping bag for him.
Just as Glenn and Rosie neared the dining room table, Maggie appeared in the doorway. "You can put your stuff in my room," she offered, smiling a little at Glenn.
Glenn, for some reason, didn't return the smile. He had more of a concerned look on his face. "With your dad in the house?" he asked. Rosie furrowed her eyebrows, confused on why that mattered, but didn't bother asking. Maggie stepped closer, about to say something, but Glenn stopped her. "I just- I'm just gonna put my stuff over there," he said, gesturing over to the corner.
No matter how confused she was, Rosie followed Glenn and put down his sleeping bag where he said to. She didn't understand what was wrong with him and Maggie. One moment, they were kissing each other, and the next, they wouldn't even smile at each other.
They don't make sense, Rosie thought to herself, but what else is new?
Rosie returned outside a moment later. Seeing as T-Dog and Hershel were carrying things inside, she held the door open for them as they passed her. Then she went back to the truck, where Lori was pulling a basket out of the truck bed. She watched as Lori started staring out into the distance. Following her gaze, she saw that Lori was looking at Shane, who was up on the windmill, hammering something.
"What's he doin'?" Rosie asked, furrowing her eyebrows. Lori didn't answer for a few moments, just frowning to herself.
"Can you bring this inside for me? I'll be right back," Lori said, handing the basket she was holding to Rosie. Rosie nodded and watched as Lori started walking off towards the windmill.
•
Rosie was sitting on the porch steps, staring off into space. She had been following Daryl around for awhile, ever since he got done with the shed, but then he had to go talk to Rick, so he told her to go help Jimmy and Beth board up the windows. But when Rosie went to Jimmy and Beth to offer help, they told her they didn't need any help, so now she was sitting there on the stairs, unsure of what else to do.
She thought about Dale. About the dinosaurs she wanted to tell him about. She thought about what she overheard him saying about her.
She does understand. She understands the importance of a person's life!
It was refreshing to hear someone talk about her like she wasn't some stupid, naïve kid. Dale agreed with her, and he understood her point of view. And he was brave. He stood up to Shane, even after Shane threatened him. Dale would always stand up for what was right. He was a good man. Rosie wanted to be like Dale. She wanted to be brave and she wanted to be good. And she wanted to stand up for what was right.
So when she noticed Shane going into the shed, she stayed focused, watching from afar with narrowed eyes. Nothing happened for a good five minutes. But then Shane came out of the shed... dragging a blind-folded Randall with him towards the forest. Shane kept looking back over his shoulder, and he did not look happy. Rosie looked down at her shoes when he glanced back at the house, pretending she didn't see.
She had a choice to make.
She could pretend she didn't see anything and go about her day, and maybe even let Randall die at the hands of Officer Shane Walsh.
Or she could be brave, be good, and stand up for what was right.
Rosie stared at her shoes for an extra thirty seconds, not wanting Shane to catch her watching him. Once she was confident enough that he was far enough away to not see her, she shot up off of the porch steps and bolted towards the tree line.
Silently, she hid behind trees, following Shane and Randall deeper and deeper into the woods. Randall was stumbling along, crying and shaking as Shane kept pushing him. He was terrified. The last time he was taken out of that shed it was to be executed.
Shane gave Randall a hard push and Randall fell to the ground. Shane knelt down in front of him, grabbing onto his head. He kept shushing him, checking his surroundings, and pulled the blind fold off of Randall's eyes. Randall grew even more fearful when he saw that it was Shane who had taken him.
"I get it. I'm the last face you probably want to see, huh? Listen, I'm gonna take you up out of here, okay?" Shane said quietly, still holding Randall's head to force him to look at him.
He's letting him go?
"I'm gonna get this off of you so you can breathe, but I want you to keep quiet. You listen good. Do you hear me?" Shane asked. Randall nodded his head adamantly. "Ok. Don't do nothin' stupid," Shane said as he pulled the duct tape off of Randall's mouth. "Now your group- you know where they're at?"
"No, I don't," Randall said quickly, shaking his head. "I really-" he was cut off by Shane hitting him in the side of the head. Randall whimpered and fell back a little, but it was nothing compared to what Daryl had done to him.
"Get your little ass up here," Shane grumbled, pulling Randall back up. "Now I'm the only shot of you getting out of these woods alive. You hear me? Now you start talking, boy. Where are they at?" he asked, pointing his finger in Randall's face authoritatively. Shane knew that Randall knew where his people might be because Rosie said that he told her she could go back with him. So either he was lying to Rosie or he was lying now.
"We had a camp set up off the highway... about five miles from here," Randall said. "Who knows if they're still there?"
"Ok. Ok," Shane said calmly, a small smile on his face. Just looking at him was scaring Rosie. Every time she peaked out from behind the tree she was hiding behind, she was scared he'd see her. "Ok. So you gonna take me to 'em?"
"Why?" Randall asked.
"Because, man, I- I'm just- I'm done with this group, man. They're doomed and I want no part of it. That's all," Shane said. Rosie wasn't sure if she believed what he was saying. Would he really leave Lori and Carl like that?
"So you're not gonna kill me?" Randall asked.
"Come on, man. If I was, you'd be dead. Come on," Shane said, pulling Randall back up to his feet before pushing him forwards.
"Hey, ya ain't gotta be so rough," Randall complained as Shane gave him a hard push forwards. "We're on the same side now. You're gonna like it with us. Gets a little crazy sometimes, but it's a tough bunch of guys. You'll fit in good!" Randall said cheerfully.
"Less talkin', more walkin'," Shane commanded. He continued to check behind himself, which made it very hard for Rosie to keep up without getting caught.
"Look, I run my mouth when I get nervous. I can't help it. I got a lot goin' on, ya know?"
"It ain't all 'bout you," Shane said.
"I ain't sayin' it's about me. Just trying to..." Randall looked back at Shane for a moment. Very unfortunately for Rosie, she happened to be switching trees in that moment. "Rosie?" he said, smiling at the sight of the young girl.
Rosie's eyes widened and she froze in her spot as Shane's head whipped around to look at her. His somewhat calm expression morphed into a furious one. "God damnit, Rosie," he grumbled as he started taking fast steps towards her. Before Rosie could even make a move, Shane had grabbed onto her upper arm with his right hand and used his left hand to cover her mouth. Rosie squirmed in his grip as he started pulling her along towards Randall.
"Hey, what're you doin'? She's good, she can- she can come with us. Don't- don't hurt her," Randall said nervously, his eyebrows raised with concern.
Suddenly, Shane let go of Rosie, shoving her backwards, and grabbed Randall by the neck. He slammed him up against a tree, making him cry out in pain, before snapping his neck. Rosie stumbled backwards, her heart pumping hard in her chest as she stared at Shane with wide eyes. He turned to her, stalking closer. Rosie tried to get away, but in all the panic she felt, she tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground.
"I didn't want this to happen," Shane growled out as he grabbed Rosie by the collar of her flannel and sat her up against the tree, pinning her there. "I didn't want to do this!" Shane said loudly, almost shouting. His voice was gruff and the look on his face was dark.
The other night, at the CDC, I wasn't going to hurt you. I'm never going to hurt you.
Shane's gun lifted, and for a moment, Rosie thought he was going to shoot her, but he didn't. Instead, he slammed the gun into the back of her head, right where her neck met her skull, and everything went black.
Liar.
•
The group paced around the shed, checking for any sign of how Randall could have gotten out.
"What's wrong?" Lori asked.
"Randall's missing," Glenn answered.
"Missing? How?" Lori asked, her voice panicked.
"How long's he been gone?" Hershel asked.
"Where's Rosie?" Carol asked, looking at Daryl. It was obvious that she was suggesting the possibility that it might've been Rosie who let him out.
"It wasn't her. The cuff's are still hooked," Rick said, leaving the shed. "He must've slipped them."
"Is that possible?" Carol asked him.
"It is if you've got nothing to lose," Andrea said.
"Door was secured from the outside," Hershel said.
Suddenly, a shouting voice came from the woods, catching everyone's attention. "Rick! Rick!" Shane shouted, stalking towards the group. His face was covered in blood. "He's armed! He's got my gun!"
"You okay?!" Carl asked.
"I'm fine. Little bastard just snuck up one me. He clocked me in the face," Shane told them. He lifted his right hand, revealing David's belt with Rosie's knife still on it. "Found this out there, he must've taken Rosie with him," he lied.
"God damnit!" Daryl slammed the side of his fist into the shed.
"I thought she was with you," Lori said, looking at Daryl.
"I told her ta go to the damn house, help Beth and Jimmy."
"We told her we were fine, we didn't need any help," Beth said hesitantly.
"Alright, Hershel, T-Dog! Get everybody back in the house," Rick commanded, "Glenn, Daryl, come with us."
"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it? To just let him go?" Carol said, her voice high and full of worry.
"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with Rosie and a gun," Rick said.
"Don't go out there! You don't know what can happen!"
"Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!"
•
Rosie woke up to a slight growling sound. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to relieve the aching in her skull. When she opened her eyes again, she suddenly remembered what had happened. She was in the woods, leaned up against a tree. She wasn't sure how much time had gone by, but it was completely dark out now, so it had to have been enough time for the sun to have set.
The growling sound seemed to be getting louder, and it wasn't hard to tell that it was a walker. Rosie reached to her belt, about to grab her knife, but it wasn't there. She sat up, panicked, and started patting the ground around her to see if it might have fallen off and was buried beneath the fall leaves, but it wasn't there. The growling kept getting louder and louder until the walker was right there.
Looking up, Rosie saw that the walker was Randall. Shane had killed him. "No!" Rosie shouted as Randall fell down in front of her, grabbing at her shoulders. She tried to kick him away, but it wasn't working. He was hungry and she was food. He pushed her back, leaning over her face and snapping his jaws at her.
Rosie felt around the grass with one hand while the other struggled to hold Randall's face away from her own. Her hand landed on a rock. It wasn't a huge one, but it wasn't a pebble either. Rosie grabbed the rock and slammed it into the side of Randall's head, making him fall over.
Using that as her chance to escape, Rosie scrambled up to her feet and got ready to start running. After just two steps, Randall grabbed onto her ankle, making her fall again. "No! Get off!" she shouted at him, using her other foot to kick his hand away.
Once Rosie set herself free again, she got up and started running as fast as she could. She could hear Randall coming behind her. He wasn't as fast as her, but he was a fresh walker, so he was faster than the much older ones.
Adrenalin pumped through Rosie's veins, pushing her to keep running, despite every muscle in her body begging for her to stop. Her head was pounding and her eyes burned. She wanted to sit down and squeeze her eyes shut, just for a moment, but she couldn't. She had to keep away from Randall and she had to get back to the farm to stand up for what was right. She had to tell the others what Shane did, whether he killed her for it or not. It was what Dale would have done, so it was what Rosie was going to do.
Tears started to fall from her eyes. She was scared.
Be brave. Be good.
Rosie looked back over her shoulder, checking to see if Randall was still on her tail, but she stopped and fell backwards when she ran into something. "No!" she shouted, scrambling backwards to try and get away from this new walker. Her eyes darted around on the ground, trying to find something to use as a weapon, but she came up empty. Her ears started to ring loudly.
Don't die. Don't die. Don't die.
Hands grabbed onto her arms, pulling her towards them. She pushed them away, trying to keep herself away from the walker's teeth, but she was weak and the walker was unusually strong. Everything was foggy, both her vision and her hearing. Her head hurt so bad.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to stare into the face of the walker that would be her death. "No!" she screamed. But the hands didn't pull her anymore. They stayed on her shoulders, holding her still, but she still squirmed in their grip.
"Rosie! Rose, c'mon, girl, stop it," a rough voice said. Rosie's eyes shot open at the sound of it and she ceased her squirming immediately. Daryl was in front of her, holding onto her shoulders with a confused and concerned look on his face. Rosie took deep breaths, trying to catch her breath, as she stared at him for a moment with wide, teary eyes.
Relief flooded her body. Daryl was there. She was safe. Rosie bit down on her lip, trying not to cry. She leaned forward and laid her forehead against Daryl's shoulder.
Hesitantly, as if he was unsure of himself, Daryl moved his hand from her shoulder to her back. "You're fine," he said gently. "It's ok. You're fine."
"What happened?" a younger voice asked. It was only then that Rosie noticed Glenn was there, standing a few feet away with a flashlight.
Rosie lifted her head from Daryl's shoulder, looking over at Glenn with wide eyes. "Shane," she said.
"What?" both Glenn and Daryl asked at the same time.
"He took Randall, killed him. I saw. And I got knocked out," Rosie explained quickly, still trying to catch her breath. She furrowed her eyebrows before adding another word with an irritation in her voice, "again."
"Why were you running?" Glenn asked.
Just then, Randall came stumbling towards them, growling and hissing. His head was tilted to the side a bit. Daryl stood back up and lifted his crossbow, aiming it at the walker's head. Rosie turned to Randall and took a few steps back, bumping into Daryl again, and leaning against him. Daryl sent a bolt through Randall's skull, making him drop dead.
"Shane took your knife," Glenn said as more of realization than a question. Rosie nodded. It explained why she was so panicked over the walker even though they had seen her kill them several times before. She didn't have a weapon this time.
"Son of a bitch knocked her out thinkin' Randall would turn before she woke up," Daryl said as he stepped forward to pull the bolt out of Randall's skull. "I'm gonna kill that bastard," he grumbled. He put his hand on Rosie's back again. "C'mon," he said as he started leading her back towards the house with Glenn.