—
Later that night, James was sat on the left of his father, Carl laying on Rick's right shoulder and Lori on Carl's other side. The group was sat in front of a fire while Rick explained to them what happened when he woke up.
Rudy yawned into Remi's shoulder, her eyes slowly closing as Ricks's voice faded.
"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion... all those things but...Disoriented comes closest."
"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short." Dale said.
"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."
"Mom said you died."
"Shane said you died." James quickly corrected his brother before glaring over at the man in question.
Rick shook his head at his eldest, "He had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."
"I've been doubting it since that bullshit came out of his mouth."
"Jameson—" Lori's voice fell deaf to his ears. Last thing he wanted to hear was his mother defend the man she's been having sex with while she wore the necklace with her husbands face in it. He scoffed as he had already subconsciously brought his attention to Remington who smiled as their eyes locked.
"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened."
"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell."
"Yeah."
"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." Rick informed them.
Shane cleared his throat, "Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?"
If bullshit were a language, Shane was practically the inventor. Because if he remembered correctly, James was the one that drove nearly an hour to get to his parents house to save them. Shane was just arriving after doing god knows what before that. But minor details.
"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it."
He's been having sex with your wife, I don't think there's much to be grateful for. Is what Remington would have said if this was her business. What was her business was the eleven year old sleeping peacefully in her arms, but that didn't stop her from listening to the conversation.
"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things."
Nearby, Remi could see Ed put another log in his fire. The man, along with his wife, Carol and daughter, Sofia, were by themselves, closing themselves off from the other families.
Shane called out to him, "Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?"
"It's cold, man." Ed brushed him off,
Shane wasn't having it, "The cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"
"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once." He snapped.
Shane got up from his spot and walked over to Ed, he could see the guilty and apologetic look he received from Carol, but ultimately brushed her off as he spoke specifically to her husband, "Hey, Ed... Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?"
"Go on. Pull the damn thing out." Ed clenched his jaw, "Go on!"
Carol pulls the log out of the fire, wincing as the heat slowly flushed up her arm.
"Christ." Shane muttered as he stomped out the flame, "Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?"
Carol nodded politely, "Fine. We're just fine. I'm sorry about the fire."
"No, no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?"
"Thank you."
"I appreciate the cooperation."
Remi and James share a look from across their own fire. The pair, being the quiet ones they are, were well aware of any and everything that went on in the camp. It was both a benefit and a curse to be as 'unbothered' as they were. Talks of plans and random arguments would happen around them and neither of the two would bat an eye.
No one in the group had an issue with speaking their minds around the two young adults as it was an unspoken agreement between everyone that neither of the two would blab.
Then again, Ed wasn't really quiet with his abuse towards Carol. They could only silently, and sadly, think about the troubles the woman would go through while everyone slept.
"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."
Daryl Dixon.
Oddly enough, one of Remi's favorite people.
Yes, the man was a bit of a jerk, but Remington blamed that on his own personal issues he has with his brother and his demons.
Daryl wasn't really someone that others would recommend becoming involved with, but Remi trusted the man more than she did anyone else in their group.
And bonus! Rudy loved him.
T-Dog perked up, "I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me."
"Hmm." Remington tilted her head.
"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick said.
"Hmm..."
Glenn cut them both off, "Guys, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy."
"Hmm." Remi nodded.
She could see the small smile her actions got from James before he looked back down at the ground.
"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."
"We could lie."
"That'll only cause more trouble." Remi's soft voice caused silence, "He would be more likely to kick your ass if you lied to him. Just sayin'."
For the second time since he's been here, Rick looked over at Remington. She couldn't tell if it was a look of annoyance for her involving herself in something she didn't know about, or if he was simply curious to know who she was.
Rick didn't know her name.
Everyone introduced themselves but Remi kept herself and Rudy at a distance. She only knew of him because of Carl spewing about how amazing Rick Grimes was.
Andrea backed her up, "She's right. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."
"And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise... We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt." Dale told them.
"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it."
"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?"
"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that... Not that chain, not that padlock. My point... Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."
At the end of T-Dog's rant, the group agreed that it was time for everyone to go to bed.
Remi was dragging Rudy to their tent, because call her crazy if she refused to carry her eleven year old sister six feet to their beds.
Just as she was getting ready to zip the tent shut and put a lock to avoid whatever creep hung around them out, a soft hand grabbed hers and stopped her from doing so.
"Hey."
"Hi..." Remi trailed off at the sight of Jameson Grimes' blue eyes staring into hers.
"Just wanted to say goodnight to you and Rudeth." He cleared his throat, "But i'm now seeing she's asleep so i'll settle with telling you goodnight instead."
"Goodnight, James." She smiles softly, "You should go spend time with your dad, i'm sure he missed you."
"He missed my mother more, apparently." He winced.
It was then that she picked up on the familiar sound of Lori's soft moaning.
Remi gestured for him to back away as she exited her tent, zipping it up to give Rudy some privacy.
"We can stay up and talk if you want?"
Neither of them knew what they were going to speak about, but they didn't care.
"Yeah, sure."