Pairing: Darylxoc. Eventual DarylxOcxRick. Setting: The Greene farm. Warnings: None that I can think of for this chapter.
The next morning at breakfast, Rick, Lori and Carl sat on a log beside a tree. Rick, watching as Cassie leaned down and picked up a bottle of water from where it sat on the ground beside her folding chair. Daryl sat in a similar chair beside her, eating silently. Cassie handed Daryl the bottle of water and he took a drink before passing it back. Rick watched her take another drink before she capped the bottle and put it back down. The fact that she and Daryl were sharing a water bottle, swapping spit, brought his mind back to what he'd seen in their tent the other night. Cassie's head, thrown back in ecstasy…Daryl’s face in her chest. The thought of the two of them making out so passionately…
Lori noticed Rick zoning out and sat up, placing her hand on the back of his neck. "Hey, where'd you go?" She asked, making him blink out of his thoughts as she kissed his cheek.
"I'm here." Rick answered flatly.
Glenn walked over to stand in the middle of the group. “Uh…guys.” he said, sounding nervous as he tried to get their attention. Some looked at him, wondering why he was once again acting weird. “So…” he said shakily. “The barn’s full of walkers.” and just like that he had their full attention.
“Come again?” Cassie asked with a squint at him when no one else spoke up.
“The barn…it's full of walkers. Hershel’s keeping them in there.” he repeated and all of them got up and headed to the barn.
When they got there, Shane walked over and looked through the crack in the doors that were chained closed. “You can not tell me you’re alright with this.” he said to Rick as he left the barn and walked back over to where they all stood a few feet away from it.
“No, I’m not, but we’re guests here. This isn’t our land.” Rick replied, not taking his eyes off the barn as Shane walked by him.
“God, this is our lives man!” Shane yelled.
“Lower your voice.” Cassie scolded him, hearing the walkers inside getting riled up.
“We can’t just sweep this under the rug.” Andrea spoke up.
“It ain’t right. Not remotely.” T-Dog added.
Shane, pacing, walked back over and looked at Rick. “Okay, we’ve either got to go in there, we’ve gotta make things right or we just gotta go.” he said, pointing his finger at the ground. “Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time.”
“We can’t go.” Rick argued, his hand held out in a calming manner even though his voice was raised.
“Why, Rick? Why?” Shane asked.
“Because my daughter is still out there.” Carol, who was standing next to Rick, across from Shane, spoke up.
“Okay.” Shane scoffed as he raised his hands in a praying manner and put them over his mouth and nose before he dropped them. “Okay, I think it’s time that we all start to just consider the other possibili-”
“Shane!” Rick interrupted him. “We’re not leaving Sophia behind.”
“I’m close to finding this girl.” Daryl said as he walked closer from where he and Cassie stood near Carol. “I just found her damn doll two days ago.”
Shane laughed. “You found her doll, Daryl. That’s what you did. You found a doll.”
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talkin’ about!” Daryl yelled, slinging his arm at Shane angrily.
“Alright, alright.” Rick held out his arm, trying to settle them down.
“Na! I’m just saying what needs to be said here. Now if you get a good lead it’s in the first 48 hours. Anything after that is a-” Shane started
Sad thing was, Cassie knew Shane was right. She knew the chances of finding Sophia alive were slim, but dead or alive she needed to be found.
Daryl didn't miss the fleeting expression on Cassie's face that said she agreed with Shane.
“Shane, Shane stop.” Rick said, trying to shut Shane up but he didn’t stop.
“Let me tell you somethin’ else, Man.” Shane kept tearing into Daryl. “If she was alive out there and saw you comin’ all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction, man!”
From there, the two men started arguing. Rick tried to stay between them and a few of the other group members closed in, but it was doing no good. Cassie and Lori got between Shane and Rick who was holding back Daryl. Eventually the fight broke up. “Keep your hands off me.” Shane told Lori then looked at Cassie, his eyes telling her that he was talking to her too, as he started to walk off.
Cassie opened her mouth, about to lay into her father.
“Everyone needs to calm down.” Rick said, pushing Cassie behind his back as he put himself between the father and daughter. “I will talk to Hershel and we’ll figure this out.”
“Man, what are you gonna figure out?!” Shane yelled as he took a step closer to Rick. Out of instinct Cassie put herself between Rick and Shane. So did Lori. Shane took a step back.
“If we’re gonna stay, if we’re gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land.” Rick argued with a point at the barn.
“Hershel sees those things in there as people.” Dale said as he walked over, his hand held out in a calming manner. “Sick people. His wife, his stepson.”
“You knew?” Rick asked as Cassie moved to stand beside him.
“Yesterday, I talked to Hershel.” Dale answered.
“And you waited the night?” Shane asked.
“I thought we could survive another night. We did.” Dale answered Shane then looked at Rick. “I was waiting ‘till this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one to.”
“Man, it’s crazy, Rick. If Hershel thinks those things are alive or no!” Shane yelled.
The walkers in the barn, drawn to Shane’s yelling, started banging on the door and everyone shut up and backed away.
“I think it's time we move this conversation elsewhere.” Cassie spoke up and they all started dispersing.
Cassie was sitting on a picnic table, watching Daryl and Carol talking in the stables when Rick walked over and sat down beside her, bumping her shoulder with his to get her attention. "How'd it go with Hershel?"
"Everything I said went in one ear and out of the other. He's not budgin’. He still wants us gone within the week." He sighed, placing his head in his hands with a sigh.
"Did you tell him about Lori?" She asked.
"Yeah." He sighed, pulling his head out of his hands.
"And it didn’t help?" she asked, surprised Hershel still wanted them to leave. For Lori to give birth out there.
“No.” he answered with a shake of his head.
"You tell anyone else that he wants us to leave yet?" She asked, looking at him across her shoulder.
"Just Shane and Lori." He answered. “And I’m not gonna tell the others because we’re not leaving.”
Cassie just sighed and nodded, turning her eyes back to the stables that Carol was now walking out of, wiping her face. Cassie sighed, running her hand through her hair, pushing it back out of her face before she placed her elbow on her knee and rested her cheek in her hand. She looked over at Rick, their eyes meeting, both of them looking tired.
"I told Shane about Lori." Rick said.
"And how'd that go?" She asked.
"He thinks it's his." He answered.
Cassie frowned, picking her head up. "He actually said that to you?"
"He didn't have to." Rick answered.
"Well, he never has been good at keeping his thoughts off his face." She pointed out.
"No he hasn’t." Rick agreed before things fell quiet. After a moment Rick looked at her. "What would you do if you were me?" He asked, looking at her with curious narrowed eyes.
"I'm gonna need you to be more specific." She replied. "’Cause if you're asking what I'd do about the whole Lori, Shane, baby thing I can assure you, you don't wanna know."
Rick chuckled, knowing she didn't care for Shane or Lori. "I was talking about the, Hershel and his barn full of walkers, thing." He replied.
"You don't want my answer to that either." She replied.
"No, I do." He assured her.
"You won't like it." She insisted, getting a sigh and a pointed look from him. "Hypothetically, I'd take a silenced pistol, go to the barn and take out all of those walkers except one."
"Why leave one?" He asked.
"The fact that Hershel sees those things as sick people tells me he doesn't really see them. He hasn't seen a walker take a knife to the gut, a shot to the chest, be completely decapitated and keep chomping. If he had he'd know without a doubt that they are dead. He needs to see it and understand exactly why we can't go back out there." She explained. "He needs to go through the same…right of passage, for a lack of better phrase, that we all did."
"Cassie that's-" Rick said with a shake of his head.
"Screwed up?" She asked. "Harsh? I know." He just stared at her. "I warned you."
"Yeah, you did." He agreed. "And it is harsh, but unfortunately I think you’re right. Not about clearing the barn without his permission, but about Hershel. He won’t stop seeing those things as people until he has to.”
“But is it our responsibility to change him?” she asked with a frown.
“I don’t know.” he answered with a shake of his head as he rested his elbow on his knee and made a fist, pressing his lips against the backs of his fingers.
“We have time to figure it out.” she assured him.
Rick just nodded and things fell quiet for a minute, both of them lost in thought. “Can you promise me something?” Rick asked, picking his head up to look at her.
“Depends, what is it?” she asked.
“Promise me you won’t kill those walkers.” he answered.
"It was strictly a hypothetical." She replied, clearly not wanting to make the promise. He gave her a pointed look. "I promise, I won't kill the walkers…unless I have your permission."
"Thank you." He replied, smirking at her adding a clause into the promise. He opened his mouth to say something else-
"Rick." They heard Hershel's voice behind them so they stood from the bench and turned to see him and Jimmy walking over. "We could use your help with something."
"Alright." Rick agreed with a nod then looked back at Cassie. "We'll go look for Sophia when I get back."
She was sitting in the tent, sharpening more arrows out of boredom while waiting for Rick to get done helping Hershel with whatever he was helping him with when Daryl ducked inside and flopped down on his side of the pallet. "You good?" She asked, setting the arrow aside to turn and look at him.
"Yeah. Why?" He asked, tucking his hand behind his head.
"Saw you talking to Carol in the stables earlier. She looked more upset than usual when she left. You looked pissed." she answered.
“She’s given up.” He answered. “Think’s Sophia’s dead, wants me to stop lookin’.”
“Do you think she’s dead?” Cassie asked.
“No. She’s out there somewhere, I know it, we just have to find her.” he answered stubbornly.
Cassie let it drop and went back to sharpening the arrow. “There’s some Cherokee roses out by the pond.” he didn’t say anything. “Just saying.” After a moment he sat up, took the knife out of her hand and tossed it to the other side of the tent. “Hey, I was using that.”
“Not anymore, come ‘ere.” he said as he slipped his hand over the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss that she laughed into. After a few minutes he pulled back, pecked her on the lips one more time then stood up with a grunt. “I’ll be back.” he told her before he ducked out of the tent.
With him gone she sat up and looked out of the unzipped window of the tent, her gaze landing on the barn in the distance. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to know exactly how many walkers were inside, exactly how much danger they were all in. So, making sure her knife was on her hip, she hooked her quiver to her belt loop, grabbed her bow, ducked out of the tent and headed to the barn.
Shane was on watch, leaning on a tractor in front of the barn.. “Hey, what are you doin’?” he asked, seeing her headed to the hay loft ladder.
“I wanna take a look.” she answered, not stopping her pursuit.
Shane rushed over and grabbed her arm, stopping her from climbing the ladder in front of her. “You seriously think I’m gonna let you go up there?” he asked, still holding her bicep.
“Let me?” she asked with an attitude induced raise of her brows.
“Cassie.” he sighed with a cock of his head.
“I just wanna see how many walkers are in there.” she answered as she took her arm out of his grasp.
“Why, you gonna take ‘em out?” he asked with a smirk and a look at the bow that hung off of the strap over her shoulder to rest on her hip. “Because Rick seems to have some magical plan and if you kill the walkers behind his back…” he trailed off and gave her a pointed look. “You don’t wanna piss off Rick now do you?”
“No, I don’t and I’m not gonna kill them.” she answered. “Rick asked me not to.”
“Now, why is it that when I tell you not to do something you ping off in the other direction, but when he tells you not to do something you obey like a good little girl?” he asked with a cock of his head. Cassie just rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m serious, Cassie.”
Cassie took in a deep breath then heaved it out. “Let me go up there, see how much danger we’re in, then I’ll answer you. Deal?” she asked
Shane thought about it for a minute. “Fine, but I’m going with you.” he answered.
She climbed up the ladder first and Shane followed as they quietly walked into the barn and looked over the edge of the loft. She counted a little over two dozen walkers. “There’s more than I thought.” she whispered. The whispered words didn’t seem to be heard by the walkers. “I listen to Rick because he doesn’t boss me around.” she whispered. “He doesn’t tell me what to do, he asks. He treats me like a human being. You, on the other hand, treat me like a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Just like you do everyone else. Well, everyone but Lori.” she added with a crinkle of her nose and a mean look.
“Don’t do that, we ain’t talking about me.” Shane said, annoyed by Cassie’s poking.
Cassie was about to tear her eyes off of the walkers below and leave when one caught her eye. It was little, standing back in a dimly lit corner. Its khaki pants were crinkled and dirty as was the once bright blue shirt with a rainbow on the front of it. Cassie froze, her body becoming rigid and her breath catching in her throat. “No…” she sighed quietly.
When Shane started to walk away, Cassie’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. He stopped, looking at her face to see a look of horror on it, tears silently slipping from her wide eyes, a deep crease between her brows. “What's wrong?”
“...the corner.” Cassie answered numbly, her hand squeezing Shane’s wrist.
Shane looked around the barn, his face falling when he spotted the little girl. “Son of a bitch.” he spat, already getting angry. He tried to storm out of the barn, but Cassie was still holding his wrist. She stumbled a little from the force of him trying to walk away with her still holding him and he turned back to her. That’s when he saw that she was still in shock, her chest heaving up and down in panic. “Hey, hey, hey, look at me Cass.” he said in a shushing voice as he grabbed her face in his hands. The action only brought on a wave of tears. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” he whispered as he pulled her into him, hugging her in an attempt to calm her.
Her body shook in his arms, both with sobs and attempts to push air in and out of her lungs because even though she was breathing it felt as if the oxygen somehow wasn’t sinking in. “Hey,” Shane grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back, looking her in the eyes, “breathe, calm long breaths, in and out.” Cassie nodded and started mimicking his exaggerated breathing. When she had calmed down a bit he brushed her loose waves out of her face awkwardly. “It’ll be okay.”
“No it won’t.” she said quietly with a weak shake of her head as she wiped her face. “Sophia is dead…The world is dead…finding her alive is what everyone has been working toward…it was a beacon of hope…that hope is gone…” she forced the tears to stop falling and pulled the collar of her shirt up, wiping her face before she dropped it. Shane watched as she picked her bow up off her hip, nocked an arrow then pulled the string back and aimed. When she was sure she wouldn’t miss, she let the arrow fly. It hit Sophia right between the eyes, knocking the little girl into the corner of the barn with a thud before she slipped to the ground. She just looked at her for a minute before she finally looked at her father.
Shane placed a hand on his hip and squinted at her. “I know that look.” his face turned cocky as he watched Cassie drop the bow and head for the ladder.
“You should. I inherited it from you.” she popped off, skipping the last few rungs and dropping to her feet. Interested to see exactly who was about to get it and what she was going to do next Shane just followed after her as she headed to the farm house.
Daryl was also headed to the house and immediately noticed how red and tearstained Cassie’s face was. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Daryl asked, stepping in her way to rest his hand on the side of her neck and examine her face. When she didn’t answer, sweeping his hand off her to continue to the house. Daryl looked at Shane. “What’d you do?”
“Daryl, back off.” Cassie snapped as they came to the steps of the house where Maggie, Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea and Carol were already standing around. Cassie looked at Maggie, “Where’s Hershel and Rick?” she asked, her voice hard and cold.
“They’re not back yet. Why?” The young brunette asked, concerned.
“We need to have a little chat.” Cassie answered.
“About what?” Maggie asked.
“The barn and its contents.” Cassie answered, practically spitting out the words.
“He and Rick already discussed that.” Maggie said as Cassie noticed Lori and Carl come outside. “The barn is not to be touched by you or your people.”
Cassie was about to reply when she realized this wasn’t information to just be spat out at Maggie considering the news needed to be broken to Carol and Carl gently. She took in a deep breath and let it out. “Lori, Carol…I need to talk to you, privately, please.” she said, losing the harsh cold tone for a more sad one.
The two women followed Cassie out of earshot of the group. “We‘ve found Sophia.” Cassie told them solemnly.
Carol guessed from the way Cassie was talking that it wasn’t good news. “Where is she?” Carol asked, her eyes wide and wet.
The sight damn near broke Cassie again. “The barn.”
Carol’s jaw dropped as tears began to fall. As did Lori’s, “Oh god.” the latter said as she grabbed Carol and pulled her in for a hug. Lori’s eyes stayed on Cassie.
“I put her down…” Cassie said quietly, more to Lori than Carol.
Lori looked down at Carol, guessing that she would be with Carol for a while. “Will you tell Carl to go in the house and wait for his father?”
“Of course.” Cassie nodded then walked back over to the group as Lori brough Carol to the R.V. Cassie walked over to Carl and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Your mother wants you to go wait for her inside.”
“But-” the little boy started.
Cassie gave him a rare, pointed look that he had only seen from her a few times. So, knowing she was serious he hung his head and went inside. When he was gone she looked over the crowd that was looking at her for answers. Cassie looked at Shane. “Don’t look at me, you started this, finish it.”
Cassie looked at him in confusion. Was that…? Was he proud of her right now? She shook her head and looked at everyone again. “We found Sophia.” she told them all before her eyes landed on Maggie. “She’s in the barn…she was a walker.”
“Was?” Glenn asked, squinting at her in the bright sun.
“I put her down.” Cassie answered, resting her hand on her bow before she looked at Maggie.
“Oh shit.” T said loudly, making everyone look in the same direction he was to see Rick and Hershel coming out of the woods on the other side of the barn with walkers on snare poles.
Shane cursed under his breath as he started sprinting toward them. Cassie as well as the others took off after him. “What the hell are you doin?” Shane yelled when they grew close enough to be heard.
“Shane, just back off!” Rick warned him.
“Are you kidding me?” Shane yelled, walking around Rick and Hershel. “You see? You see what you’re holding on to?”
“I see who I’m holding on to.” Hershel argued.
“Na man, you don’t!” Shane yelled.
“Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk.” Rick reasoned.
“What you wanna talk about, Rick?” Shane yelled. “These people ain't sick!”
Seeing things escalating further and further, Shane yelling, Rick unable to do anything but yell back uselessly, something in Cassie snapped. She ran over to Shane, getting between him and Rick, making sure to stay a safe distance from the walker. “Dad, stop!” he moved to walk around her but she stepped in his way again. Her hands held up as she caught his eyes. “I started this, remember? Let me finish it.”
“Have at it. Maybe he’ll listen to you ‘cause he sure as hell ain't listening to me.” Shane said with a swing of his arm at Rick.
Cassie noticed a few people giving her disbelieving looks as she moved to stand between Rick and Hershel’s path to the barn. Unable to proceed, they stopped. “Beth, Jimmy, please, go inside.” Cassie spoke up. She gave them a chance to go, but they didn’t.
“Cassie, get out of the way.” Rick told her, making her look at him.
“No, Rick.” she said with a shake of her head, her eyes softening as she looked at him. He gave her a confused glare. “Dad and I, we found Sophia. She’s in the barn…”
It took a moment for the meaning of her words to sink in and she could tell when they did because Rick’s face fell, as if all light had drained out of it. “She took care of it.” Shane spoke up behind her and she wished he hadn’t. Why did he have to phrase it that way? Calling Sophia an it.
“You went into my barn?” Hershel asked, both stunned and pissed..
“I had every right to enter that barn, to see exactly how many walkers were in there.” she defended herself. “To see how much danger you're putting everyone in.”
“You killed a sick little girl.” Hershel said, still pissed.
“I put her body to rest. The little girl we all knew was already gone.” Cassie replied. “You may not want to accept it, but the people in that barn are not sick. They are dead. We have seen scientific proof that everything that made them who they were is gone. I'm sorry to sound so cold, but it's true. You're corralling flesh eating corpses and putting your living family in danger.”
“Cassie.” Rick said, getting her attention. She looked from Hershel to him. “It is our responsibility.” he told her and her eyes narrowed at him. No one else knew what he was talking about. Lori, who’d heard Shane’s yelling and left Carol to see what was going on, found it particularly irking that Cassie and Rick were apparently talking about serious issues together. “I don't see a better time than now. You have my permission.”
Shane, who had been watching the exchange carefully, finally spoke up. “You two have something you wanna share with the group?”
Cassie looked back at her father then at the rest of the people. “There is only one way he’s gonna see the truth.” she answered. “Will someone take the snare pole from Hershel please?” When no one else stepped up, Daryl walked over, setting his gun on the ground nearby before he headed over to Hershel. After a bit of a struggle Daryl finally got the pole from him. “Did you know either of these people?” she asked Hershel.
Hershel didn’t answer. He just stood there, his shoulders squared and fists clenched at his sides. So Rick spoke up. “The woman, Lou, he knew her.”
“Then don’t look at Lou.” she said walking over to stand near him and Daryl moved the walker further away. “Look at the guy.”
“What are you doin?” Hershel asked.
“Proving my point.” she answered.
Hershel looked at Rick. “You need to control your people.”
Cassie looked at Rick. “Hear her out.” Rick told Hershel, not taking his eyes off of Cassie, letting Hershel know he was on Cassie’s side.
She pointed to the male walker. “Look at him, really, truly…look at him. There’s a gaping wound on his neck, it should be bleeding, but it’s not and the blood around it is black…coagulated. If he was just sick, like you insist these people are, that wound would be actively bleeding and the blood would be bright red. You’re a vet, you know this.”
“It’s an old wound.” he argued with a tone that suggested that she was ignorant.
“Okay.” she said before she walked over to the barn and grabbed an ax that was leaning against it. With it, she chopped a slit in the side of the walker's neck. “There, a fresh wound bleeding black blood. Not only that but it didn’t even flinch.” she looked at Hershel to see him still just glaring at her, hatred in his eyes. It was something, but not the look she knew needed to be there. “Look at his skin, it’s color, it’s texture…living people, even sick people, their skin doesn’t look like that.” she held her hand out at it. “He died and he got back up but he did not come back. Not the real him. Keeping them locked in a barn while they slowly deteriorate isn’t only dangerous…it’s inhumane. It’s like keeping a dog with rabies locked in a cage instead of putting it down for the sanity of the dog and people it threatens.”
“Are you done?” Maggie asked from where she stood next to Glenn.
Cassie just looked at Hershel, taking in his still angry eyes. “No.'' She answered then moved to stand beside the male walker. “I really didn't want to do this but you still don't get what we're dealing with here.” She told Hershel then looked back at the walker. With a powerful swing of the sharp ax, the walker's body fell to the ground and its head toppled from the loop of the snare pole. Cassie picked the head up by its dirty hair, showing it to Hershel. “They…are not…alive.” she pointedly spaced out each word. She noticed a change in his face as he watched the severed head snap at them…realization. “Now I'm done.” The blade of her knife silenced the severed head before she tossed it down with the body. When Cassie turned to Daryl she saw him let go of the pole, pull a knife off his hip and take out the walker.
“I understand you have family in there.” Rick spoke up. “But we need to clear this barn. Until we do, none of us are safe. And we need to get Sophia out of there, bury her so Carol can finally get the closure she’s been needing.” He walked over to Cassie, putting his hand on her shoulder, letting her know he would be taking over from there. She moved to stand a few feet away from him. “If you let us, I promise we will do it as gently as possible.” he looked at Hershel, but the man was in shock and didn’t answer. So Rick looked at Patricia, the next oldest in Hershel’s group. She, too, couldn’t answer.
“Do it.” Maggie spoke up. Her voice, weak and shaky.
“Are you sure?” Glenn asked her, placing his hand on the small of her back.
“Yeah, please. Just…put them out of their misery.” her voice broke as tears fell.
“Alright.” Rick nodded. “Cassie, Daryl, how many arrows do you have?”
“Eight or so.” Cassie answered.
“Ten, maybe twelve.” Daryl answered.
“Okay, get your gear and go up to the loft. Take out what you can from there. After that, meet us back here and we’ll unlock the doors, let them out one at a time if we can and take them down with…other means.” he said then looked around at everyone. “We will not use guns, understand?”
Everyone mumbled their understanding before Cassie headed up to the loft and Daryl left to get his bow. Jimmy, Beth and Patricia headed back to the house. Hershel just stood there, unmoving in shock. So people started working around him.
After Cassie and Daryl took out what walkers they could from the loft they all gathered in front of the barn. Daryl, Rick, Shane and T stood with their backs on the doors, holding them open enough to let just a few through at a time before they shut them. While they held them shut, Cassie, Andrea and Glenn took down the walkers. Lori and Dale drug the bodies to the side while the men let more out. When they no longer felt walkers pressing against the door, fighting to get out, they opened the doors all the way.
Now that the barn was empty they gathered to talk. “How many graves should we dig?” Cassie asked.
“Three, one for Sophia, one for Annette and another for Sean.” Lori answered.
Hershel started to head to his house. Shane noticed and started following him. “We’ve been out. We’ve been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along?” Shane asked, walking behind him. Rick took off after them. “You knew.”
“Leave us alone.” Maggie said with Glenn at her side.
“Hey, Shane, just stop, man.” Rick said, grabbing his arm.
“Get your hands off me.” Shane snapped, jerking his arm out of Rick’s grasp as he continued his pursuit of Hershel.
Cassie on the other hand stayed behind, done with her father and the drama that seemed to constantly surround him.
Cassie, Andrea, T and Shane worked on digging three graves while Lori found big rocks to use as headstones. After a couple of hours, they decided they were deep enough and that it was time to hold the funeral service.
At the service that Carol didn’t attend, no one said anything. They all just stood there, looking down at the mounds of dirt until eventually someone walked off and they dispersed. Cassie tried to go to Daryl, knowing he had more hope of finding Sophia alive than anyone, but when she tried to grab his hand and get his attention he jerked it away. “Don’t!” he snapped and kept on walking. Thinking he just needed space and time to process, she let him go.
When she was done helping load the walkers into trucks, she ducked inside her tent only to see that Daryl’s sleeping bag, weapons and duffle were gone. No trace that he’d ever been there remained. With a confused frown she ducked back out of her tent and went to the Rv, but no one was there. She was headed to the house when she saw Lori walking out. “Hey, have you seen Daryl?”
“His stuff’s not in our tent.” she answered.
“Maybe he just went hunting or something.” Lori brushed it off.
“No, all of his stuff is gone. Like he packed up and left.” Cassie pointed out.
“I don’t know what to tell you Cassie.” Lori sighed as if she couldn’t be bothered. “Maybe he decided he didn’t want to be with a carbon copy of Shane.”
“Excuse me?” Cassie asked with a tilt of her head.
“What you did out there today…that was something Shane would have done. Rick should have stopped you.” Lori replied. “Because of you Hershel is going to kick us off this farm.”
“No, Shane would have caused a panic and murdered Maggie and Beth’s mom right in front of them without so much as a hint of sympathy. And Hershel was planning on kicking us off this farm long before the barn became a problem.” Cassie argued. “I did what needed to be done in the most humane way possible given the situation. And if you don’t like that then you can go fuck yourself. Or better yet, go fuck Shane again, you two deserve eachother. The hot headed ass hole and the cheating bitch.”
A split second after Cassie saw pure anger in Lori’s eyes, the woman’s hand collided with the left side of Cassie’s face, making it feel as if her eye was about to pop out of her head. “Mom?” Carl’s voice from the porch behind them made Lori look at him over her shoulder with wide eyes then back at Cassie, who was glaring at her with more hatred in her eyes than she’d ever seen.
“Carl to the rescue.” Cassie said then took a step closer, getting in her face and lowering her voice. “If you ever touch me again you’ll be shitting teeth for weeks.” She walked away, leaving Lori to explain to Carl why she’d just slapped his nanny and friend.
Eventually she found Daryl in a camp he’d made out by the ruins of an old homestead. He was sitting on a log by a fire, skinning a squirrel. So she walked over and sat down beside him. When he never said anything she decided she would have to go first. “I’m sorry.” he didn’t react. “I didn’t know she was going to be in that barn…”
“Just stop.” he said, his voice low and gravelly.
“Stop what?” she asked, not understanding why he was being like this.
“Stop pretending you ever thought we’d find her alive.” he growled as he stood up and looked down at her. “I saw it in your eyes this morning at the barn. You agree with Shane.”
Cassie sighed. “Because he was right, statistically speaking the odds of her being alive were slim. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe that someone can overcome those odds.” she argued.
“You wanna talk about slim odds?” Daryl yelled at her. “How about the odds of Rick ever leaving his wife for you.” her eyes turned glaring, her face twisted in confusion. “No matter how hard you try to impress him.”
“What?” she asked with a shake of her head. “I didn’t do that to impress him.”
“Bullshit.” Daryl scoffed.”You want him. Shitty part is he wants you too and you know it.” Cassie just stared at him, wide eyed, unable to speak. “But you also know he won’t break up his family for the slut babysitter.” Daryl calling her a slut spread chills through her body a second before tears stung the backs of her eyes. “What you gonna cry, gonna tell me I wasn’t your second choice, that you didn’t settle for me?” he took a step toward her, towering over her, “Huh?! If you love him so much, go beg him to pop your cherry! I'm done!”
She saw red and before she knew it, she’d swiped his legs out from under him, knocking him onto his butt like she’d done to Merle before. “Yeah…I love Rick and yes I wanted him.” she said as she looked down at him. “But I didn't settle for you…I fell in love with you.” A tear slipped from each of her eyes. “And you promised me I wouldn’t lose you.” she pointed at him accusingly.
“Yeah,” Daryl scoffed as he rolled over and got up with a grunt, “promises are made to be broken.” it felt as if someone had shoved a blade deep into her heart and twisted.
“Don’t do this, please.” she begged.
“Don’t do what? Tell it like it is?” he asked, pacing in front of her.
“Don’t push me away just because things are getting hard.” she answered, her voice breaking a little.
“Don’t you get it? I don’t want you!” she stumbled back almost tripping, looking at him with wide red eyes. “So go! Git!”
She bit her lips closed, holding back sobs as she turned and walked away. She went to her tent, but it didn’t feel right anymore, being in a tent that was originally Daryls. So she packed her stuff, left the tent popped up and went out to the barn. She climbed up into the loft and was arranging her things, using the hay bales as tables when she heard someone climbing up the ladder behind her then their footsteps headed her way once they spotted her. “I've been looking for you.” Rick's voice met her ears.
“Well, you found me.” she replied in a sigh not looking back.
“I just wanted to let you know that Beth is in some kind of catatonic state and Hershel's missing.” He said, watching her shoulders deflate. “We think he went to the bar in town. We're gonna go get him.” feeling guilty, knowing him leaving to go on a drinking spree and Beth's shocked state was her fault, she couldn't look at Rick. When she didn't say anything he touched her shoulder. “Hey, this isn't your fault.”
She simply scoffed and bussyed her hands with fixing her sleeping bag on a pile of hay.
“Cassie.” He said her name softly as he sat down beside her and grabbed her hands, stopping her movements. She turned her head in the opposite direction. “Hey.” He tried again then gently used his fingertips on her jaw to turn her head toward him. His eyes landed on the forming bruise on her cheekbone, just under her eye. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” She answered, taking her chin out of his hand, returning to attempting to straighten the sleeping bag even though he was sitting on the edge of it, facing the opposite direction of her.
“Did Daryl hit you?” He asked leaning down to get in her line of view. “Is that why you're up here?”
“No.” She answered. Rick sighed, getting aggravated with her sudden lack of communication skills. She turned and sat down facing him. Her eyes on her hands as she picked at her cuticles. “Daryl didn't hit me. He…broke up with me.” Her eyes watered but she pushed it back. “And after the scene I caused at the barn and the things that Lori said I wasn't feeling like anyone else would want me around either. So I relocated.”
Rick's hand slid over her unbruised cheek and lifted her head. Her eyes met his. “What did she say?”
“I'm a carbon copy of Shane, what I did wasn't right and because of it Hershel wants us gone.” She answered then pointed to her cheek. “This is her handy work.”
“Lori hit you?” He asked, his eyes narrowed at her.
“Yep. But then again I called her a cheating bitch…’n’ said that she and Shane deserve one another.” She replied, making his brows raise. “And now Hershel is missing and Beth is in shock, so in hindsight, I deserve it.”
“Is that why she doesn't have a matching bruise?” Rick asked. “Because you think you deserved it?”
“No.” She answered. “I wanted to hit her back, but I couldn't.”
“You couldn't slap her but you could put an arrow through doctor Jenner's eye?” He asked in disbelief.
“I may be a hot head but I have a conscience. I can't hit a pregnant woman. Besides, Carl was watching.” She answered.
“Carl saw?” he asked with raised brows. Cassie hummed a positive answer. He heaved out a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. Things fell quiet for a moment before he asked, “Did you mean it?”
“Mean what?” Cassie asked.
“That her and Shane deserve each other?” he asked, looking at her across his shoulder.
“You don’t want me to answer that.” she said with a shake of her head.
“You’ve been telling me what I do and don’t wanna know a lot lately." He pointed out. "If I didn't wanna know I wouldn't ask." When she still didn't say anything he gave her a look that told her to answer the question.
"I can't answer that question without bad mouthing her. I care about you and she's your wife, I don't wanna talk bad about her around you." She argued.
"Yeah she is my wife," he said looking amused, "but you're a very dear friend and I wanna know your thoughts."
"No you do-" the sharply pointed look he gave her cut her off. "Fine, yes, I meant it. I think Lori should have to sleep in the bed she made."
"She thought I was dead, she was grieving." He defended her. Cassie bit her lips closed, nostrils flaring. "Say it. Whatever you're thinking, say it."
"They disrespected your memory." Cassie said it. "Just a week after you were supposedly gone, Rick, if that. If it was a one time mistake, a moment of weakness, sure whatever, it happens I guess, but it wasn't. Daryl and I stumbled across them in the woods. According to him they'd been going at it like rabbits for days at that point." Rick's shoulders slacked as did his jaw. "While I was crying alone in the woods, grieving you, cursing God for taking you from me, she was screwing Shane. You deserve better."
Things fell silent again as they both stared off into space as he let her words sink in and she tried to come to terms with the fact that she'd just said that to him. Eventually he looked across his shoulder at her. "Why’d Daryl break up with you?" He asked.
"That's a can of worms I'd rather leave sealed." She answered.
Rick sighed, glancing outside. “I need to head out before we lose the light.” He pushed himself up and she followed suit. “But this conversation ain't over.” He gave her a pointed look and she gave him a nod in return.
He started walking away and got as far as the opening of the hayloft before she spoke up. “Rick?” He stopped and turned back to see her walking over to him, stopping with a foot a space between them. “Be safe out there.”
The fear in her eyes, the fear of losing him, caused him to cup her cheek in his hand, gently slipping his thumb over the bruise. “I will.”
Rick leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Promise.”
Daryl, who'd been on his way to talk to Cassie, paused when he saw Rick kiss her on the head. With a scoff and a shake of his head he turned and walked away.
Cassie watched from the barn as Glenn and Rick climbed into Carol's car and drove away.
A few hours later she was sitting in the loft, strumming the guitar when the sound of someone climbing the ladder caught her attention and she stopped. With a racing heart she watched the opening only to see Shane's walk in. “Oh, it's just you.” she sighed, her whole demeanor falling as she looked down, letting her hair fall in her face.
“Sorry to disappoint.” He shot back as he walked over and made himself comfortable on the bale of hay to her right.
“What do you want?” She asked, sounding tired.
“I haven't seen you around. Wanted to make sure you're okay.” He answered.
She kept her eyes on her hands. “I'm fine.”
“See, why am I not buying that?” He asked, leaning down in an attempt to get in her line of view, but she kept her head down. “Would you at least look at me?”
“I know what you look like.” She replied matter-of-factly.
“Cassie.” He dead panned. So she looked up at him, her hair slipping out of the way revealed the purple spot on her cheek. His face morphed in the blink of an eye. “What the hell is that?”
“It's not what you think.” She reasoned.
“Son of a bitch, did he hit you!?” He asked, pure rage in his eyes.
“No. Daryl would never hurt me.” She assured him. “Not physically anyway.”
“But he did hurt you.” Shane pointed out. As he grabbed her chin and tilted her face to look at it. “Start talkin’ before I start killin’.”
Cassie heaved out a sigh. “Lori slapped me because I called her a cheating bitch. Daryl hurt me by breaking up with me.”
Shane let go of her face. “Why'd he break up with you?”
“Don't really feel like talking about it.” She answered evasively.
“Alright, just answer me this: Do I need to kick his ass?” He asked, completely serious.
“Na, I already knocked him on it.” She answered, making him smirk. “If I thought he deserved more he would have got it.”
“That's my girl.” He said, tussling her hair like a proud dad. “Standin’ up for yourself and rufflin’ feathers. You're a chip off the old block.”
Cassie wrinkled her nose and tried to tame her hair. “This bonding stuff is weird.”
“Seriously, you gonna be okay?” He asked with a jerk of his chin at her.
“Yeah, eventually, it's just hard. I can't exactly avoid him and forget we ever happened.” She answered, looking down at her hands.
“Yeah I get that.” he sighed, leaning forward to place his elbows in his knees.
“Everyone hates me now.” she added. “Guess I really am a chip off the old block.”
“It’s okay to be a little hated sometimes.” Shane replied. “I know I’m not the best one to give advice, but if you did what you know deep down was right, you have nothing to be sorry for.”
“If I hadn’t wen’t into that barn, Hershel wouldn’t be missing right now and Beth wouldn’t be catatonic. I did that to them.” she argued.
“So you think you should have let them keep on living in fantasyland? Thinking their family was going to get better?” Shane asked.
“No, they needed closure.” she answered. “I just don’t know if that was the right way to go about it.”
“Like it or not, you can’t turn back time and change it.” Shane replied. “Regardless of the outcome, I’m proud of you.”
Cassie was quiet for a minute as she just looked at him. “You’ve never said that to me before.”
Shane was quiet for a minute. “Why do you think I pushed you so hard to join the police force or something other than music?”
“Because you wanted me to be like you.” she answered with what she always thought to be true.
“No.” Shane said with a shake of his head. “Because you are a leader. You just needed something to pull it out of you.”
Cassie hummed. “Who knew it would be trying to get you to shut the hell up that would pull it out of me.”
Shane just scoffed out a laugh and shook his head as he stood up and headed for the ladder. They both knew it was really the loss of Sophia that did it and she was just trying to make light off the topic.
“Hey Dad?” She called and he stopped and turned back. “Thanks.” she told him, meaning it.
“Mm Hmm.” He hummed with a nod. “Are you coming to dinner?”
“Probably not.” She sighed. “Just let me know when Rick gets back?”
“Will do.” He replied then left.
An hour or so later Lori found her. “Hey, Rick's not back yet.”
“Okay?” Cassie replied, not looking up from the guitar in her lap that she'd been playing to distract herself.
“Beth isn't getting any better. She needs Hershel, now.” She started making Cassie look up at her. “So you're gonna go into town and bring them back.”
Cassie's eyes turned glaring. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. This…all of this, is your fault.” Lori told her, rage in her eyes. “My husband is out there trying to fix your mistake.” she said with a point over her shoulder. “You pushed Hershel to drinking, you pushed Beth to the breaking point.”
Cassie’s eyes watered before she pushed it back. “So you expect me to just go into town and bring them back, by myself?”
“Convince Daryl to go with you.” She said as if it were no big deal.
“Yeah,” she scoffed, blinking back her tears, “I’d have a better chance of convincing the devil to let hell freeze over.” Lori watched as Cassie started gathering her stuff. “He's ain’t gonna help me do shit, especially when it comes to Rick.” Cassie grabbed her quiver then headed out of the barn.
Lori followed her down. “Then ask T.” She tried.
“I'm not putting anyone else in danger.” Cassie opened the door of Maggie's car and flipped down the sun visor. The keys fell onto the floorboard so she scooped them up, slid into the driver's seat and put her bow in the back seat. As she cranked it, Lori got in beside her. “Get out.”
“I'm not letting you go alone.” Lori said stubbornly.
“And I don't want your death added to my conscience.” Cassie fought back. “You're pregnant, you could get hurt.”
“Then you know why I need Rick back.” She pointed out. “Hershel too.”
Cassie thought about it for a moment before she wrinkled her nose and bore her teeth. “Fine.” She pushed the door open and got out. “But if we're doing this, you're driving, I'm navigating. You suck at reading maps.” They switched places and Cassie grabbed the map out of the glove box.
A few minutes into the drive Lori asked, “how did you find out that I'm pregnant?”
“Rick told me.” She answered matter-of-factly.
“He did?” Lori asked with a wide eyed glance at her across her shoulder.
“Why do you look so surprised?” Cassie asked. “He was a freaking mess, he needed someone to talk to and it's not like he could talk to Shane about it. Thanks to you he's lost that friend.” Lori was quiet so she continued. “Thanks for trying to abort my little brother or sister, by the way.”
“It’s Ricks.” Lori argued.
“In theory, because he’s your husband, but we both know the likelihood of it actually being his is slim to none.” she said, resentment in her voice. “You and I’ve been sharing feminine hygiene products for the last month and a half. So I know that your cycle started two days after mine and that it stopped a day before mine. That gives me a pretty good indication of your fertile window and during that window is when you and Shane were, as Daryl put it, going at it like rabbits.” Lori looked at her with wide eyes. “It’s really not that hard to figure out.”
Lori stayed quiet for a few minutes, lost in thought. Thinking about how Cassie acted around Rick. How many times she’d seen her hug him, smile at him timidly. Looking back at what Lori had thought to be shyness, was really something else entirely. How Cassie and Rick had been talking about important topics. How Rick didn’t stop her from pulling that stunt at the barn. Finally she asked, “what did you mean earlier, when you said Daryl wouldn't help you, especially when it comes to Rick?” Cassie didn't answer. “Is that why he broke up with you?” Once again Cassie didn't answer. “Cassie!” Lori yelled.
Cassie kept looking down at the map in her hands. “I don't wanna talk about it.”
“Cassie, are you in love with my husband?!” Lori yelled, looking at Cassie.
Cassie’s head snapped up at Lori’s question.
A movement on the road, seen in the corner of Cassie's vision, made her look to see a walker shamble out in front of the car. “Watch out!”
Lori tore her eyes off of the younger woman to look at the road and swerve. The front corner of the car clipped the walker before the car sped off the road into a tree that ramped the car. Cassie screamed, her head hitting the window, knocking her out as the car flipped.
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