Better off dead

Chapter 15: TS-19 Pt2

Andrea was vomiting in the bathroom "Andrea?"Dale asks as he walks passed the bathroom Andrea doesn't answer only continues to hurl. Dale steps inside the bathroom "That's it. That's it. Get it out. There you go. Oh... God" he kneels down and flushed the toilet "Oh. Everything's gone" Andrea mutters "It's always better going down than coming up, huh?" Dale says sympathetically "I don't mean the wine, Dale. You know, it's over. There's nothing left. Don't you see that?" Andrea asks "Oh, I... I see a... a chance to make a new start" Dale says making Andrea laugh "Oh my God, Dale. Dale, didn't you see the look on Jenner's face? Hear what I'm saying. There's nothing left!" Dale frowns "Do NOT let Amy hear you say that!" Andrea looks down ashamed and sighs before Dale sitting down next to her.

~~~elsewhere~~~
Rick walks up to Jenner's lab and knocks on the open entryway "How's the blood?" Rick asks "No surprises" Jenner mutters before putting down Delilah's blood test "I came to thank you" Rick says stepping forward into the lab "You did. You all... you all right?" Jenner asks "You don't know what it's like" Rick let's out a mirthless laugh "You don't know what it's like out there. You may think you do, but you don't. We'd have died out there. It was only a matter of time. There's too many of those things. My... my boy... My daughter ... my wife, I never... I never told 'em what I really thought. I never even hinted, just... just kept it in. Kept it in and kept us moving, you know. Just kept it in. Kept us... It'll all be okay. It'll be okay" Rick chuckles bitterly.

~~~elsewhere~~~
"Any good books?" Lori asks, while  walking into the rec room with a glass of wine in hand "Uh-huh" Carol nods with Carl and Sophia sitting next to her. Carol closes the book that they were reading "Enough to keep us busy for years!" Carol smiles "All right. Come on, kids, it's bedtime. Baby, go say your prayers. I'm gonna browse a bit. Come on" Lori says "This is the first night we might actually get some real sleep" Carol comments "Hmm. It's a miracle, isn't it?" Carol leaves with Carl and Sophia.

Lori wanders over to the book shelf and looks around the door suddenly slams shut Lori yelps and whirls around to see Shane "Jesus, you scared me!" "I'm gonna tell you a few things and you're gonna listen to me" Shane states drunkenly, while ignoring Lori "Now is not the time" Lori merely says, Shane let's out a fake laugh and says "Come on. When is it ever the time? How can you treat me like this?" "You're kidding, right?" Lori scoffs "No" Shane answers "Because you told me my husband was dead" Lori snaps "I didn't lie to you, all right? I didn't. Do you know what it was like there?" Shane asks "Stop" "Things were falling apart. They were slaughtering people in the hallways. It was a massacre. There were walkers everywhere!" Shane describes the situation hoping that Lori will understand "So you left him?" Lori demands in disbelief.

"Everybody else ran. There were no doctors there. It was just me. He was hooked up to machines and I did not know what to do. I even took my ear and I put it on his chest and I listened for a heartbeat and I did not hear one. And I-I-I-I... I don't know why. Maybe it was gunfire. I don't know what it was, but there was no way he could've survived that. No way" Shane says, while shaking his head guiltily "He did" Lori points out angrily "Yeah, but then I had y'all to think about, didn't I? I had you and Carl, and I needed to think about..." Shane says desperately.

"Okay" Lori rolls her eyes "No no. I had to get you guys safe to Atlanta. That's what I had to do. Just stop. If you thought for one second that he was still alive, would you have come? So I saved your life... you and your little boy's. That's what I did. Right?" Shane asks "Okay" Lori says done with the conversation "And if I could've traded places with him, I would have. I would trade places with him right now because..." Shane continues "No no no. No. No no no, you..." Lori tries to stop him from saying his next sentence "I love you" Shane confesses "Shh shh. No. No, you're drunk" Lori argues in denial "I love you" Shane repeats "No, you're drunk" Lori denies again.