GIVEN TO FLY [Daryl Dixon]

X.

CHAPTER TEN
[ the cherokee rose ]

Everyone that remains on the highway rides in to the farm the next morning. Misty hates to do it, hates to leave while Sophia could still come back, but she knows that they have to. They have to.

She waits until Daryl is situated on his bike, and until he nods his head to tell her he's ready. She swings her leg over and sits herself down on the back. When she wraps her arms around his waist, like every time, he tenses a little. She didn't get it before, didn't understand, but now, after their walk last night, she might be starting to.

They lead the small convoy to the farm, and pull up in front of a large, quite beautiful farmhouse. The rest of their people are waiting outside for them, as well as others she doesn't recognize. The people that own the house.

Everyone files out of their vehicles onto the lawn in front of the house. Before Misty can even get up off of the bike, Glenn is jogging down the steps of the house and over to her. He waits until she stands up, but as soon as she does, he grabs her in a hug.

"We were apart one night," she says, chuckling a little as she hugs him back.

"I still worried," he replies, and grabs her hand when they pull away.

"Yeah, I worried about you, too," she admits, rolling her eyes. She smacks his shoulder lightly with the back of her hand. "Idiot."

"I love you too, Merce."

Dale asks how Carl is then, and Rick and Lori explain what happened, and that he's okay. He's okay. Something good has to happen every once in a while, she supposes.

The group gathers soon after around a pile of rocks laid in place of a grave. For the man that shot Carl, Misty had been told. For the man that died to save his life. They gather around, and Hershel, the owner of the farm, says a prayer. "Blessed be God, father of our lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in Grace."

Hershel then looks to Shane, and asks him to speak. "I'm not good at it," is Shane's excuse, but Misty watches his eyes. They never meet Hershel's.

"You were the last one with him," Otis's wife, Patricia, says.

"You shared his final moments," Hershel adds.

"Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning."

"Okay," Shane finally agrees. "We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We've got to save the boy.' See, that's what he said. He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run,' he said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.' And when I looked back. . ." He pauses, and Misty finds herself watching him carefully, so carefully. "If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his."