Ch. 4 The Rest of the Group and Funerals

Michael opens his eyes slowly. He looks over to the person that is shaking him and sees Maggie holding a plate with pancakes. He also sees Briana and Paul holding their own plate.

"Good morning you three, hope I wasn't out for too long". Michael smiles and takes the plate.

The twins both sit down on the porch in front of Michael.

"They said they wouldn't eat unless you ate with them. Lucky you" Maggie informs Michael and laughs slightly.

Michael finally notices the bandages on his hands and winces feeling the pain. It's not too bad but it'll take a day or two to fully heal. But his hands can still be used and aren't like a mummies.

"That's my handiwork. Me and Glenn were chatting when you came and passed out"

"Thanks. I was about to ask"

Michael's stretches his arms upwards and moves his legs next to the twins. He lets out a yawn as he finishes up and takes a for from Maggie.

Michael picks at the food for a while and the twins ask if he's alright. He looks between the two and back to the food.

He moves the plate to his mouth and starts shoveling it in. Within a minute he cleaned his plate. As he was chewing he set the plate down to the side and pointed at his puffy cheeks and tries talking.

The twins laugh at him before taking the plates and running inside.

Once they left Michael stood up and was leaning on the railing of the porch. He had his head hanging as he chewed the food. It tasted good but he was still feeling the effects of the previous night physically and mentally.

He eventually swallows his food and turns around to see brown hair turn a corner inside the house.

Michael walks in and sees Carl who looks better but still sweaty and deathly pale with a bandage on his right side of his abdomen.

He stands in the doorway as Rick and Lori watch their son wake up and ask about a Sophia. Michael can vaguely remember Shane say that they were looking for a lost little girl before Carl got shot.

Then Tdog walks in beside Michael and says "They're here"

Michael is praying that that means the rest of their group and not their enemies.

Rick, Lori, Tdog, and Hershel walk outside. Michael waves at Carl and then follows behind.

He watched as a motorcycle leads the way for a car and a mobile home thingy. Michael's brain doesn't want to work.

The vehicles park outside the house and the people inside get out.

As Michael exits the house he can see everyone from the house standing to the side facing the new arrivals. Michael goes and stands next to his brother and sister next to Maggie and Glenn.

An old man walks forward from the new arrivals as Rick walks towards him. "How is he?"

"He'll pull through" Lori is the one to respond as she nods. "Thanks to Hershel and his people and…and-"

"And Shane and Michael" Rick finishes. "We would have lost Carl if it weren't for them.

The others look between Hershels family and Michael. Michael was wearing a long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up and overalls. The clothes were extremely loose. But to Michael they felt extremely heavy.

Everyone starts hugging eachother and everyone gets introduced.

There's Carol, mother of the lost Sophia. Daryl, the badas-…. The cool guy. Dale the second old man just behind Hershel in age. Andrea, a lady who give off crazy vibes.

They catch up and explain how it happened and how Shane and Otis didn't make it back from the trip to the school. Michael got some suspicious looks. But most were filled with gratefulness that he was able to make it back to save Carl.

Michael doesn't know or remember what happened next. But when he came to. Everybody was around a 2 piles of rocks. And people were holding a rock and putting it on. Michael realized that this was a makeshift funeral service and felt his stomach roll over.

Hershel started saying a verse from the Bible for the fallen.

"...they died as they lived…..In grace"

Michael had a flash of the previous night appear in his mind.

"Michael, will you speak for Otis and Shane?" Hershel asks waking up Michael.

"I…I'm not very good at it. I'm sorry"

Patricia speaks up after she is able to stop her tears long enough. "You were the last one with them. You shared their final moments. Please. I need to know his death had a meaning"

Michael looked from the ground to his hands over to Patricia who was being held by Maggie. Patricia was pleading, begging for something to ease her pain and help her accept that Otis was gone. And that Otis had passed for a cause.

"I, I only met the two of em that morning. I could instantly tell they were good men. They, they both wanted to make sure the boy saw the next sunrise. Because if they didn't do what they did…. that boy wouldn't have"

Michael takes a shaky breath as he looks at the graves and clenches his hands.

"Shane lead us in there, Otis helped point Shane in the right direction. I covered the rear after we exited th….after we exited"

"Shane was in the lead trying to find a path for me and Otis. He was smart and kept his wits. Otis was just as smart as he was brave. Sure Otis wasn't in the best condition to go running through the school, but he did it to get back to his family and to save the life of a boy. He was scared but he knew he had to keep going. Even when he was tired and could barely breath"

"Otis and Shane had some crazy ideas on how to get out of there. I just followed along and helped where I could"

"We we're on the home stretch when our bodies remembered that we are human. And not like….like those things"

"Otis and Shane injured their legs in the attempt to escape. They got as far as they could….but it wasn't enough. They tried to help eachother keep going while I kept the horde at bay. But there…..there were so many….so….so many of em"

Michael looked down at his bandaged hands.

"They said: 'You gotta save the boy!' that's what they said. I… I could barely hear them over the groans"

Michael looks to Rick and then to Patricia.

"They took off their weapons and packs and asked me to take them. I, I didn't want to. I was stubborn. I kept hitting and whacking with the staff in my hands but the horde didn't even slow. I was pushed back and eventually I had to run. But I couldn't. I was so tired, then I saw the look in their eyes as I got to them and they shoved the packs in my hands and told me to go. To go as fast as I can as they bought me time....My brain was barely functioning. And a after a few second of me moving forward…. I looked back…. I though they would be following me ya know? I…I didn't realize they had given me everything they was carrying. When…when I looked back….."

Michael closed his eyes and moved his head to the graves. He opened his eyes and slowly walked to the graves.

"If not for Otis and Shane. I wouldn't have made it out alive. I wouldn't have been able to get back to my brother and sister. I….Without their sacrifice Carl wouldn't have survived the night too"

Michael turns around after picking up two rocks and looks at Patricia and Rick.

"It was Otis and Shane. They saved me and Carl, they saved the both of us. I can't express how thankful I am to the both of them. Me and Carl will live because of both of the great man's sacrifice"

After finishing he turns back to the graves and puts a rock on both and stays silent as he walks back to his siblings and crouches to give them a hug.