The Well

"The Well" is the fifth episode of the second season of The Walking Dead Rewrite. It is the eleventh episode of the series overall.

Plot
With Carl recovering, the group puts their focus on supporting Hershel at his farm. Daryl goes on his own, as the newcomer of the group tries to find a way to fit in. Shane makes a deadly sacrifice which leads to unusual behavior and self-distancing.

Day 72
Cattle are grazing at the farm, as Daryl, Andrea, Dale, Morales, Eliza, Louis and Carol arrive with the RV, the rest of their belongings and Matt while Shane, T-Dog and Glenn help Hershel's family collect rocks for Otis' funeral.

Rick and Lori sit at their son Carl's bedside while he recovers from surgery that he had in the previous night to remove bullet fragments from his abdomen. He wakes up briefly, and asks whether Sophia is alright. Not wanting to cause further distress to Carl, Rick tells him that Sophia is fine, even he doesn't know where she is at the moment.

After everyone has settled, Hershel leads a funeral for Otis, piling his grave with the rocks they'd collected earlier, and asks Shane, wearing a pair of Otis' overalls, to offer some form of eulogy since he was the last one to see him alive. Knowing the truth behind Otis' death, Shane initially tries to avoid having to make such a speech, but Patricia, Otis' wife and now a widow, begs to know that his death had meaning, pointing out that Shane was the only one who shared Otis' final moments. Shane starts his eulogy, stating that Otis sacrificed his life to help save Carl. As Shane speaks, flashbacks of Otis's final moments are shown in his head, and it is clear that these final moments are vastly different from what Shane describes to the group, also heavily lying on Shane's mind.

After the funeral, Rick and Shane ask Dale, Morales, Daryl and Andrea who Matt is. Morales says that Daryl and Andrea found him last night in the woods. Matt explains his sudden appearance and shakes hand with the two cops. Rick and Shane share a confused look to each other, as they don't know what to think about Matt. Matt tells that he heard about Sophia's disappearance and offers his help to look for her, which Andrea supports.

Before Rick and Shane can further explain their plan for the group today, Hershel and Maggie appear, while Lacey stays behind to comfort Patricia in the farm house. Maggie brings a map of the county to assist in coordinating the search for Sophia, but Hershel won't allow Rick and Shane to head off the farm on account of Shane's ankle, and Rick having given three units of blood for Carl the day before.

Daryl decides he'll head out to look for Sophia on his own, as Shane suggests finally teaching people how to shoot, though Hershel disapproves of guns being carried around on his property. Rick agrees with Hershel, recognizing that he and the others are guests of Hershel and his family and must respect their rules. Shane reluctantly hands over his gun. Nonetheless, Rick is able to negotiate that Dale and Morales continue to serve as lookouts, keeping an eye out for nearby walkers.

The group agrees amongst themselves that if they find Sophia and she's been bitten, that they'll "do what needs to be done.", which worries Carol a lot. Matt asks if Daryl could need a hand at his search but rejects his offer of help.

Maggie states that medical supplies are running low, and she volunteers to take a trip to the local pharmacy a mile down the road to gather more. Rick suggests that Glenn accompany her, describing him as the group's 'go-to-town' expert. Glenn looks dumbfounded as he hears that he will go with Maggie on a supply run. Rick encourages him and says that Maggie will be grateful to have Glenn with her.

Shane finds Lori by the RV and they have a brief and slightly awkward conversation about Carl's health. Shane wonders if she meant it serious when she told him to stay, referring to their moment at Carl's bedside the night before. Lori confirms it, slowly forgiving him what happened between them. Shane asks if Lori has still a grudge against him, to which Lori replies that he risked his life last night to save Carl's life and also had to see Otis die. She allows him to talk to Carl again, finally breaking off her order she gave him back in the quarry.

As Lori leaves to go to Carl, Shane settles in to clean guns at a picnic table, and Matt joins him, asking if he can show him how to use a gun as well. Shane is suspicious of Matt and asks him what he did before all this, to find out who he is. Matt tells him a short story about what he did and explains in the end that he was once a writer for TV shows, writing mostly at drama serieses. Shane wants to know why he was in the woods all alone last night when Daryl and Andrea found him. Uncomfortable, Matt says that he was running away from danger, to which Shane can rely. Matt then changes the subject and mentions that he heard the story of him dying last night. Shane reuses his words, as he also says that he was running away from danger when it happened.

After Maggie informs Glenn of their upcoming trip to town, Dale asks her about water wells on the farm. Maggie explains that the second well was used for the cattle, but the water is just as pure as the well used for the house. She tells Dale and T-Dog to take what they need. She excuses herself to saddle the horses for the trip into town, much to Glenn's surprise. T-Dog feels happy for his friend, as Glenn now has the chance to get to know someone better.

In the farm house, Morales and his children are visiting Carl. Before they go into his room, Morales sees Lacey talking to Patricia in the kitchen from the living room. Morales sympathizes with Patricia in his thoughts as he knows how it feels to lose his partner. Lori thanks the Morales family to look by for Carl, to which Eliza and Louis reply that Carl is their friend like Sophia. As Eliza, Louis and Carl share a friendship moment, Lori asks Morales if he feels better. Morales tells her that he can't be the man he was before again, but Lori says that he must be strong, if not for him then for his children. Morales agrees with her and they both talk about Miranda and how they miss her. Lori offers him that he always can come to Rick or to her when he needs someone to talk about.

Outside, Rick talks to Daryl about Matt and asks him what he thinks about him. Daryl answers that he isn't sure yet but he seems fine so far. Then, Rick tries to tell Daryl he doesn't need to head out on his own, and they can wait until the whole group is ready to go tomorrow or accepting Matt's help. He tells Daryl that he doesn't owe anything to the group, but Daryl keeps his coolness and says that his "other plans" fell through.

As Daryl heads into the woods, Hershel joins Rick outside. When Rick offers to set up his group's campsite by the barn to give the Greene Family more privacy, Hershel says that they're better off closer to the house. He tells Rick that he doesn't want his group to think they're welcome on the farm permanently. Hershel insists if they find Sophia and if Carl is recovered that Rick and his group will leave as soon as possible, which worries Rick.

Few minutes later, as Glenn stares at Maggie in control of the two horses as they prepare to head in to town, Lori pulls him aside and gives him a piece of paper with a list of supplies she needs him to get for her. In addition, Lori hands him a second piece of paper and asks him to obtain a special item for her from the 'feminine hygiene' section of the pharmacy. She also asks that Glenn be discreet about acquiring it.

Meanwhile, T-Dog and Dale walk out to one of the wells to get water for the group, and T-Dog asks Dale to forget about what he said on the highway the day before. T-Dog states that he isn't weak and that he isn't a coward and wouldn't leave anyone behind, saying that it wasn't his real self talking to Dale on the highway. Dale obliges him easily, stating that he couldn't get a word out of him all day, and says he doesn't know what he's talking about. T-Dog smiles, grateful he's alive, as he pumps water from the well.

Dale then notices a hole in the planks covering the nearby well shaft, and he moves closer to investigate. His face falls as the sound of lapping water is mixed in with the familiar growls of a walker. He stares at T-Dog and just as he is about to take a drink of the water from the well, Dale knocks the ladle of water to the ground and warns him not to drink it. T-Dog looks at him confused. Dale then shows him that a bloated walker sits in the well and infects the water. T-Dog thanks Dale for stopping him to drink the water.

A few moments later, as Glenn, Maggie, Andrea, Matt, Lori, Morales and Shane gather around the well, a bloated, wet zombie reaches helplessly for them from the bottom. Andrea jokes about the walker having been in the well "long enough to grow gills" as Dale comments that the group got themselves a swimmer.

Rick and Hershel survey a map over a picturesque lookout on his farm, and take a break from discussing how to search for Sophia. They talk, and it eventually turns to God. Rick admits he's mostly faithless, and Hershel tries to assure him that God had a hand in him waking up from his coma, finding his family in the chaos, and for Carl surviving being shot. Rick replies that God got a strange sense of humor.

The group discusses options to deal with the walker in the well, agreeing that shooting the walker in its place would certainly pollute the drinking water. They all agree that they need to coax the walker out of the well. The group attempts to bait it with canned ham. When it fails, they realize that it will obviously not eat anything that's not fresh. Lori muses that there is a reason that the dead didn't come back and start raiding their cupboards.

Realizing that nothing short of live bait will suffice, most of the group decide to send Glenn down the well. They plan to have him fasten a rope around the walker so that it can be pulled out, alive and without contaminating the water, before they kill it. Maggie hates the idea, but knows it's the only plan they can think of to get the walker out alive and keep the well's water clean. T-Dog tries to defend his friend, stating that Glenn risked his life too many times for the group already but without success. When Matt becomes a possible choice for going down the well, Andrea defends him, stating that they can't risk someone's life they just saved. Matt thanks Andrea for her siding with him.

As Glenn becomes the final choice, Maggie stands watch as the group slowly lowers Glenn down the well, using the water pump to provide anchorage for the rope. Glenn almost succeeds in getting the creature harnessed without it noticing him or the ropes, but the water pump breaks under Glenn's weight.

This causes him to fall within reach of the now alert and frantic walker. Glenn screams at the group to pull him out, and they scramble to regain physical advantage of the rope. Eventually, they are able to pull a shaken and horrified Glenn back up. Catching his breath while the group views the attempt as a failure, Glenn smiles, revealing that he was able to secure the rope around the walker amidst the chaos.

Daryl finds an abandoned home in the woods, taking note that a can of sardines had recently been consumed. He also finds a makeshift bed inside a closet, only big enough for someone short, like Sophia. This gives him the hope that she must be alive somewhere. He calls her name as he walks outside, but he stops in front of a pair of white flowers in the grass.

Back at the farm, the group is pulling the walker to the top of the well, but in its water-bloated state, it gets stuck on the sides of the well. As they pull harder, the walker splits in half, with the bottom part of its body (and most of its entrails) falling back in to the well. Clearly disappointed at the wasted effort, T-Dog lets out his frustration, destroying the walker's brain with a pickaxe. Maggie backs off, which Glenn notices. T-Dog is mad that all the effort was for nothing, walking off to relax.

The group decides to seal the well.

Shane and Matt head to the highway to comfort Carol, who has been waiting all day by a painted sign on a car windshield with a collection of food supplies for Sophia. Carol is losing hope that Sophia will be found alive and doesn't want to hear any comforting words.

She tearfully leaves the highway with Shane and Matt, who are looking at a potential place where they can have target practice. Shane, limping heavily because of his ankle injury, describes to Matt how you just have to trust your instincts when it comes to protecting your life with a gun (describing without using names how he had to leave Otis to die, for the greater good).

Matt asks him how he does this, and Shane tells him that you must turn off the "switch". When you take someone's life you need to get it over with, as it would keep you down, as you also would let the people down who were counting on you. Matt then opens himself a little bit and tells Shane that he also had to kill people to survive. Shane asks him if that was the reason why he was all alone in the woods, Matt confirms it.

During their ride to the local town, Glenn is trying awkwardly to initiate a conversation with Maggie. She's quiet, having never seen a walker killed up close before because she's always been protected at the farm.

After reaching the local pharmacy, Glenn hands her the master list Lori gave him and says he's just going to look around and see what's worth grabbing. As Maggie walks away to search, he pulls Lori's 'special list' from his pocket. Finding the 'feminine hygiene' section, he shuffles through a few random boxes on the floor, finding a True Blue pregnancy test. As he reads the box and realizes why Lori needs it, his face falls.

Maggie finds him, and he quickly stuffs the pregnancy test in his bag before she can see it. Maggie questions why he is in this section of the store and Glenn grabs a random box from the floor to cover his tracks. He's grabbed a box of condoms, and Maggie asks if he's got a girlfriend she doesn't know about, or if he's just a confident guy. He sputters that he's neither, and he doesn't know how to get himself out of this mess.

It's Maggie who gives him an out. She offers having sex with him, as she adds that their options are vast these days. She pulls off her shirt and bra and kisses Glenn, who follows her lead, dumbfounded and shocked. They proceed to have sex.

Rick asks Hershel to reconsider sending the group off his farm once Carl has recovered and Sophia's been found. Hershel is reluctant to let him, but says he'll consider it if his group respects his rules.

Rick tells Hershel that he regrets lying to his son about Sophia that morning when he asked if she was alright, and Hershel tells Rick that he admires his relationship with his son. He says that his own father was a loveless drunk who did not earn his presence at his deathbed, or any love from Hershel throughout his life. He assures Rick that he believes he is a good father to Carl.

Rick finds Lori in Carl's room, and she tells him that he was awake earlier, talked to the other children and asked for him, before she leaves the room. He looks peacefully upon the son he loves, a sense of calm in him, knowing that he'll be alright.

As they make their way back to the farm, Maggie refers to their "hookup" as a one-time deal, which immediately disappoints Glenn.

When they arrive back at the farm, Hershel right away seems to sense that something went on between them, giving his daughter a quizzical look when she returns and tells him quickly that nothing happened.

Lori greets Glenn by the RV, and he hands her the pregnancy test, which she quickly hides in the waistband of her jeans. He wants to say something, but he can't even look her in the eye as he walks away without a word.

Inside the RV, Daryl has returned with no new leads on Sophia, but he does return with a flower like the one he found outside the house inside a beer bottle - the closest thing he could find to a vase. He gives it to Carol, who is busy cleaning out the RV to distract herself, claiming she wants it to look nice when Sophia gets back.

Daryl proceeds to tell her the story of the Cherokee Rose, the flower in his vase, said to bloom as a symbol of hope from the tears of the Cherokee mothers who lost their children to disease and starvation along the Trail of Tears after the white men had drove all the Indians off their lands. He then adds that he isn't a fool to believe that there is any flowers blooming for his brother but believes there is one blooming for Sophia, which makes Carol emotionally but happy.

Rick is still at Carl's bedside when he wakes up that evening. He immediately apologizes for lying to his son about Sophia. He starts to explain why he did it, but Carl forgives him easily and tells him that his mother had already told him the truth. Carl asks his father if they will find Sophia anyway, to which Rick replies that he doesn't know for sure but he believes in it. Carl makes light of how both he and his father have both been shot. Rick is amused by this, and he gives his sheriff hat to Carl to symbolize their shared experience. They exchange "I love you's" and Carl soon goes back to sleep.

Having given up his hat, Rick continues to deconstruct from the lawful man of his existence pre-apocalypse, taking off his uniform and putting away his badge in a drawer at Hershel's home. Lori comes in as he is doing so and looks at his gunshot scar. She hugs him supportively, asking him if he is putting them away. He responds by shutting the drawer.

She heads out of the house with a knife in hand, walking past the RV unnoticed while Dale, Carol, Matt and Andrea are eating dinner inside.

Finding a secluded place out in the fields on the farm, she pulls the pregnancy test from the back of her jeans. Peeing on the stick and then waiting, she bursts in to devastated tears when she sees the plus sign, now knowing for sure that she is pregnant.

Co-Stars

 * Maddie Lomax as Eliza Morales
 * Noah Lomax as Louis Morales
 * Jane McNeill as Patricia

Deaths

 * None

Trivia

 * Last appearance of Otis. (Flashback)
 * The title of the episode, "The Well", refers to the well the group wants to secure from the well walker where everyone bond to each other.