Like most nights, Nell can't sleep.
Her sleeping bag in the corner of the living room is more uncomfortable than usual.
T-dog's loud snoring doesn't help either.

Nell's eyes quickly dart around the room to make sure everyone is asleep and then she squirms out of her sleeping bag as quietly as possible.
She pulls on her boots, which are at the end of her sleeping bag.
She also grabs Snuggles, who is immediately pulled into a tight hug from Nell.

Nell tiptoes across the living room, trying her best not to wake anyone.
Everyone looks so peaceful sleeping.
Except T-dog. His snoring is still scaring the shit out of her.

She sneaks around the bottom floor of the farmhouse looking for either string or a wire.
Nell is going to make a trap.
Daryl ruined the last one and she wants to prove that she can hunt animals all on her own.
She wants to prove that she is tough and independent. She doesn't need anyone.

Nell doesn't know who exactly she wants to prove this to.
Maybe she wants to prove it to herself. Maybe she wants to prove to herself that she isn't relying on anyone anymore, as she relied on her father.
Or maybe she is just bored out of her mind and T-dog's snoring will drive her insane if she spends another minute inside the farmhouse.

No matter the reason, Nell opens the drawers of the kitchen and searches through them for what she needs.
There's gotta be somethin' around here.

She opens drawer after drawer, looking for anything that can come of use to her.
Nothing.
Most of them were empty. Some had silverware and random things like tape or scissors.
But no rope, string, or wire.

Nell sighs and gently closes the final cabinet. She scoops Snuggles up from the counter and spins around, ready to head back to her sleeping bag.
When Nell turns around, she is met face-to-face with someone.

Startled, Nell leaps backward, her hands reaching out to grab onto the counter for stability.
She sighs in a mixture of relief and annoyance when she sees Carl's confused face.

"What are you doing?" Carl asks with disapproval.

"What are you doin'?!" Nell whisper-yells, still aware that the rest of the house is asleep. "You can't just sneak up on somebody like that!"

"I asked you first," Carl says, crossing his arms and glaring at Nell.

Nell scoffs and laughs a bit at the situation.
This kid just can't mind his own business, can he?

She looks down, trying to think of a way out of this conversation that doesn't end with Carl saying, 'I'm gonna tell my dad!'.

"Give me your shoelaces and I'll tell ya," Nell says, pointing to his feet. There may not be any rope or string in the house, but shoelaces should work just as well.

"For what? What are you gonna do?" Carl asks, getting more annoyed by the minute.

"I said I'll tell you if you gimme your laces," Nell says, laughing internally at the boy's sudden fear.

"Fine!" Carl finally gives in and reaches down, untying his shoelace and handing it over to Nell.

Nell giggles.
Too easy. He's too gullible.
This boy wouldn't survive a day if it weren't for his daddy.

"Thanks, cowboy," Nell says, leaving the room with Snuggles and the shoelace in her hand.

"Hey! You never told me what you were gonna do with that!" Carl says, following Nell.

"Shut up or you're gonna wake the whole house," Nell says, glancing behind her to give Carl a threatening look.

Nell stops in front of the front door to the farmhouse.
"I'm gonna do some huntin'. And I needed your shoelace to make a trap." She says, turning to face Carl. "Now, please leave me alone."

Nell opens the door and leaves the farmhouse with nothing more than her knife, Snuggles, and Carl's shoelace.

The cold air blowing against Nell's skin makes her wish she brought a jacket with her. Too late. She can't go back into the house and risk Carl getting her into trouble.

She heads towards the trees in the distance. Nell isn't planning to go deep into the woods, only far enough to still make out the direction of the farm.

She is about halfway across the field when she notices two figures far away. Too far to tell who they are.
They seem to be arguing.

Curious, Nell walks towards them with her knife held low in her right hand.
She stays stealthy, not making any sudden movements to avoid being seen.

When she gets closer to the two men, she can hear them yelling.
They didn't seem to be worried about waking up the people in the farmhouse.

"You got no idea what I can live with!" Shouts a raspy voice that Nell can recognize anywhere.
Shane.

He looks like he is holding a gun.

"You wanna talk about what I can do, Rick? How about what you can do?" Shane puts his gun back into his holster and holds up his arms as if he were surrendering. "Here I am. Come on, man. Raise your gun."

What is going on?

Nell is beyond confused. She may not know much about these people, but she thought Shane and Rick were friends.
Are they really about to kill each other?

"No," Rick says shaking his head. "No, I will not."

"What happened, Rick? I thought you weren't the good guy anymore!" Shane says, raising his voice to a yell. "Ain't that what you said? Even right here, right now, you ain't gonna fight for em'?"

For who?

Nell realizes that she probably knows even less about everyone here than she originally thought.

She may not like Shane or Rick, but all she wants is for them to stop fighting. If there's anything Nell absolutely hates, it's hearing people argue.

"I'm a better father than you, Rick!" Shane yells, getting closer to Rick.

Father?
Nell never knew that Shane had a kid.

"I'm better for Lori than you, man! It's 'cause I'm a better man than you, Rick. 'Cause I can be here and I'll fight for it.
But you come back here and you just destroy everything!" Shane screams.

Nell is getting frightened. She has always been scared of Shane, but she's never seen this side of him before.

There is silence for a few moments.
Shane is breathing heavily and Rick just stares in disbelief, not knowing what to say.

Shane sighs and then starts talking again. This time he is talking normally.
"You got a broken woman." He says, pausing to let his words sink in.
"You got a weak boy."

Carl?
This is probably the only time I'm ever gonna agree with Shane.

"You ain't got the first clue on how to fix it," Shane starts again. Then, Shane pulls his gun out of his holster with a click. He aims it right at Rick's face. "Raise your gun," He threatens.

Nell's eyes widen at what she is witnessing. She feels helpless, but there's nothing she can do.

"You're gonna have to kill an unarmed man," Rick says calmly and slowly raises his arms, surrendering.

"Watch my hand," Rick says and carefully reaches for his gun. "Nice and easy."
Rick holds his gun upside down in front of him, showing Shane that he's not going to hurt him.
Shane tightens his grip on his pistol.

"Now, listen to me, Shane.
There is still a way back from this. Nothing has happened here. We're gonna lay down our guns.
And we're gonna walk back to the farm," Rick pauses. He is still holding his gun out to show Shane that he means what he is saying. Shane doesn't seem to believe him, though. "....together," Rick adds.

"Back to Lori. Back to Carl." Rick says, trying to get Shane to calm down. Shane is still breathing heavily, though.
Rick slowly moves closer to Shane with every word he says. "Put this all behind us."

Once Rick gets close enough to Shane, he hands him his gun. He puts it right in his hand.

Shane looks down for a split second at Rick's
gun. In that quick moment, Rick reaches into his back pocket, pulls out a knife, and drives it right into Shane's torso.

Shane grunts in agony and attempts to shoot Rick, but the bullet goes flying way above his head.

Nell stares in disbelief at what she is witnessing. A sick feeling rises in her throat and for a short while, she thinks she is going to throw up.

"Shhh," Rick says and slowly brings Shane to the ground.

The moment Shane falls to the ground, he immediately starts gurgling up blood.

Nell squeezes her eyes shut and looks away.
She can't bear the sight of this.

"Damn you for making me do this, Shane! This was you, not me! You did this to us!" Rick screams to Shane, his voice breaking. "This was you, not me! Not me!"
Then, Rick pulls the knife out of Shane's chest with a horrifying squelch.

Nell turns back around once she hears Shane stop gasping for air.
Shane is dead.
He is lying on the ground beneath Rick with blood covering his entire upper body.

Rick is going crazy.
He is screaming, crying, and going full panic attack mode all in one.

Nell should leave and she knows it.
But something inside her is making her stay.

This man is dangerous. More dangerous than Shane.
She should leave and go back to the farmhouse and never say a word about anything she saw tonight.
She should.
But will she?

Rick's heavy breathing and yelling come to a stop.
Nell looks up slowly and sees Rick's eyes staring right into hers.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Rick sighs at the sight of the little girl in front of him.
He looks towards Nell and then back at Shane.

"You shouldn't be out here," Rick says, his voice breaking so much that Nell can barely understand him.

Nell and Rick just stare at each other until a voice interrupts them.
"Dad?" Carl says.

Rick's gaze moves to his son.

How hard is it for this boy to stay put?

"Carl," Rick says, walking towards Carl. "You know... you should be back home with Mom," He says.

Rick walks towards his son until Carl pulls out his pistol and aims it right at his father, making him stop in his tracks.
Carl's gun clicks and Rick's eyes widen in both surprise and fear.
Fear of his own son.

Carl won't kill his own father, will he?

Nell doesn't want to take any risks. Tonight, she learned that she barely knows anything about this group of people, including Carl.

"Carl," Nell says, hopefully trying to help the situation. She walks closer to the two of them. "Carl, put the gun down."

He doesn't listen.
Carl holds the pistol up right in front of his teary eyes.
Don't Carl.

"Carl, listen to her. Put- put the gun down. It's not what it seems.... Please." Rick says on the verge of tears.

Then a bullet goes flying out of Carl's gun with a deafening crack.
Nell's head shoots in Rick's direction to make sure he is alive.
He is. The bullet missed him.

A body thuds onto the ground right behind him.
Shane.