𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

          𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐀𝐃. Cassy wasn't understanding how this was happening, or how it happened. She thought she protected Sophia...But, she didn't. Sophia got bit...

She thought Sophia was still alive before she was found in the barn. But...she's dead now. All that searching, all that was for nothing. She concluded that maybe Shane was right. Maybe they should've known Sophia was dead. Not hold onto something impossible.

Despite what she was thinking of Shane and the unbelief of Sophia actually being dead, the biggest thing on her mind was blame. She, an eight-year-old little girl, was taking the blame for all of this. It was like a weight was getting put in her chest, making it feel heavier and heavier.

Casey felt like it was her fault. Her fault Sophia was lost. Her fault she got bit. Her fault she's dead...She didn't know what else she could do...She thought getting that walker off of Sophia's trail was the right thing. But, it wasn't...

She sat there with a notebook on her legs, leaning back on a tree with Beth's old colored pencils. She said she doesn't use them anymore, so, she gifted them to Casey to color with.

Speaking of Beth...poor, poor Beth. She'd gone into some type of shock...All Casey knew was that she wasn't allowed to go inside to see her since she wasn't feeling well. That's what Lori said at least. So, she leaned against the tree, drawing.

The issue with all of this was that Hershel wasn't there to help Beth. Nobody knew where he was...and they needed him to take care of her.

She was drawing flowers. The ones she remembered from the house she stayed at. The ones around the fence. They were white flowers of course, but, she was just drawing them.

She looked up and saw Rick walking outside to the car. She furrowed her eyebrows, dropping the notebook and running toward him. "Hey, slow down. Don't want you poppin' a stitch." She slowed to a stop, walking over to him.

"Where are you goin'? She asked. He looked down at her, moving a hair that went loose from her French braids behind her ear. "Can I go with you?" Rick immediately shook his head no at her.

"No, I'm takin' Glenn." She looked up at him, letting out a sigh of disappointment. She looked over, seeing Glenn on the front porch with Maggie. He was kissing her goodbye, which Casey found funny since Glenn really liked Maggie. "We're goin' to get Hershel."

"Is Beth okay?" Rick doesn't know how to answer that. Because truthfully, Beth isn't okay. She's in some kind of shock and only one person can help her.

That person is Hershel.

"She will be once we get Hershel." Casey nodded her head, playing with the end of her braid. "Now, you listen to your mom, okay? Don't cause any trouble." Casey nods and Rick sighs, cupping the back of her head and pulling you in. She wrapped her arms around his torso, and he bent down and kissed the top of your head.

He pat her on the back, and she walked away. "Hey," He said as she walked away. She turned, looking over at him. "I love you." She gave a small smile.

"Love you." She said back before walking away. Glenn walked past her, patting the top of her head as he did. She slapped his hand off and kept moving.

She saw Maggie now on the porch, crossing her arms. "Hi, Maggie." She greeted, Maggie squeezed her shoulder.

"Hey,"

"What'd Glenn do?" She asked, Maggie sighed, looking down at you. She brushed the small baby hairs that were poking out of her hairline back and she stood there, still curious. "Come on! I keep Glenn's secrets all the time. You can tell me!" She egged her on, really wanting to know what was happening.

"Yeah? What secrets does Glenn tell you?" Casey shrugs, placing her hands on her hips.

"Can't tell you, kinda why it's called a secret, Maggie." She chuckled at the little girl, really needing something like that. Just some kind of joy. And so if that joy was from a smart-ass little kid, so be it.

She took a deep breath and Casey just stood there. "I'm a good listener too, if it helps. Seriously, I know I talk a lot but I'm real good at listening to." Maggie raises an eyebrow at Casey, a half smile forming on her face.

"Just not to your mom and dad?" She nodded her head.

Maggie, who would like to talk, did so. Well, she gave a child-friendly version of what her problems were. "I'm just worried about Beth. Just like Carl was worried about you when you got hurt." Casey nodded, rocking back and forth on her feet.

"And what did Glenn say?"

Maggie half-chuckled and patted Casey on the back. "More like what he didn't say. I'm gonna go check on Beth, okay?" Casey nodded.

"I hope she gets better soon. And my daddy'll find yours, he's good like that. And Glenn too." Maggie nodded.

"Thanks, Casey."

She walked inside and you watched her. She decided to not over-crowd the house and stay outside like her mother said to. She sat down on the front porch steps, placing your chin on your knees.

Casey watched as Rick pulled out of the farm, and she gave him and Glenn a wave. "Bastard," she mumbled about Glenn.

She liked Maggie. She was sweet to her but was able to hold her own. She also slapped Shane which was kinda brave. She liked being in her presence.

Carl walked out of the house, seeing Casey there. "Hi, Carl." She greeted her older brother.

"Do you think Shane did the right thing?" Casey shrugged, not knowing what to think about the situation.

"Ever since he shaved his head he's been weird-"

"I'm being serious!" Carl exclaimed, Casey nodded her head.

"So am I. Ever since he lost his hair, he lost his sanity. And it's Hershel's barn, not Shane's barn. He shouldn't have let them loose." Carl seemed to now disagree with her on that, despite him asking her opinion on the subject.

"He was protecting us."

Casey rolled her eyes, watching as he was knelt in front of Carol, helping him with something. "Hershel said-"

"Who cares what Hershel said, he had walkers in the barn." You stare at Carl for a minute before scooting away.

"That's like saying I had your shoes in my room and you went inside my closet to take them back. Just cause I had your stuff doesn't mean you can invade my privacy." Carl shook his head at her, not knowing how to answer that. Sure, she had a point. But walkers aren't people, they're deadly!

"But the walkers aren't Hershel's-"

"His family was in there, his wife and his son or something." She told Carl, trying to be discreet in case anyone was around her to hear. Luckily, nobody did hear her. "I mean, that doesn't mean I like walkers, 'cause I don't. But, still...maybe he shoulda not have done that." The door opened behind the siblings, and they saw Lori and Dale walking down the porch steps, talking about something.

"Wanna go to the tent?"

Carl stood up, shrugging his shoulders.

"Why not."

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓 of the bathroom in the Greene's house. And that's when she saw her. Lori had a jacket on and car keys in hand. She walked up to her, grabbing her wrist.

"Hey. where are you going?" Lori sighed, looking down at her. She wasn't expecting her to be right there.

Lori looked at her, wiping dirt off her cheek with her thumb. She and Carl had gotten into an intense game of tag. Anyway, Casey looked up at her with a concerned expression on her face.

"I'm gonna go get Daddy and Hershel-"

"And Glenn"

"And Glenn." She finished, Casey nodded her head.

"I'll go with you!" Lori shook her head no immediately.

Casey slumped her shoulders, annoyed by that. "No, you stay here. Okay?" Casey sighed, wiping her baby hairs from her face.
"And can you keep a secret for me?" She asked, Casey nodded her head.

"Yeah!"

"Don't tell anyone that I left unless I'm gone for too long, okay?"

That was probably a mistake, the whole not telling anyone thing. When she walked into the kitchen later, Lori wasn't home, nor was Glenn, Rick, or Hershel.

She was sitting down at the table with her head in her hand. She didn't know if she should tell or not. w Lori said not to, but she was gone a long time. How long was a long time? 1 hour? 2? Casey didn't know how long a long time was.

She sat there with a saddening expression on her face, and to be honest and made everyone upset too since she was usually happier than that.

Patricia came up behind the girl, tapping her shoulder. "No elbows on the table." Casey took her elbow off the table, leaning back into her chair.

She looked at Shane, then looked away and down at her plate. Casey glanced over at Carl, who was sitting across from her. "Casey, Carl, I want you two to keep your heads up, okay? Your old man, he's the toughest son of a—"

"No cussin' in the house." Patricia cut him off.

Casey was worried that her mother still wasn't back. So, while Shane gave a half-assed apology, she sat there twiddling with her thumbs, not knowing if she made the right choice in not telling them. "Sorry."

Carol walked into the kitchen, and Casey quickly looked away. She'd barely been able to look her in the eye ever since Sophia. She wasn't able to talk to her because when she did she was a spluttering mess. Carol, who didn't blame the little girl at all, felt bad for her. Sure, she was jealous of Rick and Lori that they had their girl back and she didn't, but, she didn't resent Casey in any way.

So as she called up for Lori, thinking she was still home, Casey kept her head down. She didn't know if she should tell them or not... "Lori, dinner!"

"She's not in there," Andrea told her.

"Where is she?"

Casey didn't look up at anyone. They all looked at one another, yet that little girl kept her head down. Shane dropped his fork, looking over to Carl first. "Carl, when's the last time you saw your mom?" He asked him, wondering if he knew anything.

"This afternoon." He told him, a worried tone in his voice.

"She was worried about Rick, and asked me to look in on Casey and Carl." Shane looked at the eight-year-old, noticing her reaction to it all.

"She went after them?" Dale asked curiously.

"She didn't say that."

Shane stared at Casey. "You know somethin' we don't?" Casey looked up at him, shrugging. He stood up, taking the back of her collar in his hand. "We need to talk, now" She stood up, his hand now on her back as he guided her out of the kitchen.

"Let go of me!" Her feet dragged behind her as she tried to pull away from him. His grin on her shirt tightened as he didn't bother to listen. "Stupid Egghead! Let go!"

He walked out to the porch with her, and she looked up at him, fiddling her thumbs again. "So, where'd she go, huh?" She shrugged.

"I don't know where-" He took her collar in his hand again, and she flinched back as he got louder.

"You know exactly where now tell me!"

"I don't know where! She said she was lookin' for my Dad and she was gonna get them!" He stood up, removing his hands from her collar.

"And you didn't think to tell me? Not one thought came to your head that maybe your mother goin' was a bad idea? Huh?" He questioned her, his face angry.

"She told me not to!"

He sighed, shaking his head as more people came back from looking around. "You best go to your damn tent." She stared at him, angrily. "Now."

She stormed off the porch, pushing past people as she walked to the tent.

Shane ran to the car, yelling at everyone to stay there. Casey was running to her tent, kicking rocks and dirt as she did.

She zipped her tent behind her, sitting and hugging her legs to her chest. She had tears in her eyes as she sat there.

My fault again.
My fault again.

She wiped her eyes on her shirt, sniffling. She didn't know why everything was her fault...Sophia getting lost was her fault. Lori being lost right now is her fault. Shane was mad at her now, Carl probably was too. When Rick got back he probably would be too.

She laid her head on her arms, her body shaking as she silently cried. The tent was unzipped and Carl was standing there.

He didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry."

Carl sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She put her head on his shoulder and they just sat there like that for a while.

Carl was good like that.

"Shane's probably just stressed out." He told her, she shrugged. Trying not to cry anymore. Crying was for babies, and Casey Grimes was not a baby.

It was silent for a bit. The two only heard crickets outside the farm. Carl didn't know what to do, being only twelve while she sat there with a tear-filled expression. Casey was never one to cry a lot, so, he was shocked when he saw her like this.

She was always the tougher sibling, which was surprising since she was younger than him. She always suppressed how she felt so nobody had to worry about her...

Casey's hand toyed with the collar of her shirt as she took a deep breath in. "This wouldn't have happened if I just told him where she went earlier..." Casey told him.

"Mom told you not to tell, right?" She nodded her head at his question. "It's not your fault, Casey. She's probably fine." Casey nodded her head, wiping her eyes free of any tears.

Lori wasn't fine. Well, she was but she wasn't. When Casey and Carl heard the car come up, they ran out of the tent. Casey was practically dragging her brother behind him by his hand.

They witnessed Lori pushing Shane, then backing away from him, calling him an asshole. "Hey! Now look, first things first—I gotta—I gotta look after you. I gotta make sure the baby's alright, okay?" Casey looked at her brother with furrowed eyebrows.

Baby? What baby?

Carl let go of Casey's hand and walked toward his mother. "You're having a baby?" Carl asked her. Everyone just looked around shocked. "Why didn't you tell me?" Carl asked angrily, Lori spluttered words out, not able to form a sentence. Carl said nothing more, Casey just looked up at her.

Lori's face was bloody. She was bleeding from her forehead and her lip, and it made Casey think for the worse.

My fault.
My fault.

"Come on. Let's make sure you're alright." Dale suggested to Lori. Casey stood there looking down.

"Come on." Andrea led her to the house as Lori looked down guilty.

Casey, who watched her walk away, stayed standing there for a moment. She toyed with her fingers, her expression indifferent. She was upset her mom was hurt, and she felt guilty. But she was also confused. Why didn't she tell her about the baby?

"Casey." She looked up at Shane, who had said her name. "It ain't your fault, kiddo. And I'm sorry for scarin' you earlier, I was just worried 'bout your mom." Casey nodded her head.

"I'm sorry for keeping that a secret, I should've told you..." He nodded his head.

"Don't let me catch you keepin' secrets again."

Casey nodded once again before walking inside of the house. She saw her mom sitting with Carl, the two of them talking. Lori looked up, seeing her daughter there. She gave a light smile, waving her over to sit on the other side of her.

"I'm sorry, Baby. I shouldn't have made you keep something like that." she apologized as Casey sat down next to her. Casey shrugged her shoulders.

"It's okay, I understand why..."

Casey took a deep breath. "Are you really having a baby?" Casey asked, her hand going on her mom's stomach. She didn't feel anything, but, she was curious.

"Yeah," She grinned, brushing stray hairs from her daughter's face.

"How?"

Lori took a deep breath. She never gave either of her kids the talk. Now, she meant to give Carl one, and Casey could wait. "Stork must've come."

Casey didn't say anything.

"If the baby's a girl, can we name her Sophia?" Lori just sat there for a moment, giving no answer. The room went completely silent...

Casey sat there. Sophia. She didn't like the idea. It'd be a constant reminder that Sophia was gone...and that it was her fault.

"Hey, Dude," Everyone looked toward Shane, who was leaning on the door frame. "Hey, I'm sorry, bud. Okay? I thought you knew." Casey didn't know how she felt about the baby. Because she was the baby, and now she's not going to be anymore, which sucked. But, maybe that meant she'd be treated like an adult now!

Carl tilted his hat up, looking at Lori. "I'll be big, big brother Carl now." Casey laughed, rolling her eyes in a joking way. "And Casey'll be big sister, Casey, you're not the youngest anymore." He chuckled, and she nodded. "Pretty cool, huh?" Carl asked, looking at Shane.

"I say that's very cool. You—uh, you mind if I talk to your mom for a second?" Neither of the Grimes kids answered, but, Andrea did.

"How about a little later after she's had some rest?" Andrea suggested.

That didn't seem to matter to the man.

"Lori, I had to get you back here. You wouldn't have come otherwise." The room went silent after that. Casey looked at Dale and Andrea, who were just looking around.

Shane walked over to the couch, placing his hands on the edge of it. "How about you just hear me out, please? It's okay." Lori looked at Carl.

"Can you give me a minute?" She whispered, then looking at Casey. The two kids nodded and stood up, Dale and Andrea behind the two.

Carl and Casey grinned at each other as they walked out to the porch. "Come on, let's go think of names for the baby!" She dragged him behind her to grab a piece of paper. They walked back inside to the kitchen. Grabbing pencils and paper.

"Mom and Dad did this when she was pregnant with you. They had a lot of names. They almost named you Quinn!" Carl exclaimed as he titled the paper.

BABY NAMES

"That's my middle name. My name was my mom's name before she got married. She used to be Lori Casey." She told Carl, who nodded his head.

"I can do the boy names and you can do the girl names."

The Grimes kids were excited to have a new sibling...

             𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

"𝐌𝐎𝐌! Daddy's back!" Casey exclaimed as she ran down the porch steps. Rick, who was stepping out of the car, smiled as he saw his youngest running toward him. He shut the door behind him, walking toward her.

She ran toward Rick, who picked her up in his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he kissed her cheek. She looked the same as yesterday, her hair still in those french braids, maybe a little messier. A smirk remained on her face as she looked at her father.

"I missed you." She told him, her arms wrapping around his neck, giving him a tight hug.

His hand cupped the back of her head, holding it there softly. "I missed you too, baby." He told her, putting a smile onto her face.

The porch door opened again and Lori and Carl walked down together hand in hand. They were both grinning, excited to see Rick. Rick let Casey down on her feet as Carl ran over, letting go of Lori's hand. He could no longer contain his excitement as he saw his father, who hadn't been home.

Carl ran toward them, hugging at Rick's side. "Dad!" Carl yelled with a smile. He hugged him close. Carl's arms wrapped around his waist, his head in his stomach.

Lori walked over, and hugged him close as well. He kissed her head as Carl went to Casey's side, his smile as big as hers.

Hershel, who had blood on his white shirt, seemed agitated. He walked away, seeing Maggie and Glenn hugging. "Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery." He commanded. Casey's brows furrowed together for confusion.

Who needed surgery?

Rick was fine, Glenn was fine, and so did he. So who else could need surgery? Beth? Maybe it was Beth since she was sick...

Rick's hand went to Lori's cheek, examining the scratches in her face. Her hair was still slightly disheveled like last night. But, Lori was the first to ask Rick if he was okay. "Are you hurt?" Lori questioned, just as worried for her husband as he was his wife.

"No, but what happened to you?" He asked, his tone still lighthearted. Casey and Carl both stood next to one another, looking up at their parents. Something about the situation, though it was sad, felt right. It felt right that their mother and father were so happy to see each other.

"I was in a car accident." She explained to him.

"Accident? How?" His voice was more concerned than before.

"I went looking for you." She answered, knowing he probably wouldn't be very happy with that. Especially when she had told their eight-year-old daughter not to tell anyone...

Shane stepped over, not impressed by that. "Snuck out on her own, told Casey to keep it a secret. I brought her back." Shane told him. Casey looked down, knowing she'd probably be in some kind of trouble.

"Are you crazy? You could've-"

Rick was cut off by T-Dog, who pointed at the car. "Who the hell is that?" He was pointing at the car, where a boy was. He was blindfolded and asleep in the backseat.

Casey went wide eyed, not knowing who in the world that was. He was just lying there. At first she thought he was dead or something!

Glenn answered the question. "That's Randall." He stated, looking over at the boy. Everyone walked toward him, minus the Grimes and Shane. Rick turned her around, his hand softly guiding her away from him, not letting her look over at the boy anymore.

So, that must be the person who needed surgery...

                       𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

"𝐖𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 leave him behind. He would've bled out. If he lived that long." Rick explained to everyone, who sat in Hershel's dining room. Casey was sitting at the table, sharing a chair with Carl as everyone listened closely to Rick.

She sat on her feet, her elbows on the table with her chin on her hands. "It's gotten bad in town." Glenn told everyone.

Hershel walked back into the room, cleaning his hands off with a rag. "I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage. Won't be on his feet for at least a week." Hershel told them.

"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way." Rick thought that was a good idea.

Some people didn't...

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea asked. Daryl walked inside, nodding toward Carol who just gave him a tight lipped grin.

"He'll have a fightin' chance." Rick stated.

"Just gonna let him go? He knows where we are."

"He was blindfolded the whole way here. He's not a threat." Casey picked up some kind of tension between Rick and Shane. Like Rick was mad at him, or Shane just wanted to push his buttons, outsmart him all the time.

She didn't really know, but they were never usually like this...ever.

"Not a threat? How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gonna come lookin' for him." Shane stated as if it were some kind of joke.

"They left him for dead. No one is looking." His tone got much louder as he spoke to his friend. His hands were on the back of Casey and Carl's chair as he practically leaned over the two to get his point across.

"We should still post a guard." T-Dog suggested.

"He's out cold right now, will be for hours." Hershel tried to give some sense of relief to everyone in the room, hoping that it will help.

Shane didn't seem relieved, or impressed. So, he stood up straight, and started walking out of the room. "You know what? I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy!" He scoffed, shaking his head as he walked out. "Look at this, folks—we back in fantasyland!" Hershel followed behind him.

"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet. Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all—This is my far. Now, I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor—keep your mouth shut." Shane said nothing, he just walked away after that, rubbing his head.

Casey never heard Hershel like that, ever. But, she didn't exactly blame him for being that way. Shane crossed a line...

"Now look, we're not gonna do anything about it today. Let's just cool off."

                       𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟