𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 || 𝘍𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘙𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘌
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[ ʜᴏʟᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɴᴇ, ᴀʏᴇ
ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰɪɢʜᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ᴘʀɪᴅᴇ ᴏʀ ɢʟᴏʀʏ?
ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴏʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜱᴄᴀʀꜱ ᴄʟᴏꜱᴇ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ? ]

TAKING A BITE out of the sandwich Beth had made for him, Roland messed around with his knife. He sat on his cot in his ten that he shared with Glenn. Roland hadn't talked much after what happened with Andrea shooting Daryl. It'd been revealed when Shane and Rick carried the redneck back to the house.

When they had dinner, Roland didn't even speak then. Just silently ate, forcing himself not to look at Beth who'd been staring at him with concern. It hadn't been hard for Rick or Lori to pick up on their son's behaviour. At this point, Roland was being a complete hypocrite and acting erratic. He had no reason beside wanting to keep everyone alive.

Glenn entered the tent and stopped momentarily to stare at his friend before taking a seat. A bag full of food that Glenn was giving out to each member of the group. Roland didn't look up, continuing to be fascinated by the clean metal of his knife.

But when Glenn cleared his throat, he looked up through his hooded eyelashes. Looking back down at his knife as he hummed, urging Glenn to speak. "Listen, I need to tell you something, okay? And I feel like I'm going crazy not telling anyone this." Glenn began, attracting Roland's attention as he placed the knife down beside him.

It took a few moments for Glenn to speak. Finding it much harder then he was expecting to come clean to Roland. "Your mom's pregnant."

Roland fell silent, only making Glenn more nervous about the boy's reaction to the whole thing. Feeling his hands become clammy as Roland held the unwavering gaze with the pizza boy. "When?" Roland uttered and Glenn sighed. "Like two days ago. I promised her I wouldn't tell no one, but since we're friends and you're her son, I wanted to tell you." He explained and Roland clenched his fists.

He wasn't dumb. He knew whose kid it was. His mom's and Shane's little getaways from the group a while back weren't as hidden as they had expected. Roland had refrained from speaking on the matter, finding it wasn't his place to speak. But he was angry since his mom's way of coping with his father's death was having sex with his friend who lied to them. Overall, it was a completely fucked up situation.

"But there's more," Glenn added, making Roland sigh and rake his hand through his hair. "Hershel's barn is full of walkers." The confession made Roland's eyes widen as he looked up at Glenn. "What?" He asked, unsure of what he'd heard was correct, but when Glenn repeated what he said, Roland didn't know what to say. "The barn is full of walkers. I went there last night and they just keep them there. That's why they have a lock and chain on it. No one gets in, and no walkers get out." Glenn explained.

Rubbing his temples, Roland nodded as he looked at Glenn with a stern look. "We keep this quiet. No saying anything until it's the right time. We need this place until we find Sophia then we can tell the group, alright?" Glenn nodded and Roland sighed as he stepped out of the tent. Stopping and looking back at his friend.

A genuine look of gratefulness on Roland as he smiled. "Thank you for telling me about my mom. It means a lot, Glenn." He thanked and Glenn smiled. "No problem, man."

Carl had just gotten back on his feet and when Roland had heard about what Carl had done, he couldn't help but be angry. Hearing his little brother was not only carrying a gun but also lied to Dale just so he could steal one, it wasn't right. Although Roland did agree with Carl needing to have a gun to protect himself, he shouldn't have lied.

"How the hell did this happen?" Lori questioned, walking over to Rick, Shane, Dale, and Roland after taking the gun from Carl. "Well, it's my fault. I let him into the R.V. He said he wanted a walkie, that you sent him for one." Dale explained and Roland looked at his brother who sat at a park bench with his head down.

"So on top of everything else, he lied," Lori stated as she glanced at the four men before looking at Rick. "What's he thinking?" She mused. "He wants to learn how to shoot. He asked me to teach him." Shane butted in. "Now it's none of my business, but I'm happy to do it. It's your call." He explained as Lori shook her head. "Well, I'm not comfortable with it." Lori chuckled.

Roland motioned with his hand as he spoke, "Mom, I agree with you, fully. But I think we need to be realistic here." He suggested and his mom shook her head. "Oh, don't make me out to be the unreasonable one here." She told her son who nodded. "Rick?"

"I know. I have my concerns too, but-" Rick tried to speak, but Lori cut him off. "There's no but. He was just shot. He's just back on his feet and he wants a gun?" Lori asked incredulously. "Better than him being afraid of 'em." Rick countered and Roland jumped in. "Mom, you didn't protest when dad took me out to the firing range when I was younger. That was before the whole world went to shit. Now, at this time, everyone needs to be prepared and ready for the worst." He explained to his mother who pursed her lips.

"There are guns in camp for a reason. He should learn how to handle them safely." Rick added. "I don't want either of my kids walking around with guns." She fired back. "How can you defend that?" Rick questioned. "You can't let him go around without protection." He explained.

"He's as safe as he'll ever be right here."

Rubbing away the sweat on his forehead, Roland glanced at Shane and saw him shake his head. Telling him to not butt in since it was his parents talking. "Look, everything you two are saying makes perfect sense. It feels wrong. I mean I didn't feel good about him following you out into the woods and I wished I'd said something. I should've gone with my gut." She ranted before Rick cut in. "He's growing up, thank god. We've got to start treating him more like an adult."

"Then he needs to start acting like one." Lori snapped. "He's not mature enough to handle a gun." She said, glancing at Roland who pursed his lips, but not able to stop himself from jumping in. "He's a- He's a kid, mom. I guarantee you, when Shane and I teach him the responsibility of how to handle one, he'll realize that he has to be mature about it. And if he can't do so, then we take it away from him." He promises.

Lori wasn't able to speak as Carl had gotten up from the bench and walked over. "I'm not gonna play with it, mom. It's not a toy. I'm sorry I disappointed you, but I want to look for Sophia and I want to defend our camp. I can't do that without a gun." Carl explained to his mother as Roland smiled, grabbing his brother by his shoulder and pulling him into his side. "Shane's the best instructor I know. I've seen him teach kids younger than Carl. And if he taught Roland then we can trust him with Carl."

Both parents glanced at Shane who didn't say a word. Lori swallowed the lump in her throat before walking over to Carl and cupping his face. "You will take this seriously and you will behave responsibly. And if I hear from anyone in this camp that you're not living up to our expectations-" Lori scolded before Rick butt in. "He won't let you down," Rick promised, giving Carl a look who nodded before looking up at his mom. "Yeah."

Roland stood behind his brother, watching carefully on how his brother was handling the gun. Carl fired his gun and Roland was quick to critique. "Okay, little man. Don't need to be a stiff board. Spread out those legs." He told him, watching his brother do so. "You want a firm stance when you fire. Don't need to be knocked on your ass-" A scolded look was directed to Roland from his choice of words by Lori who stood beside him. "-Butt when you fire. Especially when you get older and start using the big guns." He explained, motioning to the shotgun in his hands.

"Why don't you train?" Carl asked curiously and Roland smiled. "Hey, man. As far as I'm concerned I'm as good as dad and Shane. Was taught by both of them." Roland explained as Carl smirked. "Then prove it, hotshot."

A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he glanced at his mom who smiled. "Don't look at me. He's the one callin' you out." Lori quipped and Roland chuckled before nodding. Walking over to the van, placing the shotgun in the bag before grabbing his M9 and walking over to where Carl stood. Lori moving Carl out of the way as Roland loaded his gun.

Already feeling eyes on him as he did so. "Oh, Roland is up to the plate." Shane joked, walking over with Rick as they both watched with their arms crossed over their chests. Roland didn't respond, only taking aim at the line of bottles on the wooden fence ahead of him and the others. Firing and destroying the bottle before quickly taking aim at another and firing.

Each pull of the trigger felt like it slowed down the world around him. The casing of the bullet flying out of the side of pistol and landing somewhere near his feet.

Soon destroying all the bottles and earning a laugh from his dad. "You weren't lying." He reminded Shane of when he claimed Roland was as good as them both. "No, I was not." Shane chuckled scratching his buzzed head. "How'd I do, Carl?" Roland quipped, looking back at his brother with a smirk. "Not as good as me." Carl joked and Roland laughed. "All right, let's see what you're made of."

Setting up some more bottles, Roland watched as his brother shot each slowly. But as time went on, Roland found himself watching Beth. Each shot missing her target which enabled him to walk over. Standing beside her as he watched her shoot, missing once again.

"You having trouble?" He asked gently, getting the girl's attention as she blushed. Embarrassed by the fact that she wasn't up to par with any of the others, even Patricia. "Yeah, quite a lot actually." She admitted shyly and Roland smiled.

His feelings for the girl intensified greatly after what happened between the altercation with Jimmy. She'd come out to him apologizing for her boyfriend's actions and saying that he'd been an asshole since their group showed up. Of course, Roland knew this was because Beth had maybe drawn interest from Roland. But being the nice guy he was, Roland had reassured her it was fine and that sometimes people acted out.

But standing in front of her right now, he was beginning to realize how he felt for the innocent girl. Even with the gun in her hands, he knew she'd never use one unless need be. Beth didn't seem like the type to cause harm, too caught up in keeping her humanity instead of trying to adapt to the world around her. Maybe that was why Roland liked her, but time would only tell.

Roland nodded as he held his gun out for Beth to hand it to him. She did so and Roland began explaining some tips. "So, I was able to see that your shots were all over the place and that's fine. It happened to me when I first started." He assured her when he noticed the slightly embarrassed expression growing on her face. "But what I want you to do is when you pull the trigger, keep it there for a second or two then let go. So, make sure you have a bullet in the chamber then eject the magazine. It'll help teach you muzzle control." He explained before handing it back to her.

Beth took aim and Roland stood behind her to see what she was seeing. Reaching forward and adjusting her arms since they had a weird sort of bend to them. "Arms and wrist need to be fully extended." He told her as he adjusted her form. Once done that, he gave her the okay to fire and saw an improvement on her firing. Hearing the click of the hammer, Roland stepped beside her. "Great. Now insert the magazine, cock it back to check if the round is in the chamber then fire, and rinse and repeat." He explained as she listened to the steps.

When she fired again, the glass bottle exploded and Thomas saw the large smile etch itself on Beth's face. "I did it!" She said happily and Roland smiled. "Yes you did." He nodded. "Good stuff. Keep practicing." He told her before beginning to walk away. Being stopped by the girl as she grabbed his wrist. Turning to her to see a shy smile on her lips as she stared up at him. "Thank you."

The softness in her voice was as smooth as silk. Causing butterflies to erupt in Roland's stomach as he gave her a smile and nod. She let go of his wrist and continued practicing. Thomas continued helping others, but paying attention to Beth's improvement.