TRIGGERFINGER

It was dark outside. Rick, Glenn and Hershel were no where to be found. We were getting ready to eat. Andrea and Shane had just walked into the dining room

"They should've been back by now" Andrea said as I sat down. Carl, Dale, and T-Dog were in here. Patricia was bringing in food and Carol and Daryl were in the kitchen

"Yeah. They just got holed up somewhere. We'll head out first thing tomorrow" Shane said as him and Lori sat down. Patricia set down some food

"Thank you" Shane said as he cleared his throat

"You're welcome" Patricia said quietly. Carol and Daryl walked in

"Here" Carol said handing Andrea a basket of food

"Thanks" Andrea said taking it. I was sitting next to Carl

"Carl, I want you to keep your head up, okay? Your old man, he's the toughest son of a-" Shane was cut off

"No cussing in the house" Patricia said

"Sorry" Shane said as he looked at her

"Lori, dinner" Carol said

"She's not in there" Maggie said as I ate

"Where is she?" Dale asked. We all looked at eachother

"Carl, when's the last time you saw your mom?" Shane asked

"This afternoon" Carl said

"She was worried about Rick asked me to look in on Carl" Andrea said

"She went after them?" I asked

"She didn't say that" Andrea said

"Nobody panic. Gotta be around here somewhere" Shane said as we all got up

"Daryl went outside, can you go tell him?" Carol asked me

"Yeah, sure" I said as I walked outside. I saw a fire in the distance, near the camp. I walked that way and eventually saw Daryl. He was sitting by the fire, poking it with a stick

"We can't find Lori, and the others aren't back yet either" I said

"That dumb bitch must've gone off looking for 'em" Daryl said

"What?" I asked

"Yeah, she asked me to go. I told her I was done being an errand boy" Daryl said

"And you didn't think to tell anyone?" I asked. He didn't respond. I scoffed

"I thought we were finally on a mutual level of understanding" I said. He got up

"How you feel about me, ain't my problem, either" Daryl said before walking away. I flipped him off. I walked back to the others

"Well, where is she?" Carl asked

"She asked Daryl to go into town. Probably went herself" I said. Carl began to whimper. I wrapped my arm around him

"Hey" I whispered. He ran off

"Carl" Andrea said

"Did you know about this?" Shane asked Dale

"No" Dale said

"Look, just- did she take a gun?" Shane asked

"I don't know. I wouldn't let her go out there alone" Dale said as Shane walked away angrily. He got into the car and drove off. I walked around camp only to see a disturbing sight. Walker ears were strung up by Daryl's area. I didn't get close but it had caught Carol's eye. She was really close. I stared at it and noticed animal skins also strung up. I saw Daryl coming and I hid behind a tree. Perhaps Shane was right about me being a stalker

"What are you doing?" I heard Daryl say

"Keeping an eye on you" Carol said

"Ain't you a peach?" Daryl asked

"I'm not gonna let you pull away. You've earned your place" Carol said

"If you spent half your time minding your daughter's business instead of sticking your nose in everybody else's, she'd still be alive!" Daryl yelled

"Go ahead" Carol said

"Go ahead and what? Man, just go! I don't want you here!" Daryl yelled. There was no response

"You're a real piece of work, lady. What, are you gonna make this about my daddy or some crap like that? Pfft! Man, you don't know jack. You're afraid. You're afraid 'cause you're all alone. You got no husband, no daughter. You don't know what to do with yourself. You ain't my problem! Sophia wasn't mine! All you had to do was keep an eye on her!" Daryl yelled. Then it went silent

"Yeah" I heard Carol say silently

-----

It was morning. I hadn't forgotten Daryl's outburst, but I probably wouldn't bring it up. I was going to check on Beth when I ran into Andrea. She was doing the same. We both walked in. Patricia and Maggie were in there

"How is she?" Andrea asked. I sat down on the bed and held Beth's hand

"Dehydrated. I'll set up an IV. Best I can do without Hershel" Patricia said. She then walked out. Maggie got closer to Beth

"Hey" She said to Beth. Her eyes were open but she was unresponsive

"Wake up" I said as Andrea sat down on the bed

"Can I get you anything?" Andrea asked Maggie. Maggie shook her head

"Nah, I just wish my dad was here" Maggie said

"She'll be okay. You just need to be strong for her" Andrea said

"I was just reminding her about- never mind" Maggie said

"No, no" Andrea said

"Tell us" I said

"I'd love to hear" Andrea said. Maggie smiled

"My dad would die if he heard this. My first summer back from college. I drove home with Y/n, dumped my stuff off and we went straight out to the stable for a ride" Maggie said. My eyes widened

"Wait, he still doesn't know?!" I asked. She laughed as she shook her head

"Our families had come back from church and Beth had grabbed our things. She started unpacking my stuff upstairs" Maggie said

"That's sweet" Andrea said

"Yeah, until this one here starts rifling through my backpack. She finds this little plastic container with these pink and green candies inside" Maggie said

"You should've put it in my bag" I said shaking my head. She rolled her eyes

"She didn't even know I was on the pill. She was so freaked out by the idea of me and boys and sex-" Maggie was cut off

"Sorry, I just have to ask. Your age difference.. how were you in college at the same time?" Andrea asked

"I was in college for a long time.. 8 long years" I said

"Oh, I see.. continue on" Andrea said

"Well she had taken the pills and chucked them in the duck pond. And we rode up, I see this, I'm screaming" Maggie said

"God, the look on Maggie's face was priceless" I said

"She's crying and Shawn runs outside, thinks one of us is drowning. Soon as he figures out what's going on, the jerk busts out laughing so loud that my horse rears up and gets mud all over the four of us. My dad comes out, 'What the heck is going on out there?!' And she turned around, bats her eyelids and says 'We're just swimming, Daddy.' In her Sunday dress, all covered in snot and mud" Maggie said now becoming sad. I put my arm on her shoulder

"Rick and Glenn will get your dad back" Andrea said. Maggie nodded

"Glenn's a good guy" Maggie said

"Of course he is, he's my best friend" I said. Andrea walked out

"It's crazy though.. at one point.. I was carrying you around.. you were so small.. and Beth.. can't forget Shawn.. I watched y'all grow up" I said

"We did a bunch together.. didn't we?" Maggie asked with a smile

"We sure did" I said. I heard a car outside. Me and Maggie went outside saw Rick, Glenn and Hershel in the car. Everyone was here. Rick got out of the car

"Dad!" Carl yelled running to him. They hugged eachother. Lori joining in. Hershel got out of the car. Maggie ran to him, or I thought she was. She actually ran to Glenn and hugged him. I walked over to Hershel and hugged him

"Glad you're okay" I said. He began walking away, not hugging back. That hurt lowkey

"Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery" Hershel said as he walked away

"Are you hurt?" Lori asked Rick

"No, but what happened to you?" Rick asked Lori

"I was in a car accident" Lori explained

"Accident? How?" Rick asked

"I went looking for you" Lori said

"Snuck out on her own. I brought her back" Shane said

"Are you crazy? You could've-" Rick was cut off

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog asked. We all turned to see a guy with a blindfold in the back of the truck

"That's Randall" Glenn said. We walked closer. People took him to the shed

-----

We were holding a meeting about Randall

"We couldn't just leave him behind. He would've bled out, if he lived that long" Rick said

"It's gotten bad in town" Glenn said

"So, what do we do with this guy?" I asked

"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 explained as he walked in

"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way" Rick said. The front door opened and Daryl walked in

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea asked

"He'll have a fighting chance" Rick said

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

"He was blindfolded the whole way here. He's not a threat" Rick said

"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 looking for him?" Shane asked

"They left him for dead. No one is looking" Rick said

"We should still post a guard" T-Dog said

"He's out cold right now, will be for hours" Hershel said

"I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy" Shane said sarcastically. He walked around and scoffed

"Look at this, folks- we back in Fantasyland" Shane said walking out of the dining room

"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 farm. 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" Hershel said

"You tell him!" I said. Shane sighed and walked out of the house

"Look, we're not gonna do anything about it today. Let's just cool off" Rick said. Andrea left and so did everyone else except for a select few. I went to leave

"Oh, Y/n.. your stitches.. I can take 'em out right now if you want.. you should be good to go" Hershel said

"Seriously?" I asked with a smile. He nodded. We walked to a bedroom and he took out the stitches. It hurt and I had to put a small bandage on it

"The bleeding will be minimal" Hershel said

"Thanks" I said

"Anytime" He said as he gave me a wink. I smiled and then walked out. I went outside. I found a secluded area.. I just wanted to relax. I laid down and felt the grass on my skin. The breeze felt nice until my rest was rudely interrupted

"Y/n? The hell you doing?" A voice asked. I sat up and turned to see Daryl

"Relaxing while I wait for Beth to get better" I said

"She'll be fine in no time" He said

"Of course she will be, she's a soft girl.. but she can be tough when needed" I said. Daryl smiled

(1952 words)
11/13/21

Edited: 07/08/22