10 • bitch

THE WALKING DEAD- a rick grimes fanfic story -

EDITED: 4/10/24

GREENE FARM 📍

season 2, episode 6

   I was awake earlier than everybody else due to the unbearable pain I was in, but I was taking medication to push the pain down— or at least make it a little tolerable. When I woke up I decided I wanted to get out rather than be bedridden, I knew I needed to get up and do light work rather than be cooped up in my bed.

When I woke up I instantly took a warm shower, washing off any of the dried blood and dirt from my body and I put new clean bandages on my wounds. The whole house was awake when I dressed, I put on black jeans, a white V-cut shirt, a maroon-colored flannel, and my normal black combat boots. Once I walked down the stairs I smelt breakfast getting made, I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of toast before exiting the house to go outside.

Hershel and Maggie tried to fight for me to stay in but I declined, telling them I needed to be out and to try and help the group look for the little girl still.

While I was outside I fed the horses and messed with them for a little bit until I walked towards the coop where the chicken were at. I grabbed the bucket of grains and limped over towards the chicken coop.

  The injury on my foot was also patched up and disinfected, it hurt to walk on it but I had to get around somehow and I knew it would heal soon.

As I got closer to the coop I saw Patricia inside getting eggs from the chickens, then I saw Lori and Carl looking at them through the fence. I smiled as I saw how happy Carl was, this was his first time out in a while since being shot and I was happy to see him better.

"Hey," I called out as I carried the heavy bucket, Lori and Carl both turned around to see me, Carl brightly smiled and ran towards me.

"Nola! Look, I'm alright now!" Carl grinned, I placed the bucket on the ground and crouched in front of Carl. A caring smile makes its way onto my scratched-up face, I place my hand on Carl's shoulder and lightly pat it.

"I see, I see. I'm really glad you're on your feet, Mr. Invincible." I smile, Carl laughs at the nickname and I stand up fully, I look over and see Lori watching the both of us with a small smile on her face. I lean down and slowly pick up the bucket full of grains, I think for a moment to myself and look back down at Carl to see him kindly smiling.

"Do you wanna feed some of the chickens?" I asked Carl as I noticed some of the stray chickens slowly walk towards me. Carl gasps and nods his head repeatedly showing his eagerness, my smile widens as I see how excited Carl is to feed the small clucking birds.

I lead Lori and Carl a few feet away from the chickens and set down the bucket of food, I grab a few small trays and fill two of them up, I offer one to Carl but he shakes his head, "Can I use the whole bucket?" He asks, Lori shakes her head at his words and I only nod my head in response. I then hand one of the smaller trays to Lori, standing a few inches away from Carl while Lori moves to sit on the metal part of an old trailer.

The three of us grabbed a handful of food and threw it on the ground, the chicken quickly walking around and picking up the food with soft sounds. 

As we all fed the chickens I noticed Lori was more reserved than usual, which was understandable because she was pregnant at a time like this, and it wasn't her husband's baby.

"Don't look so worried." I hear Carl say to his mom, I look up from the clucking chickens to see that Lori has stopped throwing the grains and looked over at her son while biting her bottom lip.

"It's my job," Lori shrugged, she grabbed another handful of grains and threw them on the ground. I grab a small handful of the grains from my tray and scatter them around the ground as well.

"No, it's not, You're a housewife." Carl jabbed at his mother, my eyes widened at his words, but once I looked over at him and saw the goofy grin on his face I knew he was joking with his mom which caused me to smile.

Lori looked at Carl shocked, but laughed, "Yeah, Punk?" she called out playfully as she threw some of the grains towards me and Carl, the both of us ducked our heads down and laughed. "You see my house around here?" Lori asked, I lightly smiled at her words and set down my empty tray.

"Damn, housewife. He got you good Lori." I joked, Lori shook her head and smiled, I heard Carl let out a few stray giggles at his joke. Carl continued throwing the grains on the ground towards the chickens and even the small chicks.

"They don't have a mother," Carl said plainly, I cleared my throat and looked over at Lori to see her looking down at the cheeping chicks. "She might be somewhere else," Lori said softly, and I only nodded my head at her words.

"Most of the grown chicks stay inside the coop," I explained to the 12-year-old boy, his eyebrows were furrowed and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Or maybe she got eaten," He muttered out dryly, I stared at the young boy and sighed. Lori paused her motions and stared at Carl with a shocked expression, I backed away from the young boy and placed my tray on the ground in front of a few other chicks "Everything is food for something else." Carl shrugged towards his mom, she gulped and looked down at the ground.

•••

A few hours went by of me strolling around the house and barn areas taking care of more chores, I was passing by Rick's group when I heard someone yell out my name. I turned around to see Andrea running behind me, I slowed my steps and waited for her to reach me.

"Nola, I just wanted to say I'm so—so, sorry," Andrea breathed out, "I feel like shit." she shook her head in regret, I just offered her a tightly lipped smile.

"Don't sweat about it, we're okay," I assured Andrea smoothly, she let out a deep breath nodded her head, and turned to walk away from me.

"Wait, Andrea!" I yelled out, she turned around and looked at me confusingly. I thought for a moment and suppressed a smile that was making its way onto my face, "You gotta get a better shot."

Andreas face grew red in embarrassment, she frowned a bit and nodded her head before walking back towards her camp. 

As I watched Andrea walk back I thought about the rest of the group and the fact that they were still probably looking for Sophia, and I knew I wanted to try and help. I quickly followed behind Andrea and made my way back to the truck that the group usually talked at, I saw Jimmy, Rick, and Shane all leaning against the truck.

I watched the three of them mumble to each other as I slowly made my way over with a slight limp, I stood right in between Jimmy and Rick. Rick turned his head towards me as he noticed my presence, he furrowed his eyebrows in worry.

"Lia? You should be resting." Rick told me anxiously, I gave him a thankful smile and shook my head. 

"I'm fine, really. I'd rather be up and about than be laying around and not helping." I retaliated with a small frown, Rick opened his mouth and tried to say something but went against it and sighed.

"Hey, Peach Man!" Shane whistled, I glanced up at Shane to see him waving over to Glenn who was distracted from talking with Lori. 

I looked away from them, I'm guessing Glenn knew about Lori's pregnancy as well considering the long and serious discussion they seemed to be having. Rick cleared his throat catching both mine and Shane's attention, he placed his hand on the map.

"The creek that flows south, past the farmhouse that Daryl found, maybe Sophia dropped the doll there, the current brought it downstream." Rick begins, I leaned against the truck with my arm crossed as I stared down at the map.

"So what, you think she took this road here and went north?" Shane replied while placing his pointer finger on the map to show the road he was thinking of, Rick nodded his head. "Yeah, Whats up that way?" Rick asked both Jimmy and I, he looked between the both of us.

"Uhm, Housing Development," I told him, I was unsure of my answer which made me look over at Jimmy to get more information, "It went up... uh... 10 years ago?" I try to confirm with Jimmy, he nods his head.

"Take a run up there after gun practice. I'll hold down the fort here but take backup," Rick told Shane, "After what went down with Lia and Daryl I want to make sure we stay in pairs for sure, be more aware of our surroundings." Rick turned his attention towards me once he spoke my name, I looked at him for a second and bit my bottom lip, I slowly looked back down at the Map to escape Rick's strong gaze.

"I'll take suggestions on a partner," Shane told Rick, I looked up from the hood of the truck to see Glenn had made his way over here carrying a bucket full of fruit. 

As I looked at Glenn I noticed the distant look in his eye, his hands slightly shook as he held the bucket. My eyebrows furrowed as I noticed his anxious demeanor, he made his way towards Shane and leaned the bucket towards him so he could grab a peach.

"See how they do on the range, then take your pick." Rick shrugged, Glenn slowly made his way towards me and Rick offered us a fruit. 

I slowly took a peach from the bucket while giving a suspicious look towards Glenn, his eyes glanced up at me but quickly shut and avoided me altogether. Glenn stood beside us for a few moments longer, I took a juicy bite from the peach I picked and used the sleeve of my flannel to wipe away any excess juice.

"What's up with you, Water Boy?" I asked Glenn quickly, Glenn froze and snapped his eyes on me, he looked around at the rest of the group before turning his eyes back on me. "Nothing? Nothings up? Why? Why would you think something is up with me?" He stuttered out causing me to only stare at him even more confusingly, Glenn gulped, he was obviously upset.

Glenn then turned his attention behind him, I tilted my head to the side and noticed Lori staring at the four of us. I knew that Glenn and I had to keep Lori's pregnancy a secret, but that couldn't be what Glenn was so anxious about.

"Uh, My binoculars?" Shane asked quietly, Glenn looked down to his side letting out a soft, "Oh, Yeah." He placed the bucket on the ground slipped Shane's binoculars off of his shoulder and quickly handed it to him. 

An awkward silence filled the air as Glenn stood in front of us, giving all of us strange looks. He finalized his glare on me, I could sense he knew something I didn't and that intrigued me, I knew I had to talk to him later about it if he was up to it.

"Okay, Bye." Glenn spilled out quickly, he then picked up the fruit bucket and practically ran away from the four of us. I turned my head over to Rick to see his eyebrows furrowed in worry from the interaction with Glenn. I then heard a few sets of footsteps crunch through the grass beside me, I turned my blue eyes towards the noise to see Patricia and Beth slowly walking towards us.

"We'd like to join you for gun training today," Beth told Rick, I pushed myself off of the truck hood and looked over at Rick to see an unsure look on his face.

"Hershel's been very clear, I can't involve any of you in what we do without his okay." He spoke while chewing the fruit he took, in the corner of my eye, I could see Shane pointing towards me while loudly chewing.

"He didn't okay her comin' out." Shane lowly said towards me, I slowly turned my head towards Shane and offered him a sarcastic smile.

"He okayed it. But, I'm an adult, I'm trained on how to take care of myself." I replied to Shane coldly, Shane scoffed out a laugh and shook his head while taking another bite out of his peach.

"Apparently not." His voice spit out in a mutter, my body tensed up at his words, my body flaring up with heat as anger filled my veins. 

I turn to reply but Rick holds up his hands with a sigh, "Quit, both of y'all, we got a kid to find not make snide comments towards each other." Rick told both of us, trying to calm them us down to not escalate anything. I let out a loud sigh and shook my head, I looked at Shane angrily one last time before turning my attention back to Patricia and Beth.

"Uh, He doesn't like it but he consented," Beth told us with a nod in her head, we all stayed silent. I wallowed in my anger from Shane's words, Rick took another bite out of his fruit. I looked down at the peach in my hand and took another bite out of it before tossing it on the ground, losing my appetite.

"Otis and Nola are the only ones who know about guns. But now that Otis is gone we wanna learn to protect ourselves too." Patricia finally spoke up, I sighed at the mention of Otis and looked over at Shane to see a guilty look on his face. 

My eyes then wandered off, I saw Carl leaning against the camper using a knife to carve a stick. My body moved voluntarily toward the kid who was now wearing his father's sheriff's hat, I glanced back over at Rick and the others to see Shane staring at me as I made my way toward Carl.

"No offense, but I'll ask Hershel myself." That was the last thing I heard from Rick as I made my way towards Carl, he noticed my presence and looked up at me with a kind smile— as always.

"Loving the hat, Mr. Invincible." I smiled, he snickered and put down his stick and knife. I noticed the upset look on his face, I frown to myself a bit.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, I stood in front of him with my hands on my hips and a tilt in my head. Carl sighed and motioned me to follow him, I furrowed my eyebrows and followed him so he was further away from his father's sight.

"I wanna learn how to shoot too, Can you teach me? I heard them say you're trained, and I can't ask Shane— I think he's mad at me." Carl breathed softly, I shook my head with a little laugh. Carl looked down at his boots and shuffled his feet around nervously, I cleared my throat and removed my smile, replacing it with a serious expression.

"I would love to Carl, it's really just up to your mom and dad." I shrugged at him, and he loudly groaned and pouted his lips towards me, I shook my head and snickered to myself.

"Could you... Talk to them for me? Dad will listen to you." He pleaded with me, I sighed and leaned my body against the RV lost in thought. 

Why would Carl assume that Rick would instantly listen to me? I rubbed my hands over my head, deciding against questioning the kid and just rolling with him to give him a little reassurance.

"I'll see what I can do, alright?" I assured him as I patted his shoulder lightly, Carl smiled up at me happily and nodded his head along with my words. The boy then moved to walk away but my eyes landed on his shirt, I noticed the bump along his side and I grabbed his arm.

"Hey, hold on Carl," I said softly, Carl froze and looked over at me and gulped. I slowly lean down and give him a look, a look he probably knew all too well.

"What do you have?" I slowly asked him, I nodded towards the very obvious lump in his shirt, he cleared his throat and slowly pulled up his button-up shirt to reveal a small gun. 

He looked at me with regret in his eyes, he gulped and closed his eyes, waiting for me to scream at him but I only shook my head and slowly removed the gun from the band of his pants.

"I'm gonna have to show your parents. I'm sorry," I whisper to him, Carl shakes his head and goes to walk away but I gently grab his arm which forces him to look at me. "Don't be mad, I'll talk to them, okay?" I sighed, Carl nervously breathed and nodded his head.

I stood from my crouched position on the ground, I looked down at the small gun in my hand and sighed. Carl crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the ground and I pushed him towards the truck where Rick and Shane were.

When I walked closer I noticed that Patricia, Beth, and Jimmy were all gone only leaving Rick and Shane talking to each other quietly. I limped up behind Rick and cleared my throat to catch his attention, Rick and Shane both turned towards me and noticed an upset-looking Carl. "Hey, Dude, nice lid." Shane complimented Carl, only Carl didn't pay any attention to Shane and kept his eyes on the ground.

"What's goin' on?" Rick asked me confusingly as he looked down at Carl who looked as if he was close to tears, I sighed and rubbed my free hand over my face, I had never had to deal with a 12-year-old kid stealing a gun from his parents— I've never had to deal with ratting out a kid at all in general.

"Carl had this on him," I told him with a shake of my head, I looked down at Carl to see him looking up at his father nervously. 

Rick squinted his eyes and looked at the gun in my hand, he quickly grabbed the gun and put it in the band of his jeans. Instead of saying anything Rick grabs Carl's shoulder and begins to lead him towards the camp, Shane and I quickly walk behind them.

This is going to be one hell of a discussion.

•••

"How the hell did this happen?" Lori spit out as she just finished punishing Carl, who was sitting on a bench with his head looking down on the ground. As soon as I told Rick about what I found on him we all took him to Lori and told her, she was obviously pissed off but thanked me for bringing the problem to her rather than ignore it.

Dale had decided to join the discussion along with Me, Rick, and Shane, considering that he was the one in charge of the RV and that is where the group kept all of their guns.

"Well," Dale sighed, "It's my fault I let him into the RV. He said that you wanted a walkie, that you sent him for one." He shrugged off, and we all looked at each other, my eyes lingering on a pissed-off Rick a little longer than needed. I stood with my arms crossed around my chest, I leaned on my good foot considering my injured one was tingling with pain— I needed more pain reliever.

"So on top of everything else, he lied." Lori went on, she scoffed and shook her head in disbelief. We all looked over at Carl and noticed him sadly looking over from the bench, he quickly looked away and focused on the ground once more.

"What's he thinking?" She whispered towards Rick, he unknowingly shook his head and looked over at me, everyone looked over at me in wonder, considering I was the one that had found the gun on him.

"He... He wants to learn how to shoot," I confessed, Rick and Lori, looking at each other in surprise. "He asked me to teach him, and uhm, I will, only if you two are okay with it." I motioned my hand between Rick and Lori, I could see the contemplated look on Rick's face as he thought, Lori had her hands on her hips and shook her head violently.

"No, I'm sorry, it's not you Nola. I'm just not comfortable with it." Lori ranted out, she turned to her husband to see him looking at me in consideration, she then looked around at everyone else to see them silently disagreeing with her, Lori scoffed and grabbed Rick's arm.

"Oh, don't make me out to be the unreasonable one here. Rick?" Lori turned her full attention on her husband, I watched Rick shake his head causing her to drop her grip from his arm and scoff loudly again. Rick turned his body towards his wife with one hand on his hip and the other waving around.

"I know, I have my concerns too but-"

"There is no but, he was just shot!" She loudly snapped at her husband, "He's just back on his feet and he wants a gun?" She sarcastically laughs, Rick shakes his head and quickly spits back.

"Better than him being afraid of 'em, there are guns in camp for a reason. He should learn how to handle them safely." Rick tried to explain, but Lori obviously wasn't backing down from her opinion.

"I don't want my kid walking around with a gun." She softly said, she was drained from all anger and was desperately trying to get her husband to agree with her, but Rick sighed.

"How can you defend that? You can't let him go around without protection." Rick's accent deepens, I carefully watch the couple fight over their 12-year-old boy, it was kind of awkward watching them fight in front of the three of us.

"He's as safe as he'll ever be right here. Look everything you're saying makes perfect sense. It feels wrong," She whispered to him, "I mean, I don't feel good about him following you out into the woods. And I wish I'd said something, I should've gone with my gut.

"He's growing up, Thank God. We've gotta start treating him like an adult." Rick told his wife, and I agreed with him, but I also agreed with her. I did think that due to how the world is right now Carl did need more gun training but I did think he needed more time to rest and think due to his recent injury. "Then he needs to start acting like one," Lori spits out, "He's not mature enough to handle a gun."

As the couple continued bickering at each other Carl caught attention to Lori's words causing him to stand to his feet and make his way towards us and look at his mom. "I'm not gonna play with it, Mom." All of us look over at Carl, Lori's face filled with surprise.

"It's not a toy, I'm sorry I disappointed you," Carl apologized, he then looked over at me for a second before continuing, "But I wanna look for Sophia with Nola, I want to defend our camp. I can't do that without a gun." Carl explained to his mother, Lori looked conflicted about how to feel, Rick turned his body towards his wife once more.

"Look, he obviously trusts Magnolia enough to ask her to teach him, she obviously knows how to shoot." Rick tried to persuade his wife, I bit my bottom lip and watched them discuss me, Lori glanced over at me and began to walk towards me with her arms now at her sides.

"How long have you been shootin' for? Have you taught anyone else?" Lori asked me, I stared at her in surprise but cleared my throat and answered her questions.

"Ever since I was little, I went hunting a lot... so uh probably 20-ish years. And I thought my niece and nephew, I tried to teach Maggie but she gave up..." I tell Lori, I laugh a little at the end but Lori doesn't, I bite my bottom lip and watch as Lori slowly backs away from me and crouches down in front of Carl.

"You will take this seriously, and you will behave responsibly. And if I hear from anyone in this camp that you are not loving up to our expectations—"

"He won't let you down, I swear." I cut off Lori from her rant, Everyone looking at Carl and Lori. Carl has a bright smile on his face from his mother agreeing, Carl looked at me with the biggest smile I've ever seen. Me and Carl slyly high-five each other happily, Rick watches the both of us with a look in his eye I can't truly determine.

•••

  Carl, Rick, and I were on our way towards the truck that was leading towards the shooting range, Shane and the others who wanted to learn were all loaded up in the truck and waiting for us.

"Now if we're going to do this, you listen to Lia," Rick ordered his son, Carl nodded along with his dad. "Okay, Dad."

"All right, be careful," Rick told him, he patted his son's head softly. I paused my steps and watched Carl make his way towards the truck, I turned around to look at Rick to see him standing with his hands on his hips and watching his son walk away.

"He'll be alright, I promise." I assured Rick softly, he looked at me and gulped, "I know." He said shortly. Rick and I both stared at Carl as he spoke to Shane for a moment, I turned back over to Rick's direction and saw him running his hand down his face.

"You be safe too, okay?" Rick spoke to me lightly, I nodded my head and pat his back reassuringly, "I will." That's the last thing I said to Rick as I limped away from him and towards Shane's car. 

Shane loudly spoke to Glenn who was making an excuse as to why he couldn't join us at the shooting range, I rolled my eyes and scoffed at the fact that Glenn was so anxious about Lori's pregnancy that he couldn't even be around most of the group or else he'd explode.

Once we made it to the shooting range we all set up glass bottles for the people who were shooting, Rick, Shane, and I were helping and observing everyone who was learning to shoot. 

I was analyzing Carl and slowly letting him get the hang out of shooting with different types of guns, I offered Carl my gun to use which he was quickly getting the hang of he was easily shooting his targets.

"Nola, Nola! Watch, I'm gonna hit it." Carl said cheerfully, I followed Carl back to his position and watched him slowly hold up the gun, he blinked one of his eyes closed and held the gun up to the target, he slowly pulled the trigger and watched as the glass shattered. 

Carl looked over at me with the biggest smile and a laugh, I cheered and held his shoulders while praising him. Lori watched the both of us while leaning against Shane's car, a soft smile on her face as she watched us, I turned around and saw Rick staring at both me and Carl with a soft loving smile.

"That's a great shot," Rick told his son, he gave Carl a high five and moved to stand right next to Lori as I continued to observe Carl and give him advice.

   When I got back to the farm I went looking around for Glenn, still thinking of the way he was acting this morning when he was handing out fruit and earlier when trying to make an excuse as to why he didn't want to go training. I searched for a few minutes around the camp until I found Glenn sitting with his head in his hands.

"Yo, Water-boy!" I yelled out to him, he snapped his head up towards me and I curled my finger and moved it in a "come here" manner. Glenn slowly stood to his feet and slowly walked towards me, he anxiously moved his head around and gulped as we were face to face.

"Uh, What do you need?" Glenn asked me anxiously with a soft cough, I rolled my eyes and sighed grabbing his arm tightly and pulling him away towards a more secluded area.

"Okay, what's your deal?" I blurted out impatiently, Glenn looked at me with a small scoff and laugh, he went to open his mouth to speak but I gave him a serious look. He gulps and rubs the back of his neck, I watch as Glenn lets out a shaky breath.

"Lori's uh, pregnant." Glenn stutters out, but from the look on his face I could tell there was more, and he already knew that I was aware of Lori's pregnancy, my eyes squint in suspicion, even Glenn is well aware of my knowledge of him lying his ass off in front of me.

"I know that, obviously," I scoffed, Glenn looked down on the ground and shook his head. "Glenn, whatever is bothering you is... so obvious, the whole group knows something is up, spill," I noted, Glenn groaned to himself and quickly looked around, his eyes blazing with anger which surprised me.

"You know what it is." He muttered angrily, I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head, confused by his assumption. "No... I don't..." I trailed off confusingly. Glenn scoffed in my face, taking a slow step toward me before continuing. "You're telling me you don't know about the walkers in the barn?"

My body froze at Glenn's words, my mouth dropped in shock, and my breath was caught in my throat. 

I was confused as to why Glenn would say that, was he lying? was what he saying true? Because if it were true I would feel pretty damn stupid for not noticing earlier. 

I furrowed my eyebrows and breathed, I looked around and grabbed Glenn's arm again to lead him toward the barn I thought he was talking about.

Glenn stumbled on his feet at first but followed me anyway, he was fuming with rage but I could also sense he was confused with my reaction. As we made it to the barn I let go of his arm and slowly walked towards the "empty" barn, or so I thought.

As I walked closer to the barn I could hear soft growling, groaning, and moaning. I could hear soft footsteps dragging against the ground, I then smelt the rotting corpses and gagged, finally to confirm my suspicion I brought my face towards the crack of the wooden barn doors and peeked through. 

In front of me, I saw at least 10 different walkers standing around, I let out a breath in disbelief, I turned my head towards Glenn to see an uncertain look on his face.

"What the fuck..." I whispered out, I backed away from the barn slowly. Glenn followed me as I quickly walked back to the camp area, he was asking me all kinds of questions and apologized but I didn't pay any attention to him.

"Nola, did you really not know?" Glenn asked me, I looked at him and shook my head distantly. Glenn put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it to show he was there, I let out a shaky breath and rubbed my face.

"Fuck, how could they keep this from me? This is so beyond fucked." I muttered out, Glenn only sighed and pulled his hand away. That's when I realized that's why Glenn had been acting so weird, and rightfully so, I looked over at Glenn.

"How did you find out?" I asked him, he bit his lip but told me anyway, "Me and Maggie were supposed to meet there, and I found it... Maggie told me not to tell anyone..." Glenn answered quietly.

"Who else did you tell?" I sighed out, Glenn looked up at me sheepishly, "Dale. I also told him that Lori was pregnant." He blurted out, I gave him an annoyed look.

"Damn it Glenn," I groaned out, but I kept my composure and thought to myself. "I know you're gonna want to tell the group about the walkers, and I don't blame you, so you can, just... don't tell Hershel I allowed you to." I sighed tiredly, Glenn nodded and thanked me silently, and we both quietly parted our own ways. 

I couldn't help but get upset at the fact that Hershel had a barn full of walkers, I knew about his opinions on the walkers being "sick" and needing to be "cured" but I didn't know it went that far to him hiding them in the barn, and the fact he hid it from me.

•••

I was walking past the camp once again when I saw Lori and Dale having a serious conversation, from the way it looked I could tell Dale was talking to her about the pregnancy issue. 

I saw Glenn watching from afar causing me to stand next to him, he glanced my way but didn't question me. Lori and Dales discussion ends, she looks towards the two of us but goes directly towards Glenn, knowing he was the one that snitched.

"I'm sorry, I'm- It just came out. And it was Dale." Glenn stuttered out, Lori sighed and looked in between the two of us.

"It's okay. I never should have put you guys in that position," Lori confessed, I nodded my head along with her, and I noticed she was tense as she looked at the two of us.

"I've uh, been thinking about what you two have been saying about needing help. And you're right that I do." Lori softly told us, I looked over at Glenn to see him nodding his head, "Name it, Yeah."

"If you're still willing to make a run into town for me..." Lori trailed off as she looked at the both of us, I took a step closer towards her and nodded my head, "Yeah we can do it."

"Thank you." Lori breathes, she pulled me into a tight hug which I returned, she then pushed a small piece of paper in my hand, I didn't take any notice of it as I wrapped my arms tighter around her and pat her back before pulling away.

Lori then pulls Glenn into a hug as well, Glenn smiled and softly said, "It's not a big deal, really."

Without another second Glenn, Maggie and I were on our way back into town to the pharmacy. Maggie had a pissed off look on her face, I could tell that she was upset with Glenn for him telling Dale and me about the walkers in the barn. She figured out I knew when I told her 'what the fuck was going on with the walkers in the barn', she wasn't too happy with my wording but she apologized for not telling me about the barn, I only shrugged and assured her it was okay.

Glenn and Maggie mostly fought on our way to the pharmacy, I ignored them both determined to get home with everything Lori needed.

"So your dad thinks they're sick, you agree with that? Even after what you saw at the well?" Glenn asked her loudly, Maggie shook her head and loudly sighed, "I'm not sure what I saw at the well."

I scoffed at Maggie's words, causing her to look over at me with a frown, "Maggie, you know what you saw, I know what I saw." I told Maggie roughly, she looked down away from me without saying a word, and I decided to continue on. The three of us stopped and jumped off our horses as we made it to the outside of the pharmacy.

"If you saw what I saw in Atlanta— and Glenn, you would not have a barn full of walkers," I told her boldly, she shook her head and laughed out a scoff. "I wish y'all wouldn't call them that." She spits out, upset by my phrasing of the dead creatures. Glenn and I stayed silent as we both tied our horses to the poles.

"What do you call them?" Glenn asked her, she frowned deeply and shook her head as she aggressively tied up her horse.

"Mom, Shawn, Mr. and Mrs. Fischer, Lacey, Duncan." She spit out, emphasizing each person she says, I looked at her with a frown, I knew that Hershel's wife and stepson both passed away due to getting bit, but I didn't know that he put them in the barn— along with the neighbors. Glenn and I don't reply, I look away from the both of them and quickly open the pharmacy door.

"What does she want now?" Maggie asked obviously annoyed and pissed off, I ignore her as I look down at the piece of paper in my hand with a sigh.

"Uh, We can't say." Glenn stuttered out to her, Maggie turned around and let out a mocking laugh, she quickly walked towards me and ripped the paper out of my hand and read it.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Maggie rudely muttered out, my jaw clenched in anger as I noticed her reaction. Glenn was staring at the both of us anxiously, Maggie turned away towards the very back of the store and I quickly follow behind her.

"You're being a bitch, Maggie, y'know that?" I seethed out, Maggie ignored me and let out a grunt as she searched the shelves I let out a sigh and looked through the shelves as well, grabbing anything that we may need while also looking for what Lori needed.

All of a sudden I heard a loud scream coming from Maggie, multiple bottles falling from the shelf and I heard the growling of a walker. My body moves fast as I quickly move to Maggie to see her struggling against a walker, the walker had a tight grip around her wrist, its teeth chomping at Maggie's arm, she cried out, screaming for help.

I hear Glenn quickly moving from the back of the store, but I move quicker than him as I grab my knife from my sheath and make my way to the walker that was trying to eat my best friend. I quickly move around the shelves and sneak up behind the walker, grabbing it by the back of its neck, causing its skin to slide off which I grimace at. 

It's attention moves onto me, the walker is suddenly snarling in my face, its arms reaching towards me to try and grab me but I quickly swing my arm and stab it in the head roughly with a grunt.

Before I know what's happening I'm pushed to the ground, my knife falling from my hand and falling to the ground with a loud clatter. I come face to face with another decaying creature, the walker snaps its teeth in my face Maggie lets out another scream as she watches the walker attack me. I bring my hands up and try to push the walker off of me, its head moving around violently to try and bite a chunk of my skin off.

"Get this ugly ass thing off of me!" I screamed out loudly, I heard both Maggie and Glenn yelling out different things. I try my hardest to push the walker off of me but nothing works, I grunt loudly and move to push it away one last time but all motion from the walker stops once Glenn had sliced its head off in a millisecond.

The walker's blood poured on my face, chest, and white t-shirt as Glenn had decapitated the creature with a part of the shelf. I push the heavy body of the walker off of me and wipe my face off, I look down to see my hand full of walker blood.

"Did it get you? Did it bite you?" Glenn asked both of me and Maggie worriedly, Maggie aggressively shook her head as she cried, I just told him a soft 'No', without saying anything else. I watch as Glenn hugs Maggie's shaking body, she softly cries into his shoulder.

My head snaps to the left as I hear the familiar snarling, Maggie lets out a loud scream, I look down and notice that the head of the decapitated walker is moving around and snarling. "Glenn, Nola— do something!" Maggie cried out.

"I got it," I muttered, I stalked up towards the head of the walker, looked down at my beautiful black combat boots before bringing my leg up and stomping down on the walkers head with a loud crunch as the remaining of its skull crushed. Maggie let out a gasp, Glenn held her head and forced her to look away as I stomped on the walker's head.

I continued to scream out loudly as I repeatedly stomped on the walker's head, I was angry at the fact I was put in this position, I was angry that the world had gone to shit, I was angry that Hershel had walkers in the barn, I was angry that my parents were dead, I was angry that Myles was dead, I was angry at myself, for what I did when I was 21, for what I was feeling with Rick, I was angry at everything.

I was breathing heavily as I finished stomping on the walker's head, I looked down to only see its blood and mushed-up brain, I didn't focus on it long before leaning down on the ground to grab my knife. 

I crouched down and wiped the blood on my knife on the walkers clothes before pushing it back down in my sheath and standing back up. My eyes glance over at Maggie and Glenn to see them staring at me shocked, I shake my head and look at the shelf, grabbing anything else we need and walking past them.

"Let's go," I muttered out.

•••

On our way back to the farm I didn't say anything else to Maggie and Glenn, instead, I placed the bag full of Lori's items on Glenn's horse and headed straight home. 

As we arrived home we all tied up our horses, Maggie roughly grabbed the bag of items and speed walked towards the camp. Glenn and I quickly followed after a pissed-off Maggie, the pain in my foot causing me to limp but I was still able to be quick.

"Hey!" Maggie yelled out, she caught Lori's attention, "We got your stuff!" She seethed through her teeth, I ignored the pain in my foot as I ran after Maggie trying to call after her but she wouldn't stop.

"Maggie, hang on, please!" Glenn cried out, Lori stared at Maggie then looked around to make sure nobody was watching.

"Come on in here..." Lori said calmly, trying to lead Maggie into her tent but Maggie didn't have any of it, she shook her head and grabbed stuff from inside the bag.

"Why? Nothing to hide!" Maggie spits out rudely, "We got your special delivery right here." Lori looked over at both me and Glenn in worry, Glenn was just watching in shock, while I was watching plainly, pissed off.

"Maggie, stop this right now," I growled out, grabbing Maggie's arm but she violently pulled away and started grabbing things from the bag to throw it roughly at Lori's feet. "We got your lotion, got your conditioner, and your "Soap Opera Digest"."

"Maggie." Lori breathed out, shocked to see Maggie this way, and deep down I was too. But I was also pissed off at Maggie, this shouldn't be happening.

"Next time you want somethin' get it your damn self." Maggie snarled out to Lori. The pregnant woman's mouth was gaped in shock, stunned into silence. "We're not your errand boys, Nola is already injured as it is."

"Honey, I—" Lori began, but Maggie quickly leaned down to the ground grabbing the only item she didn't yell out for everyone to know, she threw the final item at Lori once more, causing me to finally snap inside.

"And here's your abortion pills." Maggie shoots out coldly before stomping away from the messy scene. I watched as Lori stared down at the items on the ground, and Glenn and I stood for a moment longer.

"I'm so sorry for this Lori." I apologize sincerely. Lori looked at me with hollow eyes, trying her best to hold her composure. I gave her one last look before turning away and running after Maggie, my body heating up from full anger, I could hear Glenn following after me as well.

"What the fuck Maggie!" I screamed, my voice full of anger. Maggie flinched at my sudden outburst, coming to a halt as I came toward her at full speed.

"That was not cool," Glenn added, she looked towards him and scoffed dismissively.

 "Which part, the part where that bitch almost got us killed?" She shot back, her voice wobbling with anger.

"Got us killed? She didn't do shit!" I retorted, easily forgetting the pain in my foot.

 "And as far as I remember— considering I don't have memory loss— Glenn and I saved your ass! A thank you would be appreciated by the way." I spat out bitterly, my words laced with sarcasm and resentment. 

Never in my life have I spoken to Maggie like this, I could tell she was surprised just as much as I was, but I was beyond pissed off. 

Silence filled the air as Maggie didn't respond to me, Glenn took his hat off and rubbed his head. "I should've gone alone, or just with Nola. If you wanna blame anybody, blame me, or Nola." Glenn nodded toward me, I mockingly laughed and scoffed at his words.

"Oh, fuck no. I'm not taking the blame!" I squealed out unfairly, Maggie looked in between the both of us and sarcastically laughed.

"Right, both of y'all, take the blame." She nodded her head with a frown, I rolled my eyes and took a step towards her.

"I'm not takin' any blame, you've been the bitchy one all day, you take the blame," I muttered to her, Maggie stared at me, a sad look on her face but she turned her attention from me to Glenn who was silently watching the both of us.

"You know, for a smart guy, you're really stupid." Maggie sniffled out with a glare, she rubbed her hand over her nose and turned away from us. Glenn furrowed his eyebrows, obviously confused by her words.

"Okay... I'm confused because I think you paid me a compliment, but you made it s—" Maggie walked up to Glenn and kissed him fiercely, my eyes widened and I slowly backed away from the couple. The anger in me was still bubbling up but I suppressed it to watch Maggie and Glenn have their moment.

"I've already lost three of the people that I care about most in this world." Maggie softly cried, my body slumped down as I watched Maggie openly cry.

"Maggie—" Glenn started, but Maggie and I cut him off at the same time.

"Shut up."

"Shut up, Water Boy."

Maggie and I look at each other and softly smile, Maggie looks back over at Glenn to see him biting his bottom lip. 

"You're a leader but you don't know it, and your friends don't wanna know it. They'd rather have you fetching peaches. There's a dead guy in the well? Send Glenn down," I giggled to myself at the thought of Glenn in the well again, knowing that it was where I got the nickname from.

"You're walker bait, I can't take you becoming one of them," Maggie told Glenn warmly, they both smiled at each other. Maggie turns towards me and clears her throat, "Thank you for savin' me Nola, I owe my life to you. You mean everything to me, I don't wanna lose you." Maggie softly cried, I frowned at the tears falling down Maggie's face and I pulled her into a comforting hug.

"I don't wanna lose you either."

•••

"Hey," I greeted Lori as I peered into her open tent, Glenn standing behind me. Lori's gaze shifted from the table to us, her eyes widening at the sight of me covered in blood.

"The blood on your shirt..." Lori trailed off, with unspoken concern, her eyes dancing between me and my blood-covered shirt. I easily understood her silent question, answering it without hesitation. 

"I was attacked, and so was Maggie," I informed her calmly, meeting her worried gaze. We exchanged a knowing look before Glenn and I slowly entered the tent, ensuring no one was within earshot. 

"Are you guys alright? How bad was it?" Lori asked worriedly. Glenn and I looked at each other, the gravity of the situation easily weighing on the two of us.

It was a terrifying moment, Maggie and I could've easily lost our lives. I could understand Maggie's frustration with Lori, but it was unfair to place the blame on her. 

"It was pretty close," Glenn replied softly, Lori sighed and leaned her head down, holding her head in her hands. 

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked you guys to go." Lori breathed out, guilt clear in her voice. I knew she felt the guilt from asking us to go on that sudden run for her, but I didn't want her to feel that way.

"No, it's fine. We offered." I interjected with a small smile, Lori only shook her head and breathed heavily.

"I thought the town was safe but if you three hadn't come back—"

"But we did," Glenn told her, Lori shook her head, her eyes slowly filling with tears, "I always do." He smiled.

"Me too. Duh." I butt in, Glenn rolled his eyes with a bigger smile and I crossed my arms over my chest. Lori softly laughed at our interaction, I think of the morning-after pills I grabbed earlier, I couldn't find any abortion pills at the pharmacy. 

"The morning after pills, will they work?" Glenn asked the both of us, I shrugged my shoulders, as well as Lori. 

"I don't know," She softly sniffled, she looked up at me, her eyes filled with tears, "I don't know if I want them to." She cried, I took a step towards Lori and crouched beside her offering her a hug which she greatly took. 

We both hugged for a second before I pulled away and grabbed her cold hands, "It's okay not to know," I assured Lori softly, "Just try to do what you think is right, for you, for the baby, the father."

"I uh, I got these too, just in case." Glenn stuttered out, I turned my head to see Glenn placing a bottle of prenatal vitamins on the table. I smiled at the kind gesture, Lori smiling in appreciation as well, and she slowly grabbed the bottle.

"Prenatal vitamins. That's a hell of a choice." Lori remarked, a mixture of emotions flickering on her face. 

 Glenn nodded his head and let out a laugh. "Glad it's not mine." I widened my eyes towards him, he then dropped his smile and shook his head from his choice of words.

"Look uh, Lori, we're friends right?" Glenn asked Lori tentatively, Lori looked up from the prenatal pills and confusingly smiled, "With everything we've been through, Yeah." She told him.

"I can't tell you what to do. I... couldn't ever tell you something like that... But your choice—" Glenn trailed off as he thought of his words, Lori and I watched him in wonder. "Maybe you shouldn't make it alone."

Lori and I watch as Glenn makes his departure, he slowly leaves the tent leaving both Lori and I alone in our thoughts. I slowly stand to my feet going to leave but Lori grabs my hand. "Nola," Lori spoke roughly, she cleared her throat and sighed.

"Do you think I should tell Rick?" She asked me, I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out, no words made their way out of my mouth. 

I stared at her lost in thought, I then sighed to myself and cleared my throat. "I was given the chance to tell him and I didn't, I regret not telling him every day. So, I think you should." I whispered to her, I noticed that she considered my words and she nodded her head, I took that as my cue to leave. I slowly duck down to leave the tent, looking as if everyone else in the camp was doing their own thing.

•••

   I was settled into my usual spot on the porch, gazing out into the sunset. The entirety of the day weighed heavily on my mind, both my mind and body throbbed with pain, but luckily I was able to numb one of those options.

I knew some people would think I was insane for going out on multiple runs after what happened to me, but I honestly didn't care about it. I hated being treated like a kicked puppy when I was hurt, I did know how to take care of myself.

As I sat in my rocking chair and watched the sunset I watched a familiar silhouette make its way towards the house slowly, my chest jumped a bit as I could sense who it was. I squinted my eyes to see it was Rick.

Rick looked upset as he walked towards the farmhouse, he rubbed his face with his hand and sighed. Curiosity filled me as I stared at him, wondering why he looked so pissed off. Then I remembered the situation of Lori, and I leaned back in my seat to see what Rick was going to do.

As Rick drew closer to the house, his eyes scanned the porch, as if he was searching for something. When our gazes finally met, he quickened his pace, jumped up the porch steps, and sat beside me.

The both of us sat in complete silence, my eyes staring right at Rick's side profile as I waited for him to talk.

"So... are we just gonna sit in si—"

"Lori's pregnant," Rick blurted out quickly, I froze, he finally knew. I tensed up in my seat as Rick's cold eyes slowly looked over at me, "And you knew."

"Yeah, I did," I whispered in guilt. Rick could only stare at me in disbelief, he scoffed out a false laugh in anger, falling off into sadness.

"Lori and Shane..." He trailed off, I nodded my head sympathetically and sighed again, "She thought I was dead." Rick defended, small tears filling his eyes. My hand hesitantly reached between the rocking chair, my warm hand now gently resting on his knee. 

Rick glanced down at the gesture, closing his eyes to allow his tears to exit. 

"I know..." I murmured softly, my heart-wrenching in sadness for him. 

As silence enveloped us once again, Rick dropped his head, silently sobbing. All I could do was sadly gaze at the ex-sheriff, wanting nothing more than to pull him into a comforting hug. But I knew I'd be overstepping. 

"She took the morning-after pills," Rick continued tearfully, my heart ached as I thought about Lori and the choice she had to make. 

"But she threw 'em up, and... she told me about you and your..." He trailed off, letting out a huff. 

I was relieved to hear that Lori spit them out, but I tensed up at Rick's heavy words, a weird sensation brewing in my gut as he sent me a knowing look. My eyes snapped down to my blood-covered combat boots as I realized what he was speaking about.

Shame and regret swirled in me as Rick's eyes only intensified on me, a shaky breath escaping me as I continued to gaze at my feet, my sweat-covered hands wiping my jeans anxiously.

"I'm sorry you went through that, but Lori is my wife and your failed pregnancy doesn't compare—"

Before he could speak further, I cut him off, unable to bear the weight of his judgment any longer. Standing to my feet quickly, I decided to end the conversation here, not wanting to dig deeper into any more painful territory. 

"Look it was nice talking to you Rick," I sputtered out, my voice laced with frustration. "I'm ecstatic that Lori decided to keep the baby. But I have nothing to do with this, goodnight, see you tomorrow." I ranted out, turning on my heel to walk back into the Greene house.

Let's hope tomorrow is a better day.

—

WORD COUNT: 9600+

the chapters are just slowly getting longer tbh....

let me know if anyone of you prefer longer chapters or shorter chapters