"You have to do something," Lori pleaded to her hard-headed husband. He'd only been at the camp a few weeks, but already everyone was coming to him with their problems.

For the most part, he didn't mind. He had been a law-official, sworn to serve and protect the others. But it was a hard hat to wear sometimes.

Especially when there was something wrong with his own family.

He knew. He knew about Lori and Shane, though he hadn't confronted either of them. How she could betray Rick like that- how she could even entertain the thought of sex when the end of the world had hit them, he didn't know.

Some things just weren't meant to be understood, he guessed.

"Rick, are you listening to me?" Lori pleaded again, grabbing on to Rick's arm.

"Of...course. Ed, he's no good. Something about Carol.."

She looked at him puzzled. "Rick, you and I both know- we all do- that every night Ed beats the shit out of Carol, and my guess is he does even worse stuff when we're all sound asleep. If you don't do this for me, do it for our boy."

"What's Carl have to do with anything?"

She sighed. Sometimes men could be so clueless. "Carl, he likes Sophia."

"What do you mean? Does he have a crush on her?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Rick! He's a boy, take a look around this camp! Not too many kids his age to play with. Did you hear me, Rick? He's just a kid. He wants to- he deserves to have someone to play with. Sophia, she's a sweet girl. She's shy, doesn't leave her mother's side much. Carl wants to know why and it's up to you to explain it to him!"

Rick closed his eyes, started to speak, then took a deep breath. "You think Ed- he's going to go after our boy?"

"Don't you get it? Ed is beating the hell out of Carol while we all stand by and do nothing. Nothing! Carl, he looks to you. He wants to be like you. For the life of him he can't understand why you won't protect his friend and her mom."

"He told you this?"

"He doesn't have to," Lori tried to soften her voice. "It isn't right what Ed is doing. We both know that. The old you..."

Suddenly a girl's scream came from nearby, and Lori just shook her head and turned to help.

"Lori- wait! The old me what?" Rick demanded.

She looked at him very carefully. "The old you wouldn't let any woman get hurt. Now, we both know why Sophia's screaming. If something happens to Carol- know this. I will hold it against you for as long as we live. If something happens to Carol or Sophia- I'll take Carl and we will run the hell away from you, and you will never find us again, mark my words."

The two stared at each other for only seconds when Carl ran in their tent. "Dad...you gotta help! Sophia's scared. Her daddy's being mean again."

Rick grabbed a hold of his weapon. "Stay here," he ordered his family, then without looking back he ran to put a stop to that monster that was Ed.

00000

Rick didn't even announce himself. He walked right into Ed and Carol's tent, where a smiling Ed was fastening his pants, and Carol was crawling into a ball, trying to cover herself with their blanket. Even though Rick couldn't get a good look at Carol, he saw enough to catch a glimpse of a fresh mark on her face that was already turning blue.

"Ed- we need to talk." He looked at a trembling Carol, who was pulling her knees to her chest. "You couldn't wait for nighttime or what?"

"What, cowboy?" Ed sneered. "You need some pointers on taking care of your woman?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ed laughed. "We all know what's going on. You can't perform your manly duties so your wife's been spreading her legs for Shane. Must be tough, knowing your best friend is more of a man than you are."

Rick's fist flew, but he stopped himself from punching that asshole in the mouth.

Ed just shook his head and started to walk away, whistling out loud which only pissed Rick off all the more.

"This ain't over," Rick yelled after him. Part of him wanted to take care of Ed, but as Carol was visibly hurt, he knew he needed to take care of her first. Goddamn this place, he thought as he crouched down to comfort Carol.

"Are you going to hurt my mommy too?"

Rick looked up, and saw Sophia, clutching a doll and her thumb now in her mouth. He'd never felt so bad in his life.

"No, Sophia. I'm not going to hurt your mommy. And your dad, he won't be hurting her anymore either. Right now I just want to make sure she's okay..."

"Are you going to give her a band-aid?"

He smiled despite all the anger he was feeling. "Yes, Sophia. I'm going to give your mommy a band-aid. Now I need your help...can you do something for me?"

"I want my mommy!"

He looked down and saw a few small drops of blood near Carol. He knew exactly what Ed had just done, and there was no way in hell he was going to tell a little girl that her father just raped her mother.

"I need you to go find Carl. He's...he's a little lonely. He needs someone to keep him company, to tell stories to. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?"

A single tear fell from Sophia's eyes. "I want my mommy," she repeated.

Rick walked over to her, carefully turning her around to shield her from the sight of her wounded mother. "Sophia- I will take care of your mommy, okay?" he said, out of breath."I'm going to help your mommy feel better, and soon, soon as I can, I'll bring you to her, okay? But right now I need you to go talk with Carl. Can you do that for me?"

Sophia nodded. She closed her eyes and to Rick's surprise, she hugged his arm. He patted her head, then soon she was off to find Carl.

God he hated his life right now.

tbc