I do not own the Walking Dead.

Previously:

"And I promise that I'm gonna be strong now and that this is the last time I'm gonna cry over you 'cause I can't cry anymore!"

Hiding her face in her hands, Faye sobbed.


Faye had left the graves once she calmed down. Daryl had walked her back to the main camp before he left again, not many words being said.

She wasn't sure if Carl had seen what happened, but he looked concerned. However, he didn't press her for more when Faye had said she was alright.

Faye had to be alright now. Those were the rules. There was no time for being upset anymore.

It wasn't long until they were called of dinner inside the house. Patricia sat them down at the table and Faye sat opposite Carl, so he could sit with his mother. Dale, Andrea and Shane walked in, and there was the awkward topic of Rick.

"They should be back by now." Andrea said as the three adults came into the room.

"Probably hold up somewhere." Shane replied, taking a seat. Andrea and Dale sat on either side of Faye, the older man giving her a smile. "We'll head out first thing in the morning."

There was a pause as the food was lay out on the table before Shane turned to Carl. "Carl, I want you to keep your head up, okay? Your old man, he's the toughest son of a-"

"No cussing in the house." Patricia said sternly, interrupting the man. Faye held back a smile at the annoyed look on Shane's face.

"Lori! Dinner!" Carol called from the doorway only to have Maggie say how the woman wasn't there.

Dale turned around. "Where is she?"

No one spoke.

This wasn't good. She'd been here earlier, but she looked kind of angry at Daryl.

Shane leant forward on the table. "Carl, when's the last time you saw your Mom?"

"This afternoon." Faye disliked the worried look on Carl's face.

"She was worried about Rick, asked me to look in on Carl." Andrea added.

Dale frowned. "She went after him?"

"She didn't say that."

Faye decided this was probably the time to speak up. "I saw her too!" The adults turned to her as she spoke. "She rushed past me and said she wanted to find Daryl. I did too, so I followed her. When she got back though she looked really pi-" The girl held her tongue and changed her words. "Annoyed."

"Nobody panic." Shane stood up and Carl got up after him. "Gotta be around here somewhere."

"I'll go talk to Daryl." Carol said before leaving the room too. The other adults stood up and Faye hurried after Carl.


"She's not at the barn."

"I checked the yards."

"Then where is she?" Carl said.

Carol came running up to the group. "She asked Daryl to go into town. Must've gone herself."

Carl put a hand over his mouth and Faye put a hand on his shoulder, unsure how to really comfort him. The boy turned and ran away, but Faye followed him, ignoring the call from the adults.

"Carl, wait up!" The girl said to him, but he continued walking towards the house. "Come on, don't ignore me. Your Mom's gonna be okay, she's smart! She's probably already found Rick and is on her way back."

Carl turned his head to look at her. "You don't really believe that."

Okay. Maybe she'd exaggerated, but the thought was still there! "I believe that you Mom's going to be fine!"

Just then, a car door slammed and the two children saw Shane drive off out of the farm.

"See? Shane's gonna bring her back." Whether Faye liked the man or not, Shane was protective of the Grimes family. She guessed they were the only people Shane had left from before the outbreak, so she gave him credit for wanting to keep them safe.

Carl nodded slowly.

"Exactly." Faye was glad he'd calmed down a little, she wasn't sure how much more she could have said to convince him.

"So... We just have to wait?"

"Exactly."


The moment the green car drove back through the fence, Carl was up and running towards the scene. Quick to follow him, Faye stood from the chair by the door of the farmhouse and jogged to meet him. When the two arrived at the group, Shane was talking.

"First things first, I gotta look after you," Lori was back. Carl grinned as he took a step forward to see his mother, but was stopped. "I gotta make sure the baby's alright, okay?"

Baby? Since when did we have a baby in the grou- oh. Lori was having a baby. Lori was pregnant.

"You're having a baby? Why didn't you tell me?" Carl said with a frown.

Carl didn't know. How long had Lori known? Shouldn't she want to tell her son, he would've been excited!

"I- I-" The woman didn't reply. Before the awkward silence went on for too long, Andrea and Dale took Lori into the house to check her over, and Faye finally noticed that she had been injured.

Carl stood staring at the group of adults as they walked away. Deciding this was a good time, Faye spoke. "Can I maybe suggest something?"

When Carl gave a slight nod, she continued. "Instead of focusing on the whole you-didn't-tell-me-you-were-having-a-baby thing, you could just be happy that you're gonna have a little brother or sister?"

The boy smiled at the thought and Faye gave a little smile too. "Cause, yeah, big brothers are really cool. I, erm, know from experience."

Carl nodded. "You're probably right. Come on." He gestured towards the house as they both walked forward.

"I know!" She smirked. "I'm always right."


When they arrived at the house, Carl sat down with Lori and they talked about the baby. Faye sat cross-legged on a chair, slightly bored. The girl's eyes wondered around the room for a while before Shane entered the room.

"Hey, dude, I'm sorry, bud. I thought you knew."

The boy's response amused Faye. Tapping his hat, the Carl replied with a grin. "Big brother Carl. Pretty cool, huh?"

Faye made a mental note to add Copy-Cat to her list of nicknames for the boy.

"I'd say that's very cool." Shane said, leaning against the door frame. "You, err, mind if I talk to your Mom a sec'?"

"How about a little later after she's had some rest." Andrea cut in. The man glared at the blonde woman for a moment before speaking anyway.

"Lori, I had to get you back here, you wouldn't have come otherwise."

Lori didn't respond. Faye didn't blame her.

After a little more coaxing from Shane, Lori gave the okay for the others to leave the room.

"So, pretty cool, huh?" Faye nudged Carl with her arm.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing, you just gave me another name to call you."

Carl gave her a confused frown. "I really have no idea what your talking about."

Apparently, her joke wasn't understood. "Never mind, dumbass is better anyway."

"Faye!" Dale stood watching the two children. "You shouldn't talk like that!"

Faye's eyes widened in surprise before immediately pointing to Carl. "He started it!"

Carl turned and frowned at the girl. "How did I start it?"

"Because you were a dumbass to begin with." Faye said, as if it was obvious. "I can't walk past a dumbass without calling them a dumbass!"

They continued to bicker as if Dale wasn't there. "Well, you're a hypocrite too!"

"So you're both a hypocrite and a dumbass? I didn't think your tiny brain could handle both."

"I never said I was a hypocrite!"

"Then don't say too!"

"At least I know what hypocrite means."

"I know what it means!"

"Not before I told you. That makes you the dumbass!"

"Hey, hey, kids, calm it, would ya?" Dale interrupted, arms folded. Faye took one look at Dale's puzzled expression before bursting out into giggles, and Carl joined in as well. The older man shook his head before turning to leave the room. "I'm going to leave you two to... whatever it is you're doing. I don't want to hear you talking like that again, it's bad language."

After a minute, the two children calmed down before Faye suddenly burst out with a single laugh. "Ha!"

"What now?"

"You've still got grass in your hat!"


Rick, Glenn and Hershel returned the next day. It was good timing, as a group was just about to go and search for them. Everyone ran up to the car as it approached, Carl hugging Rick and surprisingly, Maggie hugging Glenn.

As this was happening however, Faye noticed the blindfolded boy in the back of the car. While the others were preoccupied, Faye walked over to the window to get a closer look.

Was he asleep? He had to be.

The boy had scruffy black hair and, as she peered closer to the window, something wrong with his leg.

Who was this guy?

Faye raised her hand to tap on the window, to see if he'd wake up, but her wrist was grabbed. Looking up in surprise, she found Daryl looking the boy over from behind her. "Don't go waking 'im up."

"Who is he?"

Instead of answering her, Daryl questioned the group. "Who the hell's this?"

"Randall." Glenn replied simply.

"And why the hell's he here?"

The other moved around to the car as Rick spoke. "Let's talk about that."


Author's Note:

Hello, welcome back! The update would have been Monday, but I've been very busy with homework.

To answer a question that has popped up a couple of times - at this moment in time, there won't be Carl/Faye. In the future? Maybe. Eventually.

My main reasons for this are that A) They are twelve. B) They have a lot of other problems, you know, just the average dead person walking around ;) and C) I have never written romance before. Every attempt I've made had sounded rather cheesy, so I'd need to have some out-of-story practice. However, I'm not completely ruling it out for the future! :D

Anyway, your thoughts? I like hearing your suggestions!

Please review, I love to her your thoughts and advice.

Thanks.

Cobalt Flame.