When Hershel showed up in the tower an hour later to take guard duty, Andrea still hadn't returned. Rick welcomed the distraction of exploring the rectory, having failed to come up with anything reasonable to say to her upon her return.
Carl was eager to show his father the decent stash of canned goods discovered in the rectory's small pantry, and showed him the four bedrooms offered by the building. The linens had all been stripped from the beds, but the mattresses would be viable enough once all the dust and cobwebs had been cleaned off. The boy seemed particularly pleased with the room he'd chosen for himself and his parents. "See, Dad? I bet if we all snuggled in, you and me and mom could all fit in this bed."
Rick tried desperately to hide the sadness evoked by his son's enthusiasm. All the poor kid wanted was to find solace in his family, and his parents were preventing that from happening. Smoothing the boy's hair from his face, the Sheriff offered only a "Maybe so," in response. Carl looked crushed by his father's lack of excitement over the proposition, looked as though he might make another attempt at convincing him, and Rick was thoroughly dismayed when he saw his son swallow his words and mumble only, "Okay, Dad." He was too young to have so many worries pent up inside him, and Rick instinctively crouched and gathered Carl into a bear hug.
The child lasted only a few moments before he squeaked, "Oof, too tight, Dad!"
Rick was reminded not for the first time of how young his son still was, and chuckled softly as he released him. "Sorry, bud," he said as he straightened, squeezing Carl's shoulder. "Sometimes I forget you're a little smaller than me."
He was rewarded with a crooked smile, and Rick grinned warmly in return. He basked in his son's fleeting display of happiness for a few seconds, then suggested, "Why don't you go see what mom's up to, son? I think some of us will probably have to go pick up the cars from where we left them."
Carl's head bobbed in agreement, and he turned to run down the stairs, hollering, "Mom? Moooo-ooom!"
As Rick left the rectory with a plan to find Glenn to see about siphoning gas from the hearse, movement at the edge of the brush some yards away caught his eye. He lifted one hand to his forehead to block the sun, while the other moved automatically to hover over the Python strapped to his hip. Squinting, he could just make out the shapes of two figures emerging from the trees: he saw curves he had by this point memorized in one of the figures, and knew he was looking at the returning forms of Andrea and Daryl. As they drew nearer, he saw that Andrea was wearing a ragged knit scarf that he recognized as Carol's; clearly, he wasn't the only one whose body bore marks from the night before. An image of how she had looked as he'd put those marks on her neck flashed before his eyes, and he felt a warmth in his loins that he struggled to will away.
"Looks like squirrel for lunch again," Daryl hollered as he got closer. Andrea was looking around the church grounds, avoiding eye contact with Rick.
When the pair was close enough to hear him, Rick said, "Lori and Carol are in the rectory if you want to go ask them to prepare it."
Daryl nodded and began to untie several of his catches from a rope around his waist.
"Run into any trouble out there?" Rick asked, looking directly at Andrea.
When she failed to answer, Daryl looked from the Sheriff to her and back again. "Nope," he eventually replied, eyeing Rick curiously. "I'll be back after I talk to the women, and then we can go get the cars if you want."
Rick nodded. "Yeah, sounds good."
The redneck headed for the small building, and Andrea was quick to follow.
Frowning, Rick asked, "You're going with him? I was hoping I could talk to you for a minute."
"Not now," she snapped quickly. "I've got my own kill to bring to your wife and Carol." She placed a distinct emphasis on the phrase 'your wife'.
"Why, what'd you catch?" A hint of a smile played about his lips.
Daryl had stopped to hear the exchange and there was pride in his voice as he said, "Girlie caught herself a rabbit. Turns out, she's a pretty mean shot with the crossbow."
Rick would have killed to be on the receiving end of the dazzling grin Andrea offered Daryl. "I had a good teacher," she told the redneck graciously. Making it clear that she had nothing more to say to Rick, she strode quickly to catch up with her hunting partner and disappeared into the rectory with him.
Releasing a disappointed sigh, Rick headed towards the church on the hunt for Glenn. He felt grouchy and irritated, and he tried to focus on anything other than Andrea in an effort to shake off the agitation seeping into his countenance.
He discovered Glenn and Maggie cuddled together in a corner of the church, cleaning the shot gun Glenn had favoured of late. The sight did nothing to help Rick's mood: he envied the seeming ease of their love, the way they looked at one another with a warmth and devotion that made them practically vibrate with happiness. He thought he could remember times with Lori that had made him feel as happy as the young couple looked, but her current attitude towards him made it difficult to remember.
There was an unintentional hard edge to his voice as he broke up the tête-à-tête, asking Glenn to go see if there was any gas to be siphoned from the hearse. The Korean tenderly kissed his girlfriend on the cheek before leaving.
"Everything okay, Rick?" he heard Maggie ask as he turned to follow Glenn.
The Sheriff looked back at the young woman and found her frowning. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sure it will be Maggie, thanks." Feeling badly for the harsh way he had demanded Glenn's help, he made an attempt at a feeble smile and said, "I'll send him back to you as quick as I can, don't worry."
She nodded. As she watched him leave, Maggie said a silent prayer that whatever was bothering Rick would be taken care of, before his preoccupation threatened the group's safety.
The first good news Rick heard all day came in the form of Glenn's report that there was indeed some gas in the hearse. He gathered the group and asked for volunteers to head out for the retrieval of the three abandoned vehicles. He briefly considered ordering Andrea to come along on the trek, given the slim chance that he might be able to get her alone long enough for a conversation, but decided that ordering the stubborn woman to join them would likely end very badly.
He was not terribly surprised when Andrea volunteered to stay behind and keep watch in the tower. T-Dog, Daryl, Maggie, Glenn, and Hershel all opted to accompany the Sheriff on the trip.
The journey to the highway and back was without incident, and it was fairly late in the day when the convoy of vehicles returned to the church. Those who hadn't been part of the vehicle recovery had spent the afternoon unpacking the group's belongings and supplies in the rectory. Rick directed both cars and the truck to park near the rectory, facing away from the building should a quick escape be necessary. He and T-Dog had driven back in the pickup truck, and Rick was grateful that the man had not broached the subject of Andrea again, though that hadn't stopped him from thinking of little else other than the beguiling blonde for the entirety of the trip.