Lori watched as Rick entered the room and grabbed his boots out from under the bed without saying a word. She knew that she was the main reason he'd been so eager for them to stay, he had never hidden that fact from anyone. They seemed to be growing more and more distant. She knew that distance had begun the night Rick killed Shane. Try as she might, there was a part of her that would never be able to forgive him for that.
"Where you headin'?" she asked as she laid the book she'd been reading in her lap as she sat propped against the headboard.
"Over to Christie's." he replied as he looked over to her. "How's shootin' practice?" he asked, curious if they'd be doing any patrols together in the future.
"As well as can be expected, considering." she shrugged as she marked her page and set the book aside. "Why are you going over there?"
"She's got a rota set up." he replied as he got to his feet. "Those of us who were able to pass our initial tests are gonna be able to do patrol and watch duty." he smiled.
"And she can't drop it off?" Lori asked.
"I guess she hurt herself and is havin' trouble gettin' around." he eyed his wife suspiciously. "What's wrong?"
"Nothin'." she shook her head and picked her book up again. "Seems a bit convenient that she's hurt and you have to go to her place." she muttered as she started reading again.
"Convenient?" Rick asked. "What the hell are you talkin' about?"
"Nothing." she looked up. "Go, pick up your rota."
"You jealous?" he couldn't help but laugh at the idea.
"You seem to spend a lot of time with her, that's all." Lori put the book back down.
"She's gettin' us set up here." he reminded her. "And I haven't even really seen her in days. She's been helpin' you, Carol and Beth with your shootin'."
"Fine." she picked the book up yet again. "Go on then."
"No." he shook his head. "You got somethin' to say, say it, Lori."
She just shook her head, trying to appear as though she was reading again.
"I'm not like you, Lori." Rick lowered his voice. "My weddin' vows actually meant somethin' to me!"
"Excuse me?" Lori got to her feet. "I never cheated on you...not intentionally."
"Right." he sneered. "Tell me, how long after you thought I was dead did you wait before hoppin' into bed with my partner, my best friend?"
Lori just stared at him in disgust. "I can't believe you'd...that you'd throw this in my face..after all this time."
"You could be carryin' his damn kid right now, Lori!" he hissed as he started to pace around the room. "For Christ sake!"
"You said you felt this baby is yours." she felt on the verge of tears.
"I said that, I will love and raise that baby as if it's my own, don't ever think I won't." he pointed at her. "But I will always wonder."
"You should go." Lori said as she climbed back into bed, not wanting to speak to him anymore. She didn't understand how he could say such things to her.
"Yeah, I should." he grabbed a flannel shirt off the back of the door and headed down the stairs. He was so angry he was shaking. For her to think he was cheating on her! After what she had done...He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. He needed to calm down a bit before heading over to pick up the schedule. He was so angry with Lori for her accusation, he almost didn't trust himself not to do something out of spite alone.
Rick slept in one of the chairs in the living room, not being able to bring himself to be in the same room with Lori at the moment. His back ached and his neck was so sore he felt it might not be able to hold the weight of own head much longer.
"That didn't look too comfortable." Hershel said as he handed Rick a cup of coffee. Weak coffee. They had to make it last after all. "Fight with Lori?" he asked as he sat on the sofa, tossing aside the blankets Beth had left behind.
"Yeah." Rick groaned as he took a sip and wished it were stronger...perhaps with a splash of whiskey in it. "You saw the schedule on the fridge, right?" he asked, not wanting to go into what had happened.
"I did." Hershel nodded. "I'm on watch tonight." he smiled. "Be good to actually do something useful."
"Yeah, I'm out on patrol with Daryl today." he felt a bit relieved to get out of the house for a bit, hoping he could clear his head.
"I think it'll do us all some good to get out and do something." Hershel finished off his cup of coffee. "Everyone's gettin' a bit antsy."
"I've noticed." he sighed. He'd noticed Daryl and Beth had been avoiding each other, which he found odd. They barely even spoke, and now suddenly couldn't stand to be in the same room. "Why's Beth sleepin' down here?" he nodded to the blankets.
"I guess she decided to give Daryl her room so he'd be more comfortable. Said she figured since he would be doin' watches and stuff, he needed more rest than her." Hershel explained, clear that he didn't really buy his daughter's explanation.
"Christie said she's improving." Rick set his coffee cup down and stretched, wincing at the pain in his neck. "Said all of them are."
"That's what I heard, too." Hershel smiled. "Well, I'll let you get ready for your first patrol." he said as he got to his feet, taking both cups with him. "If you can move, that is." he patted Rick on the shoulder and laughed as he left the room.
After a night spent alternating heat and ice, Christie was able to move a bit better than she had been the night before. She hadn't been able to get to Stein's place to drop off her request to get her strays their own housing, and he'd refused to come to her. He felt he was too important for that kind of thing.
"Ready to see how your strays do?" Mitchell asked as he waited for her at the end of her front walk. "You up to it?" he asked as she still moved a bit slowly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." she waved dismissively. "You go ahead, I've just gotta drop these at Stein's before we head out."
"Think Reichert will approve some of them getting their own place so soon?" he asked when he saw what the papers were.
"I'm hoping." she looked up at him. "Ten people in that house...that's a lot." she smiled. "I know someone who's in pretty good with him..." she batted her eyelashes.
"I'll see what I can do." he laughed. "You really can't do the eyelash thing, just so you know." he informed her.
"I'm very seductive." she argued as she pinched him.
"Not when you do that." he smiled. "You look like you're having some kind of fit."
"Oh shut up, you." she swatted him with the papers. "I'll be there soon." she headed down Orchard. One of Stein's lackeys said he'd be at his place all morning.
She took a deep breath as she knocked on the door. She hated having to deal with him normally, but after seeing him sneaking around the day before, she really did dread seeing him. "Stein?" she called out as she opened the door slowly. "Hello?"
She let herself in, closing the door behind her softly and moved into the living room, making a face as she saw the dishes piled up on the end tables and in some of the chairs. "You're a pig." she whispered to herself. "I've got those papers for you." she said quietly, not really wanting to get his attention before she got a chance to take a look around.
She stopped at his desk in the next room, what was once used as a dining room, and dropped her papers. She couldn't help but move some of the other papers that littered his desk around just to see what they were. Nothing too exciting as she came to find out. List of those living in the colony, first drafts of watch and patrol schedules, who was due for shooting range. Nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, she didn't feel he'd be so stupid or careless as to just leave things that might point to him being some sort of traitor lying around, but she'd still hoped she'd find something quickly.
She peered around the doorway into the kitchen and quickly popped back out. Dishes were piling up and the smell of food left for too long was not something she cared for. She assumed that he only cared for the outside of his house and let the inside go to hell. Only what people could see. She turned to head back towards the front door when she was suddenly spun and slammed face first into the desk where she'd just set her requests.
"Who are you?" a rough voice asked as her arm was bent behind her at a sharp angle, sending pain shooting through her.
"I was just dropping something off for Stein." she groaned in pain.
"You shouldn't be here." the man said, a knife suddenly at her neck, piercing the skin a bit.
"He knew I was coming." she tried to get her breathing under control. She tried to get a look at the man who held her down, but when she tried, he lifted her up a bit and slammed her head back down onto the desk.
"Did he know you'd be going through his stuff?" he asked, digging the knife in a bit more.
"I was just dropping some papers off." she felt a stinging on her neck and felt a trickle of blood ooze forth from the broken skin.
"If you come back in here, I will kill you." he said, slamming her hard against the wall behind them, knocking the wind out of her and sending her to the ground. He was gone in an instant. She lay on the floor gasping for air, her good hand going up to her neck and wiping away blood.
What the hell was going on?