Katie pushed her food around her plate at dinner, continually glancing up at the shed. She noticed how tense the air around the group had gotten; people were trying to have normal conversation, but found they could not. Katie swallowed the last of her food and excused herself.
"Where are you off to, Kat?" Rick asked. She shrugged.
"Just goin' for a walk."
"Be careful now." Shane warned. "Woods ain't safe no more. You ain't in any shape to be out wanderin'."
There was something in Shane's gaze that struck her as odd. Katie kept her eyes locked with his only a moment longer before striding off around the house. She circled the property, trying to clear her mind. The image of Randall battered and bruised, alone in the dark shed, gnawed at her consciousness. Sooner than not, Katie found herself approaching it.
Creeping up to the door, she could hear him whimpering softly inside. This is inhumane. She drew a deep breath, fingering the lock on the door. Something inside shifted, and she heard a voice.
"Is someone out there? Please, please, you gotta help me! Get me outta here!"
Katie didn't speak, she had her eyes focused on the lock. It was heavy; she would need something equally strong to break it off.
"The one time I didn't bring my crowbar…" she muttered, putting a hand on her hip. She heard the approaching footsteps too late.
WHUMP.
"Now, you're gonna listen to me, and you're gonna listen good."
Shane was on top of her, hand clapped over her mouth. His knee was pressing painfully into her chest, and his other hand gripped her hands tightly. She kicked at him, trying to scream through his hand. This only made him press down tighter on her. Katie's eyes were as wide as dinnerplates; her heart was pounding in her throat.
"You're goin' to keep away from the shed, and you're goin' to keep away from Randall. Understan'?" he asked. His face was feral, inches from her own. Katie whined underneath his hand, squeezing her eyes shut. The pressure was lifted, Shane pulled her to her feet. Katie couldn't meet his eyes. Shane strode away, back to the camp. Katie's knees shook like gelatin. She put a hand to her mouth to stop the sob coming out. Ohmygod. Ohmygod. What do I do? Who can I talk to?
"Hey! Hey, are you okay?"
It was Randall. Katie jerked her head at the sound, backing away from the door to the shed. She was trying to regulate her breathing, but found herself trembling. She continued to back up until she finally turned and walked away. Taking another circle around the property, she had calmed sufficiently when she returned to the camp.
"Katie, you look like you've seen a ghost? Are you okay?" Carol asked, putting her book down.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'll go to bed early though. Night."
Katie turned on her heel, heading straight for the tent. Curling up in the back, she stared at the ceiling. There's no way I can sleep now. she thought, blowing air from her cheeks. Katie pulled the little zipper-journal from her backpack, gently removing the picture inside. Merissa was smiling, face wrinkling up as Jake tried to lick Katie's face. That pair of shoes still in her hand. Her dark hair swept across her head in a messy bun, falling every which way. Katie could almost hear her voice echo in the darkness, calling her name…
She put the photo down abruptly. Picking up the journal, she flipped open to the planner. Katie had been marking days off of it until she ran out of gas; it was time to catch up. Katie marked off the days, writing notes in the margin of recent events. It helped to calm her pretty well, though the lurking shadow of Shane still set her mind ill at ease. Was Rick aware that he behaved that way? Katie shook her head. There's no way Rick would tolerate that. Randall's pleas for help popped into her mind, and she smacked herself in the forehead.
"Stop. Just stop."
With loving care Katie put the journal, photograph securely inside, into her backpack. Katie sighed, pulling the blanket up to her chin. The light of day had faded, and she fell into an uneasy sleep. Dreams of Shane's sudden attack plagued her; Randall screaming for help. Shots rang out, and she jolted awake more than once,only to find the camp peaceful and silent. Katie opened the tent flap, listening to the crickets chirping in the middle of the night. It was relaxing, and soon she was sleeping again.
"Heehee.."
"Shhhh, you'll wake her up!"
Katie tried hard not to open her eyes. Carl and Sophia were standing nearby, planning something nefarious. She heard Carl giggle again, and someone carefully picked up her hand. That got her attention, and she snapped her eyes open.
"Alright, what's going on?"
"Awwww." Carl and Sophia said in unison. Carl was holding a large frog; Sophia had been the one picking up her hand. Katie raised an eyebrow at the pair of them. Giggling excitedly, they scurried off, dropping the frog beside the tent in their rush. Katie swung her legs over the bumper; it was officially time to get up. Breakfast was in full swing at the campfire, and Carol handed her a plate of scrambled eggs when she walked up. Rick and Shane were nowhere to be seen, for which she was grateful. Her stomach rumbled expectantly, and she ate in silence.
"Has anybody seen Carl?" Lori asked, walking up to them. T-Dog shook his head, and Glenn and Katie shared a look. Sophia sat at a little card table, looking over multiplications flash cards. Lori walked away, calling her son's name.
"Is it always like that?" Katie asked Glenn. T-Dog snorted, quickly shoveling food into his mouth. Glenn grinned, nodding.
"C'mon. Rick asked us to board up that well for Hershel today."
She followed him to the well in question. Materials were set nearby already, several boards and a toolkit. The smell was ourageous; Katie wrinkled her nose at it. She pointed to the leftover entrails and blood splatter on the ground.
"Had some fun here, huh?" she asked. Glenn gave a dry laugh.
"Oh sure. You know me, near-death situations are my life."
They both laughed at that cynical truth, peering into the well. The water was murky and a bloated half of a corpse floated like a rotten apple. Glenn passed her the toolkit.
"Get the hammer out while I line up these boards, would you?"
Katie did as she was asked; though not before slipping a screwdriver into her back pocket. Glenn didn't notice; he was busy shifting the heavy boards in position over the opening of the well. She hurried to help him.
"So when did you and Maggie become a thing?" she asked, suddenly recalling the moment when she threw her arms around him. Glenn blushed.
"Wha-what? Where'd that come from?" he stammered. Katie chuckled.
"Nowhere, I just kinda remembered you two can't keep your eyes off of each other."
"Well, yeah. I guess." He stopped, and she could almost see his thought process. "So I have a question. And since you're a girl, I bet you could help me."
"Well, I did have boobs when I woke up this morning." Katie peeked down at her chest. "Yup, still do. What's up?"
"Maggie's really mad, and she won't tell me why. I tried to apologize for telling about the Walkers in the barn, but she still won't talking to me." he explained, holding the board steady so she could hammer it in place. Katie waited to speak until she had lined up the nail pretty well.
"Well, you did do the right thing." she replied. "But that doesn't mean it didn't hurt her. Some of those were her family right?"
"Yeah…"Glenn looked down, sighing. "She ruined my hat."
Katie laughed out right at that, stopping to cover her mouth. Glenn frowned at her, pouting.
"I'm sorry. Really. I was actually wondering why you didn't wear it anymore." She resumed hammering in the nails. "Is there any chance we can clean it up?"
"No. She smashed an egg into it. It'll never look the same."
"That's too bad. Maybe we can find you a new hat."
"Maybe."
They finished blocking off the well. Katie enjoyed talking to Glenn; he reminded her of her friends back in Chicago. The sun was cooking them, and they went instantly to the main well to rinse their faces and necks. Patricia strolled over to them, holding glasses of iced tea.
"Here, for your hard work." she said. They accepted graciously. Katie didn't even like tea, but she drank it down in seconds. It's nice to have a bit of normal now and then.
"See you later, Katie. I'm going to go find Maggie." Glenn said, waving.
"Go get 'er, Romeo." Katie replied, grinning at her own cheesiness. He rolled his eyes as he left.
"Do you need help with anything?" Katie asked Patricia. The woman chuckled, pointing towards the stables.
"If you'd like to groom some of the horses, I'd sure be grateful."
Katie smiled; she had wanted to go there anyway.