A/N: Short chapter (which is why I got to it so quick lol). I'm thinking of maybe putting this on AO3 too? Idk I'll think on it.

Episode #13

Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun; Secrets, Secrets Hurt Someone

"Lies and secrets, they are like a cancer in the soul. They eat away what is good and leave only destruction behind." –Cassandra Clare

There was so much blood. It was like his world was tinted in various shades of red. He felt it dripping from his hands, his face, and at this point there was so much that he didn't even know what belonged to him and what belonged to the others.

"The winner is Winchester!"

There was a loud chorus of booing from the crowd surrounding the space above him. The monsters had a dug a large ditch into the ground and now they stood around the lip of the hole watching him fight. Sam struggled to rise to his feet. He was surrounded by stacks of the undead that he had to fight with only one wooden stake.

Someone jumped into the pit and shoved him back to the ground. The wooden stake was ripped from his hand before he could try and attack them. They picked him up off the ground, bound his hands behind him, and began to drag him out of the hole using the incline on the far end blocked off by rolls of barbed wire. Sam shifted, tried to pull away, but his body wouldn't cooperate. He was too tired. Too exhausted.

"Dean." Sam barked but it came out more of a moan, "Where is my brother!?"

Whoever had him, laughed at his words then dragged him back to the hexed house they had been keeping him in. They opened the front door and threw him in. Sam struggled to get up, but he was too late. The door was shut, and he was locked in again.

Sam sat up in place and fought to wiggle his hands out of the ropes around his wrists. Blood dripped into his eyes, blurring his vision, but he didn't relent. Finally, the rope was undone, but he was still too tired to do anything more than fall onto his back right there on the floor. He didn't know where they were. Worse, he didn't know where Dean was. The only thing he did know was that the world had ended and the monsters they were so familiar with were not scared of the new monsters that roamed the earth.

Lori was walking, storming, across the field from the house back to camp. It had been about twenty minutes since Rick and the others came from shooting practice, but she had only finished talking to Hershel about their future five minutes ago. Lori had gone to the older man to thank him for his generosity while he fixed a fence. She wanted to reassure him that they would not be a burden, but to her surprise he had replied back that he wasn't worried about it because they wouldn't be here much longer. That had thrown Lori for a loop. She had been under the impression that her husband had solved this. That they had a permanent residence here. They couldn't afford to leave. The farm was safe. If her unborn baby had even the smallest chance it would have to be here.

She spotted Rick standing by a wooden picnic table digging through the gun bag. Lori didn't know if he was looking or cleaning something, but she could see that he was entirely focused on the task at hand.

"Hershel expects us to leave!?" Lori snapped in a hushed voice as she sidled up next to him. Rick paused in his movements. His jaw clenched while he kept his gaze on a spot on the picnic table. It was answer enough for her. She spoke again, "Does anybody else know?"

Rick set down the gun in his hand and glanced around them. They were far enough away from the others to not be overheard. Lori followed her husband's gaze to Tori. The girl was talking to Castiel by the RV. Rick nodded once, "Victoria."

Lori couldn't help but scowl at that name. She knew? That little girl knew before she did? In what way did that make any sort of sense? Unfortunately though, it didn't surprise her in the slightest. Lori scoffed in anger, "Of course she does."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rick replied with a hardened look.

"Were you ever going to share the news with me?"

"Of course."

"When?" Lori snapped. "Because apparently Victoria—" She said the name with venom, "—is higher on that list than your own wife is."

Rick shook his head, a tired sigh slipping from his lips. "She was there when Hershel said it to me. I didn't tell her."

"You would've though." Lori mumbled and Rick scoffed. He rubbed a hand across his features. Lori could see the exhaustion and stress written all over them. She didn't want to add to the stress, but in situations like this how could she not? Lori felt like Rick was slipping away from her. "How long ago?"

"Not long." Rick said quickly. "You don't need to worry about this."

It was his way of trying to end the conversation before they could fight further, she recognized the action, but Lori wouldn't let it work this time, "How do you expect me not to worry?" Her voice cracked with worry, "We have shelter here. And food, and water, and proper medical care!"

"I've been talking to Hershel. It's not carved in stone."

"He thinks it is!" Lori snapped. "We have to fix this! People are settling here. They'll be devastated and—"

"You think I don't know that?" Rick cut her off, anger rising in his voice. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "I'm working on it. I just need you to trust me."

Lori shook her head, "Maybe I can talk to him too. Plead our case."

"No. Best thing right now is to give him space." Rick argued. Lori felt her features fall as worry overcame her. Give him space? Do nothing? How was that his solution? Lori couldn't understand why her husband thought this was an answer. They needed to be on their knees begging at this point. Rick scoffed and shook his head, "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" Lori asked with a wavering voice.

"Like you're scared. Like you don't trust me." Rick took a step toward her. "I can take that from everyone else, but—but not you."

Lori shook her head. She was scared. She wasn't going to hide that from him. And, how was she supposed to trust him when he made decisions to keep information like this from her, "I just don't understand how you can keep this from me."

Rick grabbed the gun bag and stalked away with it. Lori crossed her arms in frustration. She loved her husband, but sometimes she didn't understand him. The choices he made. They worried her. Lori rubbed the tears that had started to collect in her eyes and moved to find a chore to complete. A distraction would be good right now.

Glenn rode behind Maggie nervously. He couldn't see her face from where he was, but based on her stiff shoulders he would guess she was scowling and angry. He awkwardly chuckled to himself and made his horse pick up its pace so they were side by side, "You didn't have to come. You could just…hate me from a distance, you know."

Maggie didn't reply to him, keeping her gaze forward, and Glenn sighed. This was going to be the longest supply run of his entire life at this rate. Maggie was pissed because Glenn hadn't completely kept the barn secret. When everyone went to shooting practice, he had confided in Dale about the barn. It wasn't entirely his fault though. Dale had caught him in a lie, noticed how odd he had acted, and called him on it. To be fair, Glenn had warned Maggie he sucked at this.

"Please say something." Glenn pleaded. Again, his begging fell on deaf ears. He gave up on trying to get her to talk and the two of them just rode into town side by side awkwardly. Familiar buildings began to pass them, and Glenn could now see the pharmacy up ahead. He tried once more, "Maggie I—"

"I asked for your trust and you betrayed me." Maggie snapped. "Now my dad is pissed at me. Your turn."

"So…Your dad thinks they're—they're sick?" Glenn asked slowly. "Do you agree with that? Even after what you saw at the well?"

"I'm not sure what I saw at the well."

"Yes, you are." Glenn argued firmly. The two hopped off the horses and tied them up. Glenn continued, "Look, if you had seen Atlanta, you would not have a barn full of walkers."

"I wish you would stop calling them that." Maggie replied.

Glenn shook his head in confusion, "What do you call them?"

"Mom, Shawn." Maggie spun on her heel to face him. Glenn backpedaled as angry tears built up in her eyes, "Mr. and Mrs. Fischer, Lacey, Duncan!"

Glenn's jaw clenched and he watched as Maggie turned back around to storm into the pharmacy. He sighed and followed after her. The store looked the same as they had last left it. Glenn fished around in his pocket for the list Lori had given to him before he left camp then walked over to where he had found the pregnancy test. Pregnancy stuff would be in the same area, right? So, this would be a good place to look?

"What does she want now?"

Glenn glanced up to see Maggie staring at him with her arms crossed, "I can't say."

Her eyes widened, "So when one of them asks you to keep their mouth shut—"

Glenn threw up his arm and held the list out to her with a neutral expression. Maggie seemed shocked by his actions, but Glenn didn't waver. He raised an eyebrow at her, "Climb out of my ass and help me look, please."

Maggie snatched the paper away and unfolded it. Her eyes traced the words for a moment. She scoffed and crumpled the list in her hand while turning to head toward the pharmacy, "You've got to be kidding me."

Glenn didn't follow her. He figured space would be best for both of them. While Maggie grabbed whatever it was Lori needed, he could grab other supplies. Glenn glanced around for anything useful. If he knew this was going to be such a mess he never would've slept with her in the first place. Glenn shook his head once. That wasn't a lie he could sell to even himself. Despite everything, he didn't regret that day. Glenn just wished this whole ordeal was a little easier. Then again, what was easy these days?

A sharp scream made Glenn's head snap up to where Maggie was. A walker, pale and gnarly, reached through the pharmacy shelving and grabbed her arm. Adrenaline dumped into his veins and he was moving before he even fully registered the scene. Maggie was screaming and trying to pull her arm away from the walker's chomping mouth.

"Maggie!"

"Glenn, help!" Maggie begged between panicked cries.

Glenn glanced around for a weapon and settled on a metal shelving rack. He ripped it from the wall and leaped over the pharmacy desk. The walker, so focused on Maggie, didn't even turn when he hurried over and buried the shelf into the back of the walker's neck. It collapsed into a pool of its own rotting blood, but Glenn was already moving again. He raced to the other side and grabbed Maggie in his arms.

"Did it get you!? Maggie, did it bite you?" Glenn cried while desperately searching her skin for any sign of a scratch or bite. There was a long scratch on her arm, but it was a clean line that made it look like it came from the shelving unit rather than the walker. She shook her head, still sucking in deep, shaky breaths. Relief made his body sag, but Maggie slammed herself into his arms with a tight hug. He wrapped his own arms around her tightly. That had been way too close.

"Glenn!" Maggie cried into his ear. He whipped around, keeping her behind his body entirely, ready for the threat. The walker had stood back up with its nearly decapitated head flopping all over as it stumbled forward. Glenn pulled a knife from his belt. He only now realized he could have used this to begin with, but the panic of the entire situation had made him forget he even had it. He crossed the space and dug the blade through the eye and the walker collapsed for its final time.

When he turned around, Maggie ran back into his arms. He dropped the knife so he could hold her close to him. Glenn murmured soft reassurances while she cried into his shoulder. That had been too close. Way too fucking close.

My current chore was gathering fresh water which was by far the easiest chore of them all. I think the others were still wary of me getting exhausted and wanted to start me off easy. It wasn't like I could explain to them that they didn't have to worry about that since I now had a spellbound bracelet to ward off my nightmares though. So, I just took the chore and shut up about it.

During my second trip from the well to camp, I noticed Glenn and Maggie walking from the horse stable to the same area as me. Maggie looked furious, she stormed the camp with heavy steps and a scowl, while Glenn sheepishly followed after her begging her about something. My eyes noticed the blood on her arm next and that was all that mattered. The buckets slipped from my grasp and I hurried over.

"Hey!" I got to them and they only stopped for a second, "Are you guys ok?"

"I'm fine." Maggie said between clenched teeth. Her wild eyes searched the camp around us.

"Maggie, please slow down." Glenn pleaded as he tried to get her to stop.

She pushed past him, and moved to push past me, but I slid into her path. Her burning gaze snapped to me, and her mouth opened to argue, but I held a hand up to stop her, "Let me check your wound. I won't let you go until you do, Maggie. Save us both the trouble of me chasing after you all day, yeah?"

"I said I was fine." Maggie replied, but she thrust her arm out for me to look at. The cut wasn't too bad. It was shallow and thin. It looked like it had bled a decent bit before, but now it was only trickling blood. Glenn dug through his bookbag and handed me an alcohol swab and rag. He gave me a thankful smile and I quickly cleaned her wound and wrapped it up.

"It doesn't look too bad." I said. Apparently, she hadn't stopped long enough for him to do this himself. "What happened?"

Maggie pulled her arm away and I could see her shaking with anger, "We nearly got eaten by one of those—those things! Just for a box of day after pills!"

My eyes went wide in shock. Getting attacked by a walker was of course startling, but it was the second part of that sentence that had me scrambling. I shook my head, glancing from Maggie to Glenn, "Maggie… Maggie, do you think you're pregnant?"

"God, no!" Glenn yelled suddenly and Maggie rolled her eyes. "No, she's not. It wasn't me—It—The pills are for Lori! Lori is pregnant."

I blinked in shock, "W—What?"

Glenn's face paled, "Oh God… Oh no. You aren't supposed to know that. Tori, you can't tell— Shit!"

Maggie had stormed away again, back on her warpath, and Glenn raced after her to try and contain her rage. The thought to go after them and continue the conversation was tempting, but it felt like my feet were buried into the ground. Lori was pregnant? Jesus Christ. This was terrible. Well, it wasn't terrible per say, but… God, the dangers this would bring. Having a baby in a world like this? The birthing process alone would be so risky. Then trying to raise the poor thing living the way we did?

I sucked in a breath and tried to shove the worry away for now. Glenn said not to tell someone. Who wasn't supposed to know? Mentally, I went down the list of campers trying to figure it out by elimination. It wasn't Glenn or Maggie since they already knew. It couldn't be Rick since he was her husband. Briefly, I wondered why he hadn't brought it up, but that was a silly thought anyways. Rick didn't owe me knowledge like that.

It was his life, his wife.

As I worked through other names, the answer slammed into me like a truck. Shane. Oh God, it was Shane. It made the most sense. Shane would be the most upset at this news considering the affair between him and Lori. Were they keeping it a secret because they didn't want him to throw a fit or because they were worried he'd try to claim the baby as his own? Only Lori would know about that second part though.

Regardless, this was going to be an absolute shit show.

Lori was folding clothes beside her tent when she noticed a fuming Maggie marching through camp. She stopped long enough to pull a brown paper bag out of Glenn's bookbag, but then continued right on.

"Hey!" Maggie barked and Lori's eyes widened. "We got your stuff!"

"Maggie, hang on, please." Glenn begged from behind her.

Lori nervously glanced around. There wasn't anybody in the immediate vicinity. Rick was clear across camp with Shane, but she still didn't want to take any chances. Lori held her hand out and motioned toward her tent, "Come—Come on in here."

Maggie scoffed, ignoring her words, and began to dig through the bag, "Why? Nothing to hide. We got your special delivery right here!" Lori felt her heart drop, but Maggie didn't stop. "We got your lotion—" She was throwing items down as she spoke, "—we got your special conditioner, your soap opera digest!"

"Maggie." Lori begged breathlessly.

"Next time you want something, get it your damn self." Maggie snapped. "We're not your fucking errand boys."

"Honey, I—" Lori began, she didn't understand where this was coming from.

"And here's your abortion pills." Maggie yanked the two boxes out of the bag and threw them at her. Lori managed to catch one, but the other fell and she scrambled to pick it up. Lori had been nothing but cordial to the young woman so she didn't fully understand this outburst. Something must have happened, and Lori did feel bad about that. It couldn't be helped though. She needed these pills.

Glenn gave Lori a sad, apologetic look before running after Maggie. He caught up to her when she was about halfway to the house, "Hey!" She stopped and whipped around to look at him. "That was not cool!"

"Which part?" Maggie snapped. "The part where that bitch almost got us killed? Yeah, that wasn't cool."

"That was my fault." Glenn shook his head with a sigh. "I should've gone alone."

"Right, take the blame." Maggie scoffed. "You know for a smart guy, you're really stupid."

"Ok", Glenn held up one hand in confusion. Why were girls so hard to understand? He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat, "I'm confused because… I think you just paid me a compliment, but you made it sound really—"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence. Maggie lunged forward, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a kiss knocking his hat right off. Glenn was thoroughly surprised and even more confused, but he did not complain or pull away. He gripped her waist and deepened the kiss. A moment later, Maggie pulled back but left her forehead rest on his.

"I've already lost three of the people I care about most in this world." She said quietly.

"Maggie—"

"Shut up." She lifted a hand to cover his lips then slowly took a step back, "You're smart, you're brave, you're a leader, but you don't know it and your friends don't want to know it. They'd rather have you fetching peaches. There's a dead guy in the well? Send Glenn down. Hell, you just accepted it! The only one who even argued was Tori." Maggie shook her head sadly. "You've accepted your role as walker bait and I—I can't take you becoming one of them."

Maggie turned and continued toward the house without a glance back. Glenn let her words roll around his brain. He bent over to pick up his hat and dusted it off. Maybe… Maybe Maggie had a point.

"Getting water?"

I glanced over my shoulder to see Rick had wandered over to me while I was tucking the buckets away for later use. I turned to face him with a small smile. There was a look on his face. Rick was exhausted, he always was these days, but there was a sadness there too.

"They put me on the easy stuff today." I replied and he nodded. Stepping a little closer, I casually nudged him, "Everything ok?"

"Good as it can be, I guess. Remember how Hershel said we couldn't stay?" My stomach dropped at his words. Of course, I remembered. That wasn't the kind of thing you could easily forget. It plagued your mind with nearly every moment. Rick must have noticed my panic because he shook his head, "He hasn't said more. I'm still trying to give him space, but… I fought with Lori earlier about it. Can't get it off my mind."

"Last I checked the ED and the therapist office were two different things." I joked and Rick's lips twitched up in amusement. It felt nice that he came to me with his worries. I wanted to be helpful. I wanted to be of use. With my sketchy past, the least I could do was help out as much as possible before it came back to bite me in the ass. Besides, Rick was my friend. Maybe one of my closest ones here. Not to mention he saved my damn life. I wasn't going to forget that anytime soon. "Listen, I'm sure Lori is just stressed with…" I scrambled for my next words, "Uh, everything going on right now."

Rick nodded with a crestfallen sigh, "I know. I'm worried too."

Yeah, your wife being pregnant during the apocalypse would do that to a guy. There wasn't much I could even do for him with this problem. All I had to offer was soft reassurances and to let him know that he had allies.

"Everything is going to be ok, Rick." I said.

"How can you be so sure?"

I chuckled and nudged him again with my elbow jokingly, "Well, we have a redneck badass who knows the woods better than the back of his hand, a go-to-town expert who only needs his baseball cap and plucky attitude to get out of a bind, various more helpful team members, and not to mention we also have a cop turned leader who's instincts are pretty spot on." His features softened briefly, and I shrugged, "We'll be fine. Have a little faith in us. Have a little faith in yourself."

Rick chuckled and glanced over my head at something briefly before looking back to me. He just stared, almost in a studious way, and his gaze made me squirm. I opened my mouth to ask him if he was alright, but he spoke up first.

"Victoria, there's…there's nothing between us, right?"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Huh?"

"I mean, I'm…I'm married. End of the world didn't change that." He replied softly.

I could feel my cheeks go bright red as I quickly began to wave away his words with my hands. I shook my head and took a step back, "Whoa, no, I—I know that. Of course, I know that. I never thought—" Had I been flirting with him? If so, I hadn't meant to. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Shame and embarrassment flooded my system. I never wanted to make Rick feel uncomfortable. "I think you're great and I really like you but—I—uh, not like that though? Not that you aren't the type that I would—shit, I mean—" I sucked in a sharp breath and regained my footing, "I am not a homewrecker. Granted, none of us have a home right now, not really, but the idea counts. I know you love Lori and you have a son and a baby on the way and…and actually, now that I'm thinking about it, how could you even think that I would—"

"Wait, what?" Rick shook his head with shock drawn on his features.

"I'm not a homewrecker?" I questioned. "That should not be a surprising thing—"

Rick stepped forward, closing the space, and roughly grabbed my shoulders. The grip of his hands and his close proximity startled me, and I had to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat. He clenched his jaw, "No. What did you say after that about…about…"

"Having a son and a baby on the—" My voice caught in my throat. Rick's face went deathly pale and he stumbled back, his grip falling from my shoulders. Oh God. Oh God, Oh God. Shane wasn't the person the secret was being kept from. When Glenn said not to tell… he meant Rick. I gasped, "You didn't know. Oh my God, Rick, I—I didn't mean… I didn't know it was a secret from you when Glenn told me I thought…"

Rick held one hand out toward me, but he couldn't meet my gaze, "Are you telling me Lori is pregnant?"

I shook my head, "Maybe I heard him wrong? It was confusing with Maggie and Glenn, they were both on edge, and I am so sorry. This isn't how you should've heard."

Rick didn't speak again. He turned and marched away leaving me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. What had I just done? My feet slowly, numbly, carried me back into the thick of camp. There was no un-doing that. There was no taking back what I said or fixing the situation. I had royally fucked up, and Lori was going to go nuclear on me. Rick didn't deserve to find out like that, and I hated I played a hand in it.

I recognized a tent and without hesitation I slipped into it. Daryl looked up from the book he was flipping through. He had irritation on his face when I first threw the flap open, but it had melted into concern.

"Sunshine? What's goin' on?"

"I goofed up, Daryl." I said softly.

Daryl pulled his legs back and I sat down where they had once been. He tossed the book aside, "Are you ok?"

"I am, but…" I shook my head, unable to say the words.

We sat in silence for a moment and I enjoyed the fact that Daryl didn't press on the topic. Instead, he let me stew in silence for a moment more before moving to distract me. Daryl nodded, "How was shooting practice?" My nose scrunched up at remembering how shooting practice had gone. Daryl sighed and rolled his eyes. I didn't have to tell him that I didn't want to talk about that either. A second later his eyes landed on my right boot. His gaze hardened, "What the hell happened?"

"Uh, nothing?" I tried to brush it off as Daryl reached over to pull my boot off.

"Nuh uh. I dropped the other two, now what the hell happened?"

I turned in my seat to make it easier for him to take my boot off. Rather than yanking it off, Daryl carefully unlaced the front and gently slid my foot out. He set it aside then rolled up my blood-stained pants leg. I sighed, "My knife cut into my leg like you said it would. It was a once in a lifetime accident though!"

Daryl's rough fingers brushed the skin around the bandage. He shot me a light glare, and the glare deepened when he noticed where I had put the knife, "You cut your leg then put the damn knife in the otherboot? Are you stupid?"

"Not particularly…" I mumbled, "Though my decision making skills today say otherwise."

Daryl pulled the knife out of my other boot and tossed it by the book he had been reading. He softly unwrapped my injury and balled up the blood crusted bandages. Daryl pulled out a few bandages from his own supply and after carefully looking at my minor wound he began to rebandage it for me with thicker bandages.

I hadn't expected that.

He didn't laugh like Shane or shake his head and chuckle like Rick had. He also didn't scold me like I had been expecting him too either. Instead, he just checked it over with concern drawn on his features. No words were spoken during the exchange.

When he finished and helped slide my foot back into the boot, I finally spoke up, "You aren't gonna yell at me?"

"I called you stupid, didn' I?"

Daryl moved my foot out of his lap and dug around in his bag. He pulled a dark brown leather sheath out. A large hunting knife was tucked into it, but he pulled it out and replaced it with my own knife. He held the now holstered knife back to me.

"Now you can stick it in your damn boot."

"Thanks, DD." I said with a small smile.

Daryl hummed an acknowledgment, "You ever figure out what those weird ass symbols mean?"

I chuckled with a shake of my head, "Nah. Makes me look like I was in some kind of cult though, huh? Throw in the tattoo and the scars and I'm a straight up badass."

Daryl let out a short bark of laugh and I couldn't even bring myself to be insulted by his skepticism. The black wasn't plaguing me right now, not with my new fancy bracelet, but Daryl made me feel better all the same. It was just hard to be sad around him.

Rick charged into his tent looking for his wife. His mind was a whirlwind of denial and shock. He had frantically stumbled back here hoping Lori would be here to clear all of this up. To tell him it was just a mistake. An out of control rumor. That's what it had to be. Victoria couldn't have been right; Lori couldn't have been—been—

He spun on his heel to leave his tent when his eyes landed on two boxes on top of Lori's sleeping bag. The boxes were torn and ripped open. Rick shakily knelt down to grab them only to realize the torn boxes were truly empty. He flipped them over and read the words.

'Plan B'.

Rick was moving again, racing, desperately looking for his wife with the boxes clutched in his white knuckled grip. Finally, he found her outside of camp by a large field of tall grass. She was kneeling by the aged, wooden fence. Rick continued his warpath and Lori stood and turned to face him when he was about ten feet away. Under her sad gaze, his feet froze in place.

A beat of tense silence passed. He set his jaw and kept his voice as steady as he could muster in the moment, "Is there something you need to tell me?"

Lori shrugged pathetically, "We can't leave. I'm pregnant?"

"Are you?" Rick spat and threw the empty boxes he still had in her direction.

"I threw them up." Lori replied softly.

Rick turned his back to her and ran his hands through his hair. He felt like he was losing control. Like the world was slipping from his fingers no matter how hard he tried to grasp at it. Rage boiled under his skin and left him nearly breathless.

"You can yell if you want." Lori spoke up. She was closer. "You can scream if you have to, but please—please talk to me."

That had always been their problem. Lori always claimed he didn't talk enough, didn't communicate with her well enough, and here she was again begging him to speak, but how could she claim shit like that when she kept things like this from him?

"How long have you known?" Rick asked.

"Does it matter?"

Rick spun around, the rage boiling over officially, he snapped, "Days? Weeks? And you didn't think to tell me!?"

"I'm telling you now." Lori pleaded.

"No." Rick was shaking with anger now. "Victoria told me. Victoria told me and she heard it from Maggie and Glenn." He scoffed. "He's the one who got the pills, right? The pregnancy test too, I suppose? Instead of coming to me, you go to Glenn?"

"I panicked!" Lori cried. "You tell me we have no roof and no walls—"

"Do not put this on me! You tear into me for keeping secrets when you're holding onto this!?"

"You want me to bring a baby into this?" Lori snapped back. "To live a short, cruel life?"

"How can you think like that?" Rick set one hand against his forehead.

Lori shook her head, "We can barely protect the son we already have."

"So, this is the solution?" Rick motioned to the empty boxes that sat between them like a dividing wall.

Lori began to cry, tears streamed down her face, "Rick, I threw them up! I screwed up! I don't know how we do this!"

There was a beat of silence where Rick tried to grab ahold of the world around him again. It was spinning away from him, trying to leave him behind. He sighed, "We can make this work."

"How?" Lori was breathless. "Tell me, how?"

"We'll figure it out. Shouldn't we at least try to figure it out?" Rick questioned. "You threw up the pills. You want this baby, I know you do. I know you, Lori."

"Not like this." Lori replied softly. "Not when its life will hang by a thread from the second its born. Not when every cry will put it and Carl, and everyone else we care about in danger. That's not right."

Rick sighed, "Not even giving it a chance isn't right either."

"Maybe this is why I didn't want to tell you." Lori mumbled.

Rick felt his heart physically break, his chest ached as he pleaded, "I still—I still don't understand. Why? Why? Do you really think I would make you have a baby you don't want?"

"No." Lori shook her head. "I didn't—if I went through with it, I didn't want it to be on your conscience. Just mine."

Rick shook his head, "We can't live like this anymore, Lori. We can't live like this. Is there anything else I should know about?"

There was a painful silence between the two of them. It was palpable. Rick stared at his wife as more tears began to pool in her eyes. Guilt and fear and sadness painted her features, and Rick found himself dreading the next words to come from her mouth.

"Shane and I."

Rick nodded. He knew. He knew but hearing it…hearing it was different. Rick nodded again and again, "I know. Of course, I know. You thought I was dead. World went to shit, and you thought I was dead. Right?"

Lori began to sob, her body shaking, "Yes."

Rick nodded one more time then turned to leave. He had known, but there had still been a small voice in the back of his mind that tried to convince him it was just paranoia. Lori saying the words confirmed it though and now there was no room for doubt. Rick stumbled away from his wife while the world tilted around him.