Chapter Five
For the next hour or so, Emily and Carl had played around in the yard, throwing little pebbles and whatever else they could find at each other. She was keeping Carl entertained. The young boy was happy that after losing Sophia there was another kid around so he wasn't entirely alone. Emily sometimes moved slow when she dodged the things flying at her. Hershel wasn't there to take her stitches out so they were still in her side. It was better, probably healed for all she knew about medicines and wounds, but it still hurt when she stretched it. She felt better around people now (except for a certain few like Shane) and was happy. She felt like she belonged there with them and for a moment was glad that the apocalypse had happened. Carl was the little brother she never had but always wanted. Daryl was like Aaron, if not better. But the feeling soon passed when she remembered her own family, the people who she truly belonged with. She regretted even being glad for such a horrible thing.
When they were done throwing things at each other, night had fallen. Daryl had been back from the woods for a while now but Emily took no notice.
They were all sitting down for dinner. Emily sat in between Daryl and Carl, while the others sat where they felt like it. Maggie remained inside with Beth, worried about what was wrong with her. Every second Hershel wasn't there Maggie seemed to worry. It didn't help, either, that Glenn was not there to comfort her. Carl looked around for his mother. Where was she? Emily glanced around also. Nothing. Lori was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's my mom?" Carl muttered to her, his voice cracking slightly.
"I don't know. Did you see her leave earlier?" She replied.
He shook his head, still searching.
" I'm pretty sure she's okay, though." She reassured him.
"Who's okay?" Daryl questioned, hearing her.
"Lori. Have you seen her?"
Carl listened for Daryl to answer Emily.
"Dumb bitch," He said. "Must'a went out to look for 'em."
"Who went where?" It was Carol's turn to ask questions. She was on the other side of Daryl.
"Lori. She asked me earlier to go find Hershel and Glenn and Rick but I didn't go. She must'a went by herself." His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I'm going to look for her." Shane said darkly as he rose up from his seat. He made his way to one of the vehicles and got inside without saying another word.
"She's okay, Carl. I'm sure your mom can defend herself if she had to." Emily told her new friend. He was worried and she could tell. He seemed more tense and quiet. Emily couldn't help but wonder what would happen if both of his parents were lost out there but tried to shake the thought from her mind. She had lost both of her parents and didn't want Carl to feel the same pain she did.
"Thanks." He replied, still glum and playing with his food.
Daryl ignored the situation. He didn't care at the moment. He felt the failure of Sophia rise into his thoughts when Lori had asked him to look for them. He didn't want them to end up like that little girl if he didn't find them in time. He'd blame himself all over again for something that was entirely his fault, so he denied it. He had no idea what he would do if he had more guilt on his shoulders.
It wasn't much longer, they were only finishing up dinner, when Shane returned with Lori. Lori went up to the fire to find her husband and little boy; to tell them that she was fine. But she didn't see Rick anywhere. Shane had lied. He had told her that Rick had gone back to the farm and wanted her back.
"See, told you that she's fine." Emily told Carl as Lori approached. Carl got up to see his mother but was stopped by Shane and Lori arguing.
"You lied to me!" She screeched, anger filling her voice.
"I was only trying to get you back here." Shane explained to her, his voice somewhat calm.
"Why? We could have maybe found Rick by now. Then he, Glenn, and Hershel would all be back here."
"I was only protecting the baby!" He snapped, fed up with arguing already. He had a short temper sometimes; Emily had taken note of that.
Carl looked in surprise at his mother and Shane. Baby? His mother was pregnant? Everyone seemed to hear that statement and were in total wonder. How could someone get themselves pregnant at a time like this? Did Lori even think about the consequences for both her and her unborn child? Probably neither because she had gone out and done it anyway. Another thing ran through their minds. Who's was it? There hadn't been much talk about it (none that they really knew of anyway), and Lori's stomach wasn't swollen yet, so how did Shane know about the pregnancy unless...
No. It couldn't be. Lori was married to Rick; it just wasn't right.
Lori turned around and looked her boy in the eye.
"Carl...I-" She started to say.
But Carl didn't want to hear anything at the moment. He was too stunned by it all. He turned away, a look of disgust on his face, and ran in the other direction. How could his mother do this? How could she? He was a little happy about getting a sibling, being a big brother and all, but this wasn't the right world to bring a new baby in to.
Lori went to go to him, to comfort her son, but though better of it. He would find his own way to get over it. Now she had to worry about Rick and Shane. It seemed as if whatever peace was left between the group was falling apart. Maybe there was never peace in the first place. She didn't really know anymore. No one seemed to know anymore.
That night, Emily still didn't have anywhere to sleep so she stayed in Daryl's tent. She hadn't really been able to sleep. Her mind was on Carl. Was he okay? How was he handling this? Daryl's snoring seemed to keep her awake also, but only somewhat. The questions were worse. Questions always bothered her; before this and even now they did. She had finally fallen asleep, only to wake up early to the sound of car doors shutting.
She sat up, combing her fingers through her blonde waves. She got off the floor of the empty tent and walked out. Everyone seemed to be getting ready for something.
She jogged up to Daryl.
"What's going on?" She asked him.
He looked at her and his eyes went wide for a second. Under her eyes were a deep blue-black color. To him, she looked like one of the walkers out there. He was going to ask her if she was okay but decided not to. At least he had that little bit of sense not to offend her.
"We're goin' to find 'em out in town." He replied, ignoring her eyes the best he could.
"They're not back yet?"
He shook his head, holding his tongue back from making a sarcastic comment.
Dale and Andrea were talking quietly to each other. Emily studied their lips, trying to make out the unheard words, but got nothing. A car pulled in, Rick and Glenn sitting in front. Hershel was in the back of it. Something could be seen in the trunk.
"They're back now." She muttered to herself, hoping that nobody had heard her.
The car slowed to a stop. The three of them got out.
Rick walked up to a point where he was in front of everyone. He had a serious look on his face. It seemed as if something was bothering him, taunting him.
"We found someone back there. He was with a group, but they left him to die." He spoke, his voice monotone. "We didn't want to leave him back there; there were walkers and we didn't want him to be eaten because of us."
"Are you stupid?" Shane questioned, walking close to Rick. He was practically growling the words.
"Hershel's just going to fix him up and we're going to drop him off somewhere. We don't need another mouth to feed, I understand that." Rick came to a conclusion about Shane.
"He'll find his group and tell them about us! About the farm! Where we're at, what we're doing, how we're doing. He'll know our weaknesses. That's just setting us up to get destroyed! This will start a war!"
"This is my farm." Hershel said as Rick went to open his mouth to defend against Shane. "While I'm still here, you'll need to keep your mouth shut and let me make the decisions."
Emily could see Maggie pull Glenn over to the side. They started talking but Emily was more curious about the person in the trunk rather than what they were saying. Rick opened the trunk door and he and Hershel carried out a body. It was blindfolded and a strip of cloth, possibly from the torn shirt that was on the man, was wrapped around part of his calf.
No one stepped up to help the two of them. Why? Emily couldn't tell. But the two men brought the body into the house, the door shutting behind them.
"Are they always like this?" Emily asked Daryl. "Fighting all the time?"
She hadn't seen much quarrel in the group until yesterday and just now. She began to understand what Daryl meant when she was still back in that room, fresh from the forest. He had asked her how she had survived out there by herself when the group couldn't survive together.
"Sometimes, I guess. It's got worse." He replied.
If the fighting got any worse, Emily thought, it could go extreme. People could begin to kill others in the group. Then everything would fall apart. They'd be so unstable, they'd be open to walkers and human attacks alike.
She hoped that it wouldn't ever go that far.