SECRET PART 3

The following day, Natasha made her way over to Glenn, who occupied himself with cutting up firewood. He brought the axe over his head and brought it down, splitting the log in two. When Natasha approached him, he put the axe down and had a slightly nervous look about him.

Natasha tried to smile to ease his worry, but she already knew what was on his mind. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

"Have you…talked to Lori?" Glenn asked awkwardly.

Natasha bit down on her lips and nodded her head softly. "I did, but don't worry. She's not angry at you for telling Dale and I. In fact…she's hoping you and I could go into town to pick something up for her."

Glenn looked to perk up as the nervousness melted from his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Anything."

Natasha reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper, handing it to him. "And of course, gottta do it discreetly."

"Of course." Glenn said eagerly and took the paper. He then suddenly paused with an unsure look on his face. He looked at Natasha before turning around and looking up at the farmhouse. He could see Maggie out on the porch. "You know…Natasha, you don't have to come with me. I mean, you're still hurt, and I…"

Natasha cocked a brow and slowly looked over to where Glenn was looking. Once she saw Maggie, it suddenly clicked in her mind, and the look on Glenn's face gave it all away. "Glenn…" she said with a long sigh.

"I know what you're going to say, but please…it's fine." Glenn tried to assure her. "But I'm being serious. I don't think you're ready to go back into town yet." He gestured down to her. "Tasha, you're still limping."

Natasha frowned deeply, almost begrudgingly. "I know. I guess…I'm just not used to standing still for too long. Makes me antsy."

"I get that. I really do, but for the moment…please just rest. Please." He said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. He was awkward about it, but Natasha appreciated his sentiment.

Natasha took in a deep breath, chewing the inside of her cheek. "Fine, but…" she looked up and smirked at him, pointing between him and Maggie. "No funny business."

Glenn's eyes went wide, and the tips of his ears turned red. "What? No, obviously not. There is no…funny business here." he said but didn't sound convinced. He looked lost in thought even after Natasha walked away.


As the day wore on, Natasha was finding fewer things to do. She had folded and unfolded the laundry for at least an hour now with nothing to do for the remainder of the evening.

"You board?" Lori asked, leaning down and taking the shirt Natasha had been fiddling with. "How's your legs?"

Natasha sighed and stretched her legs, running her hands over her knees. "Better than they were yesterday, but still kinda hurts." She smiled slightly. "But can't wait to be able to go and do more things."

Lori chuckled as she folded up the shirt for the last time. "Staying stationary at the camp really isn't your thing, is it."

"No, it is not." Natasha said and picked her head up. She saw that Glenn and Maggie had returned and were walking over to them.

"Maggie, hold on!" Glenn called out as Maggie suddenly stormed over to Lori.

Lori tried to gesture them to follow her. "Come…come in here."

"Why? Nothing to hide," Maggie said, fuming with absolute anger. "We got your special delivery right here." She reached into the paper bag and threw things at Lori's feet. "We got your lotion, got your conditioner, your soap opera digest. Next time you want something, get it your damn self. We're not your errand boys."

"Honey, I…" Lori began, but she was too shocked and didn't know what to say.

Natasha immediately got to her feet and placed herself between Lori and Maggie, keeping her arms up. "You need to step back, Maggie," Natasha said firmly. She still sounded calm, but her voice had a sense of authority.

Maggie bent down and snatched up the Morning-After pills, shoving them against Natasha's chest. "Then you go next time!"

Natasha quickly passed the pills over to Lori and defensively lifted her hands, showing her she didn't want to fight or let this get out of hand. Maggie looked ready to lay into Natasha, but after a second of silently fuming, she turned on her heel and walked off.

Natasha bit down on her lips and stared at Glenn for a second. He didn't say anything to her and Lori before turning around and running to catch up with Maggie.


"Something must've happened while they were out," Natasha later said once she and Lori were alone inside a tent. "Why else would she act like that."

Lori looked beside herself. "I…I don't even…Natasha, did I do something wrong with asking Glenn?"

Natasha shook her head. "No, Glenn knew the risks, but Maggie didn't. Whatever happened out there probably shook her up."

A couple minutes later, Glenn eventually returned and peeked his head into the tent.

"Was Maggie attacked out there?" Natasha asked right away once she saw Glenn.

"Yeah," Glenn nodded, casting his eyes to the ground.

"Are you guys alright? How bad was it?" Lori asked.

"It was pretty close."

Hearing that, it finally clicked for Natasha, and she slowly nodded her head. "She probably never gotten that close to a Walker before until now. I should've known it wasn't a good idea. You and I could've done ourselves no problem."

Glenn knelt down and placed a hand on Natasha's shoulder. "You don't know that. You're still hurt…and anything could happened. Like it happened with Maggie. You can always prepare for the worse, but you're still gonna end up being surprised."

"I thought the town was safe, but if you hadn't come back…" Lori rambled.

"But we did. I always do." Glenn assured her. He paused and looked at the pills in Lori's hands. "The Morning-After pills…will they even work?"

"I don't know. And I don't know if I want them to."

"Then I got these too, just in case." Glenn said and set down something wrapped in a paper bag.

Lori reached and unwrapped the bag. She pulled out a small bottle and smiled slightly at it. "Prenatal Vitamins. That's a hell of a choice."

"Glad it's not mine." Glenn spoke softly.


When Shane and Andrea returned to camp, Dale was uneasy. He looked suspiciously at the dangerous man as Carol walked over to them.

"Anything?" she asked.

Shane shook his head and sighed. "Not today."

"I'm so sorry. We'll cover more ground tomorrow," Andrea assured, but something about her demeanor caught Dales's attention. It made his stomach churn.

"What happened out there?" Dale asked, turning his lips into a slight sneer as goosebumps ran over his skin.

Andrea flinched slightly and fiddled with the strap of her bag. "Uh, I..."

"The place was overrun," Shane quickly cut in.

"Yeah," Andrea said with a sly smirk.

Nothing more was said about the situation as Andrea went off with Carol. Shane began to walk off, but something was nagging at the back of Dale's mind, making a pit in his stomach. He already didn't trust Shane, but he knew just by Andrea's reaction that something happened.

"Shane, Shane, I was thinking..." Dale called out and walked after him. "You got that nice new ride of yours, plenty of fuel, more than enough for you to get far from here," he said thickly with venom on his tongue.

Shane wrinkled his brows and gave Dale a long, heavy look. "What, you telling me to leave?"

"I know you've been planning to. Maybe now is a good time." Dale insisted.

Shane chuckled a little, not at all taking this seriously. Yet, Dale couldn't mistake the growing irritation in Shane's words. "Is this about Andrea? Or maybe Natasha."

"I'm looking out for the group."

Shane looked to the ground, shaking his head like something was bothering him. It was honestly unnerving for Dale to see. "Why don't you tell that to Rick or Lori? Their boy would be dead if I hadn't put my ass on the line-"

"Don't give me that." Dale cut in, never once breaking eye contact with Shane. "We all know things didn't go down as you say they did."

There was a shift in Shane's demeanor at that moment. The darkness from once before slipped back into his eyes. He looked like a wild animal about to pounce. Dale wanted to step back, but his legs were firmly frozen.

"Natasha said something to you, did she?" Shane said plainly, but the words sent shivers down Dale's spine.

Dale swallowed hard. "Doesn't matter. I know what kind of man you are. I was there when you raised your gun to Rick. You had him in your sights, and you held him there."

Silence fell between the two. Shane kept his head down and cast his dark eyes up at Dale, an almost predatory look. "You think I'd shoot Rick? That is my best friend. That's the man that I love. I love him like he's my brother. You think that's the kind of man I am?"

"That's right," Dale dared to say.

"Well, maybe we ought to just think that through. Say, I'm the kind of man who'd gun down his own best friend. What do you think I'd do to some guy that I don't even like when he starts throwing accusations my way? What do you think?"

Their faces were only inches apart, and the tension was enough to cut skin. Dale held his breath and didn't break eye contact. Even after Shane had turned around and left, Dale stood there, his skin spinning with what had transpired.