SECRETS PART 1
"The creek flows south past that farmhouse Daryl found. Maybe Sophia dropped the doll there, and current brought it downstream?" Rick explained to Shane, Natasha, and the farmhand Jimmy. He pointed to the map on the car's hood and used his finger the trail over the path the doll probably took.
"So what, you think she took this road there and then she went north?" Shane recounted.
Natasha frowned and shared the same disapproving look Shane had. She reviewed the path, but it was still quite the distance for a child to take on their own, especially with the current dangers all over the place. It just seemed unlikely.
"What's out that way?" she asked the farmhand beside her.
"A housing development. It went in maybe 10 years ago," Jimmy answered.
Rick nodded and turned to Shane. "Take a run up there after gun practice. Natasha and I can hold down the fort here, but take backup. After what went down with Daryl, I don't want anyone going out alone. We stay in pairs."
"I'll take suggestions on a partner," Shane said as Glenn walked up to them, carrying a basket of peaches.
"See how they do on the range, then take your pick," Rick offered while reaching into the basket and pulling out two peaches. He took one for himself and tossed the other one to Natasha.
As Glenn passed Natasha, she noticed an odd look on his face. She crinkled her brows together and stared at him, watching his expression become uneasy and sick. Glenn looked like he wanted to say something but struggled with himself.
"Natasha," Glenn suddenly spoke up, surprising her a little.
"Yeah?" Natasha asked, taking a bite of her peach.
Glenn bit down on his lips and frowned deeply. He held eye contact with her for a long time and suddenly glanced over his shoulder. Natasha followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at Lori with the same expression still on his face. Suddenly, he turned back to her and held her stare with knowing eyes, silently expressing something he couldn't say aloud.
"Are you feeling better?" Glenn asked after a moment.
Natasha slowly raised a brow and nodded slowly. "Yeah. Getting better by the day."
Glenn's lips quivered. He didn't add anything else and picked his basket back up. "Okay, bye." As he turned to leave, Shane called back to him.
"My binoculars," he reminded, pointing to the binoculars still under Glenn's arm.
Glenn didn't respond and just took them off to hand to Shane. After that, he finally turned and left.
Just then, Beth and Patricia strolled over to them.
"We'd like to join you for gun training today." Beth began, looking slightly nervous.
"Hershel's been very clear. I can't involve any of you in what we do without his okay," Rick warned them.
"He doesn't like it, but he consented," Beth said.
"Otis was the only one who knew guns," Patricia added. "Now that he's gone, we gotta learn to protect ourselves. Her father saw the sense in that."
"No offense, but I'll ask Hershel myself, "Rick told them.
Natasha shook her head and patted Rick on the shoulder. She took another bite into her peach and walked away from the group, over to where Carl looked like he was waiting for her.
"You spying on our conversation, Carl?" she said with a small chuckle, tapping her knuckle against the oversized sheriff's hat on his head. "You look like you wanna say something." She walked around the side of the R.V. and waited for Carl to speak.
"I want to learn to shoot too," Carl answered.
Natasha faltered for only a moment before quickly straightening herself up. She bit down on her lips and shook her head slowly, rolling his words through her head on repeat. "You…want to learn?"
"Can you teach me? Maybe Shane?" Carl asked.
"Honestly Carl, if it were up to me…I would. But the final word has to go to your parents. I can't make that call."
"Can you talk to them? I know they'll listen to you. A lot of people here like asking for your advice," Carl pointed out.
"Yeah, I know. I'll talk to them," Natasha promised.
Carl nodded, and just as he was about to leave, Natasha suddenly reached out her hand and grabbed his upper arm. Carl looked puzzled at first and met Natasha's steely eyes. She made a motion with her head and gestured to his midsection. A defeated look swept across his face, and he lifted his shirt, revealing a hidden revolver he had tucked against his side.
"How the hell did this happen?" Lori was beside herself. She held the revolver in her hand briefly before handing it back.
Natasha popped open the cylinder and shook the bullets into her hand, pocketing them for now. "It's loaded too," She informed them all. "How'd he manage to get ahold of one?"
"Well, it was probably my fault," Dale said, turning to Lori. "I let him into the R.V. He said he wanted a walkie, that you meant for him to have one."
"So on top of everything else, he lied. What's he thinking?" Lori said, her lips thinning to a line.
Natasha took a step closer and awkwardly raised her hand. "I can probably answer that one. He said he wanted to learn how to shoot. Wondering if Shane or I could teach him. He asked me about it before I found the gun."
Shane perked up a little. "I know it's none of my business. But I'm happy to do it," he offered. "It's your call."
"I'm not comfortable with it." Lori said sternly.
Rick seemed to think about it momentarily and stared between Shane and Natasha. While he wasn't sure about Natasha, he knew Shane was more than capable of teaching Carl.
Lori immediately picked up on what everyone was thinking. "Oh, don't make me out to be the unreasonable one here. Rick?"
"I know. I have my concerns too, but…." Rick began.
"There's no but. He was just shot. He's just back on his feet and he wants a gun?"
"Better than him being afraid of 'em. There are guns in camp for a reason. He should learn to handle them safely."
"I don't want my kid walking around with a gun."
"But how can you defend that? You can't let him go around without protection," Rick argued.
"He's as safe as he'll ever be right here. Even more so now that we have Natasha back., Lori said, roughly gesturing in Natasha's direction.
Natasha cleared her throat, fighting back the feeling of pride swelling in her chest. "I'm glad that you have that much fate in me…but I can't always have eyes on the back of my head. Do everything in my power to keep people safe, yes, but things are going to slip past me. I can't help it. Just like it did with Sophia back at the highway. I got tied up and couldn't move, and she's…." Natasha held her breath momentarily and struggled with what word to say. "And now she's lost."
Lori looked taken aback by what Natasha said, but Rick quickly cut in before she could argue back.
"You see? It only makes since that he learns, just in case," he said.
"Look, everything you're saying makes perfect sense, and I get what Natasha is trying to say. It just feels wrong," Lori finally confessed. "I mean…I didn't feel good about him following you out into the woods. And I wished I'd say something. I should've gone with my gut."
"He's growing up, thank God," Rick said curtly. "We've got to start treating him more like an adult."
"Then he needs to act like one," Lori said sternly. "He's not mature enough to handle a gun."
Carl immediately sprang to his feet and marched over to them. "I'm not gonna play with it, Mom. It's not a toy. I'm sorry I disappointed you, but I want to look for Sophia. And I want to defend our camp. I can't do that without a gun," he said, sparing a hopeful look over to Natasha.
Rick moved up close to Lori. "Shane's the best instructor I know. I've seen him teach kids younger than Carl."
Lori kept her mouth shut and looked at everyone. First to Shane, then Natasha, and back to Rick. She bit down on her lips and then walked over to Carl, grabbing him by his chin to focus his eyes.
"You will take this seriously. And you will behave responsibly, and If I hear from anyone in this camp that you're not living up to our expectations—"
"He won't let you down." Rick cut in before Lori could finish her sentence.
Carl nodded his head. "Yeah."
Lori still looked to be battling with the decision but decided to keep any doubt to herself. She held her son's face between her hands before nodding and turning away.
"Now if you're gonna do this, you listen to Shane," Rick said to Carl, walking him over to the cars that were getting ready to head out with half the group.
"Okay, Dad." Carl nodded.
"All right? You be careful." He patted his son on the head and watched him as Carl got into one of the cars.
Shane waited by his own vehicle and looked over to Glenn. "You coming?"
Glenn jumped slightly, but before he could fumble out an excuse, Natasha walked up behind him and patted his shoulder.
"Glenn's gonna stay back with me. We're gonna help Dale out with the R.V.," Natasha said, coming up with a swift lie that didn't sound deceiving.
Shane gave her a look, frowning. "What's wrong with the R.V.?"
Natasha chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. "What isn't wrong with the R.V."
Shane stared at her, wondering if he could find any deception in her words. However, Natasha was surprisingly a good liar, and Shane wasn't the wiser. He simply shrugged her comments off and waved at them before getting in the car.
One by one, the cars pulled out of the farm and left behind dust clouds. Glenn waited until they were all gone before taking a deep breath and hunching down, pressing his hands against his knees. He looked pale and had to take a moment to speak.
"You…You understood. Oh, thank God. I was worried," he said between breaths.
Natasha patted his back. "Yeah, you looked like you wanted to speak to me. Is it really that urgent?"
Glenn sprang back up. "Yes, yes. It's… it's urgent."
"Is there anyone else that you wanna tell this too? Maybe Dale?" Natasha suggested, and not too soon did she mention his name; she heard Dale's voice coming from behind them.
"Tell Dale what?"
Glenn and Natasha turned around and saw Dale staring at them with a confused look. He walked over and noticed how pale Glenn was.
"Son, what's wrong with you?" Dale said. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"
Glenn looked around to make sure no one else was close. Luckily, it was just them now. "What if…somebody told you something that somebody else should know—"
"Glenn, you're losing me," Natasha cut in.
"She's right. Stop being dramatic and spit it out," Dale said.
Glenn's mouth felt dry. He opened it to talk, but the words were weak and hitched. "There's… there's Walkers in the barn and Lori's pregnant," Glenn said in one breath.
Maybe Natasha expected as much because she processed his words without a second's delay. Her head snapped in the direction of the barn at the edge of the property, a tall, sturdy, and silent structure. She would never have known that it houses such creates if Glenn hadn't spilled the truth. However, in Lori's situation, Natasha needed a little more time to think, but not for obvious reasons.
It was a grave thought that crossed her mind. A glaring detail that showed all over Natasha's face. And it was the possibility that the baby was most likely Shane's.
"I would've thought this place a paradise..." Natasha sucked in a deep breath, but her voice quivered regardless. "Can we not have anything nice?"