A few weeks had passed since they left the highway and came to the quarry. Tents were set up all around the area making a small campsite for survivors. Soon after they had driven up others had followed. The older man in the RV along with two blonde sisters, a family with two kids, two scary-looking guys, a kindhearted black woman, a man in a hat who hung around Dale a lot, a guy with a church van, and a funny Korean guy that Charlotte would follow when Shane and Lori weren't around.
Others had shown up too but none that Charlotte cared to remember, the rest mostly stuck to themselves and didn't interact much.
Currently, Charlotte was following Lori around as she did chores around camp, kicking a few rocks before staring up at the sky and watching birds fly over. It was like this every day, the young girl would follow someone around until they either told her to follow someone else or go play.
Lori didn't mind the girl shadowing her but she knew the girl needed to open up more and hang around kids her age.
"Charlotte?" Lori said.
The girl in question looked up at her.
"Why don't you go play with Sophia, maybe ask to play tag or hide-n-seek? Carl might play too." Lori gently pushed her in the direction of the Peletier girl sitting next to her mom.
Charlotte slowly walked over to Sophia. With her hands behind her back and eyes downcast she asked quietly, "Do you wanna play tag?"
Sophia looked at her mom who smiled encouragingly. "Go ahead Sophia, I'm gonna go see what Dale's up to. You two have fun." Carol stood and walked toward the RV.
Sophia jumped up smiling and said, "We could play freeze tag if Carl will play."
The girls ran up to Carl who sat on the ground drawing in the dirt with a rather large stick.
"Wanna play freeze tag?" Sophia asked.
"No, I'm busy, I got more important things to do than play tag right now," he replied.
Sophia rolled her eyes and turned to Charlotte tapping her on the shoulder and running off. "You're it!" she called behind her.
Charlotte ran after Sophia, she started gaining on her and then tapped her shoulder. "You're it!" She squealed before running off.
The two girls chased each other around camp laughing and giggling as they went. The sky was clear and the sun beat down on them but they didn't seem to mind the intense heat.
While the girls were running Ed Peletier stood at a tree watching them with a scowl. He disliked his daughter having to play with some orphan runt who barely spoke.
Carl left a little later in search of something even better to do than draw in the dirt. The two girls played different games till they got hungry and ran back to the center of camp to find something to eat. Charlotte found Shane showing Carl how to do something with rope and she stops to watch.
"You wanna learn too, Charlie?" Shane asks and Charlotte nods. "Sit here, let me show you." He starts teaching her how to tie different knots. She struggles at first but then gets the hang of it and smiles. "There you go, good job!" Shane pats her head and turns back to Carl. Charlotte notices Lori looking upset and angry while she takes clothes off the clothing line. She continues to observe Lori until Carl finishes with Shane.
Charlotte tapped Shane and asked, "Is she mad?"
He sighed before explaining, "The group who went on a supply run are stuck. She got all upset that we're not going after them."
"But they're still coming back. Just later," The girl says.
"They might not be able to."
"Oh." Charlotte didn't like the thought of not seeing Glenn, T-dog, Jacqui, and even Andrea anymore. Merle, she didn't care about and Morales was nice, she might miss him.
She turned back to Shane. "Lori won't stay mad though."
Shane hummed, "Why's that?"
"She's your girlfriend, you aren't supposed to stay mad at each other."
His eyes widened at that. "Where did you get the idea she's my girlfriend?"
"You and her seem real close." Charlotte scrunched her face up in confusion. "Is she not your girlfriend?"
He seemed unsure of how to answer. "Eh, no not quite."
The two sat in silence for a minute, letting the Georgian heat wash over them. Lori finished hanging up the newly washed clothes and walked toward the two.
"Charlotte, could you grab me the pair of scissors from my tent?" Lori called.
She jumped up and rushed to the tent, once she found the scissors she slowly walked back to Lori who chuckled upon seeing her slow walk. Carl was now sitting in front of Lori with his arms crossed.
"Thank you, sweetie." Lori took the scissors from her.
Shane sat across from them now cleaning his shotgun. Charlotte sat on a wooden crate next to him and watched as Lori began cutting Carl's hair.
"Baby, the more you fidget, the longer it takes. So don't, okay?" Lori held Carl's head, trying to keep it still.
"I'm trying, mom"
"Well, try harder."
Shane leaned forward. "If you think this is bad, wait till you start shaving. That stings. That day comes, you'll be wishing for one of your mama's haircuts."
"I'll believe that when I see it," Carl rolls his eyes.
Charlotte watched intently as Shane shoved a stick-like object through the barrel of his gun. She had never seen a gun be cleaned before, and neither did she know it ever had to be cleaned.
Shane chuckled and made Carl a deal, "I'll tell you what… you just get through this with some manly dignity and tomorrow I'll teach you something special. I will teach you to catch frogs."
Carl proudly announced that he has, in fact, caught a frog before.
"I said frogs… plural. And it is an art, my friend. It is not to be taken lightly. There are ways and means. Few people know about it." He paused and then said in a quieter, more serious voice, "I'm willing to share my secrets."
Carl turns to look at Lori unsure of what to say.
"Oh, I'm a girl. You talk to him."
"It's a one-time offer, bud... not to be repeated."
"Why do we need frogs, plural?" Carl asked.
Shane smiled. "You ever eat frog legs?"
"Eww!" Carl and I shout. I stick out my tongue in disgust.
"No, yum!" Shane shouted back.
Lori chimes in, "No, they're right. Eww."
Shane chuckled again saying, "When you get down to that last can of beans, you're gonna be loving those frog legs, lady. I can see it now… "Shane, do you think I could have a second helping, please? Please? Just one?""
"Yeah, I doubt that," Lori said.
Shane looked at Carl. "Don't listen to her, man. You and me, we'll be heroes. We'll feed these folks cajun-style Kermit legs."
"I would rather eat miss piggy," Lori admitted. "Yes, that came out wrong."
Shane spoke again, "Heroes, son, spoken of in song and legend. You and me, Shane and Carl. Charlie can come too if she promises not to share my secret technique." He looks at the girl next to him.
Charlotte quickly spoke up, "I promise," She said, putting a hand over her heart.
Just then a car alarm echoes through the camp and Shane jumps out of his seat yelling.
"Talk to me Dale!"
Charlotte stood and watched as some of the group started panicking.
A red challenger drives into camp. Glenn jumps out of the car and is instantly yelled at by multiple people. He gets back in to pop the hood while answering Amy's questions about her sister.
Shane gets upset and starts yelling at Glenn. "Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every Walker for miles?"
Dale, being the rational one, intervenes, "I think we're okay."
"You call being stupid okay?"
After seeing it was just Glenn Charlotte rushes over to check out the new car, opening the passenger door and climbing in. She admires the console, her old car didn't have nearly as many buttons.
"The alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source." Dale notices the aggravated look on Shane's face and adds, "I'm not arguing. I'm just saying." Dale points at Glenn. "It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?"
Glenn hesitates before saying sorry. "Got a cool car though." He notices the girl inside pushing every button. "I can see you chose the car over me."
Charlotte stops pushing buttons to look at him and shrugs. Glenn frowns at this and holds his arms out wide. "Come on, I almost got eaten today."
She decides maybe Glenn deserves a hug. But only a small one. Quickly rushing out of the car she gives him a small hug before pulling away.
A small moving truck pulls into camp. Andrea jumps out of the back and runs to hug Amy. Jacqui and T-dog get out after her. Next Morales steps out of the passenger side and his two children rush to hug him.
Charlotte wished she could run up and give her mom and dad a big hug right now.
Another man steps out of the moving truck, he wasn't someone she had seen before. He is wearing a police uniform just like the one Shane had.
Carl rushed past everyone yelling, "Dad! Dad!" The man embraced Carl and they both started crying. Lori ran to join them, tears beginning to leak out of her own eyes.
Everyone in camp watched in shock at the family's reunion.
That night they all sat around the campfire listening to Rick share his story of what happened. Charlotte was leaning against Glenn fast asleep.
Rick looked at Shane speaking, "I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it."
Dale spoke next, "There go those words falling short again." He smiled. "Paltry things."
Ed picked up a log, tossing it into the fire. It snapped and crackled. The noise startled Charlotte awake and she listened to Shane speak. He seemed upset about the extra log being thrown in.
"Hey Ed, you wanna rethink that log?"
Ed sits down and barely acknowledges Shane. "It's cold man."
"The cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"
"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once," Ed snaps back.
Shane gets up from his seat and walks over to him. "Hey, Ed… Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?"
Ed looks angry but still turns to look at his wife. "Go on. Pull the dang thing out. Go on!" Carol quickly pulls the log out of the fire and sets it to the side.
Shane stomps the flames out and then bends down to speak to Carol and Sophia, it's too quiet for Charlotte to hear.
"Shane gets angry a lot," Charlotte thought to herself. "He's smart though. I'm sure he gets angry for good reasons. Dad told me it's okay to be angry sometimes, and that some stuff will happen that you just can't help but be angry at. The walkers who killed my parents make me angry. Maybe it's okay to be angry." She decides it's okay to be angry at the walkers just like Shane's angry at Ed for breaking the rules.
Shuffling over a bit so she can lean her head more comfortably on Glenn's side she closes her eyes.
Glenn looks down at her and says, "Goodnight Charlie."
A moment later Shane sits back down again and Charlotte drifts back off to sleep listening to them discuss Merle's brother, Daryl.