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Tilly And Belle

"Sweetheart, can you take this to the table?" Patricia placed a bowl of vegetables in my arms and smiled sweetly, nudging me out the kitchen door.

We were getting dinner ready in silence tonight. Everyone's nerves were still on edge after the whole barn ordeal, not to mention Rick and Glenn hadn't brought Hershel back yet. Beth was still upstairs, frozen on the bed with no sign of moving, and no one had noticed Lori was gone yet.

I sat next to Carl at the table, the chair legs dragging painfully on the floorboards as I pulled it in. Every bang and scrape was filled with an awkward tension that made me cringe.

"Lori, dinner!" Carol called into the next room, waiting for the response of confirmation.

"She's not in there." Maggie told her, placing the last of the dishes on the table cloth.

"Where is she?" Dale asked, concern clear in his voice as he stood from his seat.

'Shit.'

"She went to get Rick." I announced, the fork in my hand twisting uncomfortably. All heads turned to me, each one written in shock. I didn't like so many pairs of eyes on me, so I stared down at my plate to avoid them. The carrots looked nice today.

"Wha-and you waited until now to tell us?" Andrea questioned, her chair rocking backwards as she got to her feet.

I shrugged my shoulders, poking the vegetables as I fought to keep my nerves down. "She told me not to tell anyone." I replied in a small voice.

Shane threw his napkin onto the table and stood up, forcing a breath through his pursed lips. I could tell he was pissed but he was trying to keep calm. We didn't want him to lose his temper again, not after last time.

"Annabelle, when did she leave? How long ago?" His voice sounded strained, like the anger was clawing at his throat.

I swallowed nervously, the words that followed shaking as I spoke them. "An hour or two. It was before we started on dinner."

I jumped when Shane slammed a hand on the table next to me, inching away from him as subtly as I could.

"You can't keep things like this to yourself, kid." He almost yelled, the anger in his eyes like sparks of fire.

"Leave her be, Shane. It's done now, let's just figure it out." Dale walked around the table to stand between Shane and me, his hands held up defensively.

Shane glared down at the man before running a frustrated hand over his head, storming out of the house and towards the accumulation of vehicles. I saw Carl run upstairs, guilt stabbing me in the stomach when he avoided my apologetic gaze.

I took the stairs slowly and nervously, following the direction that Carl went until I reached a bedroom. Knocking to announce my presence, I whispered, "Carl?"

He ignored me as he stared out the window, looking towards the gates as a car's taillights flashed in the distance. That must've been Shane, determined to rescue the missing woman.

"Carl, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But I couldn't lie to your Mom, either. I promised I would keep it a secret." I sat on the bed near him and he looked down at his tangled fingers, a small sigh coming from his lips.

"It's not your fault. I'm just worried. My Mom and Dad are out there now, what if they don't come back?" He admitted sadly. He came to sit on the bed next to me and I held his hand in mine, willing as much comfort in the gesture as possible.

"They're gonna be back. This is your Dad we're talking about. He travelled through the whole city of Atlanta just to get back to you, nothing's gonna stop him this time." I smiled, squeezing his hand tightly. "And your Mom, she would never do anything to hurt you. All she wants is your Dad back."