Lottie Grimes in the Apocalypse

Chapter 12

Lottie's POV
I sat with Carol near the railing of the road looking into the forest as we waited for Daryl and my dad to return safely, with Sophia.

I held Carol in my arms as she sniffled "Why aren't we all out there looking? Why are we moving cars?" Carol asks making me nod in agreement and look back over at the others "We have to clear enough room so I can get the R.V. turned around as soon as it's running. Now that we have fuel we can double back to a bypass that Glenn flagged on the map" Dale explains.

"Going back's going to be easier than trying to get through this mess" Shane adds "We're not going anywhere till my daughter gets back" Carol says shooting up from our position "Hey, that goes without saying" Lori says reaching out to touch her, but Carol shrugs her off.

This, for some reason, makes Lori glare at me. I roll my eyes and think 'Well, I'm not the one who prevented her from getting her daughter away from walkers.'

"Rick and Daryl, they're on it, okay? Just a matter of time" Shane says "Can't be soon enough for me. I'm still freaked out from that herd that passed us by, or whatever you'd call it" Andrea says "Yeah, what was that? All of them just marching along like that?" Glenn asks "A herd. That sounds about right. We've seen it. It's like the night camp got attacked. Some wandering pack, only fewer. Okay. Come on, people. We still got a lot to do. Let's stay on it. Let's go, come on" Shane says not bothering to question their behavior.

Shane's been working on a car for the past half hour, I'm not sure why, but I stopped caring about what he does since he started sleeping with Lori.

Carol situates herself back next to me as Carl runs over carrying something "Lottie! Shane!" He hollers excitedly "Carl, what happened?" Lori asks worriedly while I ask "What'd you find now, Bubba?" "Lots! I found something cool. Shane, check it out. It's an arsenal!" He answers me as he rolls out the mat what was actually a holder for knifes and an axe.

"That's cool, bud. Go give 'em to Dale" Shane says dismissively "Check this one out. Whoa, it's a hatchet" Carl pulls it out to show us "Carl, honey, please just give those to Dale" I say as Lori says "Be careful. Don't play with those" "They're really sharp" Carl says boastfully "What did I just say?" Lori asks exasperated "Can I keep one? Carl asks "Are you crazy?" Lori demands "No way. Lottie, Shane, tell her to let me keep one" Carl pleads.

Before I can say anything Shane snaps "Hey, man, go give them all to Dale now. Go" Carl deflates and gathers it up before trudging off. Carol and I give Shane a look "Are you fucking serious?" I snap making Shane look up, startled.

I stand up and say "You have no right, whatsoever, to talk to Carl like that! He was just excited and wanted to make you proud of him, he's a kid and he sees you as a second father figure" I then walk after him with Carol tailing me.

We managed to catch up to him "Carl!" I call catching his attention. He looks up at me and I try to run up to his side but my run is starting to look like a waddle "About your question, I think it's best that we ask dad and Daryl about teaching you how to use one of those before you actually keep it" he looks at me and asks "Really?" I nodded and said "Yeah, we're living in the apocalypse, aren't we? We need all hands on deck" Carol chimes in saying "I know I'd feel a lot safer if you were protecting camp, and so would your future nieces or nephews" this brought a smile to Carl's face.

He suddenly frowns again before asking "Is Shane mad at me?" I blinked and Carol and I exchanged looks before I answered "No, he and Lori just got into an argument. Grown up stuff. He's just taking it out on you, it's not fair and it's not right, but that's all" Carl nods and Carol says "You didn't do anything wrong sweetheart, c'mon let's get those to Dale" the three of us then walk to the R.V.