Waiting For the End || Blake Dixon Book One

Chapter 12 || Give 'em time and they will be fucking survivors.

Blake spent the rest of the day sitting on the front porch just outside the windows to the room Beth was in. She strummed away on the guitar and hummed to herself as she watched the sun drop in the sky. Rick and Glenn were yet to come back with Hershel from town and Blake knew Maggie was getting more and more nervous. Carl had wandered out and was sitting at her feet messing with his pocket knife whittling away at a stick.

"You think Beth will be okay?" He asked, breaking the silence they were in. Blake stopped strumming and chewed on her lip at the question, she had no clue what was going on with her in the first place.

"I hope so," she answered after a moment of consideration.

"Because you like her." He stated like it was a fact, and maybe it was.

"I mean, yeah, I guess so. She's not too bad, not as annoying as you," Blake said, teasing the boy. Carl just smiled at her and shoved her leg that was beside him.

"Hershel will help her. He saved me and he's helped you and your dad when you got hurt. He'll know what to do." Carl reassured, leaning his back into the girl's legs. Blake just hummed in acknowledgement, she really did hope he was right.

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After the sun had set they were ushered inside for dinner, Blake sat down next to Dale who handed her a roll that she accepted with a small smile. It was weird eating in the house again after all that had happened, and it felt like half of them were missing.

"They shouId've been back by now," Andrea said as her and Shane entered the dining room.

"Yeah. They just got holed up somewhere. We'II head out first thing tomorrow." Shane told her as he sat down loading his plate up. "Carl, l want you to keep your head up, okay? Your oId man, he's the toughest son of a–"

He was cut off by a stern Patricia. "No cussing in the house," she told him. Blake could tell Shane wasn't the biggest fan of that rule but he nodded.

"Sorry," he said returning to his plate. Blake loaded her own plate.

"Lori, dinner," Carol called out towards Beth's room.

"She's not in there." Maggie said, that seemed to catch everyone's attention.

"Where is she?" Dale asked with a concerned look on his face. No one answered and Blake held in a sigh, just what they needed was for Lori to go missing when Hershel, Rick and Glenn were all out and unaccounted for.

"Carl, when's the last time you saw your mom?" Shane asked after a beat.

"This afternoon," the boy answered.

"She was worried about Rick, asked me to look in on Carl." Andrea added and Blake's stomach dropped.

"She went after them?" She asked, looking over Dale at the woman.

"She didn't say that," Andrea answered quickly with a shake of her head.

"Nobody panic. Gonna be around here somewhere," Shane said standing quickly.

Seemed dinner was going to be delayed as they all stood to search for the missing woman. Blake decided she was going to find her dad, maybe he had a clue where she went off to or he went with her. She hadn't seen him since the stunt at the barn but she knew he was just upset about the fact that Sophia was dead in that barn the whole time.

Blake was halfway to where she could see her dad's fire glowing in the distance when Carol caught up to her. "You going to see your dad?" She asked once she caught up. Blake just grunted in confirmation, eyes fixed on the burning fire ahead of them.