western nights ( shane walsh )

2.14 ; gut instinct

In a circle around Carl, the air was thick with tension as Lori, Shane, Rick, and Dale focused their attention on the young boy. Silence hung heavily in the air, each person awaiting an explanation. Carl, however, remained silent, his gaze fixed on the ground, a mixture of guilt and defiance in his eyes.

Natalie, standing with her arms crossed, observed her little brother with a complex swirl of emotions. She felt a twinge of regret for ratting him out, understanding the weight of the consequences.

Yet, beneath that sympathy, there was a resolute understanding that she couldn't allow him to put himself in harm's way again. The echoes of past incidents where she blamed herself for his injuries still haunted her, and she couldn't bear the thought of perpetuating that destructive pattern.

Lori took the gun that Rick gave her and put it into her pocket. "How the hell did this happen?" Questioning the group that was standing among her.

"Well, it's my fault. I let him into the R.V." Dale tried to take the blame standing there with hands resting inside of his pockets. "He said he wanted a walkie, that you sent him for one." Motioning in the direction of Rick, Carl kept on digging herself into a deeper and deeper hole.

"So on top of everything else, he lied" Lori continued to try and get this through her head.

Carl looked over at the group discussing him. Natalie met eyes with her little brother before turning to the adults and defending him. "He wanted Shane to teach him how to shoot." Trying to get on his good side again. "I mean, he sees everyone else doing it....-" Natalie now felt like she had gotten the idea of protecting everyone inside of Carl's head by accident causing her to haunt herself with the idea of it.

"If he sees everyone running towards a Walker would he join?" Lori tried to prove a point between the group. Natalie ducked her head down not wanting to answer that but knowing her brother.

Shane stood next to Natalie staring at the little boy. "I'm happy to do it. It's your call.'

"Well I'm not comfortable with it" She chuckled thinking it was crazy that no one seemed to see the problem with Carl having a gun and wanting to shoot it.

Letting out a deep breath biting the side of his jaw, Rick looked at his best friend trying to come up with some kind of in-between for them. "Oh, don't make me out to be the unreasonable one here. Rick?" Lori turned to her husband not knowing what to say.

"I know. I have my concerns too, but--"

"There's no but. He was just shot." Natalie bit down on her lip wanting to tell them that he was just as scared as everyone else was just hiding it from his parents. "He's just back on his feet and he wants a gun?"

Shifting in his position trying to find the light inside of the situation. "Better than him being afraid of 'em." Looking in the direction of the RV once more. "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." Lori stared into his eyes trying to make him understand. "Natalie's an adult, she can hold herself with a gun...Carl is a kid." Natalie had taken a second hearing different words coming out of her mom's mouth, being pregnant now made her a woman inside Lori's eyes.

"You can't let him go around without protection." Rick continued to argue with her in a soft tone.

"He's as safe as he'll ever be right here." Lori finished off. "Look everything you're saying makes perfect sense but it feels wrong. I mean, I didn't feel good about him following you out into the woods. And I wish I'd said something. I should've gone with my gut. He's gotta be mature enough to handle a gun."