𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍, rick grimes

TWENTY-EIGHT

      RANDALL WAS MISSING. HE HAD DISAPPEARED AND NOBODY KNEW where he had gone. Josie stood in front of the shed, watching as Rick and Daryl surveyed the scene. He seemed to have slip the cuffs, but they were secure and Josie thought he had help from someone.

      "What's happening?" Andrea asked as she and the others ran up.

      "Randall's missing," Josie replied.

      "Missing?" Lori asked. "How?"

      Josie shrugged and looked at Rick. "How long do you think he's been gone?"

      "It's hard to tell," Rick replied. "He must've slipped them."

      "Is that possible?" Carol asked.

      "It is if you've got nothing to lose," Andrea replied.

      "The door was secured from the outside," Hershel said.

      "There's no way he could've gotten out without help," Josie added.

      "RICK!" Shane shouted, appearing from the trees. "RICK!"

      "What happened?" Lori asked.

      "He's armed!" Shane replied. "He's got my gun!"

      "You okay?" Carl asked.

      "I'm fine," Shane replied. "Little bastard just snuck up on me, clocked me in the face."

      "All right, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house," Rick demanded. "Glenn, Daryl, come with us."

      "I'm coming too," Josie said.

      "No, mom," Parker grabbed her hand.

      "I'll be okay," Josie replied. "Go to the house with Lori, don't leave."

      Parker nodded and hugged her mother before running over to Lori, grabbing her hand as they made their way back to the house.

      "T, I'm gonna need that gun," Shane called.

      "Just let him go," Carol said. "That was the plan, was it? Just let him go?"

      "The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun," Rick replied.

      "Don't go out there!" Carol yelled. "You don't know what can happen!"

      "Get everybody back in the house!" Rick shouted. "Lock all the doors and stay put!"

      Josie, Daryl, Glenn, Rick, and Shane all headed into the woods to look for Randall. The brunette stuck close to Rick and Daryl, keeping a close eye on Shane, she didn't trust him too much right now.

      "I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out," Shane explained. "I'm not sure how long."

      "He couldn't have gotten far," Rick replied. "He's hobbled, exhausted."

      "And armed," Glenn added.

      "So are we," Rick replied before he looked at Daryl. "Can you track him?"

      "No, I don't see nothin'," Daryl replied as he looked for tracks, then he looked at Josie. "What about you?"

      Josie looked down at the ground for a moment and shook her head. "Nope."

      "Hey, look, there ain't no use in tracking him, okay?" Shane said. "He went that way. We just need to pair up, we spread out. We just chase him down. That's it."

      "Kid weighs a buck twenty-five soaking wet," Daryl said. "You trying to tell us he got the jump on you?"

      "I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, would you?" Shane asked.

      "All right, all right, knock it off," Rick said, then pointed at Daryl. "You, Glenn, and Josie start heading up the right flank. Me and Shane will take the left. Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other."

      They tracked far into the night and that's when Josie knew something wasn't right. "Guys, something's wrong."

      "What do you mean?" Glenn asked.

      "Have you guys not noticed how different Shane's been?" Josie asked. "He has tried to go against everything Rick has ordered, it's weird. It's dark now and we're no closer to finding Randall and I feel like we need to find Rick."

      "You got a light?" Daryl asked as Glenn tossed him his flashlight. "Come on."

      "We're just back to square one," Glenn said.

      "If you're gonna do a thing, you might as well do it right," Daryl said.

      Josie sighed. "Something's off, I know it."

      "There's two sets of tracks right here," Daryl pointed at the ground. "Shane must've followed him a lot longer than he said."

      "There's fresh blood on this tree," Josie said as Daryl pointed his flashlight at it.

      "There's more tracks," Daryl said. "Looks like they were caught in a tandem."

      Glenn got nervous and accidentally bumped into Daryl. "Sorry."

      "Yeah, there's a little dust up here," Josie added.

      "What do you mean?" Glenn asked.

      "It means something went down," Daryl replied.

      "This is getting weird," Glenn sighed.

      Josie sighed as she looked up and surveyed the woods, something deep down in her gut told her that something was wrong.

      "Hello, trouble," Daryl said, picking up a blindfold they used on Randall.

      All of a sudden, there was a rustle in the trees behind them. The trio darted behind two other trees as Glenn tossed Daryl his flashlight, who caught it as Josie unsheathed her knife.

      Glenn raised his weapon to kill the walker, but he faltered when he realized that the walker was Randall. He gasped and Randall knocked him to the ground as Daryl tried to shoot him in the head with his crossbow, but he missed. That allowed Josie to grab Randall's shirt and stab him in the head.

      "Nice," Daryl commented.

      "Thanks," Josie nodded.

      "Neck's broken," Daryl pointed out. "You can tell by the bruises," he turned Randall over and checked him for bite marks. "He's got no bites."

      "Yeah, none that you can see," Glenn replied.

      "No, I'm telling you, he died from this," Daryl argued.

      "How's that possible?" Glenn asked.

      "Shane killed Randall, just how he always wanted to," Josie replied. "We need to find Shane and Rick."