A Broken World

Twenty-Nine

Present

Daryl stayed in the house for the night, but the next day, he was back in his own tent. Carl was finally doing better, at least enough for him to be out and about. I was dropping some wood by the fire pit when I overheard Glenn talking to Lori. “Did you tell Rick?” She only looked up at him as an answer. I tuned out the rest of the conversation, deciding it was none of my business. After talking to her, Glenn went around with a crate of peaches and some jerky for everyone.

When he came up to me, he was so distracted that he wasn't even looking at me. “Are you okay?” I asked, taking a peach. He flinched a little, head whipping around to look at me. “What? Yeah. I'm fine… Why?” He rushed out. I narrowed my eyes at him, taking in his nervous expression. “You're lying, but I'm not going to press.” I took a bite of the peach and walked off. I wanted to check in on Daryl, but again, I found myself listening in on a conversation I shouldn't have been.

“You were tryin’ to protect the group,” Daryl said. There were a few seconds of silence. “I don't think yn saw it like that. She was pretty upset that I shot you.” I heard Daryl scuff before he said, “Nah, she was pissed because you shot her. She doesn't give a damn about me.” That hurt a little to hear him say I don't care about him. “She cares. She was more pissed that you got shot than herself. I don't know your history with her, and I'm not going to ask, but she does care about you. I doubt she ever stopped.” There was more silence before Andrea walked out of Daryl's tent.

I quickly made myself look like I was just walking up to the tent when she looked up. “Yn, look, I'm sorry.” I put my hand up, cutting her off. “I know. You were protecting the group. I'm sorry for going off on you like I did. Just next time…make sure you can see what you're shooting at clearly.” She smiled at me and nodded her head, then walked away.

I took a deep breath and popped my head into Daryl’s tent. “Hey, how are you feeling?” I asked, stepping completely inside. He looked up from the book he had in his hands and shrugged. “M'fine. You?” I nodded, “Same. Not the first time I've been shot and probably won't be the last,” I say. He looks up at me, well he looks up at the bandage on my shoulder. “How many times have ya been shot?” He asked. I walked a little further into the tent and slowly lowered myself to sit on the floor and crossed my legs.

“Well, there was the time I told you about. Then there was the time before that. We were in the middle of a shoot out with a suspect. He was wanted for the disappearance and murder of a teenage girl. He had another victim in the house with him, and when we surrounded him, he kind of just went nuts. I pulled my shirt to show the scar on my stomach. Luckily, it went straight through. I didn't even realize I had been shot at first; not until it was all over.” I pulled my shirt down and cleared my throat. “Sounds like you've seen a lot of action,” he said.

I hummed, “Yeah. The city is full of bad people. I guess it still is, actually. Except now, they all roam free without worry of being caught. The world is a lawless place now, and anything can happen. To be honest, I'm more scared of the living than I am of the dead.” Daryl chewed on his bottom lip and nodded his head. Things fell quiet between us, neither of us saying anything more. I looked at the book he was fiddling with in his hands. The Mystery of the Missing Man. It's such a fitting title for everything we have all been dealing with these past few days. First, it was Merle, and now it's Sophia.

“You going to heShawith target practice?” I looked up at Daryl and shook my head. “No. I think I'm just going to stay here away from people who don't know how to shoot.” He huffed out a laugh. It took a little while, but eventually, we started talking more without it being awkward. Glenn had popped his head in to check if either of us needed anything. He and Maggie were going to be riding into town again to grab a few things. “Nope, we're good. Thanks, Glenn.”

Later on, everyone besides Andrea and Shane came back from target practice. Apparently, Shane took Andrea out to do a little more practice. Rick said she was the best one out of them all. She just needed a more difficult target. Shortly after everyone else was back though Glenn and Maggie came back from their run. I was suspecting something was going on with Lori, but I wasn't sure what; not until they got back.

Maggie marched right up to Lori and started throwing things on the ground. Lori was trying to get her to come into the tent where it was more private, but Maggie wasn't having any of it. “We got your lotion, reader's digest, abortion pills!” They didn't see me standing near the RV, and I didn't make myself known. Today was just full of eavesdropping. But at the same time, Lori didn't really hide shit that well. After Maggie stormed off, Lori picked everything up and went into her and Rick's tent. Glenn walked in shortly after and was out within a few seconds.

Look, I know I should mind my own business. But this was getting out of control. If she is pregnant, then she needs to tell Rick. Of course, everyone will know that it's not Rick's seeing as Rick hasn't been back for that long. I wasn't too sure about Rick yet, I mean, he's a good guy, but he's still dealing with things like it's the old world and that's just not going to work anymore.

When I saw Glenn disappear, I walked to the tent and stood at the entrance. “You know you should just tell your husband that you're pregnant with his best friend. No, having a baby in this new world full of the dead where any little noise could mean death isn't ideal. But you should at least talk to him first before you make any rash decisions. She looked at me with wide eyes, her mouth hung open like she was going to say something. “Don't worry, I won't say anything. But you should.”