Safe haven | Rick Grimes

011. DO SOMETHING NICE FOR HERSHEL AND HIS PEOPLE

Chapter eleven

"Do something nice for Hershel and his people."

The next morning, Scarlett was helping Carol with the laundry, the two of them working in tandem to hang damp clothes on the line. Lori came walking up to the station, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I can't believe I slept in," Lori said, sounding a bit guilty.

"You must've needed it," Carol replied warmly.

"We would've woken you if we needed the extra hands," Scarlett added, adjusting a wooden clothespin.

Lori offered a small smile, reaching into the basket. "You can wake me up whenever you want. Especially on laundry day."

"We can manage," Carol said. As the three of them continued hanging the garments, Carol paused, holding a shirt in her hands. "I had an idea I wanted to run by you two."

"What's that?" Lori asked.

"That big kitchen of theirs got me thinking," Carol admitted, looking toward the main house. "I wouldn't mind cooking in a real kitchen again. Maybe we could all pitch in and make dinner for Hershel and his family tonight." She turned to grab more clothes, her voice dropping slightly. "I'm just... looking for things to keep my mind occupied."

"Well, after everything they've done for us, seems like the least we can do," Lori agreed.

"Do one of you mind extending the invitation?" Carol asked.

Lori and Scarlett exchanged a glance, both furrowing their brows.

"It would just feel right coming from one of you," Carol explained.

"Why?" Scarlett asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, Lori is Rick's wife," Carol shared, "and we've all seen you talking with Rick and Hershel together."

Before they could discuss it further, Rick and Shane walked past the laundry lines, geared up for the day. "Morning, guys," Rick called out. "Let's get going. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

Scarlett watched them go, then turned back to Carol with a reluctant sigh. "Fine. I'll see what I can do. But don't expect me to actually cook anything. I was a surgeon—sandwiches and takeout were the extent of my culinary skills."

Lori chuckled softly. "And that is exactly why we always invited you over to our house for dinner."

Sometime later, Scarlett stood near the edge of the camp, staring up at the farmhouse. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, weighing how she was supposed to approach Hershel. It felt like asking to take over his kitchen might overstep the strict boundaries he had set. Rick had just convinced him to consider letting them stay, and the rest of the group didn't know how fragile that truce was. Realizing that asking Maggie might be the safer, more diplomatic route, Scarlett started to move.

A sudden scoff cut through her thoughts.

Scarlett turned to see Shane walking up to her, a bitter look on his face. She furrowed her brows. "What?"

Shane shook his head, looking out toward the tree line. "It's..it's Rick, you know? He's got every abled body out in those woods, scouring for a little girl we know is likely dead."

Scarlett stared at him, the harsh reality of his words sinking in. "You want him to call off the search."

"Because everything now is about survival, Scarlett," Shane pressed, his voice dropping into a harsh whisper. "You know that. Your entire life has been about that. But all Rick does is spread us thinner and thinner. I'm trying to keep all of us alive, and he's always running off to save cats from trees."