Safe haven | Rick Grimes

018. THEY'RE NOT GONNA TRUST EITHER OF US

Chapter eighteen

"They're not gonna trust either of us."

Heading back inside, the two came through the door with wide, panicked eyes.

"What happened?" Hershel asked immediately.

"There was a gunshot," Lori told the room.

Andrea stood up, her hand instantly going to her weapon. "I'm going after them."

"Don't," Lori stopped her, shaking her head. "They could be anywhere. And if that gunshot was from Randall and he comes back, we're gonna need you here."

Before anyone else could speak, the front door rattled open. Daryl and Glenn walked in, their expressions grim. Daryl scanned the room, his brows furrowing. "Rick and Shane ain't back?"

"No," Lori said, her voice tight. "We heard a shot."

"We heard it too," Daryl muttered.

"Maybe they found Randall," Lori suggested, holding onto a desperate shred of hope.

"We found him," Daryl cut in flatly.

Patricia stepped forward. "Is he back in the shed?"

"He's a walker," Daryl stated.

Hershel looked between Glenn and Daryl, his medical mind working. "Did you find the walker that bit him?"

"No, that's the weird thing," Glenn shared, sounding thoroughly spooked. "He wasn't bit."

"His neck was broke," Daryl added.

The words hit Scarlett like a physical blow. Suddenly, Dr. Jenner's final whispered words at the CDC echoed in her mind. We're all infected. It didn't matter if you were bit or not. If you die, you turn.

Unaware of Scarlett's internal panic, Patricia nodded slowly. "So he fought back."

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other," Daryl explained, his eyes narrowing as he pieced it together. "And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. No, they were together."

Lori's face went pale as a terrible realization began to set in. "Would you please go back out there? Find Rick and Shane. Find out what on earth is going on."

"You got it," Daryl nodded, turning on his heel to head back into the dark.

"Thank you," Lori called after him.

Scarlett scanned the crowded room, a sudden, cold dread pooling in her stomach. She furrowed her brows, looking around frantically. "Where's Carl?"

"Upstairs," Maggie reassured her.

Scarlett didn't wait. She turned around and headed straight for the stairs.

Heading upstairs, Scarlett checked all the bedrooms. In one of them, she spotted a pair of binoculars sitting on a table. She picked them up, turning toward the doorway.

"Carl?" she called out. No one answered. He didn't come walking into the room.

Panic setting in, she ran back downstairs. In the living room, Andrea was already grabbing the gun bag while Patricia moved around, turning off the lights to secure the house. Scarlett pushed past them and hurried outside to find the rest of the group.

"I can't find Carl," she told them breathless.

"What?" Daryl snapped, turning around.

Lori's eyes went wide. "Maggie said he was upstairs!"