Unbreakable threads

Chaper thirty-four: The pregnancy

After clearing his plate, Shane pushed his chair back and stood up, muttering something about needing some air. The tension in the room, the exhaustion from the day's fruitless search, and the growing turmoil inside him made the farmhouse feel suffocating. He stepped outside, letting the cool night air wash over him, trying to clear his head. His footsteps led him to the field near the farmhouse, where he wandered aimlessly, lost in thought.

But as he walked, something caught his eye—a glint of plastic in the grass, illuminated by the moonlight. He moved closer, frowning, and picked it up. His pulse quickened when he realized what it was: a pregnancy test. And it was positive.

Shock and confusion roiled within him. A million questions flooded his mind, each one more intense than the last. He clenched the test in his hand, feeling his anger build. Who was pregnant? In a place like this, where survival was already on a razor's edge, a pregnancy would change everything. But more than anything, the question that lingered in his mind was whose it was—and what that could mean for the fragile stability they'd all been trying to build.

Without thinking, Shane stormed back to the farmhouse, his steps heavy and determined, his mind a storm of suspicions and half-formed conclusions. He threw open the door, striding inside with the pregnancy test clenched in his fist. The group looked up, startled, as he marched over to the table and slammed it down in front of everyone.

"Who's is it?" he demanded, his voice loud and accusatory, his gaze sweeping over every face at the table. His eyes narrowed as he took in the expressions of the women around him—Maggie, Beth, Lori, Carol, Andrea—but for some reason, his gaze lingered on Alyssa, suspicion flashing in his eyes. There was something in the way she'd been acting lately, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. She'd been spending a lot of time with Daryl, and Shane's mind, already twisted by jealousy and protectiveness, jumped to the worst conclusions.

Alyssa's face turned a shade paler, her expression shifting from confusion to indignation as she realized he was looking at her. "Are you serious?" she snapped, her voice defiant but tinged with disbelief. She was barely able to process the accusation, let alone answer it.

Lori's heart sank as she watched the scene unfold, realizing with horror that the pregnancy test was hers. She hadn't been careful enough when she'd discarded it, hadn't thought anyone would stumble across it. Now, faced with Shane's anger and the intense gazes of everyone at the table, she felt trapped, torn between staying silent and revealing a secret that could shatter everything.

Shane's gaze fixed firmly on Alyssa, suspicion mingling with the anger in his eyes. In his mind, the pieces weren't aligning in any logical way, but his emotions were leading him down a dark path. Alyssa was a troubled young woman, that much was clear. She'd been spending a lot of time with Daryl, a man he'd already suspected of overstepping boundaries, even if he'd felt reassured earlier in the day. But now, standing there with the positive pregnancy test on the table, Shane's doubts resurfaced, twisting into unfounded conclusions as he tried to make sense of it all.

Alyssa felt her blood boiling, her fists clenching at her sides as Shane's accusatory stare bored into her. The implication was clear, and it hit a nerve she hadn't expected. All she'd wanted was to find some peace, to carve out her own place in this mess of a world, to connect with people she could trust—like Carl, like Daryl. But Shane's suspicion, his inability to see her for who she truly was, brought all of her frustration to the surface.

"It's not mine," she snapped, her voice rising in anger. "I wouldn't need something like that!" Her voice carried a hint of desperation, an edge that hinted at something deeper, something she hadn't yet voiced aloud. She felt the weight of her hidden truth bubbling up, the secret she'd kept close, afraid of how the group would perceive her if they knew. She wasn't interested in men the way Shane assumed, wasn't entangled in anything like that with Daryl or anyone else. Her gaze burned with defiance, daring Shane to challenge her further.