WILDFIRE -Beth Greene

Search Party

Gwen knew she didn't know Daryl well, or any of them, but she could tell it meant a lot him to find this little girl, try as he might to be nonchalant about everything.

"Stay quiet and stay sharp."

The group had now been fumbling around the forest for hours now and still no sign of Sophia, just some guy in a tent and recorded church bells.

That's where they were now, in some dusty old Baptist Church, cursing god himself. Well Gwen certainly was, sat on the steps on the church, shaming him for all he's taken when she heard the strangest conversation starting between Lori and Shane.

"Are you really leaving?"

"Don't you think it's best for all of us?"

"I think it is. What made you decide?"

Overwhelmed by her curiosity, Gwen sneaks over and peers around the side of the old building.

"Gotta back away. Just trying to be the good guy here, Lori." Good guy was already a word Gwen wouldn't associate with this man.

He continues, "Even if you don't see it, none of this was intended. I hope you know that. Well, don't matter as long as I said it."

"You're just gonna disappear? You're not even gonna tell Rick?"

"He'd only try to stop me. No, that's on you. You tell him what you want or tell him nothing at all. You're his wife."

"And Carl? We dragged him into this."

"I love Carl."

"He thinks you hate him."

"I'm trying to put some distance, I'm trying to make this easier. This ain't easy on any of us, least of all me. I'm the one who loses you."

Gwen pieces it together then, Shane and Lori. They were having an affair. Glenn had told her the story of how he saved some dumbass, his words, in a tank and it had turned out he'd been the father little Carl back at camp had so fiercely mourned. It must have started then, when Lori was the widow who only thought she'd lost her husband and Shane had been her knight in shining armour during her time of need.

Just then, she sees Lori spin on her heels and head in Gwen's direction, the girl snaps back as fast as she can but she can't make it up the steps before the older woman catches sight of her.

"Oh, Gwen, honey." The woman looks slightly lost for words, clearly worried about what the younger girl had heard.

Gwen tries to put on her best 'I know nothing' smile but she can tell Lori doesn't believe it from the way her face falls.

"It's not what it seems-"

"Pretty sure it must be." Gwen counters, "but you don't need to worry, I won't say anything. It's none of my business." She gave the woman, this time, an 'I solemnly swear' smile. Who was she to judge anyway, nothing was as black and white as it seemed and Gwen knew that more than most.

The older woman shares as grateful smile with the girl and heads inside the church, where Gwen can see Jessie, sat on one of the back benches. She'd always been the cheerful one, Jessie. She always knew the right things to say to please or comfort people, a skill that Gwen had never gotten the hang of.

After all they'd been through from such a young age, it had changed the course that they were set on. And even though they went through the same things, more or less, they came out so different on the other side.

Jessie knew she was strong and that her strength was in her kindness and compassion, which lead to people thinking she was weak.

People thought Gwen was the strong one, hardened by life, knowing when to be tough and cruel inline with self preservation but Gwen seemed to be the only one who could see how weak that really made her.

Gwen takes her place on the steps once more, her thoughts this time interrupted by Glenn Rhee.

"Hey, bud." Glenn had quickly taken to calling her that and Gwen had quietly realised he held the perfect funny to awkward ratio.

Smiling back at the boy beside her, Gwen replies, "Hey, Pizza Boy." Referring to his job before all this, at which Gwen had laughed at when Glenn had told her. It just didn't seem to fit someone so brave (not that she'd tell him she thought that).

Before they could say anything else, Rick and Shane call everyone out of the church to assemble under a near by tree.

"Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back l. Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area for another hour or so just to be thorough."

Gwen thought that could lead to losing more people and she was clearly not alone, "You're splitting us up. You sure?" Daryl said.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you."

"I wanna stay too. I'm her friend." Little Carl pipes up.

Rick nods and Lori hugs her son, "Just be careful, okay?"

"I will."