It Comes With The Name

Chapter 15: Secrets Get You Killed

"How the hell did this happen?" Lori questioned, crossing her arms. Lori, Rick, Shane, Lauren, and Dale were grouped up trying to figure out how to deal with the situation. Carl sat a few feet away.

"It's my fault. I let him into the RV." Dale sighed. "He said he wanted a walkie, that you sent him for one." He pointed to Lauren.

Lauren's jaw tightened and she sent Carl, who was clearly listening to the conversation, a frustrated look. "No. I never sent him for anything."

"So on top of everything else, he lied." Lori pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "What's he thinking?"

"He wanted to learn how to shoot. Asked me to teach him." Shane spoke. "Now, it's none of my business but I'm happy to teach him. It's your call."

Lori shook her head. "Well, I'm not comfortable with it."

Shane looked down, not responding but obviously not agreeing with her decision.

"Do not make me out to be the unreasonable one here. Rick?" She looked at her husband.

Rick hesitated. "I know. I have my concerns too, but..."

"There is no but. He was just shot!" She cut him off. "He is just back on his feet and he wants a gun?"

"It's better than him being afraid of them." Rick reasoned. "There are guns in camp for a reason. He should learn to handle them safely."

"Unbelievable. Lauren?" She turned to her sister-in-law for input.

Lauren took a step back and raised her arms in surrender, shaking her head. "He's not my kid."

Lori sighed, turning back to Rick. "Well, I don't want my kid walking around with a gun."

"How can you defend that?" Rick said. "You can't let him just go around without protection."

"He's as safe as he'll ever be right here." She said, gently placing a hand on her husband's face. "Look, everything you're saying makes perfect sense. It feels wrong. I mean I didn't feel good about him following you out into the woods and I wish I'd said something. I should've gone with my gut-"

"He's growing up, thank god. We've got to start treating him like an adult."

"Then he needs to act like one! I mean, lying to Dale, stealing from Lauren, sneaking behind our backs? He's not mature enough to handle a gun."

"I'm not gonna play with it, Mom." Carl jumped up from where he had been sitting. "It's not a toy... but I wanna look for Sophia and I wanna defend our camp. I can't do that without a gun."

Rick turned to Lori, placing a hand on her arm. "Shane taught Lauren how to shoot when she wasn't much older than Carl. He's the best instructor I know." He said quietly. "I've seen him teach kids younger than Carl."

Lori shifted anxiously. "Is there even enough space in the cars for him to go?"

"He can take my place." Lauren offered. "He needs it more than I do. But it's your call."

Lori looked at Shane, then Lauren, then Rick, then finally to Carl. She sighed and walked over to him. "You will take this seriously and you will behave responsibly. And if I hear from anyone in this camp that you're not living up to our expectations..."

"He won't let you down." Rick said.

Lori gave a small nod and looked at Carl one more time. "And you owe your Aunt Lauren an apology."

Carl's gaze shifted from his mom to Lauren and she saw the guilt in his eyes. He made his way over to her. "I'm sorry..."

He looked up at her nervously and Lauren sighed, squatting down so they were at eye level.

"Look," She said, placing a hand on each of his shoulders. "I know you were just trying to protect the camp, alright? I get that. But you cannot just take my things like that. Especially something that dangerous."

"It won't happen again." He promised.

"Oh, I know it won't." She said. "Cause if you do anything like this again I promise you I am not going to be this chill. Got it?"

He nodded.

"Alright. I love you, kid."

"Love you too."

"If you're gonna do this you have to listen to Shane. You understand?" Rick reminded Carl, heading towards the vehicles.

Carl nodded. "Yeah, Dad."

Almost the entire group had managed to pile into two cars, T-dog's blue pickup and a green SUV Shane had picked up back on the highway. Lauren was lounging on an old patio swing that had been left out by the Greene family, watching the others split themselves among the vehicles.

"You comin?" Shane nodded to Glenn who was leaning against a tree a few feet away from you.

"I gotta help Dale clean the spark plugs on the R.V." He blurted out. "He said he's gonna teach me mechanics, I should probably go look for him."

"You found me." Lauren jumped a bit as Dale seemingly spawned beside Glenn at the mention of his name. Shane gave him a questioning look and the old man shrugged. "He's a good learner."

With that, Shane hopped into the driver's seat and the two vehicles drove off.

"Well, that was probably the worst lie I've ever seen." Lauren snickered.

Glenn, who apparently hadn't noticed her sitting there, immediately stiffened up. "Lauren," he chuckled nervously. "Shouldn't you be at gun training?"

Closing the book she had been reading, Lauren made her way over to the two men, narrowing her eyes. "Gave my spot to Carl. What the hell is going on with you."

Glenn stepped back, growing increasingly more anxious. "What do you mean?" He said, looking helplessly at Dale.

Lauren may have only been friends with Glenn for a few weeks, but the two of them had grown quite close. On top of that, he was a horrible liar so she knew something was up.

"Don't play dumb with me, Rhee. You've been avoiding me ever since I caught you sneaking back into camp last night and you've been super jumpy. Dale, I know you've seen it too."

Dale sighed, throwing Glenn a sympathetic look. "She's right, son. Spark plugs? You wanna tell us what's going on?"

Glenn shifted nervously, looking at Dale. "You're old- you know things. So..." Glenn fidgeted with his hands as he tried to figure out how to word his question. "What if somebody told you something that somebody else should know but-"

Lauren looked at him funny as he stuttered out the confusing sentence. He was doing the same thing he had done the day before when he asked about Maggie.

"Son, stop being dramatic. Spit it out." Dale said, giving Glenn an equally confused look. Glenn looked between Lauren and Dale before finally nodding.

"There-" He drew in a shaky breath. Lauren wasn't sure what she had been expecting him to say, but nothing could have prepared her for the words that were about to come out of his mouth. "There's walkers in the barn and Lori's pregnant."