Pincushion and Beanpole Take On The Walking Dead

Tell It To the Frogs

"You remember what we talked about?" She whispered, leaning her head by Emma's ear. "Not talking to crazy people?"

Emma nodded, still staring at the man.

"He's crazy. You make sure you're never alone with him."

Emma nodded again and inched into her further, trying to put more distance in between her and the man with hellfire eyes.

They watched as the man straightened and walked towards Morales.

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?"

"New guy...he got us out." Glenn said, pointing towards Rick who had continued to hang back by the truck. Perhaps he had felt the same awkwardness and decided to avoid the situation altogether.

"New guy?" The fluffy-haired man asked.

Morales paused in his affectionate whispers to his family. "Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town. Hey, helicopter boy!" He called to Rick. "Come say hello. The guy's a cop like you."

That man was a cop? No way. Dude was giving off some major bad juju.

Everything seemed to stop as Rick approached the group from the truck. The girls watched Shane's mouth drop open in shock and the awkwardness increased ten-fold. Rachel was sure the two men knew each other and yet it didn't look like the man was all that happy to see Rick. The reason soon became apparent as the woman and boy looked over, noticing Rick for the first time.

"Oh my god." Rick whispered and nearly fell to the ground.

Both the woman and her boy ran to Rick, pushing through the group.

"Dad! Dad!" The boy cried as he leapt into his father's arms.

Rick took the boy in his arms and fell to his knees, crying.

Rick sobbed as he pressed kisses to the boy's cheeks and forehead as the dark-haired woman drew near. "Carl!" He instantly hugged them both.

Rachel and Emma looked at each other and smiled.

"Awww!" They sang in unison.

She grinned in happiness over the obviously long-awaited reunion, pleased that in all the death and sadness and fear that filled their days there was still something good to be seen as well. And yet, as she glanced at the supposed cop Rick knew, she knew something wasn't right. He tried to look pleased that Rick was back, but as he looked at the woman it was clear that Rick's sudden reappearance would change the plans he had for her. His eyes darkened, as if already forming a plan to get what he wanted and to eradicate anyone that got in his way.

It took hours for the introductions to be made and additional tents to be set up. As Rachel and Emma sat on the outer edge of the campfire, it was clear that although Rick had been accepted into the group, they had not been so lucky. Maybe it was the fact he was married to Lori, who was already part of the group. Or maybe it was the fear they had that the dogs were going to draw walkers to their camp, even though neither dog had barked once.

In the eyes of the group, they were just more mouths to feed. Worse, they didn't bring anything useful with them. No guns, no food; the only supplies they had were useless when it came to helping the others. Emma's tendency to stim had immediately put off several members of the group, in particular Shane. Rachel's explanation of Emma's autism had done little to alleviate the discomfort.

"Great." Shane barked, throwing his hands up in the air. "We got a fuckin' headcase with us now."

"She's not a headcase, Fluffernutter. Autism doesn't mean crazy. Something you should know very well."