Daughter of a Dixon ✔️

17: Do What You Have To

When I woke up the next morning (even though I hardly slept at all on the ground), Dad wasn't anywhere in sight. After I got fully awake, I decided to walk down to the farmhouse where everyone else was; I didn't want to be alone near the woods any longer than I had to be.

As I was walking down to the farm, even from a far distance away, I could see something that made me smile; Rick had returned.

"You're back!" I exclaimed as I got closer, grinning.

He turned to me, and smiled as well. "Yeah, I am. Lori, Shane, Hershel, Glenn; we're all back, we're all okay."

"I'm glad Hershel's back, I was kinda worried for Beth. Is she doing okay now?"

"... Hershel's gonna help her, you don't need to worry about that. Alright?"

By his evasive answer, I could tell that Beth wasn't entirely okay. I was slightly worried then, but Rick shot me a reassuring smile and patted my shoulder. "Alright, I've gotta go take care of something, but, like I said, don't worry; it'll all be okay."

"What do you have to go do?" I asked, curious.

Rick let out a hum, probably thinking about how to phrase his words. "Last night, we found a guy... we're trying to figure out if he's safe or not."

"Do you think he is?" I asked.

He sighed. "I don't know... with Beth under the weather and Lori... Lori pregnant, I don't wanna take any risks."

"Lori's pregnant?" I asked, my voice full of surprise.

Rick's face seemed to sadden just a little as he answered with, "yeah, she is."

I smiled, and nodded my head. "That's great, I'm happy for you."

Rick chuckled, somewhat incredulously, and said, "thank you," before giving me one last smile and walking off. I watched him head towards the barn, and instantly got curious as to what he was doing. I saw him, almost shyly, open the barn door and step inside, closing it quickly behind him.

"SIDNEY!"

I gasped and jumped harshly, turning around to see who had yelled my name. When I saw Carl, grinning and laughing, I let out a breath.

"Geez, Carl, you scared me bad!" I exclaimed, placing a hand over my racing heart.

"Uh, yeah, that was the point," he laughed. "You were just really focused on the barn, like you were in a trance or something. I had to."

"Yeah..." I muttered, looking back towards the building. I had no idea what was going on inside it, but I had a feeling that, whatever it was, wasn't good. And for some reason, I had a nagging urge to find out what was going on.

"Hey, Carl... do you know anythin' about the new guy they brought here last night?" I asked, turning back to face him.

He shook his head. "Not really. Shane and Daryl took him in the barn, I haven't seen him since."

"Do you wanna find out what they're doin' in there?" I asked him.

A mischievous smirk spread across his face. "Let's do it."