Lauren woke up late the next morning to an almost empty house. Daryl, Andrea, T-dog, and Shane had gotten up early to take care of Dale's body and it was decided that a funeral would be held in the afternoon. During the funeral, Rick gave a short speech about honoring Dale. To be honest, Lauren was only half paying attention, she kept replaying the previous day in her head. Randall's interrogation, lecturing Carl, arguing with Dale, the failed execution, Dale's death, and then everything with Daryl last night... It all felt like a haze.
After the funeral, it was decided that they would officially move their things into the house. Shane and Lauren stood at the back of the green Sudan, loading the trunk with wood planks and tools. The plan was for the two of them to drive out to the windmill to start building a platform for a lookout. It was all part of Rick's plan to make the farm safer.
Carl approached them when they had just about filled the car as much as possible. "Aunt Lauren, Uncle Shane?"
"Hey, kiddo." Lauren grunted as she lifted another board into the trunk.
Shane glanced at Carl before helping Lauren shove the wood into the vehicle. "Whatcha doin' wanderin' around here by yourself?"
"If I tell you guys something... will you promise not to tell my parents?" Carl asked hesitantly.
Lauren and Shane both paused, exchanging a look before turning to Carl. Shane shook his head before picking up another slab of wood. "That's probably a bad idea for all of us, bud."
Carl huffed in disappointment before turning to leave. Lauren stared at him for a second, cocking her head to the side. She had already covered for this kid so many times within the past few days she was getting tired of having the same conversation every day, but her curiosity won.
"Carl, wait, come back." She sighed, sitting herself on the edge of the trunk. Shane joined her, leaning against the side of the car as Carl returned. "What is it?"
Carl hesitated a moment, shifting his weight back and forth before reaching into his waistband and producing a handgun, but not just any handgun, Daryl's handgun.
"I took it from Daryl's motorcycle." He told them, avoiding eye contact. "If he found out I took it, he'd kill me."
Lauren was speechless. She ran her hands through her hair, taking in a deep breath. She had to stop herself from screaming at Carl, clenching her jaw and letting Shane do the talking.
"What the hell were you doing with this?" He asked, taking the gun.
Carl looked down. "It's my fault Dale is dead."
Shane furrowed his eyebrows. "Carl, why would you say that, man? Dale got bit by a walker-"
"I saw that walker! I was gonna shoot it!" Carl explained. "When he was stuck in the mud. I was... I was throwing rocks at him and stuff, out in the woods. I was gonna do it, shoot it right in the head. And it got free, came after me and...I ran away. If I had killed it, Dale would still be here."
"You what ?" Lauren's eyes widened and she felt her fists clench. "You mean to tell me that after everything I said to you yesterday you went out into the woods and started fucking with the walkers?"
Lauren had to stand up and walk a few steps away, trying to cool down. She was fuming. It literally felt like Carl was trying to give her a heart attack. Carl could barely look at his aunt, too scared of what she would do. He wasn't scared she would hurt him or anything, that was the last thing on his mind. No, he was more afraid to see the disappointment in her eyes.
"Carl...You need to hold onto this." Shane said, trying to shove the gun back into the boy's hands. Lauren's eyes snapped up.
"No!" Both she and Carl said in unison.
Shane glanced at Lauren before continuing. "You need to protect yourself. As long as I'm around you, nothing's gonna happen to you, Carl. But I can't keep my eyes on you 24/7. Only you can do that. Carl, take it. "
"I'm never touching another gun again!" Carl said, backing away. "Just have Aunt Lauren give it back to Daryl, he likes her so maybe he won't be as mad..."
Lauren took a step forward. "No, Carl, you can't just-"
"Just give it back to Daryl!" He shouted before running off.
Once Carl was gone, Lauren turned to Shane who had the same flustered look on his face. She sat back down on the back of the car, burying her face in her hands and taking a huge sigh.
"I swear that kid is going to kill me." She muttered.
Shane shook his head, still staring at where Carl had been standing just a moment ago. "You and me both, sister."
They finished loading the supplies and drove out to the old windmill. The two of them barely spoke on the drive out, only small comments about what the plan for building it was once they got there. Things had been tense between Lauren and Shane for quite some time now. She still loved him, of course, they were family. But she had felt his energy shift, something had been... off with him for a while, maybe even since the CDC. Lauren wasn't sure when exactly things had changed, just that they had.
"So, you with Rick on this whole Randall thing?" Shane finally asked once they parked the car below the windmill.
"What do you mean?" Lauren asked, hopping out of the car and walking around to the back, starting to unload the boards.
Shane followed her, grabbing a few boards as well and hauling them to the bottom of the structure. "I mean lettin' him go, you think it's the right call?"
Lauren shrugged. "I mean, it's not really up to me, is it? It's Rick's call."
"Yeah, I guess it's always Rick's call now." Shane muttered. Lauren paused what she was doing to glance at Shane. He had an irritated scowl as he picked up another block of wood.
"You never told me what happened out there. When you guys went out the first time." Lauren said, trying to casually bring up the topic that had been plaguing her mind.
Ever since Daryl's comment last night about Shane being dangerous Lauren had been replaying their return in her head. The first time they had gone out to drop off Randall, Rick, and Shane had come back looking like they had been through hell. And to make matters worse, they came back with Randall.
"What do you mean?" Shane played dumb, grabbing the last of the supplies and hauling it over with the others.
"I mean , you have a black eye, Rick is covered in bruises, and you both came back looking like hell." She said, placing a hand on her hip. "You expect me to believe that Randall took you both on and did that much damage?"
"We ran into a herd at the old elementary school." Shane shrugged like that was supposed to satisfy her question.
"Okay... that explains the blood but it doesn't explain the bruises." Lauren gave him a look. "I'm not stupid, Shane. I know what the aftermath of a fistfight looks like."
Rick had brought Shane over plenty of times after getting into it with one of the other boys in their grade. After the third or fourth time, Lauren learned how to stitch him up pretty quickly. He couldn't bullshit her with this.
"Things just got outta hand." Shane said.
"What the hell does that mean?" She started to press before Shane snapped.
"Just drop it, Lauren." His voice was stern and Lauren blinked in surprise before huffing in frustration.
"What the hell is going on with you?" She was sick of beating around the bush. Shane had never been someone Lauren felt she needed to worry about. In fact, for most of her life, he had been one of the few people she felt truly safe with. But for the past month, she was walking on eggshells every time she was around him and she hated it.
Shane turned around with an exasperated sigh. "What?"
"You have been so... intense lately. And I can't for the life of me figure out what it is that's bothering you so much. I mean, is it Lori? Andrea?"
"Andrea?" Shane looked at her, confused.
Lauren gave him a don't play dumb with me look. "Seriously? When you two came back from that search for Sophia her shirt was on backward and your belt was all twisted, it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together." Shane looked like a kid who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Lauren continued. "Look, I don't care what happened, your sex life is none of my concern... I just miss you. I miss the guy that you were before the world went to shit. I mean, you're my brother, Shane, and I love you but... you've changed."
"Yeah, I've changed. I got Carl and Lori out of Kings County, I kept em fed, and I made sure you didn't run off and get yourself killed in the city. I kept this group alive. Me. " His bitterness was evident as he spoke. "And then Rick shows up and now all of a sudden it's his call? He's the one makin' the decisions for everyone? Well let me tell you somethin, Lauren, I love Rick but he ain't got the guts to make the hard calls. I do. I changed because the world changed and Rick... he's the same. I'm gonna do whatever I gotta do to keep you Carl and Lori safe, you understand? And if Rick's got a problem with that... then he's just gonna have to deal with it."
Lauren stood there for a moment, hands on her hips, taking in all of what he had just said. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Before she could even begin to try and form a response she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She turned around to find Lori walking up to the two of them.
"Hey..." She looked between the two of them like she wasn't sure if she was interrupting. "Lauren, honey, could you head back to the house and help T-dog finish moving things in?"
"Yeah, of course," Lauren said, giving one last glance to Shane before she took off towards the house, the whole conversation leaving a bad taste in her mouth.
Moving the rest of their things into the house didn't take long. By the time Lauren reached T-dog and the others, there were only five boxes left on the porch. Taking the last box, which happened to be the one filled with her belongings, she walked inside. She stood in the doorway of the living room, scanning the room for a space to claim. It seemed that everyone had already taken up most of the downstairs. She walked into the kitchen and caught the tail end of a conversation between Maggie and Glenn.
"You can put your stuff in my room." She told him.
"With your dad in the house?" Glenn asked nervously, noticing Lauren in the doorway before turning back to Maggie. "I- I'll just put my stuff in the living room..."
Glenn quickly left, heading into the living room. Maggie let out a defeated sigh before looking up and noticing Lauren. Her face flushed a little with embarrassment. "You heard all that?"
Lauren nodded. "Just give him time. Glenn's a good guy he just... freaks himself out."
Maggie nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. Lauren shifted awkwardly before adjusting the box in her arms. "Well, I should probably find a place to put this."
"You can stay upstairs with me if you want." Maggie offered quickly.
Lauren laughed. "Maggie, we're already invading your downstairs, you don't need to give up your room too."
"No, really, it's okay," Maggie reassured her. "It's packed down here and I've got lots of space. Beth comes and stays with me half the time anyway. It'll be like a sleepover."
Lauren couldn't hold back the smile that spread across her face. "Okay."
After moving her things into Maggie's room, Lauren headed back downstairs, looking to see if there was anything else useful she could do. She walked out onto the porch midway through Rick and Shane's conversation.
"I'll have Lori talk to him." Rick sighed.
"I think he wants to talk to his father." Shane replied.
"This about Carl?" She interjected, knowing exactly why Shane was talking to Rick. He nodded before turning his attention back to Shane.
"Look, I wish I could talk to him, but I need this Randall thing done already."
Shane shook his head in frustration. "Man that needs to wait. Okay?"
Lauren watched Rick's jaw clench. "It's my call."
"How about I ride out with Daryl? Be good for us to spend a little time together." Shane volunteered, glancing at Lauren as he finished.
Rick shut him down before Lauren had the chance to. "Nah. I need you here."
"Don't think I'll handle it right?"
Lauren rolled her eyes. "You're both making this way more dramatic than it needs to be. Shane, stay here and help with moving us into the house. Rick, go talk to your kid." She said sternly. "I'll ride out with Daryl and Randall."
"No, this whole Randall situation was because I brought him back here. I need to deal with it." Rick said.
Shane once again shook his head in frustration.
"You know, your son..." He huffed, reaching into his waistband and pulling out Daryl's gun that Carl had given to them earlier. "He gave me this."
Rick was stunned as he looked at the gun Shane had set on the porch rail. Shane continued with a scoff. "But you should get back to Daryl, right? Freein that prisoner... more important to you than Carl."
With that Shane stormed off, leaving Rick and Lauren on the deck. Rick picked up the gun, looking at it.
"Go talk to him, please." Lauren said, grabbing Rick's attention. "Look, I talked to him yesterday but there's only so much Lori and I can say. Shane's right, he needs his father."
Rick contemplated a moment before nodding. "You sure you'll be alright with Daryl and Randall."
"Piece of cake."
The truck was packed and ready to go within thirty minutes. Carol had put together some supplies for the boy. It was nothing much, just a bit of food, water, and a hunting knife, but Lauren thought that was more than generous.
"You only got so many arrows..." T-dog said, walking up to Daryl and holding out a handgun.
Lauren looked at the weapon and felt her stomach twist. "Is that Dale's gun?"
T-dog nodded and Daryl took it, nodding in appreciation before shoving it into his waistband. "Wish I knew where the hell mine was."
Lauren looked down, stifling a laugh. She shouldn't be laughing, this was serious. Carl had stolen Daryl's gun right off his bike, he could've been hurt and if Daryl found out he would be pissed... but it was a little funny.
"I'll go get Randall." T-dog said, walking off towards the barn, leaving Lauren and Daryl in silence as they stood by the car and awaited his return.
They hadn't really spoken to each other since the previous night and honestly, Lauren wouldn't know what to say if they did. She wasn't even entirely sure what had been real and what had been a dream. She vaguely remembered feeling Daryl's arm around her last night but had that happened or had she imagined it? Had her brain fabricated the whole thing as a way to create some sense of safety?
All she knew for certain was that when she had woken up she had been alone. So if it had happened, did he regret it? Had he woken up and realized he had made an error and quickly slipped away hoping she would forget about it?
A million possibilities were running through her mind as she waited for T-dog to return. He finally did, but her brow furrowed in confusion when he ran up to them... alone.
"Uh, guys, we got a problem." He said, his features laced with worry.
"What? What's going on? Where's Randall?" Lauren questioned.
"The shed is empty." He said, and Lauren's heart caught in her throat. "Randall is gone..."