Andrea had assisted in manoeuvring one of the cars out of the way, the grinding clash of metal against metal filling the tense air. Shane expertly guided the vehicle into position as Rick skillfully parked, both men knowing they were here to stay for a while.
The recent events had left an indelible mark on the group, and the search for Sophia still lingered, casting a shadow over their makeshift camp.
Carol stood on the outskirts, her gaze fixed on the dense forest, a silent plea for her daughter's return etched on her face. Meanwhile, Natalie approached the car Shane was parking, her hands firmly planted on her hips. Shane's directive interrupted her thoughts.
"Go help with scavenging, don't worry about Rick right now," he instructed, the weight of his words sinking in.
"I'm going to help look for her, Shane. She's a little girl lost," Natalie asserted, her determination evident. "If I were Carol, I wouldn't stop looking for her."
"Well, you're not. You have Carl and Lori," Shane replied as he exited the car, leaving Natalie standing there, her brows furrowed in confusion at the unexpected change in Shane's demeanour.
The pair strolled around the RV, joining the ongoing conversation between Dale and Carol. Shane, finally relenting, admitted, "Going back's going to be easier than trying to get through this mess."
"We're not going anywhere until my daughter gets back," Carol affirmed, aligning herself with unwavering resolve.
Lori, preparing to walk past the group, placed a reassuring hand on Carol's shoulder. "Hey, that goes without saying."
"Rick and Daryl, they're on it, okay?" Shane reassured, his eyes meeting Lori's. Natalie and Lori shared a small, unspoken look, confirming their understanding.
Andrea, now changed and composed, handed Glenn a water bottle. "Not for me, I'm still freaked out from that herd that passed us by," she mentioned, sipping cautiously. "Or whatever you'd call it."
Glenn pressed for answers, "Yeah, what was that? All of them just marching along like that?"
Shane nodded in agreement with Andrea's eerie encounter. "A herd. We've seen it. It's like the night camp got attacked. Some wandering pack, only fewer. Come on, people. We still have a lot to do. Stay on it, let's go."
As the group dispersed, Natalie found herself inside another car, Carl nearby attempting to access a truck. Her hands moved methodically around the car's interior, searching for valuable items.
The shattered window demanded caution, but amidst the glass and debris, Natalie discovered a rosary. She looped it around her neck, the cross joining Shane's '22 necklace, a juxtaposition of faith in the face of their bleak reality.
"C'mon, Natalie!" Carl's excited yell snapped her out of her thoughts, and she rushed out of the car, getting ready to grab her gun. The little boy had run past her with a black bag inside of his hands. "Look what I found! I wanna show you, Shane, and Mom together. Come on!"
Following him, Natalie grabbed another bag of food from a nearby car. "Shane!" Carl called out, his enthusiasm evident. "Mom, I found something cool!"
Lori, throwing a glance around to ensure everything was alright, watched as Natalie approached, leaning on the car. "Shane, check it out."
Carl unveiled a cache of weapons from the bag. "It's an Arsenal."
"They left behind their lives," Natalie mused, the weight of the abandoned weapons settling upon her.
Unmoved, Shane instructed, "Not even looking at Carl or Natalie. That's cool, bud. Go give 'em to Dale."
"Check this one out!" Carl's excitement continued. "Whoa, it's a hatchet!" He pulled the weapon from its pocket, showcasing it with a proud grin.
Lori, hands on her hips, cautioned him, "Be careful. Don't play with those," but Carl continued to explore the newfound weapons. Natalie observed, uncomfortable, noticing Shane's glance toward her before quickly looking away.
Lori took charge, taking the weapons from Carl's hands. "What did I just say? Are you crazy?" she scolded. Natalie shifted uncomfortably, her gaze meeting Shane's briefly before he averted his eyes.
Taking the weapon from Carl, Natalie reassured him, "Shane. Shane, tell her to let me keep one." Carl appealed to Shane, but the response was unexpected.
"Hey man, go give 'em to Dale now," Shane ordered coldly, leaving Carl disappointed.
Lori held onto the Arsenal bag, instructing Natalie, "Iris, make sure he gives them to Dale, please." Carl glared at Shane as he handed the bag to Natalie, who ruffled her brother's hair comfortingly.
"I don't find it fair; you have a gun," Carl protested.
Ruffling his hair, Natalie explained, "That's 'cause Daddy gave me the gun." Her attempt to comfort conveyed that Shane's decision was final, leaving Carl dissatisfied. Carl sighed with Natalie moving his head to her side as the two of them walked away from Shane and Lori.
Resting her shoulders ever so slightly. "Why did you blow him off just now." Complaining and turning to the man who didn't seem to pay any mind to her or the things she was saying. "I don't believe you. You're giving me the cold shoulder? And now Natalie."
"I'm not giving Natalie anything," Shane muttered to Lori packing a black bag into the small grey car he was trying to fix up. "But isn't that what you want? Aren't you the one who said stay the hell away from him, Natalie and you?"
Lori furrowed her eyebrows starting to walk towards him. "You forget what happened at the C.D.C....Your little meltdown in the rec room? Or even Ethan's black eye 'cause I know that isn't from bumping into something, Shane."
"Meltdown....Is that what you think that was." Shane bit the bottom of his lip irritated.
"What happened to you loving her." Lori was now angered at the fact he was messing with her feelings rather than doing anything. "You're the one who got her attached now you're going to what? Shane, we need to stop this."
"Why do you think I'm prepping my new ride?" He inquired, leaning on the car a little bit. "I'm leaving."
Almost as if he was telling a joke she had looked to the side to see Natalie picking Carl up to stand on top of a car using the binoculars Dale had given them. "Leaving." Tilting her head to the side a little bit eyeing him confused.
"As in gone for good" Hitting his car lightly. "Gonna quiet slip away first chance I get. Natalie would understand, she's an understanding person." Ducking down to get into the car he had continued to work on. Lori looked at this as if he was going crazy. Shane had started the car with a small holt to it.
Carl had pointed out some bird flying in the air as a distraction for having to give Dale the Arsonal but Natalie winded up taking a knife for herself since she couldn't always have a gun on her. "This is a civil emergency" Followed through her ear.
"Stay in my and Mom's view," Natalie warned him, Carl nodded looking at the Binoculars as she started to walk towards the radio channelling which was coming from the car Shane had just fixed.
"It's got to be within fifty miles for here." Dale pointed out looking at Lori and Shane. Natalie walked over joining Glenn and the group trying to figure out where this was coming from.
"Remain calm, help is on the way." The alert kept on repeating. Natalie looked at Shane with a small tilt to her head confused about where this mood change was coming from. Ducking down he eyed Natalie turning off the Radio. "Asshole." Those were the final words it said.
Slapping the side of the car, "Okay, Let's get back to work." Bending down he picked up the bag. Lori looked at Natalie for a second tempted to do something about this.
Going over to Shane with her arms crossed, Natalie stood in front of Shane with her arms crossed. "What happened," holding herself. He didn't move with Shane looking down at her. "Shane don't say something and just walk away from me, and go talk to Andrea."
Chuckling a little bit. "You're jealous"
Natalie bit the inside of her cheek shaking her head. "Na, just be careful" Her hand had hit the side of his face patting his cheek slightly while she looked into his eyes. Shane looked up to see Dale looking in their direction as he smiled shaking his head and walking away. Natalie sighed stretching her arms a little.
"Oh god, you're back" Carol's voice echoed in Natalie's ears as she turned seeing Rick and Daryl trudging up the hill and towards the group with nothing still. "You didn't find her" Shaking her hands anxiously. Natalie placed her hand on Carol's back trying to comfort the women.
"Her trail went cold, we'll pick it up again at first light." Everyone started to come over again to see what had happened.
Shaking her head; "You can't leave my daughter out there on her own." Carol held onto herself pleading. "To spend the night alone in the woods,"
"Out in the dark's no good" Daryl tried to make her understand. "We'd just be tripping over ourselves more people get lost."
"But she's 12. She can't be out there on her own." Shiting on her feet pleading for them. "You didn't find anything?"
Rick ducked down a little bit trying to make her calm. The sun was slowly coming down causing an orange hue to fly over the sky beautiful hitting the ground. "I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she's out there...We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody, I've asked him and Ethan to oversee this."
"Is that blood?" Carol looked at the dark things in the world instead of the positive.
Rick placed a hand on her shoulder. "We took down a walker. There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia." Lori came over knowing that Natalie needed help calming down the women.
"Get Carl," Lori asked her daughter who nodded, seeing that her brother was stressed about this too.
Going over Natalie placed her hand inside of Carl's as she squeezed his hand five times reminding him to just count to calm down. "How can you know that?" Andrea snapped towards the two of them.
Rick and Daryl didn't seem to want to say the reason causing everyone to furrow their eyebrows confused by this. "We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure." Daryl was the one who broke all of their silence.
Carol sat down at the idea of that; "Oh God." Muttering to herself trying to get it through her head. Lori had sat next to her trying to help. Carl squeezed Natalie's hand now five times with the older sister placing her hand on her brother's hand ruffling it a little and pulling him close to her.
"How could you just leave her out there to begin with?" Carol had blamed Rick. Natalie looked at her dad who seemed to already be blaming himself for this situation. "Why would you just leave her!?"
"Those who Walkers were on us." He tried to make her understand feeling nothing but guilt inside of his face. "I had to draw them off. It was her best chance."
Natalie sighed defending her dad. "Let's not point fingers in a situation we can't understand." She tried to get out of her mouth.
"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own?" Pleading. "She's just a child. She's just a child."
Walking over to them with Carl on her side, as she got closer to the group. "It was my only option. The only choice I could make."
"I'm sure Nobody doubts that." Shane had defended the man's choice.
Carol had turned to him not saying anything and shifting uncomfortable. Lori had both her hands on the woman trying to comfort her. "My little girl got left in the woods" She cried once more.
Everyone had stood around silent not knowing what to say or do in the moment. Rick started to walk away from the group trying to collect himself. Natalie had gone into her pocket for a second noticing her gun wasn't there. Looking around and seeing Shane; her eyes widened angered.
"Carl go into the RV," Natalie said to her brother letting go of his hand and storming after Shane. Walking fast she had met him hitting his shoulder slightly. "You took my gun again,"
Shane turned sighing with his hands on his hips. "Dale doesn't trust anyone with them right now, Our group needs more training." He hissed towards her now raising his voice ever so slightly. "And you know that Natalie, we can't have you risking another person."
"But you can carry?" Natalie questioned.
"Be mad at me all you want, I know my comfortability." Shane had eyed her trying to make her look into her eyes. "I don't need you shooting yourself in the leg by accident, and neither does Lori or Rick."
Natalie sighed muttering to him. "Shoot me in the head too while you're at it." Shane could tell that the whole Sophia situation stressed her, now Carl and then now she wasn't able to have something to defend herself anymore.
Looking around to see that everyone's main focus right now was Carol and Rick walked the opposite direction of the group. Shane cupped her face with a smirk pressing a simple kiss into her lips. "Go get some sleep, I'm night watch tonight so- be with your brother."
Natalie kissed him one more time before hitting his chest. "You owe me. I love you, okay" Pointing towards him as Shane tried to hide the smile nodding his head and walking away from her again.
Humming and kissing the top of her head. She expected him to say it back, but Shane didn't say anything at all. Natalie watched him duck his head down as he walked.