Chapter 21

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"It's gonna be tight. 14 people in one house," Rick said to Grandpa. Surprisingly, he let Rick and his group sleep in our house. It made sense. It was no longer safe outside and it was beginning to become cold. Nearly winter, late fall I'd say.

"Don't worry about that. With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up."

"With 50 head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell," mom added.

"She's right. We should've moved you in a while ago," Grandpa nodded.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get them into the house!" I said trying to be cheerful. At this point, I was used to death.

"All right, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors, facing out toward the road," Rick ordered. 

"Just leave it there," Lori said as aunt Beth and I helped move some stuff. I shared a smile with my aunt, happy she was up. I helped Carl collected his few clothing pieces and some comic books I gave him.

"we'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft." Rick's voice drifted from my ear as Carl and I made our way towards the living room. I set his stuff down in the living. 

"Thanks," Carl nodded.

"No problem," I smiled running back outside with Carl on my tail. Daryl's motorcycle filled the air. I took some stuff from Lori with a smile.

"I got this," Lori protested.

"Lori, I've bailed hay, washed horses, and collected chicken eggs my whole life. I think I can handle a few bags," I chuckled lightly. She sent me a thankful smile. I set her things inside by Carl's and Rick's bags. Almost everything was moved inside so I gave up on helping. I choose to wander off and find Carl. I found him walking back towards the house.

"Rori, can I tell you a secret?" Carl asked as we met halfway.

"Only if I can tell you one in return," I said. 

"Deal. I, uh, I stole a gun from Daryl. I saw the walker in the woods but I couldn't--I couldn't kill it. It's my fault Dale's dead," Carl said with his head hung low. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault, Carl. If it were me, I wouldn't have been able to do it. Were young Carl. Were still learning from our mistakes. I saw the walker about to bite Dale and I froze. We've both made mistakes that had horrible consequences but we'll get through this. Together," I said. 

"Yeah, I guess your right. look, I've got to go but I'll find you later," Carl said.

"Okay. Just...don't blame yourself," I said with a small smile. He nodded and ran back the way he came. I walked into the kitchen to find mom.

"Mom? What's going on with you and dad?" I asked. She turned to face me.

"Don't you worry your pretty little face about that. Your father and I will figure this out. You just focus on you and Carl," mom said with a smile that held pain.

"Nothing going on with Carl," I shook my head.

"You say that now but in a year from now, you'll be dating," mom said with a raised eyebrow.

"No, we won't be," I said looking at the ground.

"Why not? I can tell you like him," mom asked leaning on the kitchen counter.

"Because I don't want to like him. I don't want to fall in love only for it to shatter my heart," I said as tears flooded my eyes.

"Sweetheart, love isn't easy. I can promise you that. And I can't promise you that he won't die. But I can promise you that everybody will do everything in their power to keep the two of you alive. Everything," Mom said looking at me.

"And what if everything isn't enough," I asked sniffling.

"Then we'll make it enough," mom said.

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"Rori, what's going on outside?" Lori asked as she looked through the kitchen window. 

"I don't know but I'm going to find out," I said as I saw everybody running around outside. Lori followed me out the door and down the steps.

"What's wrong?" Lori asked the group once we were close enough.

"Randall's missing," dad answered.

"What do you mean he's missing? How? He was handcuffed and blindfolded," I said as the group made their way towards the barn where Randall once was.

"No idea," dad said.

"How long's he been gone?" grandpa asked. I poked my head into the barn to see if he really was gone. Sure enough, he wasn't in there but there was blood on the floor.

"The cuffs are still hooked. He must have slipped 'em," Rick said as he came out of the barn.

"Is that possible?" Carol asked. I put a hand on my head, looking around. Without knowing how long Randall's been gone, we didn't know how far he got.

"It is if you've got nothing to lose," Andrea sighed also walking out of the barn.

"The door was secured from the outside," Grandpa said shutting the door.

"Rick! Rick!" I looked over at the tree lines where the shouts were coming from. I knew that voice. It was Shane. Rick stepped to the front of the group.

"What happened?" Lori was quick to ask.

"he's armed! He's got my gun!" Shane shouted back.

"Are you okay?" Carl asked from beside me. Shane's face was covered in blood. He looked more like a psychopath than normal.

"I'm fine. Little bastard just stuck up on me. He clocked me in the face," Shane said finally reaching the group.

"Alright, Hershel, T-dog, get everybody back inside. Glenn, Daryl, come with us," Rick order quickly.

"Be safe dad," I said before I was ushered into the house.

"T, I'm gonna need that gun," Shane said pointing to the gun on T-dog's waist. T-dog stopped moving and turned to look at Shane.

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?" Carol asked.

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun," Rick said as T-dog handed a gun to Shane. I looked fearfully from the gun to Shane.

"Don't go out there. Y'all know what can happen," Carol argued but Rick ignored her.

"get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put," Rick said over his shoulder. T-dog went back to ushering us into the house quickly.

"Let's go, back in the house," Andrea said helping rush everybody inside.

"I got the back door!" I called running to the back door. I quickly locked the door and the window in the kitchen. 

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