VIRAGO. glenn rhee

16. the bag of guns.

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ACT ONE
(the bag of guns)

    VERONÍCA HUMMED a tune as she cleaned Rory's face off with a rag. Though the woman normally didn't have time to take care of her basic hygiene. The one thing she always did was take care of Rory's.

Whether that meant she had to sneak water to wash his hair, she would do anything to keep the boy's hygiene needs satisfied.

As she finally cleaned the last bit of dirt off of his face, she patted his cheek before handing him a toothbrush.

They didn't always have access to toothpaste, meaning the boy would occasionally brush his teeth with water.

Thankfully, on the woman's latest pharmacy run she picked up a small tube.

After Rory brushed his teeth, he sighed for a second before speaking up. "Ma?"

"Yes?"

"Did you know that teeth are the only part of the body that can't heal itself?"

"I didn't know that.. Is it because they're bones?" Veroníca asked, looking at her son as she sat at the table across from him.

"Uh—Teeth aren't bones." Rory answered in a little shock that his mother didn't know.

Before his mother could respond, Shane stomping into Dale's RV made the duos heads immediately shoot towards him.

Shane didn't acknowledge them. Instead he walked to the back room, from the amount of noise he was making it was obvious he was looking for something.

Veroníca watched the man as he opened the closet, moving stuff around before looking under the sink.

She knew he wouldn't find anything, after all Dale had told her his plan, which was to take the guns and hide.

So Veroníca wasn't shocked when Shane couldn't find them, making him turn to face the woman. "Where'd he go?"

"Who?"

"Don't even try to shit me, Veroníca." Shane said, still pissed.

Although the sentence was intended to be intimidating, it did quite the opposite which was obvious when the woman began giggling to herself.

This only made Shane angrier. Causing the man to slam his hands down on the table. "Where the hell is he?"

"What your tone around my son, tonto."

Rory looked between the two, nervously shifting as the atmosphere got more and more tense. The two adults were currently glaring at one another, neither saying a word as Veroníca sat up straighter.

"You're a real bitch, you know that?" Shane asked sarcastically, removing his fists from the table as Veroníca continued her harsh glare.

Before the woman could retort, the duo separated a bit as T-dog walked in, clearing his throat at the tense atmosphere. "What the hell is going on?"

Veroníca smiled genuinely at the man before answering. "Nothing. Shane was just leaving."

Shane scoffed at the comment, sending the woman one more long glare before fully standing up. He then exited the RV, making sure to bump into T-dog's shoulder on his way out.

As soon as they were sure he was out of ear-length, Rory spoke up. "He's mean."

"Amen to that, lil' man." T-dog said, high-fiving the boy before turning to hand a book to Veroníca. "Finally found it."

Veroníca genuinely smiled, grabbing the book before flipping through the pages. "Where at?"

"Old man's got a hell of a selection."

"Thank you so much, T-dog." Veroníca said, high-fiving the man as well.

"Any day, The first lady has been lookin' for y'all." T-dog stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

Veroníca nodded at this, hopping up as her son and friend followed behind her.

     The trio then made their way to the porch, not shocked that half the group was sitting near, or on, the porch.

As Rory immediately made his way to Carl, the boy moving over so they could share the seat. T-dog and Veroníca stood next to Aiden.

It wasn't long til Andrea made her way over to the group as well, standing beside T-dog as she spoke to Glenn. "Where is everyone?"

"You haven't seen Rick?"

"He went off with Hershel. We we're suppose to leave a couple hours ago." Andrea answered, squinting her eyes at the sun.

"Yeah you were.. What the hell?" Daryl added as he walked up, the group turning their attention to him.

Carol walked beside him, stopping to stand next to Andrea as she spoke up as well. "He told us he was going out."

"Dammit. Is anybody takin' this seriously? We got us a damn trail." Daryl said, pointing to the field which made the group notice Shane.

The man was walking up with the bag full of guns, with No Dale in sight which made Veroníca a tad nervous.

"What's all this?" Daryl asked as the man finally reached the group.

"Time to grow up." Shane answered, handing both Daryl and T-dog a gun.

While Daryl immediately cocked his, T-dog was more confused. "Thought we couldn't carry?"

"Well we can and we have to. Look, it was one thing sitting around here and picking daisies when we thought this place was suppose to be safe. Now we know it ain't." Shane insisted, forcing Glenn to take a gun before turning to Maggie. "Can you shoot?"

"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight."

"We have to stay, Shane." Carl added, standing up from his spot as Rory continued sitting.

"We ain't going anywhere, okay?" Shane answered. "Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? Well he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia, am I right?"

As Carl made his way off the steps, Shane got on his level by taking a knee in front of the young boy. He then tried to hand the boy a gun.

Immediately at the sight, Lori pulled her son while Veroníca pushed Shane back a tad. "You're ridiculous. Manipulating a child to get your way? That's low, even for you."

"Manipulating? I'm helping him. I'm being the father-figure he desperately needs! I'm stepping up." Shane yelled, now only a few inches away from the woman as he yelled in her face.

At the sight, Aiden stepped in, harshly pushing Shane back which made the man stumble.

Before the two could physically fight, Lori began yelling at Shane. "Rick said no guns! This is not your call. This is not your decision to make."

"Oh shit." T-dog interrupted, making the entire group's attention shift.

Their sights were now set on Rick. The man was about a mile away from them and he was leading walkers on leashes, with the help of Hershel.

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