Chaos for the Fly [The Walking Dead Fanfiction]

Chapter 6: Hick Charming

        "Why was it just one gunshot?" Lori's eyes flickered to Alice's as if they held some sort of answer. It was the first time Alice had noticed how fragile the sheriff's wife was behind her nerves of steel.  Those eyes, so much like her mother's all those years ago. How she put on layer after layer of makeup to cover layer after layer of denial. She was strong in face of a crowd, but behind closed doors, she fell as angels sometimes do. "...Alice?" The sound of her name closed her mother out, and she felt the woman tremble in her arms. 

        She could not blame Lori's lack of effort to keep those defenses up, and in response, the green eyed girl let her own defenses go up enough for both of them. "I won't lie, it doesn't sound good." Alice adjusted her comfort style to fit the people, or the situation, and right now wasn't a time to lie, exactly. "But they could have found us a meal. I'd risk ten walkers hearing a single shot to eat something that's not in a can," Lori entertained the thought, letting go of the embracing/restraining arms of Alice. "Or, squirrel." Alice got a smile out of her.

        Daryl shot her a look from the front, remembering her all too familiar comment to Sophia. "They should have caught up by now.." Carol suggested, tears still threatening to fall from her tired eyes. Glenn hesitated but agreed with her. His brown eyes fell to Alice for a moment, but she only returned it with a glare. They try to write off Sophia and now they want to write off Rick, Shane or Carl? The group had just been praying in the church, did they leave their faith there as well, she thought. Before she could try to knock sense into them, their leader with the crossbow beat her to it.

        "Ya waste all that time hopin' and prayin', and you're willin' to throw it all away at the sound of a gunshot?!" Everyone stopped, and he'd never believe her, but in that moment she realized how different they now looked at the known redneck. In only a matter of a few days, without his brother's influence, Daryl was essential. "Those guys are gonna be fine, and we're gonna find that little girl. So why don't ya'll shutup for a damn minute about it!" His back turned on them, but his attention was still there, finger on the trigger of his crossbow. A part of her was relieved that the group was changing, would continue to change to fit this new family they were no doubt becoming. A slow process in progress. And yet, her eyes looked over to him, she was even more afraid. Important people are always at the most risk.

        Lori steadied on her own feet and kept up with the group as she kept an eye on her. The instinct to run for someone you love is torture to fight, so in case she stopped, she'd catch her again. 

        To the other side she overheard Andrea still trying to comfort the grieving mother. "..It's the not knowing that's killing me. I don't know what I'd do if she ended up like Amy." Alice's cheeks flushed with color at Carol's naive words. As if collecting the pigment from Andrea's face, the blonde was now colorless. Alice feared she'd go into that same trance state, but then she suddenly came back smiling as Carol apologized profusely. 

        "It's alright. I wouldn't wish that on anyone." 

        The search still went strong on their way back, not finding a single walker has made the group relaxed. They spread out from one another, but still stayed within sight of each other. "You really think they just shot a deer or something?" Glenn was beside her, and she sighed. He was sincerely asking, but it only made her believe her suggestion less.

        "No I don't, but nice comforting skills back there, bud. We could've added another body to the search!" She was angry, but she didn't realize it until she snapped at him. Lori could have gone running in wild directions in search of her child and husband, and that gun of hers would only save a few minutes of life with that noise. He looked down, flooded with guilt.