Shane, Remember Who You're Talking To

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Evan watched Hershel go and clicked his tongue.

The barn was something Hershel had always needed to face. Being forced to choose was not necessarily a bad thing.

Better to break his belief in keeping walkers now than carry that sickness into the Prison later.

Protecting Maggie and Beth mattered far more than guarding corpses under the name of family.

"Evan!"

Carol hurried over and opened her arms.

He accepted the hug easily.

"Thank God you're back," she said.

There was gratitude in her eyes, controlled but real. When she saw him alive, a small smile crossed her face.

"God hasn't been much use in this world," Evan said.

Still, he let the hug happen.

"I'll make something for you and Carl," Carol said, her eyes faintly red. "You two must be starving."

She started to run back toward camp, but Evan caught her hand.

"Food can wait, Carol. Carl and I brought water and supplies. Grab a few people and help unload."

He pointed toward the fire truck.

"Evan! You're back!"

Andrea's bright voice came from nearby. She arrived with Amy close behind her.

They were immediately drafted too.

Evan opened the top hatch over the red brute's water compartment, climbed in, and started passing supplies out one by one.

"Enough, enough," T-Dog complained, stretching both arms out with two water jugs in each hand. "Man, you trying to kill me?"

"Not my fault your hands are useful."

Evan laughed and sent him off.

They had not brought back an enormous haul, not for the whole camp. At most, it was less than two weeks of food.

But when people saw the snack cakes, smiles appeared anyway.

Food like that, sweet and unspoiled, was almost as valuable as cigarettes or liquor now.

High sugar. High calories. Better than canned food, except for how small each package was.

After setting down the last water jug, Glenn caught his breath and sidled up to Evan with a guilty look.

"Evan," he said quietly, "next time you're out, could you look for instant noodles?"

"Any brand. Any flavor. I don't care. Just... instant noodles."

Evan looked at Glenn's embarrassed face and finally understood.

Glenn Rhee asking for noodles made perfect sense.

"You held out this long before asking?" Evan patted his shoulder with solemn sympathy. "That must have been rough."

For Glenn, a pack of ramen probably counted as homesickness with seasoning powder.

About half the supplies came out of the truck. The rest stayed inside as emergency reserves.

When they returned to camp, Evan went to Rick.

Rick had removed Carl's quiver. Carl slept quietly in his arms, one hand still clutching the bow.

"He wore himself out over these seven days," Evan said.

Rick looked up at him, then lowered his eyes again without answering.

"You mad?" Evan asked, half smiling.

Rick had every right to be angry. Evan asked because silence was worse. A silent Rick was rarely the most stable version of Rick.

Rick's jaw tightened.

Finally, he spoke.

"At first, I thought if you came back without Carl, I'd cut your throat and let your blood pay for him."

He did not look at Evan. His voice stayed low and steady.

"Then I saw Carl, and all I wanted was to punch you in the face for taking him through a world full of walkers for seven days."

"Do you remember what we agreed to? I thought you'd at least bring him back once."

Rick's anger surged, but he forced his voice down so he would not wake Carl.

"But when I looked at him, when he looked back at me, when I felt the calluses starting on his palm..."

Rick's fingers brushed the rough wood of the bow Carl refused to release.

His breath eased.

The anger thinned.

He looked Evan in the eye.

"From where I'm standing, I owe you thanks."

"Thank you, Evan. I don't know exactly what Carl went through, but I can tell he's different."

Evan started to wave it off and give Carl the credit. He was not the kind of man who needed to preen.

Rick's next word stopped him.

"But."

"You took Carl away for a full week. Lori couldn't eat. She woke up at night terrified. In a few days, she fell apart so badly she's unconscious in the tent."

"You don't owe me. You don't owe Carl. You don't owe anyone in camp."

Rick held Evan's gaze and did not retreat.

"But you owe Lori an apology."

Over the last few days, Rick had seen too much in the way Shane acted. He had begun to suspect things he did not want to name.

But no matter what, Lori had not had a real choice when the world ended.

And she was a good mother.

Rick loved Carl. Lori loved him no less.

Evan had taken Carl away for seven days and nearly taken half of Lori's life with him.

Add that to the way Evan had treated Lori before, and Rick could not stay quiet.

"I understand."

Evan looked at Rick, then at Carl sleeping in his arms. After a moment, he nodded.

He turned and walked a few steps, then stopped.

"Start getting camp ready. Whether Hershel's people come with us or not, we need to move."

He left the words behind and headed toward his tent.

He had given it to Rick's family earlier.

Lori was lying there now.

When Evan reached the tent, he found Shane sitting outside in a dark brown fitted shirt.

His hair had grown longer and was combed back from his face. With his hard features and strong build, he looked more and more like a man who had fewer rules left every day.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

The moment Shane saw Evan, he stood and forced his anger down only by degrees.

"You know what happened because you took Carl and didn't come back? Camp nearly tore itself apart."

"Watch your tone," Evan said calmly.

Rick was right. Evan owed Lori something.

That did not mean he had to swallow Shane's anger.

Seven days away from camp, and Shane had already forgotten who he was talking to?

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