A Hard Line and an Apology

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Shane exhaled hard and rubbed a hand over his head.

He was still angry, but calmer than a moment ago.

"What are you worried about?" Evan asked. "Camp? Or just Carl and Lori?"

"I just saw Rick. At least he thanked me."

Evan's meaning was clear.

Rick was Carl's father and Lori's husband. Why was Shane acting like he had the greater claim?

As he spoke, Evan watched Shane's face.

'He's close to losing control. He knows Lori is pregnant now.'

'Maybe not enough to fully break him, but enough to wake up the thoughts he had tried to bury.'

In Shane's head, Lori might already be his wife again, and Carl his stepson. Otherwise he would not have reacted this strongly.

Evan looked into the tent, where Lori lay unconscious, and sighed inwardly.

'Was Rick not enough?'

'Or is the pregnancy making her desperate for security?'

Letting Shane's hope flare again might be Lori's worst mistake.

Cause and effect.

Without Lori, Shane might never have ended up standing opposite Rick.

And if Shane had lived, maybe Lori would not have died at the Prison in the old story.

'I need to guide him somehow. Things have already changed. Rick and Shane don't have to end with one of them dead.'

While Evan thought, Shane stepped closer with his hands on his hips.

This time, the look in his eyes changed.

Some of the aggression fell away, replaced by something almost pleading.

"Hey, Evan. Listen."

"I'm worried about the camp. Lori and Carl are part of the camp too. You saw what Rick became when they were missing."

"I care about this group. I care about my best friend. So next time, don't take Carl into something that dangerous."

Evan stared at him.

Shane had backed down?

Evan studied him more carefully. The hard edge in Shane's eyes had dulled by a fraction.

He patted Shane's shoulder and thought for a moment before answering.

"We need the Prison. You know what I mean."

"As for everything after that... we'll deal with it later. Right now, it's too soon."

That was as much as Evan would say.

He did not answer Shane's request directly. Instead, he pointed Shane toward the Prison and the future waiting there.

Whether Shane understood, or understood and pretended not to, was not something Evan could control.

Shane was a waste if he broke the wrong way.

He could have been Rick's most trusted brother and one of the camp's strongest defenders.

Evan shook his head and turned his attention to the plate Carol brought him.

Cheesy potatoes.

He leaned beside the tent and started eating.

After a while, a weak groan came from inside, threaded with pain.

"You're awake."

Evan turned and saw Lori trying to push herself upright.

He placed one hand on her shoulder and eased her back down before she got far.

Only then did Lori truly see him.

"Carl..." Her lips trembled as she spoke. "How is he?"

She was already thin. Fear over the last few days had stripped more from her. With her pale face and fever-glazed eyes, she looked almost as bad as Rick had when he first woke in the hospital.

"Carl is fine," Evan said first. "I told Rick I'd bring him back in one piece. I did."

He gave her that reassurance before anything else. Otherwise, Lori would keep trying to get up until she hurt herself.

"I want to see him."

She looked at Evan.

Pleading. Blaming. Resentful. Afraid. A mother's eyes could carry too many things at once.

For the first time in a while, Evan looked away.

He was not afraid of walkers with ruined faces. He was not afraid of survivors who wanted him dead.

But when Lori looked at him as Carl's mother, he could not meet it straight on.

Most of her attachment to Shane had come from protecting her child. As a mother, Lori was hard to criticize.

"You can," Evan said. "He's with Rick, asleep. When he wakes up, you can look at him as long as you want."

"But I came to talk to you about something else."

Lori frowned at him, confused.

What could the two of them possibly have to talk about?

They had nearly clashed only days ago.

Before her doubt could turn into words, Evan stood and faced her properly.

"I'm sorry, Lori."

His voice carried across the nearby camp.

"I thought about helping Carl grow as fast as possible. I did not think enough about what that would do to you. That was my mistake."

The camp was not large.

The moment Evan's apology reached the open air, almost everyone looked over.

They watched him apologize to Lori, and surprise moved from face to face.

To them, the man who had argued for a strict chain of command did not seem like someone who would do this.

Lori stared up at him, lips parted slightly.

For a moment, her mind seemed to stop.

This was Evan?

The same overbearing, dangerous man?

He was apologizing to her because of Carl?

Before Lori or the others could respond, Evan lowered his head once, brief but sincere.

"I handled this poorly. So I apologize. I'm sorry I made you worry."

"But that does not mean I was wrong about our argument before. It does not mean training Carl or helping him grow was wrong."

"Lori, I need you to understand something. A hard chain of command does not mean I want to crush people until they obey."

"I respect everyone here. That is why I make the choices I believe give everyone the best chance to live."

"Carl is safe. I kept my promise and brought him back unharmed. I am still apologizing to you."

"This will not happen again. That's my promise."

Evan's face was serious.

He did not look ashamed for admitting fault.

When he was wrong, he could correct it. He could listen. His command was hard, but it was not blind.

Rick gently laid Carl down inside the tent and came over after hearing the apology.

Shane stood beside him.

The two men glanced at each other, and something unspoken passed between them.

The rest of the camp watched Evan's back.

He was not standing taller than usual.

Somehow, he looked larger anyway.

Something shifted in the people watching.

It would feed on the despair they had lived through.

One day, it might grow into hope.

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