WHITE FLAG

chapter twenty-five : good guy
{ season two - episode nine }

KLOE OBSERVED EVERY star that flickered down at the ground as she laid upon it. Her heart was thumping so hard against her ribcage to the point where it hurt. She was scared for Rick and Glenn and now Lori and her baby.

Usually, the sky would calm her down, but this time, nothing worked. Even her own brother's arms didn't calm her. And she knew why. It's not her brother's arms that need to be around her; it's his best friend's arms that do.

Kloe sealed her eyes shut as she formed a sudden memory that flashed in her head.

"Zayn, stop taking my guitar lesson books! I need them!" Kloe yelled at her older brother, chasing him down the stairs in the house in Florida. She was fourteen and she had just returned from school. Her brother had the day off school since he had to go to the dentist and he decided to hide her guitar book.

"Gotta catch me first!" he replied, panting as he ran at full speed. "C'mon, it's like being a little kid again! I know you're super slow, but surely you can be a tad bit faster, right?"

Annoyed by her brother's words, Kloe narrowed her eyes as she quickened her speed. She turned each corner her brother passed, often banging her thighs against them and hissing with pain, but pushed it aside.

"I swear, I'm going to murder you after!" Kloe growled under her heavy breath as Zayn entered the kitchen, where their mother and father were.

"What's going on? Why are you both running around like toddlers?" their father inquired, chuckling at their childish actions. Then, Kloe got Zayn trapped and they were opposite each other, the kitchen island blocking the siblings.

"Zayn took my guitar book!" Kloe groaned, placing both her hands on the edges of the marble island. "Give it back! Even if I get to you, I still won't be able to get it since you're a giant."

"Jealous for being short?" he snorted, grinning stupidly at his little sister as he went on his tiptoes and lifted the book higher than it already was.

"Zayn, stop being mean to your little sister," their mother told him, cutting up some vegetables for their dinner. She set down the knife and walked over to Zayn, who lowered his sister's book and placed it on the counter. Their mother playfully pinched his cheeks and went back over to cutting her vegetables.

"Mom, what was that for?!" he whined, rubbing his hand over his cheek where their mother had pinched him. "That hurt."

"Oh, stop complaining," she laughed. "That's all you ever do, blah blah blah," she mocked, making Kloe and their father snicker.

Zayn rolled his eyes, meeting his sister's gaze. She had her arms folded over her chest and she waited patiently for her brother to hand over her book.

"I'm waiting," she reminded, growing impatient. He laughed through his nose, sliding the book across the kitchen island. "Finally."

Kloe opened her eyes, meeting the bright stars in the sky, except something was different. Someone was nudging her shoulder. Her eyes flicked over to the pair of eyes that were already looking into hers and softly smiled.

"Shane's back," Isabelle announced, pointing over to the car that was pulling into the farmhouse.

Immediately, Kloe forced herself up and brushed off the dirt that may have attached itself to her while laying on the ground. Isabelle wrapped her fingers around Kloe's wrist as she began dragging her toward the group.

Kloe let out a sigh of relief as she spotted Lori and Shane exit the vehicle he had left in. Although, when she got closer, she noticed she was holding a cloth against her forehead. Shane exasperatedly slammed the car door shut.

Everyone gathered around, looking straight ahead at Lori with sympathy. Little did everybody know, Lori didn't only put herself at risk, but she put herself and her unborn child at risk. There was blood on her forehead and her lower lip in the corner.

"Oh my God, are you all right?" Andrea questioned, jogging over to Lori and placing a hand on Lori's shoulder. "What happened?"

"I was in an accident-" she began, her voice shaky and low, immediately getting cut off by Shane.

"She was attacked-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I really am," she raised her hands, signaling Shane to stop talking. She glanced up at Kloe, sending an apologetic look. Kloe was confused as to why she was apologetic, but then it hit her that Lori knew that she knew she was pregnant. Lori looked away, gazing down at the cloth she had pressed against her wounds. "Where's Rick?"

Everyone's eyebrows promptly furrowed with confusion. Shane instantly walked away, rubbing his head. It clicked inside Kloe's head when she figured out why Lori was asking that question. It wasn't that hard to match up the pieces of what could've happened.

Kloe sent the evilest glare to Shane, and if looks could kill, he would be dead within seconds. "They're not back?" Lori asked, her eyes flickering across everyone scattered around the area. No one replied, they only stared at her with nothing to say. She took the hint and averted her gaze over to Shane, "Where are they?"

"Look, I had to get you back here," he slowly turned, not turning all the way and looked at Lori from the corner of his eyes.

Kloe pursed her lips tightly, watching the two. Lori only exasperatedly sighed and began taking many steps over to the man. "You asshole," she muttered before slamming both of her hands onto the man's chest. "He's my husband."

"Lori- Lori, I will go after him. I will find him," he quickly said, gripping onto Lori's wrists before pushing her away. "Hey!" she stumbled back, staring at the man with disbelief. "Now look, first things first- I gotta- I gotta look after you. I gotta make sure the baby's all right, okay?"

"You're having a baby?" Carl spoke up, stepping his way through the small crowd, his sheriff hat shadowing his face since there was no sunlight, only the moonlight. Kloe blinked back and forth between Carl, Lori and Shane, her lips slightly parted. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I- I..." Lori stammered, completely speechless. Shane sighed, shaking his head as he placed both his hands against the hood of his car, staring down at it. Kloe swallowed thickly, feeling the guilt wash over her for being the first person to know about the situation.

The only people that knew about Lori's pregnancy were her, Glenn, Maggie, Rick, Dale, Hershel and Isabelle. Maybe everyone else knew, but no one mentioned it to her.

"Come on," Dale called out to Lori, gesturing to follow him. "Let's make sure you're alright." Andrea linked her arm through Lori's, leading her away from everyone. She peered over her shoulder, eyeing Shane with slight hatred.

Kloe felt someone tap her shoulder, resulting in her turning around. Maggie stood there, an unreadable look on her face. "We should head back inside. Come on."

...

Maggie went back to the room Beth was in, wanting to be by her side at all times in case she came back to reality. But in the room right next to it, Lori, Dale, Carl, Kloe and Isabelle sat on the couches. Carl sat beside his mother as Isabelle wiped all the blood away from Lori's wounds. Dale sat on a small armchair and Kloe sat on a small stall that she found.

"Okay, these wounds aren't too deep, so they should be fine," Isabelle whispered, examining the woman's face.

"How do you know this stuff? You're just a kid," Dale questioned, watching the two as did Kloe. Isabelle faced him, immediately losing the confidence to speak. "I mean, you're only sixteen, so you surely can't have too much experience with this stuff, right?"

"My mother worked in the hospital, I know a few things," she answered, nervously fidgeting with the ends of her tank top. She stepped out of the room with the first aid kit that she used for me when Kloe was close to bleeding out.

Andrea stepped into the room with a filled glass of water in her hands. Kloe didn't know how to feel for Lori. So many things had happened to her and it made Kloe feel so much pity for her. She thought she lost her husband, she started dating her husband's best friend and now she's pregnant. Lori didn't know if it was her husband's or her ex-lover's. But deep down she knew it was Shane's, but she tried her best to convince herself it was Rick's.

Lori placed a white cloth against her wound on her forehead and she turned over to Carl, "Hey." He looked up at her as she brought the cloth away from her head. "I am so sorry that I left without telling you," she said with sadness.

Kloe could see in her eyes how deeply sorry she truly was toward her son. She knew that Carl would forgive his mother, and just like she thought, he did. "It's okay. I wasn't scared. When's dad coming back?"

Lori hesitated at her son's question, looking down into her lap, "Let's hope soon." Kloe's teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she began thinking about Rick and Glenn and Hershel. Where were they? They should've been back by that time.

"I wanna be there when you tell him about the baby," Carl softly stated, his eyes flickering down to his mother's stomach. Kloe felt the air move behind her, making her slightly turn around to see who it was. Isabelle had returned and she stood behind her.

"Oh, love, he already knows," Lori rubbed Carl's back comfortingly. "We were just trying to find the right time to tell you."

Carl, who stared into his connected hands that were placed in his lap, nodded his head repeatedly. He glanced back up to his mother, "Is it a boy or a girl?" A small smile formed on Kloe's lips at the boy's innocent question.

Lori let out a quick breath, leaning back while staring at the wall, "Well, we won't know that until it's born." She lifted her foot onto the couch to rest it as she looked at Carl with no longer hurt eyes, but soft eyes.

Carl extended out his arm and placed his palm against his mother's abdomen. "Will I be able to feel it?" he asked, not taking his eyes off her stomach.

"Not for a while,' she shook her head, glancing down at the small hand pressed against her stomach. Kloe wanted to tell Lori that she will always be there to look after the baby when she needed rest since she was basically an expert at babysitting before she ran off into the woods, but she guessed she was too out of mind.

"You must have a lot of questions, huh?" Kloe furrowed her brows for a moment at Lori, but she fluttered her eyes between Dale, Andrea, Kloe and Isabelle, "We never had the talk." Kloe soon realized what she meant and softly smiled at the woman as she turned back to Carl. "I guess we forgot," she smiled to herself and Carl leaned forward and looked at Dale.

"Don't look at me. That's your father's job," Dale said before Carl could ask anything, resulting Kloe and Isabelle grinning stupidly. This is what Kloe liked; having these small conversations that could change an atmosphere within seconds. She knew it wasn't anything major to be happy about, but it warmed the mood a little bit.

Carl nodded, pouting his lip slightly. He leant back, looking back at his mother. "If the baby's a girl, can we name her Sophia?" Kloe's heart shattered at the mention of the girl's name. Her smile faltered, but she tried her best to keep it there.

That's when Kloe noticed a new figure standing in the doorway: Shane. The youngest Schmidt narrowed her eyes on him, but he wasn't paying attention to her, instead he was looking at the Grimes'. "Hey, dude," he called out quietly, catching Carl's attention. Dale arose from his chair, eyeing Shane from the corner of his eye. "Hey, I'm sorry, bud. Okay? I thought you knew."

Carl smirked, flicking his sheriff hat, "Big brother Carl. Pretty cool, huh?" As much as Kloe wanted to smile at the boy, her eyes were just set on Shane. Over the last few days that passed, the relationship between Shane and Kloe had decreased massively.

"I say that's very cool," Shane answered, laughing. "You, uh- You mind if I talk to your mom for a sec? Hm?"

Kloe noticed the look on Lori's face, and it was obvious she didn't want to talk to the man right then. Kloe briefly looked over at Andrea, and she was already looking at Kloe with the same expression. She turned to Shane, "How about a little later after she's had some rest."

Shane's eyes darted between the two women, and Kloe could tell he was scoffing loudly on the inside, "Lori, I had to get you back here. You wouldn't have come otherwise." Lori, Dale, Andrea, Kloe and Isabelle all shared a glance. They all thought the same thing. Shane sighed, stepping toward the couch Lori and Carl were sitting on. "How about you- How about you just hear me out, please? Okay?"

Lori hadn't been looking in the man's direction the entire time and after what he said, she hesitated to answer, but she knew she had to hear him out at some point. "Okay. Give me a minute," she whispered to Carl, who hesitated for a second, but nodded his head. He earned a thank you from Shane and got up from the couch.

Kloe took the hint and lifted herself off the wooden stool carefully, with help from Isabelle. The five of them headed out the room, leaving Shane and Lori in the room. Kloe really didn't want to leave her in there with him, but she didn't really have a choice.

Before they left the room, Kloe turned around and noticed Dale looking back at Shane. She tapped his shoulder, signaling him to leave with them, and he did.

...

Kloe spent the whole night tossing and turning. She had no sleep at all. She was inside with Maggie and Isabelle until 3:00 a.m. She forced herself to stay awake in hope to hear a car pull up outside her tent. But nothing.

The sun was just about rising when she tried to sleep, but she went inside instead and she saw the clock that said 6:03 a.m. Maybe not having any sleep wouldn't do her side any good, but she was too worried about the others. Everyone was up doing stuff, but Rick, Glenn and Hershel still hadn't returned.

Kloe stayed inside with Maggie and Beth the whole time she got out of her tent, hoping it would take her mind off of things. Isabelle decided to stay inside with them too. Patricia was leaning over Beth, examining her.

"Where the hell are they?" Maggie whispered to herself, stroking her thumb across Beth's cheek. Kloe felt bad for Maggie deeply, she didn't deserve this. Beth didn't deserve this. No one deserved this.

"They should've been back a few hours after they left... It's a new day," Isabelle added, staring at Beth from the chair she sat on beside Beth's bed.

"How is she?" an unexpected voice entered the tense atmosphere. The four of them turned to the voice, noticing Andrea stood there with her arms by her sides.

"Dehydrated," Patricia sighed, rubbing Beth's limp hand. "I'll set up an IV. Best I can do without Hershel," she let out yet another sigh as she walked out of the room, rubbing her face.

Maggie scooted closer to her sister, muttering a few things to her. Kloe pushed herself off the bed and stepped back so she leant against the wall. She didn't take her eyes off the Greenes'. The only thing they both needed right then was their father.

Andrea's eyes switched between Maggie, Kloe and Isabelle. Kloe guessed the blonde woman acknowledged the tired look on their faces. Maggie's attention was only set on her younger sister, she pushed her tiredness to the side. Isabelle was super exhausted. And Kloe wasn't tired at all, but she knew she looked way more than tired.

Andrea carefully sat herself on the bed, still looking between the three girls. "Can I get you girls anything? You've been sitting here most of the night," she asked innocently, pity in her eyes as Isabelle silently yawned and shook her head.

Kloe copied Isabelle, shaking her head. She didn't need anything. She wasn't hungry, she wasn't thirty, she wasn't even tired. Andrea hesitantly nodded her head at their reactions before looking over at Maggie.

"Nah," she raised her head and looked at the three, "I just wish my dad was here." Her bottom lip began to quiver as she looked back down at her younger sister. Kloe chewed the flesh in her cheek as her eyes fluttered to the dark wooden floor.

"She'll be okay," Andrea reassured, sympathy in her low and soft voice. "You just need to be strong for her."

Everyone's lips turned into a soft smile as Maggie brushed some hair out of Beth's face. "I was just reminding her about-" she paused, smiling to herself still and shook her head. The smile stayed on Kloe's and Isabelle's faces too, since they both knew what Maggie had been saying to Beth before Patricia came in. "Never mind."

"No, no. I'd- I'd love to hear," Andrea refused, leaning more forward to listen. Kloe did the same, pushing herself off the wall and went on her knees, resting her elbows on the mattress. Maggie looked at her friend, and she had a look on her face showing Maggie that she wanted to hear it again.

Maggie's smile grew wider as she looked back down at her sister, "My dad would die if he heard this. My first summer back from college, I drove home, dumped my stuff off, went straight out to the stable for a ride. My family comes back from church and Beth grabs my things and starts unpacking my stuff upstairs."

"That's sweet," Andrea commented. Kloe nodded in agreement, glancing up at Isabelle who was listening in too.

"Yeah," Maggie agreed, "until this one here starts rifling through my backpack. She finds this little plastic container with these pink and green candies inside. She didn't even know I was on the pill. She was so freaked out by the idea of me and boys and sex that she runs outside and chucks them in the duck pond. And I ride up, I see this, I'm screaming. She's crying and Shawn runs outside, thinks one of us is drowning."

"Soon as he figures out what's going on, the jerk bursts out laughing so loud that my horse rears up and gets mud all over the three of us. My dad comes out, what the heck is going on out here? And she turned around, bats her eyelids and says, we're just swimming, daddy. In her Sunday dress, all covered in snot and mud."

At this point, her eyes were filled with tears and they were bright red. Kloe looked over at Andrea, who began to speak, "Rick and Glenn will get your dad back." The name of the person Kloe confessed to sent shivers down her spine for some reason.

Through the tears and quivering, Maggie smirked and looked toward Kloe, "Glenn's a good guy. Isn't that right, Klo." Andrea's soft eyes averted over to Kloe, and judging by the look on her face, it seemed she knew that Kloe had a thing for Glenn. Was it really that obvious? It must've been.

Unable to hold back a sheepish smile, Kloe playfully glared at the two of them, "Of course he's a good guy."

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Words: 3306

- 7th April 2022

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR 4K READS! i really appreciate it! expect to see a lot more chapters btw bc i'm going on holiday on thursday. thnak you for reading! :))