Tell It to the Frogs.

CHAPTER THREE , SHE KNOWS

a/n : it's been awhileeee hehehehe

━━━━━━━━━━

"Look at 'em."

Logan bites the inside of her cheek, watching Dale, Jim, and Morales taking the red vehicle apart. The brunette looks at the Walsh boy beside her and sees his solemn expression as well.

"Vultures." Elliot frowns and shakes his head with his arms folded. "I didn't even get to drive her yet."

"You can drive?" Logan asks.

Elliot looks at Logan and raises his brows, "Well, no. But who said I wouldn't try?"

Logan smiles softly and rolls her eyes. "Wouldn't your father have an issue with that?"

Elliot pulls his brows together. "I'm sure he'd want me to learn, Logan." his voice was a bit sharp. "He's not a bad person, you know?"

Logan raises her brows, slightly caught off guard by Elliot's tone. "Right, of course..."

"Yeah, go on, strip it clean," Glenn calls out.

Dale walks past Glenn, "Generators need every drop of fuel they can get." he pats Glenn on the back. "Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn."

"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days," Glenn states.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday," Rick replies, patting Glenn on the back. He then ruffles Logan's hair and she chuckles softly. The brunette didn't know how much she missed that. She smiles as her father walks away.

"Maybe you can ask Dale to drive the R.V." Logan turns to the former pizza delivery boy.

Glenn pulls his brows together and hesitantly turns to the girl. Logan tilts her head as Glenn blinks at her. The brunette turns to Elliot, wondering what was wrong with him. Elliot softly chuckles and looks at the ground. It wasn't the normal whole-hearted laugh he used. And it struck Logan in a weird way.

"Wait..." Glenn finally speaks.

Logan looks back at Glenn with a blank expression.

"...you're talking to me?"

Logan lets out a quiet laugh which causes Glenn's eyes to widen. "Oh my god, you're smiling!"

"I've never seen that before." Glenn tilts his head like Logan was some Extraterrestrial being.

"Logan 'the mysterious' Grimes." Elliot voices.

Logan waves a dismissive hand, "Okay, okay, okay!" her laughter increases. "I get it...I never seemed approachable and I was all scary."

"You still are scary," Glenn admits. "And you never smiled. Or laughed."

"She's usually laughing when she's terrorizing her own mother." Elliot voices like he is reprimanding her.

Logan arches a brow. She wanted to snap back or ask Elliot what his problem was. But right now, she was finally being open with someone at this camp besides her brother, and she didn't want to ruin it.

"That is true." Glenn nods while pointing at Elliot.

Logan inhales a breath, "Well, I have a reason to smile now." she shrugs. The brunette then looks at Glenn. "So, what was it like in the city?"

"More chaotic than usual." Glenn sighs. "That's the last time I go with anyone."

"Hopefully, you won't save any more teenagers either." Logan jokes.

Elliot softly scoffs which causes Logan to look at him. Logan slightly opens her mouth, "It's a joke, Eli. Jeez." she then looks at Glenn. "He's so literal sometimes, it's frustrating."

"Anyway, next time you should try and choose more carefully who goes with you..." Logan purses her lips then she rocks back and forth on her heels.

Glenn slowly nods his head, understanding what she's trying to say. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Next time, you can go..." he chuckles, sarcasm in his voice. Glenn pats Logan on her back.

Logan's smile widens, "Imma hold you to that!" she calls out to Glenn as he walks over to Shane, who just arrived with water.

"Why do you want to go out there so much?" Elliot asks.

Logan turns to the Walsh boy.

"It's fucking dangerous."

"Eli, unlike you, I don't want to sit here and do nothing." Logan snaps now that no one is around them. Elliot scoffs, "You do realize that chores aren't nothing? This place needs order. When need to feel normal--"

"This is the new normal now." Logan seethes. "Feeling like the world has ended. Feeling alone. That's normal." she explains. "Doing chores and pretending that we're back in the old world is delusion at its best." Logan shoves her pointer into Elliot's chest. "You are delusion, Elliott."

"Well, not everyone can be a pessimistic ass, like you, Logan." The words slip off of Elliot's tongue with ease. Logan raises her brows and she laughs softly, "For someone who acts like he's the sweetest person in the world, you sure said that with no hesitation." she shoves him back. "What the fuck is your problem anyway? You hang out with that Reese girl for one day and all of a sudden you turn against me?"

Elliot shakes his head, "No, no. This has nothing to do with Reese. Try to contain your jealousy for a fucking minu--"

A scream erupts through the camp, which causes Elliot to stop talking. His heart jumps into his throat from the loud scream. Logan's eyes shift around the camp, wondering about the screaming. Then she heard her name.

"Logan!"

The brunette's eyes widen and her heart feels like it has dropped deep into her stomach. She recognized the terrified voice. It was her little brother's.

"Carl..." Logan whispers. Elliot snaps his eyes over to Logan.

Logan sucks in a sharp breath, "Carl?!" she breaks off into a sprint towards the screaming before anyone else does.

Elliot's eyes widen, "Logan, hold on!" he chases after her.

Reese raises her brows from the sudden panic amongst the group.

Rick and Lori see their daughter sprint past them without a glance.

"Logan, don't!" Rick calls out to her, then he and Lori run after their daughter.

"Carl!" Logan shouts, her heart begins to beat through her ears. She runs through the woods, ignoring the leaves and twigs slapping against her arms and face.

"Logan, help!"

"Mom! Dad!"

Logan sees her little brother in her line of sight. She quickly stops as Carl runs over to her. The brunette drops to her knees and Carls wraps his arms around her neck. She wraps her arms around his middle and exhales a soft breath. Carl's breathing was quick and tears were pricking his vision.

"Are you okay?" Logan quickly asks. She grips Carl's shoulders and pulls him back so she can inspect him.

Lori crouches beside her kids. "Bites? Scratches?"

Carl looks between his mother and sister. "No, I'm okay."

Logan sighs with relief and she hugs Carl again. She lifts her head up and sees the men all walk over to the bushes. Logan pulls her brows together and separates from Carl. The brunette makes her way through the first and pushes through the bushes. The men were all beating a walker down. Logan's eyes widen when Dale decapitated the Walker.

"Aw, sick..." Logan's nose wrinkles.

Rick turns his head to see his daughter, peeking from behind a bush. Logan's jaw goes slack and she hides back behind the bush. "Logan, get away from here!"

Logan peeks from the side of the bush. "This is the first one we've had up here, y'know?"

Dale nods his head, "Logan's right. They never come this far up the mountain."

Reese makes her way over to the group of men with her hands stuffed in her jacket pockets. "What, so, they ran out of food in the city and now they're here for me?"

Everyone looks at the girl. Logan arches a brow, "I'm sure, they're not here for you specifically."

Branches snap from behind a set of bushes, causing Logan to jump. The men all get in position, ready to take down what they think is a walker. The redneck then emerges from the woods and stares at all of them. Elliott sighs with relief, but his relief quickly dies, remembering the situation with Merle.

"Son of a bitch..." Daryl says, his eyes on the mauled deer. "That's my deer!" he stalks over to the two corpses. "Look at it. Gnawed on by this..." he starts to kick the walker with every insult. "Filthy, disease-bearing, Mother poxy bastard!"

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dalre tries to calm Daryl.

"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl walks over to Dale. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'?"

Reese places a hand over her mouth and laughs softly. Shane holds his arm out, so Daryl wouldn't get any closer to Dale.

Daryl walks back over to the animal. "I've been tracking this deer for miles," he speaks. "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." he pulls his arrows out of the deer. "What do you think? You think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?" Daryl motions to the large gash of the deer.

Logan lets a quiet breath escape her lips and she rolls her eyes. "That's gross."

"So, what--you just wanna starve then?" Daryl snaps at the brunette.

"Well, I'm not gonna eat something that might get me sick." Logan cocks her head to the side.

Daryl lets out a huff, "Then how about you go out there yourself and find your own damn food?" he snaps at the teenager. "I don't have time for ungrateful brats."

Rick watches the familiar crease of rage form between Logan's brows. The same crease that would form when she was pissed. Logan stalks toward Daryl, but Rick holds his arm out. "Logan, how about you go check on Carl?"

Logan squints her eyes and runs her tongue over her teeth. Daryl never worried about Logan and he wasn't going to start now. He looks away from the teenager, brushing her off. Logan inhales a deep breath and pushes her frustration down. "Sure..." She turns on her heel and walks away from the group.

Reese follows Logan and she scoffs. "Someone's not very grateful for the meal."

"So, you're willing to eat that too?" Elliott motions his head to the deer. Reese looks at the corpse for a moment and purses her lips. "You'd really have to cut around it." she shrugs. "But, I definitely would."

A slight snarl is heard from the side. Reese turns her head to the Walker's head on the ground which was still moving. She raises her brows, "You guys didn't kill it?" a small chuckle leaves her lips. Reese pulls her toothbrush shiv from her pocket and rams it into the Walker's head. "It has to be the brain, geniuses." she stands up and wipes the blood onto her jeans.

"At least someone knows." Daryl voices.

Reese sighs and shakes her head, "I guess men aren't all that." she turns on her heel and walks away.

Logan walks toward the tent she shares with her family. "Knock, knock..." she calls out, before entering. Her eyes meet Carl's and hers soften. "Hey, bud, how you doing?"

Carl manages a small smile, "I'm all right, just glad everyone is okay."

Logan smiles softly, she looks to the side and sees her mom sitting there while rubbing her lower lip. She was angry. Usually, when Lori was angry, she was angry at Logan. So, the brunette inhales a soft breath. "Hey, Carl, can I talk to Mom for a sec?"

Carl looks over at his mom and he winces. "She's rubbing her lower lip," he whispers and looks back at his big sister.

Logan scrunches her nose, "Yep. I'm in biiig trouble..."

"Good luck." Carl gets up and hurries out of the tent. As he leaves the tent, he sees Elliott walking towards it. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you."

Elliott frowns, "Yeah? And why is that?"

"Logan and Mom are about to start arguing," Carl says.

Elliott winces, "Ooh, Lori was rubbing her lip."

Carl presses his lips together and nods.

"Yeah... let's get far away from here then." Elliott and Carl quickly walk away from the tent.

Logan pinches the bridge of her nose and bites the inside of her cheek. Just stay calm. She's your mother. Stay calm.

The brunette turns to Lori. "Mom, are you...okay? Or--"

"You were supposed to be watching him," Lori whispers.

Logan swipes her tongue across her lower lip. "Dale asked me to take over watch for him, for a second--"

"Carl could've been hurt, Logan!" Lori stands up.

Logan closes her mouth and looks at the ground. "Jacqui was there with him. He wasn't alone." she looks back at her mom. "But, I am sorry that I wasn't watching him."

Lori pulled her brows together, taken aback by how calm Logan was.

"If you have an issue with me watching Carl and you don't trust me to do it..." Logan bunches her shoulders. "Maybe you should just watch him from now on."

"I'm not being a smartas--alec, by the way." Logan clarifies. "It was actual advice."

"Oh." Lori shifts as silence settles in the tent. "Well, thank you for the advice."

Logan raises her brows, "So...are we cool?"

Lori blinks, "Yeah--yeah, we're cool."

Logan presses her lips into a small smile and she walks out of the tent. As soon as she walks out of the tent, Logan is greeted by Daryl running towards Rick. Shane quickly shoves Daryl to the ground.

"Uh, Mom?" Logan calls out with her eyes still on the scene.

Lori leaves the tent and her eyes widen at the sight of Daryl getting choked out. "What the hell?"

"Indeed." Logan slowly nods her head with a small smile across her lips.

Logan wasn't going to admit that this satisfied her, but then again. She wasn't not going to admit it either.

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl shouts.

Shane frowns, "Nah, I think it's better if I don't."

Daryl gets lower to the ground. "Choke hold's illegal."

"You can file a complaint," Shane replies. "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day."

Rick crouches in front of Daryl, "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" he questions. Rick looks at Shane, signaling for him to let Daryl go. Shane pushes Daryl to the ground and releases him.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick explains.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." T-Dog adds.

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asks.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain." T-Dog answers.

Daryl scoffs and lowers his head. Rick and Daryl stand up from the dirt. "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it won't." he snaps, walking toward T-Dog.

"Well, maybe this will," T-Dog says. "Look, I chained the door to the roof so the Geeks couldn't get at him...with a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something," Rick adds.

Daryl looks at Rick. The redneck blinks away his tears. "Hell with all y'all!" he shouts. "Just tell me where he is...so's I can go get him."

Reading her husband's mind, Lori speaks. "He'll show you."

Everyone turns their attention to Lori.

"Isn't that right?"

Logan snaps her eyes at her father with her eyebrows raised. Rick slowly nods his head, "I'm going back."

Lori's jaw clenches and she walks into the R.V. Reese lets out a soft scoff, "He's fucking insane." she walks away. "It's his funeral...again."

Logan's ears perk from the words that were just spoken. She curls her fingers, allowing her nails to dig into her arms. Logan didn't know a lot about Reese, but she knew that she was a self-conceited bitch. The brunette grinds her teeth together, she stalks toward Reese; ready to bite her head off. But, of course, Logan Grimes was a predictable girl.

A hand grasps her arm and she snaps her eyes over at her best friend. "What the hell are you doing?--"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Elliott arches a brow. He scoffs, "You just can't help yourself, can you?"

"Excuse me?" Logan rips her arm from Elliott's grip, her emerald eyes burning a fiery rage into his annoyed brown ones.

"Reese is just talking. She obviously wasn't aiming it at you--"

"She's talking about my father." Logan snaps. "He saved her ungrateful ass and--"

"It is a little crazy for your dad to go back there."

Logan scrunches her brows together.

"Especially for...Merle Dixon." He whispers the last part.

"Oh, wow..." Logan scoffs. She snaps her eyes over to Reese and she notices the smirk across the newcomer's lips. Logan's eyes widen and her face grows hot with far more rage than before. Reese knew Logan would react like this. And she knew that Elliott would stop her. If Logan continued now, then she'd just be giving Reese what she wanted.

Logan inhales a deep breath and looks back at Elliott. "You know what? Nevermind. Have fun with your best friend." She shoves past Elliott and tries to shake the rage from her hands.

"I-I'm sorry." Reese makes her way back over to Elliott. "I didn't know she heard me."

Elliott lets out a breath, "No, you're fine. You...had a point." he rubs his chin. "As much as I love that family. There's a lot of...baggage with them."

Reese tilts her head, "And since you've known them for a very very long time. That baggage immediately becomes your baggage."

Elliott raises his brows and nods. Reese lightly scoffs, "Jesus, I can't imagine..." she shakes her head. She grabs Elliott's arm in a comforting manner. Elliott looks down at Reese's hand on his arm and his stomach flutters.

"I am so sorry, Elliott."

The boy's face grows hot. "I...It's fine." he bunches his shoulders. "They're my family I love them--"

"But they're not your blood." Reese gives him a small smile. "You should...learn to be a little selfish. Stop worrying about Lola."

Elliott softly laughs, "Logan."

Reese blinks, "That's what I said." she then smirks and walks away from him.

☆

"Dad, please."

Logan follows her dad out of the tent.

"Logan, we already had this discussion." Rick stops and turns to his daughter. Logan stops in her tracks. "Glenn said I could."

"What?"

Logan slightly opens her mouth and moves her head from side to side. I mean--yeah, he did. I swear he did." she then huffs. "He probably didn't want me to tell anyone, but yeah."

"Go ask your mother."

Logan's mouth hangs open, "What?--You know what she's going to say."

"Why do you even want to come?" Rick asks. "It's dangerous out there. I barely got out."

"I just want to help, all right?" Logan huffs. "So, can I--please?"

Rick searches his daughter's eyes. When Logan wanted something, she wasn't going to give up on it so easily. If he said no, she would probably find some other way to get what she wanted. He nervously scratches his brow. Lori's going to kill me.

"Uh--all right, you can--"

"She can what?"

Logan and Rick turn to Lori, who is standing behind them with the newcomer beside her.

"Mom--"

"Reese told me you wanted to go to the city." Lori folds her arms.

Logan snaps her eyes over to Reese. The newcomer cocks her head to the side and smirks while looking Logan up and down. Logan never spoke to Reese about wanting to go to the city. So, who the fuck told her?

The brunette inhales a deep breath and her jaw clenches. "I can't believe this--you're not the only parent here, y'know?!"

Lori raises her brows, "Okay, fine." she looks at her husband. "Rick. Do you want Logan to go with you into the city? Where there are Walkers, death traps--and other unexplainable things--"

"Not fair!"

"No, what's not fair is you always making me out to be the bad guy," Lori replies. "I'm just trying to keep you safe."

Logan shakes her head, her anger getting in the way of her understanding. Once again. She snaps her eyes over to her father and his jaw goes slack.

"Uh--I..." Rick looks from his daughter to his wife. Anytime, Logan and Lori would have an argument they would always put Rick in the middle, waiting for him to choose a side. He's missed this.

"Logan, it's dangerous out there--"

"Oh, you have got to be--"

"And we don't know what else we're up against," Rick adds, he touches Logan's shoulder, hoping to get through her rising anger.

Logan focuses her steaming green eyes on her father's wintry blues. She runs her tongue across her teeth and shrugs a shoulder, pretending as if she didn't care. Logan was a terrible actress.

"Whatever. You're the parents." she rips herself from Rick's grip. She turns on her heel and goes to walk away. A boot then blocks her path. She snaps her eyes up and meets Reese's soft innocent (yeah right) eyes.

"You understand why I said something, right Logan?" Reese smirks. Logan squints her eyes and she exhales through her nose. "Yeah, I know why and I have to say..." she gets closer to Reese. "My anger issues are not your entertainment."

Reese frowns, "We'll see about that."

Logan bumps her shoulder into Reese's and the newcomer softly laughs. Lori squeezes Reese's arm, "You did the right thing, sweetie."

Reese's smug smirk drops. Sweetie?

The only person who ever called her was the one adult in her life who actually cared for her. But she was gone. Reese pulls her brows together, "Uh, thank you, Mrs. Grimes." the girl then wrinkles her nose. Mrs. Grimes? What the fuck is wrong with me?

Lori walks away from the teenager.

"Reese."

The 16-year-old snaps out of her thoughts and looks at Rick. "What, pig?"

"I know what you're doing." Rick places his hands on his hips. Reese tilts her head. "Oh, yeah? And what's that?"

"Getting Logan pissed. Hoping to find some entertainment in her IED." Rick shakes his head. "And all I have to say is, be careful."

Reese arches a brow and smirks.

"She's a volcano and she's not afraid to get her hands dirty," Rick says.

"But aren't you curious..." Reese shrugs. "How fucked in the head your daughter is since you 'died'?"

Rick shakes his head. That was the last thing Rick thought about. But there was a part of him that understood what Reese was saying. How much has Logan's mental health worsened since he 'died'?

Logan was now sitting on the log away from the entire group. She was sharpening a stick with a pocket knife she found in the woods. The brunette didn't bother speaking while Lori and Shane tried to convince Rick to stay. Logan wishes that she said something positive, but she knew that if she opened her mouth; whatever came out would be filed by rage.

"You went though Hell to find us." Lori speaks. "You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

"Dad, I don't want you to go," Carl adds.

Rick looks over at his family and Logan looks back at the pocket knife.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right." Lori pronounces. "Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with the guns thrown in."

Rick walks toward his wife and Lori stands up. "Tell me. Make me understand."

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy."

Lori's eyes slightly widen, she points at Carl, hoping to further her point.

"Lori...if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died." Rick says. "It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't want him."

"What's stopping you?"

"The Walkie-Talkie, the one in the bag I dropped," Rick informs. "He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are our walkies?" Shane speaks up.

"Yeah."

"So, use the C.B. What's wrong with that?" Andrea inquires.

"The C.B.'s fine." Shane huffs. "It's the Walkies that suck to crap--date back to the 70s, don't match any other bandwidth--not even the scanners in our cars."

Rick searches Lori's eyes. "I need that bag."

Lori looks at the ground, knowing she isn't going to be able to convince Rick not going to the city. Rick and Logan were so much alike in their stubbornness.

Rick crouches in front of Carl, "Okay?"

Carl nods his head softly and Rick cracks a small smile. He ruffles Carl's hair and stands up. Rick makes his way over to his daughter, as he gets closer; he can feel the anger roaring off her. Rick sits next to his quiet daughter and she lets out a huff.

"You still mad?" Rick asks.

"You still going without me?"

"Yeah."

"Then, I'm still mad." Logan continues to sharpen her stick.

"Logan, we just want you safe--"

"You were going to say yes before Reese ran her mouth and mom butted into our conversation!" Logan snaps.

"Just because you yell, doesn't mean I'm going to let you come with us." Rick says with ease.

The way Rick talked without raising his voice. He was so calm and that just made Logan angrier.

"Fine." Logan digs her nails into her palms. She looks away from him with tears burning in her eyes. "Then, just go."

Rick slightly pulls his face back, his expression dropping. The way Logan spoke to him caught him off guard. When Logan was mad, her yelling was just something that he grew used to. But hearing her spit out those words was so much more harsh than her ever screaming. And as soon as those words escaped her mouth, she deeply regretted them. Logan just got her father back and now she was talking to him like she didn't care for him. What if he didn't make it back?

Rick touches Logan's back and he kisses the top of her head. "We'll be back soon." he then stands up and walks away from her. Logan inhales a deep breath, then exhales a sharp one. She wasn't even mad at anyone but herself right now. Logan starts to rub her knuckles into the log, scraping them. "You're such a fucking asshole..." she whispers. "Why do you always have to mess things up?"

Logan wipes her tears away with the back of her hand. The truck starts, causing Logan to turn around. A defeated breath leaves her lips, sagging her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Lori making her way over to her. Logan shakes her head, not wanting to talk or listen to anyone else right now.

"Logan--"

The teenager stands up from the log and brushes past her mom.

☆

"Maybe you can try talking to her..."

Shane lets out a chuckle of disbelief and places his hands on his hips. "Lori, you just told me to stay away from your family--"

"I know--I know," Lori says with a hand on her forehead. "But, she's not listening to me and she's not talking to anybody else."

"And you think she's gonna talk to me?" Shane raises his brows. "We haven't had an actual conversation since last month."

"Just. Try...please." Lori begs. She was desperate to find a way to get Logan to open up. Anytime her daughter would keep her emotions bottled up for so long, she could end up exploding in a much more dangerous way to herself.

Shane's jaw clenches and he exhales through his nose. He looks at Lori and nods his head. "Okay, I will try and talk to her."

"Thank you," Lori speaks. She then looks back at her daughter who was back to sharpening a stick with her pocket knife.

Shane walks over to Logan. The brunette tenses and she freezes for a moment when Shane sits on the log across from her. "Whatcha making?"

"A stake." Logan curtly answers.

Shane frowns, "I didn't think you knew how to whittle."

Logan presses her lips into a firm line. "I don't. I'm just...sharpening."

"Well, where'd you get the knife?"

Logan's left eye starts to twitch and her grip around the pocket knife tightens. "Found it."

"Does your mom kn--"

"Did she tell you to come talk to me?" Logan asks, her voice monotone as if she wasn't interested in this conversation. She didn't even bother to look at Shane.

"Look, she's just worried--"

"Well, she should mind her own business. I'm fine." Logan keeps her eyes on the stick she is sharpening.

"Look, Logan," Shane starts. "your mom tries--you oughta be more grateful to her."

A huff escapes Logan's lips as she continues to sharpen the stick.

"If your mom wasn't here. I wouldn't know how to raise you and Carl. I'm grateful to her--"

"Yeah, I bet you are."

Shane pulls his brows together and quietly chuckles. "Now, what's that supposed to mean?"

Logan continues to sharpen the stick, but she looks at Shane. A smug smirk was on her lips while a meticulous glint was flickering in her eyes. Like, she knew something she wasn't supposed to know. Logan arches a brow, waiting patiently for Shane to understand.

No words were exchanged, but Shane knew by Logan's cunning and malicious look that she knew about him and Lori.

Shane's heart drops into his stomach and his back straightens. All the color drains from his face, which causes Logan to chuckle. She knew that Shane now understood.

"Logan--"

"Maybe next time, you guys should bang in a bush. It'd be harder for anyone to spot you." Logan cuts Shane off. She blows on the end of the stick, the wood dust flying off. The brunette stands up and chucks the stick to the ground. And out of pure luck, the sharp end of the stick stabs into the dirt. Logan walks away from the shaken Shane.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Elliott reveals rock, while Carl reveals paper.

"No way!" Elliott throws his hands in the air and Carl triumphantly laughs. "How do you always beat me?"

"Maybe he's just better than you..." Sophia shrugs innocently.

Elliott presses his lips together, "Yep, that's it."

"That's definitely it." Carl nods.

Carl and Sophia look at each other and laugh.

"I can't believe you two are ganging up on me, right now." Elliott lets out a chuckle of disbelief. "I'm all alone."

"Yeah, where is Logan anyway?" Sophia asks. "She loves rock, paper, scissors."

Elliott's chest tightens. "Uh, I don't know...maybe she's sleeping--"

"There she is!" Carl points at his big sister.

Elliott snaps her eyes over to the brunette and just from the way her hands were shoved into her pockets, the boy could tell Logan was mad.

"Logan, over here!" Sophia waves.

Logan snaps out of her thoughts and looks over at the three. Her eyes land on Elliott and for a second Logan just wanted to ignore the three and continue walking. But then she remembered how she treated her father earlier. Even though, Logan didn't see her father's expression; she knew that she hurt him. And now she was thinking about how much she hurt Elliott.

The brunette inhales a breath and then exhales through her mouth. She awkwardly and stiffly walks over to the three. Elliott knits his brows together and wrinkles his nose.

"What is up with her?" Sophia asks.

"She's got a stick up her butt."

Elliott and Sophia look at Carl. He innocently shrugs, which causes the two to laugh.

"Hey, guys," Logan speaks. "What's so funny?"

"Your walk." Sophia giggles.

Logan raises her brows and softly chuckles. "What's wrong with my walk?"

"It's so awkward." Carl grimaces.

Logan's mouth hangs open, "Aw, what? No, it isn't!"

"The one you were just doing--yeah." Carl laughs. "Tell her, Elliott!"

Logan looks over at Elliott, a timid look of "I'm sorry" across her face. She always had an issue with apologizing. Elliott was still pretty frustrated with Logan, but he also knew that she couldn't help the unstable feelings she had. And besides, when is he not frustrated with Logan? Elliott raises his brows, "Your walk did look like you had a stick up your butt."

Logan's chest untightens and her shoulders relax. "Very mature..." she softly chuckles and sits down with her legs crossed. "What are you guys playing?"

"Rock, paper, scissors."

"Oh. Well, I'll watch." Logan puts her hands in her lap and presses her lips together.

"Just watch?"

Logan's skin crawls from the voice. Elliott quickly looks up, his eyes meeting the new survivors. "H-Hi." He rubs his hands against his knees.

Reese gives Elliott a small smile. "Hi. So, what are we doing?"

"I was just leaving." Logan sighs. "But they're playing rock, paper, scissors." She stands up and turns to Reese.

Reese tilts her head, waiting for any negative reaction Logan is going to give. Logan inhales a breath and holds it. She keeps her emerald green eyes on Reese's dark ones. "You should join them," Logan speaks softly. "Maybe learn that there are other ways to have fun."

"Meaning?" Reese blinks.

Logan chuckles, she slightly turns her head and sees Sophie, Carl, and Elliot staring at them. She runs her tongue across her teeth. Stay calm...

"It means..." she looks back at Reese. "My life? It's not your form of entertainment. Go play rock, paper, scissors. Go do laundry. Just...leave me alone."

Reese smirks, "You know what? I love laundry." She raises a hand and touches Logan's arm. Logan snaps her eyes over to Reese's hand that is on her. She then looks back at Reese.

"Holy shit..." Elliot whispers.

"She's touching her." Carl's eyes widen.

"Why hasn't the world exploded yet?" Sophia asks.

Reese clicks her tongue, a smile on her lips. "Thank you, Lo Lo."

Logan slaps Reese's hand off of her. "It's Logan. Thanks." She sits back down with the three. Reese chuckles, she looks at Elliott one last time before walking towards the quarry.

☆

"So, this is all you guys do?"

All the women look at the teenager. Reese awkwardly presses the clothing against the washboard. Reese had been struggling with using the washboard. I mean, just because she was thrown into an apocalypse, doesn't mean she knew how to use a fucking washboard.

Amy had to give Reese some pointers and as much as the teenager got the hang of it, she thought it was the most boring shit ever.

Reese stops and thinks for a moment. Washing clothes and being bored out of her mind was far better than being back in the city again with those dipshits that consider themselves "men".

"Okay, maybe this isn't so bad..." Reese frowns.

"A washer would be nice, though..." Amy voices.

Carol nods, "I do miss my Maytag."

"I miss my Benz, my Sat Nav," Andrea adds.

"I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey," Jacqueline speaks.

Reese listens to each of the women talk about all the things they missed. Her eyes train on the clothes she was washing. She could add into the conversation and say she missed her cat (she didn't have one), her skateboard, or even school. But that would be a lie. Did Reese have anything that she truly missed?

Reese catches glimpse of her locket dangling over the water. My mother.

She truly missed her mother. But she was supposed to be this stone-cold bitch. Reese didn't mind being seen that way. But who would listen to her talk about her mother? It caused her skin to crawl just thinking about her buried feelings.

"I miss my vibrator."

Reese blinks and looks over at the group of laughing women. Carol looks around before speaking. "Me too."

The women laugh louder than before. Reese raises her brows and looks back at her clothes.

"What's so funny?"

Reese feels her stomach clench. The one thing that Reese hated more than almost dying? Men.

She whips her head around, looking at the man marching down the gravel towards them.

"Just swapping war stories, Ed," Andrea says, her eyes sympathetically shifting to Carol. Reese looks at Carol and watches the woman's bright smile immediately drop, her body becomes small which causes Reese's jaw to clench. That look of fear like any wrong word or movement she said/did could set him off.

Reese knew that look all too well. She's lived with that look across her face until she started hitting back. Hell, even after Reese started fighting back, she was still have fear towards her father.

Ed lurks around the women, his cigarette burning between his lips. Andrea lightly scoffs, "Problem, Ed?"

He keeps his eyes on Carol before looking at Andrea. "Nothin' that concerns you."

"And you ought to focus on your work." Ed says to his wife. "This ain't no comedy club."

"Well...it's a quarry." Reese quirks a brow. "So, no shit, it's not a comedy club."

Small bits of laughter come from the women. Reese looks at Carol, who nervously shifts. The teen swallows and looks back at the water. She knew that being a smartass wasn't going to help. If anything, that was going to get Carol hurt.

"You wanna say that a bit louder?" Ed walks closer to Reese. Her chest tightens and anger begins to bubble within her.

"Oh, come on, Ed. She's just a kid." Andrea says. "She was joking around."

Ed lets out a huff, she takes a drag out of his cigarette. Andrea's grip tightens around the shirt in her hand. The blonde stands up, "Ed, tell you what—you don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here." She tosses the shirt to him. Ed grab the shirt and throws it back in Andrea's face.

"Ain't my job, missy."

"Andrea, don't." Amy quickly stands up.

"What is your job, exactly?" Reese stands up with a huff. "I mean, I've been here for like a day and yet..." she clicks her tongue. "All I've seen you do is sit on your ass and smoke cigarettes."

"Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch." Ed bites. Reese rolls her eyes. "Very, clever, Eduardo..."

He looks at Carol. "Tell you what—come on. Let's go."

Carol stands up and Reese's back straightens.

"I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed." Andrea says.

"And I say it's none of your business." Ed motions a hand over to himself. "Come on now. You heard me." His voice was stern.

"Carol." Andrea turns to the woman. Carol's eyes were filled with tears and her hands were shaking. "Andrea, please. It doesn't matter."

"Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass just cause you're some college-educated cooze, all right?" Ed barks at Andrea. He looks at Carol, "Now, you come on, now or you gonna regret it later."

Reese's throat tightens, her worry for Carol growing. In the back of her mind, Reese was wondering why she was even worried about Carol. But right now, she wasn't listening to the back of her mind. She was listening to her heart. For the first time in forever, something had struck her deep in her heart.

"Guys, let her go," Reese speaks. "We're only making things worse."

Carol shifts her glassy eyes to Reese's soft ones.

"We've seen the bruises, Ed." Jacqueline speaks up.

"Stay out of this. Now, come on!" Ed raises his voice. "You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now, I am done talking. Come on." He grabs Carol by her arm.

Andrea shakes her head, "No, no. Carol, you don't have to..."

Carol lets out a few mumbled words of defiance against Ed and that sends him over the edge.

"You don't tell me what! I tell you what!" Ed slaps Carol across the face. Reese's eyes widen. As the women all scream and pull Carol away from Ed, the teen pulls out her pocket knife and flicks it open. She takes a step toward Ed and before she could stab him dead, Shane grabs a fistful of Ed's shirt and drags him away from the group.

Shane stands over Ed and punches him repeatedly. Reese keeps her eyes glued to the bloody mess while everyone else screams for Shane to stop. Carol's sobs become much more harder than before. Shane grips Ed's face, "You put your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me?—Do you hear me?!"

Ed lets out a slurred, "Yes."

"I'll beat you to death, Ed. I'll beat you to death!—" Shane punches Ed across the face again, leaving him choking on his own blood. He stands up and kicks Ed. Carol walks over to Ed and sobs over his body.

Shane looks at the group of women that had a look of fear before walking away from them in a hurry. Reese keeps her eyes on Ed's bloody face, dissatisfied that Shane hadn't killed him.

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

Yeah, so...don't ask me for another TWD update until next year...

JK JK. I'm hoping to get back into this story, because I love and miss Logan so much 😭😭

words : 6956