Paul and Carl walked into Sophia's room and saw Carol already there with an awake Sophia.
Paul noticed she was looking a lot better now with some color to her face.
"Carl!" Sophia said aloud with a smile, and Carl ran over to Sophia.
"I'm glad you're okay," Carl said
"Thank you. I heard what you and Paul did for me," Sophia said, looking a little shy now that so many people were looking at her.
"Haha, I'll give you all some time to talk," Carol said before leaving the room, leaving just the three of them in the room.
"No need to thank me. It's just what we do." Paul said, and Carl nodded, agreeing with the statement.
"That's right. I'll always protect you." Carl said, and they saw Sophia look away shyly before looking back with a smile.
"Do you remember the deer? It was so pretty." Sophia's eyes sparkled while remembering the massive deer and the way it had allowed them to get so close.
"Yeah, it was so awesome!" Carl smiled
"Maybe someday we can see another one," Paul said while knocking down Carl's hat and covering his eyes.
"Heyy!"
"Hehe! Don't make me laugh! It hurts," Sophia said while trying not to giggle.
Crash!
They all stopped as they heard a loud crash come from the kitchen along with a few voices.
"You two stay here and don't move. I'll go check it out," Paul said
"Okay," Carl said while getting in front of Sophia to protect her.
"Hey, I can't even go anywhere." Sophia pouted
Paul walked out into the living area and saw Glenn and Maggie hovering over a lying down Beth, who seemed to be in Shock.
Looking at the pile of dishes that were scattered everywhere, he assumed she had fallen over.
"Glenn, we should carry her to her bed. Maggie, where is Hershel?" Paul asked, making the two look over at him.
"I can't find Hershel me and Glenn looked everywhere," Maggie said with a hint of annoyance.
"Great. Go get Lori and Rick, then. Bring them here." Paul said and watched Maggie run off before looking down at Beth.
"Is her head okay?" Paul asked while assessing her.
"Yeah, it looks like it," Glenn said nervously
"Okay, I got her." Paul put a hand under Beth's legs and one to support her neck before he began to carry her up the stairs and to her room.
"Wow, you're stronger than you look." Glenn looked him up and down with a surprised look.
"Hm." Paul hummed and thought of the current situation.
"Go search Hershel's room, see if you can find anything," Paul said to Glenn, who nodded and walked over to Hershel's room.
Paul looked back down at Beth, her eyes staring up at the ceiling in shock.
Crouching down, he got next to her face and whispered.
"I've been where you are. The shock, the fucking numb, its all your brain can see right now.
Let me tell you something, no one's coming to save you, no one can pull you out from that kind of depression, it's not possible.
It takes time and it takes will. Think about your sister, your dad. " Paul stood back up.
He knew Beth heard him.
Hearing steps coming down the hall, he looked over and saw Maggie along with Rick and a few others.
"She's in shock, and Hershel went missing. Glenn's checking his room right now for clues on his whereabouts." Paul informed Rick about the situation before he even had to ask.
"Okay." Rick nodded at him
"Let's see what Glenn has found."
They followed Rick to Hershel's room, where they found Glenn going through some boxes that had been laid out on the bed.
"What's all that?" Rick asked
"My stepmother's things, he was sure they would recover," Maggie said
"What about this?." Paul picked up an old flask on a dresser and tossed it to Rick
"My grandfathers, he gave it to my dad when he died," Maggie said
"The bar then," Paul said while thinking of where Hershel would be.
"Hatlin's is the town bar, not too far," Maggie said.
"Glenn, go with Rick, bring Hershel back. The rest of us will figure out our next plans." Paul said
He knew Rick and Glenn were dependable and solid. Getting Hershel back should be a pretty simple job with the two of them.
"Are we sure that is such a good idea right now?" Lori cut in as she had been feeling a little stressed lately at how fast things were moving.
"Lori, I'm sure Rick can handle this. Meanwhile, the rest of us have a lot to do as well. Don't worry." Paul put a hand on Lori's back and gave Rick a nod while watching Rick and Glenn get ready to leave after Hershel.
Paul and Lori stepped outside onto the porch of the house and watched as Rick and Glenn left before Paul spoke.
"You seem stressed," Paul said and glanced at Lori, who was looking a tad better than the first time he had seen her, but still not great.
Of course, it had only been a day, so that wasn't saying much.
"It's just everything, and then there is Carl," Lori said with a sigh
"What about him?" Paul looked at Lori as she put her hands on her waist and took a deep breath.
"I'm just not sure I know who he is anymore, you know, he's different, cold, I saw it when he shot those walkers, he didn't even blink, it was so easy for him. I don't know how to connect with him anymore." Lori wanted to cry thinking of the Carl she had lost, but stopped herself.
"We're all changing, Lori, even if we don't want to admit it. The last person I thought who would change would be me, and yet here I stand.
We connect by being there for each other, by surviving at any cost now. Look at me." Paul put a hand on Lori's shoulder and saw her looking at him.
"What would you do for Rick, for your boy, when you thought they were dead, what would you do to see them just one more day?" Paul looked into Lori's eyes and saw an emotion he hadn't seen before.
A mother's wrath. A wifes fury
"I would do anything," Lori said, and she remembered the feeling of both her husband and her child being gone at the same time. Everything she loved, taken from her.
"Then there you go. This world isn't the same anymore, it's harsh, it's unforgiving, to be there for Carl, you'll need to do things you might not want to do."
"But we'll worry about that when the time comes. To protect Carl and Rick, you first need to know how to protect yourself. I think we should set up some gun practice for you." Paul said
Lori looked at Paul before she felt a small smile slip out.
"You're too smart for a kid, you know that."
"I know." Paul nodded before he felt himself pulled into a hug.
"Thank you. I feel like I'm being ignored around here, and no one's understanding my worries." Lori said and smiled as she felt Paul awkwardly pat her back.
"Everyone's dealing in their own ways," Paul said, breaking the hug before things got too awkward.
"So about that gun training?" Lori asked with a smirk
"Yeah, I wanted to see if Andrea wanted to join as well," Paul said
"Good idea, I know she was looking to learn," Lori said while looking at Paul. She noticed Paul was quite observant and had noticed a lot about their group, for only being with them for a day.
She had asked Carl about Paul's background, but Carl kept it all hush-hush, so she didn't know much.
"Carl!" Paul yelled, and they both waited before they heard the sound of running.
"Yeah?" Carl came running out and saw Paul and his mom looking at him.
"I didn't do anything, I swear!" Carl said with his hands up
"You silly boy." Lori shook her head. Maybe Carl was more normal than she had realized.
"I'm going to teach Lori how to shoot, you coming?" Paul asked
"Definitely! Let me say goodbye to Sophia first." Carl smirked at the thought of his mom becoming awesome before running off to say goodbye to Sophia.
Paul and Lori waited a minute before Carl came running back out.
"Let's go shoot!"