▎SAFE HAVEN ▎ 
»»————　act two. on the hunt
CHAPTER SIXTEEN  ━━ Randall

It was night and Glenn, Rick and Hershel weren't back yet. And Josie was worrying, but, she looked after Carl, clearing her head.

Everyone was in the house, setting the table. Josie sent Tiffany a smile as the Greene woman handed her some plates to place down.

Josie heard the door open and close, but didn't turn around, knowing it was Shane. "They should've been back by now." Andrea said as she walked to the table, Shane following.

Josie placed the plates down as she ruffled carls hair as she moved past him, clearly ignoring her older brother.

"Yeah, they just got holed up somewhere." Shane said as he sat down at the table. Josie sat down beside Carl. "We'll head out first thing in the morning." He said as Josie carefully grabbed some food and placed it on Carls plate. "Carl, I want you to keep your head up, okay? Your old man, he's the tightest son of a—"

"No cussing in the house." Patricia interrupted Shane, giving him a look as she raised her brows.

"Sorry." Shane nodded his head as everybody walked in, taking their place at the table.

"That told you." Tiffany mumbled as she sat down beside Josie, making Josie nudge her, slightly.

"Lori, dinner." Carol spoke a little bit loud, Josie looking over her shoulder as Maggie frowned.

"Shes not in there." Maggie told her, sitting down at the end of the table.

"Where is she?" Josie asked with a frown, making Maggie shrug her shoulders.

"Carl, when's the last time you saw your mom?" Shane asked as he placed his napkin down. Josie sat up, slightly as she turned to Carl.

"This afternoon." Carl simply said, tilting his little head.

"She was worried about Rick, ask me to ask Josie to look in on Carl." Andrea spoke up as Josie frowned, raising her brow as she placed down her fork.

"She went after them?" Tiffany asked as she looked around the table.

"She didn't say that." Andrea told him, shaking her head. Josie quickly stood up, tucking her chair back under as Carl and Shane did the same.

Josie would go out and find Lori herself if she had to. Lori shouldn't have left, never mind alone.

Shane had gone to go find Lori on his own, and josie wanted to stay with Carl and look after him.

He was worried for his mother and his father, and josie wanted to be there for him. So the pair sat on the sofa, holding him close to her.

"Do you think they're okay?" Carl uttered as Josie looked down at him, running her hand through his hair.

"They'll both be fine. They both are tough." Josie said to him, smiling at him as he slowly nodded his head.

"Are you worried about Glenn?" Carl asked as Josie frowned, but nodded her head.

"Yeah, he's my friend. I care about him." Josie tilted her head as she rested her chin on his head.

"Mom told me that you have a crush on him." Carl bit back a grin as Josie's eyes widened. "You can't tell her I told you that." He turned to her with pleading eyes.

"Your mom said that?" Josie asked as Carl slowly nodded his head. "Well, your aunt JJ has no crush."

"Yeah, right." Carl rolled his eyes as Josie tilted her head. "You love him." Carl teased as Josie narrowed her eyes.

"Don't make me tickle you, kiddo." Josie playfully narrowed her eyes as Carl shook his head.

"I'm sorry." Carl pulled Josie back into a hug. "I hate your tickles!" Josie slowly raised her hands. "Aunt JJ, no." He chuckled as Josie grinned.

"Are you going to stop, dude?" Josie asked as Carl nodded his head. "Good." Josie sighed as she sat back, hugging Carl.

"But you totally have a crush on Glenn." Carl quickly said as Josie tickled his sides, careful not to tickle his bad side. "Aunt JJ." He said between laughs.

"Dude, you're totally being a bully." Josie sighed as she brought her hands back to her side. "Glenn is my friend, like Tiffany."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, oldie." Carl piped up as Josie tilted her head at his words.

"I am not your friend now. You're a bully, Carl grimes. And you've hurt my feelings." Josie closed her eyes, shaking her head as Carl chuckled.

"You're not my friend, you're my aunt, so..." Carl shrugged his shoulders with a grin.

"So, I'm not your friend?" Josie faked a gasp as Carl shook his head, laughing. "Fine." Josie smirked as she tickled him once more. "Say sorry, dude."

"I'm sorry." Carl said between laughs, holding onto his stomach. "You're my friend."

"Good." Josie grinned as she let go of him. "Now give me a hug." She held out her arms as Carl hugged her.

Lori and Shane had returned back, Shane telling her Rick was back, but lying just to get her home. And that's when he outed she was pregnant and Carl was there.

Josie, Andrea and Dale made sure Lori was okay, sitting her down in the house and getting some water and something to clean the wound on her head.

Josie sat beside Carl, looking over at Lori as she placed the towel on her head, turning to Carl. "Hey. I am so sorry that I left without telling you." Lori spoke to her son, who nodded his head.

"It's okay." He responded back, slight smile on his face. "I wasn't scared. When's dad getting back?" He asked.

"Let's hope soon." Lori sent her son a smile, squeezing his leg as Carl lowered his head.

"I wanna be there when you tell him about the baby." Carl grinned, looking back at his mother.

"Oh, love, he already knows." Lori sighed as Josie bit down on her tongue, looking at Lori. "We were just trying to find the right time to tell you."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Carl asked her, making Josie smile, sharing a looking with Lori.

"Well, we don't know that until it's born." Lori told him, smile on her face as she sat up.

Carl placed his hand on her stomach. "Will I be able to feel it?" He asked her.

"Not for a while." Lori shook her head as Carl nodded his. "You must have a lot of questions, huh?" She shared a look with Josie, who avoided eye contact. Lori then turned to Andrea and Dale. "We never had the talk." She turned back to Carl. "I guess we forgot."

Carl frowned as he turned to Josie, who looked at the ceiling, making Carl turn to Dale. "Don't look at me. That's your father's job."

"If the baby's a girl, can we name her Sophia?" Carl asked as Josie looked at him, a sad smile on her lips.

Lori looked over her shoulder, making Josie look at the door to see Shane. "Hey, dude." Carl turned at Shane's words. "Hey, I'm sorry, bud. Okay? I thought you knew."

"Big brother Carl." Carl grinned as he flicked his hat, leaning on his arm. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"I say that's very cool." Shane grinned down again Carl. "That was my reaction when Josie was a baby." Josie breathed out as his words, looking over her shoulder. Shane lowered his head as he turned his attention back to Carl. "You, uh, you mind if I talk to your mom a sec?"

"How about a little later after she's had some rest?" Andrea suggested, looking over at Lori.

Shane's tone changed completely as he let out a sigh. "Lori, I had to get you back here." He told her, running a hand over his head. "How about you..." he leaned off of the door frame and leaning on the couch Lori, Carl and Josie sat on. "How about you just hear me out, please?" Lori ignored him, keeping her back facing him.

"Okay. Give me a minute." She told Carl with a smile. Lori nodded at Josie, who stood up, wrapping an arm around Carl as she took him out of the room, looking back at Shane before the others followed her.

It was day time, and Rick, Glenn or Hershel weren't back yet. Josie sat on Riley's bed, some water in her hand as she handed it to the blond. "You feeling okay?" Josie asked her as Riley nodded.

"Yeah, just wasn't feeling okay, that's all." Riley sent her a small smile. "How's Beth?"

"Shes still in shock, tiff and Maggie are with her." Josie sighed, a frown on her face as Riley nodded her head. "Do you wanna go on a walk? Take your mind off things." Josie suggested as Riley nodded her head, placing her glass down. "Okay, come on." Josie stood up, holding her hand out for Riley to take.

Riley took her hand, pulling herself up as she grabbed a jacket, placing it around her as the two walked out of her room and towards the door.

Josie opened the door as Riley covered her eyes, the sun burning them. "God, I forgot how sunny it is." She mumbled as Josie smiled.

"Yeah, the Virgina sun. Ain't it a bitch." Josie grinned, placing her hands on her hips as she looked around.

"Are they going to go find my dad, Rick and Glenn?" Riley asked as Josie looked in the direction Riley was looking, seeing Shane, Andrea and Daryl all at the car.

"I think." Josie frowned as she walked down the steps. "I'm sure they're okay, though." Josie bit on her lip as Riley nodded.

As Josie said that, a car pulled into the farm. It was the car Rick and Glenn had taken. Josie felt a wave of relief hit her as the car pulled up.

Everybody had also noticed this, running out of the house and towards the car. Josie jogged over to the car, seeing Glenn get out of the car.

She breathed out as she quickly moved towards him, watching as he closed the door to the car before pulling him into a hug.

But Josie frowned as he didn't hug her back, like he would. But he pulled out of her grip and walked past her, making her drop her arms, watching him walk away.

Josie bit her tongue, looking into the car, but frowned as she saw someone else in the car. "Now why is there a kid in the car?" Josie asked, looking over at Rick and Glenn.

"That's Randall." Glenn replied as everyone looked into the car, seeing Randall in the back seat.

Josie leaned on the wall beside Riley, Tiffany and Maggie, looking over at Rick and everybody else sat at the table. "We couldn't just leave him behind." Rick told them, talking about Randall. "He would've bled out. If he lived that long."

"It's gotten bad in town." Glenn then spoke up, Josie moving her attention to him. But Glenn avoided any eye contact with her, making her lower her head.

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked, a frown on her face.

"I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage." Hershel walked in, cleaning his hands as everybody turned to him. "Wont be on his feet for at least a week."

"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way." Rick added as Josie listened to his words, agreeing with him.

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea asked as Josie turned to the door, seeing Daryl walk in.

"He'll have a fighting chance." Rick told her.

"Just gonna let him go?" Shane frowned at Rick, shaking his head. "He knows where we are."

"He was blindfolded the whole way here." Rick argued, shaking his head. "He's not a threat."

"Not a threat. How many were there?" Shane asked as he recalled what Rick told them. "You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they ain't gonna come looking?"

"They left him for dead." Rick told him. "No one is looking!"

"We should still post a guard." T-dog added, leaning on the table.

"He's out cold right get now, will be for hours." Hershel told them, looking back into the room.

"You know what? I'm gonna go get him and some flowers and candy." Shane said sarcastically, letting out a scoff, walking away. "Look at this, folks—we back in fantasyland."

"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my bark yet." Hershel fired at Shane, making Shane turn around, "let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all. This is my farm. Now I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Hershel said as Josie bit her tongue, looking at her brother. "So do us both a favour. Keep your mouth shut."

Shane tilted his head, shaking it before letting out a sigh, storming out of the house and slamming the door behind him.

Josie let out a sigh, lowering her head as everyone started to leave the house. Tiffany nudged Josie, nodding her head at Glenn, making Josie nod her head.

Glenn stood up as he went to leave, but Josie pulled on his arm, making him turn around. "Can I talk to you?" She asked him, pointing into the kitchen and not giving him a second thought as she walked into the kitchen.

Tiffany leaned off of the wall, sending Glenn a look before leaving the house, Riley doing the same.

Glenn ran a hand over his face as he followed Josie into the kitchen, who was looking at the pictures on the fridge. Once Josie realised Glenn had followed her, she turned to him. "What's going on?" Josie asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "One minute, you're okay, the next, you're ignoring me."

"I almost died today." Glenn said as he leaned on the wall. "Rick saved me and Hershel. And I—I froze." He sighed as Josie listened to him.

"You were being shot at, Glenn." Josie shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what to say. "I'd freeze too."

"I know, but..." Glenn lowered his head as Josie started to get worried. Did she say something?

"You don't have anything to prove, Glenn." Josie said as she leaned off of the counter. "You froze, which is understandable-"

"It was because of something Rick told me." Glenn said as Josie frowned, raising a brow.

"Rick? What did he say?" Josie asked as Glenn sighed, lowering his head as he shook it.

"That doesn't matter right now." Glenn said as Josie stood there, absolutely confused. "A bullet hit the wall behind me and I—" He breathed out as he looked around. "I thought of you." He pointed at her as Josie frowned once again. "Losing me, hurting. And I couldn't take it, so I hid...to stay alive."

"Glenn." Josie breathed in, shaking her head. She didn't understand one bit. She was close to Glenn, yes, they had shared their few moments. But she didn't understand why he would think of her in moments of danger.

"No, Josie, you don't get it. Rick, Hershel, they were counting on me." He said as he longed to himself. "And I—I only thought of myself." He said before walking away, leaving a confused Josie to stand there.

Josie ran a hand through her hair, closing her eyes as she leaned on the counter. She didn't understand what just happened. Glenn was her best friend, but she didn't understand what Rick had said for him to act like he did.

Josie cared about Glenn, a lot. She's always had cared about him since the start. And yeah, she had feelings for him, something she wouldn't talk a soul. She was afraid of rejection—she didn't want to break a good friendship. But, she didn't know Glenn felt the exact same way.

— madeleines notes.

NEXT CHAPTER YALL.... buckle the frick up!!

BUT JOSIE AND THE GRIMES FAMILY MEAN EVERYTHING TO ME. She literally adores them all idec. They're her family.

But I made such a cute edit of Glenn and josie, which yall can find on my tiktok @/alycialcverwp

11th April 2024
2735 words