PART TWO.
three, tell it to the frogs.

STORMS PASSED DURING THE night and it only made the air even more sticky than what it already was. Another small group was sent back to the city, to retrieve Merle and a bag of guns. A lot of the campers weren't too happy with that choice, especially Lori after she got her husband back. Faith could understand that, but Lori was mad that her husband went after she suggested that he'd rescue Merle just a couple hours earlier. Faith didn't see an issue with the run, because Merle was still human and the camp needed protection.

Although, with another group out on a run, business had gone as usual around the camp. Chores. Faith decided that she didn't want to sit on top of the RV in the sweltering Georgia sun. Instead, she decided to join some of the women in the camp with laundry.

She carried a small basket that consisted of old shirts and rags and torn towels. Faith walked down the road to the quarry lake with Andrea and Jacqui, and she listened to small conversation the two women had without butting in.

"I'm beginning to question the division of labor here," Jacqui muttered once they reached the lake. They settled along the water bank, and began to dig some of the laundry out. Jacqui huffed, "Can someone explain to me how the women wound up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?"

Amy snickered as she glanced up, then back at her work. "The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?"

"Just the way it is," Carol mentioned casually.

"Unfortunately."

They fell into a quiet chatter as they scrubbed at the dirty clothing, soaked with the quarry water and sweat, possibly some dirt and blood. Faith was glad that the sight of blood never bothered her before the apocalypse- it made getting used to the end of the world a bit easier; only slightly. She laid the now clean shirt on the rocks beside her and picked up a rag to scrub clean.

It felt odd to be worried about laundry when their lives were at a constant risk, but it felt oddly normal too.

Carol sighed softly, "I do miss my Maytag."

"I miss my Benz, my Sat Nav." Andrea started softly after Carol.

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

"My computer, and texting." Amy pouted softly as she strung out a shirt.

Faith chuckled, "I miss my apartment, but I can tell you, I don't miss my student debt."

"I miss my vibrator." Andrea shrugged, and the group of women burst out into giggles. When Carol looked back at Ed, then back to the group and said me, too, the women laughed even louder at the two confessions.

Faith liked this, being able to laugh out of genuine happiness and humor. It felt like nice, and warm.

It fell silent at the sound of Ed's voice, and they all glanced back at the man. He flicked the cigarette in his hand just slightly, the ashes falling to the ground.

"What's so funny?"

"Just swappin' war stories, Ed." Andrea answered him with a slight smile. Faith watched as the smile fell once she turned back to the laundry.

There was nothing that stood out about Ed; he was a regular-looking man, his face was round and unshaved, with his graying hair. His breath always smelled terrible due to his cigarette habit, but the thing that was worse about Ed Peletier was that his anger had no rival. It was sickening, without a doubt.

They were all silent now, scrubbing at the laundry again as they focused solely on that. Ed still didn't leave them alone. Faith tensed when she felt his presence behind her, and she nearly choked on the smell of nicotine that basically encased the man.

Faith closed her eyes for a brief moment, and murmured out, "For the love the of god."

Andrea looked back, "Problem, Ed?"

"Nothin' that concerns you." He told her simply as he plucked the cigarette from his lips. Andrea scoffed and went back to the laundry in her hands. Ed spoke up again, "And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club."

Faith released a shaky breath, and grabbed yet another article of clothing to scrub. Now, she realized why many people complained about the chore before the apocalypse. Really though, had Ed not been hovering over the women, it wouldn't have been so bad. Faith adored Carol and Sophia, but Ed just made her blood run cold.

Andrea stood up as the man lit another cigarette, and she faced the man without a problem.

"Ed, tell you what- you don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here." Andrea tossed the wet shirt at his chest. Ed caught the shirt, and tossed it back at her face.

"Ain't my job, missy." He grumbled.

Amy stood up to stop her sister, because it looked like Andrea was ready to fight. "Don't."

Andrea scoffed, "What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?"

"Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to you," he spat at the older blonde. "To some uppity smart-mouth bitch. Tell you what- come on. Let's go."

He motioned for his wife, and like there was no problem, Carol stood up and gathered her things.

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

Ed rolled his eyes at Andrea, "And I say it's none of your business." He waved his hand again at his wife. "Come on, now. You heard me."

"Carol," Andrea glanced softly at the woman.

"Hey," Ed was rough and caught Andrea's attention again. "Don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze. All right?" Andrea gasped at the man's words. "Now you come on now, or you gonna regret it later."

"So, she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed?" Jacqui questioned harshly, her face twisting with disgust as she watched the man handle his wife. Ex chucked as Jacqui continued. "Yeah, we've seen them."

It escalated, and the three women continued to shout at Ed as he attempted to take Carol back to camp. Faith just watched, and wished she could do something. She was frail and weak compared to Andrea and Jacqui, she'd barely make a dent in Ed's body. She'd dent herself before she did any damage to the man.

The situation got worse when he slapped Carol. Amy pulled her back away from the clamoring group, and Andrea and Jacqui fought against him. That's when Faith finally stood up- the first time he visibly hit her, and she took Carol gently and guided her a few feet away from the fight.

She sent the woman a soft smile and gently cupped her face. "Hey," Faith whispered softly as she examined Carol's face. "It's alright, I just want to see how bad it is, I've seen the cases."

They glanced over just in time to see Shane drag the man away and punch him. Over and over again, Shane punched him, straddled him and punched him some more. Ed's face quickly swelled and became bloody. Ed wasn't even fighting anymore, he probably couldn't move, but he just took the beating that Shane gave him.

They yelled for Shane to stop as Carol sobbed for her husband.

He finally stopped, but gripped Ed's white shirt. "You put your hands on your wife again, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me?"

Shane got off of Ed and Carol ran for her husband. She cried for him and apologized, like it was all her thought. Faith grabbed one of the clean rags and dipped it in the lake before she ran over to Ed and Carol. She hated that she felt the urge to help him, but she did it anyway.

"Hey, Ed." Faith still spoke softly to him, and she sent a slight empathic smile to Carol. "Can you sit up for me?"

With their help, Ed was able to sit up in the rocks. Andrea, Jacqui, Amy and Shane just watched with surprised eyes. Carol rubbed her husband's back as Faith took the cloth against Ed's face to clean the blood- they couldn't risk walkers smelling the metallic liquid.

"You're a social worker?" Carol asked softly as she watched Faith clean the blood. She barely remember that the young woman mentioned cases.

Faith shook her head as she discarded the bloodied rag on the rocks. She moved her hands, and gently pressed her fingers along Ed's face, his cheek bones, his jaw and nose; feeling for anything broken or out of place.

Her fingers touched his nose, and she knew it was slightly off. It was broken, especially with the swelling he suffered, but it wasn't severe. Faith was able to pop it back into place and hope for normal growth.

Faith swallowed harshly, as she looked down for a brief moment, then back to Carol. "I was a doctor, I had to recognize the signs when I worked in the ER for some time."

She said nothing else as she stood, and began to help Ed up from the ground. It was up to her and Carol to carry the disgraced man back to camp. Faith tried not to focus on the bundle of feelings inside her, but she couldn't help the sinking feeling that she was a monster for helping an abuser.

Faith needed a better day to come soon.

a/n → alright, now we know! faith was a doctor, but trust me, there's more to the whole thing that will slowly come unraveled 😬