"Jo, wait up." Rick called.

I stopped walking as Ryan and Abby looked at me expectantly. A sigh left my lips as I motioned for them to continue heading towards the house. They walked away as Rick came to me.

He took a box filled with our stuff from my hands, helping me carry it. It's been a day since Dale died. It shook the group quite a bit but we've been holding up rather well.

"Since when do you call me Jo?" I asked.

A small smile formed on his lips as we slowly went towards the house. He seemed amused by my question. I don't see why though. My name is Josephine, only my siblings call me Jo.

"Since you insist on calling me Ranger Rick." He retorted.

A chuckle escaped my mouth as I faced him. I was so proud of that nickname. The fact that it was coincidental yet accurate makes it even better. I never thought he'd try to give me one.

"Admit it, you love it when I call you that." I teased.

He cracked a smile shaking his head in amusement and looking away from me. He didn't confirm it but I knew. Then his face got more serious as he turned to me. Back to business, I suppose.

"I need you to keep an eye on Shane while I'm out with Daryl. He has a way of losing his temper at the wrong time. This way I'll know things are under control." He explained.

A frown formed on my face. Him not trusting Shane is a bad sign. Not that I blame him, Shane is a creep and a psycho. But they were best friends at some point. Them not getting along could have consequences on the group.

"Why are you telling me this? I'm not your second in command. Hell, I don't listen to what you say half the time. No offense." I replied.

His words sometimes went through one ear and out the other. Not that I don't listen to him, I just avoid boring details. If I were to listen to every speech he made, I would constantly fall asleep.

"You're right. You're my third in command." He stated.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as a smirk formed on his lips. He enjoyed the look on my face. Why is he telling me this? I'm not the leader type. I would leave them all for dead in case of a crisis.

"I don't follow the rules you make, Ranger Rick." I protested.

He gripped the box with my stuff tighter in his hands before walking away backwards. This is the first time I've seen him somewhat relaxed. It's all business usually.

"From now on, we make the rules." He replied.

-----

"The cuffs are still hooked. He must've slipped them." Rick stated.

I raised my eyebrows. My dad told me a few things about handcuffs and how to get out of them. But Randall doesn't have the skill or the guts to do so. Where would he go? How would he survive without supplies?

"That's not possible. Unless he broke his own thumbs which is unlikely." I commented.

He is a crybaby who was begging us not to kill him. There's no way he would do something like that. Even if he somehow knew how to do it, he still wouldn't. He was a coward, not a mastermind.

"It is if you've got nothing to lose." Andrea said.

I rolled my eyes. Breaking your thumbs isn't an easy task. We would hear him scream for instance. Why isn't anyone thinking about those aspects of it?

I must be smarter than them which, unfortunately, doesn't mean much considering they don't listen to me.

"The door was secured from the outside." Hershel pointed out.

I furrowed my eyebrows. This was an impossible task to achieve. He couldn't have done it alone. No, he had help from the outside. A thought that made all of this ten times worse.

"Rick! Rick!" Shane shouted.

He showed up out of the woods limping a little bit. My eyes narrowed at his bloody nose. I think it's broken or something. That might be an improvement for him though.

"What happened?" Lori shouted.

It doesn't take an intelligent person to figure it out. Shane is pulling the strings here. How or why, I don't know. It's not like it matters, no one would believe me anyways.

"He's armed. He's got my gun." Shane said.

I scoffed at his words. Well, that's convenient. That scrawny kid didn't have a chance against him. And now I'm supposed to believe he overpowered him? These people need a reality check.

"You okay?" Carl asked.

Oh he's fine. I'm surprised by the lengths he would go to just to get rid of Randall. The kid is an annoying piece of shit, but he hasn't done any harm. Hell, I voted for killing him, but that doesn't mean I'd go out of my way to do it.

"I'm fine. The little bastard just snuck up on me, clogged me in the face." Shane explained.

Because that's so believable. A scrawny teenager snuck up on a highly trained deputy while also magically escaping his cuffs. Am I the only one with a brain around here? Unfortunately for Randall, I couldn't care less about him.

"Alright. Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Daryl come with us." Rick ordered.

Wait, I get pushed to the sidelines? I've got more of a brain than all of them combined, no offense and all. A part of me wanted to protest, but why did I even care? It's their problem now.

"T, I'm gonna need that gun." Shane said.

Of course he is. That way he'll finally be able to kill Randall. I wanted to tell Rick about my hunch, but I also want this Randall problem to be over. Letting it play out may be the only way for it to end.

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it? Just let him go?" Carol asked.

If that was the plan, we would've done it already. Randall now has an advantage whether we find him or not.

If we find him, he could be waiting for us in an ambush. If we don't, he could find his people and bring them to kill us all.

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Rick retorted.

I watched as he turned to the woods and headed there. So we're just supposed to wait until they fix all of our problems? I don't feel like I'm third in command, all I feel is left out.

"Don't go out there. You don't know what can happen." Carol exclaimed.

I glanced behind me to see Ryan coming out with Abby . Protecting my siblings comes first. Even if that means putting other people in danger. I looked at Daryl leaving with Glenn.

"Everybody, back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put." Rick ordered.

-----

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl inquired.

I looked up at the sound of his voice and held back the urge to step closer to him. Despite what I said, I still worried about him.

He's tough, but he's not invincible. And I also can't let him die before I figure out what we are.

"No." Lori replied.

"We heard a shot." Daryl said.

Ah, so Shane finally killed Randall. Well that's one problem less to deal with. God, all this drama will finally be over.

Maybe then I'll finally talk to Daryl about us. Or not. I can't say that I won't chicken out at the last second.

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori suggested.

A sigh of relief left Ryan's lips at the possibility. The whole Randall thing was a big mood dampener. I just hope that now that it's over, Ryan won't get too relaxed and start dating Beth. That would be disgusting.

"We found him." Daryl argued.

I raised my eyebrows not expecting that answer. If they found him, then who fired that shot and why? Neither Rick nor Shane would risk it. The noise could attract unwanted walkers.

"Is he back in the shed?" Patricia asked.

Ugh, I hope not. Like couldn't he have escaped to Hawai or something? If Shane gave him the chance to run off, he should've been smart enough to not get captured by Daryl and Glenn.

"He's a walker." Daryl explained.

Huh, now that's something that I hadn't expected to hear. Rick didn't have to pull the trigger after all. Randall got himself killed all on his own.

"I'm assuming that celebrating that wouldn't be appropriate?" I said.

No one paid much attention to my comment which was kind of annoying. The only ones who acknowledged it were Ryan and Glenn.

They both looked slightly annoyed. Ugh, the way they were alike made me want to throw up.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked.

"Yeah, the weird thing is, he wasn't bit." Glenn replied.

My eyes narrowed at the new revelation. He had to be bit. That's how you get turned. You get bit, fever hits, you die from it and come back. The virus comes from the bite, that's what makes you come back. At least that was what we heard on the news.

"That's not possible. He couldn't have turned if he wasn't bit." Ryan protested.

I hummed in agreement as Glenn glanced at him. He shrugged not knowing how to answer us. They probably didn't check right and only think there wasn't any bite.

They couldn't have searched the whole body, but the bite needs to be there. It doesn't make sense otherwise. In fact, nothing that's happened in the last twenty-four hours makes sense.

"His neck was broke." Daryl added.

Confusion filled my head as I tried to think of a logical explanation. Maybe Shane got Randall bit in a place that wasn't easy to see so he wouldn't be blamed for killing him... But then he wouldn't have to hide the bite if that was his intention.

"So he fought back." Patricia concluded.

I bit my lip not understanding anything anymore. My theory was that Shane released Randall so he could kill him which would explain the gunshot.

But now Randall is a walker with no bite mark nor gunshot wound? It doesn't add up.

"The thing is, Shane's and Randall's tracks are right on top of each other, and Shane ain't no tracker. So he didn't come up behind him, no they were together." Daryl stated.

Okay, so Shane did release Randall, but what then? We're missing a crucial part of the story and I don't like that. A nagging feeling in my stomach warned me of something that I couldn't quite figure out.

"Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane and find out what on Earth is going on?" Lori pleaded Daryl.

I rolled my eyes at her words. Her concern for her husband and ex lover is touching, but maybe next time she should do something by herself instead of asking others. Her inability to do things makes me uneasy.

"You got it." Daryl replied.

I took a deep breath both hating and loving this new side of him. A month ago, he never would have accepted to do that.

He's changed into a better person, maybe that's why I like him now instead of hating him. Because he cares about people now.

"Thank you." Lori said.