Hostility

Fortunately, Rick and Shane did not let emotion drive them into reckless action.

They made it back before sunset.

That left the group enough time to return to the others.

"Thank God you're all right."

Although Isaac's bare torso drew curious looks, Miana immediately threw herself into his arms and kissed him hard.

"Isaac!"

Amy followed without hesitation, equally unconcerned by the people watching.

She rose onto her toes

and wrapped her arms around Isaac's neck for a deep kiss.

What is with this man? Have those two women lost their minds?

Standing nearby, Maggie witnessed Miana and Amy's open affection for Isaac.

As the two women clustered around him, Maggie wondered whether she could possibly be seeing the situation correctly.

"Why are you wearing his shirt?"

Andrea had appeared beside Maggie and now studied her with suspicion.

"Well..."

No. I can't tell them what happened.

Maggie hesitated, but in the end she said nothing about what Isaac had done to her.

After a moment's thought, she gave Andrea a casual excuse.

Even if Andrea remained suspicious, that was better than revealing the truth.

"What's wrong, sis?"

Amy looked puzzled when Andrea drew her aside.

Andrea pointed toward Maggie. "She's wearing Isaac's shirt. Don't you think that's strange?"

Miana found another shirt for Isaac and watched him put it on.

Only then did she ask, "How did your shirt end up on that woman Maggie?"

As a woman, Miana could not ignore the matter even though Isaac already had both her and Amy.

Of course she cared.

"What you saw was the result of a form of interrogation especially humiliating to a woman. I learned afterward that I'd mistaken her for someone else."

Isaac answered Miana frankly and concealed nothing.

"What exactly did you do to her?"

Miana watched him, waiting for a fuller answer.

"Nothing too extreme. The misunderstanding was cleared up quickly."

Isaac lied shamelessly.

Rick interrupted with urgent directness. "Get ready to move."

Knowing Carl's life might be in danger, Rick wanted nothing more than to reach his son and help him.

Shane moved just as quickly, no less troubled than Rick.

He believed Lori would need his care and comfort.

Maggie sat in the back of the RV among strangers and remained silent.

She secretly studied Amy, the pretty blonde seated beside her.

What exactly was the relationship between those women and Isaac?

Maggie wanted to ask, but as a newcomer she did not know how to begin.

While she hesitated, Amy spoke first. "Maggie, thank you."

"For what?"

Maggie looked at her in confusion.

"For taking us to the farm."

No one had known where the group could go next. Maggie's arrival offered a way forward, and Daryl needed a safe place to recover from his serious wound.

Maggie shook her head. "I only hope the boy survives. Otherwise, Philip will blame himself for the rest of his life. Taking you there is the least we can do."

"Then what happened between you and Isaac? Why are you wearing his shirt?"

Amy's intent gaze searched Maggie's face with open curiosity and expectation.

"N-nothing." Maggie repeated the story she had given Andrea. "A walker came at me on the way here and tore my clothes, so he gave me his shirt."

"Is that so..."

Amy nodded, turned away, and said nothing more.

She doesn't believe me, does she?

Maggie gave a bitter smile and fell silent.

She could feel powerful hostility coming from Amy, and its source was the man who had left her with unforgettable memories of humiliation.