"Hey now!" Daryl barked, "You ought not be playin' out here so far from camp!"
The girl ran past Daryl laughing and not listening to what he was saying. It didn't seem like anyone in this damn camp heeded what he said which was a damn shame since he was one of the only people with their head on straight.
"Damn kid ain't my damn problem," Daryl muttered to himself, shaking his head out of annoyance. She darted past him in the other direction, chasing a butterfly or some stupid thing. Who even knew what kids did for fun? Why weren't her damn parents watching their damn kid? Didn't they know what the regular dangers of this world were let alone the dangers of the dead coming to life to make quick snack of their little angel?
The way Daryl saw it people in the camp were getting overconfident. They hadn't seen one of them in a few days, but Daryl knew that besides the dead ones you couldn't trust living people either. Who knows what creeps were in this camp. Daryl sighed.
"Lil girl?" he called against his better judgment.
She ran up to him, "Hello, sir."
Well at least the kid had manners.
"Listen, ya shouldn't be up here. It's not safe!" Daryl growled.
"Sorry sir," she lowered her eyes, and took a step away from him.
"Naw, it's alright, ya don't have to call me 'sir' ya can call me Daryl. I'll take ya back to yer mamma," he said softening his voice. Damn, he didn't mean to scare the poor kid, "You need to stick close to yer mamma, and don't get outta her sight."
"Okay, Daryl," the girl said quietly, "I'm Sophia."
"Hey, hey!" Came a voice from between the trees, "Looky what I got us!" Merle emerged carrying a large raccoon. He squinted when he saw the child, "You two girls playin' hopscotch?"
Daryl ignored the jab, "I gotta take her back to her folks. She shouldn't be out here."
Merle moved in close to Daryl and dropped his voice, "I heard her daddy yellin' at her mamma before we was leavin'. I'm bettin' that's why the girl's run off."
Daryl grumbled, unsure what to do next. He sure as hell couldn't let her run around in the woods, and he knew he wasn't going to be the one to watch her neither, "I'll see what the situation is. I can take care o' that sumbitch, if I need to."
"Pfft," Merle groaned, "You don't want to get involved in that bullshit. It's that lady's business if she wants to take that."
Daryl's eyes went dark, "I'm not gonna let no kid get hurt." Damn, this is a bad situation whatever he did this little girl was in harm's way. He never wanted to be the person who put someone in this situation, or worse, the one who turned a blind eye.
"I'm tellin' ya, baby brother, do NOT get involved. It ain't your business. That mamma of hers she is easy on the eyes, she's probably a good piece o' you know what, but it ain't worth it."
"Don't talk like that in front o' her kid!" Daryl growled in rare defiance of Merle.
"I didn't say A-S-S," Merle said.
"You are an A-S-S," Daryl said as he spit on the ground, shaking his head, "Why would ya even be thinking like that? I'm just tryin' to help this girl. Your mind is always about 20 feet below the gutter."
Merle gave him a look that never ceased to piss off Daryl. It was a look that said, I know you better than you know yourself, and I can see right through you. The truth is Merle was wrong. He wasn't even sure he'd be able to identify the kid's mom in a lineup. She was forgettable. He didremember her asshole husband though, and truth be told he wished he did have an excuse to punch that dick right in the face.
"Come on, Sophia," he said, and the little girl followed close behind, leaving Merle with his raccoon.
They walked toward camp. Daryl was not sure what he was going to see when he arrived but he was ready for anything. Hell, maybe he was even looking for a fight. Things had been pretty dull, and it would do his soul well to beat up someone who deserved it. He clenched his fist thinking about it. He looked down at the girl, and sighed knowing he had to restrain his anger for her sake. He wondered how such an ugly prick got such a pretty and sweet daughter.
"I can spell, you know," Sophia said.
"What?" Daryl was pulled from his thoughts.
"A-S-S spells ass," the girl said.
Daryl laughed, "Well I guess it does. See, my brother ain't so smart, so he figures other people are dumb like him." He didn't often put down his brother. Merle was family, and in a lot of ways all he had ever had, but he felt irritated at his brother's insinuations in front of the girl.
"I like you," the girl said.
"You don't even know me," Daryl responded as they made their way up a steep hill, "You gotta be less trusting, kid. That's the shit that will get you killed in this world."
"Yeah, but I have seen you before. I'm not dumb. I can tell you are a good person," Sophia insisted.
"Pfff," Daryl rolled his eyes.
"But your brother might be an A-S-S," she said and broke into a fit of giggles.
"Don't be cussin' in front of yer mamma," Daryl said, "She'll blame me."
"I won't," the girl promised, and then she shrieked. When Daryl looked he saw that one of them dead freaks was making its way out of the ground half buried. Someone must have not had the good sense to make sure their dead weren't gonna turn before burying them, or maybe it was from before anyone knew there was an outbreak. The freak was pretty well rotted, and looking nasty caked in dirt.
The girl took a step back, and before Daryl could even say a word she was toppling down the hill - the steep side. Daryl took out his hunting knife and quickly dispatched of their half buried friend and then half slid, half ran down the hill after Sophia, who was crumpled at the bottom in tears.
"Lil' girl, are ya okay?" Daryl asked, annoyed at the panicked sound in his own voice. This is why he didn't want to watch this damn kid. He knew he ain't no babysitter.
She was holding her leg and crying. At first, Daryl thought she might have broken it but then saw it was all scraped up and bleeding from the fall down the hill. He looked carefully at it, and criticized, "Ya gotta watch where yer goin'!"
She started crying harder. Daryl inwardly chided himself for yelling at her, and rubbed his forehead. He took a closer look at her leg and saw there was a piece of glass lodged below her knee, "Shit."
"Sophia," he said, getting her to look at him, "I gotta take this piece of glass out and it's gonna hurt, stay still."
The girl cried harder yet, but obeyed. Daryl, as carefully as possible dislodged the glass, but cut his finger all to hell in the process rather than to make it more painful for her. It was only a small cut but it wouldn't stop bleeding.
The girl was calming down, more focused on Daryl's injury now, "Are you hurt, Daryl?"
"I'm fine," Daryl said, "it's just bleedin' like a son of a...just bleedin' a lot."
He reached his good hand down to help her up, "Can ya walk okay?"
She took his hand and stood up, "Yeah, I'm good, just scraped up."
"Let's get ya back to yer mamma," Daryl said and they started back up the hill, and made their way to the camp in silence. Daryl could already see the girl's mother. Some of the other ladies seemed to be comforting her and that prick was nowhere in sight. Just as well.
"My mom can fix you up, too," Sophia said, "She has band-aids."
Daryl sniffed. No way, was he gonna hang around in that situation for long. That was just askin' for trouble. Trouble he could handle but that he didn't want to bring down on that woman and her kid. The mother spotted them and came running toward them. Her hand was clutching her heart and she looked teary eyed.
"Sophia!" she shouted, crouching down in front of her, "There you are! Don't run off like that!"
"I'm sorry mom," Sophia said, "I didn't..."
"I'm just glad you're alright, but what happened to your leg?" she was hugging the girl so tight that Daryl almost felt bad, and then he saw a red mark on the woman's face. That bastard had either slapped or punched her and she would have a black eye, no doubt, by the morning. He'd seen it before.
"I fell down and scraped up my leg. Daryl helped me," She said motioning to Daryl who shrugged.
"Thank you," the woman said, standing up and putting her hand on his shoulder. Daryl took a step backward, instinctively, and she gave him an inquisitive look.
Daryl immediately noticed her eyes. He hadn't taken a second glance at her before, but her eyes were actually quite interesting, so big and open - kinda pretty. Daryl shook his head. Goddamn Merle was getting into his head, why in the fuck was he looking at this lady's eyes.
"Let's clean you up," the lady said to her girl.
"You gotta fix Daryl, too. He cut up his finger helping me," she smiled at him.
"Come on," the woman said motioning to her tent, "I got a bandage for your finger, Mister."
Daryl shuffled behind her, standing awkwardly outside of her tent, and wanting desperately to retreat, but for some reason he was compelled to follow them. He watched Sophia get her wounds cleaned and bandaged. He found himself studying the woman. She had a very soft way about her that was very comforting. He wasn't sure what he felt about her, as a general rule he didn't care about anyone in this damn camp, but he found himself looking at her and feeling sad, and also angry for her situation. She definitely didn't deserve the hand she was dealt.
He felt even more bad for the little girl. The woman could leave the man, maybe, but the little girl was born into this life with no choice. He thought about his own childhood home and wondered if that asshole was hitting his little girl as well as his wife. He shuddered at the thought.
The woman took his hand suddenly, pulling him from his thoughts. He fought the urge to pull away from her as she swabbed his finger with a little alcohol square and blew on it like he was a child. It did sting like hell, and her breath was oddly soothing, but he felt silly. She handed him a bandage which he applied himself so he didn't feel totally ridiculous.
"All better?" the woman asked with a hint of a smile. Daryl should have already left but felt transfixed watching her. She bent down and kissed her daughter's knee right on the bandage where Daryl had fished out the piece of glass, "The kiss always helps the pain to go away. It's magic."
"Kiss Daryl's, too," Sophia said.
The woman laughed nervously and her face flushed, but shrugged, looking to Daryl. He obligingly held out his hand feeling like a damn fool, and she gave him the tiniest kiss on the tip of his finger. Daryl could feel his face grow hot right up to the tips of his ears.
"Thank you, Daryl," The woman said, and his name on her lips affected him in a way he couldn't explain. He scowled at her, and she said, "If there's anything you ever need just ask."
He mumbled something about Merle, and made a hasty exit.
Daryl stormed back out of camp. He was angry and he didn't know why. He was not sure if he was more upset because he was worried for that girl, or that he Merle had made him think thoughts about that woman. He sure knew he wanted to beat the shit out of her prick husband. The worst part is that when she kissed his finger he had felt something for her. He didn't understand why but he felt that the moment held weight, like it had importance.
How was a married lady and kid going to factor into his life? Well they weren't. That was just that. Fuck that lady for being nice to him, and fuck her for letting that asshole hit her. Daryl didn't want to care about anyone. He wasn't going to care about someone too stupid to help herself. Merle was right. It wasn't worth the trouble.