Chapter 3
Kats POV
Looking over her shoulder she saw that Daryl and Merle were talking about something. Smiling she waved and went into the tent she shared with Cora. Things were finally starting to settle down at the camp and people might have forgotten that the dead rose to eat the flesh of the living.
Putting a plate in front of Cora, she smiled down at her daughter and told her to eat up. Daryl found her some muscadines, of course she shared some with the other kids, but Cora was her main concern. Her daughter had been getting worse and she had run out of any type of pain relief for her.
"I'm not hungry and I'm tired of throwing up." She sounded so weak.
"Okay hunny but if you eat up I bet Daryl will take you into the woods to hunt or look for berries."
Sighing her daughter picked up a muscadine and popped it into her mouth. "Good job baby, I'll be right back."
Leaving the tent she sat down on a log and put her face in her hands. Tears welled up in her eyes but she just pushed her palms into her eyes trying to hold them off. "How is she?" Startled she jumped and gave a small squeak.
"Damnit Daryl you scared me to death, next time rustle some leaves around or something." She playfully scolded him.
"How is she?" he asked again
"Not great, she is in pain, tired, nausea has kicked back in and she won't eat." Sighing "I don't know what to do"
"What can I do to help? Do you think she is up for a walk in the woods?"
He knew how to make her daughter happy and she was forever grateful.
"If it's no trouble for you, I don't know think she would be much in a hunt. Sometimes she won't be quiet."
"No biggie, I already caught about a dozen squirrels. We can just go for a walk and I'll teach her to track. It's a good skill to have." He said while rubbing her back in small circles.
"How much time does she have left?" She mumbled to herself
"What?" Daryl asked and he paused rubbing her back to look at her
"Nothing, just talking to myself. Go on in and I bet she will feel great enough to spend time with ya. It cheers her up."
Daryl POV
Walking into the tent he noticed that Cora was laying on her side just staring at the muscadines he found. She was pale and looked so fragile. He sat down beside her. "I'm looking for a partner, you see there are some people who don't believe in the chupacabra. I need to find one and show these assholes that it's real. Are you down Asskicker?"
Smiling and slightly confused she asked "What is a chupa…thing?"
"What! you don't know what it is? It's a creature that is kind of like a vampire." He saw her startled look and chuckled "But it doesn't hurt people just other animals' goats and stuff."
"Alright I think I can help. I'm not scared or anything. We will definitely find it." She proclaimed as she got up from the bed and grabbed a hat to cover her head.
"I'll meet you outside short stuff. I'm going to grab my bow."
A few seconds later Cora walked outside in a blue tutu and a purple shirt. Of course she was wearing her vest that he gave her and she started to walk toward her mom. "I'm going to find an animal vampire with Daryl." She proudly told her mother.
Confused Kat looked to Daryl and gave a questioning look.
He just shrugged his shoulders. "Let's go Asskicker, we got us a chupacabra to find."
She ran to him and waved goodbye to her mother. Daryl turned and gave Kat a wink and he could hear her laughing as he went into the woods.
Kats POV
Later that day Merle let her know that he was going into the city on a supply run with the group. He quietly told her that he was going to try and find something to help Cora. She didn't want him to get hurt or risk anything and she made sure he knew that.
"Merle I appreciate what you are doing but I don't want ya getting killed or someone else. Cora isn't long for this earth and I have known that for a while." He was about to yell at her, she could tell, but she put her hand on his cheek and told him "That girl loves you and Daryl like fathers. She would be devastated if something happened to either of you. So would I. If you find something, great, but don't go out of your way and get yourself killed. You come back to her she needs her family."
Nodding and giving Kat an awkward hug he ran to the car that would take the group into the city. She heard him yell "Take care of Asskicker and yourself. I'll be back Kaitlyn."
After waving them off she went up to the RV asking Dale if he needed any water. Handing him a bottle he turned and asked her to take a seat in the lawn chair next to hers. "I could use the company" he told her.
"Of course I bet it gets boring up here."
"I find it relaxing and I get to see all the going ons in the camp. How is your daughter?" He asked taking her hand in his
"As good as she can be, she is off searching with Daryl for a Chupacabra." She said laughing
He gave her hand a squeeze and chuckled as well. "She is a sweet girl and we all love her and you for that matter. If you need anything at all you just holler, okay?" He asked looking at Kat
"We love y'all as well and I promise we are fine. Daryl is great at distracting her."
"I have to say when it comes to you and Cora he is a completely different person than he is with the rest of us. It shows that he is a good man and I'm glad y'all have each other."
Smiling she got up and announced that she was going to give Carl, Sophia and the other kids a math lesson.
Daryl POV
"Do you see it?" he asked his little shadow
"I don't know, whats it look like?" she whispered
He pointed to a log that looked like a four-legged creature with horns. It was almost dark so he hoped that her young age and the dark would work to his advantage.
"Oh Yeah, it's huge, what are we going to do now?" she asked holding on to his leg
A small smile pulled at his face "We can try to catch it but I don't know, it looks kinda big. What do you think? Should we let it go?"
She immediately started biting her bottom lip lost in thought. "Hum, well I think we have enough proof. I'll tell everyone that we saw it and back you up. It is really big maybe we should just let it be."
"Alright, I think you made the right call. Honestly I'm a little scared." He told her
"Don't worry Ill protect you Daryl."
Laughing he bent down so that she could jump on his back. His crossbow in his arms. He started to walk back to the camp.
"Special delivery" He said while bending down in front of Kat. Asskicker jumped off and started to frantically tell Kat all about the monster in the woods. He caught bits and pieces of it "It was 30 feet tall…..Red glowing eyes…..covered in spikes…"
He walked back to his tent and started to skin the squirrels so everyone could eat. Although he only cared about 2 people. No one else even said thank you. Just ate what he found and stayed away from him. Smiling he could still hear Cora telling anyone who would listen about the "animal vampire".
