I woke up a mess, still exhausted and out of it to find myself back in the RV on the bed. I tried to get up but a blurry figure that sounded like the old man told me I needed to rest and someone gently pushed me back down. After that I must have woken up hours later since the sun was now out like it was morning. I rolled out of bed and saw that my right shoe was waiting for me. I tugged it on and buttoned up the thin long sleeved shirt I had worn the other day and made my way outside, noticing that all the sharp objects were removed from the RV. I took two deep breaths and decided to leave the RV; back with James I was allowed to leave my tent unless told otherwise. As soon as I got outside the long haired woman came up to me smiling with her hands up, I frowned at her but didn't do anything. After a quick glance around I could see three children playing and the angry dark haired man from the other day glaring at me.
"Hi there. You missed breakfast but I can get you something if you're hungry," she said softly. I shook my head no quickly and backed up a bit, bumping into the RV itself. "Ok, then. My name is Lori, you need anything just ask."
I just stood there for a minute until the old man asked if I wanted to join him up on top of the RV. It sounded like a question but James sometimes asked me to do things that he was really ordering me to do so I climbed the up the ladder and sat down far away enough to make a quick escape if need be.
"I'm Dale." He said but I didn't say anything, just nodded to show that I heard him. "Do you have a name I can call you by?" I panicked, was this a trick question? I wasn't allowed to say my name, it made me seem like I was a person and James would be adamant to make sure that wasn't true. I spent the morning listening to Dale tell me stories, giggling at a funny one, and nodding frequently to show him I was listening. At lunch Lori called me down and tried to give me food which almost caused another meltdown if Glenn hadn't calmly intervened.
"You want to know what we want right?" Glenn asked after he shooed people away. I nodded, relieved that slightly less calm man was talking to me, that he understood the rules. "Ok, well I would really like to know your name. Would that be ok for some food?" I frowned but by all means it was within the rules and so I nodded.
"T-t-this one is also called Emmy," I muttered while staring at the ground. I glanced up to see Glenn smiling and it was a relief to know that I followed the rules. I was given a sandwich but balked at it. Why where they wasting this food on me? Dale stepped up this time and asked if I wanted to split it with him and I nodded my head so fast I thought I would give myself whiplash. I then sat next to Glenn when he patted the log next to him and smiled at me. Lunch went by slowly since I kept offering pieces of my sandwich to Glenn who would only shake his head at me and smile sadly. When I finally finished he stood up before holding out a hand for me. I stood up on my own and stared down at the ground again, waiting to be told what to do.
"Do you want to go up with Dale again Emmy?" Glenn asked and my head shot up in shock at the use of my name. "Is it ok that I use your name?"
"This-this one . . . this one is … most of the time they refer to this one as girl. This one's old name is only used when in trouble or. . . or by P-p-paul," I tired to answer the minefield question gracefuly but at the mention of Paul I started crying again but it was more of a whimper cry then anything else.
"Ok. But I like calling you Emmy, can I do that?" I nodded and Glenn continued speaking. "Do you want to help me sort some of the supplies that you came with? I could really use the help." I nodded again and quickly followed Glenn to the truck where I was told to put anything I wanted to keep to my right and everything that the camp could use on the left. At the end of an hour of sifting I had literally on taken my other shoe off my back pack and stepped back from the truck. Glenn sighed and then turned around to me. I don't understand what happened, he was telling me funny stories and one was so funny I laughed out loud which earned me a smile.
"Emmy, I know that back pack has clothes so that yours right?" Glenn said as he tried to get me to make eye contact. He sighed and noticed that there was some sign of life from the Dixon camp and made sure to make a lot of noise on the way there after leaving me with Dale again. About a few hours later, and right before dinner, the crossbow man came stomping up to camp to whistle at me. I frowned and tried to push any anger back and look at him, or the area around him.
"Come on down now. Ain't got all day," He grunted. I shoot up like an arrow and all but leaped off the top of the RV before standing just out of arms reach from him. He had his crossbow strapped to his back but it was in a position that would be hard to get to.
"Now Glenn told me that you won't tell 'em what is your shit. Come on girl, yer going to tell me now. Don't waste my time now." He was kind of mad this time and I don't know what I did so I made sure to stay out of arms reach the whole way to the truck and even while we were there; quickly darting a hand out to grab my backpack before following him to a medium sized tent where I had freaked out at the other day and told to leave my bag inside. When he saw that Merle wasn't there he sighed and looked at me to find me practically cowering there.
"Ya did good today girl. I have special shit your supposed to drink tonight, yer going to add it to your canteen of water and have it with dinner. I'm heading out hunting tonight with Merle, be gone a few days. Yer to sleep in this tent and not rummage through our things; Glenn and Dale will look out for ya while we're gone. You understand?" Crossbowman now put out the small fire in front of the tent and then pointed to a third sleeping bag that was lying there and seemed cleaner then the rest. I nodded at him again when he seemed to be looking at me.
"Tell me what ya understand," Crossbowman said as he started to notice my nervous glances all around me. James sometimes made me do that to, tell him what I was supposed to do if I seemed too fidgety.
"This one is too sleep right there and not rummage though your things. Glenn and Dale will be in change of this one, and this one is to have the powder in my water at dinner." I had spoken the first part calmly but I realized that I didn't know what I was supposed to do for dinner and started wringing my hands and eyes started glancing around for escape routes.
"I ain't gonna beat ya so stop cowering. What ya wanna ask?" He asked slightly mad again.
"What-what will this one have to do for dinner?" I muttered looking at the ground again. I heard an angry sigh and saw narrowed eyes to the main group.
"What did ya have to do for lunch?"
"This was asked her old name and she told it to Glenn."
"Didn't Paul tell ya not to refer to yourself as this one?" Crossbowman asked sharply to which I quickly nodded my head. "Well then, try it again. Quick now, I don't have all night."
"I . . . I was asked for my old name and I told it to Glenn." I spat out before glancing up to see Crossbowman nod at me slowly. Back to to the calm man I liked and scurried back to camp when he nodded his head in that direction. I didn't know that he watched me the whole way back, only leaving when Glenn found me a seat by the fire.
"Ok. For dinner I was thinking that I would like you to tell me how old you are. Is that ok?" Glenn asked as he watched me from the corner of his eyes with his hand holding a small plate for me.
"This one. . . I?. . . " I trailed off but noticed Glenn's smile when I said 'I' and so I continued with that speech pattern; at least with Glenn and Crossbowman. "I should be around 24." As soon as the sentence left my mouth I was given a glass of water and a plate. The whole dinner was spent with me figuring out who needed my food more that I did. I noticed one of the kids from earlier today sitting close to me and so I discreetly tried to give him some more of my food. He sat up and looked at the brown haired woman, no Lori, who looked at me and then Glenn.
"Honey, why don't you want to eat dinner. You . . . uh . . you earned it," She said with quick glances to Glenn who was nodding to her. They wanted to play the same game me and Paul and everyone else always played.
"This one. . . I'm not hungry," I muttered and jerked the plate at the young boy who took it after his mom nodded at him. I discreetly glanced at what the packet was and saw that it was gatorade instant powder. I frowned and hid it in my shirt pocket since I knew others might need it more than me one day. I spent the rest of dinner drinking water and laughing at Glenn's funny stories before Lori took me to the RV to show me the bathroom and to allow me some privacy to change. When I came out I was walked back to the tent by Glenn and asked if I needed anything. I was tired and didn't feel like doing anything so I quickly shook my head no and then proceeded to sit on my sleeping bag with the tent door open, watching where Glenn went. An hour later I went up there and sat outside the tent, I always had first watch with Paul to keep people from trying to get him to do anything once it was nighttime. I had sat there for a few hours when Dale woke up and called me to join him on top of the RV as he took watch.
"Why aren't you sleeping? Is Daryl and Merle's tent to far away?" Dale asked after I climbed up. I shook my head no and then curled into myself. "Well then why aren't you sleeping?"
"This one. . . I always take first want watch with Paul. I also get nightmares and those are bad cause I wake them up and they get angry," I whispered to Dale. Something told me that Dale didn't care for the rules and that he just liked to know things so that he could understand better.
The two days that passed were pretty uneventful; I helped cook breakfast every morning, picked berries around the camp perimeter until lunch, ate something small with Glenn before Jim or Dale would spend an hour teaching me about mechanics. Then I was free to join Dale on watch until dinner which would involve me hiding the powder again and picking at food until I could give it to Carl, which was the young boys name. He spoke to me now, always saying thank you while I flinched.
This morning I woke up to find out that Carol had taken my clothes for laundry day and that I hadn't known. I left the packets in my shirt pocket and I didn't know how much trouble I would be in if they found out. I debated running down there to tell them why I hadn't been taking them but Glenn called me over to let me know that he was going on a run in a few days. This started a brink of a panic attack but Glenn quickly calmed me down and sent me to sit with Dale and read for the rest of the day. Since I didn't pick the berries today I refused to come down for lunch, to the point where I was almost in tears from being so bad but eating without work was against the rules and I couldn't do it. Right after lunch, Daryl and Merle returned and they seemed angry to find me sitting up on the RV so I leaped down but stayed outside of arms reach.
"Aren't ya supposed to be resting sugar tits? Yer pretty bruised up," Merle snapped as he threw two rabbits at always bitter at me Shane. Also no one had told me I was supposed to be resting, in fact besides Glenn and Dale everyone kind of ignored me. Well, this blond girl named Amy always chatted with me a bit in the morning and she seemed nice took me on a camp wide tour and shit the first day I was actually awake. I had been spending a long time just sitting with Dale, listening to his stories, and braiding some string into the shape of a bracelet. It was all dark colors since I was going to try and use it as a thank you for Merle for helping me out though he didn't much seem the bracelet type, it would work fine as a key chain for motorcycle keys.
"She sits up there out of our way and it works fine. I shouldn't complain, she don't eat, don't speak, and dosen't really dwindle supplies. She can stay if your worried Dixons," Shane joked quietly when everyone was out of ear shot. I blushed and looked down at the ground. I don't think Shane liked me, Merle, or Daryl too much but from what I can hear his dislike for the two brothers was much more than his dislike for me.
"You haven't been feeding 'er?" Merle growled. I heard footsteps and Glenn was suddenly there but he seemed to be staying behind Shane.
"She doesn't eat much. Only wants to eat a bit of lunch. We let her eat and try to follow the rules to keep her calm. No need to get mad at Shane," Glenn said quickly. Now Merle turned to glare at me and I all but ran away with my tail between my legs. Now Lori was coming with the past three days worth of packets in her hand which caught Daryl's eye as he nudged Merle.
"Honey, have you been hiding these? I thought you drinking them?" Lori asked and now I was really starting to panic. They were mad at me about the food and now the powder and apparently the RV. I didn't know what these people wanted from me and it was all starting to be a bit much, maybe I would be better off if I grabbed my bow and just ran off into the woods.
"I thought you told 'er to take 'em," Merle snapped at Daryl. At this point I also assumed that Merle thought just looking at me would make me cry because he was leaving Daryl to clean up the emotions. Daryl narrowed his eyes at me and walked forward until I was backed into the RV. This was not the calm man I liked being around. He was very close, looked very angry, and seemed to be taking up a lot of my personal space.
"What did I tell ya to do before we left?" Daryl asked. I started glancing around looking for a way out, not liking the crowd that was forming even though Dale had ushered a few people away. "Look at me when I talk to ya."
"This. . . I was to take the packets," I muttered as I focused on his mouth. That was him but not his eyes, you can never look someone in the eyes. It seemed to be good enough for him since he didn't mention it after I answered him.
"And ya didn't take them right?" This was Merle asking.
"N-no."
"Why not?" Merle asked from behind Daryl and by now I was in tears sure I was going to get a beating for this. My ribs were still way to soar for anything and I was hoping they would start on my back.
"This one. . . I wanted to save them in case someone needed them," I spat out in between tears as my gaze now dropped to Daryl's chest.
"Ya need them. Yer not to go up the RV tomorrow at all, if ya behave tomorrow we'll see about letting ya go back up there. Don't need ya fainting and falling off the damm thing," Merle grunted as he grabbed the packets out of Lori's hand and gave me a jerkish point towards his camp. I quietly walked over there and sat down on the ground while it looked like they discussed more things though Glenn would shoot glances my way to make sure I was still there.
"Ya couldn't do the simple task of making sure she ate! We feed ya'll, least ya can do is feed the girl!" Merle was shouting now and I dissolved into a right state of tears and crying before running back and jumping in front of him. Telling him, no begging him, to punish me instead, not to hurt them which stopped Daryl's angry look and even caused Merle to take a step back. Well actually both of them looked pretty mad but not mad at me mad, just mad. It was Glenn ushering me aside that stopped a full blown fit from happening even though I was already yanking at my hair.
"Hey no Emmy, no one's going to get hurt. We just messed up in making sure you're healthy. It's not your fault so no one is mad at you at all. Let's go get you in the tent and tonight I'll take first watch. My treat, ok?" Glenn mummers as he leads me back to the tent and watches as I get in. An hour later I hear Merle and Daryl walk back up, complaining about how much they talked to the group today.
"What are ya doing 'ere Chinaman?" Merle grunted.
"Emmy always sits outside of my tent for a few hours every night. Apparently she would do it with Paul so that the others would make use of her instead of him, or so she told Dale. I figured she would be more comfortable sleeping if I did the same. I'll leave," Glenn stammered out as he all but ran away. I heard a snort and quickly curled in on myself to make myself smaller and pretend that I was sleeping. They sat out there a bit longer, whispering to each other and I had dozed off when someone entered the tent and laid down on the sleeping bag that meet my head.
"I know ya aint sleeping girl so ya best get to it. I can get ya a pill tomorrow but ya look like a fucking walker with those bags," Daryl whispered and I froze. He would be mad if I woke him, I turned over and started at his head before whispering back.
"I . . . nightmares. . . they never liked it."
"Well I ain't them."
Again, I needed to tweak with character traits a bit and I know Shane seems a bit like Crazy Shane but I'm trying to stress how much he doesn't like the Dixons and anyone affiliated with him. Because Emmy doesn't talk to him and only a select few people (i.e. Glenn, Daryl, Merle, Dale, and Amy [in order of how much she actually talks to them]) he resents her since she automatically isn't really following his authority. Of course he's going to get a bit worse once Rick comes back! Also please leave reviews so I know what ya'll think even if you just tell me the story is a piece of shit, I would like to know what ya'll think!
