Early the next morning, Dee and I went over our supplies. We were starting to run low on any form of canned food, even though he'd managed to fish up most of what we'd eat on a daily basis. "Maybe you would consider, I don't know, not being grumpy and go be a part of the community?" I mocked, having him scowl at me. "Maybe Shane wants another favor. You could be cuddle-buddies." I teased and squeeled as I got a firm shove from my brother.

Somehow, I think I managed to convince him to give them a chance. I knew from experience that Glenn was a nice guy, so I pushed Damien in his direction to apologize for being so loud yesterday, and in the meanwhile I stalked over to Lori and her kid, drawing and talking to another mother and her kid. I didn't really know how to start, but I never had to.

Lori's kid, Carl, spotted me before I could announce my presence and decidedly held up his drawing to me. "What do you think?" He asked, grinning from ear to ear. It was a picture of his mom and what I assumed was his dad, holding hands with him playing in the background.

"A real piece of art, kiddo." I said and kneeled down beside them. Lori smiled carefully at me and offered a small nod as a greeting. Carl pointed to the little girl sitting opposite of him. "That's Sophia. She's pretty cool, for a girl. And that's her mom, Carol." I smiled towards the pair, who shrunk somewhat and let out very meek greetings.

"Hi Sophia, Carol. What are you drawing?" I asked and peered at the two. Sophia pressed her drawing to her chest, looking at her mother in panic. I blinked at her before sitting down completely next to Carl. "Can I borrow your pen, kiddo?" I asked and smiled as he handed it to me. I pulled a piece of paper out of the stack they had on the table and began to doodle, whistling to myself.

I drew long petals that eventually turned into a mess of a flower and grimaced. "I'm not very good at drawings, but I like flowers." I commented to noone in particular and continued to draw. "I used to work as a florist. Got to make all kinds of pretty bouquets." I continued to speak, glancing at the shy little girl. "Tulips are my all-time favorite flower, you know." I held up my drawing to Sophia and smiled. "Especially orange ones!" She offered a small smile and released the now crumpled piece of paper, smoothing it out on the make-shift table. "It's my mama and me." She whispered, following the lines of her drawing with her fingers. "We're playing in a flowerfield."

Sophia frowned slightly. "I can't draw flowers very well either." She commented and looked at my drawing. I giggled. "I guess we have that incommon." I decided and handed the pen back to Carl before reaching over to the girl. "You can have mine, maybe we'll find some crayons or something, so you can color in the flowers with your favorite color?" I asked, our eyes meeting briefly, making her blush and look away. I took her silence as a yes as she grabbed the piece of paper and put it beside her own.

I turned to look at Lori, grimaced slightly as she lifted a brow in question. "Now, I came here to ask you something." She lifted the other one before nodding. "Go ahead." Her voice was melodic and sweet and I immediately smiled at her. "Could I borrow something to wash my clothes with? I've been told I'm smelly!" I whispered loudly, having Carl and Sophia snicker in response. Lori's face softened and her smile really reached her eyes this time. "We can make that happen."

With Lori's promise of soap, I skipped back to our tent to gather all the dirty clothes we'd managed to hold on to these past nine days. I caught Damien's eye as I walked past him with all of our dirty clothes and he looked at me in shock, mouthing towards me. "You're going to do laundry?" I laughed at his expression as I was joined by Lori and Carol, who walked me down to the lake with an offer of soap and company.

I was grateful that they followed me down, because I quickly admitted I had no idea what I was doing. Lori laughed as I fiddled with the clothing and guided my hands until I got the idea. "It's Jerrica, right?" Lori asked as she went on with her own laundry. I nodded in response and somehow managed to soak myself in soapy water. "So, how long have you an Damien been together?" She continued, curiously, glancing at me as I struggled with Damiens dirty underwear. I blinked at her innocently. "For as long as I can remember, why?" She cringed slightly. "I mean, since the end of the world." I let out a sigh. "Oh, I guess about eleven days?" Lori nodded and smiled sadly, her hands still fidgeting with the clothes in her hands.

"Shane came to get me and Carl two days before Atlanta went down. We drove into the city and then turned around when we saw what it was like. It was horrible." Lori murmured, wringing her hands. Carol didn't chime in, but she nodded along.

"We had to leave Carl's dad, my husband, in the hospital." She continued and I stared at the water, not sure why she decided to share with me. "I don't mean that I know how you must've felt like, leaving your family behind." I flinched and looked at her. She flushed red. "I didn't mean to snoop, but Damien was shouting and I just.." Lori paused and looked down at the water again, staring at her reflection. "It's not easy to live with."

I considered telling the two women about Roger, but instead I kept my mouth shut and worked away at the laundry. We finished just as Glenn came running down the hill, sweaty and exhausted. "Sorry to interrupt ladies!" He breathed and grimaced, looking at me. "You might wanna go up and stop your brother from beating a couple of hicks into the ground."

Dropping the clean and wet clothes, I jumped to my feet and jogged up the hill, passing Dale on the way. "Hurry up, girl, they're not happy!" He called after me and I raised my hand to show that I'd heard him. I could hear the shouting before I could see them, Shane with both hands on Damiens chest, pushing him away from the burly Dixon cussing him out, his brother pulling on his arm. "He ain't worth it Merle, jus' git!" Daryl shouted at the taller man, who easily brushed his hand off. "This piece o' shit got me canned and thrown in the slammer, lil' brother!"

Damien easily flung Shane to the side and the two collided head on in a flurry of punches and kicks. Daryl, having his brother back, jumped into the fray, managing to get his arms around Damien, locking him up and leaving him wide open to Merles frenzied punches. I reacted without a trace of hesitation and picked up whatever was closest. Before Daryl or Merle could react to me approaching, I swung the item at the back of the latter one's head, knocking him on his ass. My arms were shaking at the weight of the cast iron frying pan in my hands.

"Bitch!" Daryl cried out, letting go of Damien to walk up to me. "I ain't ever hit a girl before!" He hollered as he pushed me firmly, making me fall on my back. Letting go of my brother, however, proved to be a mistake. Daryl hit the ground before he could take another step, joining his brother in the dirt. Damien groaned in pain and slumped to his knees next to me.

"You a'right, sis?" He muttered, prying the pan out of my hands. I nodded, still staring at the man I'd managed to knock out. "He's not d-dead is he?" I stuttered. Daryl came into a half sit and shook his head. "Takes more than tha' to get Merle." He answered bitterly, glaring at the pair of us. Shane quickly took control of the scene after that, sending Daryl to his tent with Merle, to take care of his brother, before turning to me and Damien.

"I thought you two said you weren't gon' be a problem 'round here." He sighed and stifled a laugh as Lori walked up, horrified. "What happened to the pan?" She asked, looking around in horror. That broke the tension that had built up around us and the people around us, aswell as me and Dee, shared a laugh before we were tended to. We got away no worse for wear, just a bit sore. Damien helped me hang the clean laundry with Lori and Carol, thanking them for bringing our stuff with them back from the lake, before he scurried back to the tent to recuperate.

I groaned as I took a seat in the grass next to Lori and her kid. "You sure you're alright?" She asked, eyeing me up and down. I nodded. "My butt has felt better, but I'm pretty sure I'll live." She clapped her hands together. "Fantastic, then you can come with me and look for berries after we've made dinner. One of the guys will come along, so we'll be safe." She said and beamed at me. I laid back in the grass and let out a sigh. "I'm starting to see why Dee was so reluctant to join you guys, it's all work and no play." Carl tickled my ear with a piece of grass and smiled widely. "Only if you're old!"

The next few days actually seemed pretty normal. Damien and I went for our morning runs, I helped Lori and the other women out with their chores and spent alot of time with the kids. Sophia and Carl were great - Carl always had some input on what was going on in the camp. Whenever we were laughing and smiling too much, a cloud of pain seemed to cross his face. He shrugged it off, trying to be brave. I couldn't blame him. Everyone in camp had lost someone. Carl had probably lost his dad, and having a brief moment of happiness in a situation like this would make anyone feel guilty.

Sophia on the other hand, was still shy as ever around me, speaking quietly and politely whenever adressed. I tried desperately to ignore the fact that over the span of a few days, Carol's husband had already beaten her twice. No matter how much it reminded me of Roger, I forced myself to look the other way and not get in the middle of it. Damien however, spent most of his time arguing with Shane about how the camp should be run - discussing different ways to get Ed to leave his family alone or make sure Merle wasn't tweaking out or bothering the rest of the folks at the quarry.

We fell into a pattern like this, and we grew comfortable.