'Sign Language'

Three weeks later:

She hadn't spoken to either Dixon brother since. They's moved their tent to the back of the tent, far enough away from her. Whenever she saw Merle, she'd send him death stares. She caught Daryl eyeing them on occasion. She knew that eventually she'd have to tell both of them the truth but she couldn't just yet. Seeing Daryl again after all these years brought too many old emotions to light. She went through waves of joy because she was seeing him again to hating him because he'd left. She always meant to tell him about Hannah but every time she picked up the phone, she dropped it. Her heart still felt torn because of him. She'd dated after him, sure, maybe even almost fell in love but no one made her feel like Daryl Dixon did.

Charlotte was pulled out of her thoughts by nails digging into her shin. She was trying to sort through Hannah's hair. She was fussy when it came to people touching her hair. She was like her father in that sense. Back when they where together, Daryl hated it when she brushed her fingers through his hair. Charlotte gave up on trying to sort through the ratty mess, instead settling to French braid it. Hannah stood up and glared at her mother. She hated getting her hair pulled.

'Sorry.' Charlotte apologized. 'Go over and play with Carl. I'm helping with dinner.' Hannah nodded and went over to Carl who was hanging around Glenn. Charlotte noticed how close she'd gotten with both kids. She'd never seen her get so close to anyone hearing before. Maybe the end of the world made Hannah more open to others. Charlotte liked that the kids made the effort to learn her language.

They were running on the very last of the food from the last run. It was a miracle it managed to last this long. Though, much to her dismay, it did help that the Dixon brothers were almost always out hunting and bringing back squirrel or rabbit. Daryl skinned and gutted the creatures so the women didn't have to. It helped since none of them knew how to do it properly. Today, Daryl left them a half dozen squirrels. They could make a great stew with the meat and the canned veggies.

"How's Hannah doing?" She heard Andrea ask. It was Andrea, Amy and Charlotte's turn. Sometimes Charlotte questioned the division of labour in the camp. It was the woman that did laundry, cooked, those who had kids took care of the children. Charlotte felt like she'd stepped back a century.

"She's fine. Adjustin'." Charlotte replied while cutting up the freshly cooked meat. "I don' think she really understands what's happenin'."

"Do any of us really?" Andrea questioned. Charlotte had to give her that. No one understood how this just happened. One day everything was perfectly normal. The next, bam! It all went to shit.

"Fair point." Charlotte smiled. "How's Amy doin'?" She gestured to the young girl who was sitting just off to the side, turning the stick that held two more squirrels.

"Coping, I think. She wants to go back home and find our parents." Andrea explained.

"I can imagine." Charlotte stated. Andrea gave her a questioning look. "If I lost Hannah, I dunno what I'd do. I'd do all I could to find her."

After that, all conversation seemed to end. They prepared the rest of the meal in silence. It didn't take long before Amy was getting everyone gathered by the fire. They each had a bowl in hand. Charlotte knew that her daughter wasn't partial to soup since it meant she'd be slurping. She prepared Hannah a plate with no broth. She took a seat next to her by the campfire. They sat in between the Grimes family and T-Dog. After eating, Hannah curled in closer to her mother. It was nights that were the hardest for her. It was too dark for Hannah to see lips move or signs. This was the only time of the day where she felt lonely. Charlotte knew there was nothing she could do but keep her arm protectively around her. She could feel eyes on her. Charlotte's head snapped up to Daryl's steely gaze. She broke it by looking back down at her daughter.

"I found a department store that's still intact." Glenn suddenly announced. "I was going to do a run tomorrow."

"Need any help?" Shane asked

"This time, I think I might." Glenn seemed hesitant. Charlotte could understand why, he never took a group. He always just went alone.

"I'll go." T-Dog was the first one to volunteer. Followed by Jacqui, Morales, Merle - who Charlotte was content to see go- and finally Andrea, much to Amy's dismay. Andrea reasoned that she wanted to help the group. She had the gun her father gave her, though guns were not the best way to kill walkers. Charlotte understood her willingness to help. Andrea had been a civil rights lawyer before. It was in her nature to want to help. She just hoped, for Amy's sake, that the woman wasn't making a mistake.

Hannah woke up the next morning a little bit before her mother. She ripped out a page in the sketchbook, Hannah loved to draw, Glenn brought her a week ago after a run and wrote that she was going to get breakfast. She hated staying in one place for so long. She slipped into a new pair of jeans and a bright baby blue T-shirt. Her hair was coming out of the death braid her mother had made. As much as she loved her mom, she was never good at brushing hair. It hurt so much yesterday, she had tears in her eyes. She figured it was her own fault since Hannah rarely took care of her hair. It just didn't seem like that much of a concern to her. She walked around the bustling camp. She noticed one of the Dixon brothers, Shane said his name was Daryl, taking off into the woods. Looks like he would be hunting again. Mom told her to stay away from them but Hannah grew curious. What was so bad about them? Merle was mean but Daryl seemed nice enough.

Most avoided the girl, it didn't bother her. It meant she had less names to learn. She came up with special sign names for those she saw and interacted with often. She had one for Carl, Sophia, Carol, Lori, Shane, Dale, Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea, Jacqui and Amy. The only one who understood them of course was her mother. Hannah was teaching Carl and Sophia fingerspelling but it wasn't ideal for conversation. The two Morales kids, Luis and Eliza tended to keep more to themselves. She hadn't gotten the chance to get to know them all that well.

Mom explained last night that there was a group heading in the city. She thought they were crazy. The city was full of those, as her mom called them, walkers. Apparently, Glenn was taking Andrea, Jacqui, T-Dog, Mr. Morales and Merle. She had a vague sense of who Merle was. She's met him on his first day at camp. From what she could understand, he was trying to talk to her. When she didn't answer, he began to get frustrated and antagonized her. From the look of pure fury on her mom's face sent Hannah running, not back to the other kids but to Shane. She didn't want her mom to get hurt. Merle and his brother Daryl stayed away after that. No matter how many times she asked, mom wouldn't say what happened. She figured it probably had something to do with her. It always had something to do with her. She could sometimes feel Daryl staring at her. She caught him on occasion, his gaze seemed to question her very existence. She didn't dare tell her mother about this. Not because she didn't want her mom to get her, but more because she didn't want Daryl to get hurt. Her mother may look weak, but she had the protectiveness of a lioness, like the kind she watched on the Discovery Channel, watching her cub.

As much as Hannah adored her mother, she felt like she was being suffocated. For so long it was only the two of them. Now, ironically after the world ended, Hannah was finally making friends. Her mother though it seemed always kept her close. Hannah could never leave her mother's sight. Or if her mother was busy she had to always stay in sight of Lori or Carol or Dale. There was no place to be alone with her thoughts. Theoretically, she could just turn away and not be bothered but she always felt like she was being watched. The worst part was they watched her with pity. She didn't want their pity. She may be deaf and that's not an advantage at the end, but she didn't need that. Hannah was scared enough as it was. The world was a dark shitty place. A place where the weak get taken. Just as it always had been but Hannah was not weak. She'd survived in a world that tried to take her down before. Now it was no different and she just had to keep marching forward. She was a survivor, even before the world ended.

She took a seat next to her friends with a bowl of oatmeal in hand. It wasn't her favorite meal but she never complained. It could be a lot worse, they could have no food. If you could really call a pasty substance food. She felt someone pat her head. She looked up to see her mom standing there with her big eyes looking down. She had a smile plastered on her face.

'Good morning.' She greeted her.

'What's for breakfast?' Her mom eyed the bowl. Hannah made a face.

'Liquid cement.' She laughed at the comment before getting some food herself. There was no official sign for cement but the point was still made. She always found it funny that the ASL dictionary was about a quarter of the size of the English one. Hearing people had too many words, some words that meant the same thing. Deaf people had one sign that grouped together a bunch of English words that had similar meanings.

After breakfast the group that was going on the run got ready to leave. Her mom went over and hugged both T-Dog and Glenn goodbye. Ever since they found Hannah and her mom on the highway, they became closer. Almost as though they were family, maybe they were. Hannah liked to think that if she had any brothers, they would've been like Glenn and T-Dog. She waited until her mother walked away to go see them. He was always nice to her. Especially after he and T-Dog took them off the interstate. Unlike others, like Sophia's father Ed, Glenn spoke to her even after finding out she was deaf. He sometimes sat to play cards with the kids. She pulled on his arm to get his attention. Glenn jumped and turned. Hannah giggled at him.

"Good luck." She told him. Glenn half smiled but looked nervous.

"Thanks kid." She gave him a reassuring smile. T-Dog ruffled her hair and smiled down at her. She hugged him tightly. T-Dog always gave the best hugs, well besides her mom. They broke apart and they went towards the run group. Hannah went to say goodbye to Andrea. Amy was in tears and not letting her sister go from her grip. Andrea gave Hannah a desperate look but she just shrugged and waved. Amy had a right to be worried. Andrea was the only family she had left. Hannah didn't want to imagine what the other woman was feeling right now. Hopefully, she'd never have too.

She turned when someone tapped on her shoulder. She looked back to see Lori standing there. Hannah could tell she was trying to remember some signs that her mother taught her.

'Go ... over ... with ... C-A-R-L ... S-O-P-H-I-A.' Hannah smiled at the effort. Lori was learning fast. She hesitated between each sign and her finger spelling was a bit shaky but Hannah was impressed.

"Good job." Hannah congratulated the woman.

"Was it okay." She read Lori's lips.

"Yes." She signed as she spoke. "Use this sign for Carl." She did his sign name, it was a C going sideways across his eye because of his blue eyes. Lori repeated her. "And this for Sophia." The other was an S going down the side of her head and curled to the outside much like Sophia's hair. Lori followed again. She gave her a questioning look. "Sign names. Easier than finger spelling. You have one too." She put her fingers in an L and made circles down the side of her head. "'L' for Lori and the curls."

"I like it." Lori smiled and did the sign name. Hannah grinned and went to see her friends. It was homework time. Though she didn't understand why they still did homework. The world ended. Hannah was pretty sure a math equation was going to be useless if she went against a walker.

Hannah grabbed her workbook and started doing math. Carl gave her a look of boredom. She nodded and looked back down at her book. She finished another page. Hannah looked up to see Carl looking at a new book. It was an ASL book. She watched as he tried to sign things like colors or food. She laughed as Carl tried to sign pizza. The sign was a P going down in a tight Z. Carl was doing the Z so wide it could hit someone. He turned to her and gave her a questionable look.

"Too wide." She explained. "Watch me." She did the sign and Carl copied. "One of my teachers told me once that ASL is supposed to be natural. If it feels wrong it probably is." Carl cracked out a smile.

'Thank you.' Carl signed.

"You have to be careful with books. Sometimes the signs are wrong." Hannah explained. She noticed Carl was copying some of the ones she was signing as she spoke. She smiled, he was the first hearing kid she'd met that was willing to learn her language. "Let's start with something easy."

'Hi my name is H-A-N-N-A-H. I'm twelve years old.' She signed, she noticed Carl's lost face.

"What did you say."

"Hi my name is Hannah. I'm twelve years old." She told him. "Sorry I was going too fast." She redid the sentence slower only this time she spelt out Carl's name and not hers. He did the sentence a couple of times, getting better and better each time. The only problem was his finger spelling. "Finger spelling has to be continuous. No bounce. Gives us a headache." Carl nodded and tried again. He was still bouncing trying to spell but it was less.

"Was that okay."

"Better." Hannah grinned and kept teaching him. It was bizarre to her that at the end of the world, she was finally finding her place.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I find it kind of sad that Hannah doesn't know who Daryl is. Also, we are getting into the show's storyline and Rick will be making an appearance soon. I will update probably at some point tomorrow. Review/Favourite/Follow.