The Battered Bed
Armageddon sat on the ground, far enough away that she wasn't near anyone in particular, but not far away to be out of the camp. She was on the outskirts on the other end, keeping as much distant between her and the two older Dixons, as they had been giving her hell the last couple of days. She wanted to be alone and in peace. She held a thick branch that she had found earlier and planned on making it into a spear by carving it. She had nothing better to do, except maybe read, but she had gotten sick of that after reading for three days straight. She felt of little use to the group and restless as she was never the type to sit around and do nothing.
She had been in the midst of a daydream of her two husbands when she was snapped into reality by Carl, one of the children from the group. "Hey, what'chu doing?" He said and sat down beside her.
"Making a spear" She answered shortly before looking from what she was doing and into the young man's blue eyes.
"To use on the geeks?" He asked curiously and looked from the branch and to her, meeting her eyes before she continued.
"That was the plan, yeah" She answered and nodded. "Make it sharp and sturdy enough and then it can be reusable."
"That's really neat" He mumbled and silence swept over as Armageddon decided not to say anymore. She expected him to leave, leave her be like everyone else in the group did, but instead, he sat with her and watched her silently.
After a while, she decided that it wouldn't be so bad to bond with the boy. "Hey, you ever watch that show on Cartoon Network about a muscular guy who was always chasing after women?" She asked him as she carved.
"Yeah, Johnny Bravo!" He exclaimed and smiled.
"That was one of my favorite shows when I was younger" She told him candidly.
"Really? You watched it too?"
"Of course" She nodded. "I did with my husbands at the time."
"How long have you been married?" He asked her curiously.
"Two years, but we've been together for ten years" She answered.
"So you knew each other when you were kids?"
"We met at thirteen, so yeah."
"Did you watch any other cartoons together?"
"Oh, lots" She said and listed up a couple of her favorites, some of which Carl had never heard of before and some of he had. They chatted for a while and seemed to be bonding when his mother, Lori, suddenly called out his name and seemed frantic. Armageddon looked behind her shoulder and was met by the glaring mother, who had never hid how dislike towards Armageddon.
"Carl, come over here, now!" She growled.
"I gotta go" Carl said and stood back up. "Good luck with your spear."
She watched him leave and could hear Lori telling him quietly that she didn't want him to be around her. She didn't really blame her, Armageddon was hostile, swore a lot and came with the Dixons, so it wouldn't have surprised her if some of the group members thought she was one of them. She had gotten to know some of them, like the Morales family, which she bonded with immediately through Spanish tongue, Dale, who was the owner of the sole RV, Glenn, a guy about her age that shared some of her nerdy opinions on Star Wars and Shane, who would stop by once in a while to make sure everyone was fine and keep Mac and Merle on their good behavior.
"Can-can I sit with you?" A hesitant voice spoke up behind her. Armageddon looked to where the voice was coming from and saw a girl, about eleven or twelve years old, with short, blonde hair and timid blue eyes.
"Sure, go right ahead" Armageddon said. "Your name's Sophia, right? You're from the tent nearby mine?"
"Yeah" She nodded.
"My name is Armageddon" She said and offered her hand to the girl. When she shook it, she flashed the girl a warm smile. "Nice to meet you."
"You too" She said quietly before looking down to what Armageddon was holding. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making a spear" She told the little girl. "I'm thinking of using it as a weapon on the geeks, since not everyone knows how to use a gun."
"Could-could you make one for me?" Sophia asked quietly and didn't dare look up from the ground. "I don't have anything and my mom doesn't want me around guns or knives."
"Of course" Armageddon said. "You can have this one when I'm finished. I still have a knife that I can use in the meantime."
"Thank you" Sophia said quietly and she glanced to Armageddon before looking back down to the ground. "Can I-I ask you something?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"When is it normal to start your period?" She asked and her cheeks flushed bright red as soon as she said those words.
"About twelve or thirteen, I would say" Armageddon answered. "I was twelve when I first started."
Sophia frowned and a lone tear ran down her cheek. "I don't want to start my period" She said and her voice shook.
Armageddon put down the knife and half-branch, half-spear, before sliding closer to Sophia and putting her arm around the girl's shoulder. "It's nothing you should be afraid of," She told her sincerely. "Your mom has probably told you something about it, maybe even taught you how to use pads and tampons."
"I don't wanna talk about this with my mom" Sophia admitted quietly.
Armageddon pursed her lips before chuckling. "Yeah, I didn't want to either with my mom when I was your age" She told her. "If you feel better talking to me about this, then go right ahead. I can teach you whatever you want and make sure you're okay."
"Could you teach me how to take down a geek also?" Sophia asked and finally looked up and met Armageddon's eyes.
"Yeah" Armageddon said and smiled. "We'll take a day where you can learn how to take down geeks and defend yourself."
"What about defending myself with people?" She asked and a hope glistened in her eyes. As she said those words, Armageddon realized something that sent a shiver down her spine.
"People like your father?" She asked quietly. When Sophia severed the eye contact and looked embarrassed, Armageddon knew what she had suspected was right. Her father is abusing her. "If your father ever lays a hand on you or tries something and you get scared, I want you to call out my name. Scream it as loudly as you can and I'll come and protect you."
"My dad's bigger and stronger than you" Sophia muttered.
"He may be bigger, but he's not stronger" Armageddon reassured her. "I've been dealing with men like your father for a long time, I know how to make them back off."
"Like with those men who sometimes smoke with my father? The ones you came here with?" She asked.
"Yes, like those men, for example."
"You're not scared of them, are you?" She asked and looked up. "Even though they are mean to you."
"No, they don't scare me" Armageddon assured her. "Just like your dad won't scare me. Now, will you promise me that you'll call on me when your dad starts being scary to you?"
"Yeah, I promise" She nodded before looking behind her shoulder. "I'm gonna go play with Carl and the Morales kids."
"Go do that" Armageddon nodded before stopping her. "If there's anything, if you ever wanna talk or if you need anything, you can always come to me." When Sophia nodded and left, Armageddon wondered if she really could help that poor girl. When she learned what her father was doing to her, she went into full protective gear as she knew her mother would do little to help her. She had seen Carol with bruises on her face and body and now knew that those were made of her husband.
Speak of the devil, as she thought about all of this, she met Carol's eyes as she watched Sophia run to the kids before Carol approached her. "I don't know what my daughter said to you," She started and Armageddon frowned as she was afraid that Carol was going to tell her to stay away from her daughter, just like Lori did with her son. Carol and Lori were somewhat good friends, and it wouldn't have surprised her if Carol disliked her just like Lori did. "But, I want to say thank you."
Those words through her off, and she furrowed her brows in confusion before Carol continued. "Sophia's never really had many friends in her life and I would be really glad if you could be there for her when I'm not."
"It would be my pleasure" Armageddon told the older woman sincerely. "She wants me to teach her how to take down geeks and make her a weapon to use it on them, but I won't unless you allow it."
"Oh" Carol said and looked behind her shoulder to where her daughter was before looking back to Armageddon. "I don't think she's ready for that quite yet."
"Then, we'll wait with it" Armageddon promised. "She said something else," She said and stood up so that they were eye-to-eye and could speak in hushed voices. "About her dad…" She paused and when she saw Carol's face pale, she decided to go on. "I told her she could stay with me if her dad gets scary. I don't mean to pry, but I know some drunks can get violent and need space, so I'm ready to watch over her."
"You'd do that?" Carol asked and looked hopeful and relieved. "I don't want to burden you with-"
"Not a burden at all" Armageddon reassured her. "I know this is none of my business, but I want to help because I know what it's like… Being in a dysfunctional family."
"Thank you" Carol said and before Armageddon knew it, Carol was hugging her. "Now that we're on this 'big camping trip', Ed can get pretty fussy without his TV…"
"You don't have to make excuses for him" Armageddon told her and stopped her. "I get it, I really do. I'm stuck with two just like him."
Carol's lips twitched into a small smile and she nodded before looking down to her feet, obviously bashful about this conversation topic. "You know," Armageddon said and captured her attention. "This might not be much to you, but if he does anything, my offer is the same as to your daughter. You don't have to live with this, you don't have to take it. I can help you and I'm sure everyone else would help you too."
"I'm fine" Carol told her and Armageddon knew that despite what he had done to her and her daughter, she still loved him. "But thank you, I appreciate it." She looked over to her daughter once more and decided that was enough. "I should go" She said and met her eyes once more. "Thank you again."
"My pleasure" Armageddon told her sincerely and thought as she watched Carol go that maybe not everyone in that group disliked or feared her, like she had so thought earlier.
