The throbbing in the back of her head was already fading away , though Harley still felt nauseated. Hershel had demanded her to stay in bed, since she needed to get plenty of rest. Harley had protested at first, but knew somewhere in the back of her mind he was right.
One of her knives was resting on the small nightstand next to her bed, while she was holding another one in her hand. She had an old cloth in her other hand and she carefully cleaned her precious weapon. Even though it had no use, since the knives were pretty much clean already, but Harley needed something to do and occupy her mind. The argument between her and Daryl was still bothering her. Maybe she had crossed the line about the whole Merle situation, but surely it shouldn't be the first time for him to hear that his brother is a complete dick? Ofcourse, Merle had a.. different personality, yet that was no excuse to act the way he did. Harley had heard how Merle talked about foreign people multiple times, and it made her feel sick. Not to mention, it bothered her aswell, that someone could still fuss about skin colors during the fucking apocalypse.
A blue pair of eyes were lingering on her; Harley could always tell when someone was staring at her. She heaved a sigh and laid her weapon down to grab the other one. "Why don't you just come in already. No need to stare at me like I'm some sort of animal. This ain't the zoo." she mumbled quietly. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see the figure move. He was obviously hesitating, as he eyed her in the cell opening, but eventually he walked inside. Harley looked up and met Carl's eyes while he watched her clean her weapon. "Why are you doing that?" he wondered, referring to her weapon. The arrogant tone in his voice made her roll her eyes, but then she realised he was only a kid, and probably going through a hectic puberty. "Don't have anything else to do." she explained as she looked down at her weapon. Carl waggled on his feet and gazed at the ground as if it were very interesting. "Well, you can sit down, I'm not going to bite you or anything." Harley remarked, while watching the boy in uncomfortable silence. He seemed to doubt on whether to stay or not, but he sat down on the chair anyway. Harley sighed and put the knife away on the nightstand. "You shouldn't say that stuff about Daryl's family. I know Merle can be bit of an asshole and all that, but you have no right to talk about him like that when you only just met him 2 days ago."
It was more of a statement really, and Harley's mouth dropped at Carl's words. She wanted to say something, but instead she decided to keep her mouth shut. Just a kid, she reminded herself while clenching the textile underneath her. "You have family yourself, you should know that."
Harley shook her head at his next assertion.
"No, I don't." Harley said calmly while looking at the boy. Carl's eyes narrowed. "Everyone has family." he said firmly. Harley looked away. "Well, I don't."
"Where are they?"
"Dead."
The silence spoke for itself, as it confirmed Carl's regret of saying all those words. "Oh. I—I'm.." Carl stuttered, taken aback by himself. Harley smiled sadly. "Its okay." she assured him with a hushed voice. Carl shook his head. "I'm sorry." he eventually managed to say. Harley shook her head and looked down at her hands. "How'd it happen?" Carl blurted out, not realizing what he was asking until he had finished the question. He covered his mouth. Harley looked up at him again. "They were murdered." he scoffed. Carl raised his eyebrows at this. "By who?"
Harley sat up straight and crossed her legs. She tapped on the empty spot on the bed and Carl looked at her with a confused expression. He got up and shuffled towards the empty spot. When he sat down, Harley turned around to look at him. "I was with a group, a long time ago." she admitted, feeling the lump in her throat grow since she had never spoken about it before. The boy perked his head, but when he noticed the hurt in her eyes, he dropped the murder topic.
"Do you miss them?"
Harley bit her lower lip. The question made all the horrible images of her dead family members vanish and conjure the joyful memories up instead. She smiled, while thinking about her youth. "Yes." she said sheepish. "My little sister most of all. She was an annoying little thing just like you." Harley teased, while she ruffled Carl's hair. He chuckled and gently slapped her hand away. Carl's grin soon disappeared and he looked compassionate now instead. "For what it's worth," he started, but he closed his mouth, two minded. ",you..you have us now."
Harley felt the stinging liquid behind her eyes. She had only been here for 2 days, yet the people had been very welcoming towards her. I should thank Merle for that later, she recalled to herself. Harley had no idea how to reply, so she only nodded and managed to offer him a soft smile.
"Alrigh' Carl, think it's best if ya would let Harley get some rest."
Carl turned around and they saw Rick standing in the cell opening. Harley grinned and Carl nodded. Rick raised his eyebrows in question while waiting for his son to leave. Carl got off the bed and walked towards the cell opening. However, he turned around and slowly walked back towards Harley. When he stood before her, Harley looked at him in confusion. Carl leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Harley for a slight moment. Before she could process what was happening, he had already turned around and left the cell.
Rick stepped forward and looked at Harley. "Sorry 'bout that. I heard him askin' som questions, but I was a lil' too late ta stop him."
The girl shook her head. "No, it's okay. He's a great kid. Thought he was going to eat me at first, to be honest. But lucky for me he didn't." she replied softly at the man. Rick chuckled. "Lucky for you he didn'." he agreed. They never had a chance to have a decent conversation, she realised, when Rick gestured at the seat in question. Harley nodded and the man sat down in front of her. "Don' worry, not goin' ta ask 'bout all of that earlier." he quickly said before Harley could say anything. She nodded. "Thanks.." she whispered while she realised she probably couldn't bear to say another word about it. Truth was, Harley never had the chance to grieve about her family's death. All she had been doing the last 2 months was surviving; she didn't allow herself to think about them. But now that she was here and she didn't have to keep watch all the time, the realisation would often hit her in the face like a bitch. Her family was dead.
"I actually jus' wanted ta ask ya how ya were doin'." Rick spoke while eyeing Harley, who looked up at him. "I'm doing alright I guess. Could've been worse." she chuckled sadly. Rick smiled. "And ta ask ya if ya changed yer mind 'bout stayin'. I heard from Daryl ya weren' so fond of us."
Harley blushed and cursed Daryl in thought. "No, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that the Dixon's kind of forced me into it. I thought a lot about it though, about the governor, or whatever that guy's name is. I'd be willing to help, especially after he almost indirectly killed me." Harley rambled while she pointed at her bandage. "But I'm not sure if I can actually.. stay, you know, after everything's over. I—I just, I need to find them. I just need to. For my own sake. I can't let them get away with it, I just can't."
A single tear rolled down her cheek and Rick moved himself to the empty spot on her bed. He already knew who she was referring to. She felt a comforting hand on her back. "I'm grateful. I'd be willin' ta help ya with 'em—" "—No, you can't. I need to do this myself. I can't put any more people in danger, because that's what they are, dangerous."
They looked at each other and Harley gave him a reassuring smile. When Rick looked at her with a sad expression, she snorted. "No, it's okay, really. I'll be fine." Harley mumbled.
I'll be fine, she repeated in thought. The more she thought about those 3 unsure words, the more it scared her.
