The dead were loud; they're hunger pains echoing throughout the yard, bouncing off the walls and into the survivors' ears. Alongside those moans were sobs, ragged and broken, as those who had lost their loved ones mourned, never to see them again. Daryl remained silent though, holding Rose in his arms as she continued to sob, her entire body shaking, while Rick had gone into some sort of state of motionlessness, not even registering the fact his new born baby girl was crying a few steps away from him.
Daryl really didn't know what to do to help now, he had to find Jamie, that he knew, but he wasn't sure if she'd be alive or not. Last time he'd put all his hope into finding a lost girl, told himself she was alive even when it was unlikely, he got his heart crushed. He couldn't do that again, he couldn't take another Sophia… but it was Jamie, his little Jamie. The girl he'd grown to love, who had called him daddy by accident. He couldn't lose her, and he couldn't stand to see Rose lose her.
"Rosie," Daryl's voice was the first to break the silence, and he pulled away from her, taking her face in his hands, "You need to calm down baby." He whispered, wiping away the tears that continued to roll down her cheeks, "I'll find her, you know I will."
Rose didn't say anything, only stared at him before pulling away. Rose turned some, spotting the stairs behind her again and moved to sit there, rubbing her hands together as she tried to quiet herself down, turning her attention to Daryl, who walked over to Rick. Daryl called his name several time, but their fearless leader never responded. The baby's crying got louder, and Rose bit down on her lip, remember all the nights she spent awake, trying to calm Jamie down when she got sick.
Rose squeezed her eyes shut placing her palms onto either side of her head, trying to block out the crying when the group members begun to talk amongst themselves about their plans, what they were going to do, how to take care of the baby. Rose wasn't sure how long she sat like that, her back arched, her knees bent up with her face buried in them, her hands squeezing against her head. But she felt arms on her, she heard someone calling to her, and she raised her head a bit, seeing Daryl and Johanna standing before her. Logan stood a little bit behind them, watching her carefully, as if waiting for her to make a move and attack one of them.
"Rose, I've got to go with Maggie, we got to find the baby some food," Rose stared up at him, nodding her head, or at least she thinks she nodded her head, "I'll be back, Jo's gonna watch after you alright? Logan too." He said gripping her arms tightly making her stand on her feet.
Daryl handed her over to Logan, who wrapped his arm around her waist, supporting her when it seemed like she was going to give them any help. Daryl had never seen her like this, though she never went through something like this before. He watched as Johanna moved to Rose's side, her hand going to the back of her hair as they helped her up the stairs.
"Daryl," Maggie placed a hand on his shoulder, looking up at him when he turned, "She's going to be alright." Maggie said, her voice still a bit shaky and broken, but she tried to give him a smile. Daryl bit the inside of his cheek, nodding slowly. She'd be alright, Rose was strong… she had always been strong, and she was going to get through this…She had to be okay; she had to be for him.
҉
It had been a week at least since Rose was attacked in her office. A week since she'd been able to go home. A week since she'd seen her father ripping apart her mother. A week since Jamie was able to sleep at night. And now, now she was running again. She was running away from those things, Jamie in her arms, crying.
"Shush, baby it is okay." Rose whispered, stopping when she noticed a cement wall built around an air conditioning unit. It was perfect timing really, Rose needed a good place to hide Jamie, and there was no seeing her if she were to hide in there, in the very back corner. Rose looked behind her, noticing that they'd been able to get away from the things, the walkers; she had once heard someone call them. But there were a few in the distance, unaware of the two girls' presence luckily.
She took in a breath and opened the gate, taking a step inside the cramped space and setting Jamie down as she shut the gate behind them. "Baby, I've got to go get the car."
Jamie's eyes widened and she shook her head, grabbing onto Rose's hand. "No, mama, no you can't! They'll get you!"
Rose smiled sadly, kneeling down in front of Jamie, "Nothing can get me Jamie, you know that." She whispers, and Jamie shakes her head, starting to cry harder.
"Mama please, please don't leave me. Please." She cried, her hands going to her mother's face, absolutely terrified, "I don't want you to be one of those monsters, like grandpa. Please mama, stay with me." She sobbed and Rose felt the tears forming in her eyes.
"Jamie honey," Rose started pulling her daughter into her arms, hugging her tightly as the girl continued to cry, "I will never leave you Jamie, not ever. I promise you." Rose said, pulling back, wiping some of the tears from her eyes.
"Cross your heart?"
Rose smiled, nodding once before crossing her heart with her finger, "Cross my heart."
Rose was in her bed, the one she shared with Jamie normally, lying on her side, her knees raised up into her chest and her arms wrapped around the tattered stuffed rabbit, "Never." She whispered to herself, the tears rolling down the bridge of her nose, falling onto the pillow, "Never, Never."
Johanna stood outside the cell, leaning against the bars as she listened to Rose carefully, hearing her repeating those words over again, before she heard Rose whisper her daughter's name. Johanna jumped some when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"You scared me," Johanna whispered turning to see Logan who frowned, hearing Rose from inside the cell.
"Has she moved at all?" He asked moving to step inside the cell, wanting to try to talk to her but Johanna took his hand, shaking her head when he looked back at her.
"She hasn't, but she needs to be alone, just for a bit." She says sadly, looking down at her ankle Logan had wrapped up, "I should have stayed with them, if I had just… If I had just been faster, I could have gotten them to come back, Jamie would be here, and Rose wouldn't be like this." Johanna started to tear up, and Logan sighed.
"Jo, it's not your fault." He said sadly, taking her face in his hands, "There was nothing you could do, Ryder was protecting his baby, and you couldn't have done anything to stop him." Logan tried to force a smile, and Johanna nods, resting her head against Logan's chest.
"There's got to be something we can do," Logan whispered quietly, wrapping his arms around her waist when Johanna sighed.
"She just needs time," Johanna nods, "She thinks her daughter's dead, three of her friends just died, the father of her child maybe." Johanna whispers sadly, "It's a lot to take in at once."
Rose could hear them, their whispers about her. She wondered to herself if that were true, if in time she'd be okay again… She had lost Jamie, Ryder, Lori, T and Carol; it was a lot of death in one day… But Jamie, they didn't know if she hadn't made it, they didn't know, not unless they found her. That was it. She needed to find her. Rose had to find her daughter.
Rose was up, surprising both Logan and Johanna as she walked around her room, wiping at her eyes and grabbing her pistol from the little crate they used as a night stand, "Rose, you need to lay back down, you're ankle's still swollen." Logan said, noticing Rose's erratic movements, as she grabbed the machete from off the top bunk. "Rose," Logan went to grab her shoulder when Rose spun around, pointing the pistol directly at his forehead, the look on her face terrifying.
"Do not touch me," She said cocking the gun, Johanna feeling her heart drop as she watched the scene, "What cell block did you find Jo in?" Rose demanded, not dropping the gun from Logan's face.
"D, the one the prisoners were staying in." Logan said quickly, his voice a bit shaky from fear of Rose losing it. Rose looks at him for a second before dropping the gun and running out, pushing passed Johanna with ease. Johanna ran to follow, Logan frozen in his spot from shock while Rose made her way through their cell block, passing Hershel and Beth.
"Rose, Rose honey," Hershel called after her, "Rose where are you going?" He asked hobbling after her on his crutches, Beth following with the baby in her arms.
"To find Jamie." Rose said, undoing the chains from the cell door before disappearing in the dark, leaving Hershel, Beth and Johanna staring after her.
҉
Jamie smiled shaking her head slowly as she laughed, watching as her mom picked on Daryl, the man's arms crossed over his chest as her mother continued to make gests at him about falling into the river. The three had went alone to wash up, the rest back at the camp, Beth cooking dinner with Lori and Maggie most likely, Rick was probably scouting the area, and Glenn was probably gathering firewood with Carol, T, and Hershel. Jamie hadn't seen her mom this happy in a really long time. She'd never seen her mom smile get that wide ever, except the time Jamie brought home the mug she'd made for her in art class. It wasn't even a very good mug, whenever Rose tried to use it the coffee would leak out… But her mom still seemed so happy whenever she drank from it.
"Come on Daryl, don't be such a baby." Rose pestered, poking Daryl who sat by the river bed, soaking wet, glaring up at her when she continued to bother him.
"I'm not being a baby," He grumbled, and Jamie laughed standing up in the water.
"You kind of are Mr. Daryl." Jamie teased her hands going to her hips and Daryl looked over at her raising an eyebrow before standing up quickly, grabbing Rose from around the waist, tossed her over his shoulder and ran into the water straight for Jamie who tried to get away, but had no luck escaping Daryl's grasp.
"I'll show you two who the real baby is." He laughed before tossing Rose into the river, who had managed to stay dry until now, and then threw Jamie in by her. Rose shot up first, sputtering as she shouted curses at Daryl who just laughed, calling her a baby before Jamie popped up, glaring at him to.
"I didn't do anything!" Jamie laughed, gripping onto Rose's arm as Rose walked back towards the shore, Jamie only letting go when her feet could touch the ground.
"You go back to swimming Jambo! I gotta deal with your momma!" Daryl laughed pointing at Jamie before moving away from Rose when she went to push him. Jamie rolled her eyes and fell back in the water, floating on her back while Rose tried to drag Daryl back into the water, only to end up kissing him instead.
"Just a little further baby," Jamie frowned, looking up at her dad as he led them through the forest, limping. He had no idea where he was going.
"Daddy, we've passed that tree already." Jamie sighed, crossing her arms over her chest, "Why can't we just go back to the prison? You're hurt; momma and Logan can fix it." Jamie suggested, looking around as they found a road, swallowing thickly. "Momma says not to go to roads unless you have a car."
Ryder sighed, Jamie had been going on and on about the prison… about how Rose was probably looking for her, how Mr. Daryl was going to be mad at him and how Rick was going to kick him out. But he didn't know how to explain to her that they were probably all gone, all dead. Even if they weren't Rose was, he saw it happen, and Jamie had no place there if her mother was dead… "Baby, mom would want me to keep you safe, and that's what I'm doing." He says turning to look back at her, noticing her eyes moving down to the large gash in his arm.
"Momma would want you to get that fixed," She said sadly, looking up at him, "It could draw walkers, get infected, all loads of things can happen to it." Jamie shrugged a bit, frowning again, "Mommy's going to be so mad…"
"Mommy's not going to be anything Jamie," Ryder said, kneeling down in front of her, Jamie sending him a puzzled look, "Your mom…" Ryder bit his lip, looking down at the ground for a moment, hearing Rose's screams in his head again, Johanna's, "Jamie, Rosie, she didn't make it." He said looking back up at her, his heart breaking at the look on her face as she shook her head, "Baby momma didn't make it."
Jamie shook her head more, her curls bouncing as she did it, trying to pull away from her father, "No, No momma's alive, she's alive! Those things can't get her! She's crossed her heart," She cried, scratching at her father's arms, "I can prove it! She's probably in the woods looking for me!" She fought and fought; only making Ryder hold onto her a little tighter.
"Jamie, no, you need to stay with me. I need to keep you safe," Jamie grabbed a hold of his wound, clutching onto it as tight as she could, her mother always told her to go for the weak spots, and Ryder was forced to let go, screaming out in pain as Jamie took off. "Jamie! Jamie don't!" He yelled, grabbing the gun from the ground and attempted to chased after her.
Jamie wasn't sure where she was running to, she wanted to run back to the prison, but she couldn't remember which way it was. Daryl would know how to get back, even her mother knew how to get back. But she didn't think Ryder would know. Jamie could hear her dad calling after her; he had hurt his leg pretty bad though, so maybe that's why he hadn't caught her yet. But he had stopped yelling for her, so maybe she was faster than she thought, that is until she saw to very strange men approaching her. She stopped dead in her tracks, looking up as a darker skinned man approached her on her left side and another man, black, came on her right. She stared at them wide eyes, trying to remember everything Rose had told her, everything she had taught her.
Jamie smiles shaking her head slowly as her mother popped up in the window, making faces that were so funny Jamie's sides hurt from laughing before Rose opened up the door. She climbed in, quickly made sure that all the doors were locked, and turned the car off. She always left the tiny pink CD player they found playing softly, since Jamie couldn't sleep without sound.
"Baby, I need to talk to you about today." Rose started, moving Jamie so she was on her lap, Rose leaning back against the pillow propped up against the car door, "I know… I know I promised I'd always be around… and I will… But just in case something happens where… where I'm not with you, I need you to know a few things."
Jamie frowns, nodding slowly as she glanced up at Rose, "Are these more rules?" She asked quietly and Rose laughs, nodding.
"Yes, they sort of are." She says, brushing Jamie's curls from her face, "Rule number one: Never ever talk to strangers,"
"I already know that mommy!" She laughed, and Rose just smiled.
"Good, but this one's a bit different, because you still talk to strangers Jamie," She says raising an eyebrow when Jamie tried to hide her smile, "You can't ever, absolutely ever talk to strangers Jamie, not unless I'm there." She says, and Jamie nods, "Good, now rule number two: always be prepared for the worst." Jamie's eyebrows furrowed together.
"The worst?"
Rose nods, "The worst… it's not always going to happen, not since you have me… but if one day you don't, you need to remember that…" She says sadly, leaning her head back against the window, "Now the third and final rule," Rose sighed at this, and Jamie looked up at her curiously, "You need to always have a weapon baby, a gun…" Jamie's eyes widened at that, her mom never let her touch guns before.
"Guns kill,"
"Exactly baby," Rose sniffled, Jamie frowning as she saw the tears rolling down her cheeks now, "People now baby… Some of them are real bad, and they will want to hurt you… So you need to hurt them first, but don't just… don't just hurt them, you've got to warn them, give them a chance to rethink." Rose said, and Jamie turned in her arms, wiping away the tears.
"Give them a chance to rethink messing with a Waters girl?" Jamie smiled when Rose laughed, a few tears still falling, but she wiped them away, and pressed her lips to Jamie's forehead.
"Exactly baby."
Jamie smiled as she remembered her mother's rules, and before the men got any closer she pulled the gun from the holster around her waist, and pointed it at them.
"Don't move unless you wanna end up dead," Jamie said, but obviously it wasn't very intimidating, because the two men just looked at each other before laughing loudly.
"God that's precious," The lighter skin one laughed, his hands on his knees, "How old are you sweetheart? Six?" Jamie glared at him, not saying anything as she kept her gun raised.
"Come on now girl, we ain't gonna hurt you." The darker one said, taking a step forward, and Jamie distinctly remembered something her mom did once, and decided to try it. She shot the ground beside the man, and they both jumped, shouting curses at her.
"Hey!" There was a shout from behind them and Jamie turned quickly, and then someone grabbed her arm from behind, pulling the gun from her hands, "Well ain't 'cha a doll." The man's accent was sort of familiar, really thick, and really southern. Jamie glared up at him, jerking from the other man's hold, noticing now that the man who distracted her was holding on to Ryder, a knife placed against her father's neck.
"Now baby doll, you just calm down, ain't nobody gotta get hurt." The man said, and Jamie looked to her father, who nodded.
"No, momma said not to trust people! Daddy, he's got a knife on you!" Jamie shouted angrily, not understanding why her father wouldn't just listen to her.
"Jamie Lynn, you listen to me right now," Ryder said, his voice low and scared, "These men… baby, they're going to hurt us… just listen to them alright? Listen to them and everything will be fine."
The southern man snorted, "Jamie Lynn? Ain't that that one bitch's sister?"
The other men looked at him a bit confused, "What the fuck you talking about Merle?"
The southern man, Merle, only shrugged, "Pop culture was never my strong point boys, baby brother liked to spout out random facts when we was kids." He sighs shaking his head before looking back down at Jamie, "Now baby doll, you best listen to your daddy, I don't want to wind up having to hurt him anymore than he already is."
Jamie bit the inside of her cheek, looking around at the men, before nodding slowly, the man, Merle, grinning, "That's a girl." Merle moved the knife from Ryder's neck, and that's when Jamie noticed it… that the knife was built into his hand. "Now, where exactly are you two coming from?"
Jamie looked over at Ryder, Merle's good hand wrapped around the collar of his shirt, "North of here… We were staying at this motel," Ryder lied, he was lying? That was something mom would do. "A huge herd of walkers… they, they came and they got my wife." Jamie looked at the ground, the way he said it, he sounded so sad… could her mom really be dead?
"Well I'm sorry to hear that," Merle said letting go of Ryder's collar now, "You got any provisions?" Ryder shook his head, and Jamie just continued to frown, trying not to cry in front of those men, "That's a damn shame, could have been useful…" Merle muttered, looking over at his men, all of them sharing a look Jamie didn't understand, like they were talking to each other without actually talking, "Well we've got a place we can take you."
Jamie went to protest, momma would never allow that, never, she'd rather shoot all those men down dead before going to a place, "Is it safe?" Ryder asked, Jamie glaring at him.
"Safest place left on this shit hole," The lighter skin man said walking over to her dad, "I'm Martinez, this here is Shumpert, but you can just call him 'The Bowman'." Martinez directed the last bit towards Jamie, and she looked over at 'The Bowman', not impressed in the slightest.
"I'm Ryder, and this here is Jamie." Ryder said motioning to his daughter, who thought of another thing her momma did, a lot. She stuck up her middle finger and turned her back to them with a huff, Merle laughing.
"Boy, she sure is a firecracker, gonna be a real ball basher when she's older huh?" Merle laughed, and Ryder just nodded nervously, before Merle slapped a hand on his back, his non-lethal one, luckily.
"You two can hitch a ride with us, I'm sure the Governor would just love to meet you two." Ryder looked at the men confused, taking Jamie's hand in his when they lead him towards their trucks.
"The Governor?" He asked confused, moving to pick Jamie up in his arms when she seemed a bit sluggish.
"Yeah, he's in charge of the town, Woodbury, nice place, clean sheets, hot showers, warm meals, it's our uh," Merle chuckled, "Little slice of heaven in this hell hole."
Jamie found herself staring at the man's hand, his knifey-hand, and Merle noticed it too, "Cool ain't she?" Merle asked, holding up his arm, letting her stare at it a bit closer, "Had to cut it off myself, some bastard handcuffed me to a roof in Atlanta, left me for dead."
Jamie's eyes widened, "Sounds like a real nutcase." Ryder said, and Merle chuckled, nodding in agreement.
He had a southern accent, his name was Merle, he was a jerk, and he had no hand? To Jamie, that sounded a lot like the way Daryl had described his brother… But that couldn't be Mr. Daryl's brother… could it? Mr. Daryl liked pop culture?
҉
Daryl was back at the prison, the new born baby in his arms, shushing her softly, rocking her, trying everything he could to get the poor thing to calm down while Maggie and Beth fixed her a bottle. He glanced up when Beth walked over, and handed him the bottle, bouncing the girl a bit before holding the bottle to her mouth, smiling as she instantly started to suckle.
"Yeah," He praised smiling as he looked up at the group, who were all watching him, smiling, "She got a name yet?" He asked Carl who shrugged a bit.
"N-Not yet," He said looking up at Daryl, "I was thinking maybe Sophia…Carol too…" Daryl frowned as Carl started to list names, "Andrea, Amy, Jacqui, Patricia…Jamie," Daryl looked away at that, feeling his heart clench in his chest, remembering the little paper mache hands on the wall at the day care that had Jamie written on one, Sophie on another, "Or Lori... I dunno." Carl turns away, shaking his head and Daryl watches him, thinking about how much that boy just lost… his mother, the last friend he had his age, all in one day… The entire group had lost so many loved ones in only one day.
"You like that?" Daryl sighs, looking down at the baby again, not helping but to smile, "Huh? Little Ass Kicker?" Daryl looked around, noticing everyone smiling, "Alright, That's a good name right? Little Ass Kicker, you like that huh? You like that sweetheart?" Daryl smiled, looking up to try and find Rose's face, but she wasn't even in the room.
"Where is she?" He asked now, looking around the group, finally stopping on Johanna and Logan, who were supposed to be watching her, "Where's Rosie?"
Beth came over now, and took Little Ass Kicker from him, and he walked over to the two kids, "Where is she damn it?" He snapped and Johanna bit down hard on her lip.
"We uh, we don't know exactly," Logan said, swallowing down the lump in his throat as he squeezed Johanna's hand, Hershel coming over to mediate.
"Daryl," Hershel said, getting his attention before he could snap at the two, "Rosie… She, she drew a gun on them," He explained, Daryl's jaw tightening some, "She wanted to find Jamie… She ran into cell block D… We haven't heard a thing from her since."
Glenn walked over now, "I went in to look for her, for her and Rick… Rick's completely lost it, and Rose… I didn't even see her…"
Daryl shook his head, running his hand down his face, "We can't lose her." He muttered, looking around the group, "I'm going in there to look for her alright? You said she had a gun?"
Hershel nods, "Her machete too."
Daryl nods, "Then she's fine, I'll be back."
Daryl grabbed his crossbow from the table, glancing over at Little Ass Kicker briefly, before going into cell block D. Rose was going through things that Daryl understood, she didn't know whether or not her baby was dead. She wanted to know, so she went to find her. It was a reasonable thing to do, but not with an almost broken ankle, and a crazed state of mind. He sort of hoped he'd run in to Rick, maybe talk some since into him to, but he hadn't, and now he was heading straight for the area they'd found Johanna hiding up in the air vents. He stepped over the dead bodies, listening carefully to anything, footsteps, moaning, groaning, crying… he just needed to find out where she was. Then he heard it, a soft tap, tap, tap, tap. Like a rhythm of a song, coming from up the stairs.
He swallowed the bile rising in his throat from the smell, the anxiety, the fear of finding her dead, and ascended up the stairs littered with human remains. There was a door, slightly cracked open, and he walked over to it, peeking out and noticing bits of hair blowing in the wind, the tapping louder.
"Rosie," He called out softly, his crossbow still held high as he pushed the door open, showing her right hand drumming on the floor, her thighs, her knees, her swollen Barney like ankle, and finally her feet. He moved out the door, looking at her face. She looked okay, other than the deadpan stare she had going on… No walker eyes, no blood around her mouth, nothing to indicate she was turned.
"Rose, sweetheart, talk to me," He said, kneeling down in front of her, placing his hand on her knee. She then moved, and placed a small, dirty shoe on the top of his hand. He sucked in a breath as he stared at it, the pink converse, blood staining the side of it.
"This was all I could find left," Rose whispered, the first time he'd heard her voice since the attack, "Just this… this shoe." She bit her lip, closing her eyes as tears started to roll down her blood stained cheeks.
"Where'd you find it?" He asked, still staring at the tiny blood stained shoe.
"Bottom of these stairs," She said looking down them, staring at the walker, the one she killed that had the shoe beside it, "I think… I think it ate my baby."
Daryl shook his head, "No… No it didn't." He said, picking the shoe up in his other hand, examining it closer. "You found it untied?" He asked, and Rose sent him a look, "Did you find it untied?" She rolls her eyes, more tears falling as she nods, "Maybe… Maybe Ryder and her were running, her shoes untied… so it falls off, but they keep going."
Rose shrugged, "Maybe… But where are they now?"
Daryl chewed on the side of his lip, standing up slowly, "Out the fence…" He suggest and Rose just looks at him.
"How would they get out the fence Daryl? It's not like they could climb over it, or… or break through." She closes her eyes, and Daryl looked down at her.
"No," He muttered and grabbed her hand, forcing her to stand up, "You are not giving up on this Rosie." He says, reaching down and picked up her machete, holding it out for her, "This is your daughter! This is Jamie, and Jamie was taught by you." He says, snapping his fingers, getting her to look at him, "If anything, Jamie dragged Ryder through all this, found a way to get out, and did."
Rose stared at him, she wanted to believe it, she truly did… But Jamie, she was only seven, she was only 3'5, barely weighed sixty pounds, Ryder had never been out in the world, not enough to know the ropes already..
"Rose, come on." Daryl said, grabbing her hand, and dragged her down the stairs. She didn't protest, or try to pull back, just let him drag her around, remaining silent when they spotted a few walkers.
Daryl took the few stragglers out, letting of Rose's hands to knell to the ground, noticing the dirt kicked up, some grass flattened down, "Tracks."
"There's walkers," She says shaking her head, "It's probably theirs." Daryl glared over at her, before standing back up, taking her hand in his again as he followed the tracks, dead walkers littered around it, and he smiled a bit, "Look here Rose." He says taking her hand and pointing at the walker, it had a hole in his neck, "Jamie ain't quite tall enough to get the head," He says, kneeling down, "Someone finished it off with a knife, doesn't Ryder have that butterfly knife?" He looked up at Rose, noticing her eyes light up a bit.
"Y-Yeah, he does… It was his dad's." She mutters, following after Daryl by her own choice now until they reached the fence and Daryl laughed happily, Rose trying to find what caused it.
"Someone dug under this fence a bit," Daryl says, kneeling down, "Looks like it was small enough for Jamie to squeeze under," Daryl stood up quickly, looking up at the top of the fence, seeing the piece of fabric flapping in the wind, "And it looks like Ryder decided to jump it, nicked his arm, or back or something on the barbed wire, and fell right there, probably broke something." Daryl mused, turning to look at Rose, seeing her hand over her mouth.
Rose felt herself smiling as she stared at the ground, looking at Daryl briefly before clapping her hands together, "Jamie's alive!"
Daryl grinned as she grinned, looking at all the signs he had pointed out, "We've got to find her." Rose said looking over at Daryl, "She's out in those woods, Ryder's not going to know how to do anything!"
Daryl nods, "First thing in the morning, after you rest, eat, and shower." He says, and Rose shakes her head.
"We can't just leave her out there Daryl," Rose whispers, looking into the trees, hoping to maybe catch a glimmer of blonde curls.
"Jamie's smart," Daryl said, looking behind Rose as he spotted a few walkers in the distance, "She'll know what to tell Ryder to do, what plants they can eat… But they couldn't have gotten to far, you and I will go out first thing in the morning, and bring them back."
Rose nods slowly, "Jamie's okay." She whispered, smiling a bit still, "We need to find her Daryl." She says looking back over at him, and he nods taking her hand in his.
"We will Rosie."
҉
Jamie wasn't sure why the men had taken her and her father to this place… Why they were being so… nice. They didn't look nice, not at all. Especially the man who she thought was Daryl's big brother. But she couldn't just judge them, momma would probably be mad… or maybe she'd be mad she didn't judge them… She was always so confusing. Jamie sat on a bed, a real, actual, soft, bed. She couldn't believe it.. They even had baths, HOT baths.
Jamie smiled a little, trying to braid her hair her mama always did it… something to do with fish she thought? She didn't really understand what fish had to do with hair, but she always thought it was pretty.
There was a knock at the door, and Jamie jumped, pulling her fingers from her hair and hurried over to the other side of the room as the door opened, a man stepping in.
"Hello," He said, his voice was really soft, and friendly. But Jamie stayed in the corner of the room, staring up at the man as he walked in, the door shutting behind him, "Don't worry honey, I'm just here to talk."
Jamie narrowed her eyes at him, "Where's my daddy?"
The man smiled, sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, "He's in the infirmary, the doc's cleaning up his wound and setting his knee back in place." He said, leaning forward in the chair now, "Mind telling me what exactly happened to you and your daddy?"
Jamie chewed on the inside of her cheek, trying to think, "We…" She started, her dad had said a motel… north, "We were at this motel… I think in the north." Jamie twisted her lips, scratching at her arm nervously, "Those monsters… they came, and they killed our friends… they killed my mama." The tears that sprung from Jamie's eyes weren't fake, and she tried her hardest to keep from crying to hard in front of the stranger, "Daddy was almost… he almost got eaten by one of those things, he fell off the roof of the motel," She said looking over at her dirty clothes piled in the middle of the floor, her only shoe there, "I lost my shoe jumping down… and when he caught me… my knife cut him."
The man frowned, "I'm sorry that happened to you sweetheart," He said, looking over at her as she sniffled, wiping her eyes, "You're very brave you know? How old are you?" He asked curiously.
"Seven," Jamie said pulling at her sleeves, "I'll be eight in June…"'
"Wow, well, you're dad should be getting better soon… and since it's just the two of you, I was thinking of offering you guys a chance to stay." Jamie didn't say anything, only stared, "There are kids your age here." He offers, and she bit her lip, "You'll get your own apartment with your dad, the two of you could be happy again here."
Jamie smiles a little, "What's your name mister?" She asks, and the man smiles.
"You can just call me the Governor."