I limped down the stairs when it was time for dinner. I tried my best to walk normal once I got to the table so the others wouldn't know something was wrong. So far, no one said anything. I saw that Carol and Michonne weren't at the table. "Where's Michonne and Carol?" I asked my dad.

"They went on a run." He said.

"Oh." I sat down and started putting food on my plate. I exhaled in relief, it felt better to sit down.

However, I got an occasional pain while I was eating. I bit my lip to keep from reacting to the pain. I got through dinner and ate all of my food and even had seconds, I really wasn't that hungry but I needed to stall. I hoped that they would get done and leave so I could hobble back up to my room without anyone seeing me. That didn't happen, though. They stayed right there and talked even after they were done eating.

I didn't know what to do so I just put my head down on the table. I wanted to go lay down so bad but there was no way I could get away without them suspecting something. I knew it was going to be painful just standing up, I would most likely cringe. So, I just sat there like that.

"You did a good job again today, Abby." My dad said to me and rubbed my back a little. I did not respond. "You okay?" I lifted my head but didn't look at him, I didn't hide my expression either. "What's 'a matter?"

I hesitated. They were both looking right at me. You might as well just tell them, they're going to find out anyway. "My foot hurts." I mumbled.

"Your foot?" He said. "Why's your foot hurt?"

"I hurt it earlier." I said without looking at either of them.

"What happened?" Daryl was the one to ask.

"A TV fell on it."

"What?" My dad said. "Let me see it."

"I already looked at it." I said and scooted away a little. "It's black and blue."

My dad hesitated. "…I wanna see it." He said seriously.

I didn't want to but I guess I better do what he said. I rolled my eyes and sighed turning his way, then lifted my foot so I could take my shoe off. I cringed and moaned a little in the process.

His eyes widened when he saw it. "Abigail. Why wouldn't you say anything?" He scolded me. "That looks bad."

"Yeah, it feels bad too." I said with raised eyebrows.

"I'm surprised your toes aren't broken."

Daryl got up and stood on the other side of me. "Damn." He said. "Can you move yer toes?"

"Yeah." I said and showed them.

"It should still be wrapped." Daryl said. He looked at my dad. "We have somethin' we can wrap it with, right?"

"Yeah, we should. Try upstairs in the bathroom closet." My dad said. Daryl nodded then left to go get bandages. My dad pushed my hair back, then hugged me.

Daryl came back with the supplies. "Alright. C'mere." He helped me up off my chair. "Sit yer little butt on the table." He lifted me and sat me down. "I'm gonna try to be gentle here." He began wrapping my foot. I cringed a few times, not going to lie. It was pretty painful. "How's that feel fer ya?" Daryl asked once it was fully wrapped.

I just shrugged. "I wanna go lay down."

My dad snorted. "Good idea. Finally, we agree on something."

"You wanna just lay on the couch?" Daryl asked me.

"No, I wanna go in my room." I slowly got down off the table.

"C'mere. Want me to carry ya?" Daryl asked. I looked at him to see if he was serious, he had a smirk on his face so I figured he was joking.

"I think I can manage." I began to hobble away.

"Ya sure? I will if ya want me to."

I ignored him and kept walking. Well, I should say limping. I got as far as the kitchen table and got a bad pain when I put my foot down. "Ah!" I said out loud. I started to fall backwards but Daryl somehow caught me. "Ow." I held my foot. "Ow ow."

"See." He said. "You should learn to say yes more." He held onto me. I just looked at him, I wasn't sure if he was teasing me or not. My dad was also there now. "C'mere." Daryl said, he helped me walk to the stairs.

"You got her?" My dad asked.

"Yeah." Said Daryl breathing out. Once we got to the stairs, he lifted me and started carrying me up.

"You didn't have to do that." I said.

"It's fine." He carried me up to my room and laid me on the bed. "Here ya go."

I was annoyed that I needed his help but I figured I should thank him. "Thanks." I said giving him a quick glance, then looking down.

He nodded at me. "Hey," he said making me look back up, "no runs fer you fer a while." He pointed an accusing finger at me. "You take care 'a that foot now."

"Yeah." I said sadly looking down. Daryl stood there for a few seconds, then turned and slowly walked away. I looked down at my foot. This damn thing better heal fast.

My foot didn't look any worse the next day. However, it felt worse. My dad and Daryl wouldn't let me do anything, besides lay on the couch. I opted to stay in my bed all day, though, because I didn't need everyone looking at me. It was super annoying to me though. Talk about boring.

I needed to do something to keep me busy so I pulled out my art supplies, which I haven't used in forever, and tried to draw something. I was a really good artist, if I can say so myself. But it took me a long time to think of something to draw and even after that, it wasn't coming out right. It was probably because I wasn't feeling relaxed and my mind wasn't in it. Or my heart.

I frustratingly threw all of the art supplies on the floor beside my bed, then laid back and sighed. This sucks so bad. And I hate to think this way because I was doing something nice, but…I got hurt because of that damn box of arrows for Daryl! If I would have just left them there like my original plan, then this never would have happened. But no, I just had to do the right thing. I crossed my arms in front of me and pouted. Once again, Daryl causes me pain.

My dad stood in my doorway, I had my door left open. "How ya holdin' up?" He asked me.

I gave him an annoyed look. "How do you think?"

He kind of laughed and walked into the room, then sat on my bed. "Daryl and Carol went on a run. And Michonne took Carl to see if they could find some firewood. So it's just me and you today, kid." He patted my leg. "You want some company?"

"Yeah." I smiled a little. My dad and I don't really spend much time together like we used to. Maybe I should see if he wants to go on a run with me sometime.

"How's your foot?"

I shrugged. "About the same."

He looked at it and gently lifted my leg putting it on his lap. He slowly and gently rubbed it. "Does this hurt or help?"

"Actually…it kinda helps."

"It helps." He repeated then continued rubbing it.

"Just don't go up by my toes, that's where it hurts the most."

My dad kept rubbing my hurt foot, it was feeling somewhat good. He looked at me with a smirk. "Remember when you were little and I used to bite your toes?"

"Yeah." I rolled my eyes but still smiled. "Don't even think about doing that now."

He laughed a little. "You couldn't stay mad at me. I would just turn ya upside down and bite your little toes and you would laugh."

I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah, and you couldn't stay mad at me either. You couldn't even if you tried." I smirked.

He laughed. "That's because you're my baby girl."

"Your baby girl that's fourteen."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed. "You grew up too fast."

I paused for a minute, I suddenly felt that burning feeling in my nose like when you're about to cry. No, that's not happening right now. "Yeah, well…" I had to think of something to say to get off that subject. "I kinda had to. That's what happens when you're an older sibling. You're forced to look after kids that you didn't ask for. It's like we're substitute parents."

My dad laughed pretty hard at that. "Yeah, I know all about that. I was an older sibling too."

Oh yeah. I forgot about that. My dad had a younger brother. My Uncle Jeffrey. He got on my nerves. I had to smile at that. My mom was a younger sibling, like Carl. Maybe that's why those two were closer and my dad and I were closer? Who knows? Just a thought. I started thinking about my other family members though. "Dad, what…what do you think happened to everyone else? You think they made it out and are out there somewhere?"

My dad gave me a look, then looked down and sighed. "I don't know, baby. I really don't. But…it's better not to think about those kinds of things because we'll never know the answer."

"I know. I just thought…" I trailed off. I didn't know what to say but then I realized that that sentence didn't have an end. "Yeah, I just thought." I shrugged.

There was a pretty long pause after that. Then, something weird happened. My dad just looked at me. It was like he wanted to say something but didn't know if he should. I just stared back at him waiting for him to say something. He never did, so I spoke. "What?"

He didn't answer right away. "…why have you been…goin' out so much?"

I gave him a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you go out like every single day. You don't have to. I don't even go out that much. In fact, none of us do." He paused. I looked down. "Is there a reason why?" He looked at me more closely.

I wanted to tell my dad what was going on with me; I wanted to tell him everything, from that night I overheard Daryl say those mean things about me to now. But I just couldn't. I knew what would happen if I did and I didn't want that. I didn't want to be that typical teenage girl that gets upset over every little thing that's upsetting to her. And that's exactly how I'd look if I told him. So…I didn't.

I looked back up at him and cleared my throat. "It's nothing. It's just…I wanna do my part. I know you guys can handle things and I know I don't have to go out as much as I do but…it just makes me feel useful." I nodded. My dad just looked at me. "I'm not a little kid anymore, dad."

"I know you're not." He said before I said anything else. "And that's not what I was saying and I hope you don't think that. But no matter how old you are, I'm never going to stop worrying about you. I look at you and I see my little girl." My face flushed. "And I couldn't take it if something happened to you." He sounded like he was getting choked up. I didn't want that.

"Dad, it's okay, really." I said. "I'm always careful out there. You don't have to worry about me. But if it makes you feel any better, I won't go out as much anymore." The words were out before I could stop them. I really wish I wouldn't have said that.

My dad looked at me after that. "Well, I would like that very much." He pushed my hair back. "I want you to promise me."

"…I promise." Damnit!

"Okay." He gave me a small smile. "You want something to eat? I can make ya somethin'."

"Yeah, sure."

"What do you want?" He said while standing up.

"Whatever." I shrugged. My dad nodded, then he leaned over a little and kissed my forehead. I watched him walk away.

"Hey, dad." I stopped him, he turned back to me. "What I said about being a substitute parent…I was only joking. I never minded looking after that little shit." I smirked.

My dad nodded and let out a laugh. "I know." He smiled. "But...watch your mouth." He said before walking out the door. I rolled my eyes but still smiled.

I stayed in my room that whole day, and yes, it was boring as hell. But there wasn't anything I could do about it. At one point, I even started counting the tiles on the ceiling. Now this is some next level boredom shit.

Way later when it was beginning to get dark, I was just laying there once again staring at the ceiling, when I saw a figure appear in my doorway. I looked over to see Daryl standing there, he was holding a huge garbage bag. "Hey." I said. And quickly tried to sit up a little.

"Hey." He said. "How's the foot?"

I shrugged. "About the same."

He nodded. Then kind of just stood there for a moment. "Well, I got ya a little somethin'."

I cocked an eyebrow as he was pulling something out of that huge bag. It didn't take me long to realize what it was. It was a pillow. The one I was looking at when we went on that run to that store. He sat it on my bed. I brushed it with my hand, it was so soft. It made me smile inside. This will feel nice to lay my hurt foot on. I looked up at him. "Why though?"

He shrugged. "Fer the arrows."

I looked down and thought. I didn't do that to get anything back. "Well…you didn't have to but…thanks." I gave him a small smile.

He nodded back. "Hey, was that a smile?" He teased me. I looked away trying to hide it. "I see it." He grabbed my face and squeezed like before. "I see a smile."

"Get outta here." I looked down and couldn't help but smile still.

Daryl let out a small laugh and backed up towards the door a little. "Hey, there anythang ya want since yer gonna be cooped up in here fer a while yet?"

That wiped the smile clean off my face. I don't even want to think about being in here anymore. And to think I wanted to stay up here all day before. I looked up at Daryl waiting for an answer. There were definitely things I could use to entertain myself, but I didn't want to be anymore of a burden than I already was. "I mean…I don't know." I looked away.

"What?" He said. "Just tell me. Anythang ya want."

I thought for a minute. "Well…if it's not too much trouble…" He gave me a look. "Maybe a notebook? I like to write."

"That ain't any trouble at all." He gave me that same look. "Anythang else? Games? Books?"

I gave him a weird look. Why is he being so nice to me? "Sure. Whatever you can find." I realized what I just said and shook my head. "But…only if you see it. Don't go making any special trips for me." I crossed my arms over my chest. He made a noise through his nose after I said that. I suddenly had a thought. "Actually…I'd kinda like a deck of cards."

"Now we's talkin'." He said. "So…notebooks, cards and books." He repeated it back like he was a waiter and I just gave him a food order. "Anythang else?"

"…not that I can think of." I lifted my leg and slid the big pillow underneath so my foot was elevated.

"Alright. I'll look around and see what I can find." He said. Then, he started walking back over to me. It scared me for a second because I thought he coming to kiss me like my dad does. But he stopped by my foot and readjusted the pillow, then looked at it. "Maybe we should change that bandage."

It caught me off guard. "…uh…I think it's alright. It's still pretty clean looking."

He nodded.

My eyes fell on the gems from that game we played. "Oh, we never split our treasure." I said and grabbed them off my nightstand.

"What?"

"From that game we played."

He snorted. "Okay."

"First, let's take our birthstones," I took the yellow and gave him red.

"How do you know when my birthday is?"

"I asked you once." I shrugged. "Now take what color you like best." I let him take one first. He grabbed blue. "That's my favorite too, but I'll take purple." I set it aside. "Now we're left with green and white."

"You pick first."

"Okay. I'll take green."

"So, I got red, white and blue." He smirked. I let out a small laugh.

"Now you can never get rid of these." I directed him. "You have to keep these for the rest of your life."

"Alright." He smirked and put them in his pocket. "Get some rest, shorty." He said before walking out of the room. He hasn't called me that in a while. I smiled and shrugged, then laid back on my bed.

About a week went by and my foot was pretty much healed. I didn't have to stay in bed anymore and could walk around without limping or being in pain. So, I was at the table eating breakfast with everyone else. The only one who wasn't in the room was Carol. It was pretty much quiet besides someone saying something random and someone else replying every once in a while.

"So," my dad said, "I was thinking about going on a run, kinda far out. Michonne said she wanted to go with me."

"Alright." Daryl said when no one said anything.

"Well, I'm just saying because we'll probably be gone for a few days." My dad said again.

I looked up at him this time. "Why?"

He stared at me like he wasn't quite sure what to say. "Because we're gonna go out a little farther than usual, baby." He ran his hand through my hair, then looked back at Daryl. "Are okay with…keepin' an eye on Carl and Abby?"

I almost choked on my water. He couldn't be serious! Daryl babysitting? "Yeah." Daryl agreed. "We'll be alright."

My dad nodded. "Hear that?" He looked to and from Carl and I. "Daryl's in charge, so you two better be good, especially you." He looked at me.

"Me?" I said annoyed.

"Yeah, you. You can be a smartass."

"I know all about that." Daryl said with raised eyebrows and gulped his coffee.

I gave him a dirty look, then looked back at my dad. "I never do anything bad." I crossed my arms over my chest and closed my eyes.

"Alright." My dad smirked. "But incase you are," he looked at Daryl, "you have my permission to punish them. Do whatever you think is fair. Hell, take the strap to 'em." He laughed. I looked at him angrily. "I'm just kidding." He rubbed my hair. He and Daryl laughed.

"I don't thank I'll have any problems with Carl, but I'on know about Abby." Said Daryl. "I just might have to do that." He smirked along with my dad.

"Hm." I huffed and looked away. They both laughed.

"You sure you're okay with this?" My dad asked Daryl. We were standing on the porch saying goodbye. My dad and Michonne put some things into a car.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Daryl replied. He had one arm across my shoulders and the other across my brother's.

My dad nodded. He looked at Carl and I and grabbed both of our faces gently. "You two better good for Daryl and Carol, I mean it." He gave us a stern look.

"They'll be fine." Daryl waved him off. "Well…I'on know about this one." He put his hand on my head. I grew annoyed again.

My dad let out a laugh. "And you better come back." I said with concern, he looked down at me. "I mean it."

"We'll be fine, baby." He hugged me and kissed my forehead, then did the same to my brother.

After we said our goodbyes and they drove off, I stayed on the porch and watched them until I couldn't see the car anymore. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. "You okay?" Daryl asked me. I just nodded slowly. He moved his hand from my shoulder to my head. "C'mon, let's go inside."

We stayed in the living room after that. Carol was reading a book and I was playing with my deck of cards. "I wish I could play cards." My brother said out of nowhere.

"Well, why cain't ya?" Daryl said after a few seconds.

"I don't know how." Carl shrugged.

"I'll teach ya." Said Daryl. "You wanna learn?"

"Yeah." Carl said happily. I set the cards on the end table next to where Daryl was sitting.

"You done with these?" He asked me. I just nodded. "Okay." But then he did a double take and looked at me. "You okay, Abby?" He said quietly. I just nodded again. Daryl's mouth pressed into a thin line and he looked like he didn't believe me. "Hey, yer dad's gonna be fine, alright? He'll be back before ya know it."

I saw that Carol looked up from her book at me. "I know." I said annoyed and pulled away. I didn't want the attention on me, I walked away and went up to my room.

I kept thinking about something happening to my dad. I already lost one parent, I didn't want to lose another. What would be worse than my dad dying would be if he just disappeared. If he just didn't come home and none of us found him and we never knew what happened to him. The thought scared me and made me feel panicked. I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe.

I sat up in my bed breathing a little heavier. What if that did happen though? It could. Glenn and Maggie left and you have no idea where they are. It was getting worse and worse and I was freaking out. I needed to get out of here! I needed to leave! I need something to take my mind off of the bad stuff!

I frantically looked around the room as if I was searching for the answer, my eyes landed on my bag. That's it! I'll go on a little run of my own! I grabbed my bag and quietly made my way down the stairs.

I could hear noise in the kitchen and figured Carol was probably making lunch, then I peeked in the living room and saw Daryl and my brother still playing cards. Good. I nodded to myself. It will be easier to sneak out now. I slowly and quietly opened the front door and snuck out.

I went left and headed down the street. I've checked in almost all of these houses in the neighborhood, so that just meant that I had to go farther. I walked down a hill, then up a steep one. I kept going until the street ended and it turned into a main road, then I started checking some houses.

Narrator's POV

Carol had just finished putting together some snack foods for lunch. "You guys hungry?" She peeked her head in the doorway.

"Yeah." Carl jumped up. Daryl followed them into the dining room and sat at the table.

"Thanks." He said to Carol for food.

"It's no problem." The older woman turned to the boy. "Carl, do you mind going to get your sister?"

"Okay." He said and headed up the stairs. "Abby!" He said from the hallway upstairs. "Carol made lunch!" He walked into his sister's room, but stopped when he didn't see her. "Abby?" He looked around, he checked every room upstairs but she was nowhere to be found.

The young boy went back downstairs, Carol and Daryl looked at him when he walked into the room. "Let me guess…she ain't hungry?" Daryl said with a smirk.

"She's not up there." Carl stated.

The two older people looked at the boy. "What do ya mean she ain't up there?" Daryl said.

"She wasn't there." Carl shrugged. "I checked all the rooms and everything."

There was a slight pause, then Daryl and Carol shared a look. "Oh no." Carol said with a hand to her mouth.

"Damnit." Daryl jumped up. He looked out both the front and back doors.

"Are you going out to look for her?" Carol asked him.

"…nah. I'm gonna wait. She'll come back. She always does this." He looked away from the window. "But when she does, I'm gonna beat 'er ass." The man walked back to the table to eat. Carol gave her friend a concerned look. She hoped he wasn't serious.