TRIGGER WARNING! CHILD ABUSE! DOMESTIC ABUSE!
I woke up, seeing the tent walls turning a pretty color of orange as the sunrise's rays poured through the tent fabric. I sat up, pulling on my boots like usual, and slipped out of the tent quietly. Ace walked out with me, walking over to where Dale sat by the campfire. I walked over, seeing Ace nudge Dale to be pet. As Dale petted Ace, he looked back to meet my gaze.
"Good morning. You're up early," Dale greeted me.
"Good morning. You had the last watch last night, right?" I asked, sitting on the log, leaving Ace between us.
"Yeah, I've only been up an hour or so," Dale responded. I nodded, grabbing a can of food for he and I. I handed one to him, as well as one of the forks that we kept in a tin can to keep dirt off of them. He took the can, opening it as I opened my can of pears.
"Morning," We heard Shane say as he, Lori, and Carl came out of their tent. Carl came over to me and sat beside me. Lori and Shane stuck together, sitting on another log seat that we had.
"Morning," Dale replied with a smile. The adults began to chat, while Carl ate a can of food. I gazed over at the gorgeous sunrise that was almost completely risen. The pink hues steamed across the orange skyline that faded to a light yellow. I breathed in the fresh air, enjoying the peaceful morning we were having. The sounds of the water deeper and the birds whistling away in the trees.
The morning today reminded me of the hunting trips my Papa (grandpa, not dad) took me on. I smiled at the memory, remembering how we would walk through the woods at night. I always was terrified that something would come to snatch us up in the night. The only thing that helped was to hum a song as we walked.
I had apparently zoned out for quite a while because when I snapped out of my memory, Glenn, T-Dog, Jauqi, and Carol were awake. Sofia sitting next to me was what brought me out of my thoughts. She smiled over at me, leaning on my shoulder as she ate her breakfast. It wasn't long before everyone came out of their tents, sitting around the fire for breakfast. Shane stood up, grabbing the group's attention.
"Alright everyone, we did a lot of good work yesterday, so today is going to be the day we really fortify the camp. We are going to set up alarms around camp to ensure our safety," Shane stated. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"T-Dog, Glenn, Ed, Juan (Morales), and I will be setting them up. The rest of you just make sure to keep quiet so we don't draw any more of those walkers," Shane finished speaking, taking the group he stated before leaving with a box full of empty cans and tons of rope.
I felt quite bored, looking around to see Sofia, Carl, Eliza, and Louis were with their mothers. I looked down at my scuffed-up boots and saw Ace staring up at me. I smiled, knowing what he needed, and got up to get him some food. I pulled out his bowl, filling it with dog food for him. I pet his back a bit before leaving him to eat.
"Hey," I felt a gentle hand on my arm. I looked over, locking eyes with Jacqui.
"Why aren't you with the other kids, sweetie?" Jacqui had a stern voice, but it was in a caring tone.
"I had to feed Ace," I said, gesturing over to Ace who had finished scarfing down his food. He trotted over to us, sitting beside me.
"Well, how about you go over to your mama? Alright?" Jacqui said, starting to guide me to the group of mothers with their kids.
"Um, my mom isn't here," I said, with a saddened gaze.
"Oh, is she still sleeping, or?"
"She's in Oregan," I stated matter of factly.
"What about your dad? Did he go out with Shane?" She asked, looking around.
"He was lost in the city. He's probably gone in the herds in the city," I spoke firmly.
"So, you're all alone here?" She asked with a concerned expression.
"No, Glenn takes care of me for the most part,"
"Alright, hon, well if you need anything feel free to ask. I'm your Auntie Jacqui now," She stated, making eye contact. I nodded to her with a small smile. I never had an Aunt before.
"Now you run along and stay with the other little ones," She said sternly, shooing me off into the group. I walked into the group, sitting down with Sofia and leaning on her. She laid her head on my shoulder as she ate a granola bar. Ace had followed me over and laid his head on Sofia's lap. I watched as Sofia gently pet his head with a small smile. The day went by fast, and it wasn't very eventful. By the early evening, the men had come back and started dinner.
Carol was the one cooking, with Lori helping out. They put canned vegetables into a pot they got from Dale and added some canned beef that had been found in the cars yesterday. They set the lid on top, setting it in the fire to cook up. Dale brought out some bowls from his RV, as well as some tupperware containers for the stew.
"How long until the food's done?" Ed called, quite aggressively. Carol seemed to shrink whenever he spoke. I watched as her eyes widened and her mouth opened to speak, but Lori spoke up.
"We're all hungry, Ed. You can be patient like the rest of us," Lori said as she walked past him away from the campfire.
"It'll be done in about fifteen minutes," Carol said meekly as she stirred the stew. She set the lid on the pot once again and walked over to Ed.
"It better be," I heard him grumble. I felt a little anger boil from his tone to Carol, but let it slide, not wanting to make a scene over him being grumpy. As Ed walked off, Sofia accidentally bumped into him while carrying firewood to the campfire.
"Watch it!" Ed yelled. I was Sofia flinch and Ace growled as he stayed near me. He seemed to reach for her, but he noticed, multiple people watching, so he stormed off instead. Sofia came to the campfire, setting the wood in her arms beside the fire. I motioned her over.
"Are you okay?" I whispered. As I looked into her eyes, tears filled them but didn't fall. She sniffled quietly, wiping the tears before answering.
"Yeah, he just has his moments," She said with a forced smile.
"If you're scared at all of him, call Ace," I stated sternly. "Understand?" She nodded, looking over at Ace. I saw where Ed was standing over by his tent, speaking to Carol. He was making a lot of aggressive hand gestures, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I just saw Sofia and Carol's reaction. I gave him the side-eye as he left into the tent, and Carol's demeanor showed her nervousness. She hugged her arms around herself and came to check on Sofia.
"You alright sweetie?" Carol asked. Sofia nodded and huddled closer to me as her mother walked away. Lori and Jacqui came to her, and they were talking together. They seemed very concerned as the conversation continued. I returned my focus to the very shaken Sofia. I noticed Carl sitting by himself while Eliza and Louis were with their mother Miranda.
"Hey, let's go play with Carl," I said as gently as I could. Her lips formed a small smile as she nodded and we walked over to Carl. We sat together, waiting for dinner to be called. We talked for a bit but it didn't take long for dinner to be called. Everyone grouped up for dinner, passing the stew around as well as the silverware. I sighed as the stew warmed my stomach as I ate. Dinner went by quickly, and the sun began to set, painting the sky a mixture of deep purples, oranges, and reds.
"Hey! Who wants a beer?!" Shane called, bringing over a box of beers. A few of the adults grabbed themselves a bottle.
"Get me one," Ed ordered Sofia, who did so without question. I side-eyed him with a look of disgust at his brutish behavior. Sofia grabbed a bottle, taking it to Ed, but tripped on the gravel beneath her. As the bottle shattered, Sofia yelped in pain, Ed stood up, marching up to Sofia. I watched as Sofia and Carol's eyes turned to panic as Ed came closer. As Ed grabbed Sofia's arm and picked her up violently.
"Ace!" Sofia called in fear. Ace darted to Ed, grabbing the arm Ed held Sofia in. Ed dropped Sofia and Ace released him, but continued barking and growling in his face as he laid on the ground. Ed tried to fight him off but was unsuccessful.
"June get him off!" Shane yelled.
"Ace!" I called him reluctantly, wanting Ed to get what he deserved. I looked over to Sofia who was holding her hand in pain. She had a huge shard of glass stuck in her hand. I watched as Carol got in front of Ed as he tried to storm up to me.
"Your stupid dog bit me, bitch! Better keep him on a leash or else he'll have a bullet in his head!" I glared at him as I heard Sofia's cries.
"Ace!" I spoke calmly, watching as Ace brought him back to the ground.
"June!" I heard someone yell, but paid no attention.
"Get him off!" Shane went to take Ace off of him but backed off as soon as Ace barked and lunged at him.
"June! Get him off!" Glenn yelled.
"Come," I spoke calmly. Ace immediately released Ed with a low growl.
"What was that for?" Shane asked.
"To prove a point," I said, as I left Ed in his sorry state, checking on Sofia. She had been taken into the RV to have the glass removed. Dale sat next to her using tweezers to remove the glass. I sat beside Sofia, placing an arm around her gently. Ace sat below us by our feet and leaned against Sofia's leg.
"This is a nasty cut. I'll need to stitch you up, okay?" Dale spoke softly. Sofia nodded with her lip quivering. Anger boiled up inside me as I saw her tears streaming down her face.
"It's okay, it's going to be okay," I affirmed in a calm quiet tone, trying to calm her down. He sobbed and tried to take deep breaths to stop crying. Her eyes darted to the RV's open door as Carol walked in.
"Oh Sweetheart, are you alright?" I moved out of the way as Carol sat beside her where I once was. Sofia let out a small sniffle and nodded. Carol examined her handed, comforting her until Dale came back with a first aid kit. Sofia was stitched and bandaged up. Sofia, Carol, Dale, and I left the RV, seeing Shane talking to Ed quite angrily. I couldn't hear them, but I gave the side-eye to Ed as we waited by the RV. Ed stomped off to his tent, and Shane approached us.
"Listen, Carol. Ed is still angry and becoming more violent, so we're going to have you and Sofia sleep in a separate tent for the night. It's how we were told to handle domestic abuse in the police academy. I think it'll do your whole family some good," Carol nodded, agreeing and ushering Sofia to the new tent that was set up already.
"Mom, I-I want to have Ace with us," Sofia spoke. I nodded immediately, getting Ace to come over by patting my leg.
"I don't know sweetheart; We can't just take June's dog for the night,"
"Yes you can," I said. Sofia patted her leg with her uninjured hand and took Ace into the tent with her.
"Thank you June," Carol said, starting to go into the tent, but I stopped her.
"The next time I see him hurt either of you WILL be the last time. I promise," I stated firmly. I walked off to my own tent, tuckered out from the night's events. Glenn was already laid down but hadn't fallen asleep yet.
"Where's Ace?" Glenn asked as I sat on top of my sleeping bag.
"He's staying with Sofia and Carol tonight," I said, zipping up the tent.
"That's nice of you," Glenn said.
"Sofia is scared. Carol is too, but she won't admit it," I said, slipping off my boots and socks.
"I know, but it's all really complicated," Glenn reasoned with me.
"Not to me," I stated.
"How do you see it?" He questioned.
"He hurts them, he doesn't deserve them. Plain and simple," I stated, getting into my sleeping bag.
"I know June. Just promise me you won't get into the middle of it if you don't have to," Glenn pleaded.
"Okay, for now," I heard Glenn let out a sigh at my reply.
"Goodnight June," He said, shuffling around to become more comfortable.
"Goodnight," I replied, closing my eyes. I took a deep breath, getting comfortable. I sighed, falling asleep soon after.