The day started like any other. I was woken up by Glenn and given breakfast, which was leftover fish from the night before. I ate happily, with Sofia and Carl next to me. Eliza and Louis were with us too, eating their breakfast. After breakfast, Andrea and Amy went to go fishing down in the quarry for today's meal.
As everyone formed their own groups, I sat alone by the fire. The inevitable boredom set in, and I knew Andrea and Amy were taking care of the fishing. Merle and Ed were together again. Jacqui, Lori, Miranda, and Carol were together. Dale sat on top of the RV being the lookout for the group. Shane, T-Dog, Glenn, and Juan (Morales) were grouped together by the U-Haul talking about something. Daryl was the odd one out. I walked over to where he sat and plopped down next to him.
"Bored again?" He asked, not looking up from his crossbow.
"Yep," I replied, seeing Ace approach me. He laid beside me on the grass, and I pet him gently.
"I'm not taking you out again," He stated. I sighed, gazing down at my boots.
"You know we found a beehive a few days ago," I said, trying to start a conversation.
"Where?" He asked. I piqued his interest.
"I'll show you," I said, trying to negotiate some time outside at camp.
"You really are stubborn, kid," Daryl said getting up. I saw Dale looking at us, and I showed him that I was leaving. Dale nodded, mouthing a be careful to me. I nodded and walked off into the tree line with Daryl following. I happily walked to the beehive. It didn't take too long to get to it. I heard the familiar buzz and looked up to where a few bees flew in and out of the hive.
"I haven't been able to have raw honeycomb since I was a kid," Daryl commented, dropping his crossbow. I looked in slight fear when he started climbing up the tree to the hive. Ace seemed very interested in what I was doing and tried climbing up the tree.
"Um, be careful," I warned nervously.
"I'm not gonna get stung," Daryl said as he reached in and pulled a piece out. I watched in awe.
"Here," He said, breaking off a piece for me. I tried it and it tasted amazing. Better than regular honey. It was almost sickeningly sweet.
"How did you do that?" I asked, still in awe.
"Stay calm and gently take it. Don't take a lot though. If you mess with the brood combs they'll swarm," Daryl said. I nodded, feeling nervous to try it, but I knew I wasn't allergic to bees. Plus, I wanted to try it. I climbed up, standing on a branch for support. I looked down where Daryl waited. I looked at the hive, taking a deep breath before reaching in. I gently pushed the bees over, grabbing a piece. As I pulled the piece out, the few bees that were still on it flew off back into the hive. I gazed down at Daryl, holding it up to show him.
"I see it, now get down," He said. I nodded, climbing down carefully. I happily ate my candy-like honeycomb.
"Thank you," I said, sucking the honey off of my hands. It was still very sticky. Daryl led me around for a bit until we somehow made it to the pond in the quarry. We spotted Andrea and Amy from across the pond, and I waved.
"Clean off your hands," Daryl said walking off back up to camp. I did as he said, cleaning off my sticky hands before walking up to the camp as well. I waved to Andrea and Amy as I passed by, getting waves back from them. I continued up the slope to the camp, waving to Dale to show him I was back. He waved back with a smile. I passed Ed, glaring at him before walking off with Ace trailing behind.
"What was that look for?" Ed called out from behind me. I saw Glenn was already walking over to break it up. Merle stood with Ed, smug smirk and all.
"Why do you think? Go on, use your brain cells for once," I said as I turned to them. Ed stayed silent for a moment.
"You should learn your place," Ed stated with an ugly smile.
"You should learn to actually get up off your ass!" I yelled back. Ed immediately came up and grabbed my arm. Ace was right beside me and knocked Ed on his butt.
"Ed, back off!" I heard Shane yell, as he got in front of me. Glenn was there, trying to back me up from the two men.
"Oh come on Shane, we're just playing around," Merle said.
"You might be, but he isn't. June, get Ace off!" Shane said quickly as he was keeping Ed from approaching me.
"Ace, come here," I called him. He let Ed go but kept growling from beside me. The hair on his back stood up and he stood beside me.
"You really hiding behind your little poochie?" Merle said as Shane tried to control the two men.
"Are you really such a coward that you have to pick on a nine-year-old rather than picking on someone your own size," I yelled as Glenn picked me up and dragged me off. I watched as Juan (Morales) helped Shane calm Ed down. Big baby…
"June," Glenn started but I cut him off.
"No, they came up to me! I didn't do anything!" I exclaimed.
"I-I know, I saw everything. You're not in trouble," Glenn assured. I started calming down but then I saw a fight break out with Merle, Morales, Shane, and Ed. Glenn looked behind him, seeing the commotion.
"Stay here," Glenn stated, running to the fight to break it up. Daryl also trying to break up the fight. I watched a few feet away until I saw Merle get on top of Glenn, punching him in the face once. I grabbed the first thing I saw, which was a metal bucket. I whacked Merle in the head with the bucket as hard as I possibly could and somehow knocked him out. I set down the bucket, shocked at my own strength. I saw blood trickle down from his head. I was horrified at myself. Killing the walkers was one thing, but a human was a completely different feeling.
"Is he dead?" I whispered as Glenn got up.
"No, you just knocked him out," Glenn replied. I looked over to where Ed had been restrained. Daryl looked over to see Merle on the ground and rushed over.
"What happened?" He asked Glenn with an aggressive tone.
"I'm sorry," I immediately said, looking down. Daryl looked down at me, then crouched down to my eye level.
"What happened?" He asked again, looking me in the eyes.
"I knocked him out with the bucket. He was hurting Glenn," I confessed. He nodded, leaving me to drag his brother off into their tent. At this point, Ed had been knocked out and the rest of the group had gathered because of the commotion. Shane dragged Ed into his tent with a frantic Carol following him. I honestly felt in disarray. I didn't feel right at the moment. I walked off as Glenn was distracted with explaining the situation. I walked off to the pond below, needing to take some time alone.
Ace followed me down, keeping close. I felt sick from the previous events and dizzy. I felt guilty for causing the problem but I didn't cause the problem. I felt conflicted about my part in the fight. I instigated it, but they started it. I don't even know if I'm right anymore. I cried in frustration, wiping the tears immediately. I heard footsteps behind me, seeing Daryl coming up to where I sat on a rock by the pond. I tried not to show how upset I was when he came up. He sat beside me on the same rock, not speaking for a moment.
"You alright?" He asked, not turning his gaze from the water.
"I'm fine," I replied quietly.
"You don't look fine," he stated. I didn't respond.
"No one's mad at you," He assured me.
"I'm mad at myself," I confessed, tearing up again.
"They started it," He said.
"I insulted them. Glenn got hurt because of me," I admitted.
"Merle doesn't know when to shut up and Ed…" He stopped for a moment to think out what he wanted to say.
"Ed acts more like a child than I do," I grumbled.
"Yeah, he had a tantrum up there," Daryl replied with a small chuckle.
"I'm sorry I hurt Merle," I apologized.
"Nah, he'll be fine. He's had worse," He brushed it off. I sighed, not knowing what to say.
"June!" I heard Glenn call as he jogged up to Daryl and I. Daryl got up from where he sat, walking off the rock.
"Go easy on her," I heard Daryl whisper to Glenn as he passed by. I looked away from Glenn, hugging my knees to my chest to comfort myself. Glenn came and sat upon the rock with me like Daryl did a moment ago, but didn't speak.
"Are you okay?" I asked in a hushed tone.
"I'm fine June," Glenn said, placing his hand on my back. He pulled me into a side hug as we sat together. I couldn't help let a tear fall as I was embraced.
"I'm sorry," I said, still feeling guilty about him getting hurt. My voice cracked as I spoke.
"Oh, no, no June. That wasn't your fault," Glenn reassured me, hugging me tighter. I still wouldn't look at him.
"You got hurt because of me," I began to cry. I didn't want to cry. I felt so helpless and weak whenever I do.
"That's not your fault. I knew I'd get hurt going into that fight," He explained.
"I was the one who angered them," I said, sobbing my words out. I felt him wrap his other arm around me, holding me to his chest. I felt myself let go, finally just weeping into his chest. I felt his chin rest on the top of my head as he tried to comfort me.
"I saw everything, June. It isn't your fault," He repeated, rubbing his hand on my back to comfort me. I felt delirious, just sobbing into him. I tried to calm down, wiping away my tears. Ace tried to lick my tears away as well.
"It's okay; it's all going to be okay," He spoke softly. I slowly calmed down and stopped crying long enough to gather my thoughts. I pulled away, rubbing my eyes to keep them from watering, and hugged my knees once again. Glenn still had an arm around me and I leaned into him.
"We'll stay here until your ready to go back to the group, okay?" Glenn comforted me, waiting for my reply. I nodded, laying my head on his shoulder.
"I'm not ready yet," I admitted, still needing to calm down. I didn't want anyone to see me cry. I didn't even like Glenn seeing me cry but I needed to. I don't know how long we sat there, but Dale had come down to tell us dinner was ready. Glenn looked down at me as if asking if I was ready.
"I'm ready," I whispered to him. We both got up from the rock, going up to the group with Glenn and Dale. No one asked me anything, but I felt their eyes on me. Carol handed me a plate of fish and rice, smiling down at me. I ate my food, already feeling exhausted from crying so much. I felt a nudge on my arm. I saw Sofia huddling up to me. I leaned on her for comfort, and she leaned into me as well. I finished eating, handing my plate to Carol. Just as I felt like everything was calming down, Merle came out of his tent. I tensed up as he stormed out of his tent with a cut on his forehead. Daryl immediately got in front of him, backing him away from the group.
"Don't tell me your on the bitch's side too?!" He yelled as Shane and Glenn got up just in case it was like last time.
"She's nine and you're being unreasonable," He said, still trying to back Merle up.
"She knocked me out!" He screamed out, fighting to get to me.
"No, I did!" Daryl said, taking the blame. I looked shocked at him, not understanding why he took the blame for me. Glenn seemed just as surprised.
"What?!" Merle exclaimed angrily. Daryl pushed his brother back further, dragging him away from the group. He and Merle fought over by the tree line away from the group. We couldn't hear them, but it looked heated. I watched as Merle stormed off into the woods as Daryl returned to the group.
I didn't know why he did that. He really didn't have to, but part of me was thankful that I wouldn't have to deal with Merle's wrath. Now all I had to worry about was Ed and what he'd do to me. Or worse, Sofia or Carol. My stomach stirred with worry. Thankfully, everyone was getting ready for bed before Ed woke up. I was tucked into bed by Glenn, still having a lot of conflicting emotions from earlier.
"Go to sleep June, you'll feel better in the morning," Glenn said, snuggling into his own sleeping bag.
"I'll try," I replied quietly.
"Goodnight June," He whispered, getting comfortable.
"Goodnight," I whispered back, closing my heavy eyes. I fell asleep quickly, hoping I would feel refreshed in the morning.