It wasn't long after Charlotte woke that Annabelle was also woken up by Merle Dixon's obnoxious laughter. When the little girl opened her eyes and took one look around, she immediately started crying for Cammie, "Wan mama!" she cried with big fat crocodile tears falling down her face.
"I know, Sweetheart," she tried consoling the girl, "How about if we take Ducky here and go introduce him to all of our new friends in the camp," she suggested holding the stuffed duck up in an attempt to distract the girl.
Sniffing, Annabelle nodded.
Opening the tent, Charlotte crawled out before helping Annabelle out. Once the tent was closed, she turned to the two men sitting in camping chairs on either side of the small campfire outside the tent.
"Hi," she greeted, "Annabelle just woke up and she's feeling really nervous, so she wants everyone to meet her friend, Ducky," she told them sending each one of them a look to not upset the toddler, "Belle, you remember Mr. Daryl from earlier," she said pointing once again to Daryl, "This is his big brother, Mr. Merle," she told the little girl pointing at the older Dixon.
"Whatcha got their girl? A duck?" the older man asked, looking at the little girl.
Hesitantly, Annabelle nodded.
"Well come on over here and let me talk to him," he told her, wiping his hands clean on a nearby rag.
Watching as Annabelle took her stuffed duck to where Merle was sitting, Charlotte squatted down next to Daryl, "Did you know your brother was good with kids?" she asked quietly.
Glancing over at the two across the fire, Daryl shook his head, "News to me," he replied before going back to skinning the squirrel he had in his hand.
"Will you teach me?" she asked, nodding her head to the dead animal in his hands, "After all I don't want you to think you have to feed me cuz I'm some city girl," she teased with a smile.
Rolling his eyes at her he told her next time, "This is the last one."
"Okay, maybe I can help you hunt too. Get the whole wilderness survival lesson."
"Thought you hated nature?" he questioned as he finished up and wiped his hands clean with a small towel.
"I fucking do," she laughed, "But I don't see the world going back to the way it was, so I guess I gotta suck it up and get over that."
"You going back down to the city tomorrow?" he asked, "Chinaman mentioned a couple other volunteers were going."
"First, pretty sure he's Korean," she said, holding up one finger, "And second. No," she answered, "Going back to my apartment was a mistake. I mean I'm glad we did because we wouldn't have found Belle, but I don't want to see any more of my neighbors and friends like that," she admitted.
"Sorry 'bout earlier," he apologized, "When I said we didn't have time," he clarified when she looked at him confused.
"Oh. Thanks. Sorry for trying to hit you," she apologized too.
"Um, excuse me."
Turning to the timid voice behind them, Charlotte smiled at Carol, "Hi," she greeted.
Giving her a small smile, Carol cleared her throat, "Ummm….if you're done with the meat, um…..Miranda and I were gonna make a stew for the camp," she said nervously glancing at both Daryl and Merle.
Using his knife Daryl pointed to the bucket of squirrel meat.
"Oh, thank you," Carol said, moving quickly to grab the bucket, scurrying away without another word.
"Damn shame," Merle voiced, clucking his tongue as he watched the timid woman hurry down to the other campfire where another woman waited beside a large pot.
Blinking in surprise Charlotte studied the older man as he continued to play with Annabelle and her duck. Noticing the look she was giving his brother Daryl cleared his throat, "We don't hit women," he muttered.
Turning her gaze on the younger brother, Charlotte gave him a small smile, "I never thought you did. I'm just surprised you already figured that out after only meeting them today."
"Not today. Out on the highway. Called being observant," he responded.
"Speaking of observant. Lori's giving me the mom look," Charlotte noticed, "Guess I better go check in," she said, standing up and calling Annabelle over.
Dragging her camping chair up the small hill she set it next to Daryl before having Annabelle climb up into it. Setting their bowl of stew on the ground she pulled the water bottle she had out from under her arm and handed it to Annabelle, "Hold onto this. I'm gonna get your cup," she told the girl before heading for the tent.
Grabbing the cup from her diaper bag Charlotte filled it with water before kneeling in the dirt in front of Annabelle's chair to help her eat some of the stew.
"Glenn said you agreed to go back down there tomorrow," she said looking at Daryl who was shoveling stew into his mouth.
At his nod, she smiled, "So, there wasn't time earlier, but if you get into my apartment there's a bottle of wine and a bottle of vodka on my counter. Cammie has rum in her apartment too if you can grab it," she whispered.
Glancing across the fire at his brother he looked back at her, "Ya sharin?" he whispered back.
Scooting closer she smiled, "Well yeah, since you only believe drunk girls wanna fuck you. I figured we could get drunk tomorrow night," she said with a laugh.
"Christ almighty," he grumbled.
"I mean I'd prefer to be sober, but I'll take what I can get," she continued with a shrug.
"I swear I'm gonna make ya sleep in that fuckin jeep," he threatened.
"Alright. Alright. Since it makes you so damn uncomfortable, I'll stop," she told him with a smile before continuing to help Annabelle eat more of their dinner.
"Don't tell Merle about the alcohol. He can be a dick when he's drunk," he whispered. Nodding in acknowledgment she choked down the rest of her squirrel stew.
After dinner Charlotte gathered up the dirty dishes and walked them down to where the two sisters, Andrea and Amy, were washing plates, "Would you ladies like any help?"
Smiling, Andrea pointed to the washed plates, "You can dry," she suggested. Picking up a towel Charlotte got to work as she made small talk with the two women.
She knew the two sisters had been traveling to Atlanta when their car had broken down. Dale had found them on the side of the road and had offered them a ride, "That was really kind of him. Most people nowadays wouldn't pick up strangers," Charlotte commented.
Nodding, Andrea agreed, "We got lucky."
"What was it like down in the city?" Amy questioned.
After explaining what she'd seen and done down in the city the sister's looked a little green, "I don't know if I could kill them," Amy whispered.
"Which is why you'll be staying here where it's safe," Andrea assured her.
Hearing a childlike squeal, the three turned to see Merle entertaining Annabelle by throwing her duck in the air.
"I'm having a hard time reconciling the man who literally offered me his dick to ride while calling me sugar tits as the same man who's playing with a three year old," Andrea commented with a confused frown, "I mean I heard him call Miranda's husband a taco-bender earlier."
"Oh, dear God. He did not?" Amy questioned, appalled.
"I'm not sure I'm following it either, but Belle seems to like him," Charlotte responded with a shrug.
"What about the younger one?" Amy asked with a smile, "He's kinda hot," she said, nudging Charlotte with her hip.
"Amy!" Andrea admonished.
Laughing, Charlotte winked at the girl, "It's the arms," to which all three of them laughed, "I mean, when he came out carrying Annabelle with a crossbow strapped to his back, I'm not gonna lie I got a little hot and bothered."
"Oh my God!" Andrea laughed, throwing her dish towel at Charlotte.
As the sun began to set Charlotte changed Annabelle for bed and with Daryl trailing behind them once again took her into the woods to go to the bathroom. Getting her settled down with her ducky she fell asleep within a few minutes which Charlotte then went back out to the campfire.
Noticing their new arrivals she greeted Dale, Andrea, Amy, and Glenn, "Oh, good I was gonna bring these down to you. You just saved me a trip," she said to Glenn, taking her keys from her pocket, "I hate to be a pain in the ass, but can you please try and bring back some toys. I don't know how to entertain a three-year-old during the end of the world."
"I'll see what I can do," he replied.
"Thank you. Where's Merle?" she asked, looking around for the loud redneck as she settled into her camp chair.
"Disappeared," Daryl answered, jerking his thumb towards the dark woods.
"So, Charlotte, what did you do before all of this?" Dale questioned.
Pulling her blonde hair up into a ponytail she smiled at the older man, "I took pictures. I owned a shop in Atlanta on Monroe Street called Pictures by Charlie. Which by the way if you ever find your way over there has another handgun under the counter," she told Glenn with a smile.
"Did you sleep with the guns too?" he laughed.
Giggling she shook her head, "No. I told you, single woman in the city. Besides, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl."
"So, your brother was a deputy like Shane? How did you get into photography?" Dale asked.
"Honestly, I took a class freshman year in college and just fell in love with it. Originally, I was on the path of becoming a forensic pathologist," she was answering Dale before being interrupted by Shane.
"Then she decided taking pictures of dandelions was more fulfilling," he said coming out of the darkness and sitting in Merle's empty camp chair.
Pursing her lips, Charlotte glared at the man across the campfire, "Keep saying that and I'm gonna put you ten feet under the fucking dandelions."
Snorting, Shane held up both hands, "You ran your own business, Coco, it's not like you were just slumming it around like a loser," he countered, glancing at the man beside her. Noting the direction of his eyes and the fist Daryl clenched next to her she rolled her eyes, "What about you Dale?" she asked.
"I was in sales before I retired. Bought the RV to drive cross country with my wife, but she passed from cancer before we could get on the road. After I laid her to rest, I decided to head out on my own and then well the world ended," he told them.
"Sorry for your loss," Charlotte told him as he nodded.
"Sorry about yours. Your brother and your friend," he acknowledged.
"What about you, Dixon. What did you do before all this shit?" Shane questioned.
Noticing the look Daryl was giving Shane, Andrea steered the conversation back to Charlotte, "Forensic pathology? What made you want to go into that?" she asked.
Laughing Shane answered for her, "She was obsessed with those shows 'How to Catch a Killer' and shit. Was always trying to understand the minds of those around her. Wanting to know what made people tick. She used to do case studies on her friends."
"Yeah, and from what I remember yours revealed you to be a pompous jackass," she retorted, smiling sweetly.
"Glenn, how many volunteers are you taking down with you?" Dale cut in looking at the boy next to him.
Blinking rapidly, Glenn looked around, "Oh, uh, like five or six. T-Dogg said we could use his van. I thought we could take the carts back to the store and load back up. Use Charlotte's apartment as a home base."
"Aren't you scared to go back down there?" Amy asked, shivering at the thought.
"Yeah, but I mean people need stuff," he answered with a shrug.
"The whole thing reminds me of the end of the world with the dead walking around," Dale spoke up.
"Like the Chupacabra," Daryl muttered, "Saw one one time out hunting."
"A blood sucking dog, huh? You sure you weren't high, man?" Shane questioned, squinting at Daryl across the campfire.
"I know what I saw," Daryl grumbled as the others laughed uncomfortably.
"It can't be any different than when you and Rick came back from that camping trip claiming you saw big foot in the woods," Charlotte reminded Shane.
"I ain't gonna lie. We were three sheets to the wind that night," Shane responded with a shrug.
"You were sixteen!" she admonished.
"Oh, you wanna go there? I could tell stories about you Miss Coco," he threatened.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I was a perfect little Angel," she responded primly.
"Yeah okay. Your brother thought so, but I knew better. How about the time you came home reeking of weed at seventeen?" he countered as everyone laughed, "She actually had the nerve to claim she hadn't toked up; that she'd simply walked past someone who was smoking, and the smell followed her home."
Humming, Charlotte nodded, "That was a good fucking night," she smiled as she remembered, "Cammie and I got so high that night we spray painted the bus of our rival football team."
"God, I'm never gonna have the chance to get high," Amy complained.
Snorting, Charlotte frowned at the girl, who'd been a high school senior, "Poor girl deserves to get high at the end of the world," she declared, "See if ya can't find her some weed tomorrow," she said looking between Daryl and Glenn.
"You are not getting my baby sister high," Andrea laughed, "And with an officer of the law present," she said, waving her hand towards Shane.
"He ain't an officer anymore," Charlotte responded before winking at Amy, "Don't worry kid I'll hook ya up."
"Awesome!"
"And on that note. It's time for bed," Andrea declared, pulling Amy to her feet alongside her, "Goodnight, all."
"I should be heading in too," Dale said, getting to his feet, "Got watch in a couple hours. I wanted to tell you. You're more than welcome to make use of the bathroom inside the RV," he said to Charlotte.
Thanking him she waved to both Dale and Glenn as they headed back to the RV for the night. Standing Shane looked at the two across the fire, "I didn't get a chance to ask about those guns."
"They're in my duffle bag. Two shot guns and three handguns," she told him.
"I got my gun on me and Rick's guns are in our tent except the one you still have. Gave the army rifle to Dale for whoever's on lookout. Keep the others with you. I don't think it's a good idea to be arming everyone in this camp," he said.
Saluting him, she rolled her eyes, "Eye eye captain," she mocked, "However, it would probably be a good idea to make sure people have something like a knife to protect themselves with if any of them things get up here."
"Yeah yeah, we'll work on that," he said before walking back towards his own tent.
"Fuckin jackass," Daryl muttered lighting a cigarette and inhaling before holding it out to her.
Taking the cigarette, she laughed quietly as she leaned her head back on her chair inhaling the nicotine, "No argument from me there."
Sitting in silence the two passed the cigarette back and forth. Noticing the side glances coming from him Charlotte finally huffed, "What?"
"Ya really vandalize a bus?" he questioned with what sounded like pride in his voice.