Shitheads, Mail Theft, and Heroin Part I

The air in the house was musty and dry, it reeked of mold and mildew, though that wasn't any different than most of the houses they searched. Though this one, in particular, was damper somehow, the wallpaper and ceiling held circles of water stains. It seemed without anyone around to maintain the old house, water damage had taken over.

The walls were mostly bare, there were no frames, no pictures or paintings. Though there were trophies, not shiny metal reward trophies, but the ones made of bone and fur.

On the right wall, just before the doorway to a hall, was the mount to a deer head, beginning just at the base of the neck. The antlers were darkened at the base, yellowed with a rough texture. The deer was large, its eyes replaced with glass marbles.

Beside the door on the wall were a set of antlers, detached from the head and mounted onto a plaque. It was an impressive rack to any experienced hunter. On the plaque, just under the antlers a name and a year engraved on a small piece of metal. The name was faded, but the year read almost three decades ago.

Just below it, was another pair mounted on its own plaque. It was smaller and not nearly as impressive, either the buck was young, or not very healthy. The name under the rack was carved in instead of on a plate, much newer than the one above.

Daryl leaned in, curious. His first time around he was searching for danger, he didn't have time to look at anything specific.

Toby 2008

Daryl's eyes widened slightly as he stepped back from the trophies. He tried to imagine the small girl holding the type of gun suitable for hunting anything bigger than a rabbit.

"Any Walkers?" Rick asked as he peered around the home.

"Dead body in the hall, been there a long time, dragged it out back. You'll see the mess." Daryl told him, not looking away from the mounts.

T-Dog looked at him skeptically, "do you think . . . maybe it was-"

"-No," Daryl turned away from the wall. "Some Walker her dad killed before they left, she told me."

"Mom! Look at that!" Carl pointed excitedly. Everyone followed his finger across the room, above the TV, mounted on the wall was a taxidermy red-tail hawk. Its beak was open as if it was screeching, it's wings spread to manipulate flight.

"Is that real?"

"That's Shithead," Toby said, she was standing in the kitchen, which was open and connected to the living room where the others were standing.

"Hun-" Lori started to warn her.

Toby cut her off, "-that's his name."

"Why Shithead?" Carl was smirking.

Lori shot him a look.

"It's just a name, mom." Carl looked back at Toby, turning slightly to hide his face.

"Daddy didn't shoot that one," she explained, staring up at the hawk. "It hit the windshield, left a crack. Daddy didn't have money to fix it, then the cops pulled him over one time and he got a ticket 'cause a'the crack. When he hit the car he shit all over."

"Well, that's some story," T-Dog commented, he had a small smile.

"Mama screamed like a banshee when it happened, Daddy said she cried for a while 'cause it scared the shit outta her."

"What's a banshee?" Carl asked.

Toby shrugged, still staring at the bird, "somethin' that screams. I dunno. Daddy used to like that story, told it whenever someone came over. He stopped though. I thought he'd take him down."

Daryl eyed Toby, he couldn't believe all the words that were leaving her mouth. They were soft, calm somehow as she reminisced. The way she stared off at the bird, it almost seemed like she wasn't aware that she was speaking.

"Why'd he stop?" Daryl asked carefully.

"'Cause mama's in it." Her brow furrowed and she looked down. "When she left he took all the pictures down, then he burnt the records, CDs, and the player."

Silence followed her claim, no one had a response. Daryl was still surprised by how much she shared, he wasn't sure if staying silent or responding would encourage her.

"We're going to have a look around, is that alright?" Rick asked her, his voice low and calm.

Toby's eyebrows raised at him, she hesitated. She wasn't sure how to react to him asking her permission, "do what ya want . . . Ain't much, Daddy didn't get'ta go shoppin' for a while."

Toby turned and made her way down the hallway. Daryl followed as she passed the bathroom and the locked room until she reached a doorway on the left side at the end of the hall.

She stepped into the room, the door was left open, Daryl stood in the doorway, a few steps behind her. The room was pretty bare, it was small, with a dresser on the left side against the wall, and a single small mattress on the other.

Before Daryl could look any closer, or pick out any details, Toby turned to him. Her movement made his eyes go to her, expecting her to say something.

She was quiet, her face was void of emotion as if she hadn't been bawling her eyes out just fifteen minutes before.

Toby took a few steps toward Daryl, he was confused by her closeness but said nothing. When they were almost touching Daryl took a small step back, wondering if she meant to pass him. Instead, her hand went to the door slowly pushing it closed without taking her gaze leaving him.

Message received, Daryl thought as the door clicked shut. He wondered how long she'd wanted to do that, to retreat to her room and lock herself in.

Before Daryl could contemplate his next action, his name was called.

"Come see this!" T-Dog continued to call. Daryl felt guilty and nervous, the words he used just hours before echoing his thoughts.

Daryl found T-Dog by the front door, in front of the small end table that was placed under some hooks. The drawer to the small table was opened, and T-Dog was holding a thick, shiny paper, or possibly papers. It almost looked like a magazine with glossy pages.

"Look at this," T-Dogs voice was low, almost solemn. Daryl looked over his shoulder, his face tensed at what he saw.

They were pictures, different varieties of the same all on one paper. It was Toby, her hair was shorter, and she looked smaller, though not by much. In each photo she was sitting in a different position on a stool, some of the photos had a different background. What was the same in everyone, was her face. Her face was emotionless, much like how Daryl saw her only seconds before, but it was slightly different in the photos. Perhaps it was because she was younger. She appeared bored, yet compliant, her grey eyes wide as they usually were, though it made her looked slightly impatient.

Each photo had some kind of logo stamped on the front, T-Dog pointed to the symbol on one of the photos, asking out loud what it was.

"It's a watermark," Lori answered. The men turned to find her peering over them at the photos. "From a photo company, they're school photos."

"Damn," T-Dog mumbled, "this is weird. Why do they still have the watermark on?"

"They're samples. Carl's school did theirs once a year, they take a few photo samples and send it home. You're supposed to fill out the form telling the school which pictures you want and how many." Lori reached forward, taking it from T-Dog, she flipped the page away from Toby's photos, revealing the order form, which held printed words and blank spaces for information. The blank spaces popped out almost obnoxiously. "It never got sent back."

"Mom!" Carl called. Lori handed the order form back before excusing herself.

"Honestly," T-Dog said quietly, looking over his shoulder to see that Lori was out of earshot. He flipped the page back to Toby's photos. "Don't think I would've ordered these either. No offense or nothin', it's just . . . almost creepy, she looks . . . crap, I don't know, like-"

"-Depressed?"

T-Dog jumped a little, Sasha was standing on his opposite side. He shook his head, looking back to the photos. "Nah, I meant, like she's not even there, like a . . . ghost. We've seen that kid depressed, this ain't depressed. This is-"

"-Detached?" She tried again, looking over the pictures.

T-Dog nodded, "Detached. That sounds right."

"She looks lost to me."

Daryl huffed a small breath out of his nose, "Ain't lost. Kid's just good at disappearin' inside herself."

Sasha didn't respond and T-Dog abandoned the school pictures on the table. Daryl was just turning away to leave when T-Dog distracted him again.

"To the parents/guardians residing at . . ." T-Dog trailed off, reading the address to the home.

Daryl stared at the envelope in T-Dogs hands, it was large and beige.

Daryl's eyes went from the envelope down to the open drawer, "just junk, nothin' useful."

T-Dog contemplated for a few moments, before ripping open the sealed envelope.

Daryl huffed, feeling slightly uncomfortable, "ain't that a crime? Going through people's mail?"

T-Dog feigned fear, "you're not going to rat me out, are you? I can't deal with bullshit fines right now. Please don't tell the sheriff."

"I can hear you," Rick called from the kitchen. "Mail theft is a federal crime, you'll be lucky with just a fine."

"Seriously?" T-Dog questioned.

"Up to five years incarceration." Rick confirmed, "and I wasn't a sheriff."

"I can't survive in prison! Well, I already committed the crime, might as well see what's putting me away."

The men laughed, Daryl even shook his head as he chuckled. He watched as the man took out a folded paper from the envelope.

"Was it worth it, T?" Rick joked from the kitchen, going through the drawers. "What cost you five years?"

T-Dog hesitated, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked over the paper. He looked up at Daryl, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I think it's a report card . . ."

Daryl squinted his eyes, from his position the writing was small and hard to read from his position over T-Dog's shoulder.

"Holy crap! Did you know about this?" T-Dog whirled around at Daryl.

"Know what?"

T-Dog held up the paper, his index finger pointing to the top corner of the paper. Daryl leaned in, when he read the small line something in his stomach shifted uncomfortably, unsure how to react or what to say.

"What is it?" Sasha asked before the paper was shown to her.

"That's not . . ." Daryl stopped, he wasn't even sure what he was going to say. He swallowed nervously, he wasn't sure if he felt angry, guilty, or just plain confused. But it did bother him a great deal.

Maybe it was wrong, and they were looking at something they didn't understand. Daryl tried to rationalize it that way, but it didn't work, he knew what they were looking at.

Daryl finally noticed the way T-Dog stared at him expectantly, waiting for an answer while Sasha held the paper, reading it over.

"Merle told me what to call her, she never said nothin' 'bout it."

"So, Toby is just shortened," Sasha said, still looking over the paper.

Annoyance bubbled in Daryl, it felt wrong. It felt wrong to be looking at any of it, it felt wrong to be letting others see it, passing it around like it was nothing. Maybe it was nothing, but at that moment, Daryl couldn't let it go. He rudely grabbed the paper from Sasha. He wanted to rip the paper up or toss it away, he didn't want to read it, he didn't want anyone to read it. But he couldn't stop himself as his eyes caught that same line near the top, he read it over and over.

After reading the same spot so many times, his eyes scanned the rest of the paper, reading the other information at the top before going down to the much more detailed sections.

Student: Davies, Tobiah Nell

Grade: 5

Days absent: 136.5 Days Late: 35

Birth Date: 11/22/1997

Tobiah has had several difficulties this term regarding her self regulation. She at times will disrupt the class with outbursts and is a distraction to her peers. She is highly encouraged to develop the appropriate strategies to self regulate and focus her attention on her work.

Throughout the term, Tobiah has refused to respond to questions or voice her opinion in group work. She is struggling with speaking in class and often refuses to respond to authority.

She is highly encouraged to attempt to orally communicate to demonstrate her understanding of the concepts being covered in class. Tobiah has been given several opportunities to demonstrate her comprehension but has refused to respond to any of those opportunities. We will continue to encourage her to reach her full potential.

Some days Tobiah will enter the classroom quite upset. She will benefit from regular attendance at school, which will also help to decrease the number of emotional and occasional violent episodes she sometimes experiences.

We will continue to encourage Tobiah to share her ideas and interests with her classmates and the adults in the room during class discussions. We want her to know that all answers are welcomed and everyone learns by sharing, as well as listening to what everyone has to say.

Tobiah has not completed or submitted the required assignments this term for evaluation.

Daryl tore his eyes from the paper, looking to the wall instead.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sasha eyed him with concern.

Daryl briefly glanced her way, before shaking his head. He wasn't sure what to say.

"I know we don't know much about the kid, heck, we don't know much about each other," T-Dog rambled. "This though, this feels like a kick in the balls."

Daryl couldn't even argue, he nodded in agreement. It felt strange to him, spending all this time with a kid, one he called by a name often. A name that wasn't even hers, and he never thought twice about it. She never corrected them, never gave any kind of indication that they were wrong. Was it on purpose? For weeks she went along refusing to tell anyone her name, was this some kind of ploy to keep it up? A way to keep herself distant?

Daryl couldn't push off the anger that built up, then the guilt followed. How could he spend so much time invested in someone, some kid, one he thought he was actually starting to figure out, when he didn't even know her name.

"Seriously, how did we not even know her name?" T-Dog sounded offended.

"It's not a big deal," Sasha tried to reassure. "It is kind of a mouthful. She probably just likes Toby better."

"How do you even say that? TO-BEE-AH?" T-Dog attempted to sound it out.

"TOE-BI-AH." Sasha corrected, "it's pretty. Definitely different."

"Hey, Lori!" T-Dog called, turning his head in her direction, "how many days in a school year?"

"About a hundred-and-eighty." She answered from the kitchen.

"Damn, no wonder the kid can't read," he muttered a response, only for those close enough to hear. "The thing wasn't even opened."

Sasha's eyes perked up, but she didn't say anything.

"Find anything?" Rick asked. Daryl turned to see him walking over, when he was just about to reach them, Daryl crumpled the paper in his hand, shoving it in the drawer before slamming it shut.

"Junk," he replied, giving a pointed look to Sasha and T-Dog. Daryl walked off, but not before noticing Carl, he was not too far away from them, watching, probably listening as well. He ignored the boy, continuing to search the house.

"She was right, there isn't much. We got some chickpeas, tomatoes, and green beans." Rick listed their newfound inventory.

"Can I have the green beans?" Carl asked.

Rick raised a brow, "you want green beans?"

"Better than chickpeas."

Rick chuckled, "a little, we have to split it up carefully."

"Got some Tylenol and other meds from the bathroom, few bottles with no labels, so I'm not sure what they are." Tyreese added.

"Keep it all," Rick said. "You never know."

"So there's just that room left?" Lori brought up.

Rick nodded, "usually we'd have something like that done by now."

"Leave it," Daryl said. "Gonna check on her first."

"Her house, her rules." Rick recited. "As desperate as we are, we're invading her space. If we're going to be breaking any doors down it'll be on her terms."

"You just don't want her shooting at you again," T-Dog smirked.

When no one gave a response or reaction. T-Dog rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "bad joke, sorry."

The group stared down at the table, the supplies found was divided into three sections, the food, meds, and others. They were all staring at the others pile.

"I still can't believe it," Tyreese rubbed his chin. "What are we looking at? Paranoia or just crazy?"

The third pile was made up of five handguns, two rifles and fours boxes of assorted ammo found in several different places during their search. Each gun was fully loaded and each was found with the safety off.

Daryl had nothing to say, he left the room, knocking gently on Toby's door a few moments after. Toby opened the door without looking at him, in fact as soon as she opened it, she turned away and sat back on the small bed.

Daryl glanced around the small room with his eyes, trying not to move his head too much. He didn't want it to look like he was inspecting the place. All that was in the room, was the bed, a small table next to it, a dresser and a shelf. The shelf was nailed to the wall, a few feet above the dresser on the left side of the room, higher then she'd be able to reach. On the shelf, was a stuffed duck, and not the same stuffed as the rest of the creatures in the home, but an actual plush duck. It was bright yellow, and had an orange bill, its eyes looked dark and made of plastic.

It was the only toy in the room.

Daryl sat down next to her on the bed, it creaked against his weight. For several moments they sat there in silence, Toby sniffled every so often.

"They wanna open it, that room. Make sure it's safe, see if there's anythin' useful."

Toby sniffled a few more times, not answering.

"Don't wanna make ya do anythin'. Might be best ta get it over with." He tried, "it's gotta be hard, bein' here."

Toby let out a cough, clearing her throat before standing. After getting the keys from the front door, she used another one of them to unlock the door in the hall.

"Why's it locked?" Daryl asked her.

"Daddy don't like people in his room," Toby answered. T-Dog and Rick came up behind Daryl, watching her unlock the door.

The room was what you'd expect out of a bedroom. There was a large bed against the center of the wall, nightstands on both sides. Pillows and blankets and been thrown aside, and there were clothes littering the floor, as well as the occasional cigarette butt.

Rick and T-Dog searched around the room while Toby stayed in the doorway looking very uncomfortable. Daryl took a few steps in the room, staying close to Toby, yet still looking around. This was a sensitive situation.

"There are some clothes but . . ." T-Dog didn't finish. He had been looking through the closet. Though most of them needed new clothes often, they weren't going to take them from there. It was different going to strangers random homes, that came to them much easier, but this house was different. None of them were going to be wearing the clothes Toby's presumably dead father wore.

"Daddy keeps his ten gauge under the bed," she revealed.

Daryl raised an eyebrow and went to check, he found it, though he didn't reach for it, something else caught his eye.

"Is it there?" Rick asked when Daryl was taking too long.

Daryl grabbed one of the six white packages he saw, standing up and revealing it to the others.

Rick looked horrified, he took a long time to respond, "give it to me."

Daryl tossed it over to Rick, who was standing on the other side of the bed. Rick inspected the package, wrapped in clear plastic, it was the same size and shape as a brick, it had been taped lengthwise down the center and crossing through the middle.

"What the fuck," T-Dog exclaimed, "is that coke?"

"Heroin," Daryl and Rick said at the same time.

"What the fuck," he repeated.

"Is there more?"

Daryl gave Rick a nod, "six altogether."

They all looked at Toby.

"What?" she seemed confused, innocent as if she had no idea the gravity of what they'd found. As if it was completely normal and not at all illegal or harmful.

They'd found some other things they weren't happy to find, along with some spare ammo, but nothing useful to them. When T-Dog and Rick left, Toby stayed, not going in the room, but not leaving either.

"Can I . . . go in?" She asked Daryl hesitantly.

"No ones gonna stop ya."

She took a few steps in, "I ain't allowed in here." Tears fell from her eyes quickly, as if she'd been holding them back.

"Why isn't he here?" Her voice quivered while taking on an extra high note as she started crying. She looked straight at Daryl, her eyes pleading for an answer she desperately needed.

He watched her silently, unsure about what to do, "you knew he wasn't gonna be."

"He's s'pposed ta be-"

"-Stop. I know this shit's eatin' away at you, but you know, you knew, he wasn't gonna be here."

She sobbed a little, causing Daryl to clench his teeth as something tugged at his chest. He hated this, he wanted to her to stop. "M'sorry," he mumbled, unsure of what else to say.

After looking around the room while wiping her cheeks, she went to the closet, going down on her knees and yanking things out, some shoes and other junk. Until she found a dark shoebox, hidden at the very back. The box had been taped shut at the sides. She glanced up at Daryl expectantly.

Daryl kneeled down next to her before handing her his knife.

Toby cut the sides open. The box was filled with junk, at least that was what it looked like to Daryl. It had pieces of paper, pictures, a few other random objects.

"I found this once, Daddy got sooo mad."

"What is it?"

She shrugged, shuffling through the box. She pulled out a few pictures, most of them of a baby.

"That you?" He asked.

Toby shrugged, she wasn't sure. She'd never seen the pictures before.

Toby stopped moving when she looked at a certain photo, Daryl heard her intake of breath, a small gasp.

The photo was old and creased, in it was a man and a woman, both smiling as they held each other close. They looked to be in their early twenties, or maybe very late teens. The man was young, average looking with dirty blonde hair. The woman's face was long, with a narrow nose, her face littered in red freckles to match her red hair, which was straight and tied back.

"I forgot what she looked like," Toby said.

"How long has it been?"

"Think I was six, maybe." Toby didn't look away from the photo. "Y'know . . . it's not even that she's gone that bugs me so much. It's . . . I can't even remember her name. It's like it's there but I can't—I can't reach it. Like when she left she took that too."

Toby put the photo down next to her face down, before shuffling through the box again. She stopped briefly to clear her throat, Daryl guessed it was because she was getting worked up again.

Daryl spotted writing on the back of the photo she put down, he inspected it, "Bonnie baby."

"Huh?"

"It's on the back. Her name?"

Toby thought about it, "that's wrong."

"Wrong? How's it wrong?"

She closed her eyes, trying very hard to remember right. "Daddy just called her that, some kinda joke. I didn't get it."

"Daryl?" Rick called from the hall. Daryl looked at Toby once more before getting up to meet Rick. He walked into the hall and toward the living room, standing in the doorway, his back to the hall.

"We're going to leave the RV." Rick informed Daryl of the decision, "We'll stay here for the night, it's secluded, quiet. It seems like a good idea to be further from all the houses, we don't know what we'll find. Plus, past the yard it's a steep drop, going to be hard for anyone to sneak up on us."

"Why leave the RV?"

"We'll be going house to house, everything is close. It's just a waste of gas."

"I got gas last night, still lots of cars, we'll get more."

Rick shook his head, "just easier to travel on foot. Go slow, make sure we don't miss anything. We'll go around for the day, collect whatever we can, while searching for another place to stay tomorrow night. That way we move to another area and search there the next few days, keep moving on like that. Lori's getting close, we have no way of knowing how far along she really is, she could have a month, two months, or maybe two days. It's all guesswork. So I want her to be able to stay in one place to rest."

Daryl didn't argue with the plan. There weren't a whole lot of options. "The kids gonna stay here with Lori?"

"They need a break, I think. They barely slept, we haven't been able to let them eat properly. And after last night . . ."

Daryl nodded, he didn't need Rick to continue. "Who's stayin'?"

Rick rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, he knew that question would come. "Sasha said she would. But she's been staying back a lot. With how hard moving around has been on Lori, we've had to make her stay behind more and Sasha volunteers. Tyreese and I think we should bring her with us, practice taking down Walkers quietly, show her what we do and how."

"She's helped us before."

"She has. She still has trouble with Walkers sometimes, you know she prefers the gun. Tyreese just wants her out more, doesn't like being far from her. They're talking now. If she wants to go T-Dog will stay."

"And Guillermo?"

"Well, for obvious reasons he can't stay here and guard them, he refuses to even look at a gun. Sometimes he still has those shellshock reactions when he's close to a Walker. He's been doing great the last few weeks, but we still can't risk him having some kind of episode. I'm not sure what got into him yesterday. He'll just have to come with us, always good to have another pair of eyes when searching."

"You think bringing him is better than leaving him here with Sasha and the others?"

"I want to keep my eye on him."

"T is our best to have out there."

Rick nodded, "you and him both."

Daryl rolled his eyes, "just mean he's good out there. Havin' him stay behind sittin' 'round is a waste."

"But Sasha can't always be the one to stay. She needs to stay aware and keep herself prepared. What if something happens to one of us, and she's not ready to step up?"

Daryl wasn't arguing, he agreed. There were a lot of times Sasha would stay on the sidelines, sometimes watching from a distance with a rifle to back them up when they needed it. They couldn't let her get comfortable being in the background, she had to be up close and personal with everything.

"I'm gonna stay," Daryl decided.

Rick raised an eyebrow, "really? You never stay behind. This about T? You're just as good to have out there as he is. If not better . . ." Rick mumbled the last comment.

"Nah, not that just . . ." He trailed off, trying to form his thoughts into words. "I wanna stay with the girl."

"I know you're worried about her, but after last night, Sasha or T won't let her out of their sight. You know that right?"

"No, yeah, I get that. Just mean . . . Think it's better, she ain't gonna talk ta any of 'em, anyway." Daryl looked down, brushing his boot lightly against the floorboards, trying to act nonchalant, as if it didn't matter to him either way.

Rick took a moment to understand. At first, he was thinking, we didn't expect her too, it's just how things have been with her since the farm. Toby talks on her own terms, no one else's. But he realized that that wasn't what Daryl really meant.

"You're going to talk to her?"

Daryl halted his fidgeting. He hated himself for the way he acted that night, it bothered him that they were in her home, what bothered him more was the idea of leaving her behind there. He couldn't piece together why the place felt so wrong, especially since it was where she'd been wanting to be since the start of it all. At that moment, Toby was in her fathers' bedroom, that fact alone caused an unknown emotion to gnaw into Daryl's gut.

Daryl raised his head, meeting Rick's eyes, "gonna try."

Rick gave him a sad smile, "I think that's a good idea. Last night was awful, she must be terrified. If she was going to talk it over with anyone, it's you."

Daryl replayed what happened in his head. How he practically flew to his feet from the floor when he heard her screaming. He'd tried getting out as fast as he could, tripping over a chair and falling face-first into the floor. He'd wanted so badly to chase after the woman that ran away, but he stopped himself when he realized he wasn't sure what happened to Toby. For a few moments, he'd been so crazed on getting the woman away and beating her, that when she started running it was all he wanted to do.

When Rick called to him, it snapped him out of it. Then all he could think was Toby, who was still on the ground. The aftermath wasn't any better, the adrenalin never allowed him to calm down, forcing him to act out and be an asshole.

"I said some real stupid shit," he said finally.

"You did."

"M'sorry, 'bout the cans."

"That was for the best I think. I don't know what I was thinking, I just wanted to keep everyone calm. What would've happened if we ran out and I had to tell them then? But what you said with T-Dog . . . Then Toby . . ."

"Yeah, I'm an asshole. Don't know what the fuck happened ta me."

"You got overwhelmed, I think you've felt like that for a while. I don't just mean with food and Walkers. I mean her, you feel like it's all on you, that no one has your back. You feel like if anything happens if she even feels hungry, if she falls wrong, if your eyes aren't on her at all times and something happens: it's your fault. You're a horrible person because you're not doing enough to keep her from seeing, hearing and experiencing every horrible thing that happens every day."

Daryl's eyebrows scrunched as he regarded Rick's words.

Rick smiled, leaning in close, "any of that sound right?"

"Maybe. . . Some, I guess."

"That's how I feel with Carl." Rick gave him a smile, before turning and walking away. "You just have to learn to not be a dick about it."

AND THERE IT IS after such a long wait. I'm so fucking sorry. shit just keeps getting away from me. Haven't been doing so great mentally, and the last little while I've had some more responsibility. Due to something going on I've had to step up a bit and take more responsibility for my 4year old and 5 year old half-brother and sister. It's really fucked and too long of a story none of you really care about.

So this chapter is a two parter, i actually have the second part almost done, may be finished by tomorrow. What happened was this chapter ran too long and I can't give you guys a novel of a chapter. Dont want to torture anyone that long. so i just split what I was working on in half.

Thank you all for your kind words last chapter, you had some awesome things to say. Especially QueenAnarchy2.0 thank you for that novel of a review goddamn it was amazing. Kimura Tsukino KEZZ 1 Miss Luny TheDarkLightWithin WolvesAlpha AtlasNerd Thank you all so much, i recognise a few of your names from very early on. Sorry for who I missed it's hard tagging everyone, but still thank you!

Review and let me know how I did. It's very hard cracking down on such an emotional part, so I want to know that I'm getting this right.

Love hearing from you guys, PM or review I love either!