I woke up that morning. Birds chirping,the sun shinging through the walls of my tent,chatter from outside. It didn't match my mood at all. I sighed and got up,changing into a red flannel shirt,some jeans,combat boots,and I brushed through my hair.

''Anna." Rick said,coming twoards me. "Thats my name." I retorted. "Everyone's going down for target practice. Would you like to go?" I nodded. "Ya sure."

I hopped in the truck with the others,riding down with my glock 18 on safety. I sat in the back of the truck,the wind whipping through my hair,making it even more tangled than before. I sighed,my mind seemed to be elsewhere. There was this part of me that wanted to talk to my dad,know why he never came around. Why we never met. I saw the way Carl and Rick loved each other. How Rick gave what seemed like gallons of blood for his only son,sat by his bedside until he woke. I didn't have that. But I wanted it.

I pulled the trigger,missing the jar set on the fence. "Damn it" I grumbled in frustration and tried again. "Relax." Shane suggested from behind me. I turned. "Huh?"

"You're tense. Relax a bit."

I did as told,relaxing my shoulders and firing again. This time,the vase shattered. I smirked. "Thanks officer friendly."

Target practice went well as far as I was concerned. "DAD!" Carl shouted when we got back,runninng to his father. "Hey!" "Guess what!" "What?" "Shane taught me how to shoot and I did! I shot a vase!" Rick smiled gently at his son. I sat silently in the back of the truck,watching them. I clenched my fists and got out,going into my tent.

I sat in my tent,reading for a while. No body bothered me and thats fine as far as I'm concerned. Around noon Carol came in. "Hey." She said softly. I looked up from my book. "Whats up?" "Would you like to come make dinner with us? We're cooking." I licked my lips. "Uh..sure." Carol smiled,clapping her hands. "Great! You can peel the potatos!"

I positioned the scraper over the potato,watching the skin fall off into the sink. "How old were you when you shot a gun for the first?" Lori asked Maggie. "I dunno. I think Daddy took me out to try it when I was 8 or 9." "My dad taught me when I was 13" Andrea said,smiling. "How'd you learn Anna?" Beth asked,looking at me. I shrugged. "I dunno. I picked it up by myself." Beth swept her golden hair out of her eyes. "You're good. I'm surprised no body taught you." I shrugged,setting a peeled potato in a bowl. "My aim gets off most of the time." Beth giggled. "I can't even shoot. Maybe you'll teach me sometime?" I raised and lowered my shoulders. "Maybe."

The women finished making dinner and I went back into my tent. I laid down on my side,tucking my hands between my legs. It was taking everything I had in me to not start crying again. Before,I had no one. And when I found family. They didn't care at all. You have Beth,and Carol,and Lori.A voice said in the back of my head. And who knows! Maybe puberty will be good to Carl! I laughed at myself and got up. Okay. Time to make this right.

I got up from my tent and raked through my hair with my fingers. I prayed to god if he was listening. And went off to Daryl's tent.

"Hello?" I asked from outside his tent. "Knock first." "On what?" "Try your head." "Fuck you." I heard Daryl chuckle from inside. "Can I talk to you though?" I asked. "Can't stop you." I un-zipped the flap and entered. The air was filled with thick horrible smelling smoke. I coughed,pulling the collar of my shirt over my nose. "Shit. You smoke in here?" Daryl smirked. "Whatcha gonna do about it?" I fanned the smoke out the door and sat cross legged across from a laying down Daryl. "I'm sorry about yesterday okay?"

"I am too I guess."

"I shouldn't have yelled. I was just pissed."

"I guess you're right. I am afraid. I didn't know what you'd think of me. If you'd accept that I was a cruddy father. I was raised by a useless drunk. How could I be any better than him?"

I stared down at my hands,wringing my fingers nervously,tears welling in my eyes.

" I am too. I'm afraid this group will never accept me. I'm afraid of being alone. I mean-I'm horrified to get close to someone. But I hate being alone." Daryl nodded. "I get it."

We sat in scilence for a while,the only noise audible being the chirping of the birds outside. "What now?" Daryl asked. "We try. We accpet neither of us are perfect. We get over it. We get over that we've been both been broken. But I think we just be there for each other." Daryl sat up,smiling at me just a bit,wiping my tears away with his thumb. "Whats my name then?"

"Name?"

"Dad? Pop? Daddy? Oh shit,never mind the second one is weird."

I laughed,smiling gently,looking at him. "Thanks."

I pulled my dad into a hug. He tensed at my touch,but relaxed and hugged me back even tighter. I smiled into the hug,looking up at him when he pulled away. "So you said you didn't want to be called Pop?" He snickered. "Yeah." "Cool. Now I'm gonna call you that all the time." He rolled his eyes jokingly. "God you're stubborn."