Later that same day, I was sitting out on the back porch again when Glenn and Maggie came over to talk to me. They were still mad about the whole run situation. I should say Maggie was. I knew she was just worried about me, but it pissed me off. I stood there with my arms crossed while she talked to me. Glenn just kind of stood there.

"I don't know what your dad thinks about it, but whether he says ya can or not, you're not comin' on any runs with me or Glenn for a while."

I gave her a look. "Why are you still mad? My dad isn't."

"I'm mad because…you lied to us." She kind of snapped. "We were responsible for you. If something would've happened to you, that would've been on us."

I put my hands on my hips. "No, it wouldn't. It would be on me because I'm the one who got myself into the situation." I said smartly.

Maggie sighed angrily and looked at Glenn. "Abby." Glenn finally spoke. "Maggie's right. You can't do that ever again."

"I know!" I said clearly annoyed. I heard it a million times already. When are they going to stop saying it? "I'm sorry. I won't do it again." I put my arms out.

"Well…alright, but…remember what we said." Glenn said.

I calmed down some but I was still annoyed. What did he even say? Maggie said it all.

"You're still not going on any runs with us." Maggie said.

I gave her an annoyed look. "Fine." I turned away from them. The conversation was over. Maggie slowly walked away still looking at me, Glenn rubbed my arm as he walked by me.

I was left out there alone now. That's the way I like it too. They're so making a way bigger deal of it than what it is. In a way, I understand but still I said I was sorry and wouldn't do it again so why can't they just drop it? It's mainly Maggie who cares but Glenn will go along with her because that's how he is. Whatever. I'll just go on runs with Daryl then…if he lets me.

I huffed angrily and walked down to the end of the yard by the fence. I wish Glenn and Maggie would leave, we don't need them. Or at least just Maggie, everything was fine before she showed up. I doubt she'd go anywhere without Glenn though. I sighed and turned around.

Just then, I spotted a knife on a log by the shed. I walked closer and realized that it was Daryl's. He must have left it out here after skinning and gutting the squirrels earlier. I tried pulling it out of the log but it was really in there, so I had to pull with all my strength.

Finally, it came loose and I fell to the ground with it in my hand. I looked it, it was so cool. It was super sharp too. I cut off a piece of bark on the log. "Whoa." I said. This is what I need. I'm not strong enough to stab walkers so I need a weapon that's really sharp.

Suddenly, I got the idea to try it out and wandered down the street in search of a walker. I didn't know if I would have any luck because there weren't many in this neighborhood. Maybe in some houses but…that's maybe a little too dangerous. I might be stupid but I'm not crazy.

I walked all the way down the hill towards the river and then I made a left passed a church. Come on! There has to be one around here somewhere. I suddenly thought of an idea and whistled. If any were close by they would hear it. "Hey! Hello! Hey!"

Finally, I heard a snarl and a walker emerged from behind a house. I held the knife out ready to kill. It got closer and I realized that it was too tall for me to reach its head. My eyes widened a little and I stepped back. What do I do now? I thought. I have to think of something and fast.

I looked down at the walker's legs, it was limping. That gave me an idea. I let it get close to me again. Once it was close enough to grab me, I kicked its knee as hard as I could causing it to go down. I could almost smile.

However, the job wasn't done yet. I still had to kill it.

I ran over by its head and stabbed it with the knife. It went through but not all the way. The walker was still alive but the knife was stuck in its head. Oh shit. What do I do now? Daryl will kill me if I lose his knife. I have to get it back. The walker was trying to get back up but couldn't because of its leg.

I started frantically looking around. That's when I realized that I had my gun. You idiot! I pulled it out and was about to pull the trigger but stopped. I can't. The others will hear and come and then they'll be mad at me…well more mad at me.

I didn't have any other choice, I had to figure out a way to stab it hard enough.

I pushed the walker hard so that it was laying down again. Then, I put my hands on the knife's handle and tried pushing as hard as I could. It actually went in some more, I heard it and felt it. I tried doing it again while the walker was reaching for me. I kept pushing until finally…I felt it go in and the walker got quiet and fell limp.

I stood back breathing heavily. It was even harder than I thought. But…I did it.

Now I have to try and get the knife out of its head. I let out a laugh.

I tried pulling it out, but it was really stuck. I tried holding the walker down with my foot, then pulled the knife some more. It still wasn't budging.

I stood back with my hands on my hips. There has to be an easier way to do this.

All of a sudden, I heard a snarl and another walker came from the opposite direction. My eyes widened. Then, another followed behind it!

"Oh shit!" I said out loud. I began to panic and looked down at the knife still stuck in the walker's head. I grabbed the handle and pulled harder than ever before, the knife seemed to slide right out.

I turned back to the two walkers that were approaching me and kept backing up. My eyes stayed on them the whole time, so much so that I didn't notice the walker coming up behind me. I almost backed up right into it. It reached for me, but I moved quicker.

"Oh my God!" I said. I was on the verge of tears now. I started walking backwards, then I ran away.

I stopped not far away because I realized that I couldn't lead the walkers back home. There's only three but they can draw more with their sound. I have to try and kill at least one of them. How do I do this though?

I quickly thought up a plan, then waited for them to become closer. Once they were, I pushed the one that was closest to me into the other one and they fell down on the ground. That gave me some time to kill the third.

I used my technique from before and kicked its knee out, it went down. I had to be faster this time. I held the knife up with both hands and with all my strength, brought it down on top of the walker's head gritting my teeth. The walker fell silent, I did it.

Gritting my teeth again, I pulled the knife out a lot quicker than before. It must have been adrenaline.

The other two walkers were up now and headed towards me. I don't think I can do it with two coming at me.

I backed up, then slipped on a stick or something and fell down hard. The walkers caught up with me. I hurriedly got back up, but one of the walkers grabbed me. I screamed and tried to pull it off. I got it off but fell again.

Now I was crying and scared for my life. I still didn't use my gun though. Instead, I ran in between houses so I was out of sight then ran up the hill to the house. Once I was far enough, I hid behind a house to catch my breath.

They shouldn't follow me back, I think I lost them. And besides that, it's only two. I think we're okay.

I was calmed down enough now and headed home.

I was sitting on the back porch shaking…and not just from the cold. I seriously almost just died. My eyes were wide and I was just staring down at the ground.

"Abby?" I heard Maggie's voice. Great. Just who I wanna see. I rolled my eyes and became annoyed. "Yer dad's lookin' fer you. Where have you been?"

I hesitated. "…I was here." I lied. "Behind the shed." My voice sounded a bit shaky.

She just stared at me, she seemed to calm down some. But then, she looked around me at Daryl's knife sitting on the porch next to me. "Where'd you get that knife?"

I hesitated. "…it's Daryl's." Might as well tell the truth.

Maggie gave me a look. "You took Daryl's knife?" I didn't say anything. "Abby, you cain't just take things that don't belong to you."

"I didn't." I said. "He lost it, I found it." I said like it was no big deal. Technically, Daryl didn't lose his knife, he left it. But I did find it. I didn't plan on keeping it though. I was going to give it back.

I could tell that Maggie didn't like the answer I gave her by the look on her face. "You're gonna give Daryl back his knife and tell him that you took it."

I put my arms out. "I was going to."

"Good." She said. "There is he now." She pointed inside. "Come on." She practically forced me inside and dragged me over to Daryl.

We found him in the front room, he was headed for the door. "Daryl." She called. He stopped and turned around. "Abby has somethin' to tell you." She shoved me forward a little towards Daryl.

I gave her a dirty look, then looked back at Daryl. He was giving me a questioningly look. I felt nervous right then and looked down at the knife. Better just to get it over with. "Here." I handed it to him.

He looked at it before taking it. "Is that my knife?" He asked. "I was lookin' fer that." He looked at it for a moment, then down at me. "Why you got this?"

"I…I found it outside. On a log."

"That's where I left it. It weren't there when I went back fer it." Daryl said. He looked confused.

I looked at Maggie, she gave me a look and crossed her arms. I looked back at Daryl, he looked like he was waiting for an explanation. I knew I had to tell him something. "Okay, fine." I said shaking my head. "I found it a while ago. I took it because…I wanted to try killing walkers with a knife, but I'm not strong enough to stab them in the head. So, I took yours because…it's the sharpest."

There was a brief pause. I half expected Daryl to yell at me, but so far, he hasn't and he didn't look angry. "Here." He handed it back to me. I gave him a questioningly look. "Take it. It's yers."

I slowly took the knife from him. "Really?" I looked up at him. He gave me one nod. "But why? I thought you'd be mad that I took it."

Daryl tilted his head a little. "Cuz it's the sharpest." He smirked down at me as he walked by.

I smiled down at the knife, then put it on my belt. When I turned around, Maggie was still there. I didn't know. She didn't look happy. I just gave her a weird look, then walked away.

Later that night, I was sitting in the living room with my dad, Carl and Daryl. Our house has four bedrooms so Daryl lives with us. I personally requested that it be him when we first moved here and…he didn't say no.

There were two chairs and a couch in our living room. Daryl and I had the chairs. My dad was on the couch and my brother was sort of laying on him. "That was nice of you to give Abby your knife." My dad told Daryl. Daryl just gave him a nod.

"He let me have it because it's the sharpest." I said. "Right, Daryl?"

Daryl smirked. "Yeah, kid."

"Well, you just be careful with it." My dad warned me. "I'll take you out and show you how to use it one of these days."

I thought for a minute. "I think Daryl should show me since it's his knife." I said and looked at him.

He looked at me with that same look. "Yeah, whatever."

"So, where were you today?" My dad asked me. "After dinner? I was looking for you but you just…disappeared."

His question caught me off guard and my eyes widened a little. I didn't want to tell him what I did for obvious reasons, but I also didn't want to lie. "Outside." I said. Technically, it wasn't a lie. I was outside.

"I didn't see you." My dad said.

"I was around." I waved. "Anyway," I wanted to change the subject, "did you know that in the basement, there's a window that you can see under the porch?" I said excitedly.

"No, I didn't." My dad said. "Good to know." He teased me.

"I think it's cool." I defended myself. "I mean…it's pretty dirty and webby."

"I wanna see." My brother said. My dad laughed a little.

"I wonder if that means there's a way you can go under the porch?" I said again.

"You don't wanna go under there." My dad said. "You said it's dirty and webby." He teased me, then laughed.

"If there's webs, you know what that means, right?" Daryl said. I looked at him. "There's spiders."

I gave him a stupid look. "Who gives a shit about spiders?"

"Abigail, language." My dad scolded me.

I waved him off, he and Daryl laughed a little. "Well, spiders don't scare me."

"They scare me." My brother said.

"Yeah, I know." I smirked. I had a fun time torturing my brother with spiders over the years. "It blows my mind that people are afraid of bugs." I said dramatically. "One time, me and my friend, Hannah, were in a car and the windows were down and a moth flew in. You should've seen her. She jumped into the backseat." I said like it was unbelievable. "I was like, 'Hannah…it's a moth.'" I widened my eyes.

My dad and brother were laughing and Daryl looked down with a small smile on his face. It felt good to make them laugh. It felt good to feel good after all that happened today.

The next day, Daryl took me out to teach me how to properly hold a knife and different spots to aim for. He said the eye should be easiest for me because it's softer. I almost let it slip that I already did this, but caught myself before it was too late. We were down by the river in a field that was just before the river.

"You ain't strong enough yet to kill it with just a swing or even stab it with one hand so you gotta use two hands…which means you gotta be extra careful." Daryl told me. "You gotta be smart out here. If somethin' seems too risky, don't do it."

"Yes, sir." I nodded once.

"Don't call me sir." He said roughly.

"Okay. Sorry, sensei." I said instead. He gave me a look and I giggled.

He smirked for a second but then it was gone. "Yer pushin' it, kid."

"I'm only messing around."

"I know, but there's a time fer messin' around and it ain't right now." He gave me a serious look. I straightened up. Geez, what a hardass. A walker came by just then. "I'mma do this first so you can see, alright?"

I followed Daryl to the walker but stayed back a little so that I wasn't in the way. I watched him easily stab the walker in the eye. "See how I did that?" He looked at me. I nodded. Another walker was approaching. "Alright, you do it now." He handed me the knife. He walker over to the walker so I followed. When he got close enough, he grabbed the walker and threw it to the ground, then he pinned it down with his foot on its throat. "Alright, do what I showed ya now."

I hesitated and looked at the situation. "…this seems dangerous."

Daryl gave me a slightly irritated look. "Just do it."

I looked at the knife, then at the walker. I held the knife like he showed me and brought it down hard with both hands in its eye. It still didn't go in far enough so the walker was still alive. "Shit."

"That's okay, try again." Daryl said. Instead, I lifted my foot and stepped down hard onto the knife. "No—" He said. It was too late though, I killed it. He gave me a look. "I didn't want ya to kill it yet." He spoke roughly. "Now we gotta wait fer another one."

I felt stupid and put my head down a little, but was still looking at him. "Sorry."

He sighed. "It's alright." He spoke softer. "While we're waitin', lemme see ya pull the knife out."

I remembered what I did yesterday and used it. I put my foot on the walker's throat to hold it down, then I pulled the knife out hard keeping a good grip on the handle. "Nice." Daryl said. I smiled at his approval.

We walked down the field getting closer to the river while searching for walkers. I was in a good mood despite what happened yesterday and talked the whole time. It probably annoyed Daryl, but I didn't care. I was telling him this story of something that happened in middle school gym class. "And then—

"Are you holdin' yer pants up?" He interrupted me.

"Yes." I admitted with a smile. I had one hand on the waistband of my sweatpants holding them up and the other was carrying the knife. He let out a small laugh. "They don't fit! Nothing fits me!" I laughed.

"Well, that ain't good." He said. "We're gonna have to get ya some pants that fit ya. You cain't be worryin' about yer pants when yer trynna kill walkers…or people."

I stopped right then and looked at the back of his head. "People?" I don't think I could kill people.

A walker finally emerged. "Come on. Let's do this again." Daryl held the walker down like before, I brought the knife down hard using two hands like before but this time I killed it. "Good job." He gently slapped my arm. I smiled.

We didn't have time for celebrating though because another walker was headed our way. "Do it again."

I gave him a look. "Again?" I questioned. I thought that would be it for today.

"Yup." He nodded.

Oh well. I shrugged. I was feeling overconfident now and ran over to the walker ahead of Daryl. "Abby, wait." He called. I got there first though. I did what I did yesterday and kicked its knee out, it went down then I shoved it backwards onto the ground so that it was laying down. I put my foot on its throat pinning it down, then stabbed it hard. It was dead.

I caught my breath and turned around to look at Daryl. He looked a little surprised. "Where'd ya learn that?"

"Yesterday after I took your knife and—" My eyes went wide.

Daryl narrowed his eyes at me. "And what?"

Shit. You idiot. Now I have to tell him. "I went out looking for walkers to kill." I admitted. He gave me a look. "I did kill one though." I said to try and defend myself.

"Well, that was dangerous." He raised his eyebrows at me. "Don't do that again."

"I won't." I said.

"Alright, I want ya to kill more walkers and get some more practice."

I gave him a weird look. I thought he'd be more mad about me sneaking out. I guess not.

I just killed another walker, I don't even know how many by now. It was like Daryl was working me to the bone. I was sweaty and had blood splattered all over me. Also, it was super cold and my nose was running, I kept wiping it on my sleeve. I caught my breath while Daryl was talking to me.

"Good job." He said. "Yer a fast learner. I'd say yer ready fer the advanced class." He joked.

Normally, I would be happy that he was complimenting me, but I was tired and wanted to go home. "Daryl." I stopped and looked up at him. "Can we go back now? I'm thirsty." I complained.

He just looked at me. "Well, I figured if yer gonna run off on yer own, then ya better know how to kill walkers." He teased me.

I gave him a look. "I said I wouldn't do it again."

"Right." He said sarcastically and raised his eyebrows. We heard more snarls. "Come on, we got two more comin'."

I dry cried, then ran to catch up with him.

I was completely exhausted by the time we were headed back home. Daryl was way ahead of me, and I was lagging behind. He was saying something to me but I wasn't listening. Finally, he turned around and noticed how behind I was, then waited for me to catch up.

"What? You tired already?" He teased me. He put his hand on my back and moved me forward a little.

"Yes, I'm very tired." I admitted. He let out a laugh, which made me a little angry. Of course I'm tired! You made me kill every walker in sight! "You made me kill like a hundred walkers." I exaggerated.

He scoffed. "Yeah, now we don't have to worry about any walkers in the area." He joked. I wasn't in the mood though and huffed. I was ahead of Daryl now. "Hey, yer the one that wanted to learn." He said. "I call that payback. For stealin' my knife."

I rolled my eyes. I knew I wouldn't get away with that.

"And fer lyin' to Glenn and Maggie about that run."

My eyes widened a little but I didn't turn around. "You know about that?"

"Course I do." He informed me. "Don't ya ever do that again."

I was getting really annoyed now. "I know!" I snapped. "Okay? I know!" I was holding my sweatpants up while walking up that hill back to the house. Daryl took notice to that and laughed at me…which made me all the more mad.

We finally arrived back at the house. My dad was in the front room when we walked through the door. He looked me up and down. "Well, someone must have been workin' hard." He said.

"Yeah, she did real good." Daryl told my dad. "She's a fast learner. Almost didn't even need me." He smirked.

My dad blinked a few times. "Well…good." He finally said. He stared at me, then pulled a napkin out of his pocket. "C'mere, baby." He started to wipe blood off my face. I pulled back immediately and gave him an annoyed look, then I started for the stairs. "Sorry." He said with his hands up and laughed a little.

Daryl laughed too, I was even madder now. "Ay, make sure ya clean that knife." He called to me as I was climbing the stairs.

I went into the bathroom and cleaned the knife first, then I wiped off my face and neck and also washed my hands. After that, I went into my room and changed out of those clothes putting on clean ones. It felt good to take them off.

I practically chugged the water bottle that was on my nightstand, then I laid down on the bed to rest a little before dinner. I wasn't hungry at all, just tired.

Carol joined us for dinner that night, she asked Michonne too since they live together now, but she decided not to come for some reason. We had spaghetti…again. It was easy to make. I wasn't complaining though, I worked up an appetite with how hard I worked today, even though sauce kind of bothers my stomach.

I ate my food but I was being quiet. I was still really tired from earlier. When I was done eating, I pushed my plate and laid my head on the table. For a while, no one said anything. I heard them talking, but I wasn't listening.

"Abby?" My dad finally said and touched my arm. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Was all I said.

He rubbed my back. "You must've really tired 'er out." He must be talking to Daryl. I sat up now.

Daryl shrugged. "She's the one who wanted to learn."

"Well, I hope you're not too tired because it's your turn to clean up." My dad blessed me with that information.

Now I was back to being angry. Really? He can't just do it when he knows I'm tired? I almost gritted my teeth I was so mad. Also, I always hated doing dishes. I looked over at my little brother still eating. He doesn't do anything.

"Why isn't it ever Carl's turn?" I said angrily. "He doesn't do anything."

My brother gave me angry look. "What do you do?" He snapped back.

"I do things that need to be done." I crossed my arms with my eyes closed.

"No, you don't!" He yelled. "All you do is lie and steal things!"

I had to laugh at that. "Your insults have no effect on me." I said with a smirk. "You're just a stupid little kid."

"Abby." My dad said.

"You're the one who's stupid!" Carl yelled back.

"Alright, enough you two." My dad said. "You know you're not allowed to fight. Carl, if you're done with your food, then go to your room. And Abby," he turned to me, "you can go to your room after you do the dishes."

"Ha!" Carl said to me as he walked by.

I gave my dad a look of disbelief. "I was gonna do them but not after that. You're four years older than him, you're supposed to be the mature one."

I crossed my arms and pouted.

"How about I wash the dishes and you dry them?" Carol said to me with a small smile.

I knew she was only trying to be nice, but I wasn't in the mood. Also, drying dishes is stupid, they can air dry. I never got the point of drying them with a towel.

I was about to voice my opinion on that but my dad spoke first. "That's nice of you, Carol, but I want Abby to do it." He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. I thought he was being unfair so I gave him a dirty look before grabbing my plate and his and then taking them into the kitchen to wash.

The plates and silverware were the easy part, there was only five of us, but the pot of spaghetti was the annoying part. The sauce had dried and made a ring around the sides so I had to scrub it pretty hard. I complained the whole time too.

I finished and put the pot in the strainer. My dad and Carol were in there talking. I turned to them. "I'm going upstairs now." I said.

"You didn't dry them." My dad said.

I stopped and gave him an annoyed look. "They don't need dried. They'll dry on their own."

"Abby." My dad gave me a stern look. "Dry the dishes and put them away. You're not leavin' until you do."

I gave him another dirty look, then went back to finish the job. "You better stop giving me those looks." He said. I responded by giving him another look. I saw him smirk and shake his head.

"I'll help you." Carol said. She began drying the dishes with me. My dad went into the other room with Daryl. "I know you must be tired."

"That's only because Daryl made me kill like a million walkers today." I continued to be a smartass.

"Well, it's good practice, right?" She smiled. "You wanted him to teach you." She pointed out.

I gave her a questioningly look. Who's side is she on? "Yeah, well, he only did because he said it was my punishment for…" I trailed off realizing what I did.

Carol gave me a look. "Punishment for what?"

I hesitated. "…for…lying to Glenn and Maggie about that run." I said quickly. It wasn't a complete lie and I figured she knew about that by now anyway.

"Yeah, I heard about that." She gave me a disapproving look. "You can't do stuff like that." I heard for the millionth time and almost rolled my eyes. "That was dangerous. And we don't appreciate you lying to us."

I gave her a stupid look. Us? "I lied to Glenn and Maggie, not you—

"We're all a family and we all care about each other so when you lie like that to one person, it effects everyone."

I rolled my eyes. How stupid. "Okay. I said I wouldn't do it again. I don't know why everyone has to make such a big deal about it."

"It's a big deal because you weren't allowed to go. You're a kid, Abby. When one of us grown ups tells you not to do something, you have to listen." It sounded like she was getting angry. "That's your life."

"Yeah, I know. I heard it a million times." I said smartly.

"You have a smart mouth too." She scolded me. "You need to watch that."

My dad walked in and caught the end of our conversation. Of course. "What's goin' on?" He asked Carol. "Did she say something?" Before she could answer, my dad turned to me. "Abby, you finish drying and putting away the rest of those dishes on your own."

"I didn't ask for help anyway." I mumbled too low for them to hear.

"What was that?" My dad said and tilted his head. He walked over to me, he looked angry. Carol was on the other side of the room now. I was getting super angry now. I wish all these dumb people would just lay off me. "What'd you say, Abby?"

I looked at him angrily and threw the mug on the floor hard. "Mm." It shattered into a bunch of pieces.

My dad and Carol were just staring at me. Daryl walked into the room now and stood in the doorway. I guess he wanted to watch the show. "Okay." My dad said and put his hands on his hips. "Now you will go get a broom and clean this up."

I threw the towel down. "No, I won't." I said with my hands on my hips mirroring him.

My dad just stared me, I wasn't moving. He looked angry but also a little embarrassed, he looked how I felt. My dad looked at Daryl and Carol so I did too. Carol looked disappointed and Daryl looked slightly amused, he was enjoying this.

My dad looked back down at me and cleared his throat. "Abigail, I never spanked ya before but right now, you're temptin' me."

My face flushed because of Carol and Daryl being there. I wasn't worried about my dad doing that to me though, I knew it was only a threat, he would never in a million years. I still just stood there.

"Abby." Carol said now, she spoke calmly but sternly. "Your dad said to get a broom."

I gave my dad a dirty look because he made Carol scold me now. It was his fault. I left the room and came back with a broom. I cleaned the mess up quickly.

"That's what happens when you make a mess." My dad said. "You clean you after yourself."

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you make me mad." I said smartly. I heard Daryl let out a laugh. Carol left after that.

My dad raised his eyebrows at me. "And what happens when you make me mad?" He got closer to me. He didn't sound as mad anymore.

"Nothing." I waved him off. That made him laugh, which made me laugh. He kissed my cheek a bunch of times. It was like none of that even happened. I saw Daryl let out a laugh, then shake his head. He left the room.