Chapter Thirty One: Return
Return: an act of coming or going back to a place or activity.
Day 68
Through dirtied glass, the low peach and pink glow of dusk could be seen just above the heavy cover of mossy-green forest, peeking through the fluttering of thousands of leaves. A yawn escaped Daisy as she rubbed at her eyes, gaze starting to drift into the middle distance as she stared and stared and did nothing else. She had been relegated to watch duty—being the least threatening of those who had gone to Hershel's and been seen by the girl they had found, Hershel's daughter, Daisy guessed. She had yet to awake, but both Carol and Lori thought Daisy would be the most acceptable sight for the girl to awake to, being in a foreign and unknown place.
A dull thump sounded as Daisy leant her elbow on the wobbling RV table, she winced as she regretted the force she had used. There was a low exhale of breath at the sound and she turned with wide eyes to see the girl, who was resting down the short hall in the very back of the RV on the springy bed now with a bandage wrapped around her head wound, stir from her sleep. Daisy grimaced nervously then stood, rubbing at her sore elbow as she approached the girl, shrugging her shoulders down in an attempt to appear weaker—not that she necessarily needed it.
"Hey, there...uh—" Daisy cut herself off when she realised she did not know the girl's name—and she couldn't exactly call her 'the girl' to her face. As the girl began to blink her blue eyes open and furrow her brow up at Daisy, she crouched down slightly, "What's your name?" Another grimace from Daisy, "I mean...are you feeling okay? Looks like you...banged your noggin' real good."
Jesus Christ, Daisy, where did your cool go? Daisy scratched at an itch on her nose as she internally cursed her inability to act like a normal human being when confronted with comforting a person—as well as her inability to refrain from internally referring to herself in third person. Fucking 'noggin', she mentally repeated with an amused smirk cracking her neutral expression. The girl widened her eyes and her gaze darted around, Daisy cursed herself again, don't smirk for no apparent reason, now she looks even more freaked.
"My name is Daisy...this is an RV," Daisy said, gulping as her throat felt suddenly dry, "Do you...are you a relative of Hershel...that old guy with the...white hair and suspenders and the farm?" The uncertain words lilted up to sound like a question, and the girl turned her attention back to Daisy, seemingly studying her.
"Hershel's my father," The girl said with a Southern accent similar to that which Daisy had come to know very well in the months following the apocalypse—everyone seemed to have one around here, which made sense when she recalled that they were in Georgia.
"Thought so! Do you remember me? I—my people, we needed some help. Your dad patched him up and we were...sent on our way?" Daisy informed her, the girl seemed to calm fractionally as she examined Daisy's face and apparently recognised her, "What's your name?"
"I'm Beth," She said shortly, voice still clouded with wariness as one hand came up to touch at the bandage around her head.
"Beth! Great," Daisy said with an enthusiasm that made her grimace threaten to return full force, "Well, my pal Daryl, his brother and I heard you scream. Found you down by some creek and brought you back here when we saw your...uh, wound there." She gestured vaguely to the bandage Carol had tied temporarily around Beth's head.
"I need to..." Beth furrowed her brow in what seemed to be pain as she held her forehead, "Go back home."
"Sure! Sure," Daisy said lightly, gaze dropping to the floor awkwardly, "I'll go get...Rick, then. He's...diplomatic..." She finished awkwardly, standing from her crouch.
"Your leader?" Beth supposed, Daisy nodded with a half-smile turned back towards her as she made the short walk through the RV. The door swung open with a tired whine and thumped against the outside of the RV and Daisy jumped down onto the ground. A few feet away, Rick was standing patiently with his attention turned to her, stepping forward to meet her.
"The girl, she's okay?" Rick clarified, Daisy smiled wide and nodded her head once.
"Yep, her name's Beth, she's Hershel's daughter...seems pretty nervous, understandably so. I told her you'd..." She gestured vaguely toward the RV and Rick nodded in assent, starting toward the wide open door. Daisy stared after him for a moment as he disappeared into the RV, then scanned the camp to see a few stragglers gathered around the campfire, which was burning low and brilliantly red.
"So, she's Maggie's sister?" Glenn asked with a hopeful smile as Daisy approached, she shot him a long look and then fell into the free camp chair beside him, wiggling around to create a more comfortable dip.
"Yes, she's Maggie's sister, you horndog," Daisy informed him with a smirk, causing Glenn to blush slightly then glare half-heartedly back at her.
"That's good," Glenn said shortly, sitting back in his chair, at Daisy's attention turning fully to him he continued, "That we might be able to have a more stable camp..."
"Sure, that's what you meant," Daisy scoffed with a wide smile overtaking her face, "Your one true love being there is just an added bonus."
Beside her, Amy huffed a quiet and amused laugh, sharing a smile with Daisy who was as always delighted at getting the usually despondent Amy to feel happier.
"So y'all high and mighty assholes finally takin' my advice?" Merle spoke up from across the fire, mean smirk twisting his countenance, "Gonna trade the girl for safe harbour?"
Daisy sighed with annoyance, "As I've said before, we are not kidnappers...if Hershel wants to thank us for returning his daughter, that's his prerogative."
Merle's gaze narrowed slightly at the last word but he relented with an exasperated huff, "I call it like I see it, girly."
They fell into silence, only broken by Daisy's muttering of "thanks" for Amy's gift of a chocolate bar. Daisy tore off the already opened yellow plastic, surfacing the small bite left over. She popped the chocolate into her mouth and studied the paper with narrowed eyes.
"This was mine..." Daisy said with suspicion, sparing a glance for Amy who looked back sheepishly.
"Glenn knocked over your bag and they both fell out," Amy said, nodding over at another plastic Butterfingers wrapper lying on the ground half under the weight of a stone.
"Way to through me under the bus," Glenn said indignantly, pouting slightly.
Daisy huffed a laugh, wincing as her jaw locked around the delicious and crispy peanut-butter candy, "No worries."
Another silence befell the group, this time charged with light amusement and enjoyment in the taste of the chocolate; the fire seemed to flare brighter as the golden sun dipped below the tops of the trees and darkness began to spread across the sky.
Day 69
It had been decided that Beth was to stay the night with the group, and would be taken home the next day. The air was crisp and cool with a low wind, it snapped around Daisy, ruffling and tangling her hair and reddening her uncovered nose. The usual procession of cars journeyed on the highway, making the short trip through Senoia and down a winding dirt road to Hershel's farm.
"Can you close the window now?" Daisy asked blandly, sniffing her red nose in the general direction of Merle who had been smoking, his head sticking half out of the window as per Daisy's demands. Merle flicked the cigarette from his fingers with a glare at Daisy and huffed in compliance as he slowly began to wind the window back up, all the while maintaining his sullen disposition. Daisy rolled her eyes skyward then shook her head, "Stop being such a baby."
Another huff, this time being more clouded with annoyance, and the window finally closed, Daisy's nose wriggled in an attempt to regain some warmth. She took her hand from the steering wheel and rubbed at it fruitlessly, shifting her foot and pressing down on the brake when she saw the other cars ahead of her begin to slow, then followed them as they turned down a driveway hidden by a red-flowered bush.
Glancing to the side, Daisy saw a faded green mailbox proclaiming that the driveway led to the Greene's house and filed away the name for Hershel and his family. Narrowing her eyes as she caught a glimpse of the white farmhouse ahead, Daisy silently prayed that Hershel would allow them to stay at least a short while there. Beside her, the Dixon brothers were grumbling and pouting sullenly as usual; Daisy hoped they were able to stay if only for the chance of two sunnier personalities.
The procession came to a creaking stop and everyone began to file out of the cars, Daisy turned the car off and shouldered open the door. Almost immediately, Daisy could see Hershel, Patricia and Maggie step out of the house and onto the front porch, each with an identically suspicious look overtaking their features.
Hershel began, "I thought we had come to an agreement—" Hershel cut himself off with a sharp gasp and widening of his eyes as Carol and T-Dog helped Beth from the station wagon.
"Beth!" Maggie exclaimed as she began to bound down the steps and across the lawn, Hershel and Patricia not far behind her. The sisters collided, looking upset and grateful to be together again, Daisy and the others drifted off to the side and awkwardly looked anywhere but where the family was reuniting. Beside her, Daisy spotted Glenn's eyes drifting over to look at Maggie, then hurriedly snapping back to focus on what was apparently a particularly interesting dandelion.
"You found Beth?" Hershel's grave voice spoke up, Daisy looked to see him addressing Rick, a protective hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"Daisy, Daryl and Merle did, down by some creek." Rick informed him, gesturing vaguely behind him in their direction, "Brought her back to camp but we thought it best to wait 'til sun up to bring her back. I apologise if there was any...upset in the meantime."
Hershel exhaled sharply, seeming explicably tired, "Thank you." He turned his piercing, thankful gaze on Rick first, then Daisy, Daryl and Merle in turn, Daisy shot him back an embarrassed smile, "My Bethy means a whole lot to me, so thank you all."
"Daddy," Maggie suddenly spoke up, her cheek resting against her younger sister's blonde hair, "They didn't have to rescue her, patch her up and bring her back...I think that seems like a pretty nice thing to do...trustworthy?" Hershel and Maggie shared a long look, Maggie's brow furrowed and her lips pursed stubbornly, Hershel sighed heavily.
"There might...be a place for you and your folk here. For a time, at least," Hershel said to Rick, there was a collective sigh of relief from the group.
"Thank you, Sir. We'll take you up on that offer," Rick replied with a relieved grin breaking through with any efforts to tamper it down being futile. Hershel stepped forward and offered his hand, he and Rick shared a handshake.
"Thank fuck for that!" Merle exclaimed a little too loudly, gaining a wide-eyed look from Hershel and Patricia.
"Merle, have a sense of propriety!" Daisy grumbled, slapping him firmly on the shoulder, "Don't mess this up for us."
Merle looked appropriately sheepish and ground out a reluctant apology which seemed to satisfy Hershel to some degree, Daisy looked up to the sky as if in some search for spiritual guidance.
"Sorry for Merle...he's an outlier," Daisy shot over to Hershel with a sheepish grin, "We're not all so crass!" Maggie gave a quiet snort and Daisy saw Glenn's face light up. Daisy looked between the two with an indulgent smile, then between Hershel and Merle with no small amount of worry; well, this is certainly going to interesting, she thought to herself with wary amusement.