Cassia remembered the exact moment Rick Grimes came stumbling into camp along with the others. She remembered it so well because she had been dealing with these insatiable cravings all day. First it had been tomatoes and cucumbers, then it had been pancakes - which of course was the worst of it, as there was no way in hell she would gain access to those. No way. Not unless one of the squirrels Daryl had been hunting happened to be carrying a family pancake recipe and the necessary ingredients. Cassia had sighed as if she were the lead in a Shakespeare play, and reclined on one of the seats set up around the campfire. It was a fairly sunny day, she recalled, but the most poignant thing had been the desire for pancakes. One she had voiced allowed to Daryl, only to be answered with a bemused grunt and his retreating figure. He never spent much time around her, not after the pregnancy, and even less after the Outbreak. Cassia remembered the exact moment, as Carl had been sitting right next to her, and the yell of excitement the kid had let out had brought her straight out of her pancake filled reverie. Daryl had been long submerged into the trees by this point, and Cassia had jolted up, her eyes searching the group for Merle. He hadn't been there, and Cassia's heart had stopped, she'd bit down hard on her lower lip and the tears she'd kept concealed from Merle all that time spilled over and let loose because of Merle. The irony was bitter. She had slowly gotten to her feet and paced forward a few steps, her hands outstretched a little infront of her, searching for Merle. He had to have returned, she'd thought to herself. He's Merle. Apparently not even Merle could survive this mess, and she remembered that just after she had thought that, Andrea and Amy had enveloped her in a hug.
Cassia was now sat outside her tent the next morning, staring dejectedly down at the crude magazine Merle had left outside his own tent. It was soggy now. Drowned. It had rained. Cassia brought the blanket she'd been given by Dale tighter around her shoulders and gave a gloomy sigh. She knew she was currently in the calm stage, before the storm struck. Before Daryl returned. She'd cried for a while, though it had puzzled her. She'd never been close to Merle. He'd always been horrible to her, and she was 98% sure he was the reason Val was dead. She just... he was one of the few she had left. They'd gotten on in their own way, and now there was a very good chance that he was dead. That her baby had lost it's only Uncle on it's Father's side. Cass knew she was supposed to stay optimistic, but it was hard to do so when all the information she had was that Merle was handcuffed to a pipe on the roof of a building in the city, and that he might not be dead because they'd barred the door behind them. How kind. Cowards.
A rustle and the sound of a twig snapping amongst the forestry to her far left alerted her to Daryl's return. Ah. Daryl was back.
She got to her feet and tried to predict where he would come from, the dullest glimmer of pride resounding inside her upon getting it right. The situation was too dire and gloomy for anything more than that. She'd always hated being the bearer of bad news. Cassia realised then, that it wasn't actually her bad news to give. Rick had said he wanted to be the one to tell Daryl, hadn't he? Last night at the campfire, he'd voiced his opinion and she'd respected him for it. She'd still glared at him, but the respect was there. Cassia cleared her throat and Daryl gave her a very slightly reproachful look, coming to stand in front of her. She cocked her head at him and suddenly couldn't speak. No. She would not be the one to have to deal with all of Daryl's rage. This was Rick's fault. Rick could explain himself. The air between them now was even more awkward than the morning after they'd... copulated. She sighed and then tugged lightly on his hand, releasing it and indicating that he should follow her. She was surprised that he did so without asking questions. Perhaps her face had conveyed how serious the situation was.
Rick lived up to his promise, and was completely honest when he told Daryl the truth. Daryl... reacted about as well as everyone expected him to, and tried to get at T-Dog with a knife. Cassia gritted her teeth hard when asshole Shane came out of nowhere and tackled Daryl, for the second time that week. He secured him in a highly unnecessary headlock, and Daryl was good enough to stop slicing his knife about very quickly. When Shane refused to let him go, flexing his muscles to show off, Cass was sure, she darted forward and kicked him in the thigh, making sure to aim it straight for muscle, so that it would bruise, and forced Shane off of Daryl,
"He stopped struggling a while back," She hissed at him, her gaze reproachful. Shane groaned and clutched at his thigh, stretching it out and making sure it was okay before clambering to his feet with his jaw clenched, he took an angry step towards Cassia, who stood her ground, to her own merit, and then he thought better of it, simply fixing her with a foreboding glare, "Any longer and you'd be choking him." She told him, and then stepped away to watch what was happening with Daryl, ending the argument between herself and Shane before it had begun. She flinched when Shane's fist collided with a tree behind her, but reacted no further, maintaining her watch on Daryl.
Cassia felt for Daryl, she really did. It was obvious that everyone thought Merle's fate was good riddance, and that no-one was really bothered about going to look for him. No-one but Daryl, herself, Rick and T-Dog. The latter two were obviously the result of guilt, so she didn't count that so highly. Daryl did not take kindly to her wanting to go,
"What help're you gonna be, huh?" He demanded, taking a step forward to get in her face,
"For one, I actually want to get Merle back-" She snapped back, regretting her tone instantly, as it took Daryl that one step closer to fury, "'N I don't?" He barked at her, seething now, "Nah, you're gonna stay right here 'nd do whatever someone as useless s'you does 'round here." Daryl bellowed the last part right in her face, and she closed her eyes to avoid the spit, flinching slightly. A history of bad relationships, the last being the worst resurfaced in her mind, and she curled her arms around herself to try and find comfort. Make it all go away. Of course it didn't. Daryl took her silence for submission and stormed off. And so Daryl, Rick, Glenn and T-Dog set off for Atlanta.
The next day was the day Shane argued with Lori. No-one saw them, of course, but it still happened. It was also the day Shane almost beat the life out of Ed, after he abused Carol infront of everyone by the quarry pond, for the second time that week. Cassia hadn't been there that time. She'd thought it would be best to avoid Ed, to make it easier to make up with Daryl when he returned to camp. If he returned, a small part of her taunted.
