A/N: Sorry if this is taking too long to get off the ground, but the introductions are important to me because I really want to build Cassie's relationship with certain people before everything starts like in the tv show. I don't like the thought of just skipping ahead and being like alright Cassie has a good relationship with these people but I'm not going to show how they got there; especially because her relationships with people are going to be individual and have different aspects to each of them that are easier to showcase when building those relationships.
Ultimately, this isn't just a Carl/Cassie fic but one which is about Cassie's journey and relationships with Team Family.
Entering the camp on Daryl Dixon's back seemed to attract a lot of attention, the camp was full of people and almost all their eyes were turned to them as they approached making Cassie turn bright red and duck her face down so it was hidden in Daryl's shoulder.
Daryl took her and her mom over to an RV where an old man greeted them with a kind smile, "Well hi there, who's this?" he asked, smiling kindly at Cassie and her mom.
"Hi, I'm Jenny and that's Cassie. It's nice to meet you." Her mom offered the old man her hand to shake.
"Nice to meet you both, I'm Dale. Welcome to the camp, there's quite a few other people round here too, though some do like to keep to themselves. Shane's kind of in charge in camp, he's a police officer so you go to him if you need something or have any problems round camp. Of course, you can always come to me if you prefer and I'll help wherever I can."
"Thank you, Dale that's very kind of you-" her mom started to say before Daryl cut her off,
"Girl needs her feet seein' to."
"Oh! Yes I see. Those aren't looking good, come on in and set her down in the RV, I've got a first aid kit that should have what she needs."
She tried not to flinch as he was bandaging her feet up but it was difficult and after a few whimpers slipped out Dale started speaking in an attempt to distract her, "There's a few other kids your age here too for you to play with. You'll have to wait until your feet are healed to go running around with them but they're nice kids so I'm sure they won't mind sitting with you while you heal."
She went red, keeping her eyes on her lap as the thought of having to talk to a group of kids she didn't know was making her anxious.
"Thank you for helping us out." Her mom sighed in relief, her shoulder slumping from the stress of the day.
"No problem, anytime."
Daryl showed them to an empty spot in camp that they could set up in, dumped her on a log carefully despite his stiff demeanour and then stalked off immediately without a word.
"Friendly guy." Her mom commented, looking at Cassie with amusement.
She smiled at her mom briefly, eyes immediately flicking back to Daryl as he stalked across camp and out of her sight, "He's nice."
"Nice? He's a good person no doubt, helping us out like he did and letting us join the camp here but I'm not so sure I'd categorise him as nice."
Her mom joined her on the log, putting her arm around her and squeezing comfortingly and speaking softly, "Cass... Cassie. What happened today... you shouldn't have had to see that. I should have-"
"I wished he would die, all the time." Cassie interrupted, her voice wobbling, "I'm glad he's not here anymore but I feel like...like I made it happen."
"Cassie, look at me. It is not your fault, wishing something is not the same thing as doing it and if it was then I would be more at fault then you could ever be, believe me. Let's just be glad he's gone; we will never have to be afraid of him again."
Cassie nodded, burying her head in her mom's shoulder and wrapping her arms around her middle.
Her mom set about putting up their tent while Cassie watched people going about their business around the camp; they seemed friendly for the most part. If she made eye contact with someone they would smile and some even came over and introduced themselves to her and her mom. She met two sisters called Andrea and Amy who seemed fun, especially Amy who seemed excited to meet her. There was also a guy called Glenn who was really friendly and told us to let him know if we needed anything because he made runs into town to get supplies, mom was really worried about it but he assured her that he's never had any trouble because he's fast and just gets in and out quickly. Some women came over to meet her mom, but Cassie only remembers the name of one because she spoke to her specifically, her name was Carol; She told her that she has a daughter her age that she could play with and that thinks she would get along really well with, called Sophia.
She's never got on so well with the kids from her school, being too quiet and not wanting to invite anyone over because of her father. She didn't have to worry about him anymore, but she doesn't know how to act around kids her age anymore either.
It didn't take long after that for the kids in camp to come around, they ran up to her and her mom in a group, startling Cassie with their loud voices overlapping each other as they rushed to introduce themselves and bombard her with questions. There were only four of them but they managed to speak over each other so loudly that she couldn't understand a single one of them.
"SOPHIA!" a man bellowed from across camp, "STOP ALL THAT FUCKING RACKET!"
Cassie went stiff, eyeing the tall girl who had gone white and curled in on herself slightly, hunching her shoulders. That must be Sophia, she instantly reminded her of herself when her father would yell at her, never knowing what he was going to do.
Her eyes flickered to the man who had shouted, a fat ugly mean looking man standing with Carol who had gone red, keeping her eyes on the ground.
The kids had all gone quiet, shooting quick glances at Sophia who was avoiding eye contact with everyone until a brown-haired boy stepped forward, thrusting his right hand towards her suddenly, making her flinch back automatically. He falters for a second before smiling again, "I'm Carl Grimes. This is Louis and Eliza Morales and Sophia Peletier."
"Cassie Miller." She replied quietly, keeping her head down and barely looking at him.
He beamed back at her anyway, "Cool name! Mom said you'd hurt your feet so we can't play for a while until they heal but we could just sit and talk if you want, or I've got some comic books we could read!"
She didn't feel comfortable at all speaking in front of a group of people she didn't know but she didn't want to be rude either so she just nodded, smiling very fleetingly before looking back down and leaving an awkward silence but the boy called Carl soon broke it again, "Well mom said not to bother you for too long because you just got into camp and are still settling in but we'll come by tomorrow some time and I'll show you my comic books!"
Cassie's mom saved her from having to reply, coming up next to her and putting her hand on Cassie's shoulder, "Hey guys, I'm Jenny, Cassie's mom. Thanks so much for coming over and introducing yourselves to us, we're a bit all over the place right now because we just got here but once we've settled properly I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for you all to get to know Cassie and play."
The kids all nodded and said bye before running off again, except Carl who lingered a few seconds longer to smile at Cassie, "Nice to meet you! See you later okay!" then ran off to join the others, not bothering to wait for a reply he knew he wouldn't get.
"They seemed nice." Her mom smiled down at her teasingly.
Cassie tilted her head up to look at her, showing an unimpressed expression that made her mom snort, "You never know Cassie, maybe you could make some friends while we're here."
"How long are we gonna be here?"
"I don't know sweetie, however long it takes for the government and army to sort this mess out I suppose. But, until then we'll be staying with these nice people so you might as well get to know them yeah? Who knows, maybe you'll even find some people you actually like." She ruffled her hair.
"I like Daryl."
"Really? Actually? I know you said he seemed nice, but you don't usually take to people so quick." Her mom was visibly surprised.
Cassie shrugged, unsure how to properly explain why she liked him or trusted him so quickly.
Her mom hummed thoughtfully, "Alright, just be careful around him and anyone else in the camp alright, we don't really know them yet. Make sure I always know where you are and don't go off with another adult alone okay?"
Cassie looked pointedly down at her feet and back up at her mom making her roll her eyes, "Just... when your feet are healed obviously. I know what you're like; disappearing off where no one can find you and while that can be useful in certain situations, I always need to be able to find you while we're here okay?"
"Yeah okay." Cassie replied without conviction.
"Well that was reassuring." Her mom told her dryly.
Cassie shrugged at her with a cheeky smile making her mom ruffle her hair and push her head lightly, "Alright Cheeky Miss, watch yourself."
Later that day Lori comes back over with a man, "Hey guys, this is Shane, he kind of runs things in camp here just making sure things go smoothly and everyone gets along, he's a cop back in our hometown."
"Hey girls, Lori told me y'all were here. Sorry I didn't come over earlier to introduce myself and welcome you but I've been busy round camp today. Why don't you come on over to the fire pit for dinner and you can get to know everyone in camp."
Shane initially seemed like a stoic, dangerous kind of man but when he spoke he immediately came across more kind and approachable than his first impression.
"That would be fantastic, just give us a few minutes to get over there would you? I've got to carry Cassie over."
"Of course, We'll see you over there." He led Lori away as she smiled kindly at us.
It took some time and awkward shuffling, but her mom managed to get Cassie on her back and over to the fire pit. It was easier then for her mom to kneel in front of a log and lower Cassie onto it to sit, releasing her and taking a seat next to her.
Lori hands them bowls filled with beans and cups of water for dinner, not the most appetising of meals but food was food at this point.
Cassie spotted Carol with her husband and Sophia sitting a bit away from everybody else at their own smaller fire pit for dinner, she thought it odd but was relieved more than anything else that she wouldn't be close to Sophia's father, she could easily tell he wasn't someone she wanted to be in sight or reach of. Daryl wasn't there for some reason and Cassie wondered where he was and if he had something for dinner.
"So Jenny, how did you and your girl come to be here?" Shane asked as they all dug into their dinner.
"We were on our way to Atlanta, headed for the refugee centre they had set up but we didn't make it in before they dropped the bombs, thank god."
"And Daryl said he found you and your girl wondering the woods?" That interested Cassie, it seemed Daryl hadn't explained exactly what had been going down when he came across them in the woods. Daryl knew these people better than her and her mom and must have a reason for leaving that information out and they certainly weren't about to bring it up.
"We were with my husband and some family friends when they dropped the bombs and everyone got stuck in traffic on the road, people were getting restless and worried and we didn't think it would be smart to stay and be there when people began getting scared and desperate so we headed out into the woods but some of those… things found us and neither our friends nor my husband made it. Cassie and I were just lucky Daryl found us before the same thing could happen to us." None of that was technically a lie but it certainly implied something different than what went down. Whatever was going on with the adults around her, Cassie knew keeping what happened in the woods with her father a secret was important but also knew she was unlikely to be able to keep up with the secrets and lies and would mess up so decided then and there that if any adults tried questioning her about it she would go quiet and refuse to speak or run and find her mom.
"I'm sorry about your Husband and your friends, it's a good thing you're both here with us now, you'll be safe here in camp. We're far enough in that those things don't come but not so far that rescue won't be able to find us once it comes." Shane reassured her mom.
Her mom thanked him and spent the rest of the dinner talking to other camp members and getting to know everyone while Cassie was quiet, observing everyone.
So far besides Sophia's dad, no one stood out as dangerous or someone who should be avoided but Cassie knew that sometimes people were good at hiding their true selves and that those kinds of people could be infinitely more dangerous than the ones who are obvious in their dangerousness.