Charlotte's pov

The next morning I wake up in Shane's tent, Glenn probably carried me here after I fell asleep. I sit up, extending my arms over my head with a yawn. Glancing around I see Shane's empty sleeping bag, he's probably out talking to Dale like he does every morning.

Unzipping the tent I walk out into the early morning sun. The Georgia heat already warming the air. Heading towards Dale's RV I see Shane lifting an empty water cooler into the back of his jeep.

He notices me walking towards him and speaks up, "Mornin' kid, wanna help me fill these with water from the quarry?" I nod. I like to help out around camp, Shane's jobs are the most fun. Lori's are usually cleaning clothes or rationing food, I much rather prefer Shane's.

He opens the passenger door. "Hop in." I run the rest of the way to the jeep and jump in. I haven't ridden in a car for weeks and the thought of being in one now excites me.

It feels surreal as we drive down to the quarry. the wind rushing through my hair and the cool breeze it brings along with it. I didn't realize how weird it would be to finally get in a car again would feel. Memories of my dad driving me to school or all of us driving up to the mountains for a camping trip flash through my mind.

I thought about the time my dad forgot the roof cover to his own jeep and we got drenched in the rain. He stopped at a gas station along the side of the road and ran inside, he bought me an umbrella and a soda to make up for it which promptly exploded all over me when I opened it. I giggled at the thought of my mother's face when we got home.

Shane drove over some rocks making the car bounce up and down, and causing me to giggle again. He noticed and smiled. "Nice day for a ride, ain't it?"

Nodding again I stuck my hand over the edge of the jeep and waved it around, feeling the air slightly pushing against it.

Once we arrived at the bottom of the quarry Shane got out and went around to the back to grab the two water coolers, I followed behind him.

"Here Charlie." He handed me one of the empty coolers and I carried it to the water's edge. He sat the other one down next to it and began to fill them both with water using a big clear plastic cup. As he filled them I wandered around the quarry kicking rocks into the water.

It took Shane about fifteen minutes to finish when he called me back, "Charlie, time to go."

I frowned, not wanting to leave already, it was so calm and peaceful down here in the morning. No one else was around and I could hear the birds chirping in the trees. It was nice to get away from camp for even just a little bit, people were constantly giving me looks of pity. When they didn't think I could hear they'd say something like, "Poor girl, no family, it's sad to watch her run around camp following after someone." My life isn't that depressing, I still got my future ahead of me. Then again, maybe not now that the dead walk.

I hadn't realized I'd been standing here frowning at the water for a solid minute until Shane called me again, "Charlie?"

He walked in front of me and put a hand on my shoulder. "You good?" His face showed genuine concern, I couldn't figure out why though. He usually only cared about Carl, only making sure I ate and hadn't wandered off. Carl's lucky, he still has his parents and Shane.

Looking up at Shane I gave him a nod, for whatever reason speaking just seemed harder than it used to be.

Shane noticed I was upset and bent down in front of me. "How about I teach you something cool before we go back?" He asked.

My eyes lit up and this time I answered in a quiet voice, "Yes please."

He looked over the ground and picked up a flat rock. "First you gotta find a rock like this. Flat and not too heavy."

Quickly I went in search of a rock just like his. I picked up a rock but it was too jagged so I tossed it to the side and picked up another one. This one looked much better. I ran back to Shane and showed it to him.

He nodded and said, "Yeah that'll work. Okay, next you grip it like this."

I watched closely as he put his fingers around the rock and did my best to copy him.

"Put your thumb on top like this," He instructed me. "Now just snap your wrist and let the rock skip over the water." He released the rock and I watched as it skipped over the water too many times to count. "Now your turn Charlie."

I stood next to Shane and prepared myself to throw the rock. I flicked my wrist as hard as I could and watched the rock soar through the air and into the water, sinking instantly. My excitement vanished as I watched the stone sink to the bottom of the quarry.

"Try again," Shane said, and he handed me another stone.

Gripping it again I filled myself with confidence, Dad always said that confidence brings better results. Shane moved some of my fingers so I was holding it better and I turned to release it once again. Taking a deep breath I released the rock and this time it skipped over the water twice before succumbing to the watery depths.

I jumped excitedly in the air and pointed to the small ripples left by the rock, turning to Shane to check if he had seen it.

He gave me a big smile and ruffled my hair. "Good job! That's more like it! I think you can do better." Again he handed me a stone.

We stayed at the quarry skipping rocks for a while until I was able to skip the rock over the water a dozen times. The ripples flowed in all directions making the quarry look as lively as I felt at that moment.

"C'mom we better get this water back to camp." Shane walked back to the jeep, and I followed close behind. I hope we get to skip rocks again soon, it was fun. And a good distraction.

Arriving back up to camp Shane yells out, "Water's here, y'all! Just a reminder to boil before use."

Shane and I got out of the car as Andrea and Glenn started removing the water coolers. The camp was livelier than it had been when we left. Carl's dad, Rick, was up and talking to Lori. He looked kinda silly wearing a big white T-shirt. Lori seemed upset again, I wonder why.

The camp was then filled with the screams of Carl and Sophia. I spun around and looked in the direction of the voices. They better be okay and just be playing a stupid game.

"Mom!" Carl yells.

Lori yells back in a panicked voice, "Carl?"

Everyone starts to run toward the screams, Glenn tosses Rick a pole who catches it easily. When we get to the clearing we all see a walker chewing on a dead deer, arrows stick out of the deer's side. Carl and Sophia run to their moms.

The walker notices the living, breathing, figures surrounding it and decides they'd be a more appetizing meal. It stands up slowly, beginning to stumble toward Rick who quickly hits it across the head with the pole. It stumbles back and Shane hits it with the but of his shotgun. The rest of the men begin to beat it until Dale chops off its head with an axe. I jump away as the head rolls toward my feet.

I stand back watching the whole ordeal with frightened eyes, Jacqui stood near me looking equally upset. Carl, Sophia, and Morales' kids all have their mothers to hold them. I wished again that I had someone to hold me as they did.

Dale speaks first, "It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain."

A man named Jim speaks up next, his red hat sitting atop his head, "They're running out of food in the city, that's what."

A branch snaps and the men all turn around and look toward the noise. Leaves rustle and footsteps are heard, everyone braces themselves to see another walker. Shane aims his gun toward it.

Emerging from the forest is Daryl Dixon, thankfully not a walker. He has on a dirty tank top, baggy cargo pants, and a rope with a bunch of squirrels hangs on his shoulder.

Shane lowers his gun once he realizes it's not a threat.

Daryl glances at the surrounding people and then spots the deer, he stomps toward it. "That's my deer!" He shouts. "Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless po-" Jacqui covered my ears for that last part.

I watch as he starts kicking the walker's headless body and Dale says, "Calm down, son. That's not helping.

Daryl gets up in Dale's face and shouts, "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "On golden pond"?" He sighs and moves back to the deer to start pulling his arrows out of its side. "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?" He gestures to the part that's been ripped open.

Shane rests his gun on his shoulders. "Man, I would not risk that," he says.

"Damn shame, I got some squirrel… about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

I jump back further when the walker's head starts to move and bite at the air. Amy and Andrea walk off back toward camp. The former looked like she was going to be sick.

"C'mon, people. What the hell?" Daryl says and shoots the walker's head right through the eye. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" He brushes past Rick and Dale, heading back toward camp. Everyone else slowly heads back too.

I stay, I look at the dead deer and then back to the walker. The same thing that happened to that deer happened to my parents, and probably to everyone else I used to know. My grandparents, my Uncle Smith, my teacher at school, and all my friends. It'll probably happen to me too.

I sit on the ground and lean against a tree, staring at the dead deer until it got too much and I turned to watch the clouds instead. Everything else seemed so different, like everything changed, but the clouds seem untouched, exactly the way they've always been. I watch as they drift across the sky and a small smile creeps onto my face. It's peaceful here, at this moment, I feel almost normal.

I'm not sure how long I stay there but at some point, I fall asleep, only to be woken later when a hand falls on my shoulder.

"Charlie! There you are, been looking all over for you. It's not safe being alone like this, 'specially not here." Shane's eyes drift over to the dead walker and then back to me. "C'mon, me and Carl are gonna catch some frogs, you up for it too?" He asks.

I stand and look over at the deer again before turning back to Shane. "Yes," I say with a smile.

"You gotta be more excited than that. Now, are you ready to catch some frogs with the master himself?"

"Yes!" I yell, it's the quietest yell I've ever heard but it counts.
"Then c'mon, let's get Carl and head down to the quarry."

After we found Carl we headed toward the quarry, on the way down Shane explained that Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and T-dog headed back to Atlanta to find Merle. I'm worried something will happen to Rick and Carl and Lori will be really sad again.

We make it to the Quarry and I spot Andrea, Amy, Carol, and Jacqui cleaning the laundry.

Shane, me, and Carl get to work on catching those frogs. Shane hands me a bucket and Carl a net attached to a long pole.

"Alright, Carl, you gonna search the water for frogs, and when you find one you're gonna drop it into Charlie's bucket. Charlie, make sure you hold on real tight to that bucket and catch any frogs trying to jump out." Shane instructs.

Carl begins searching the water with his net, wading it back and forth, back and forth. Shane moves us to different spots around the quarry but we don't find any frogs.

"I'm not getting anything," Carl says dejectedly.

"Yeah," Shane draws out. "Being all willy, staying submerged. Little suckers know something's up. That's what's going on." Shane stands up and walks toward the water. "Just gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way." He takes another bucket and steps into the water. "All right, little man, look. You are the… you are the key in all this, okay?" Carl smiles at that. "All I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go after one of them, all right, scare the rest of them off. They're all gonna scatter. I'm gonna drive 'em your way, okay? Then pick 'em up and give 'em to good ol' Charlie there."

"All right," Carl says.

I keep a firm grip on my bucket in anticipation.

"What you need to do is you need to round up every bad boy you see, all right? Are you with me?"

Carl looks unsure of Shane's plan but nods and says, "Yeah, yeah."

"Hells yeah. Give me your mean face. Yes sir. Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" This time Carl shouts it and stands tall.

Shane slowly lowers his bucket toward the water. Cautiously he moves through the water, then he stops and shoves the bucket under the water. He splashes around and pushes the potential frogs toward Carl. He falls under the water and comes back up laughing and shouting at Carl, "All right, they're coming your way! Go on, get 'em, get 'em. They're coming your way, come on. Catch them frogs! Catch them frogs! They're coming, little man! Get 'em! Get that net in there and get 'em!"

Carl laughs and giggles as he waves his net through the water.

"Whaddya got?" Shane asks.

Carl lifts his net out of the water and his smile drops. "Dirt."

Shane sighs. "Oh boy." He shakes his head and then smiles. "We get to start over." He leans down again, preparing to make another wave of frogs swim toward Carl.

I feel a little left out sitting on the sidelines with a bucket that will never see a frog. Looking around I see Ed sitting in the back of his car, watching the women doing laundry with a scowl on his face. The women all seem to be ignoring Ed as they focus on their task.

"Hey Carl," I turn to see Lori speaking. "What did I tell you about not leaving Dale's sight?" She seems upset again I notice. This time it's probably just cause Rick's gone

"But Shane said we could catch frogs, remember?" Carl defends himself.

"It doesn't matter what Shane says. It matters what I say. Go on back to camp. I'll be right behind you." Lori tells him and Carl stomps back up to camp. She turns to me and speaks, "Charlotte why don't you go with him?"

Not wanting to spend another afternoon following around a mopey Carl I decide to ask Lori if I can help with the laundry. Boring chores are way more fun than mopey Carl.

"Can I help them?" I point in the direction of the women across the water.

"Sure sweetie," she answers.

I set my bucket on the ground and head toward the women doing laundry. Looking behind me I see Lori talking to Shane, whatever it is they're talking about, it looks important.

Jacqui notices me coming and smiles. "Hey, Charlotte. Here to help out?"

I nod.

She pats a food crate next to her, "Sit here, you can help me decide if these look clean enough."

Sitting down I take a few glances at Ed who's lighting up a cigarette and watching all of us.

Andrea notices him watching too and walks on over to him. "Ed, tell you what…you don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here." She tosses him a wet shirt.

He throws it back at her and it hits her in the neck. She catches it before it falls with a gasp.

"Ain't my job, missy," Ed says, putting his cigarette to his lips.

Carol speaks up quickly, "Andrea don't."

Andrea pays no attention to her and steps closer to Ed. "What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your butt smoking cigarettes?"

I stifle a laugh at that. It's literally all I've seen him do.

"Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed brat. Tell you what… come on. Let's go." He aims that last part at Carol.

"I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed," Andrea says.

"And I say it's none of your business." He beckons Carol toward him. "Come on now. You heard me."

Andrea turns toward Carol who's walking toward Ed. "Carol," She says.

"Andrea please, it doesn't matter." Carol pushes past her.

Ed calls to Andrea, "Hey, don't think I won't knock you over just cause you're some college-educated brat. All right."

Andrea scoffs at that.

Ed points at Carol. "Now you come on now or you're gonna regret it later."

At this, I stand up and grab Carol's hand. "Don't go," I say so quietly I'm sure she didn't even hear. She looks down at me with soft eyes, I like Carol, she's nice and Ed isn't. Even I can tell he hurts her.

Jacqui speaks up then, "So she can show up with fresh bruises later Ed? Yeah, we've seen them."

"Stay out of this. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking." Ed steps closer and grabs Carol's arm. "Come on."

I hold Carol back and Ed notices, he turns his sight on me. "And you," he says with a growl. "You been playing with my daughter, acting like you belong here. You don't! You're just some orphan runt who's gonna end up holding this group back and getting somebody killed!"

I shrink down as he yells at me, only tightening my grip on Carol's arm. He starts to pull her away again but I don't budge. Carol even tries to shake her arm loose telling me it's okay. It's not okay and I know it.

"Carol, you don't have to-" Andrea starts.

The other ladies start telling Carol to stay and I yell out, "Stop it!" That's the loudest I've been in weeks.

Ed turns back toward me, stomping closer. "You don't tell me what! I tell you what!" He grabs hold of my shoulder and pushes me backward a bit yelling words that I don't know the meaning of. Then I feel pain erupt along the side of my face and I fall backward, I wince when my back hits the ground and my face falls under the water. I'm only slightly submerged in the quarry water and can sit up but even when I lift my face out of the water I gasp for air. It feels like the wind was knocked right out of me.

The women all start shouting and yelling at Ed. He gets more upset and slaps Carol across the face causing more yelling to erupt.

Without warning Shane walks over and grabs Ed, pulling him away before throwing him to the ground and punching him repeatedly.

Andrea rushes to my side and helps me out of the water. I still feel like I can't breathe right, it's causing my head to spin.

"It's okay, just deep breaths," Andrea says as she holds the side of my face looking at where Ed had hit me. "You're alright, it'll bruise but you'll be okay." My head begins to spin faster and my stomach starts churning.

I see Shane pull Ed up toward him. "You put your hands on Charlie, your wife, your little girl, or anyone else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!" He repeats.

Ed slurs out a yes.

"I'll beat you to death Ed." Shane punches him again before standing and kicking him in the side.

Carol bursts into tears and runs toward Ed, apologies flowing from her mouth as she holds him.

Shane walks over to me and Andrea, both still sitting in the water. He kneels down next to me. "Charlie, hey Charlie."

My head feels worse and all I want to do is sleep but I look at Shane, his eyes are filled with worry. He does the same as Andrea and inspects the side of my face.

"Keep your eyes open there, kid. That's it, that's it." He lifts me out of the water and stands. His face begins to blur and voices become echoes. I can't keep my eyes open any longer, the last thing I remember is Shane's worried voice and Andrea saying something about the RV.