Scars

03 Hand

I woke up to Carl sprawled out, taking up most of the bed. He had one arm and one leg rested on me. I slipped out from under him and walked outside. Carol was walking past the door to the RV with a basket of laundry. "Hey, Dani. Some of the other ladies and I are gonna go down to the quarry to wash clothes. Would you like to come?" I stretched. "I'd love to." Carol smiled and when she turned around and started walking, I could see a big bruise on her neck. It was probably that asshole, Ed. I'm gonna kill him, I thought to myself.

After about 15 minutes of Carol, Jacqui, Andrea, Amy, and I washing clothes, Shane came down to the quarry with Carl. They both walked into the water until it was at Carl's knees. Shane tried to help him catch frogs. Lori told Carl to go say bye to his dad. Glenn, Daryl, Rick, and T-Dog are leaving for Atlanta so they can get Merle. "I'll be right back," I tell Carol. 

I walk back up to the camp after Lori and Carl. I walk over to Daryl. "Hey, don't be stupid. Stay safe." I pulled him in for a hug. "Always am." I kissed his cheek. Wait, what? Why'd I kiss his cheek? I've never done that before. He pulled back and smirked and walked off to the truck. At least he didn't fight with me about it. Maybe he liked it.

I walked over to Rick. "I just want to say thank you for helping yesterday in Atlanta." I smiled. "Oh please. If I hadn't seen you crawl out of that tank, I probably wouldn't have found this group. Or found Daryl for that matter. So, thank you." He pulled me in for a hug. I hugged him back. And then the boys were off. I started to walk back to the quarry when Carl ran up to me. "Hi, Dani!" I put my hand on his head. 

I put my hand on his head. "Hey, buddy. What's up?" He giggled. "I'm gonna hunt some frogs!" I pointed to my back and leaned over. "Hop on." His face lit up. "Serious?" I nodded. "This is a serious piggyback." He giggled and hopped on. He was really light, so I carried him the whole way down to the quarry.

"Hi, mom!" Lori looked up from the laundry and smiled. "Hi, baby! Whatcha doin?" He hopped off my back and ran to his mom. "Dani gave me a serious piggyback ride, and now I'm gonna catch frogs!" She smiled. "Have fun, baby." He ran to the water and attempted to catch those frogs. I walked over to Lori and the other women and sat down to help with laundry. 

Lori looked at me and said, "I just want to thank you for helping with Carl. He really likes you and you make him smile. And uh, I was wondering if you have a brother?" I look down at my hands. "I'm sorry, I just thought..... you're just so good with Carl." I shook my head. "No, you're right. I did have a brother. He didn't make it though." I smiled. "Carl reminds me of him." Lori looked dumbfounded. "Well, I'm gonna go catch me some frogs." I walked into the quarry with Carl.

-Time Jump about 4 hours-

I've decided I'm going to go hunting. Strange, I know. I don't really hunt, not animals. Except for when I was with Daryl. We used to catch all kinds of stuff, but otherwise, I never went hunting. Maybe I can get a deer. Or a few rabbits. Anything would be good, really. I go grab my bow that's attached to my backpack in the RV.

I've been walking around the woods for maybe 20 minutes, I haven't gotten anything though. I hear footsteps behind me, they aren't a walker's. I whip around, bow ready. It's Shane. "What are you doing out here girl?" I raised an eyebrow. "Hunting." He squared up and crossed his arms. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" I sighed. "I don't have to tell you shit. I'm trying to get dinner." I pushed past him. He grabbed my bow as I walked by and threw it.

"What the hell, Shane?" I yelled. He grabbed my arms and pushed me into a tree. He had an evil grin. "Get your goddamn hands off of me or I swear" He smirked. "What you gonna do girl?" He reached one of his hands down to undo my pants, using the other to hold both of my wrists. I knee him in the nuts, and when he doubled over, I kicked him in the nose. I run over and grab my bow and pull it over my head, so it's across my body.