Born to Die

10

Alli
"Can't we stay a little longer?" I asked Carl as we laid in the bed, he was cuddling me so I was comfortable. "We had to leave a little while ago, people are gonna be awake soon, the sun's about to come up" he said, motioning to the window and I sighed, sitting up and getting out of bed.

"Well, we got a good nights sleep for once" he said as we walked down the stairs "yeah, I mean it was only a few hours, but still" I laughed slightly, making sure I had my stuff before we headed out the door. We walked through the woods, towards the prison, when I tripped on something, twisting my ankle "shit" I grunted in a bit of pain as I got up from the ground.

"Where did that root even come from?" I asked rhetorically and started to walk again, feeling pain surge through my foot "damn, that hurts" I mutter, still following behind Carl, but he stops, laughing slightly "just get on my back, I can carry you until we get to the fence" he tells me and I smile "thanks". I jumped on his back, kissing his cheek before he started to walk.

"You're such a pro boyfriend, this is great" I grinned, holding onto his shoulders. He let out a chuckle "good to know" he said as we approached the prison fences, the sun was still low in the sky, but it'd be coming up soon. He put me down and motioned for me to climb up first, which I did, despite of a little pain in my ankle, but it was no big deal.

We walked hand in hand through the courtyard "so what do you wanna tell the group about us?" He asked, swinging our hands and I laughed "how about we just act normal, they can figure it out for themselves" I suggest and he nods "sounds good to me".

We slipped into the cell block, trying to stay silent so that nobody would wake up and see us, I don't want people figuring out that we leave almost every night. "I'm gonna go shower, we can hang out later" I tell Carl and he nods. I go to my cell, grabbing a pair of shorts and a baggy t-shirt to change into after I showered. I heard voices as I walked passed Daryl's cell, judge me if you want, but I'm nosy, so I eavesdropped.

He was talking to Rick, they were both somewhat whispering. "I'm telling you Rick, I really think she's my daughter" Daryl said "Daryl, you're just paranoid, she has the same name and a few similarities to your kid, it's probably just a coincidence". I leaned against the wall as I listened to them talking.

"That's what I thought too, then I saw the crossbow that she used" Daryl said, they were talking about me, I'm the only other one with a crossbow. "She said it was her dad's, I used to have the exact one, I could even see the old marks on it from when Merle would mess with it" I listened more intently now, were they saying that Daryl's my dad? What the hell is going on?

"Alright, then are you gonna say something?" Rick asked and there was a short silence "Yeah, I just don't know what to say. As soon as I thought it might be her, I asked Carl about her, she seems perfectly fine, I just don't know if I'm ready to change that. She's lasted her entire life without me, I just don't know if she'll even want anything to do with me".

I almost felt bad as I stood beside the door, listening. I mean, but now I've got some time to think it all over I guess. I crept past the doorway, towards the bathroom to take a shower, but the thought wouldn't leave my mind.

What would it be like if I accepted Daryl as my dad? At this point I don't see what I have to lose, I was never mad about not having my dad around, it's not like I have a grudge. It's all just confusing.

Carl
"So that's it, crazy right?" Alli asked as she finished explaining what she heard. Her hair was in a towel, she just got out of the shower a few minutes ago. "Yeah, what are you gonna do?" I ask and she shrugs "I'd be cool with having a dad, it's just I don't know what to say, I guess I'll wait till he comes to me, play off of that" she explains.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan, I wonder how long it'll take him to talk to you about it though?" I ask and she shrugs "I guess we'll find out when it happens" she scooted closer to me on my bed, leaning her head on my shoulder.

"This is random" she starts and I laugh, letting her continue "I was just thinking back to pre-apocalypse days, and I just realized I forgot to turn in my book report on To Kill a Mockingbird." She said and I laughed "I don't think it really matters anymore, it's a few years overdue and schools are kinda gone" I told her and she shrugged.

"Well what if the apocalypse ends and teachers are just like 'you didn't turn in this book report, you fail' like, I know teachers who would do that" she says and I laugh "I don't think we'll have to go back to school when it's all over, we'd be in junior or senior year of high school right now, so I bet we can just live off what we have instead of going to school" I suggest and she nods "definitely".

"Alli, can you cover my guard tower shift? I forgot that I agreed to go on a run already" Maggie asks, peeking into Carl's cell and I nod "yeah no problem, I'll go out in a few minutes" she answers and Maggie smiles "thanks, I owe you one" she says and leaves the doorway as quickly as she came. "Well, I've gotta go then, I'll see you later" she grins, kissing me before she left the cell.