When The World Caves In |C.G.

seven

The farm is quiet, no moaning or groaning of walkers. Not even the people are up. That'd be because it's the middle of the night, and my mind is plagued with nightmarish dreams. Each one is worse than the last. They're never ending. 

I'm starting to remember things from the accident too. It's not just one big blur like it was when I first woke up. Shane was standing over me when we fell, the weight from my chest was already gone so Rick had taken off with Carl. He was just staring at me, like he was hesitating. It scared me, the idea of being left behind so I woke up with a start. 

I look towards daddy. He's sleeping on his back, keeping it covered. He's been doing that for as long I can remember, doesn't like feeling weak, or exposed. I'd move closer to him, but Daddy's a light sleeper. I don't wanna wake him up and worry him for no reason; he's looking for Sophia again tomorrow, today? I don't know. Anyways, he's looking for Sophia again so he's gotta be well rested, so I just end up sitting there thinking until the sun rises. Thinking's a dangerous habit for me these days, but it's about the only habit I got to do. 

I slowly lay back down, but the chances of me falling back asleep are slim to none, so I just turn on my side and wait for the morning to come. I can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen. I don't know when, but it's in my gut. Then again, I suppose we are in the apocalypse so bad things are happening everyday. For instance, Carl just got shot, and Sophia's missing. Surely the universe will give the group some sort of break at some point. 

When I wake up, if that's what you can call it since I never actually did go back to bed, I just laid there with my eyes closed, the sun is just now rising. The tent is empty, and so is my stomach. Daddy must've slipped on out earlier without me noticing. 

I slowly get up, stretching out my limbs as I set foot on the farms turf. Lori and Carol are hanging up laundry, Daddy's by Rick. They're looking over a map of the area. The group disperses and I see Daddy walking over to the stables, naturally I follow him over there. He's taking a horse out of the stable, preparing the large animal to ride. 

"How long you gonna be gone?" I ask him, stroking the horses mane. It's real soft, the Greene's have done a really good job keeping the farm from being touched by the apocalypse. It's like nothing ever went wrong here, like our own slice of paradise. 

 "Should be back before nightfall , and if I'm not raise a lil hell for me" He jokes, patting me on the back and placing a kiss on my forehead. 

"You be careful out there Daddy!" I tell him as he pulls himself up on top of the horse. "You're all I got!" 

"Don't worry about me Rory, I'll be back before you know it." He tells me then starts riding off into the woods searching for Sophia. I try not to think about how Merle told me just that when he left for Atlanta, and look where he's at now. Oh wait, we can't because he's gone M.I.A.

I decide that there's no use moping around all day so I go find something to do or someone to help. Carol's in the kitchen, she's cooking and humming a tune as she cuts up vegetables. 

"What are you doing?" I ask her, and she looks back at me with a soft smile. 

"Cooking a meal for the Greene's." She tells me, looking back at the vegetable she's cutting. "They've been so wonderful to us I figured it's the least we could do." 

"You mind if I help?" I ask her. 

"If you want to, not sure how fun it'll be." She laughs lightly and I pull up a step-stool right next to her. She hands me a pile of carrots and a knife to chop them up with. 

"Well, I ain't got much else to do around here." I shrug my shoulders as I start chopping. 

"Ya know, it's a brave thing your Daddy's doing," She points out, she's making small talk. I've never been the biggest fan of small talk but I don't do anything to stop it. Carol should get her mind off of Sophia's disappearance. "Looking out for Sophia, he's showing more fatherly initiative than her's ever did."