TWD- Little Heart Of Iron

4. The Return.

Not proof-read

Blake had silently cried herself to sleep that night, in what used to be her father's tent. Now, it was just Blake's. She still slept on her side, because sleeping on George's side next to all of his things made her sad.

She didn't sleep good, at all. She would sleep for thirty minutes at a time before being woken up by the same nightmare over and over. Eventually, she just gave up on sleeping and stayed awake until the sun came up. She also hadn't talked to anyone since the night before. She was sad, but also angry. She was angry at herself, at her dad, and maybe even at Rick. She'd found out the previous night that he'd handcuffed Merle to a pole on the roof. He said he was being a danger to himself and the group, which wasn't surprising to Blake, but she was still upset about it.

She felt bad for being mad at her dad, but that didn't shake the feeling. Before he left for that supply run, he never even said "bye" or "I love you". He just left her. And Blake was also mad at herself because maybe she could've kept him from leaving.

She was sitting in front of what use to be her dad's tent. It was late in the morning, and it was actually cold that day, but Blake didn't bother to find her jacket.

Dale had come by the previous night at tried to invite Blake to sit with the rest of the group around the campfire, but she said no. She wanted to stay next to her dad's tent and wait for Daryl to come back. Lori also came by and made sure Blake had some food in her stomach before she went to bed.

Out of the hundreds of thoughts flowing in and out of the small girl's head, one of them stuck the most- Uncle Daryl.

He was still gone. She didn't know if he was dead, too, or if he was just still tracking that deer. But Blake would still be worried whether he came back, or not. If he came back, she would have to tell him what happened to his brothers, and then he'd get angry and probably hurt someone. She didn't want that.

All of the other kids were out in the woods near camp, probably doing something they weren't supposed to. Carl had actually come over and asked Blake if she wanted to join them, but she said no. She'd been saying that a lot, lately. Carl felt bad about the whole situation. He'd just got his dad back, but she just lost hers. He almost felt guilty, even though George's death wasn't his fault.

The young girl sat on the ground in front of the tent. The moist dirt was probably staining the back of her shorts, but she didn't care enough to move. She was using a thin stick, digging small holes in the dirt and looking for worms. That was her favorite thing to do, when she was outside, no matter how upset she was.

Not long after she started to dig a new hole, she heard screams. It sounded like all the other kids. They were screaming for their mommies and daddies. Blake stood up when she saw all of the adults start to grab weapons and run into the woods. As her curiosity got the best of her, ran over to the adults to catch up with them. She wanted to see what the hell was going on, and why everyone was screaming.

When she finally got there, out of breath and a little sweaty despite the cold, she furrowed her eyebrows at the sight. Some of the men in the group- Shane, Jim, Rick, Glenn, Morales, and even Dale were beating the hell out of some walker. And right next to it was a deer. It looked like it was already dead, before the walker got to it.

All the kids were hugging their moms and dads, but all Blake could do was stand there, watching as the men try everything to kill the walker. She could hear every thud and squelch as they hit the walker with sticks, bats, axes, you name it.

Finally, in a swift motion, Dale swung his axe down on the walker's neck, and cut its head clean off.

Blake's initial thought was that the deer the walker was eating was also the deer that Daryl was tracking. And she was right, because she could see some of his crossbow bolt stuck in the deer's body, sticking straight out of them. He must be close, she thought. The dread and nervousness of having to tell Daryl that one of his brothers was dead and the other was stuck on a roof made her chest become tight.