Complicated ✔

Ch. 31 - His Camp Site

KATHRYN'S POV

"We couldn't just leave him out there," Dad said nearly half an hour later when the entire group was inside the Greene's house and Hershel was out back in the shed as he worked on that kid's leg, "he would've bled out, if he lived that long." We were all surrounding the dining room table. Lori, Carl, Jimmy, Dale, Patricia, Carol, and Glenn were all seated around it. T-Dog, Andrea, and Shane were by the window while Dad stood at the front of the table. I stood next to Maggie by the door, keeping as much distance between me and Shane as I could in that small room. I'm not sure where Daryl was, he walked off after the others helped Hershel move Randall to the shed out back.

"It's gotten bad in town," Dad said snapping me out of my thoughts and back to reality as he continued talking. "What do we do with him," Andrea asked after a few minutes, causing us all to look over at her where she stood next to Shane. Before anyone could answer that question, Hershel walked into the room explaining what went down in the shed. "I repaired his calf muscle as best as I could," he said wiping his hands off on a rag as he looked around at us, "but he'll probably have nerve damage. Won't be on his feet for at least a week." "When he is," Dad said looking to Hershel, "we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way." "Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers," Andrea asked as I heard the screen door open behind me and Maggie.

I turned around to look at the talking continued. I watched as Daryl stood off to the side, him nodding once after he noticed I was looking back at him. I smiled weakly at him before turning back to face the group as the conversation continued on between Dad and Shane. "Just gonna let him go," Shane asked as I looked to the two, "he knows where we are." "He was blindfolded the whole way here," Dad said trying to reason with Shane and possibly anyone else who had doubts about this, "he's not a threat." "Not a threat," Shane asked in a mocking tone as he rolled his eyes, "how many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one hostage. But they just ain't gonna come looking for him?" "They left him dead," Dad said glaring at Shane, "no one is looking."

DARYL'S POV

I watched as Kathryn seemed to wrap her arms around herself and shake her head as her dad and Shane continued to argue about what to do with the kid. She finally seemed to have had enough of the conversation as she turned and started walking towards the door to the front porch, not even looking back at the others as the conversation continued on with T-Dog and Hershel adding in to the mix of thoughts about the boy in the shed. I watched as she walked out the front door, it slamming shut behind her before I looked back to the group as I felt eyes on me. Looking to the table, I spotted Carol sending me a small smile. I looked away as Shane crossed my eyesight, making his way towards the door, the same one Kathryn just walked out of. I turned and followed him, exiting out the door a couple seconds after he did.

KATHRYN'S POV

I wasn't outside for long before the sound of the screen door opening again caught my attention. I was off to the right of the door, so when I looked up, I spotted Shane walking out looking very pissed off. I stayed quiet, hoping he wouldn't notice me, as he stormed by and not even giving me a second glance. Seconds later, the sound of the door opening again drew my attention away from Shane's retreating form to Daryl standing in the doorway looking around. When his eyes landed on me and saw I was alone, his body visibly relaxed as he stepped out of the doorway and allowed it to close once again. I watched as he looked like he wanted to say something but seemed to think better of it before turning and moving to walk down the stairs.

"Daryl," I said, my voice coming out barely above a whisper but loud enough for him to hear it. I watched as he stopped and turned back to face me, waiting for me to continue on. I felt my palms begin to become sweaty so I wiped them on my shorts before I took a deep breath so I could say what I wanted to say before I backed out. "I never thanked you," I said, "for what you did back in the barn. And all those other times you've saved my neck from some kind of danger. You must see me as a burden and now I'm just following you around without saying so much as a single word." "No you're not," he said before he turned and continued the way he was going and leaving me standing there confused.

I watched as he started walking in the direction I knew that his new camp site was located. When he was a few feet away from the porch I was still standing on, I watched as he turned to look over his shoulder while still walking, like he was looking to see if I was following or still in place. Quickly looking to my right to see where the rest of the group was, I turned and dashed down the steps and ran to catch up to Daryl. When I was close enough, I slowed my pace down to a walk and followed him towards where his camp was set up in silence. I glanced back only once when I heard a commotion behind us, seeing Shane was watching me walk off with Daryl. He had this glare on his face like he was probably ready to murder Daryl, which I wouldn't doubt after what happened last night.

I faced back forward and continued to follow Daryl until we reached his camp site away from all the others. I watched as he walked over to this old smoke stack, sitting down as he placed his crossbow down beside him. I stood there awkwardly for a moment, not sure what I should do. From what I overheard with both Lori and Carol, he doesn't like others over here, and yet here I am standing here awkwardly while he sits there cutting these sticks into arrows for his crossbow. I looked around his camp, seeing the tent and his brother's bike. Looking around more, I noticed these squirrels hanging on a wire between two trees. I walked over to investigate and noticed the necklace of walker ears he'd been wearing after he came back from trying to find Sophia.

My throat closed up at the thought of the little girl we had tried to find. Turning away, I looked back at the hanging squirrels then turned and looked at Daryl and his crossbow. "Could you teach me how to do that," I asked causing him to look up at me and give me a confused look so I continued on to elaborate, "to hunt and track I mean." I watched as he furrowed his brows at what I said, like he was either thinking about it, or about to tell me I had finally lost my mind in this hell of a world. After a few minutes, he finally went back to what he was doing, not even answering my question on if he'd teach me. Sighing, I looked around the camp again, my eyes landing on his brother's bike once again. Walking over to it, I felt his eyes on me as he watched to see what I was doing.

"Do you have any other family," I asked as I placed my hand lightly on the handles to the bike when I reached it, "other than Merle?" When I didn't hear a verbal response, I turned to look and caught him shaking his head no as he continued to watch what I was doing. "You know I have Dad and Carl," I said looking away and back to his bike, "I'd like to think my mom is still out there too. Maybe even my cousin. My dad's never met him, he was my cousin on my mom's side. I got to meet him maybe three times before this happened, when my mom would still come to see me when I was younger. But I'd like to think him and Mom are still out there, alive and surviving, just waiting for me to find them." I looked up to the sky, like I was sending out a silent prayer that they were both still alive, before I looked back to Daryl to see he was still watching me.

"Probably should get you back to the others," he finally said after a few moments of the two of us just staring at each other in silence, "don't want your dad thinkin' you ran off or somethin'." I nodded as he put the arrow he'd been working on down before picking up his crossbow. He walked ahead of me, just like when we were walking out to his camp. And just like before, it was silent between the two of us. It's funny how I've grown accustom to the silence whenever I'm around him. I don't expect much talking to pass between us, and I think that might actually be why he doesn't mind having me around. When we got back to the house, I saw Maggie on the porch, smiling down knowingly at me as I quickly rushed up the steps and into the house without a second glance at her or even to look back at Daryl before I went inside.