My Damaged Protector

Chapter Thirty-Three ~ The Grove

We all left the house early the next morning. Judith had slept through most of the prep, only waking as I picked her up to leave. Merle and Ty had taken to walking on the sides of the road, keeping watch as Carol and I walked with the girls between us. Merle had been king enough to pack all the food up the night before, not leaving much for us to gather before we took off.

We had walked for hours, only taking a short break for lunch before continuing, despite Mika and Lizzie's complaining. We passed a few signs for Terminus, and our hope slowly grew the closer and closer we got. We made good progress through the day, and once the sun started setting, we looked for shelter for the night. Merle was the one to find a little run-down cabin surrounded by fencing a little way off the train tracks and he, Ty and Carol went in to clear it while I explored the yard. Carol took the chance to cook up dinner before getting the girls settled in the bedroom with us staying in the living room.

I had Judith rested in my arm while I was curled up on one end of the smaller sofa, Merle sitting on the other half. My head rested gently against his shoulder. "Get some sleep. We're ok here." I whispered as to not wake Carol. "We're safe." He didn't seem to pay attention and I fell asleep watching his hand resting on his gun.

The next morning was pretty normal. I had Judith sat in the living room while I helped Carol with breakfast. Mika was sat next to Judy, making a doll dance for the baby. Merle and Ty were wondering the cabin, looking for anything we could use. Loud laughter from outside drew Carol's eyes, demanding that Mika stay with Judith.

My eyes followed Carol's seeing Lizzie running around, almost playing tag, with a walker. "Lizzie!" I shouted, grabbing onto the girl's hand to drag her away as Carol took the walker down.

"No! No, no!" Lizzie screamed and pleaded with Carol as she stabbed her knife through the head. "She was playing with me; she wanted a friend!" Lizzie was in hysterics, crying over the monster Carol killed.

"She wanted to kill you." Carol stood up and wiped off her knife, Merle and Ty coming out of the house to check on us.

"I was going to lead her away." Lizzie broke out into tears.

"You could have died." I told her, pulling her farther from the body.

"It's the same thing. You killed her! You killed her! It's the same thing, what if I killed you? What if I killed you?" Lizzie screamed till she was red in the face, her cheeks bright red. Merle had stopped at my side, ready to halt the little girl from doing anything in her state. "You don't understand." She repeated. "You didn't have to."

I tried calming her down. "Lizzie, hun. I think we should go inside and take a break. Maybe get some food?" She nodded as I pulled her along, not having much of a choice at the moment.

Carol had opted to taking Mika out to look for some water and teach the girl some basics in protecting herself. Merle had taken to walking around outside, looking for smaller game in the chance Carol came back without anything. I had set Judith up in the living room before grabbing a basket from the kitchen.

"You good watching her and Lizzie while I go out and get more pecans?" I asked Ty, glancing down at Judith then down the hall at the door Lizzie was behind.

"Of course." Ty nodded, sitting down beside Judy. "I'll come running if she needs you." He waved me off. I headed out towards the trees that were covered in pecans, yanking bunches down from the tree and filling the basket.

This was my first time alone in nearly a month, usually spending all hours of the day with Judith or sitting in the living room of the house or learning new hunting tricks with Merle. The silence was welcomed, birds chirped in the trees and I could faintly hear the breeze through the trees, this place was almost serene. My mind wondered as I filled the basket, thoughts of Daryl and Jasper plagued my mind, if they were together and safe, if Rick and Carl made it out of the prison, Maggie and Glenn. I wasn't sure what happened with Michonne and Hershel, god I hoped they were all ok.