Until the End

Chapter Seven: Small talk.

The sun fell over the horizon and the darkness ate away at what light was left. Kirby sat between Glenn and Amy, cradling a now sleeping Mallorie in her arms as everyone around the small camp fire joked around after a dinner of canned soup. Carol and Sophia were sitting at their own little fire with Ed, whom Kirby found out beats Carol some times. It made her sick to think about him even lifting a had to young Sophia. Daryl was inside his tent, most likely asleep for tomorrow's hunting.

"Whenever your ready to go to bed, your welcomed to sleep in the RV, Kirby." Dale said from across the fire.

"Thank you, Dale. That means a lot." Kirby said, smiling at the older man.

"Do you want me to put Mallorie to bed for you so that you can stay up longer?" Andrea asked from beside Amy.

"No, I think I'm going to go ahead and hit the hay. It's been a long day, if you know what I mean." Kirby said, standing up.

Kirby moved Mallorie to get a better grip on her. Shane walked over to give Kirby a hand.

"Here, let me take her." Shane said, going to grab Mallorie.

With a well maneuvered move, Kirby moved out of his reach easily and smiled up at him.

"No, I've got her, but thanks anyway." Kirby said and left for the RV.

Ever since Daryl had pointed out what Shane was doing, Kirby never felt comfortable about him and she certainly didn't want him anywhere near Mallorie. Especially touching her. Inside the RV, Kirby laid Mallorie on the bed near the wall. She then slipped Mallorie's shoes off of her tiny feet and placed them at the end of the bed on the floor next to her two bags. Kirby stepped out of her shoes, before climbing into bed and pulling Mallorie into her arms. Letting the tension of today's events leave her body, Kirby joined Mallorie in sleep.

-

Kirby awoke to a small bundle of energy wiggling out of her arms and straddling her stomach. Mallorie then proceeded to bounce up and down, giggling for Kirby to wake up. Peeking through her eye lashes, Kirby smiled up at Mallorie, before wrapping her arms around the small girl. Kirby moved to hover over Mallorie and lifted her dress. She placed her mouth on Mallorie's stomach and blew, causing Mallorie to break out in laughter.

"Aha, Mama, stop that tickles!" Mallorie giggled, her tiny hands trying to push Kirby away.

"Really? Oh I didn't know." Kirby said, before doing it again.

A low chuckle sounded from behind Kirby and her head shot up. Dale stood there with a huge smile as he watched Kirby and Mallorie.

"I just came in to wake you two up for breakfast, but it seems you've already started." He joked.

Kirby grinned as Mallorie stood up on the bed.

"Mama, was tickling me." Mallorie said, giving a large smile to Dale.

"I saw. It looked like you girls were having a load of fun. Do you want some breakfast?" Dale asked, aiming the question at the two.

Mallorie nodded and Kirby stood up to get their shoes. Kirby put Mallorie's shoes on, before Mallorie took Dale's hand.

"I'll be right out, Dale. Um....could you keep her away from--"

Dale lifted a hand, stopping what Kirby was about to say.

"Of course I'll keep her away from the 'quarry', Kirby." Dale said, giving her a knowing look.

Kirby's face softened.

"Thank you, Dale." Kirby said sincerely.

Dale smiled.

"Stop saying that. You don't have to thank any of us. We love having you both around. It's like a breath of fresh air." Dale stated and left with Mallorie.

Kirby stood up and stretched, before putting her shoes on. She ran her fingers through her hair a couple of times, trying to tame it. Giving up on the fifth try, Kirby let out a sigh and used the bathroom. Kirby knew Mallorie had used it before leaving with Dale, since the small stool was close to the sink for her to reach the nobs. After washing up, Kirby exited the RV and ran into Jacqui.

"Good morning." Kirby said, smiling.

Jacqui smiled back.

"That it is. What were you two doing this morning? Everyone could hear laughing coming from the RV." Jacqui asked, grinning now.

"Just a little morning attack of the tickle monster." Kirby stated, laughing lightly.

"Ah, the tickle monster. Got to love them." Lori said as she walked over.

She was carrying two bowls, one for her and one for Kirby.

"Tha-"

For the second time this morning, Kirby was cut off.

"Did Dale give you the talk?" Lori asked, raising her brow.

Kirby and Jacqui laughed.

"He did."

"Alright then. Just take it and enjoy. Andrea heated up some more soup." Lori said with a sigh.

"At least its something right?" Kirby stated and the three went their separate ways.

Kirby ate her soup standing up, watching as Carl and Sophia took turns in feeding Mallorie so that she didn't spill any of the soup on herself.

"I remember when Carl was that little. He would throw his Cheerios at me and I would go to work not knowing that I still had cereal stuck in my hair." Rick said, coming up to Kirby.

She grinned at that.

"How did she break her arm?" Rick asked, turning his head to look at Kirby.

A deep frown was etched across her plump lips and he began to apologize.

"Her father was abusive." Kirby whispered, her eyes sad.

"You mean to tell me that he did that to her?" Rick asked, shocked.

Kirby nodded.

"Did he do it often?"

"Probably." Kirby answered.

"What do you mean by probably? You're her mother. You should know these things." Rick said, upset that someone would hit someone like Mallorie.

He couldn't picture it.

"She was one of my patients before everything went to shit. Her parents were killed the first night and I took it upon myself to see to her safety. Mallorie isn't biologically mine, but she's my daughter nevertheless. If you have something else to say, say it to my back, because I have better stuff to do than to remember what that bastard did to her." Kirby hissed, turning to walk away.

Rick grabbed Kirby by her upper arm to stop her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Rick apologized.

Kirby sighed.

"No, you didn't, but that doesn't give you the right to assume either." Kirby said, her eyes wavering.

"You didn't have a chance to cry about it all did you?" Rick murmured.

Kirby looked up into Rick's eyes with a kind of defiance that he rarely saw these days.

"I don't have time to cry."

With that said, Kirby walked away. Lori went over to Rick after seeing the exchange. He told her everything and she could do nothing but cover her mouth with her hand as she watched Kirby go over to Mallorie.

"She's a strong woman, but even a strong woman needs a chance to cry." Rick said, wrapping his arms around Lori, placing a kiss on her temple.