I sat on the porch in the morning, watching over the other discuss the plan for Sophia. I saw Jimmy walk past me and I stopped him.
"Yeah?" He responds and turns around
"where you going?"
"I wanna ask Rick if I can go search for her with them"
"I'll go with" I say and join him as we walk to the car together.
"I wanna go help" Jimmy says as we approach the group "and I want a gun" he says
"And people in hell want slurpees" Daryl says
"You know how to shoot?" Shane asked him
"No. But I can't be that hard"
"You can come with me and T-Dog to practice" Andrea says to him
"I think I'm gonna go out here" Daryl she pointing to a trail near a water source "on horseback. I can probably see her better if I'm high up"
"Maybe you can see your Chupacabra" T-Dog says
Jimmy snickers "Chupacabra? You believe in a blood sucking dog?"
"You believe in dead people walkin 'round?" Daryl replies
"You're full of comebacks today, Dixon" I say with a smirk
"Always" he says and fixes his crossbow on his back before walking away
"Thanks for the clothes" Rick mumbles to Jimmy
"Yeah" Jimmy says as he leaves
Soon everyone leaves and it's just Rick and I left.
"How are you liking causal Rick?" Rick asked breaking the momentary silence
"He hasn't bothered to talk to me yet"
"I just did now"
"He seems nicer. Ain't a tight ass no more"
"You go around throwin names and I'll call you some back"
"Name one. I bet you can't because you know I'm a nice person" I say walking closer to him
"You're a smart ass"
"Nice one, Grimes" I say and walk away
•••
I walk into the house later in the day and see what's happening. Patricia and Beth were helping Carol and Lori with dinner. I knew dad wasn't okay with it somehow. Dad and Maggie were in the dining room talking so I left to avoid any awkward encounter. I walked outside and saw Ana on the top of the RV. I walked to the bottom of the ladder, looked up and shielded my eyes with my hand.
"May I join you?" I called to her
"Of course, madam" she joked at my manners.
I ignored and climbed up the ladder. I sat in the chair next to her.
"You'd think we'd have stolen some sunglasses. Especially in Georgia" I said
"Yeah" she replied
"I ran into Daryl last night. Have you guys talked?"
"Nah. Not yet today"
"You gonna make the first move or?"
"What about you? At least I don't like a married man" she said becoming angry
"So you chose some heartless, apathetic redneck?!" I yelled back at her "at least the guy I likes has the balls to marry someone, and then have a kid"
"Just because he's married doesn't mean shit. People get married and have divorces. Look at your parents"
"My mom loved my dad"
"She loved the man who'd beat the shit out of you"
"Fuck you, Ana. I don't know what the hell your problem is but you need to figure it out. There goes another reason for me to leave your group" I say and climb down the ladder.
I stomped on my way back to the house, holding back tears. I wanted to punch something and I wanted to cry.
"Isabelle" Maggie said my name
"No" I replied looking down and tears started to fall
"Isabelle" she repeated and probably saw my tears
"Wanna say it again?" I said turning around and she gave me a hug. She held me tight and I sobbed into her shoulder. We fell to the ground in front of the house. "I'm sorry" I cried and she rubbed my back.
"It's okay" she told me while shushing me occasionally
I pulled my face away from her shoulder and she wiped my tears from my cheeks.
"I'm such a bad older sister. You're taking care of me when it should be the opposite" I said
"You can be sad. Plus I'm pretty sure you got enough for being the older sister" she said and traced the scars on my back through my blouse
"You're pretty lucky Hershel's your dad"
"He is your dad"
"By marriage"
"It doesn't matter. You're here now and he's your dad. He loves you like a dad should"
"Thank you" I mumbled and got up. After I was up I helped her up.
I looked out onto the farm. Rick and Shane were back and no lead on Sophia.
"Walker!" I heard Ana yell
Shane picked up a shovel and started to limp to get out there.
"Shane! No! Hershel wants to deal with them!" Rick yells but Shane ignores and Rick has to run after him. Soon T-Dog and Glenn were going too and I wanted to go see for myself. I ran out and as I got closer, I saw it was Daryl. Rick raised his gun to him.
"That's third time you've pointed that thing in my head. You gonna shoot or what?" Daryl says
"Don't shoot!" I yelled waving my arms but in Anas mind that meant shoot. I turned and saw Daryl fall to the ground. "Shit" I mumbled and ran to help the others.
Rick and Shane carried Daryl as he had become unconscious.
"What the hell happened to him?" I asked
"He's got walker ears on his neck" Glenn says
"Let's keep that to ourselves" Rick says and yanks off the necklace and puts it in his pocket.
"Isn't this Sophia's doll?" T-Dog says from behind us
I turn around and see him holding her doll. I ran ahead and ran to the RV.
"Good job, hot shot! You shot Dixon" I yell up to her
"It's not my fault" she mumbled
"I fucking told you not to shoot. If it was a walker we would've shot it. You can't get over that fight long enough to think straight. Damn" I say and run into the house to clear off a bed for Daryl.
