Barely Alive // TWD // Daryl Dixon

Chapter 23 -- Breaking

"Behind every beautiful thing, there's some kind of pain."

- Bob Dylan

Carl's POV

"You must be starving," Dad said to Michonne about an hour after she found us. "Have you eaten anything these days?"

Michonne said nothing, she just shook her head, her eyes glittered with tears. She had broken down twice since she came here because she was so overwhelmed she actually could find someone, we decided to not interrogate her any further for now, instead we let her settle down a bit.

Before my father could turn around to see what food we could give to Michonne, I grabbed the bag of cereal and gave the last portion to Michonne, serving it in another bowl and handing it to Michonne, who smiled and thanked me before she started eating.

"Any plans for today?" Cecilia asked as we all sat on the sofa, breaking the silence. Michonne was in between Cecilia and me, my father was next to me, thinking about her question.

"Michonne just got here," he told us all but mostly to Cecilia. "We should take it easy today."

"Okay, in that case I'll go upstairs and rest for a bit," she told us as she stood up.

"Cecilia."

She turned to look at my father, who looked at her with a concerned look. He leant to the side and grabbed her bowl, which still had around half of the cereal I served her earlier. My father looked from the uneaten food to her, silently asking her about it, I knew that look so well.

"I'm fine, Rick," she assured him. "I'm just not that hungry."

"This is the first thing you have eaten, Cecilia! What has it been, three, four days?" he exclaimed. I wanted to tell him this was our fourth day since everything happened but I didn't dare say anything. "You need to eat, you need to regain strength in case we have to flee from here, in case we have to fight."

"I know," she told him calmly. "Wake me up for lunch."

"Cecilia!" Dad yelled as he jumped to his feet.

"I just need a little nap."

Cecilia turned around and went up the stairs quickly like a teenager that had just been scolded and didn't want to know anything else about the topic. I heard my father sigh next to me, he set the bowl on a coffee table that was on the middle of the room before slumping down on the couch again.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Carl?"

"Is Cici alright?" I asked. My father sighed again but didn't say anything for a while.

"I'm sure she's fine," Michonne told me, wrapping an around my shoulders. "Let's give her some time and then I'll take her some food."

"I think she's getting sick," I told the two adults, who turned to look at me. "Remember her stomach ache, dad? And when you were unconscious she locked herself in the bathroom all day long. I heard her crying and she hasn't eaten, dad!"

"I know," he said nodding as he ran his hand through his beard as he stood once again. "I know, Carl. She told me all about it, she explained to me everything that happened while I was out. I think she's just sad, she must miss Daryl a lot, Carl. I'm sure there's no need to worry."

"But dad being sad doesn't cause stomach aches."

"I think she's just in shock," Michonne told us. "We all are but we take it differently. It explains everything perfectly, being in shock can cause mental symptoms as well as physical ones like lack of hunger, nausea, aches. She'll be fine."