Turns out that I cant keep the room I was staying in to heal. I have to share a room with Jasper and Carl. I would really like to stay with Sumner, but apparently he's staying with Rick and Deryl. I asked to stay in Beth's room, but she was already sharing the biggest room with Maggie, Glen, Carol, and Heather, and there was no room for me. Sumner also had a problem with me staying to two boys, each a year older than me, but Rick and the rest of the group (all except Carl who sat glaring at me) thought it was a brilliant idea.
And Sumner knew not to mess with these people. I can tell just by the looks of them they've all gone through some sort of hell that broke them down in the past four years.
So I walked into my new living space, which was a fairly large room with a bunk bed on the left wall and a single twin bed on the right opposet of it. Jasper was organizing things while Carl sat on the bottom bunk, watching glumly. I walked in quiet enough to hear what they were saying.
"You don't have to be so rude to her, you know," Jasper said quietly as he organized a few comics in a pile ontop of a single shelf above a bearrow.
"Well she didn't have to be so rude to my dad," Carl replied curtly.
Jasper turned around and gave him a 'you've-got-to-be-kidding-me-look', and then saw me standing at the doorway. "Oh, hi."
I stared at him, and then looked around the room. "Where do I stay?"
He gestured towards the twin bed and I set my stuff ontop of the pale blue comforter. The bed was only a little bit longer than I was tall. To be honest, I'm very short for my age of sixteen.
He backed up a little, as if worried I'd lash at him, and then said, "You can put your stuff in that little chair-chest at the end of your bed. The top opens."
I turned to look at him, and then past him to Carl. Carl scowled at me until I looked back at my backpack. "Thanks..." I say curtly and started taking an extra pair of camo pants with a bunch of pockets and a white t-shirt into the little box at the end of my bed. Then my swiss army knife, extra set of wooden arrows, handgun, and blanket in after them.
Suddenly Rick was calling us downstairs. Jasper gestured for me to follow him, so I straightened up, even though my chest screamed otherwise; and followed him down the stairs into the living room.
"Before it gets dark, I want you guys to help around the yard. Jasper and Carl can show you how to get the food from the garden," Rick stared hard at Carl, and he didn't meet his father's gaze. "Now go before night comes."
Carl lead the way outside. The front yard was big, with a walkway to the front gate. The fence was a stone wall to maybe up to my waist, and then black metal bars stretched up higher than Jasper into a point at the top. We were surrounded by tall oak and pine trees outside of the wall. Jasper lead me to the back yard; which was even bigger than the front. The garden took up half of it, though. They opened the wooden gate into the garden, which was filled with flowers, and countless bushes of vegetables.
Jasper brought me to a line of greenbean bushes, handed me a bucket, and showed me how to harvest the big ones. A few times I ripped off a branch, and each time Carl whispered under his breath something insulting. I tried my best to ignore him until I filled the bucket halfway with greenbeans.
***
About two weeks later
I was watering the plants in the garden on a hot afternoon, with Daryl watching. Ever since Daryl found out I was good with arrows, he befriended me in a way. Whenever I was byself, he asked me to do something with him. He even gave me a short crossbow lesson, until we were interupted rudely by some Biters - or how they call them, Walkers.
"So how was life before the world went to hell?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Eh, I mean it was boring. I played feild hockey and didn't have many friends, so I didn't go anywhere -" I was interupted by Abraham called Daryl over to kill a few walkers outside the fence.
"I'll catch ya later," he grumbled and jogged off to go aid Abraham and Glenn. I continued to water the tomatoes with the watering can, when I heard a new crunch of footsteps approach me. He spoke before I could tell him to bug off.
"You're giving them too much water," Carl snapped. "We need that for ourselves."
I glared at him with my different-colored eyes. "We can get more from the stream and boil it, just like we always do, Carl," I reply, trying to keep my cool.
There was a long pause. I assumed I had won another arguement, until he said something more.
"Dumbass," he whispered under his breath, and turned to walk away. I knew I should've ignored it, been the better person, but I whipped around instead and shouted back at him.
"Why are you always such a jerk to me?" I yelled, dropping the watering can and curling my fingers into a fist. He turned and his eyes narrowed. "Did you get your manners by shoving your face into a pile of pig shit?"
His cheeks got red and a handful of rocks came towards me. I dodged most of them, but one caught my nose and pain blazed through my face. I reached up to touch my nose and the pain worsened in a wave. I could feel blood running down my lip.
I stomped out of the garden, shoving Carl out of the way and stomped inside of the house. Rick and Daryl tried to pursue me but I slammed the bathroom door shut and looked in the mirror. By the light coming in through the window, I could see blood streaming from my nose and a cut on it. It hurt like all hell.
I ripped some paper towels from the roll and dabbed away the blood, trying to hold back the pain that made my eyes watery. I covered my nose with new paper towels and walked out of the bathroom, only to bump into Sumner.
"What do you want, Sumner?" I snapped, looking up at him.
"What happened?" he asked, staring at my bleeding nose.
"Carl happened," I said and walked past him into my room.
Carl's POV
I watched Deryn storm away into the house. Not soon after, my dad and Daryl came striding across the lawn towards me.
"What did you do?" Rick asked gruffly, his blue eyes narrowing. I stared back, not afraid.
"I threw a rock at her," I replied truthfully. There was no use in lying now. "She said I stick my nose in pig shit."
"So you threw a rock at her?" Rick said, his voice dropping in disapointment. His tone made me feel bad now. I admit, it was kind of... sort of... really unnessesary.
"You should go apologize and help her wipe all the blood off her face," Daryl snapped.
I made her bleed? Now I really feel bad. I looked at my dad, and he nodded in agreement. I trudged off to the house, stopping into the kitchen and soaking a rag in cold water. Why had I thrown a rock at her? I wouldn't have done it to anyone else, I don't think...
I opened the door to see Jasper leaning over Deryn helping her wipe the blood off her face. I don't know why I got so mad, but I did, and slammed the door shut and stomped away.
