Cherokee Roses {Daryl Dixon's Daughter}

s i x t e e n

Months have passed since the fall of the farm. I've lost weight and I'm growing to be dizzy and tired all the time. We haven't found a permanent home like Rick said we could. It made the winter even harder. Lori is now heavily pregnant and she's going to pop at any moment. 

Things haven't been the same. Lori and Rick are drifting. Carl and I have gotten closer but we're both quieter than we were. Maybe it's because we have to stay quiet to avoid walkers noticing. I don't really know. 

We're currently about to raid another home. That's how we've been surviving all these months. We find a place, scavenge it for supplies, rest for a couple hours or a day and leave again when walkers begin to show. 

Rick kicks open the door shooting one of the walkers in the abandoned home. T-dog kills the other one with a fire poker and dad keeps his crossbow aimed and ready. 

Carl and I follow their lead. We've grown somewhat independent and we sometimes fend for ourselves instead of depending on the adults. We find the kitchen and Carl keeps his gun raised and I do the same with my bow. 

When we see it's clear we continue to the room in the back.  A lone walker stands there and it looks like she's been there for a while. Eventually we let the others in when everything is clear. 

Dad comes downstairs holding an owl and my stomach rumbles. Maggie and Glenn move the dead walkers to the side as Carl and I scavenge through the kitchen. He opens a cabinet under the sink to find two cans of dog food. I grimace and look at him.

"Food is food." He mutters shrugging  taking the cans and making his way into the living room where the others reside. He goes in first and a wave of dizziness washes over me making me clutch the doorframe. 

I watch as Carl sets the cans down and begins to open them with a can opener. Rick walks over taking the cans from him before throwing them into the fireplace. He looks at all of us. We're tired and starving as we exit the house once T-dog spots walkers heading our way.

We run out with dad leading the way. Quickly our supplies are shoved into the cars and I get on the back of dad's motorcycle and once again we're on the road with nowhere to go and walkers following. 

We stop a little ways up the road and everyone gets out to make a game plan. While the adults are spread out around a map Carl is on watch and I sit down with my back against Maggie and Glenn's car. My stomach rumbles and I close my eyes only half listening to the conversation going on around me. 

The herd was around 150 last week, and it's probably doubled by now due to how loud it is. We have nowhere to go and we're extremely low on supplies.

"Hey, while the others wash their panties let's go hunt." Dad says to Rick once the group around the map disperses. I almost get up but I stay on the ground squeezing my eyes shut to regain composure. "That owl didn't exactly hit the spot."

My stomach rumbles once again. What little bit of the owl I ate wasn't enough but I'm thankful for the food. You never know when you'll get your next meal. I stay where I am for a long time. It's not until Carl's reaching for my hand to help me up that I realize everyone is back.

"You okay?" He asks me as I place a hand on the car to steady myself. 

"Just dizzy." I mutter making my way to dads bike. "Where are we going?" 

"Your dad and mine found a place." He says. "We might be able to hold tight for a while."

I hope his words are true. I'm tired of living on the run, it's doing too much damage on my body and I can only imagine what it's doing to Lori. I swing my leg over the back of the bike and clutch dad's shoulder as I do. He squeezes my hand reassuringly and steadies me as I basically let my self fall onto him and the seat.

"How you doing?" He asks me and I lean my head against his back.

"Not great." I tell him truthfully. 

"I have half of an old granola bar in my pack." He tells me nodding towards his bag on the left side of the bike. "Why don't you eat it?"

"No save it." I say. "I'll be fine."

"Cherokee, you can hardly walk on your own." He states. "You need to eat something."

"I had some of the owl." I whisper closing my eyes. 

"The owl isn't enough to keep you goin'" He digs into the pack considering I'm not before producing the half of a granola bar. "Eat." 

"Okay." I say taking the granola bar with a shaking hand before eating it quickly. I feel bad. Someone else could've had it but instead it went to me while everyone around me is starving.

Later on we approach a large structure. By the looks of the walkers inside, it's a prison. It's fortified by multiple fences and a large smile appears on my face. This could be our new home.

Rick cuts a whole in the fence and we all slip inside before closing it off with cable wire. After its closed, we run through the gravel in between the field that's currently infested with walkers and the outside. Dad's taken the lead and opens a gate near what I presume to be a guard tower. Before we all stop and examine our surroundings.

"It's perfect." Rick huffs. "If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight."

"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel presumes.

"I'll do it." Glenn says. "You guys cover me."

I almost step forward until dad gives me a glare telling me no. He's right even if I want to help it's better if I stay back.

"No. It's a suicide run." Maggie tells him. They've gotten closer over the winter also. They hardly leave each others sides. 

"I''m the fastest." He tells her.

"No, you, Maggie, and  Beth draw as many as you can over there. Pop 'em through the fence." Rick instructs. "Daryl, go back to the other tower. You too Cheri. Carol, you've become a pretty good shot. Take your time we don't have a lot of ammo to waste. Hershel, you and Carl take this tower. I'll run for the gate." 

Dad and I take off running for the tower that Rick told us to go to and climb the stairs to get a view of the field. Rick enters the field and begins to shoot walkers too close to him while running for the gate. I hold my crossbow up with a little difficulty but steady it by setting it on the railing. 

I shoot a walker that's around ten feet from Rick before reloading and repeating the process. Carol accidentally shoots at his feet, barely missing him.

"Sorry." She yells even though he can't hear her. I guess it's the thought that counts.

Rick made it to the gate and he closes it before running into the guard tower right next to it. Around 7 walkers follow him and beat on the door as he closes it. "He did it!" 

"Light it up!" Dad yells and multiple shots are fired as the rest of the walkers drop dead to the floor. Soon enough every walker is dead and we all meet back where we split up. I hang close to dad and he gives me a side hug. "Nice shooting." 

"You okay?" Carol asks Lori whose leaning against the gate that enters into the field we just cleared. 

"I haven't felt this good in weeks." She exclaims with a wide grin and I copy her actions. She's definitely right. This could be our new home for a long time.

"We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!" Carol laughs happily running through the field like a kid in a candy store. Glenn kills a stray walker that peaks its head up while T-dog gives out a shout of excitement.

This could be the start of something new.

Word Count: 1424