Daughter of the Fallen

Forget

At gate watch, I was looking through the scope of my rifle to look for walkers when I heard a voice behind me.

"Hey."

I turned to see Carl.

I sighed. "Hey."

He came to stand next to me, leaning on the gate just like I was. "How are you?"

I shrugged. "Fine," I answered plainly.

He looked over at me. "You're still upset."

I realized that is how I sounded. "No," I said quickly and sighed. "I'm sorry. It's been a weird day."

He nodded. "Yes, it has," he agreed.

I took a deep breath. "Aiden almost got me killed."

He turned to me in shock, his hat almost flying off his head. "He what??"

I recounted the whole story to him. By the end, he was chuckling bitterly and shaking his head.

"I'll kill him," he said, more to himself than to me, I think.

I offered a little smile. "Don't worry. Glenn's P.O'd enough for the both of you. And I'm fine. I'm not going on another run with him again, though."

"Good," he replied, slowly calming down.

I decided to change the subject. "Why were you and Rick outside the walls? There weren't any other runs scheduled for today."

His eyes seemed to widen for a second, but when I blinked, they were back to normal and I wonder if I had imagined it.

"We, um," he explained, stuttering a little. "I went out there to help him kill walkers."

I nodded, seeing right through him. "Okay, now how about you tell me the truth?"

He sighed. "I saw that Enid was going over the wall."

I looked at him in shock. "And you followed her?" I asked, my voice reprimanding.

He stared at the floor in shame.

I took a deep breath. "What was she doing?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. She got too far ahead of me."

I shook my head and took another deep breath.

"It won't happen again," he promised.

I sighed and chose to believe him. "Okay."

As we turned back to look for walkers, I felt his arm softly pressed against mine and it made me smile.

•••

The next morning, I was at gate watch again waiting for Carl when I saw Olivia opening the gate for my mom.

Confused, I called out. "Mom!"

She turned as I climbed down and jogged over to her. "What are you doing?" I asked.

She put on a kind face but I could tell she wasn't happy. "I just gotta hunt."

"Are you okay?" I asked, nervous.

She nodded. "I'm fine. Promise." She kissed my forehead and walked out.

Moments later, Carl walked up and saw my expression. "What is it?" he asked.

I sighed and turned to him. "I'm worried about my mom."

•••

That night, Deanna was holding a welcoming party at her house. I didn't wanna go, but my parents made me. I guess it was really important for my mom to go.

Since my parents were still getting ready, I just went with, Carl, Rick, Judith, and Carol.

Deanna saw us walk in and she smiled, approaching us.

"Hi, everyone," she greeted happily. "Thank you for coming." She saw Judith and smiled wider. "I didn't get a chance to interview this one. I envy her."

"Why?" Rick asked.

"She'll get to see what this place will become."

That thought made me smile.

She beckoned us inside and we followed her.

•••

Around an hour later, the party was in full swing.

Carl and I were standing off to the side when we saw Ron and his family walk in.

Carl looked at me, looking like he was begging me to give Ron a chance.

I smiled and rolled my eyes playfully. "You're luckily I'm in a good mood. Fine, I'll hang out with him."

Twenty minutes later, I was immediately regretting it. Carl, Ron, and Mikey were immersed in a game of cards. I leaned against the doorframe, watching them.

They were arguing over who won when I chuckled and stepped forward. "Alright, I'm gonna leave you three alone."

Carl turned. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah, this is a boys thing. I'm gonna go talk to Glenn and Maggie. And my dad."

I pat Carl's shoulder and started walking towards them. I looked over and saw Rick talking with Jessie. It wasn't my business, but I could tell they were flirting. It made me smile.

Finally, I got to my dad, Glenn, and Maggie. Maggie smiled when she saw me and pulled me into a hug.

As I got into a conversation with the three of them and as my mom joined soon after, I started to get a weird feeling that I hadn't felt in a really long time.

I started to feel at home.