Life Isn't Fair

24

"So." I start a conversation, mostly because the other three are quiet. "How's Maggie?" I ask Glenn. "She's doing pretty good." He replies to me. Daryl looks back at me and smiles, which I rarely ever see him do. "Whatcha doin redneck?" I ask chuckling. "Nothing much red head." He claps back with a nickname I've never been called before, but I just laugh lightly. "Well, what do you guys wanna do?" I ask, tilting my head like Rick does. I guess I picked that habit up from him. "I'm gonna clean my knives." Daryl says in a rusty voice. "Alrighty then. Glenn?" I ask. "Not really, I just wanna hear some music, or the radio still works." Glenn says leaning his head back. "I don't think it does, but let's try it." I reach forward and I try out the radio, but all it gives us is a scratchy static sound. I turn it off immediately, because the sound was hurting everyone's ears. "Well, that didn't work." I huff. "Wait, I've heard you sing before." Glenn says, excitedly. "Absolutely not." I snort. "Yes. Sing something for is. It'll be nice for a change." Glenn smiles. I love him. He's just so warm and full of joy in a world like this. I clear my throat, because I haven't done this in a while, and I begin.

Run, Run, Run away....
Buy yourself another day.

A cold wind's whispering secrets. in your ear, so low only you can hear.
Hm Hm.

Run, Run, and hide.....
Somewhere no one else can find.
Adultery's mumbling, pointing where to go. Where you'd still be all alone, Hm Hm.

Don't you fret my dear....
It'll all be over soon.
I'll be waiting here......

For you.

Glenn stares at me admiration, And I reply to his reaction with, "That song means a lot. Not just to me but I know it means a lot to you." I say softly. Daryl and Rick say nothing as we continue driving, and I know that they've been clinging to every word since I've started talking. "The world will be better. I promise." I say to all of the boys. "Maybe. Just...Maybe." Rick says quietly, dragging out the 'Just'. We've been driving for over 4 hours, so this group must be pretty far. When we arrive at the place of the camp, we park a few roads back, just in case anything happens. "So here's are plan of action. Skylar and Daryl will be our lookouts from either side of the front walls, and Glenn you'll come with me to confront the group. Sound good?" Rick asks as we are all sat in the car still. None of us get to answer, because a car pulls up behind us and we all stay still, not wanting whoever is in the other car to know we are here. We stay absolutely silent and still, acting as though we are prey being hunted. But, nothing really alarms me or surprises me when I watch Carl and Enid, his girlfriend, step out of the car. Rick sighs and shakes his head angrily, then opens the door to lecture the kids. Me, Glenn, and Daryl just look at each other and back at the kids. "You guys have been following us the entire time?" Rick asks. At this point al of us are out of the car and watching the scene unfold. "Yeah. We wanted to come and help." Carl says with a dignified smile on his face. I almost felt bad for the kid. Besides, he shouldn't be out here because he could very easily get hurt. And we don't want that. Rick rubs his forehead, and then sighs, looking at the two teens. "Fine. Did you pack what you need at least?" Rick says, almost out of patience I guess. "Yeah. You can't make us go now so might as well just take us." I laugh involuntarily, and everyone looks at me. "What? Not used to 'Typical Teenage Behavior' yet?" I snort and Rick gives me a glare. "Yeah Dad." Carl laughs along with me. "Cut em' some slack Rick. They'd be a great help too, by the way." I conclude, giving the teens a chance to help. Carl looks at me and nods, allowing me to nod back. Daryl gives a quick, "Tsk." And I chuckle. "Like you've never been a teenager before." I say. "Well yeah, I have. And it wasn't a very good experience. Let's just say that." Daryl says with a cigarette in his mouth, and his crossbow in his arms as he tries to load it. "I was too. A lot of acne and homework though." Glenn smiles. Talking about the past and what the world used to be like and what our younger selves used to be like, really made me happy. "Alright. Let's get this show on the road." Daryl says with, once again, a rusty voice. "Okay." I say turning around and walking towards the car to get my stuff. All of a sudden, we hear yelling and a gun go off, causing everyone to hop into the cars. I jump into the drivers seat, literally, and Rick, Daryl, and Glenn are all yelling at me to go. I pull back the stick shift and stomp on the gas, as we watch the guys who were about to shoot us look at our cars in suspicion. Carl and Enid are behind us, following every path I take and every dirt road I go down. When I feel as thougb we are far enough in the thick trees of the forest, I pull the car into a slow roll, then a stop. I pant, heavily, and lean back in my chair. Once I regain my composure, I smack the steering wheel, hard, gaining everyone's attention. "What the Hell just happened?" I look around and get shrugs, and I huff at the response I get. "What does it look like Princess, we almost got shot up." Daryl says sarcastically. "You really better shut up before I knock the smirk off your face." I reply. "There's no need for that. We should set up camp here." Rick says, changing the topic. I stare at Daryl, roll my eyes, and then unlock the car. Rick climbs out first and checks to see if the teens are okay. Me and Glenn pop open the trunk and grab our stuff out, and shut the trunk before setting our stuff on the ground right next to the car. My fingers rap around a cold, silver, big, metal canteen. "Good thing I brought this, huh?" I say smiling while swinging the bottle around my fingers. "I also brought that spark starter so we can make a fire without looking like cavemen." I laugh lightly, and begin to pick up the stuff and tred over to the area that everybody picks to camp at. My lips hang open in an exasperated sigh, and my mind becomedms flooded with ideas and past events. When I was little, my father used to take me into the woods to learn how to survive the wilderness. My mom would always stay home and prepare muffins and blueberry pancakes dipped in syrup, while me and my dad went out to explore the area, and for him to teach me new things about nature. By the time we got home, we'd all have breakfast and talk about the norm, A.k.a, the News or how our day is going so far, usual family talk. We'd go out around 5:00 in the morning, to 10:00am, so about 5 hours gathering and exploring the area. "I think the tent should be in the back, the supplies here, and the fire here." Carl points to the different spots where everything should be, and Rick nods, picking up the tent and placing it where Carl had suggested. As he and Daryl set it up, I was struggling to carry all of the firewood by myself, but Enid came to the rescue as soon as she saw my burden. "Looks like you need help." She chuckles, taking two of the logs out of my arms. "Thanks Enid." I smile, now only having three in my arms. We haul them over to the circle of rocks I had layed out, and Place them inside. I skip over to the backpack I had brought, grab the spark starter, and make my way over to the pile of wood pieces waiting to be lit on fire. I place the metal object into the wood, grab my knife, and scrape the sharp part on the end. It starts a spark, then it turns into a small flame. I grab small pieces of leaves and other stuff, and place them insids the fire to make it grow. It did eventually, and by that time our camp was set up. "I'll sleep in the car. You, Carl, and Enid can take the tent, just so you guys are comfortable. Glenn and Daryl, you can sleep whereever you want. But I recommend the cars." I laugh and yawn straight after, causing some of the others to catch it as well. "Goodnight everyone." I chuckle sincerely. I walk over to the car and lay out the thick blanket over the backseat, grab two of the pillows, and lay down on my back. I shut the door, and notice everyone settling in for the night, except Daryl. I lean down and close my eyes, trying to catch some sleep, but after an hour or so, it's no use. I sit up, push the blanket off of me and silently open the car door. I shut it when I get out, just so no mosquitos get inside while I'm stepped away, and make my way over to a very focused Daryl. I follow his line of vision and see him staring at the fire, in daydream. I slowly walk next to him, as he is sitting against a tree, and I slide down next to him. "Can't sleep?" He mumbles. "Yeah. The seat is hurting my back." I explain. I stretch, look at Daryl, and nod. "I'll take watch for the next few hours. You go and get some rest." I point to the car that I just climbed out of. "Thanks Skylar." He pats my back and stands up, taking his crossbow with him as he walks over to the car. I wiggle to get comfortable against the tree, and mumble a, "Time to watch."