Daughter of a Dixon ✔️

29: Deserted

When I went to sleep that night, Rick, Dad, and Michonne weren't at the prison, and when I woke up, nothing had changed.

I thought for sure that they'd be back by morning; they were just going to sneak Maggie, Glenn, and possibly Merle out of Woodbury. It couldn't have taken that long. Could it?

I knew I would be worrying myself sick if I didn't do something to preoccupy my mind, so I went downstairs into the main part of our cell block, hoping to find something to do. Before I could even reach the bottom of the stairs, though, that something found me.

Carl rushed over and grabbed my arm, pulling me forcefully around the corner. I didn't even have time to ask him what he was doing before he let go of me, stopping in front of the entrance to a separate block. Then, I was able to see why he needed me.

Three, unfamiliar people were standing in the cell block, and one was lying on the ground. In the group, there was a larger African-American man with a hammer, a small, mixed woman with curly hair, and a tall, white man with a beard.

"They got in through the tombs; the walkers were after them," Carl said, looking over to me.

"Did you tell Hershel?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Said to just keep an eye on them for now, and we'll see what Dad says when he gets back."

I gave him one, short nod, scanning the new group with my eyes. They seemed intimidating, but also loyal. They didn't look like the type of people who would pose as a threat, at least that's what I thought.

"What do you think about them?" Carl asked me in a hushed voice, stepping closer beside me.

I exhaled as I looked at them, making sure to take in every detail of their body language. "They seem alright to me, like they could help us... but, apparently, I can't make calls, so..." I gave him a shrug, shaking my head as well.

"You made the call about Michonne. She told us where Glenn and Maggie were, and your uncle."

"Yeah... and, according to my dad, I'm still wrong."

Carl exhaled a slow breath, and eventually just shrugged his shoulders. "Just... help me watch after them, until everyone gets back," he told me.

I nodded in agreement, and we both turned to look back at the group. They were all three staring at us with strange expressions, most likely because we were only thirteen, and they could pummel through us in a second if they wanted to. But, they didn't, and I took notice of that as something positive.

Carl and I walked over and sat on top of one of the tables in the room, still not removing our eyes from the group.

After minutes of awkward silence, I was the one to break it. "You got names?"

"Um... I'm Tyreese, this is Sasha, David, and uh, Lily," he said, the last person being the dead woman on the ground. "What about you two?"

"I'm Sidney," I told them.

"Carl."

The larger man, Tyreese, nodded his head.

No other words were exchanged after that.

When I heard the door to the courtyard open and then be slammed shut, I jumped up from the table and ran out into the cell block with Carl by my side. I saw that Rick, Michonne, Glenn, and Maggie were in the cell block, but my dad nor Uncle Merle was. At the sight, my heart sunk, but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions too quickly.

Then, Rick came over to me with a somber expression, and I knew something was wrong. He squatted down to be eye level with me, and I mentally prepared myself for what he was about to say.

"Merle was there, at Woodbury. He did that to Glenn..." I took a moment to look back at Glenn's bloodied, bruised face, and internally winced. "...Glenn didn't want him back here, and I couldn't let him come, you can understand that, right, Sidney?"

Silently, I gave Rick a nod. Even though Merle was my uncle, I knew how he was; he didn't behave well around other people, and I knew he would bring more problems than solutions to the group.

"Well... I don't think Daryl could. His words were, 'no him, no me'. He went off with Merle, he didn't come back with us."

Words evaded me. I couldn't speak, I couldn't do anything. Rick was looking at me, waiting for me to do something, and I meekly just stared at the ground. After a few seconds, I cleared my throat, and gave him a curt nod. "Okay.." I muttered under my breath.

"You gonna be alright?" Rick asked, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.

I didn't expect Rick to understand what I was feeling in that moment, so I just gave him a nod, hoping that I could get away and be alone as soon as possible. I heard him sigh, and he gave my shoulder a squeeze before standing up to his full height.

I took that as my cue to leave; I spun around on my heel and silently made my way up to my cell. Since I had the key to the door beside my cot, I closed the cell behind me and immediately went to the cot. I didn't want to see anyone right then, I just wanted to be left alone. No one could understand what I was feeling, so why should I have tried to convey it to them?

To make it short, I was utterly crushed. My dad, the only real person who had ever cared about and taken care of me, had left me. Without a word. Given, I didn't say goodbye to him before he left, but that surely didn't give him the right to desert me. He was my dad, he was supposed to be there for me and protect me, no matter what, and I was supposed to do the same for him. Since my mom had left the picture when I was young, throughout my whole life, Dad was all I had. I surely couldn't rely on Merle for anything, so Dad was it.

I was so consumed in my thoughts that even the yelling from downstairs didn't grab my attention. I could tell that Rick was the one yelling, most likely at Tyreese's group, so I didn't worry too much about it. I didn't think I had the ability to care at the moment; I was just so heartbroken, I couldn't think about anything else.

After awhile, I just laid down on my cot, letting myself be suffocated by my thoughts, and I remained in that position until darkness fell upon the prison.