Cherokee Roses {Daryl Dixon's Daughter}

f o u r t y t w o

I fell asleep in dad's arms. Right now, they seem like the safest place in the world. He doesn't object either, he just holds me close until I fall asleep. 

It's a restless sleep, I'll admit. I might've only gotten about an hour. The only reason I fell asleep is from exhaustion. Carl and Michonne are right behind us in the backseat. Somehow, dad managed to squeeze us into the front seat. Rick is outside of it in a shock like state, probably from the brutality we faced and committed.

"I'm gonna go check on him." He whispers in my ear and I shake my head grabbing for his arm as he moves to get up. "It will only take a couple of minutes little Rose."

Hesitantly I nod, letting go of him as he moves out of the seat and I curl myself up into a ball. He moves around to the drivers side of the car and sits next to Rick.

"I didn't know what they were." Dad tells Rick.

"How'd you wind up with them?"Rick asks.

"I was with Beth." He says. "We got out together, I was with her for a while. "

"Is she dead?" Rick asks quietly.

"She's just gone. After that, that's when they found me. I mean, I knew they were bad, but they had a code.It was simple. Stupid, but it was something, it was enough."

"You were alone." Rick reassures my father who seems disappointed in himself.

"Said they were looking for some guy, last night they said they spotted him. I was hanging back. I was gonna leave." Dad tells him. "But I stayed, then I saw it was you four. Right when you saw me. I didn't know what they could do." 

"It's not on you Daryl."  Rick tells him. "Hey. It's not on you, you being back with us now, that's everything. You're my brother."

"Hey what you did last night." Dad says after a moment of silence. "Anyone would do that."

"No, not that." Rick tells him.

"I would've," Dad admits to Rick. "I'd do it to keep my girl safe. Something happened, that wasn't you."

"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese. It ain't all of it, but that's me. That's why I'm here now, that's why Carl is. I want to keep him safe, that's all that matters."

After that it's quiet, and dad comes back to my side of the car. "You guys ready to go?" 

With a nod, I begin to pack of what little I have and put my backpack on my back. My crossbow hangs on my shoulder and I follow my dad into the woods. We're taking the rail road tracks to terminus. It's a straight shot. 

Carl, Dad, and I walk a couple paces behind Rick and Michonne who lead us murmuring to themselves. Rick stops at a fallen sign and pushes it with the toe of his boot. 

"We're getting close." Dad says.  "Be there before sundown." 

"Now we head through the woods." Rick tells us. "We don't know who they are."

So, dad leads us into the woods. I'm right behind him as we come up to a fence. We're here. Rick sets down the bag he was holding and gestures for my dad to walk to the edge of the fence with him.  

Looking through the chainlink we exam the big building labeled terminus. There's nobody outside or walking around. This seems pretty fishy. 

"We all spread out."  Rick tells us. "Watch for a while, see what we see, and get ready. We all stay close." 

When we split up I go with my dad. I just found him and as stupid as it sounds since we're staying close together, I don't want to lose him again. Especially after everything that happened last night.