Hiraeth (The Walking Dead)

Chapter 26

After most of the group left to the new settlements to find Glenn and Maggie, Cailey ushered Hershel and Carl back inside with Carol and Beth. She sat cross-legged in the perch Daryl usually slept in, the dog's head in her lap as she stared out at the gates. Cailey held her new book in her hands, beginning to try and read it. She was very slow at reading still, and had to sound out most of the words. The only reason she could tell that "Little John" was a name was because her second cousin had been named John. The girl's pale finger traced over each line, taking nearly five or ten minutes for each page.

By the time Cailey had reached chapter three, the moon was crawling up the dark sky. She could hear Carol cooing at Judith in the cell block to calm her down, and heard Carl and Hershel talking about Rick coming back. Cailey held an oil lamp close to her lap, one hand petting the dog as she kept sounding out the words.

"D-e-v-i-l," she whispered to herself. "Deevil. Devil. Devil."

"Hey, Cailey."

The girl's head whipped around. The dog's followed, watching as Cailey stared up at Carol. The grey-haired woman still had baby Judith in her hands. "You doing okay up here?"

Cailey turned her head back to her book as she mumbled "Yeah."

Quiet footsteps padded up to Cailey as Carol kneeled down next to her. "You know he's going to be okay, right? They can fight through this."

"Yeah," Cailey muttered gruffly. "They're big boys."

Carol remained silent with another sigh. Her thin free hand reached out to the the dog sniff her palm before she slowly stroked the fur on his head. "What have you named him?"

"Dunno," the girl mumbled again. "Just dog for now."

The woman smiled and shook her head. "You sound just like Daryl." When Carol received only a shrug for an answer, she added "You should give him a real name."

"Yeah," Cailey kept looking over the lines on her book. Her finger was still tracing over the words as she sounded them out in her head.

Carol could only give another silent sigh as she stood up. "Come on down to eat something soon. You'll need it."

Cailey split half of her food with her dog. It was a type of mixed vegetables from the cans with part of the fish she had caught earlier. She thought maybe that would be a good name for the dog- Fish. He seemed to like eating the fish, and could probably be a good swimmer. But it just didn't fit. Dog was a good name.

The young hunter didn't sleep that night. She remained up in the perch, sitting on Daryl's sleeping bag. Her oil lamp lit her lap as she read over the words of her book, staring out the window every few minutes to find a closed empty gate outside. Cailey paced around the prison twice throughout the night, each time her dog getting up to follow after being woken.

Cailey had almost reached halfway through the book by the time the sun was rising. She was beginning to understand why Daryl said she reminded him of Robin Hood, though she wasn't sure whether to be complimented or insulted. She was beginning to like Friar Tuck, but Little John seemed to be too shallow and stupid.

Cailey stared over at her dog with his head in her lap. That could be a good name for him. Friar Tuck. She could call him Friar. She'd never hear the end of it from Daryl. But it was a fitting name.

Cailey pet her hand over the dog's head as he snored. His name would be Friar.

But Cailey was getting distracted from her task at hand. She was still worried about if the rest of her group would make it back alive. It was dawn, but they still hadn't returned from the other settlement.

The teenage girl stood up and walked out of the prison in silence, carrying her book in her back pocket as Friar followed. The orange sun rays were pouring out over the asphalt, warming Cailey's ankles as she stepped across the courtyard in her too-large boots. She lit one of the cigarettes from her jacket pocket, blowing out a thin puff of smoke and staring out at the gates.

Cailey paced the courtyard for hours until the sun was high in the sky. Carol and Carl eventually joined her late in the afternoon as they traveled down to the field gate, hoping their group would return soon. And they did. The blue minivan rolled right up to the gate, and Cailey could see Rick in the driver's seat through the sunlight in the window.

As Carl and Carol were opening up the gate, Cailey unclipped her bow from her back as she sauntered down the field path. Friar followed close behind, his tongue lagging below his chin.

Cailey stared at the men crawling out of the van. Rick climbed out, then Maggie, then Glenn- who had clearly taken a beating. But Daryl was nowhere to be seen, not even his crossbow.

Carl hugged his father tightly. Carol was the first to speak. "Hey, where's Daryl?"

"Yeah," Cailey agreed, her voice much rougher and annoyed than Carol's. "Where's he?"

The sheriff sighed, hands on his hips. "Daryl's not coming back."

Cailey felt a deep pit in the bottom of her stomach. She gripped her bow until her knuckles burned white. "What the hell happened?"

"He's fine, he's alive," Rick put a reassuring hand in the air, almost gesturing for Cailey to calm down. "We found his brother. He went off with him. They're not staying at the Woodbury settlement, but they went off together."

Cailey had heard all about Merle, Daryl's older brother. Even Daryl didn't seem to be much of a fan of the man. But Rick's statement gave her emotions she couldn't understand. She didn't know what she was feeling.

"Okay," the girl muttered.

"Okay?" Rick echoed in question.

Cailey gripped her bow even tighter, turning swiftly on her heels as Friar followed close behind. "Okay."