Future Ghosts • TWD

4. More Badass.

It had been three and a half days since the death of David Banks. Rosie refused to go to her tent. In fact, she refused to do anything. She sat herself down on one of the seats around the firepit and stayed there, unmoving. She wouldn't eat. She wouldn't speak. She wouldn't acknowledge anyone, even if they were crouched down right in front of her, speaking to her.

Lori, Dale, Shane, Glenn, Carol, T-Dog; they'd all taken their turns trying to get any sort of response out of her. The closest thing they got to a response was her taking and drinking a bottle of water that was placed on the seat next to her by Glenn.

The truth was, though, that Rosie wasn't going to get better if she didn't try. She had given up. She hadn't slept or eaten or even moved from her spot. Lori, being a mother herself, was getting very, very concerned. She cared about Rosie, even if she wasn't her own child. She was still just a child. Lori did not want to watch the girl deteriorate in front of her eyes.

So, she took her concerns to Officer Shane Walsh.

"I just-" Lori stopped and sighed, glancing back at Rosie, "I'm worried, Shane. She's not getting any better. We need to do something."

"What do you want me to do, Lori? We've tried. We can't force her to do anything. If she's gonna get better, it'll be on her own accords," Shane replied, running his hand through his short, brown hair. He was concerned too, but he'd accepted the fact that there was nothing they could do.

"I think it's time you talk to the Dixons," Lori said in a quiet, yet stern voice as she placed her hands on her hips and gave Shane a serious look. He just sighed looked off to the side, shaking his head. "Shane, they are the only people who knew her dad. And her, for that matter. Maybe they can help."

"They're assholes, Lori. You really think it's best for a little girl to be hanging around them?"

"It's better than a little girl starving to death!" Lori whisper-shouted. She looked back at Rosie, worried that she might've heard them, but Rosie was just staring straight forward, as per usual. "That girl needs help, and she obviously isn't going to accept it from any of us. We need to try someone else."

With a sigh, Shane pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head at himself. "Fine," he said, very reluctantly, "I'll talk to them." But don't count on them being willing to do shit, he wanted to add, but didn't. He started marching off towards the Dixons' camp.

Merle was the only person out in front of their tent. He was sitting in a chair, smoking a cigarette while Daryl must have been in the tent. He rolled his eyes when he saw Shane coming. Shane walked over and stood with his arms crossed, very clearly doing this unwillingly.

"Problem, Officer?" Merle asked with a mocking tone.

Upon hearing this, Daryl stepped out of the tent and sat down on one of the crates, wanting to see what was going on. He was worried that Shane had figured out what Merle did.

"It's about Rosie," Shane replied. Daryl glanced at Merle, but Merle didn't return his gaze.

"What about 'er?" Merle asked.

"Lori wants-" Shane stopped and bit his tongue for a moment, "I want you to talk to her." Merle chuckled in amusement and Daryl scoffed, both of them shaking their heads. "Look, man, she won't eat or sleep or talk to any of us and-"

"And you think us buggin' her is gonna change that?" Merle said with a half-annoyed, half-amused smile on his face.

"Jus' leave 'er alone. She'll get over it," Daryl added. He wasn't actually sure if she would get over it, but he didn't want to have any part in it either way. He didn't need to be worried about some little girl, especially when his brother was the man who killed her father.