The Walking Dead: Danielle Grimes

164.

Danielle's POV

"Remember that look in his eye?" Lydia asks. Me and Daryl are still sitting outside the cells, against the wall, listening to Lydia tell Henry about her group. It's dark now, the moon shining and a slight chill in the air.

"I still see it. How cold it is. Was." Lydia sighs before she continues. "Why am I even telling you this?" She asks rhetorically.

"Beats the quiet. Beats being alone." Henry tells her. "Never been alone." Lydia replies. "My people travelled in groups with the dead. I miss the sounds, the smell."

"Not gonna lie, walking around in dead people's skins is pretty messed up." Henry says.

Don't disagree there, kid.

"Thinking this place isn't gonna fall like every other place....that's messed up." Lydia states.

"Agree to disagree." Henry mutters. "Your dad's as asshole like mine." Lydia comments. I snort making Daryl glare at me. "She's not wrong." I mutter. Daryl just rolls his eyes at me.

"All you did was sneak out." Lydia continues. "Is it even that hard? Are there a lot of guards posted here?" She asks catching mine and Daryl's attention.

"Daryl's not my dad. He doesn't even want to be here. He's only doing it as a favour to my mom." Henry tells her. You don't need a genius to figure out that Daryl doesn't want to be here.

"I thought you said your mom died." Lydia observes. "My second mom, I mean." Henry corrects her. "She's tough like my auntie Dee." He says making me smile. "They're both people you don't want to mess with. Hey, what happened to your dad?" Henry asks.

There's a moment of silence before Lydia answers. "My dad was a stupid man. My mom, though, she kept me alive. Kept me safe. She's a lot like your mom......You don't mess with her, either."

Good to know.

******

By morning, me and Daryl are still listening to Lydia and Henry. She's singing like a canary down there, telling him pretty much every nook and cranny of her group and her mom but whether it's the truth or not, I'm still not sure.

"You want my other egg?" Henry ask politely. "I could roll it to you. If-if you want."

"You don't have to take care of me." Lydia says solemnly. "I'm just trying to be nice." Henry mutters softly.

"You can keep it. Hunger's a gift." Lydia tells him earnestly. "Why are you being nice to me?" She asks him, confusion clear in her tone.

"When me and my brother and my dad were found out there....we were pretty messed up, too. Took a lot of someone being nice to us to make things okay again." Henry tells her honestly.

"You think I'm messed up?" Lydia asks with a bite to her tone. "How is hunger a gift?" Henry asks back, confused, instead of answering her question. "If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand. It'll never be okay again." She replies solemnly.

"Says who?" Henry asks firmly. "My dad." Lydia softly says. I can hear in her tone that she misses him, more than she's letting on or telling Henry. There's a moment of silence before she continues. "Checkmate. He always....she always said that."

"Your mom sounds nice." Henry comments. "Yeah....is your uh-is your second mom the person who found you?" She asks curiously.

"No, it was my uh-my dad, Ezekiel. My second dad." Henry replies honestly. "Why isn't he here with your mom?" Lydia asks.