Future Ghosts • TWD

124. Visitors.

"Hell ya doin' lyin' on the ground?" Daryl asked, glancing down at Rosie as he dropped a pile of wood on the floor next to her.

"Hopin' the clouds will give a better idea of what to draw than you," Rosie replied, keeping her eyes up at the clouds. One of the clouds looked sort of like a hippopotamus, but she wasn't quite sure how to draw a hippopotamus. Not a good one, at least. Anything was better than Daryl's suggestions, though. He always either said to draw him, a squirrel, or a rabbit. He never had any other ideas.

"Well, get up. We got some visitors," Daryl said. He took his poncho off and tossed it on the rack he built for drying clothes.

Upon hearing this, Rosie sat up instantly. It wasn't often that people came to visit. Carol came every once in a while, and sometimes Rosie went to the Kingdom to visit Ian and Henry, but other than that, she spent most of her time with just Daryl and Dog. You'd think she'd get bored, but she didn't really mind. It wasn't like the woods were a boring place, after all. There were plenty of things to do, and Rosie simply didn't mind doing them on her own. Daryl was the one to always make comments about how she should really be hangin' out with other kids.

Every time he mentioned that, though, it always ended with them being irritated with each other. You just want me to leave so ya don't gotta feel bad when ya go to see Leah, Rosie would say. And Daryl would respond with, Ya know that ain't true. You know she ain't around no more. Then Rosie would say something along the lines of, Maybe if you'd ever let me meet her, ya wouldn't've had to send me off to the Kingdom whenever ya wanted to see her. I knew why the hell you were sendin' me there. It's bullshit. And it would finish with Daryl saying, You best watch the way you're talkin' to me, Rosie Starling. And then they wouldn't talk to each other for a few hours. It just never ended well.

But this time, Rosie didn't have to go to the Kingdom to see Ian and Henry, because when she sat up, she saw them walking towards Daryl and Rosie's little camp with Carol leading the way.

"Hey, Rosie," Ian said, giving a small wave.

"Hi," Rosie said, giving them a tight-lipped smile as she stood up to her feet.

"You really just live out here with Daryl?" Henry asked, raising his eyebrows a bit as he looked around at the camp. This was the first time either of the boys had been out here. It was always Rosie going to visit them- never them coming to visit Rosie. She didn't mind, though. It was nice to get a break from the woods sometimes, she supposed. It was nice to see everyone.

"Yeah. Why?" Rosie asked.

"Don't you get bored?" Ian replied, raising his eyebrows.

"Sometimes. Don't you get bored at the Kingdom?" Rosie asked, raising her eyebrows, too.

"Well, yeah, sometimes, but-"

"See? Ain't that different," Rosie said. She took one of the bags out of Ian's hands and placed it down next to the tent. "You can put your stuff there," she said, and Henry and Ian did so.

"You didn't fix the boat since last time?" Carol asked Daryl, trying not to sound too disappointed. Rosie could tell by her face that she was disappointed, though. It wasn't hard to tell. Carol looked a lot different than she used to. The first time she came to visit with her hair grown out, Rosie was very, very confused. But after a while, she got used to it.

Anyway, Daryl didn't bother responding to Carol's question. He just washed his hands off in the water as Dog came running towards him with a walker hand in his mouth. "Good dog," Daryl said, taking the hand from Dog and tossing it into the fire.

"He didn't fix it," Rosie answered for Daryl, seeing as Daryl wasn't going to answer for himself. He was a bit more grumpy than he used to be, especially when Carol came around. Rosie knew that he was glad to see Carol. It was just that, whenever Carol came to visit, she would try to take care of him and help him, and Daryl didn't want to be taken care of or helped. He liked being secluded, apparently. So when Carol tried to help him, he kind of pushed her away.