My Fear, My Silence

Chapter Thirteen: Smile

I wake up to yelling downstairs. I grab Ika and head to the stairs. I see Hershel, Maggie, Lori, Shane, Rick and Daryl arguing. I go down a few steps to see and hear whats happening, but not enough to be seen.

"The hell ya want from me!" Daryl yells throwing his arm in the air.

"To take some damn responsibility!" Shane growls.

"She needs you and you don't give a damn!" Lori shouts.

"I have been out their looking for that little girl ya left in the woods. Sorry I ain't here playing house and using Chinaman as walker bait!" Daryl growls.

"He is right, He has been helping look for that child." Hershel adds. More yelling and yelling went back and forth. Rick pinched the bridge of his nose. I took a step down and the stairs creaked. No one noticed but Rick he saw me. I gave him a smile and a small wave.

"Stop being a god damn jackass and care about someone for once!" Shane yelled and pushed Daryl. Daryl pushed back.

"NO!" I shout making everyone turn their head. I run down the steps and grab Daryl's leg to protect him. "Stop being mean to Daryl!" I shout at Shane. Everyone looked at Daryl then me with smirks on their faces. Rick then spoke up.

"She is right, enough with the petty bullshit. Daryl, Mason is now your responsibility."

"What! I-"

'This ain't a discussion anymore. You will take care of her, but that doesn't mean we won't be around. She is yours to take care of." Rick said sternly as he cut Daryl's protests off.

"Fine, Lets go Mason." Daryl growled. I knew he wasn't happy with me cause he called me Mason. I followed him to his camp, which was away from everyone. I liked it like that, I didn't like to many people at once. We got there and Daryl grabbed his crossbow.

"I'm going hunting, don't do anything stupid." He growled and headed to the woods. I watched him leave, but something fell out of his pocket. I ran an grabbed it, but didn't chase after him. It was a photo. There were three girls. The tallest had Long straight blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a white tank top and jeans. She had a big smile on her face.

Next to her was a girl who looked around Beth's age. She had dark brown curly hair. Her eyes were bright green. She didn't fully smile, it was more of a smirk like Daryl had. She wore a red and black Flannel that fell of one shoulder, she had a black tank top on underneath.

She had a girl my age in her lap. The little girl had hazel eyes too and blonde hair that was in a high ponytail. She had a big smile on her face, so big you almost couldn't see her eyes. She had a brown T-shirt on and had dark blue jeans on. I turn the photo over and it had writing on the back

Alex, Mikayla and Ava

Ava's first time at the Creek with the Dixons

I guess this was Daryl's family. I decided to surprise him. I grabbed my bag from the RV and ran back to our tent. I started to draw the photo, just like I did for Merle. Maybe it would help him smile again.

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Daryl came back when it was dark and he made a fire. He was about to start skinning his hunt, but a jumped out of the tent and had a big grin on my face. I hid the pictures behind me.

"Hey Pinkie." He said, He picks up his knife but I clear my throat for him to pay attention. He turns, sighs and puts his knife down. "What is it?"

"I have a surprise for you.."

"Really now, well what is it?" I had him the photo. His eyes go wide as I give it back to him. He takes it in his hands and holds it, staring at the photo.

"You dropped it when you were going hunting, so I picked it up and drew this!" I showed him my drawing. "It's good luck, like Merle's cause were going to find them." I tell him. He smirks. I sit next to him and look at the photo with him. He stares at it, and I see little stray tears. I wipe his cheeks and give it a small kiss to making him smile.

"Thanks Pinkie." He says and gives me a kiss on the top of my head.

"Are they your sisters?" He chuckles.

"Nah, they are sisters though." He points to the tallest one. "That's ma gurl, Alex. She put ma life back together." Then He points to the girl that smiles like him. "That's Mikayla. She is 17. Mik and I are close friends, I met Alex through her. Let me tell ya, that girl is stronger than anyone I know." Then he points to the girl that is my age. He takes a deep breath. "This is Ava, She is 6. She like ya. Girl's so damn shy, but she sees the good in people." He folds the photo and puts it in his back pocket.

I hold out my pinky to him.

"What this time?" He chuckles.

"Its a promise we will find them!" I smile. He wraps his pinky around mind. I then give him a big hug. He tenses but then hugs me back. "I love you Daryl." I squeeze my arms around him then headed to bed.