Carl Grimes's life was great. He had both parents, a ton of friends, and a great role model. His dad was a sheriff at the King's County Police Department, while his mom was a stay at home mother. His role model just so happened to be his dad's best...
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Emily's Pov
I was wrong. Our day changed quickly. One second, we were walking in the woods enjoying the beauty of nature. The next second, we were running back towards camp shouting for our parents.
As Jacqui was guiding us, we had came to an opening where a walker was chewing on the carcass of a deer. Jacqui immediately told us to run. As we ran, we screamed for our parents. The group came running with multiple weapons in hand. Carol ran to Sophia while Lori ran to Carl. I didn't have another to run to or comfort me. I was so scared at the moment because of the fact that a walker could get this close to camp.
Black spots invaded my vision as my breathing became faster and shorter. I became lightheaded as a pair of soft hands grabbed my arms.
"Emily, you are okay sweetie. Breath for me." I hear Lori's voice say. When I looked up I expected to see her, but saw someone completely different. Momma. She looked the same. It was like looking an older reflection of myself. The sight made me cry. "Hey, sweetie. You are okay now. Your daddy and Rick are gonna handle it okay? Come here." Lori voice said, pulling me to reality. My mother's face was replaced with Lori's, as my breathing became normal. She pulled me into a hug and carried me back to the RV. Carl followed behind. I knew his worried eyes were on me, but no way was I going to open my eyes again for a few minutes. Lori sat me down on the doorway of the RV. Carl sat beside me and held my hand, which is what he would usually do when I was scared or upset.
"Em, you're okay now. We're back at camp. Please open your eyes. Please." he begged, squeezing my hand to reassure me. I slowly open my tear filled eyes. Carl smiled softly. "There's those bluebells that shine so much." he said, happily yet softly. I smiled a little wiping my tears.
"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew'em up!" Daryl's voice echoed through the camp as he came from the direction the walker was in. He was carrying a rope with a bunch of squirrel attached. I look at Carl, who looked at me and shrugged.
Dad came into view. "Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." he said.
"About what?" Daryl asked, turning to Dad. Dad stopped a few feet in front of Daryl sit his hands on his hips.
"About Merle. There was a... There was a problem in Atlanta." he replied.
"He dead?" Daryl asked, his posture changing slightly.
"We're not sure." dad answered. Daryl tensed.
"He either is or he ain't!" he shouted, getting angry. Officer Grimes walked up with a hand on his hip. 'Is that like some kind of cop pose? Cause literally that's how they always stand and walk!' I thought to myself.
"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Officer Grimes said.
"Who are you?" Daryl asked, taking a few steps forward. Officer Grimes stopped in his tracks.
"Rick Grimes." he answered.
"Rick Grimes," Daryl repeated, "you got something you want to tell me?"
"Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Officer Grimes said. I could see the wheels turn in Daryl's head. This wasn't going to end well.
"Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" Daryl shouted. He threw the rope of squirrel at Officer Grimes when he answered 'yeah', who quickly dodged the rope. Daryl swiftly pulled out a knife. T-Dog had just walked up with some firewood in his arms, but quickly threw it down to help.
"Watch the knife!" he warned. I jumped to my feet to help, but Carl held me back. Daryl sliced the air a few times before dad grabbed him in a choke hold. He took the knife out of Daryl's hand.
The men argued back and forth about choke holds being illegal when something in my brain clicked. I remember why Daryl seems so familiar now. It all made so much sense! He had a lot explaining to do.
Officer Grimes finally got him to calm down and quit resisting. And he and T-Dog explained what happened in Atlanta to him. Daryl finally stood up with tears in his eyes.
"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is, so I can go get him." he said, his voice cracking.
"He'll show you. Isn't that right?" Lori asked Officer Grimes, who nodded and faced Daryl.
"I'm going back." he said. Daryl walked away, passed the tents to the edge of the woods. Carl finally let me go after I made the excuse that I wasn't feeling well and was going to lay down.
'Time for you to do some explaining Daryl Dixon.'
꧁꧂
I followed Daryl to the edge of the woods, out of sight of the others. I accidentally stepped on a twig, that snapped under my weight. Daryl quickly turned around at the sound. I hid behind a tree in fear of him still being angry.
"Who's there? Come on out if you know what's good for ya!" Daryl shouted, looking around. I stepped out from behind the tree. He noticed me and his eyes softened before changing back to anger. "What do you want, kid?" he said, turning away from me and beginning to walk away.
"Is it 'kid' now, Daryl? What happened to calling me 'squirt'? Did that die with my mom?" I said, crossing my arms as he tensed and stopped.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Just go on, kid." Daryl said, his back facing me. I walked towards him until I was a few feet away.
"But you do know what I'm talking about, Daryl. Or should I say Double D?" I asked. He turned to face me. His face was stone cold, but his eyes filled with shock. He took a few steps forward.
"How did you know it's me? You didn't remember me when this first started. What changed?" he asked. I crossed my arms and smiled at him.
"To hell with all y'all?..." I said, beginning to frown and looking down at my shoes, "Those were the last words you said in the courthouse. Those were the last words you said to the judge when he chose Shane over you. When mom died."
"Em-" he started. I interrupted him by hugging him. Tears made their way down my cheeks.
"What happened that night? Why didn't I get to say goodbye to you? Why didn't you get me? Why did I get sent to Shane's?" I asked continuous questions through hiccups. He pulled back and squatted to my level. Using the pad of his thumbs, he wiped the tears of my face.
"Calm down, okay. I'll explain, but you have to calm down squirt." he said, looking me in the eyes. "When you're momma died, I tried to get custody of you, but the judge said that it was best for you if you stayed with your biological father. No matter what our past was like. I wanted to take care of you. I promised your momma I would. Now that you're here and remember me, there's no way I'm gonna let anything happen to you." he explained, he pulled me to him in a hug. "I promise." he whispered to himself.
***Okay, so present note! I have a lot of people commenting about how she should remember and all that. I am currently taking psychology and children can suppress memories of traumatic events. In Emily's case, she suppressed all her memories of Daryl because she was taken away from everything she knew and was given to a stranger.***
Hello, my people. So okay. Daryl and Emily know each other from before everything and they're the only ones who know. I've had so many ideas with this, that it isn't even funny. My brain is literally exploding. Anyway, hope you liked it. Please vote, comment, share. You do you. Until next time....
