Don't look back

Twenty nine

That "Christmas Day" they were still snowed into the bungalow, and when they tried to go, the car wouldn't start, so the decided to stay another night. They had little food, but had found a bottle of whiskey, so ate a dinner of canned sweetcorn and two crackers each, then drank until it was pitch black, Mary asleep on Rick's lap.
In the morning, Mary got up in silence, and crept to the bathroom, ignoring T-Dog asleep in the bath. She looked through the cupboard, while stood on the edge of the toilet, and tried to find tablets.
"Mary, honey, what are you doing?" Maggie asked groggily, walking over, her hair messy and eyes half shut.
"Getting medicine."
"Why? Do you feel sick?" Maggie questioned, her face suddenly filled with panic.
"No. You have a bad head. 'Cos you drank the adult juice." Mary mumbled.
"Oh honey. It's okay. You don't need to worry about that. We're okay."
"No. You might get mad."
"We won't, okay? Just calm down, and we'll go outside and get a fire started, so we can cook up these squirrels that Daryl found yesterday."
"No. I'm going to give these to daddy." Mary said firmly, grabbing a few bottles of pills.
"We already took the painkillers and antibiotics. These are useless for us. Yeah?"
Mary sighed and put them back, then got down. She followed Maggie outside, and they cooked the chunks of butchered squirrel over a small fire, and boiled some snow, then turned it into coffee. Then Mary woke everyone up, most of them with headaches, and they ate the meat, and drank the coffee. Mary hated the drink, but she still drank half of a weak cup, sat on Rick's knee.
"You're growing a Santa beard." Mary smiled softly, tugging at the beard.
"Yeah, I do need a shave, don't I?" Rick laughed softly.
"And a hair cut. You both do." Lori teased.
"There's scissors in the bathroom." T-Dog suggested, and Lori got up and got them. Before he could protest, Lori was cutting Carl's hair, and Rick was in search of a razor. When he came back in, his face was freshly shaven, and Lori trimmed his hair.
"Lemmie do you." Lori instructed to Mary, and the little girl nodded. Lori cut her hair, then put it in a ponytail, and added the bandana in to keep her shorter bits of hair from her face.
"Who's next?" She asked jokingly, and then trimmed Glenn's hair.
"Dad!" Carl hissed suddenly. "Dad, there's a heard coming."
"Coats on." Rick instructed, and May did as he said.
"What are we gonna do?" Carol panicked.
"The cars are snowed in! We can't drive!" Beth added anxiously.
"We gonna have to run." Rick nodded slowly. Mary grabbed the tiny wooden boat that Hershel had carved for her, and Rick pulled her into his back.
"Hey. My bike can get out. You want me to take yer girl? Carl too?" Daryl asked suddenly.
"Yeah." Lori replied quickly.
"You remember that bar, on the outskirts of town?" Rick questioned, looking at Daryl firmly.
"Yeah."
"Take 'em there. We'll get there." Rick nodded.
"I'm not leaving you!" Carl snapped.
"Hey. You need to make sure that Mary stays safe. Okay?" Rick said firmly.
"Dad! I'm a good shot. I need to protect the group with you." The boy insisted.
"Son, we all got jobs to do. Your's is to keep Mary safe," Hershel explained gently, "and stay safe. That's what you gotta do."
Carl glared at his father, and took Mary off of his back.
"Daddy, I don't want to leave you." Mary sobbed.
"You gotta. Okay? We don't have much time. I love you, but you have to go with Daryl now. I'll see you soon."
Mary began to sob, and everyone left.
"Remember the deal. Cry at night or when someone dies." Carl whispered into Mary's ear, so she didn't attract Walkers. She nodded, and clung onto him as the motorcycle drove away, narrowly missing Walkers, and the rest of the group went a different way, a safer way on foot.
When they stopped at a bar, Mary hung off Daryl's back, him with his crossbow ready, Carl's gun out. Thankfully, the bar was Walker-free, and Daryl sat Mary down, and ordered Carl to stay with him as he looked for food and drink.
He came back later with bags of peanuts, chips, cans of fizzy drinks, chocolates, sweets, and some jerky.
"Not hungry." Mary mumbled when Daryl passed her some food. The man just sighed, and Carl went to explore the bar, while Daryl played darts. Then the two children drew, Carl only doing so to please Mary. And that night, Mary cried herself to sleep, wrapped in Daryl's angel vest to keep warm, next to Carl, as Daryl kept watch, and drank harsh spirits.
That morning, Mary and Carl woke early, and Carl took her into a back room, so they could ran and play tag, as she begged him to, while Daryl got a few minutes sleep. Afterwards, Carl patiently helped Mary draw, then brushed her hair for her.
"You're hurting." Mary whined as he pulled a thin comb through her thick, lugged hair.
"I'm sorry." Carl sighed, trying, and failing, to carry on brushing her hair.
"Come 'ere." Daryl mumbled, rolling his eyes. Mary got up, and Daryl took the comb from Carl's hands. He brushed her hair gently, and after he had done, Mary span around and kissed his cheek.
Carl looked at the man curiously. "How do you know how to do that?"
"It's not rocket science." Daryl muttered.
"Did you have a little girl?" Mary asked, looking at him gently.
"Nah. One of my girlfriends did. But older than yer."
"Did you love her?" Mary asked, and Daryl shrugged, then got up and walked away.
"Come on. Let's eat." Carl decided suddenly, grabbing a pack of jerky and a can of coke each. They ate and drank, Mary hiccuping afterwards, making Carl laugh, and her giggle.
"Who's that?" Mary asked suddenly, hearing the door begin to open.
"Stay here," Carl whispered, getting up and standing in front of the door, his gun pointed and ready, "and stay quiet."
He loaded his gun, seconds before the door burst open.
"Carl." A woman breathed, and Mary ran over. Lori enclosed the two of them in a hug, and the others came in. Rick lifted Mary up, and hugged her tightly, attempting to hug Carl as well.
"Where's Daryl?" Glenn asked shakily.
"The other room. Is everyone okay?" Carl replied.
"Yeah. We're all fine," Rick nodded, "was you good for Daryl?"
"Yeah." Mary smiled back.
"Good. Go give Maggie a cuddle. I'm going to find a map." Rick instructed, and Mary nodded, then got down and ran over to Maggie, and the young woman picked her up and held her close.
"Are you okay, honey?" Maggie asked gently, and Mary nodded. "Good. Good."
"Okay," Rick sighed, heading back with Daryl, "that herd, it was coming this way. We're ahead of it, but we might as well go now."
"Go?" Carl snapped.
"Yes." Rick replied shortly.
"It's not safe. The herd, it's coming this way." Glenn explained.
"We just keep running. When can we stop?" Beth whispered to Hershel, and he put a comforting arm around her. Mary began to cry softly, and Maggie held her tighter.
"It's okay. It's okay now. Don't worry. It'll all be okay." Maggie soothed, but Mary just hid her head into Maggie's shoulder.
"We will find somewhere." Rick said firmly, and Carl just glared at him, then put the food and cans of drink into his bag. Then they left.