Dixons Never Cry |TWD|

Temporary Safety Is Gone

The clacking of the metal door indicated the group had left. I heard soft voices talking to one another, and feeling closed in being inside this awful cell, I left my backpack behind and walked out slowly, looking over the metal railing. Rory was braiding her own hair while Carl watched, speaking to his momma.

"Hey, sweetheart, why don't you come down here and join everybody?" Carol said. For a second I didn't know she was speaking to me until she added my name.

Shyly, I began walking down the steps and let Carol touch my hair, pretending not to see her small frown.

"Why don't you let me brush your hair?" she offered. Carol was a lot gentler than Rory, so I nodded. It still hurt because of the knots but at least she didn't pull violently. "You'll feel a lot better after this, I promise," she said gleefully.

I wondered how she could be so happy right now, but her enthusiasm made me crack a little grin and she caught it.

"There's that smile. Haven't seen that in a while."

Rory stroked her messy braid. "She's been a grouch for weeks," she said. Lori gently smacked her back.

"Don't you say that because you're a real grouch at times, too," she mumbled. Rory quickly apologised but it was half-hearted. I ignored her and let Carol untangle my hair and before long, it was tied into two low ponytails, small and curled at the ends because of its shortness.

I didn't have a mirror but I'm sure it looked nice. Carol always did such lovely hair, it made me wonder why she didn't grow it out.

"How's that?" she asked. I smiled shyly.

"It don't itch my neck as much," I replied, feeling the rough bobbles holding it together.

"Maybe this place has working water, then we can have a real shower—wash," Beth said with a smile.

I remembered a story Merle told me about prison showers. He said they just dumped a bucket of cold water over you and gave you a hard bar of soap. Daryl swore at him afterwards and told me it wasn't true. That was ages ago. I was probably only a little toddler still in diapers then.

"Some shampoo and soap," Carol added. "We'll clean this area up, fresh bedding. You could have your own room, Marnie, put your book out on a table, your own space. You love that Alice book, don't you?" she chuckled. I bit my lip and forced a smile.

"You're always gettin' out whenever we stop. I had a couple of books you would've liked, back at the farm..." Beth said, smile vanishing when she mentioned her old home. Mine did too.

I didn't want to talk about the book anymore. They'd find out I couldn't read properly or perhaps that Rory would tell them anyway. I'm not too sure about Carl. I looked towards him but he was now over by the locked gate, patrolling with his sheriff's hat.

Thinking back to what Carol said, I frowned at the thought of having a cell as a bedroom. I've never had my own bedroom before, not even way back before everything happened. I'm not too sure I'd like it either. I'd rather sleep with Daryl, side by side, where no one or nothing can hurt me.

Except the nightmares, but they weren't so bad when I was in Daryl's arms. Too bad he didn't hold me as much.

A loud crash brought me back to reality and the shouts of Rick entered my ears.

"Carl, open the gate! It's Hershel!"

I watched with wide, scared eyes as Carl hastily unlocked the gate and I let out a noise between a scream and a whimper when they rolled Hershel in, red, red, red everywhere, all over his leg. He wasn't moving.