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 running back to the farm house when I passed by the RV and saw Carol through the window. She sent me a small smile through the window along with a tiny wave of the hand. I returned the smile as well before going around the RV to the door.
When I climbed inside, I saw that the entire RV was cleaned from front to back. She had sat down at the small table and was fiddling with a couple of pieces of string.
I closed the door behind me and walked over to her. "May I join you, Ms Carol?" I asked, politely.
She looked up to me with a small smile. Giving me a nod to sit down, she watched as I sat down in the seat across from her. I didn't expect her to speak to me after what happened earlier.
"How are you?" I asked, quietly. She looked out the window and then back to me.
"Worried. Terrified." She answered. "I just want my baby girl back in my arms and I want Daryl back here safe. He risks his life everyday to find her. And everyday I hope and pray that he'll bring her back to me."
I placed my hand on hers as she spoke. I didn't know what to say at the moment. I wanted to hear her thoughts.
"I'm sorry for how I treated you after what happened, Emily." I looked up from my hands quickly to see small tears in her eyes. I was shocked that she was apologizing to me for just being worried about her child.
"Ms Carol, you don't have to apologize. I completely understand your point of view. Sophia and I both ran into the woods and I was the only one to be found. That's your daughter. If it were me in your shoes, I would demand answers too. You don't have to apologize to me." I stated, trying to comfort the crying mother.
"But I have to. Sophia was so inspired by you. She would go on and on about how much she trusted you and how fearless you were. She was happy to have become your friend." Carol spoke.
I nodded my head. I was at a lost for words. How can I comfort her? This is all my fault.
"Stop." Carol suddenly said. I brought my eyes up to look at her in wonder. "Stop thinking that this is your fault. You've explained multiple times that you were only trying to help her. I believe you. So stop."
I simply nodded. I didn't know what to say to her after that. And luckily, I didn't have to because suddenly there was a knock at the door. I turned my head to see Daryl at the doorway of the RV. He looked around at the inside of the RV in shock.
Carol started speaking softly, "I cleaned up. Wanted it to be nice for her."
"For a second, I thought I was in the wrong place." Daryl gruffed back. He stepped forward and placed a glass beer bottle down on the counter. It had a white flower in it. A Cherokee rose to be exact.
"A flower?" Carol asked, perplexed.
"It's a Cherokee rose." Daryl corrected her before continuing, "The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the trail of tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they we're losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day, this rose started to grow right where the mothers' tears fell."
