Shy

5 men, 1 little girl, and a fire Chapter 20

" What are you doing out here Jesse? " I jump as Glenn asks me the question. The guys quiet down and everyone looks at me. Daryl raises an eyebrow as he looks at me. He listens in as he cleans off his bloody arrow. 

" Um, there's, uh, no more uh room in the um RV. " I pull at my fingers and blush as I talk, avoiding eye contact with everyone. 

" Really? " Dale asks a little confused. " Oh. " 

I nod and shuffle my feet on the floor awkwardly. " Daryl. It's time to switch. You need rest. "  Rick gets up with his gun. 

Daryl silently jumps off the car he's on and trades places with Rick. " Well, let's find a place for you to sleep. " Dale looks around the group of men. 

" Can I, can I just stay out here for now? Is that alright? Or, do, do you want some time to yourselves? " I ask cautiously walking towards the men. 

" You're welcome to stay out here with us sweetie. " T-Dog smiles at me. 

" Thanks. " I mumble as I sit between Daryl and Shane. 

Shane rolls his eyes obviously annoyed and gets up. He stands up and walks away. 

" What's his problem? " Daryl asks growling at the man. I sit with my elbows on my knees. 

" He's just mean. " I mumble into my hands. 

Daryl smiles a bit and puts his arrows away. The guys talk and laugh about random things and slowly a few of them go to sleep. I try to keep my eyes open as the fire slowly dies down. 

I grab a stone from the ground and toss it into my other hand. Will the earth ever go back to the way it was? Will we ever have fast food, and see a train again? Will the streets ever be filled with loads and loads of traffic again? Will I make it in this world?

Questions bubble inside me as I play with the stone in my hand. The questions end up tiring me out, and I eventually can't keep my eyes closed. 

I want to be like Daryl when I grow up. He's strong and nothing bothers him. He's tough. I should learn to be like him. He doesn't need anyone or anything. He's like a super hero. 

My head hits a soft, warm surface as I fall into a deep slumber. 

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Daryl P.O.V.

" She like you man. You're the only person she'll be around with out getting all nervous and jumpy. She's even scared of the kids. " T-Dog nods towards the little girl sleeping on my arm. 

" She only likes me 'cause I found her. " I carve an arrow out of some wood I found. 

" No. That may be part of it, but she really likes you. " Dale stands up and stretches a bit. 

" Sometimes I wonder what's going through her head. Jesse's always thinking. " Glenn looks at Jesse. She shifts and mumbles something into my arm. 

" She thinks like ninety-nine percent of the time she's with us. " T-Dog chuckles. " I think she's afraid to say what she really thinks. I've seen her bite her lip when we say thing sometimes, and she gets this look. " T-Dog makes some look with his face. 

" I know. Like earlier when I was talking about looking through some of the cars with Dale, she looked like she was going to talk, but she shut her mouth and bit her lip. " Glenn sighs. " I feel bad for her. She looks like she's been through so much. This, " He gestures to a dead walker. " makes everything so much worse for her. " 

" I know. Well, we just need to get her to trust us. We'll take care of her. I don't think she knows that yet. " Dale smiles at the small girl clinging to my arm in her sleep. 

Why does she like me so much? I'm not the most likable person here. And what's up with Shane and Lori? 

Lori's treating Jesse like an outsider, and Shane gets annoyed with Jesse and stomps off when she's around. What did Jesse do to them because, frankly, this girl can't hurt a fly. She's too quiet to have said something disrespectful, and too shy to have been a bother to them. 

Jesse makes me wonder. She spends her time thinking instead of playing with Carl and Sophia like other kids would have. She really makes me curious.