Forager || Rick Grimes

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"Hey dad?" Natalie said coming out of her bedroom the next day.

Emilia and Isabel were still sleeping inside the room. She stood by him as he gazed out the window.

He looked over at her and wrapped and an arm over her shoulders bringing her in for a hug.

"What happened to Annette and Shawn?" she asked wrapping her arm around his torso. "I haven't seen them."

Natalie knew at the back of her mind, that they were probably dead, but she needed confirmation. "They're sick,"

Natalie knew then that it meant they were dead.

"How?"

"In the first couple of days of the outbreak."

"I'm sorry," Natalie said as a single tear escaped her eye, "I should've been here, to protect you all."

"Doesn't matter now," Herschel said taking the girl's shoulders and turning around so that she was facing him, "you're here now, and I know you'll do you best."

Natalie smiled at him and rested her head on his chest so that she was looking out the window.

"Do you hate me for leaving?"

"No, don't forget I once left my father as well," Herschel reminded, "hadn't seen this place in years."

"Yeah, but your father was a horrible man." Natalie said, "you never were. I regret leaving, I really do."

"You never would've met Chris or had Emilia if you didn't," Herschel said trying to make her feel better.

Natalie nodded her head and focused outside the window.

She saw someone stumble out of the forest and into the fields, they staggered and were hunched over as they tried to get closer to the farmhouse.

"Walker!" She said jumping up, she slammed open the door and ran towards it, running past the RV who had Andrea ontop screaming walker.

"Don't you dare shoot it Andrea," Natalie said joining the group as they grabbed their weapons. "My father wants to deal with them."

"What for?" Shane scoffed, "we got it covered."

Natalie gave him a look, but he ignored it and made his way over to it.

"Dammit!" Rick cursed at Shane. He grabbed his gun and fell in line with Natalie.

She eyed the gun in his hand, "make sure you don't shoot it," she said nearing the walker.

"I won't," he nodded.

However, when they approached the walker, Rick instantly put his gun up to its head.

When Natalie got a closer look at it, she recognised it, it was Daryl. "Is that Daryl?" Shane asked.

"It's about time you pointed that thing at my head!" he growled.

Letting the group release a collective sigh of relief knowing he wasn't dead. "You gonna pull the trigger or what?"

Everyone lowered their guns, Daryl was covered in blood and mud, he was out of breath probably from walking so long in the forest.

"Thank god, you're not a walker." Natalie breathed resting her hand on her hip and staring intently at him.

He went to open his mouth to give a witty response but within that second, a gunshot went off echoing around the land, causing Daryl to fall onto the ground. A gasp escaped her mouth as she ran for him.

"No! No!" Rick said turning around and shouting at Andrea back on the RV.

Natalie kneeled on the floor beside him and picked up he head examing it.

"Just a graze," she concluded, "quickly help him up," she said grabbing onto o of his arms and resting it over her shoulder. Rick came onto the other side and did the same.

"I was kidding," Daryl said before passing out adding more weight onto the two.

"Oh my god! Is he okay? Is he dead?" Andrea said running over guilt and regret painted onto her face.

"No, he's alright, the bullet just grazed him, he's unconscious," Natalie replied annoyed at her, "thank god, you're not that good of a shot," she scolded.

"What the hell happened?" Glenn said frantically, "he's wearing ears." Natalie looked down to see a necklace of ears hanging from his neck.

"Let's keep that to ourselves," Rick concluded whilst looking at Natalie and snatched the ears tucking them into his pocket, begging with his eyes not to tell anyone.

"Guys," T-Dog called causing them to stop and turn, "isn't this Sophia's?" holding up doll.

"Come on," Natalie urged.

As they walked past her family, she made eye contact with her father, who looked very unimpressed.

"Bring him here," She said as they laid him on the bed.

Natalie lifted up his shirt and saw the wound.

She grabbed her sterilised needle and thread and began stitching up the wound. "

Will he be alright?" Rick said coming in and resting the map onto the bed.

"Yeah, he'll be fine, but he won't be going far from the bed for a couple of days not until this heals," she said stitching. Rick slowly nodded. "I see you kept your gun," she said referring back to before. Rick looked up at her, "look, I get it you want to keep your family safe, I do too, but look around you, your in an environment that is untouched by the walkers. You are safe. Using guns will only attract them." She said finishing up. "Respect my father's wishes, he's not asking for a lot if you do, maybe you can stay here. Keed your family safe indefinitely."

"I do, it's a little difficult trying to persuade the rest," Rick said understandingly.

"I'm sure you'll manage, I'm not saying this out of spite," she said finally looking up at him, "I'm saying this for you're own good. You're good people, I want you to stay here," she said looking back down at Daryl.

At that moment, Daryl began waking up, "How you feeling?" Rick asked.

"Fine, but got a bitch of a headache," he grumbled. "I found it, washed up on a creek right there," he said indicating it on the map, "she must've dropped whilst crossing it."

Herschel came in giving Daryl a cloth to put pressure on his head, "Cuts the grid almost in half." Rick stated.

"Yeah, you're welcome."

Natalie looked up at her father, seeing his unamused expression, "had no idea we'd be going through antibiotics so quickly. Any idea what happened to my horse?"

"It's smart it left the country," Daryl said as Natalie packed her supplies away.

"We call her nervous Nelly if you bothered to ask I could've told you. It's a wonder you people have survived this long." Herschel said.

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