❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter nine ―― more than gold

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ "YOU OKAY?" Rick asked Charlie as he dropped the bag of guns on a desk, the girl was standing behind him with her back to them and her shirt raised slightly as she examined the bruise that was forming in the middle of her ribs, she lightly poked at the spot before winching in pain. "Charlie?"

"Yeah." She dropped her shirt and turned to face him. "I'm good. What's the plan?" She asked, making her way over to him as he started digging through the bag of guns. "We ain't actually givin' him the guns, are we?"

"Them guns are worth more than gold." Daryl stated before Rick could answer the girl. "Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You willin' to give that up for that kid?"

"We can't not get Glenn back." Charlie told him. "Leaving Glenn is not an option." Her eyes settled on Daryl but he just narrowed his eyes at the girl.

"If I knew we'd get him back, I might agree." T-Dog added. "You think that vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?"

"You calling G a lair?" Miguel asked as though it were a ridiculous thought.

Are you a part of this?" Daryl leaned down and smacked the kid in the head. "You wanna hold on to your teeth?" The boy shut up and Daryl stood up straight.

"Question is, do you trust that man's word?" T asked.

"No, the question is, what are you willing to bet on it?" Daryl corrected. "Could be more than them guns. Could be your life. Glenn worth that to you?"

"What life I have I owe to him." Rick told him. "I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could've walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I."

"So you're gonna hand the guns over?"

"I didn't say that." Rick shook his head before looking around at the three, his blue eyes lingering on Charlie. "There's nothing keeping you here. You should get out, head back to camp. Take Charlie with you."

"What the hell Rick?" Charlie punched his shoulder, immediately regretting it as her own shoulder throbbed.

"And tell your family what?" T asked as the girl bit her lip and took deep breaths, hoping to push the pain away. When he didn't answer, Daryl nodded before grabbing a gun then T-Dog moved forwards.

"Come on, this is nuts." Miguel stood up, but Daryl made him sit back down as Charlie reached for a gun.

"Not you." Rick grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Why the hell not?"

"You're hurt as is and if things go south I don't want you there." He told her and she yanked her arm away from him.

"That's not fair."

"I can't have you there." He shook his head as he turned to her. "I won't be able to do what I need to do if I'm worried about you."

"You can go to hell with that bullshit." She huffed, pushing her hair out of her face. "You and Shane both." She shook her head. "I'm not a little kid anymore! I can help. I want to help.

"It's not happening."

"Screw you, Rick." She called out over her shoulder after she turned away from them, heading towards the door.

"Charlie!" He called after her but she was already gone. The girl made her way through the building, her knife in her hand in case she had any run-ins with the dead, which she hadn't. She was pissed that Rick had made her stay when she could've been useful, sure she was hurt but that didn't mean she couldn't shoot a gun.

She took out two walkers in the hall before taking the stairs up to the roof. She smiled a little as she looked up at the sky, the sun beating down on her. It was hot, but it was rare that she ever got to enjoy the sun. She crossed the roof and looked down on the alley, trying to judge if she could make the jump to the next building - not that she'd actually jump, she was just curious - but before she could make a decision she heard a noise and she turned, her knife raised.

"Woah, there, girly. You got a car?"

"Yeah, the truck's not too far from here." She nodded, using her knife to point in the direction of the truck before she let her hand fall to he side, but she kept a good grip on her knife. "A little ways that way, but the oth-" She was cut off when his fist connected with her jaw and she fell to the ground.

"What the hell?"

"Where are the keys?" He patted her pockets and she squirmed away from him, then she swung her blade at him, he hissed as it sliced into his forearm and she used her feet to move away from him, her ankle rolled but she didn't seem to notice as she pushed herself away from him. "Little bitch. Where are the damn keys?" He rolled her onto her back, his hands on her shoulders and his knees on either side of her waist to keep her still as she fought against him. His cold, harsh eyes on her wide eyes. There was a crazy look in his eyes, almost like he was deranged.

"I don't- I don't have them." She told him, her voice shaking, and he groaned, lifting her head up and slamming it against the roof and she backed out.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE GROANED, blinking against the light of the sun as she sat up. She moved her hand up to her lips and pulled it back to find blood on her fingers, she let out a sigh as she pushed herself to her feet, bending over to grab her knife before she made her way back onto the building, hoping the guys had made it back with Glenn. She used the wall to keep her up right as she limped her way back towards the room they had been in before and she pushed the door open, jumping back when she heard a gun and she looked up to see Rick and Daryl both with guns aimed in her direction.

"Charlie?" Rick lowered his gun and stepped towards the girl. "Where'd you run off to?" He gently placed his hand on the left side of her face so he could get a better look at the split in her lip. "What the hell happened?"

"I found Merle."

"What?" Daryl shuffled forwards as Rick helped her into a chair. "Where is he?"

"Hell if I know." She told him. "Bastard knocked me out. He was gone when I came to. Did you get Glenn back?"

"Merle did this?" The boy asked, moving towards the girl and she smiled a little, happy they had gotten him back.

"Yeah, he, uh, suckerpunched me. Talking about a car and some keys, felt up my pockets." She squirmed in her seat and she looked up at Daryl as he shifted on his feet. "Your brother's a dick."

"Did he know that it was you?" T asked, moving towards them and the girl shook her head, shifting in her seat, letting out a soft groan as she did so.

"We should head back to camp." Rick stated. "We're losing daylight."

"Yes, please." Charlie hummed as she pushed herself up, using Glenn to keep her upright as they started out of the building and back towards the truck. Charlie was visibly in a lot of pain, but she tried to hide it, even as she used Glenn to keep her from falling over a few times. She kept her hands on his shoulders as she walked behind him and he made sure not to move too fast.

She grumbled when they came to a stop near the fence and she rested her forehead on the boy's shoulder. "Oh My God." Glenn mumbled.

"Where the hell's our van." Daryl asked.

"We left it right there. Who would take it?"

"Merle." Charlie grumbled and Daryl looked over at her but she kept her head down as she shifted on her feet, still holding on to Glenn.

"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl stated.

"The hell he is." Charlie mumbled, standing up straight. "We gotta get back up there."

"You can barely walk." Rick told her.

"I'm fine." She told him, stepping away from Glenn and walking around them. They watched as she limped away, stumbling a little but it was obvious that she wasn't going to give up so they quickly followed after her.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ A LITTLE LATER, Charlie clung to Daryl's back as they jogged up the hill. Her head against his as her eyes fell closed despite the fact that she was being jostled around. She had refused to be carried or even helped for most of the way back to camp, but it had gotten to the point where she couldn't keep up and her ankle was only getting worse. And there was some part of Daryl that felt bad for her, his brother had been the one to put her in such a position and he wanted to help.

"You doing okay back there, princess?" He asked, bouncing her a little to adjust his hold on her legs.

She groaned with the movement and tightened her arms around his shoulders. "Peachy." She mumbled. "How much longer?"

"We still got a ways to go." Glenn panted slightly, glancing over his shoulder at the two -- he, along with Rick and T-Dog, found it weird that Daryl had been the one to stop and offer to carry her the rest of the way.

"Just a little longer." Daryl mumbled, so only she could hear him.

"Okay." She hummed and he adjusted his hold on her again but he didn't stop or slow down. It was quiet for a while, the sun had gone down completely and they stopped, just long enough for Daryl to adjust Charlie on his back again. "You don't have to carry me the rest of the way."

"Well, I'm gonna." He told her then they heard gunshots coming from the direction of the camp. "Hold on tight." He told her and she gripped his shoulders as tight as she could as she locked her legs around his waist then they all started running. When they reached camp, it was full of walkers, everyone was screaming and running, while Morales fought them off with a bat, Mason had a shovel, and Josh made sure the women and kids were okay as Shane fired off shots.

"You can put me down now!" Charlie shouted, hitting Daryl's shoulder and he let her slide off of his back and to her feet. She winced but pulled out her pistol as Glenn handed the man back his gun. Charlie turned and shot one as it came out of the trees, then she made her way towards the rv, her left ankle dragging a bit. She shot three more on the way towards her brother, then she saw one behind Mason and she quickly aimed and fired, blood splattered over the back of the boy's head but he didn't notice as he hit another one in the head with the shovel.

She turned again and screamed when one jumped towards her, she tried to back up and raise her gun but she tripped and the walker fell on top of her, she groaned as she fought with it. She had it by the shoulders as she held it above her so it couldn't bite her. She tried the pulled her legs up between them but before she could it went limp on top of her and she let out a panicked breath before looking over to see Daryl nod his head once before he turned and shot another one. Charlie moved the dead walker to the side and pushed herself across the ground, her pistol raised as she shot another one in the head.

"Charlie!" She turned at the sound of Shane calling her name over all the shooting, but she quickly turned and shot another one that was headed for Daryl, he looked over and she nodded her head once. When the last one was dead the girl let out a breath and laid back in the dirt, her eyes falling closed as she panted, her heart racing. "Charlie!" Shane ran over, sitting her up.

"I'm okay." She breathed out. "I'm okay." She wrapped her hands around his bicep, burying her face in his arm as he squeezed her a little, which made her wince. "I'm okay, Bubba." She mumbled, her eyes closed as she leaned into him. "I promised I'd come back in one piece, didn't I?"

"I love you." He mumbled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as tears filled his eyes and he hugged her closer to him.

"I love you, too, Bubba."

"Charlie?" Mason pushed his way through the group in search of the girl. "Charlie?"

"Mason." Shane waved him over and he let out a breath upon seeing his best friend, despite the bruise on her cheek and her busted lip. "She's okay." He told the boy as he bent down next to the siblings.

"Hey, sharpshooter." He smiled as the girl looked up at him and he reached out and tucked some of her hair that had fallen loose behind her ear. "What happened to your face?"

"I'll tell you later." She mumbled. "Help me up." She told them two and they counted to three before lifting her to her feet, it was then that she saw Andrea hanging over Amy's body and she froze, her face paling slightly. "A-Amy?" She looked up at her brother only to have him shake his head and tears filled her eyes as she looked around. "Lori? Carl?" She turned around, sighing a little when she saw the boy and his mother next to Rick.

Charlie limped away from her brother and her best friend as she looked around at the camp, bodies were everywhere, some were people from their group who hadn't been so lucky, the others were the walkers they had taken down. Her hands shook as she took in the scene before her, her lip quivering as she fought back tears.

"You alright?" She turned to see Daryl standing next to her. "And don't say peachy."

She chuckled a little, shaking her head. "I've been better." She told him and he nodded, patted her back once before he turned.

"Take it easy, princess." He mumbled as he walked away.

"Don't call me princess." She grumbled and he glanced over his shoulder at her, a small smirk playing on his lips and she shook her head.